08/19/2000

Lounge, White Tower, Tar Valon

The smell of hot tea, chamomile and orange, fills this room, which seems
designed for no other purpose but to relax and give comfort. Overstuffed
green couches are arranged almost haphazardly about on soft white carpet. A
large stone fireplace provides warmth in the winters, with various small
knicknacks and lanterns upon it. A high bookshelf in the back of the room
has relaxing reading: tales and poetry, nothing of scholarly value.

A small stove to boil tea upon is present, as is a full compliment of every
herbal variety designed to be steeped through water and drank for pleasure.
Small bowls of sugar and milk are spread about on this display, as are sea
folk tea cups and pitchers. Even the serving staff can be found about their
leisure here, and so the means are provided for people to help themselves.


Leaning back into a comfortable couch in the lounge, Neelkan is working
with his right hand apparently, not seeming to pay attention to anyone who
might happen to be around. His hand is still a little stiff, obviously, but
it's starting to move more easily. He's even humming softly under his
breath. That's one of the odd things about him, isn't it? When things are
just fine, he's usually a grump. And when things are bad he puts on his
good face. He looks like everything is just fine in Neelkan-land, when the
truth is everything is very far from all right.

Espiria heads into the lounge, not used to coming here, but that's a sort
of comfort to her right now. It's been a very long..and pain filled day and
the night isn't over. She never expedcted to see you in here, but she's
glad you are for several reason. One is alittle boy named Aed who said some
strange things to her earlier today and the other is for the good news she
has to give to you about a very important matter. "Neel. Ahh..I see your
working on that hand. Good. Would you mind going with me for a moment? I
need a hand to move something." As good an excuse as any and she knows
right where to go too. Some place that that will give privacy..without
being overly obviousl

Stupid little boys who need to learn to keep their mouth shut and stay out
of other people's business. Grrr. Neelkan glances up and stops humming at
the voice and brightens even more when he recognizes who it is. Yup. The
gloomier things are, the more he's going to put on a good face. But it's
not as faked now. He is happy to see you. "Sure. I could help ya move
somemore stuff. Just don't get used t' it. I'm not built f'r hard labor."
He's just kidding, and grins a little more as he stands up and moves over,
"Lead the way, Esp."

Espiria chuckles and nods, turning away from the room and heading out.


Library, White Tower, Tar Valon

There is a particular smell that comes with libraries, the smell of fresh
ink on crackling paper or dust blown off the cover of a book, just waiting
for someone to discover the treasure within. The smell is clear, now, as
shelf after shelf rises in majestic rows, each packed with volumes large
and small, slim and heavy, useful and frivolous. Browns sit at tables,
glaring at any who make noise and copying, slowly, out of recovered books
on the verge of falling apart. A large purple carpet spirals out to include
all the colors of the Ajahs and the flame of Tar Valon, but this cannot
hold the attention long, for the colors of the books form a much brighter
tapestry. There are worlds, here, and power between lines of text that
simply await discovery. An elaborate catalouging system keeps it all in
place, the sort of thing that takes years to master, years, and an
unparralleled love for the written word. Imagine, if you will, what
developing such a thing might have entailed.

Novices, Accepted, and Trainees alike bend their head to their work in the
front of the room. Massive wooden carts are employed to reshelf books that
have been taken down. Cold balls of light formed by the One Power light the
room, both for the economy of the matter and to prevent a fire. For such a
thing would be a tragedy. Books on strategy, tactics and shadowspawn seem
to dominate those being shelved and unshelved, though theamount of
knowledge sought after here is hardly limited to such things. So abundant
are the books that there are levels, spiral iron staircases which lead up
to still more shelves, nearly as high as the eyes can tolerate, a good
three stories worth, at least.


Espiria heads back to the farthest stacks, walking quietly and glancing
around the room carefully as she does. Good. Not many at all. Easy for us
to find a place to talk. She heads behind one of the stacks and motions you
to follow, lancing at books as she moves. "Yes..I think this one will work
well." She pulls the book out, seemingly to hand it over to you before she
lowers her voice. "I needed to talk to you about what we are doing..and I
didn't want to seem too obvious about it."

Taking the book, Neelkan sombers his expression a little to look bored.
Everyone knows he hates these menial jobs, so they won't think anything
about him looking bored, when they might at him looking excited or overly
cheerful. He nods slightly, lowering his own voice, which his voice was
/not/ made to be lowered, so it sounds a lot different when he's
whispering, but you know that by now. "I kinda figured 'at's what 'is was
'bout." He's not as dumb as he looks, afterall. He can... sort of take a
hint.

Espiria glances at the book too, pointing at something. It doesn't matter
what since she doesn't even know which book it was that she pulled out. An
excuse is an excuse. She glances around for a moment, biting her lip. "I
went to see Mother before we started work on the storerooms."

Pretending to look down and... partly pay attention to what you're pointing
out, Neelkan is actually listening quite intensely. But then again,
everyone else in the Library wouldn't be all that surprised to see him
looking somewhat zoned out while glancing at your finger. "Ya did? What did
she have t' say? Anythin' helpful?"

Espiria smiles, nodding several times. "Only we can know this, Neel. Only
us...the small group that is working to clear Wyntere's name." She glances
around again, pointing at something else before she reaches over to flip
the page. Her free hand taps her pocket on her hip and there is a definate
soft jingle there. "She gave me the master keys forthe whole Tower, Neel."
That same hand pats her dress in the chest area, "And she gave me something
else..but I don't dare show it right now, but it's for a really bad
emergency if I need it while I'm searching rooms. She gave me copies of her
Personal Seal."

Wow. That is helpful. Neelkan does his best not to give off that anything
exciting was just told to him, but he fails as far as his eyes are
concerned. It shows in his eyes. But not many can be close to see that, so
he doesn't bother checking it too quickly. "'at's wonderful. The key should
be a lotta help." He grins. He doesn't know exactly what the seal thing
means, but he'll assume it's a good thing. A very good thing by the way
it's mentioned as a last ditch emergancy thing.

Espiria nods gently, trying not to raise her voice too much. "Yes..but
here's the thing we have to do, Neel in order to make this all work. We
have to still treat Mother as the badguy in this. We can't treat her any
different than when we thought she believed the lies about Wyntere. She
wants it that way so that the one responsible doesn't suspect. She wants us
to grumble..and talk about how shocked we are she believes it. And she
accepts that..so she can clear Wyntere of what she's accused of." She
sighs, biting her lip. "That will be very hard to do..and she warned me
again that if..if I get caught by the Black Ajah..they may kill me. I just
won't let that happen." She smiles confidently to you, "And when I go
looking..I will have my eyes and ears with me, right Neel?" Yes, that's her
off handed way of asking if you'll help in that.

The talk of dying makes Neelkan's eyes tighten, and he seriously looks like
he's about to tell you to back off and let him handle everything. But he
stops himself. He can't do it by himself. He doesn't know all the facts,
and he can't channel (which is good). He just can't do it all himself. No
matter what delusions of immortality he happens to have for himself. He
can't die. Feh. Nothing can kill him. He then nods to the last part,
"A'ways, Espi. I'll watch after ya. I won't let ya get hurt." Then he adds
a second later, "'n I'll treat Kaomi the same as I would if I thought she'd
betrayed m' friend." Which means she's back on the 'Evil list' for a short
time. He might actually call her 'Mother' for the first time!

Espiria reaches out to touch your hand as she smiles, "Good. That's
perfect. Now we just have to get to the others and tell them. Redd already
knows, but he may need some watching. I think his emotions are alittle off
at the moment. I'm not sure why..but they are." She sighs, glancing around
before she takes the book from you and pulls out another one. "Now...I
figure we really have to be careful in searching the Aes Sedai's rooms. I'm
not sure we should try to look at them until they are all busy..which
means...we have to wait for the trial." She scowls, "I hate to leave her in
there that long...but we have no choice. And don't go telling Wyntere about
this either. It's her anger that's keeping her sane right now and if she
looses that....she won't last."

"I prolly won't go down 'n see 'er at all, so no worries 'ere." If Neelkan
went down and saw her in a cage... He might just snap and try to kill the
guards and get her out. And you do /not/ want that to happen. Neelkan may
be a fighter, but he's not a killer, but he would kill to protect his
friends from that if he could. Seeing Denn sitting in that cage at the
Fort, shielded and barely able to hold back tears. That was bad enough. And
he couldn't even reach through the bars and give her a proper hug. To the
Redd bit there's a small pause, and he then says, "He's a kid, Espi. Did ya
'ear how he reacted 'en he remembered parts of 'is past? He blames himself
f'r his family dyin', 'cause he ran. He lived. 'ey didn't. 'n he blamed
'imself. Now, Wyn's in jail. Ya've been 'urt a few times. 'n he wasn't able
t' help. He just needs t' learn 'at he 'lone can't fix e'erythin'." Maybe
the red haired young man should look in a mirror as he says that...

Espiria nods and sighs, "I know, Neel and I wish I could help him thru
that, but I...I just don't know how and now? With all of this that's going
on? I don't have the time to. I'm hoping that his visit with Thain did some
good. Ogier's are generally good to make someone smile and forget their
troubles for awhile. It would be good for both of them..." She smiles,
gripping the book that is in her other hand a moment, "That journal...It
gave me some good clues as to whom to start checking first when I do." She
holds it so you can see it, "It seems that Wyntere's mother started to
change...right after someone came to visit her. She starts complaining
about a headache..and talking crazy. Even goes so far as to say she started
believing she /was/ a darkfriend after that visit. And I asked Wyntere
Sedai and she said that it's possible for someone to be altered, by either
compulsion..or by the use of herbs and such. I'm thinking that it /had/ to
be someone with that kind of knowledge..and someone who has that gift of
compulsion. Possibly a healer." She smiles, hoping you recall who she said
her first suspect was.

The Ogier has a gift in making Neelkan stumble over his tongue and not be
able to say a word. So such a thing would not work for him... But maybe it
would work for Redd. He hopes it does. "D'ya think the same person might b'
responsable f'r both Wyn's mom 'n Wyn? Either 'at 'r 'at Ajah ain't all 'at
original 'en it comes t' gettin' rid of problems." The similarities between
the two. The fact that Wyn's the woman's daughter. "'n I'll leave the power
stuff t' ya Espi. I still don't understand half of what ya women d', 'n I'm
kinda thinkin' its better if I don't. I d' remember Verbena askin' 'at
Tet'-guy t' fetch a Compulsion-ist t' prove 'at we were tellin' the truth
'n 'at we were at Belder's Gate b' chance 'lone."

Espiria nods and sighs, "Yes. That is what I believe. I could be the very
same one. But we have to be sure because if it is, that means Wyntere's
mother can be cleared as well. Her mother's name will no longer be thought
alongside of darkfriends." She sighs, shivering. "Yes..someone with
compulsion can 'make' anyone do what they want them to. They force it...and
it can hurt badly if the person fights back."

"Well 'en, if anyone tries it on m' it'll hurt, cause I'm certainly gonna
fight anythin' like 'at." Neelkan says with a grumble. "I ran off so I
wouldn't spend m' whole life controled b' women, 'n I certainly don't plan
t' return t' 'at e'er." And he eventually ended up in the White Tower...
And most of his friends are women. And while he would do anything they
asked of him, and most of what they'd tell him, he doesn't think of himself
as controlled by them. There's a difference. He didn't have a choice at
home. "'n it'd be nice t' clear 'er ma too while we clear 'er."

Espiria chuckles and nods, taking the book from your hands again as she
sighs, "I need to catch some sleep tonight. I'm going to have a long day
again tommorrow. I'm planning on going thru the common wing tommorrow. I'll
be..restocking linens or something while I'm there so noone will really
look at me strangely. So at least that area is covered. I would you to get
as many as you can together though and work on those rooms downstairs. See
if you can find anything else. But try not to be obvious about it."

"I'll do m' best." You want him to be a 'Leader'? Neelkan kinds rolls his
shoulders for a moment, but he'll accept the task. "'n I hope I'm not stuck
with all the heavy stuff 'is time. Like I said, not built f'r hard labor."
He grins lightly, then leans forward to ruffle your hair. "'n m'? Be
obvious? Well, I shouldn't try t' blend in t' much. People'll think I'm up
t' somethin' if I start t' act like a 'good lil' trainee'." Another smirk.

Espiria giggles and nods, covering her mouth as she gets a few stares.
"This is true." She grins, reaching over to punch you in the shoulder.
"Yes..I know. Well try to get some kind of rest tonight and I will see you
first thing probably. I will have a great deal to do, but I will always
have time for my 'friends'." She grins, putting the journal into her
pocket.