The Grey Tower

Jaryd wondered frequently why he had decided to return to the Grey Tower. He had not missed the incessant bureaucracy and constant politicking during his journey, and found it even more irritating now that he had no specific means of escape. At least as the M'hael he had had the power -though seldom used- to tell the gabbering geese to shut their mouths and let him think. Now his only authority came from his strength in the One Power and the force of personality. Unfortunately for the Altaran, the fact that he was Red was more than enough to counteract any effect that his so-called power might have had.

Maybe I should just leave again. It was more tempting than he cared to admit, and he had more reasons than most to take himself away. However....he had acquired new duties since his return and there were a few people whose progress he had taken an interest in. He was walking towards the Practice Yards to meet with one of them at that moment, in fact. Kiellan had requested some training with daggers, and Jaryd had been only too happy to oblige. The last time Jaryd had seen the other Altaran had been when the boy stumbled out of the Arches ter'angreal wide-eyed and shaking as Durent poured the cleansing water over his head. It would be good to see how he had fared in the intervening time.

When he arrived at the Yards, he chose one that had a wooden roof built over it to protect its occupants. It didn't take a Cloud Dancer to know that a pale white sky meant impending snow, and he had no desire to contend with that while teaching someone the basics of knife work. He put the blunted Altaran daggers he carried on the bench, along with his actual blade and his coat. Kiellan joined him not long after, and Jaryed nodded greeting. After Kiellan had removed his coat and they had exchanged a bit of morning small talk, Jaryd jerked his head to the side, indicating Kiellan should follow him.

"It's important to prepare your muscles for the stress of training. Otherwise you'll damage yourself, and the healing from that is long and painful. Therefore, we will begin with stretches. If you haven't done them before, just copy what I do and don't be afraid to let me know if you need me to repeat something."

After the other Altaran indicated his understanding, Jaryd sat on the ground in the center of their section of the Yard and spread his legs in a wide V before him. He drapped his left arm over his right knee, and leaned forward to catch his right toes with both his hands. Then he let himself relax forward for a slow count of ten. He repeated the move for the right leg, then moved into a series of other sitting stretches for legs and back. "An impending fight rarely waits for you to be done stretching," Jaryd noted as he stood up, "so you should really make it part of your routine to go through these every morning." He leaned against a fence post with his right hand, lifted his left foot up behind him, and pulled on it straight up with his left hand as ghe spoke.

He switched sides after a count of ten, then moved into arm stretches. With those it was much easier to speak, so he looked over at Kiellan. "You grew up in the Rahad the same as I- before we get started with the real stuff, what do you already know about fighting with daggers?

Kiellan was so excited he could barely force himself to keep up his composure on the way to the gardens. He wanted to run, as fast as he could, but the Aes Sedai and Asha'man of the Grey Tower didn't seem to approve of running. They didn't seem to approve of much really, but for now, he would have to follow their rules. Today, for the first time in a long time, he would get some physical exercise. He tried to spend as much of his free time as possible running in the gardens, or the Warden Yards, but there wasn't a lot of free time to spend, especially with his two ongoing projects to compete with that. Both his studies of the law and his studies of Earth Singing took up a lot of time as well, and that left him with, at most, one or two hours a week to run.

This was different, though. He had been allowed to use some of his time that had to be spent on studies to train in the Yards, as long as it was under the supervision of a fully raised member of the Tower. When he heard that, he had immediately thought of Jaryd. He had met the Red Asha'man only twice, once while bumping into him in the hallways and once at his testing for Dedicated, but he felt comfortable with him, a fellow Altaran, and he had seen the daggers the man carried with him. Apparently, he knew how to use them as well, as he had accepted becoming Kiellan's teacher. That was a relief; Kiellan had been afraid Jaryd wouldn't want to teach him after seeing him break down, cry and throw up after he crawled out of the silver Arches.

The Asha'man had already arrived by the time Kiellan got to the Yards. His coat and the traditionally curved Altaran daggers were laid out on the bench beside the Yard. After the standard pleasantries, Kiellan removed his own coat and put it over the same bench where Jaryd had put his, and followed Jaryd to their practice area. The real work would begin soon.

Of course, the stretching had to be done first. It hadn't been a normal part of his routine back at home, but he knew some of the tricks. His older brother Pettar had taught him some ways to warm up his muscles before using them, which had always given him an advantage over most others in the Rahad. He nodded at Jaryd, in understanding of the Asha'man's words. He sat down on the ground across from Jaryd, and started imitating his movements, spreading his legs like the other man had, and touching his right toes with both his hands. He could feel the sharp, but satisfying of his muscles protesting against the exercise, knowing that wouldn't last long. He repeated the same process with his other foot, before moving on to other stretching exercises.

Kiellan thought a bit about Jaryd's question. "Not much, really," he confessed. "I mostly used my fists. But I've occasionally used daggers, and I've seen others use them many times. I think the most important thing is to remain mobile. I don't believe daggers have much defensive potential, so your first priority is to keep moving and keep dodging. My brother always told me to strike the arms first, as they're the most dangerous, and they are most likely the closest body part as well. If your opponent extends their arm, dodge their strike and counterattack by striking at his arm. But that's about it."

Jaryd nodded thoughtfully, circling the Dedicated as he spoke. He took note of Kiellan's posture and where his feet were positioned. What he saw went well with what Kiellan told him- the taller man clearly had not prioritized weapons training. How in the Light did he survive in the Rahad? A question for the future, he supposed. Maybe my crew's work lasted longer than I expected. After Kiellan had finished describing what he knew, the Asha'man faced him, straightened his back, and pulled back his shoulders. He saw his student do the same, and his lips quirked into a smile.

"Some of what you were told doesn't apply to the kind of knife I fight with," he commented, gesturing to the bench where the curved blades sat, "but the general principle of staying mobile is a good one- but it's important not to sacrifice good form in favor of movement or to land a blow. An off-balance fighter is a dead fighter." His grin lit his olive face with sardonic amusement.

"Let's start with footwork. Since you've used your fists before, this is probably familiar territory, but it never hurts to reinforce what is already known. Watch me." He stepped back and out with his left foot, turning it slightly outward. His right foot faced forward, and his body, balanced between both feet, turned slightly to face the same direction. His arms came up in front of his face, left hand closer to his face in a fight, right hand slightly higher and further away, fingers formed as if holding a knife. He bounced a little on the balls of his feet, his knees bent a little to give him maximum mobility. He nodded to Kiellan. "Copy me." A few minutes later, he nodded satisfaction.

"Now, we're going to move- First, let's move forward." He dropped back into the original standing position, then swung his left leg forward until it rested the same distance in front of the right foot as it had been behind it. Then he moved the right leg forward, to emulate his original position. "It's important to keep your core centered at all times," he said as Kiellan practiced. "Now, backward." It was the same as forward, only inverted.

"To the side." With this one he led with his right foot when going right, and the left foot when going left. It was a mincing gait that required two steps for each movement. "It's better to pivot and move forward or backward instead," he commented. "It gives you more flexibility in your movement."

Pivoting came last, a maneuver that required three steps in order to turn a quarter of a circle in either direction. It was the move that most frequently tripped up new fighters. "I'd like you to practice those moves until they come more naturally," he commented. "Why don't you show me all of them now?"

---

OOC: Just describe practicing the stance and movements. It's a boring but necessary part of this process.

Also, Jaryd's dueling dagger is called a karambit in the "real world". I do not personally have any actual experience with using it, so I'll be heavily referencing YouTube and Google for this lesson. I apologize if you DO know how to use daggers and I contradict basic fighting facts....I'm doing the best I can.

Kiellan nodded at Jaryd, taking in every word and processing them carefully. He watched as the Asha'man positioned his body in a fighting stance with unwavering precision. Kiellan studied the position carefully and then tried to imitate it. He put his left foot back, faced his right foot forward and made sure his center of gravity was located in the middle so his weight was carried equally by both his legs. It took him a minute to get his feet exactly where he wanted, moving them a couple inches back and forth until it felt right. Then, he started working on his arms. His left arm, like Jaryd's, protected his face, while his right arm was a little further away, ready to strike. He made sure to unlock his knees so he was ready to move.

Kiellan watched as Jaryd moved backwards, forwards and sideways, always in a steady rhythm. Left-right, right-left, like a beating of drums. Especially the sideways movement looked complicated; that would be annoying in an actual fight. Kiellan tried to take in as much as possible, but when Jaryd told him to start practicing the moves, he almost fell at his first try.

After about fifteen minutes, the moving forward and backward seemed much more natural. The rhythm to it seemed logical, left-right, and he moved forward, right-left and he moved backward, and eventually, Kiellan managed a fair imitation of Jaryd's precise movements. Some details took him a bit longer, but overall, it worked.

Things didn't go so smoothly with the sideways movements. It was a complicated maneuver that required him to take two steps to move only one step to the side. It took him about half an hour, moving his right foot out, closing the distance with his left foot and stepping out again, but eventually, he managed to do it. It wasn't pretty, but it worked, somewhat. Hopefully Jaryd would be content.

Finally, he worked on the pivoting. It had seemed so easy when Jaryd had done it, but that had been misleading. Turning himself efficiently was a lot harder than it sounded, although it didn't feel as unnatural as the moving sideways. Still, it took him quite a while until he got used to it. Stepping back, turning his body with it yet keeping his center of gravity in the middle wasn't easy, and there were some times where Kiellan accidentally shifted his center of gravity too far left or right, losing his balance. He was relieved when he finally managed to execute the movements efficiently, and practiced them a couple more times to make sure it hadn't been a fluke.

Finally satisfied, he looked up at Jaryd. "Was that about right? It felt okay."

"Excellent work," Jaryd said when Kiellan looked to him. "The important thing to remember now is that you have to practice every day, until you can shift stances as easily as walking. Otherwise, when you get in a real fight you will forget where to put your feet- a potentially fatal mistake. Plus, practicing will give you an advantage even if you don't have a blade." He turned quickly, retrieving his live dagger and one of the blunt blades off the bench.

The knife he held in his hand had a claw-shaped blade barely the length of his longest finger. Both edges were sharpened to a wicked edge, and the metal had the rippling appearance of good quality folded steel. The handle was comprised of two pieces of redwood encasing the metal. It followed the curve of the blade, though not as extremely, and ended in a steel ring. It truly didn't look like that deadly a weapon. Jaryd handed the knife to Kiellan; the other Altaran took it and examined it curiously. "That is Watari. It means 'decision' in the Old Tongue. I named her so as a reminder that fighting is a choice, not a requirement."

He traded blades with Kiellan, holding Watari lightly in his right palm. "There are many ways to hold such a blade, but the most common and safest way is like so." He turned it so the blade curved away from him and his index finger curled lightly through the ring, the metal stopping on the middle joint of his finger. Held so, the fleshy part of his palm and his thumb fell naturally along the outer spine, and his remaining three fingers fell naturally so that most of the handle had been encased in his hand. He tightened his grip a little, and the knife held firm. "As you can see, when held like this it is both completely secure, and nearly invisible." He smiled, a curve of lips nearly as wicked as the curve of his blade.

"Do not form a fist around the knife," he demonstrated, pushing his index finger all the way through the ring and tightening his grip. A full inch of the handle near the blade was exposed with that simple modification. "Holding it like this will cause you to tense your arm too much and loose some mobility, and the impact of a blow could do permanent damage to your wrist. However, when held correctly, you can do all kinds of....flashy...things."

Grinning like a boy, the Asha'man flipped the knife in his hand, then swung his hands in an intricate pattern, the knife flickering from side to side with practiced ease and speed. "Were I facing an unpracticed opponent, every move I make would result in a deep cut. Unlike a straight blade, Watari follows the curve of my strike, so I can strike once with the inner blade" and he swiped up savagely, "and then back, without losing momentum." He brought the knife back down. "If I'm lucky, I can even come down from that second strike and end with a jab...like prying a nail free from a board." He pushed his elbow away from his body and twisted his wrist at the same time, showing the necessary motion.

He slowed his movements then, showing Kiellan how he held his body, how to keep his wrist straight so he could use the line from fist to elbow as a visual guide to aim his strikes. "This all becomes infinitely more complicated on the streets," he commented as he watched Kiellan practice, "but the important part with this, just as with the stances, is to make it second nature."

--

OOC: Okay, so...I kinda burned out on the explicit description at the end, please forgive me. Feel free to have fun with whatever you want to do.

This is what I was trying to describe with the grip:
http://i.imgur.com/GIlIMtA.jpg

Kiellan nodded, he had thought of that himself. He had a pretty busy life, but he could try to wake up half an hour early so he could get some practice before breakfast. It would be good, he liked working out early. And the practice would be invaluable in an actual combat situation. Learning something was one thing, but mastering it was something else entirely.

He felt excited as when he saw Jaryd got his dagger out. He understood why the steps and movement practice was necessary, but he had come here for the action. Kiellan didn't know anything about good weaponry, but the blade looked good, and incredibly sharp. It was small, and slightly curved, but Kiellan knew enough to not underestimate the blade because of its size. He had seen men and women be killed by the smallest blades, usually because they underestimated its danger. He smiled at the dagger's name. Watari. It seemed fitting, as that was what Kiellan kept telling himself as well.

It felt good to finally hold the blade himself. The handle was a bit too small for his enormous hands, but it suited good enough for practice. It had been years since Kiellan had held a dagger, not since the time his brother Pettar had shown him some things as well. Not that Pettar really knew how to use the thing. Following Jaryd's lead, Kiellan slid his index finger through the ring, until the blade was steady in his hand, the cruel edge curved away from him. The dagger felt comfortable, or would have had the blade been fitted for his hand, and as Jaryd said, the hilt was hidden in his palm.

Kiellan tried to loosen his grip a little, without letting go of the blade too much. It was a careful balance, because if his grip would be too loose, his control over the blade would become feeble, and he would be unable to control it. He tried for a bit, letting go of his grip and tightening it, to see what felt most comfortable yet still practical, and eventually he found something similar to Jaryd's grip. He felt ready for the fight.

That readiness left him as he saw Jaryd's fluid, confident movements, the precise slashes in the air. It was hard enough to follow the movement of the blade with his eyes, but it seemed impossible to Kiellan to ever counter someone who fought with such confidence and precision. As the Asha'man explained how those moves could completely ravish someone's body, Kiellan's confidence sunk even further. But, he tried telling himself, he was only at the start of learning about this, and Jaryd was an expert who had trained at this for years. That was a little comforting.

He took the same stance Jaryd had adopted, and tried to use the line of his arm as a guide, like Jaryd had. Balancing the blade in his palm, he started repeating Jaryd's motions, only much less intricate and clumsier. He managed to swing the blade around a couple of times without hurting himself, but that was all that could be said. Again, he nodded at Jaryd. Hopefully, things would get better with practice. They had to.

OOC: Not sure if this is what you wanted, but I tried following the instructions :0 Next time, I'll look up some pictures myself, but I was kind of in a hurry here

Jaryd hid a smile as Kiellan swung the blade around experimentally; the sight brought back memories of his own first attempts. After he had seen enough to appraise Kiellan's self-awareness, he tucked Watari into her sheathe on his belt, retrieved the other practice knife, and settled into a defense stance. After a moment, the taller man followed suit, facing him uncertainly. "The Aiel call fighting a dance, and they are not far off the mark. Both activities require a give and take of movement. In a dance, one person moves forward and the other moves back. In a fight, one person attacks and the other counters in some way. In both cases tehy then move naturally into the next move, guided by movement and posture. In dancing, the man typically leads; in a fight, the person who knows the rules best leads, because they have the freedom to decide what to do next."

His feet shifted, and he saw Kiellan tense. Good. "There are three basic "levels" of contact in a fight- high, middle, and low. This can describe either the area of the body that you are targeting, or the type of attack you are making. Each level has its own advantages, and once you know more of what you are doing, you can shift between them with ease, choosing your attacks, counters, and evasions to suit your specific situation and purpose."

He grinned up at the much taller man. "For instance, I would not recommend using a low attack on me in a real fight. You would be doubled over like the Green Man at a children's festival just for a chance to hit, and I could stab you in the eye while you fumble with your feet. Similarly, I would not recommend I make a high attack against you as I would have to over extend and expose myself to attack." His tone was amused, not mocking. Each body type and height had its own advantage, and he had grown accustomed to his strengths and weaknesses many years since.

"Please attempt to strike my head or shoulders- but move slowly." Kiellan clearly had not expected that command, but he made a tolerable swipe at Jaryd's face. Jaryd ducked down and to the side in slow motion, following the direction of the younger man's blow, then pivoted, his knife hand swinging up to gently rest against the side of Kiellan's throat. "That is a basic counter attack. It can and most likely will be blocked, but that is for a later lesson- for now, we will work on mastering it," he said in a cheerful voice.

"With this dagger, you can strike up, down, to the side, or forward, regardless of where you are aiming. Generally speaking, however, a "high" attack is considered one that either comes from above, or from the side at head level. The important thing to remember is to keep your off hand up to protect your middle," he shook his fist in front of his chest, "and to keep your legs bent and relaxed, for ease of movement. It's important to remember that high attacks leave you wide open for devastating counters if you aren't careful. As you saw a moment ago, a shorter and faster opponent can duck right under your arm and gain the freedom to strike here," He touched his neck, "here," and he touched his abdomen, "or here," he twisted his arm up to pat his back, "with relative impunity. They might even be able to get at your legs if they are fast enough or your stance is off."

He let his hands fall. "That is not to say that high attacks should be avoided. A well-placed strike at an opponent's neck will end a fight in moments, while a feint at their face could throw them off balance enough to land a blow elsewhere." He nodded to Kiellan. "Let's practice."

---

OOC: Practice the counter Jaryd showed him, and then also practice attacking while maintaining the proper positioning of arms and legs.
Also- it is six posts minimum (from you) for you to get one WS point. Did you want to stick to just that, or keep going for a while and get two?

Kiellan laughed. He had always been a bad dancer. At least, that's how he saw himself. There hadn't been a lot of dancing in the Rahad, of course. Dancing was a rich man's pleasure. Well, maybe not a rich man's, but certainly not for the poor. Thanks to his mother, Kiellan hadn't been as hungry as most of the others in the Rahad, but there was hardly any money left for a drink in a tavern. There had been the occasional get-together with some of his mother's friends and their children, but not frequently enough to really learn. There didn't seem to be much dancing in the Tower, either. He could hardly imagine any of the stiff Aes Sedai and Asha'man dancing, except for the select few. Like the man in front of him. He hoped Jaryd could teach him how to dance with the blades.

Kiellan tensed as he saw Jaryd move. They were about to start. He listened carefully to what the man had to say, but also never lost his focus. He kept up his position, ready for a sudden blow to come. If there was anything he had learned from fighting in the Rahad, it was that fighting wasn't fair, and it wasn't meant to be fair. You were supposed to take any advantage you could get, and assume your opponent would do the same. Just because Jaryd was talking, didn't mean he couldn't strike.

It seemed logical what the Asha'man said, but it was still good to have explained. Kiellan had always been aware of the advantages of his size, but it couldn't hurt to hear the disadvantages as well. He had always been glad to be this tall, it had helped him in the Rahad. His whole life had been a struggle, but his size had made sure nobody would look at him and think he was an easy prey. Plus, strength came naturally for someone as tall as him, and combined with his weight, it had made sure few people had been able to beat him in a fight, if it came to that. It was true that it was hard to swing low, however.

He had no idea why Jaryd wanted him to move slowly -surely, the man was more than capable of blocking even Kiellan's fastest strike- but he obeyed. People in the Tower hated it when he didn't obey, and he didn't want to antagonize one of the few Asha'man he actually liked. Slowly, he swiped at Jaryd's face, but Jaryd, again slowly, ducked and moved away, and, in one swift motion, turned and swung his arm upwards, until his imaginary blade was at Kiellan's throat.

After Jaryd finished his explanation, it was Kiellan's time to practice. He shook his legs, to make sure he would be able to move quickly if necessary. He took the correct stance, and swiped at Jaryd's head again, this time much faster. It wasn't fast enough, however, as the Asha'man quickly ducked under his arm and moved his hand to Kiellan's throat again. It took him some more tries before he was finally able to sidestep Jaryd's counterattack, and even more before he managed to hit Jaryd's head, softly of course. They practiced the movements until they came smoothly, but eventually, Kiellan managed to put up a reasonable fight.

Then, it was time to learn the counterattack himself. Again, he took the beginning stance, and readied himself to move, but before he was even ready, he had to step back to avoid falling over. Jaryd's blow had already hit him, and although it hadn't been hard, it had caught him off guard. Strangely, he felt the urge to grin. The other man had obviously learned the same lessons about making the most of your advantages. He felt closer than ever the Asha'man; not only had they grown up in the same area, but it had taught them the same lessons. He wasn't about to give up, though. Once more, he readied himself, and this time, he ducked before the fist had even started moving, and closed in when it soared over his head. He had to drop a lot lower than Jaryd to do that, but he had moved so early that he had succeeded. His counterblow was quickly blocked by Jaryd's off-hand, however. It took him a lot more time before he was finally able to duck and avoid the Asha'man's hand in one smooth motion, and even than, it hadn't been fast enough, as Jaryd simply stepped aside. He hadn't been fully able to execute the move, but he thought it had been a reasonable attempt.

OOC: I think I'm just going to go for one point with this thread. Perhaps we can do more further on? You're a great teacher by the way

Jaryd kept a mental list of commentary as he and Kiellan traded blows. Foremost on his mind was the question: Why didn't Kiellan know more? He moved hesitantly, but other than the normal fumbled footwork one could expect from someone just learning, he had a natural flow to his movements that belied his lack of experience. Perhaps it was as his mother had once said when he came home from a fight- hot blood ran in Ebou Dari veins, and it simply could not be denied.

With a smile, Jaryd stepped back and held up his hand for a pause. "Excellent," he said simply. "You will need to practice for speed, but you have the general idea down." He glanced at the sun, thinking. "I have time to show you one more combination today. I encourage you to try it on your own, and if you'd like to learn more, my door is always open." Even after being M'hael, he found it strange to be in a position to offer mentorship to another. How long had it been since he had enjoyed genuine friendshp?

He flipped the knife, then stuck it in his belt to face Kiellan bare-handed. "This one would be easier to show you with a third party, but we can practice slowly until you get it, and then pick up speed. Guard." Kiellan stepped back. "Let's suppose someone tried to punch your face with their right hand," the Red said conversationally. He aimed a fist at the other Altaran's head, and the Dedicated automatically brought his left hand up inside the blow to block him. "Excellent. Now let's suppose in addition to that hand, you also brought your right hand across your chest and caught my wrist with the inside of your knife; this gives you a moment to pull your left hand around for a better grip on my arm. You can then shove it away, freeing your right hand to stab at my face." Kiellan did just that, and Jaryd broke away, laughing. "Yes, like that."

"There are ways to extend this; if I blocked that last jab, you could let go with your hand and punch my face, wrap your right arm around mine, and potentially cut my hand off with your knife. However....let's just practice that first part and see how it goes. Ready?"
---

OOC: I checked the reqs, you actually only need five posts apparently. That was a great post, by the way!

Kiellan beamed at Jaryd's complement. It was always nice to hear someone appreciate his hard work, and he genuinely respected the Red Asha'man. Their common heritage truly had created a bond between them, but even apart from that, Jaryd was a genuinely nice man, completely different from most of the Asha'man Kiellan had met during his stay in the Tower. Most were arrogant, and condescending toward their students, but not Jaryd. The man always treated Kiellan with as much respect as he felt for his fellow Ebou Dari.

Kiellan almost smiled at how casual Jaryd was about it. Most people wouldn't understand how much violence was a part of life for someone from the Rahad, but Jaryd understood, of course. He had known it, too. Surprised, Kiellan reacted instinctively at Jaryd's punch, and brought up his left arm to block the Red's right hand. He cursed at himself. He shouldn't have been surprised. He knew that he should expect dirty play in a fight, and that he should always be on his toes. From now on, he would make sure that he was ready. He tried to follow what Jaryd was talking about, although he wasn't sure he fully got it. Still, he tried to follow the Asha'man's orders, and apparently, he did an okay job.

Still, there was some perfecting to do. The first time had been slow, and as they sped the whole thing up, Kiellan realized it was a lot harder than it had seemed at first. The first time they tried it at realistic speed, he wasn't even able to block Jaryd's punch, and got the fist right in the face, although luckily not hard. The second time was better. Kiellan managed to hold Jaryd's right fist with his left hand, and wrapped his right hand, containing the knife, around that, allowing his left hand to take control. The next part was too sloppy, however, and Jaryd was able to wrestle his arm free before Kiellan could do anything about it. It took him some more tries before he managed to get it right, including pushing Jaryd's arm away to free up the Asha'man's face for his knife to strike at.

They practiced a while longer, and by the time they were done, Kiellan realized how late it was. He knew he had to wake up early the next day, for one of his classes on history of the Grey Tower, and he still had some work to do for that as well. His stomach had started to rumble as well, and it was getting dark and cold outside. They wouldn't be able to see properly before long anyway. Kiellan turned to Jaryd Asha'man. "Thank you, Asha'man. Your lessons have been most enlightening. But I'm afraid I have to leave now, if I still want to get some food. With your permission, of course." Kiellan waited for the Red to give his permission, and then bowed, before turning around and leaving the Yards.

OOC: Thanks so much for the lesson!