[WoT Adventure] Turn 3

[Valkys]

Sirsei rolls her eyes and crosses her arms beneath her breasts, "That's it. This is ridiculous."

She walks over to Ashrem and Yuri, "I think I'm better off sticking with you two for awhile." She smiles at them, her gaze resting on Yuri, "You were very good last night. I doubt Tomas would have lasted long without you. I just wanted you to know."

She glances back at Jain and Shalimar to see whether they've resolved their conflict before sighing heavily and following the two men.

 

[drothgery]

The false Dragon

With a little work, you manage to find someplace where even Shalimar has a decent view. It's hard not to notice when the procession begins to come into view.

[from the book]
The crowd surges forward, straining at the line of Guards who barely hold the street clear. As the lead elements of the procession round the corner, the air is spkit by the pealing of trumpets and the responding roar of the crowd. Rank after rank of trumpeters appear, followed by scores of drummers. As these musicians pass your position, a hundred ranks of horsemen flanked by scors and scores of archers and pikemen file around hte corner, the first ranks carrying aloft the banners of Andor; white lions on fields of red. Armor glitters in the cold sunshine, lances are held proudly aloft, and crimson banners flutter in the breeze.

Then, a massive wagon appears. four hitches of four giant workhorses pull the enormous vehicle, upon which sits an iron cage surounded by stately women, two at each corner -- Aes Sedai, surely <though Sirsei and Shalimar do not recognize any of them>. As the wagon appears you can make out a dozen men on horseback around it, wearing strange cloaks that shimmer and seem to disappear as they blow in the breeze <though of course Yuri, Sirsei, and Shalimar recognize the men as Warders, even if they don't recognize the men specifically>. Their eyes scan the crowd relentlessly.

But it is not they who hold your gaze as the wagon draws near. For there, in the cage, is Logain himself. The false Dragon is a tall man, with long dark hair that hangs in curls about his shoulders. He stares out at the crowd defiantly, suddenly making the processional seem a regal escort rather than a capturing army; the cage a stately coach rather than an iron prison. As he passes, his eyes seem to fall, for just a moment, on you, and you sense the power of the man.
[/from the book]

Except for Pedron, that is. While almost everyone was staring at the False Dragon, he managed to relieve an Andoran merchant of her purse. and 20 mk.

 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Jain Hadlin

You can't help but respect that. Thats a man that you may cage, but you'll never defeit.

"He's strong, they' ll never break that one. I don't think the Amrilyn herself could break him. By the light, I've seen some hard men, but never like that" Jain utters all this in an awed whisper.

I don't think I could be that strong if worked at it for an age.

 

[Valkys]

Sirsei closes her eyes once Logain is passed, burning his image into her memory. When she opens them, she sighs sadly before looking at Jain, "It won't take the Amyrlin to break him. The Red Ajah has him now. He'll be gentled."

She takes a deep breath, "There was a sister, a few years ago who accidently stilled herself while studying a ter'angreal." She suppresses a shiver, "She's dead now. She lost the will to live." She looks up the street at the back of he carriage, "He'll be like that too. I've read about others like him."

She shakes her head, "I can't help but feel sorry for him. Like I'd feel sorry for a caged lion, I suppose. They're both dangerous. And this one's a man-killer. He has to be put down."

She turns away from the spectacle, "All right. I'm ready to go back to the Inn now. That's what I came to see."

 

[Shalimar Shiawase]

Shalimar gives a sharp sniff at Jains exclimation, but doesn't disagree.

Hes right as it is now but he definitely shouldn't have said such a thing. He truly doesn't think, or know anything about channeling. I pity him, I would kill to be able to avoid being stilled, and die rather than live burnt-out. He will break its not a question.

She stands in silence a moment in awe of his Aura of majesty. "I am glad the Red Sisters caught him, a man like that, what could he have done? I am going to return the Inn for a meal would you care to join me?"

 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Jain Hadlin, Cairhienen nightmares

"I can't help but feel sorry for him. Like I'd feel sorry for a caged lion, I suppose. They're both dangerous. And this one's a man-killer. He has to be put down."

Thats all took, those few words and Jains lost in memories.....

Oh, light! the flames i'll never forget the flames!

"I had left Shienar, I had learned what I could and besides Shalimar had been hinting that she was leaving soon too. So I threw himself to the open road. I decided to go south to Cairhien, I planned to look for work as a bodygaurd, but you know what they say about plans. Ha! who was i kidding? I'm baerly good enough with a blade to protect myself. Anyway after a month of rejections I was broke, living on the street, like so many others in Cairhien. It's funny you know, they're so proude of themselves there, they can't even see how far they have fallen. I ended up befriending a young man he couldn't have been, oh more than fourteen. I figued if I could help the boy, why not? So I shared what I had with him and we got by. One day, after a job as a day laborer I was heading back to deralicted niegborhood we were living in. I smelt the smoke be fore i got anywhere near the fires. It seems my friend had kept a secreat, he was a chaneller. Appearently that day it had proven too much for him, he went mad. He had lit many of the near by hovels on fire, and killed some people. I ran up and started to talk to him, when he saw me he regained control and fell down crying over what he and done. I picked him up and told him it wasn't his fault, that it'd be all right. He begged me to help him, I said I would. Thats when i felt the burning, he had started loosing it again, he was burning us. At the same time he was still sobbing and begging for help. There was nothing i could do, so i swallowed the pain and looked him in the eye. I don't know what I said, It doesn't matter, It calmed him, he stopped burning us. He just wouldn't stop crying, I looked him in the eye and swore to the creator himself that I would help him! He smiled, he believed me. I could tell he didn't even feal it when i slipped the blade into his heart. He just closed his eyes and went limp, he looked so at peace......."

Jain shudders, and a few tears slip out of his eyes.

"An Aes Sedai found me, burnt, dying. I never knew her name, but she healed me and kept me somewhere safe for the months it took me to recover. When i was finaly well she gave me some money and her horse, Rapier. That was just a few short weeks before we meet in Aringill. I thought I had put it behind me........."

Jain gives himself a shack and turns towards the inn.

"I hope your wrong about Logain, Sirsei, I know I was wrong about that boy. No one deserves to die for something so beyond thier control"

With out waiting for a reaction Jain rushes into the crowd, headed back to the Inn.

 

[Shalimar Shiawase]

Shalimar's lips tremble while hearing Jains story, Her eyes going as wide as saucers. Her mouth forms an O-shape, and tears leak from the corners of her eyes.

Poor Jain, I...I have been horrible to him. He isn't soo bad. He needs someone to let him cry with them, or he wont get over it. No, it can't be Sirsei, I have to do it, a real friend would have known something was bothering him.

I am not a very good friend, am I? I will be a better friend, I promise. I will. I will go make him feel better, because thats what friends do for friends.

She catches Sirsei's eye and gives a quick shake of her head," I'll go, he is my friend, though I don't know why."

she hikes up her skirt and hurries after Jain, trying to catch him in the crowd.

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

Ashrem stood there, in awe of the mighty False Dragon. A False Dragon who had led armies, a man who wielded the One Power. Could it be this is what I am? No. It cannot be, yet something is happening to me. He shuddered with a sudden chill. The fever had returned. I suppose I’ve just caught sick.

He stared until he lost sight of Logain and the Aes Sedai. What it must be like. So much power stripped from you. The power to call down the heavens and now you stand leashed by Aes Sedai. It’s not right, even for him. I pity the man, even if he is dangerous. Maybe he deserves a quick and honorable death. A man such as that shouldn’t have to wait and die because his will is stripped from him.

He listened to Jain’s story and suddenly felt a new kinship with the young man. It was a sad story and only worsened Ashrem’s mood. He was tired, emotionally and with his fever coming back, physically. He nodded to the others and began making his way back to the inn. So tired. It’s long past time I leave for Illian. Perhaps I can convince some of the others to join me. If not…well. It’s past time I be going.

Ash walked along the roads back to the inn in silence. He hoped Jain would join him and maybe Yuri, since he said he wanted to be a Hunter too. Certainly no reason to stay in Caemlyn any longer.

 

[dscrank]

Pedron heads back

Pedron weighs his take with his left hand and smiles. Too bad her purse had not held gold, but even merchants didn't carry that much openly. It had been child's play to take it as all eyes fixed on the false Dragon. Even he had noticed the man, though he had not let the sight distract him from his work. If Pedron had ever seen someone who refused to admit defeat, it was him. Logain unnerved him nearly as much as Trollocs in Caemlyn.

Pedron scans the crowd, but he had thoroughly lost the others, and now, as the people milled about in the aftermath of Logain's procession, there is little chance that he'd find them. Stowing his ill-gotten wealth out of reach of his fellow thieves, he begins to make his way back to the inn. He'll spend another restless night in the inn, then leave in the morning. West seems as good a direction as any. The more out of the way, the better. Of course, with reduced risk comes reduced opportunity, but he can live with that. Maybe he'll end up finding honest work. That thought twists the smile on his lips. He's never done honest work before, and he doesn't have the skills to do it now. That's why he's stealing today.

 

[Valkys]

Sirsei watches Jain pushing through the crowd, an indiscernible look on her face, possibly pity or sympathy, but too full of meaning for anyone looking at her then to be certain. She brushes a strand of hair from her eyes, tapping her finger against her lips as she walks slowly after Jain, in the direction of the inn.

Such an evil thing, all these men going mad. Men who deserve it, men who don't. But then, who deserves to rot to death, conscious the entire trip into oblivion?

She glances down at Shalimar, "Not for the first time, I am extremely happy that I am a woman. I can't even begin to imagine what a horror life would be if I were like Logain. Is anything truly inevitable? Maybe he would have been the first not to go mad. Shalimar, have you ever considered what would happen if the Red Ajah gentled the Dragon Reborn, the real one, before he was able to do what he was sent to do? Sure, they can't let every man who can channel run loose, but what if they've already gentled him before he recognizes his destiny?"

She sighs. That's a pointless train of thought. I hope the Dragon Reborn would shows up during my lifetime. It would be something to see the change he will bring.