[panfandomsandbox] change is in the wind

[blue_ajah]

She sits at the table near the fireplace, sipping tea and reflecting on what she has learned in recent days.

In the world where she was born, the Dark One is also known as the Lord of the Grave, and is the one who holds power and sway over the dead -- and to an extent, death itself. Fortunately, Moiraine is experienced enough with Milliways to not draw instantaneous conclusions.

(The lessons learned from Anthy Himemiya will remain with her for the rest of her life.)

It had helped that she had seen nothing of intentional evil or the mark of the Shadow as she knows it when she had studied Harrowhark while channeling. It is nonetheless something that requires consideration, in case action of some sort becomes necessary.

The Aes Sedai has much to think about.

Comments

[acrookedpath]

"Madam Bar! Hello!"

Not too far from Moiraine, a tall, willowy man in black robes has finally located enough space to bow to the Bar properly. "With my greatest and most humble apologies, I've worked my knife's edge to dullness once again," he says. "May I bring it to you for sharpening?"

A napkin appears; he reads it, laughs, and unsheathes a small knife at his waist to lay upon the bartop. "Many thanks to you. I hope to be done with my project soon enough."

[blue_ajah]

The bright and enthusiastic-yet-polite nature of the young man's greeting to the Bar draws her attention, and a faint smile curves her lips as Moiraine observes this interaction.

She waits until his glance travels the room before attempting to catch his attention with a lifted hand and a graceful gesture toward an empty seat at her table.

[acrookedpath]

Oh! Who could this be? She's unfamiliar to Wei Wuxian, though she has the regal bearing of a high-ranking sect leader. He smiles easily, in lieu of a wave, and quickly reclaims his newly-sharpened knife from Bar before crossing the room to her table.

"Hello, madam," he says, and clasps his hands in another bow. "We haven't met formally, have we? I am Wei Wuxian."

[blue_ajah]

Although she does not rise from her seat, Moiraine inclines her head in gracious acknowledgement of his bow.

"We have not," she confirms. "I am Moiraine Aes Sedai, but you may call me Moiraine."

Her tone is as serene and untroubled as her expression.

"I could not help but notice your courtesy toward the Bar, and I was curious to meet you."

[acrookedpath]

"She is the head of this house, is she not?" The grin doesn't abate as he slides into the proffered seat. "It's only proper to show her respect, Madam Moiraine. If I didn't, who knows what she might give me? Bland, flavorless broth? A knife with no edge at all?"

[blue_ajah]

"One of them, rather," she replies. "Although in my years of visiting this place, the Landlord has never been seen, still there are those who manage matters at Milliways. But you are correct, the Bar is something of a constant among all."

A hint of wryness enters her tone as she concludes, "That said, I have seen many who treat the Bar as something without consciousness, rather than as you have. I must say that I prefer your approach."

Moiraine shakes her head, dismissing the thought, then indicates the teapot and unused cups at the side of the table as she asks, "Would you care for tea, Master Wei?"

[acrookedpath]

"Certainly! Shall I -- ?"

He's already reaching for a cup and the teapot, shooting Moiraine a brief, inquiring look as he does. (Wei Wuxian's the younger of them, after all.)

[blue_ajah]

"That is gracious of you," she murmurs. Indeed, the Aes Sedai's estimation of him rises with this further evidence of his politeness.

"Permit me just to touch it with warmth first, however --"

As she speaks, a faint corona of light appears around her, and a thread of fire-gold touches the teapot, causing gentle steam to rise from its spout. Moiraine glances up at him to ensure he takes no alarm from the sight as others have in the past, and as her gaze rests on him her eyes first widen, then narrow in intent scrutiny.

[acrookedpath]

No alarm seems forthcoming. Under the sudden scrutiny, however, his smile tightens a bit at its corners.

His voice stays light, however, as he busies himself pouring a cup of tea. "Where I'm from, I was scolded once for cultivating so frivolously. All for want of a warm cup of tea in the morning! But Gusu Lan, their rules fill an entire boulder with calligraphy this wide." He pinches two fingers together to indicate. "I am glad to see others who don't behave so strictly."

He slides the cup across to Moiraine.

[blue_ajah]

"In the White Tower, where I was trained, proper preparation and service of tea was regarded as a means to practice the nuances of control," the Aes Sedai tells him. "Including, of course, heating everything to the correct temperature."

Save for the heightened focus in her glance, nothing about her manner indicates anything but the same calm poise she has displayed so far. After a moment, the glow around her fades, and she curves her fingers around the cup he has placed before her.

[acrookedpath]

"Gusu Lan can be terribly stuffy and old-fashioned," he confides as he pours his own tea. "Tea always made to the proper temperature without cultivation. Though I suppose they have plenty of control to spare already -- they will silently kneel on stones for days to learn proper discipline."

Ask Wei Wuxian how he knows!

[blue_ajah]

"'They,'" she observes, and arches an eyebrow at him.

"Stones and silence are both a rigorous enforcement in their own ways, I suppose."

[acrookedpath]

"Ah -- Gusu Lan was not my sect," he explains. Lifting his cup, he gives a smaller bow to Moiraine before taking a sip of tea. "I attended lectures there several years ago."

[we_bring_hell]

Harrow looks a lot more put together than the last time Moiraine saw her. She has been lost in the worlds of necromancy within her head long enough and it's been long enough since she rested and reapplied that her makeup is beginning to smudge in the places where she habitually touches her face even though she knows she shouldn't, but her spare habit looks presentable and her hair looks shorter than ever.

She was getting up to get another glass of water, but when she sees Moiraine she bee-lines to her instead. "I have obtained a second key," she says abruptly, without preamble. "I am awash in mysteries."


After a beat, she remembers basic decencies and adds, "How are you?"

[blue_ajah]

A slight smile curves her lips, and Moiraine beckons Harrow to a seat at her table.

"Lady Ninth. Light illumine."

"I am as well as may be expected, and should be interested to hear more of these mysteries of yours."

[we_bring_hell]

Harrow moves into the seat, and extracts once again her perennial journal from her robes.

"The second trial was undertaken with the assistance of Dulcinea Septimus of the Seventh House, who I emphatically do not trust," she says. "And it required the use of a necromantic technique I abhor."

"But I have the theorems," she says, with a gleam of angry triumph.

[blue_ajah]

She signals for a waitrat, and dark eyes narrow as she listens.

"What technique would this be?"

[we_bring_hell]

"It's called siphoning," she says. "It's the signature of the Eighth House, which is why it was imperative to get this key ahead of them. A necromancer draws on the life energy of a willing living being to reinforce their own power, converting the thalergy to thanergy. It is dangerous for the source."

"Gideon insisted," she continues, her expression tight. "Both our lives were put at risk. I had to enter a highly-destructive avulsion field and dismantle a necromantic structure to extract the key, relying on her spirit for the power to shield myself."

"Septimus undersold the danger. If I had known what we were getting into I might not have gone in. But Nav was incredible. If she had wavered I would've been disintegrated instantly." Her real teeth worry the painted ones on her lower lip in a spot already worn pink.

"She is sleeping it off now. I've asked the Sixth to check her health, they're the closest we have to medics, and I nearly trust Palamedes Sextus." Almost.

[blue_ajah]

The Aes Sedai is very still as she considers the implications of this.

"I can see why you abhor it."

To share power with others through a link is far from unknown, but saidar is drawn from outside one's self. Given how Harrow has described the flow of power in her world, it seems very likely that Gideon Nav has risked her very existence for this key.

"You have no Healers?"

[we_bring_hell]

She shakes her head. "Not the way I imagine you mean it."

"I can... destroy the plaque building up within a heart. Or fill in the honeycomb of aging bones. But I can't make wounds knit faster or fight an infection for someone. If anyone could, it would be the Second, but they would need a source of thanergy to harvest, and I believe even that is only a temporary boost."

"But the Sixth are scholars and take an interest in medicine. Palamedes knows what he's doing and he assures me his cav is better." She sounds somewhat like she's trying to convince herself.

She looks past Moiraine, off to one side. "I confess I question if what I received was worth it. Palamedes refused the experiment. But there is only one of each key, and I believe there may only be one or two left unclaimed. Things are about to get... tense in Canaan House."

[blue_ajah]

"And the more keys you have, the more knowledge you gain," the Aes Sedai summarizes. "And the better prepared you will be for the trials to come."

The waitrat returns, carrying a tea service and a pitcher of mountain spring water, and busily sets everything up on a small table beside them.

Moiraine pays it no outward attention. Her dark-eyed gaze is steady on Harrow's as she says,

"I have something of a Talent for Healing."

It is, very obviously, an offer, oblique though it may be.

[we_bring_hell]

Harrow inhales deeply through her nose, her pigeon chest swelling beneath her robe.

Her hesitation, in the scheme of things, is barely anything at all. "Yes," she says. "Please." Her black eyes find Moiraine's.

"It is a risk, but if she will not value her life properly, I must do it for her. If you will come to Canaan House, I would have you do it."

[blue_ajah]

She inclines her head to the younger woman in assent.

"The Wheel weaves," Moiraine says. "It will not be the first time I have crossed worlds to aid another, nor, I suspect, will it be the last. I will go with you to Canaan House."

[we_bring_hell]

She frowns. "Do you have any way to disguise yourself? Your power seems to have more... broad applications than mine."

"I can get you a spare habit, but Gideon is quite a bit... larger than either of us and no one else from the Ninth should be present."

[blue_ajah]

"I cannot weave a specific seeming, I think, unless I know what I am attempting to show," she replies.

"I can make myself appear taller and more imposing, however, and I could perhaps blur my own appearance to a degree."