"Could one of you could smother that flame before it spreads?"
Fia nods. "Of course." She channels, hardening the air so as to smother the flames.
the flames are out. and the pathway is clear
Rhoekk will start heading down the stairs cautiously.
"Stay at least several steps behind me, just in case."
He reaches down with the butt of his spear and presses each step firmly, from a few steps up, before continuing down and eventually stepping on it himself.
you find no traps.
the hallway extends another 50 feet before ending at a door. the torchlight down here only extends halfway, before a large stretch of darkness fills the hall. At the far end is the door, guarded by a lone lantern. The glint of metal reflects from the door knob and iron bands that hold the door together.
Alathea nods in reply to Moira's warning. "I will keep a close eye on her." She pauses for a moment, as if trying to decide if she should speak, then adds, "If trouble awaits behind this door, will you help us?" She accompanies her question by raising her free hand to her neck, making a fist, and quickly and deliberately pulling it away.
A look of sheer determination and anger overcomes the matrons face. I will make them all pay for this she says, staring at Alathea; her look so hard it is capable of driving nails through wood.
none that you can tell.
Rhoekk holds his spear lightly in his right hand and readies his buckler in his left. He waits until his companions come down the stairs and are near, but makes sure they are back at least 15 ft or so from the door. He first presses an ear to the door to listen for sounds and then pushes it open with his bucklered left hand.
worthless the voice says.
Mistress, what about... her? a deep thunderous voice asks in a respectful tone.
I will have to face her, alone. I will not allow the Seanchan and you Gardeners to feel her wrath. I will face her, alone. Go, my friend. As those Aiel are prone to saying [b]may you find water and shade
shuffling of feet is heard, and slowly, the noise quiets to a single rasping sound, of steel on stone.
We must be ready for anything beyond this door. Remember, there are ter'angreal beyond this door, and some of those will react violently to those who channel in this room without proper precautions. The aes sedai says as she straightens her dress, as if its armor.
"Past time you'd mention what those 'precautions' are, then," Ryvin says, her voice a little too dry.
She gently elbows Alathea. "How about a quick crash course on Linking before we rush in?"
What precautions, exactly?
Directing her answer at Fia, the aes sedai responds.
well, you need to go in there without embracing saidar, or saidan. You must not have any weaves held or tied off. Any ter'angreal must be taken off, or put away some how. Do not come within 5 feet of the benches at this door without going to the center column first. Do not pick anything up.
Once at the center column, you can only embrace the smallest amount of saidar before approaching one of these items, if you wish to examine. To pick up, do not be holding it at all.
"For those of us who don't have honest steel, that means going in unarmed," Ryvin says in a bleak tone of voice. She clutches her fiery staff as if it is holding her upright.
Alathea nods at Ryvin and looks meaningfully at Moira before explaining. "It is a difficult thing to put into words, yes? You must reach for saidar, must put yourself just on the edge of accepting it into you, but not cross that final step. The one leading the Circle will reach through you to the True Source and complete the Link." She shakes her head. "It is like explaining to a small child how to walk, yes? I can tell you how to do it, but you must do it yourself to learn."
"Alright then," Ryvin says, "one try before we go in. Stand at the breach, I'll reach through you."
"I have an extra staff if anyone should wish to use it. I can attest to its sturdiness, I shaped the staff myself from a wonderful tree whom my family has had a long standing relationship with. Indeed this tree has been there for the Suth's through good times and bad". Amorial removes his treesung staff from its sling on his back should anyone choose to utilize it. If not he will hold both the staff and the axe for now.
"I am ready with blade in hand" She says as she holds points it down to the floor and watches the door.
"I'll thank you for that staff, sir Ogier," Ryvin quickly pipes up.
I too am ready with blade in hand and sheild at the ready
Kodokura also draws his single-edged sword, a sturdy and well-maintained Shienaran blade. He takes a simple but classic two-handed stance, and appears to at least know how to hold the weapon correctly.
Looks to Kodokura and smiles"Remind me Kodokura to walk you through some techniques, Cause if you are gonna carry a sword around me, you are gonna at least be able to wield it properly, whether you can wield the one power or not,I'm so going make a swordsman out of you" she says as she still stands with sword blade down the elegant blade Gander in her hand its neck accented in beautiful detail of a peaceful bird with its slender graceful neck, and the lovely gleam it gave even in the low light.
"Unless you think a woman like me, couldn't possibly know how to wield a sword better than you" She gave a playful smirk as she seamlessly slid into a simple stance her blade form flawless.
Ryland holds his hand up and puts his face to the door, inhaling strongly through his nose.
Alathea closes her eyes and places herself on the edge of saidar, so close that she had to actively restrain herself from surrendering to it. "I am ready, Ryvin. Reach through me and embrace saidar..."
Agony, and misery, it has seeped deeply from the other side of this door. Torture has occurred in this room. Torture and something else, something hidden, elusive.
Amorial, you smell him, yet not like him. Where he is earthy, fragrant like an oak tree, this smell is like iron and steel. A hardness made from combat and trials.
An unknown woman, slight scent lingering. perhaps a finger touched the door, barely. Hard to pin point.
A vileness, a taint against ones own kind. A sickness that has pervaded the body to the marrow.
A final scent, very faint, almost able to pass over, but one that has dire consequences. You have smelled it before. You have fought this thing, multiple times. On the borderlands, they demand the law of light, the burning of lanterns at night, no shadows.
To gaze upon their face is to know death...
Fade
Myrddrall
Kodokura shakes his head slightly. "Certainly not, lady. And learning, whatever the subject, is its own reward."
The Asha'man focuses on the door and the man with his nose against it.
hearing the response she gives a little smile and nod, and than shifts to a two handed grip, and she begins to shift eagerly from her right leg to her left as she readys her self for battle
The glow of saidar around Ryvin briefly winks out, then comes on again at full force, seeming to reach out to Alathea...
Ryland jerks away from the door as if punched and snarls. As he turns his head towards the others his eyes never leave the door.
"Fade." Another snarl escapes the boarderlander as he backs away from the door.
"And others. One of those Gardners maybe. A woman. Something unnatural. Be sure, beyond this door, death waits."
Kodokura's face hardens into a cold snarl at Ryland's words, although his knuckles grow white on the hilt of his sword.
Litheene's grip tightens on the angreal, and she draws with all her might upon the source, forms of spirit threads clear in her mind.
She speaks to the Aes Sedai not moving her eyes from the door As it happens, I had expirience with terangreal before, especially those related to Seanchan Litheene slows her speech during the last statment, finishing it with a clear, Seanchan born accent, her mannerism suddenly that of a the low blood born she once was, the features of her look noticable even in the surrounding torchlight. She throws a quick glance at the matron, to see if she noticed. Aside from the gentling rod, what are the items behind this door? And where did they come from? And what's unique about the central pillar?
"Wonderful"She says as she rolls her eyes and smiles a bit "Never fought one before but seems like a good day as any" she says as rolls her blade in her hand as she grows a little restless wanting to get in there and slay these Shadowspawn and the Darkfriends with in.
Her face is impassive as Fiallain listens to Ryland's news. So either they are likely to be evacuating their 'assets' as we speak, or else are hoping to lure us in where we will be handicapped by not being able to channel... and I am in no shape to face a fade, especially without channeling either. She grinds her teeth in frustration.
Fia turns back to the Aes Sedai to hear her response to Litheene's questions. She still holds the source, and for now she intended to hold it until she sees the Aes Sedai relinquinsh her own hold on it.
Rhoekk smiles, "A fade? I've longed to challenge one."
He places his had on the door and asks, "Are you all ready?"
If there are no objections, he throws the door wide.
Litheene motions for Rhoekk her desire to hear the answers before proceeding. She has faced fades before, in the forest of Tachico, and the memory of her expirience didn't lessen with time. The fear, the gaze, and thier ability to fight and escape despite being trapped by the one power. Fighting such an oponent while impaired by hostile terangreal, unable to channel, and facing a potential channeller ahead, and maybe from behind, causes her to maintain a full hold on the source.
"I'm ready to show these fiends , My dancing skills" she says as she keeps shifting from foot to foot eager to let her steel taste blood.
Looking at Litheene, she smirks Im sure you have, child. But in answer to your other questions, ill answer what i can. There is an orange sphere about the size of a head, if you channel fire at it, it bursts into flame. There is a belt, im not sure what it does. A necklace that is hung with a large diamond. It's cool to the touch, but my testing hasn't revealed anything. There is a box, with red buttons in the exact center, not sure what it does. There are several rods on a table on the far side of the room. The one that is black with gold inlay, that is the one that threatens the Dragon. The others, one i believe could be a sa'angreal, and another an angreal for men. the rest, im not sure of. As for where did they come from, i do not know. Majority of them were with this group when i was collared, and others were captured when they abducted people. As for the pillar, I know not. It is plastered in white, with lines cut into it at every foot. It is used to support the mansion, this i know, and a fire down here would bring the mansion down.
Why go to the pillar before approaching the benches?
because the pillar is equidistant to all the tables, and i have found that embracing the source at the pillar gives you enough distance to embrace, and slowly walk, giving you plenty of time to react should a ter'angreal go off from your presence. If you want to be foolish and get yourself stilled because you embraced the source next to a ter'angreal without the precautions, then so be it.
the aes sedai removes herself from Saidar.
The sphere is probably a signal device, the rest I'll have to see more closely to glean more information, I guess Litheene speaks to no one in particular. Ignoring the diminishing remarks of the Aes Sedai, she nods, smiling thankfully, as if the women was enthusiastic in helping her.
Her hand shuffles in her cloak to find the hound amulet, and make sure it's wrapped up tight. She then releases her hold on the angreal, putting it away in an inner pocket, her hand close to it, but not touching. With that, she then slowly, with great reluctance, releases Saidar, and nods to Rhoekk that she is ready for opening the gate.