Fiallain rises with the sun and spends a few minutes stretching and working the kinks out of her back. Feeling much more limber, she grabs spear in hand and sets off to scrounge for breakfast.
Jed nods to Alathea, trying not to show just how tired he really is. "Thank you, Alathea. I hope you slept well? Our companions have not returned yet. If they don't return in a few more hours, I'd like to go into the city to see if I can find them." After her response, Jed goes to catch a little more sleep, it having been disrupted due to the watch schedule.
after stuffing his face, Jasper will gather up his pocket lint.
alright, we should move out before they decide to do something more dumb than usual.Jasper says.
Suiting his words, he turns and heads out the door. Jasper stops for a moment, talking to the chef and getting a large order of food put into a bag, enough for everyone at the camp.
walking out the front door, Jasper heads back to the old tannery.
Breakfast eaten Jasper, Ryland and Pace head out from the Spray to return to their companions. On their way, Jasper finds the seamstress recommended to him and manages to purchase an outfit on his way. While its not as current a style as women are wearing, it was the best she could do on such short notice.
As the sun shines over Tanchico and the heat rises, its easy to see the effect of the previous day's exploits. The Seanchan presence is even larger and the brief snippets of talk you hear all tell of an increased number of damane in the city as apparently there were Aes Sedai present and even involved in some kind of battle.
With some luck you are able to find Litheene's inn and convince the stableboy to relenquish her horse to your care. Animal in tow, you reach the city limits and begin making your way to the shack in the woods.
----------
Some hours later Jed indicates to the women that someone is coming. Motioning them back, he and Fiallain move forward cautiously only to find it is their companions with a horse in tow. Ryland nods to Jed before continuing on. Jasper and Pace sent the message. Now we wait.
right, so there we were, seanchan all around us, but we never batted an eye. we stared them down and sent them back into the ocean. shoulda been there. there was a parade. and streamers. and i even got this new dress, for a lady friend, from a lady friend. Jasper finishes with a wink, throwing the package at Alathea.
debts been paid. he finishes in a serious voice.
Jasmine stifles a grin at Jasper's antics with Alathea before saying I take it by the lack of explosions the mission was successful?
Pace nods, "We met up with the man at the Slaty Spray, although it took us a while to find it. We sent a message by bird to have Delovial meet us back at the clearing where he opened the Gate here. It should probably take a couple of days to get to him, so we should go back to the clearing and camp nearby."
Ugh. Lol
Jed helps search for the clearing, trying to look for any distinguishing features of the surrounding area that he may remember. Occasionally he takes breaks to walk alongside Jasmine and make small talk.
While Alathea's never had to survive in the wild before, she's always had a good sense of direction. That one time when Ralin and Jak took me out into the woods at night looking for snipe and left me out there, I made it back home before they did! Mother was so angry with them that I might have gotten lost, but I wasn't worried at all!
Even though she doesn't know exactly where the madman's gateway was, she remembers where the city was in the distance when they stepped through and what the surrounding hills looked like. With that in mind, she suggests the direction that she thinks will take her and her companions back there.
Litheene's mood rises the moment she sees not only that the men returned without angering the seanchan any further, but they've also managed to get her horse back.
Thank you she says in a genuine voice, while noding to them and taking the reins. now we can be on our way away from here
Sadly we didn't discover any angreal or additional terangreal, thou some of the items looted were valuable, and can perhaps be sold
When we walk through the landscape searching, Litheene can't help much as she never saw the place, but she rides by Alathea, Jasmine and Fiallain, and signals them for a quite conversation.
In addition, learning more about the weaving of the wise one is interesting, we know so little of thier tradition Litheene thinks to herself.
Jasper just stares dumbfounded at everyone, and slowly anger and rage forms on his face. He opens his mouth a number of times, as if wanting to say something but snaps it shut with audible snaps.He drops the large bundle of food onto the ground, turns, and walks off into the woods away from everyone.
Hearing everyone packing up, Jasper returns a few minutes later, and grabs the sack of food. tying it off on his saddle, jasper hangs back to the rear of the party, letting others get further and further ahead, just far enough that they are almost out of sight.
Alathea catches the package that Jasper throws to her and opens it. It doesn't appear to be in a style that I'd choose, but the color is very nice and it looks to be well made. She smiles warmly at Jasper. "Thank you, Jasper. It is beautiful; I shall have to wear it tomorrow, yes?"
anger melting from his face, Jasper nods. your welcome. And its your dress, you can wear it whenever. Looking alathea up and down, Jasper suddenly grins i had to guess the measurements.
Ryland shrugs his shoulders and recovers the rest of his kit before attempting to figure out what clearing the popped into.
Survival:
Jasmine nods at Litheene's statement although she had learned the weave the last time it was shown.
Foretell Weather
Warmth
Conjunction:
False Trail
Elementalism:
Arms of Air
Fiery Sword
Harden Air
Light
Healing:
Heal the Mind ;)
Illusion:
Eavesdrop
dont want you to feel left out on the receiving end
Surprisingly it is Alathea who manages to recall enough of the terrain and landmarks to be able to make your way back to the clearing. Soon you find yourselves back where you started, a small cleared space amongst a copse of trees a few miles outside of Tanchico. You can even see the near vertical slice in a tree trunk from the Asha'man's Gateway.
Hobbling the horses, you begin setting up camp. The sun begins to lower in the sky as you settle in and wait.
Alathea sighs in relief as she finds the gateway-scarred trees, and calls out to her companions that they've arrived. The fear that she was leading the party the wrong way had been creeping up on her for a while, and she didn't want to be wandering around the countryside for any longer than necessary. We make a memorable group, I would think, and if the Seanchan or the Darkfriends have our descriptions, it wouldn't take too many questions to the local farmers to find us. Dismounting and tying her horse to a tree, she begins to clear brush and gather wood for a fire.
Ryland moves his pack and bed roll to the edge of the tree line and sets up his camp.
perhaps we should scout this area first, before we move in, and see if anyone, besides ourselves, has been in the area. Jasper says.
seeing Jed and Ryland sparing, jasper walks up onto them and waits until they pause.
i was wondering if i could get some lessons in how to use one of those swords? i never really had a need to learn before, since i could just burn people alive, but apparently some dont like to see people burned, so i think i should learn how to swing a sword without killing myself. And, in exchange, should you have any questions or curiosity concerning channeling, i can answer and perhaps teach...
Ryland rest and looks at Jasper for a moment before nodding his head. "Alright, if you want to learn and are ready to learn I will try and teach you. First we need to get you a sword that suits your skill level." He walks over to his pack and retreives his camp axe then walks into the woods returning after a short while with what seems to be two ash limb around the width of his wrist and around 4 feet in length.
"Here is your sword, treat as such." Ryland hands the young man the sparring sword and shows him the basics of gripping the weapon. "Think of the sword hilt as if it were a bird. If you grip it to tight you will crush your captive, and if you do not grip it tight enough it will escape." He then walks him through the beginings of a basic ready stance, correcting the position of Jasper's body and his weapon. "After you learn the basics we will begin on the forms."
looking at the stick in his hand, Jasper looks up at Ryland with a frank look of 'seriously?'. Shruggins his shoulders and grasping at the void, Jasper watches and learns.
After Alathea and her companions have settled and set up a camp, she waits until things have settled down, until she sees Pace off by himself and away from the hearing of the others. She gathers up her skirts and slips over to him, hoping not to draw the attention of the rest of her companions. In a low voice, she asks, "Pace? May I speak with you for a moment?"
Jasmine will take some time to talk with Jed about all the things that have been happening in addition to keeping their bond strong. She watches the men practice their swords.
Sometime during the first few hours together she will draw Litheene, Fiallain, and Alathea aside to speak with them privately. Weaving a small ward against eavesdropping she will then say Jasper and Pace seem much better since coming back from the town but I wanted to know when and how we should approach them about our weave to allay their madness? I even think it is something that could be done on a regular basis should they allow it. We could link to provide the energy for it and then have the possibility of it lasting a decent amount of time. I am willing to approach Pace with the idea if we should decide to do so. What do you think?
Alathea frowns at Jasmine's suggestion. "However we decide to bring this to Pace and Jasper, I think that they will not want to hear it from me. I still do not think that this weave will work, but I am willing to see what happens."
Pace is crouched near his things, working on a broken piece of tack. He gives Alathea a sideways glance, his face unreadable except for a slight look of curiosity. "Of course, what do you need?"
this is the basics? oooooo so difficult jasper says as he goes through the motions.
After ten minutes of swinging the sword, Jaspers arms start to feel like jelly, and the sword trembles as he holds it. affixing a sly grin, jasper gasps wooo. just like i thought. oooooo
After watching Jasper practice Ryland smiles. "Time to take a break. Put up your sword and lets practice your leg work. If you can not get in position your strikes will do nothing."
Ryland shows Jasper basic foot work movement to move in different directions and to reverse his stamce. "Keep that up and you will be able to start sparring."
Alathea bites her lip, unsure how to best continue. To discuss such a thing is difficult with anybody, but so much more so with a madman! Finally, she takes a deep breath and speaks. "Please take my words with the best intentions, Pace. If I say something wrong, please know that I don't mean to offend you." Smoothing her skirt, she looks down for a moment, but meets his eyes again. "Two nights ago, you implied that I mean to 'hunt' you. I know you may have said that in anger, but I feel I must explain myself, yes? You must know that I don't intend to hunt you, or any other man like you. I do see you as dangerous, but I have seen the madness and corruption that awaits a man who can touch saidin with my own eyes." She shudders, even though the night isn't particularly cold. "I don't want to see that again, especially not with you or Jasper. I know that I cannot hold off your madness, but I do wish to..." She trails off, as if afraid to say the next part. "If the madness grows too much for you, I wish to help."