Amdirlain’s PoV - Limbo - Monastery of Will’s Hand
Upon Master Jarith?’s exit, Sarith glared at Amdirlain, and perhaps it was only Master Tenzin’s presence that kept her from erupting in anger.
The moment Sarith opened her mouth, Gemiya cut in. “No. Know you will simply put yourself in a corner, so cool down. Know I will take a course that includes Wizard, likely the new one.”
“Training in three classes at once! What is the point?” growled Sarith. “Know that your Prestige Class will only combine two.”
“Some Tier 6-,” Amdirlain said, and the refectory abuzz with the Novices’ excited conversation fell abruptly silent.
Perhaps I should take a vow of silence.
“What was that Novice Amdirlain?” asked Tenzin, the Master’s tone losing her usual detached calmness.
“It’s something I need to talk to Master Jarith? about before discussing further,” replied Amdirlain.
Sarith’s expression contoured through outrage, hate, and disbelief before it settled back into anger. “You expect us to believe you have a Tier 6 Prestige Class no one has heard of?”
Amdirlain sighed, and her lips twisted in an ironic smile. “I don’t expect you to believe anything I say.”
Her gazed fixed on Amdirlain’s smile, and as it narrowed, her skin darkened. “Know that isn’t an answer.”
“Very astute,” replied Amdirlain matter-of-factly.
A sharp whack sounded from a foot hitting bone under the table, and Sarith''s flinch disrupted her retort before it began. Before any others could interject, Gemiya spoke up. “Know you said you had only one Prestige Class Amdirlain. What level were the classes you combined into it?”
“Sorry, but no. I’ll need to speak to Master Jarith? before I share information,” countered Amdirlain gently and tried not to smile their persistence.
Nomein spoke up before Gemiya replied. “But-”
“No,” repeated Amdirlain softly and gave a quick headshake at her temptation to share the information. Amdirlain glanced at Tenzin and saw signs the Master’s patience was thinning. “I’m sure Master Tenzin would prefer that this discussion not occur during mealtime.”
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“Please?” asked Nomein hopefully, her wide-eye gaze not shifting from Amdirlain and a little catch caught in her tone.
Tallis made her upturned nose seem arrogant, but Nomein uses it to cheat in cuteness. Analysis said she’s the youngest. Training in getting her older sibling wrapped around her little finger?
Amdirlain gestured for them to stop. “I’ll explain later.”
“Know it is time to serve the meal,” Tenzin declared, and the chatter between tables ceased immediately.
As soon as they’d distributed the food, Nomein looked at Amdirlain again. “Is Tier 6 at level eighty or is it higher still? Shouldn’t someone have discovered them before now? Do they only combine three classes?”
“I said I’d need to talk to Master Jarith?,” replied Amdirlain.
“Know that he’ll speak to you after this morning’s training. I’d also like to hear this information, but unlike others I can wait,” interjected Tenzin before Nomein could object.
The others ate quickly with the conversation alternating between the new and trying to tempt Amdirlain into sharing more information. Despite or perhaps because of their enthusiasm, Sarith stayed scornfully mistrustful about the possibilities of either.
Amdirlain stood when they cleared away the bowls and spotted Novices immediately moving towards her. The ends of Lezekus’s cornrows lifted from the speed at which she spun from her chair, almost knocking it to the ground. “Would you teach me an Affinity, Amdirlain?”
The others mirrored Lezekus’s hopeful expression, and Amdirlain turned to Tenzin. “Master Tenzin, would we be able to use the courtyard for a while prior to dinner?”
“Know that would be acceptable, Novice Amdirlain, but only after you complete your punishment duty.”
“Thank you Master Tenzin,” replied Amdirlain, and noted the nearly score of girls now looking at her. “I’m not going to make anyone ask since there are so many interested. Anyone that attends that session before dinner I’ll teach regardless of their attitude towards me.”
A flicker of pleased surprise was the only reaction from Master Tenzin, and Amdirlain left the excited Novices to follow in her wake. She stepped into the courtyard and glimpsed Master Liran? starting down the path to join them. Rather than waiting to be told, she moved to her normal position, none of others yet even in the corridor. Finding Master Liran? in the courtyard, the first Novice rushed through the doorway; her burst of speed prompted those following to hurry to catch up. The haste of their assembly, not hiding the heated glare that Sarith fixed on Gemiya’s back.
Liran? looked better than the previous day, but still wore an edge of fatigue. As the stretching began, she and Tenzin moved among the Novices correcting postures and urging some to push their stretches or hold positions. Amdirlain used the time as a moving meditation, letting memories drift about while contorting herself to the limits of human form. The time let her try again to sense the chakras that Nomein had shown in yesterday’s Ki practice.
Her lack of biological processes presented a challenge. The guides that Nomein used, of air moving in her lungs, lacked the same impact sensed from their mind. While for Amdirlain some of the sensations were certainly present, there was none of a living body’s warmth from drawing a full breath; no relief, no satisfaction, simply a stretch of her lungs’ shape. Each failure highlighted a hollowness within her that chilled her nerves.
Liran? stopped in front of Sarith on the way through the rows. “Know that you should focus on your exercise, Novice Sarith, not on your anger; you lessen the benefit of stretching. Know Novice Amdirlain, you have a discontented expression today. Is there an issue with your stretching?”
“The positions are simple, Master Liran?. I was trying to meditate within the movements, but I can’t get a handle on the Githzérai chakra style that Nomein and Master Tenzin showed me yesterday. The tips they mentioned don’t seem to work for me.”
Her explanation earned a contemplative look from Liran?. “Know if it is an unfamiliar style, you should focus on it alone rather than combining it with something else. Do you need to stretch further?”
“No, Master Liran?,” replied Amdirlain.
“Master Tenzin, would you change the wall?”
In the middle of correcting a Novice’s stance, Tenzin didn’t even look around, but the courtyard’s wall shifted formation.
“Know you should focus on simply running for a time. Know I’d like you to push your speed and stay on the upper section to avoid accidents,” instructed Tenzin and waved her towards the wall before turning back to Sarith.
Amdirlain didn’t pay attention to the instructions Liran? turned to give Sarith, but headed directly for the wall. Instead of worrying about the unfamiliar technique, she pushed with Ki Movement. Her speed didn’t so much increase as explode and her sudden blur of motion snapped attention her way. A focus that was already in the wrong place when she raced along the courtyard’s wall.
With so many travel options, Ki Movement was one of her least used powers and so she focused on how the energy flowed within her form. The mist’s vapour stretched out in a web of energy through her body, and Amdirlain tried to trace its pathways. Yet there wasn’t the sense of veins that Nomein’s mist had elicited from contact with her chakra. Rather, the web shifted position in an ever-changing pattern, its energy stretching, compressing, and reforming with every motion. Rather than run on autopilot, Amdirlain pushed hard, so that only the habitual pattern of quiet movements prevented her pace from creating an echoing drumbeat.
Liran? kept them all too busy for exchanges the remainder of the lesson, sliding from one lesson phase to the next. The sheer focus Liran? wordlessly insisted on frequently leaving the Novices gasping for breath. Where Tenzin allowed them time to recover between exercises, she switched from one to the other with concise instructions and demonstrations.
As the Novices headed inside, Master Jarith? simply appeared where the path joined the courtyard. Amdirlain waited for him patiently and the other two Masters moved to where she stood.
“Know that I’ve contacted some individuals in enclaves outside of Limbo,” stated Jarith? before Amdirlain could even greet him. “Know they’re aware of your way among Githzérai Monks on other planes, but had not heard of it being studied among those living in Limbo. Would you explain the details of the Tier 6 prestige classes to the three of us.”
Amdirlain considered creating a book listing all the Class information, but sensed a mental link offered by Jarith?. Mentally gathering the information she’d collected on the various classes she reached for the link and felt Tenzin along with Liran? join it as well. Initially haltingly, but with increasing confidence, she shared bursts of information to them. The details covering the requirements and benefits of the various classes—that didn’t contain Succubus—but also the details of the Tier Six and Seven classes plus achievements she’d seen.
“Would you be able to provide the requirements for other classes as you discover them?” asked Tenzin across the link.
Amdirlain nodded, aware of the Novices’ attention focused their way.
“Know that you need to bathe, Novices,” Tenzin stated firmly, without looking away from Amdirlain. At her stern tone, the lingering Novices, both in the courtyard and the corridor, hurried away.
“Know Amdirlain mentioned to Master Duurth that she would just need their names, but I hadn’t considered asking the limits of Tiers,” admitted Jarith? silently. “Know that I’ll see this information reaches others outside our Order, given the current situation within.”
“Won’t that get you into trouble, Master Jarith??” asked Amdirlain.
“So?” queried Jarith?, and gave her a wry smile. “Know that I’m already picking other fights, since they wish to come here and cause trouble. Know you have my appreciation for this information.”
The steel projected from his mind made Amdirlain feel almost sorry for the political players that had caught his attention. “What should I tell the Novices?”
“Know that I’d prefer you say the information is being reviewed at present. Know we will include it in suitable lessons at the right time,” replied Jarith?. At amusement from Tenzin through the link, he turned attention towards her.
“Know that their questions won’t end for weeks or until they know more,” countered Tenzin. “Know that Amdirlain mentioned Tier 6 during the meal and had to fend off multiple requests and hinted enquires.”
“They are really that persistent?” asked Jarith? and chuckled dryly when Tenzin and Amdirlain both nodded. “Know then you can confirm that Tier 6 and 7 exist, the relevant levels, and that each has particular requirements that have masked their existence.”
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Jarith? paused and considered the situation briefly before he continued. “Know you should ensure they’re told this is monastery business and not to share the information.”
“Know that won’t stop the gossip,” observed Liran?.
“Know you can learn much about a group from who hears their gossip first,” replied Tenzin.
Amdirlain smiled slightly at picturing the Novices whispering through windows to spread the word, aware it was more likely to be a mental conversation like this one. “I’ll leave sharing the information to Master Tenzin''s discretion then.”
“Might I know what level you were Novice Amdirlain?” enquired Liran?.
“Over one hundred in four classes, Master Liran?,” replied Amdirlain, and Liran? nodded her ready acceptance.
The meal’s gathering practically vibrated in anticipation with Novices shooting glances between Tenzin and herself, but Amdirlain kept herself carefully composed. The glances that jumped between Tenzin and herself reminded her of a tennis game with the audience following the shots between players without a word being said.
As they were dismissed to their next class it was Zenya who finally spoke up. “Amdirlain?”
“Know that Master Tenzin will provide the information at a suitable time,” replied Amdirlain, and held back her laughter at the collective sigh among the tables.
Master Duurth glanced over the Novices that followed Amdirlain into class and she could see the amusement in his gaze. She was less amused at the boxes stacked next to him on the desk, and hers opened to show baubles that looked even more fragile than previous lessons. The glass already showing hairline cracks a soft bump from shattering apart.
“Know that to Novice Amdirlain’s relief we’re starting this lesson practicing a different technique today. Know that one use of Telekinesis, or Psychokinesis, is its ability to change a material’s energy state,” stated Duurth, and motioned boxes before them. “What purpose could that have with these spheres, Novice Amdirlain?”
Glancing again at the spider-webbed spheres, one possibility occurred. “If we heat them in a controlled fashion, the glass could reseal.”
Duurth smiled. “Know that is correct, likewise if you apply too much heat, or don’t control it, you’ll cause a cascade of melting glass. Know there are different mental images that one can use for this effect. Who has suggestions?”
When most of the class raised a hand, Duurth pointed at Lezekus sitting at the end who replied in quiet voice. “Know my father said for most techniques the image itself isn’t important rather, it’s the image that works for you.”
“Know that is correct, but provide two suggestions of what comes to mind for you to try,” insisted Duurth.
Lezekus bit her lip, and then raised her voice slightly in answering. “Know I would first try projecting an image of flame, or imagine the glass running like a thick syrup into itself.”
“Know the second doesn’t—to me—contain the sense of warmth required so you might find it simply shatters the glass by forcing it to move,” responded Duurth. “Know that is where your father’s comment about the image working for you comes into the picture. Know you should all observe my demonstration with eyes and mind.”
A head sized sphere appeared floating in the air before him, and a pinpoint of white heat appeared on the side facing the class. The mental image in Duurth’s projection showed a heated tool gently pressed against each side of the glass allowing it no option but to meld together.
“Know that is how I would repair breaks; if instead I wanted to overwhelm it.”
The image turned to a forge’s white furnace and the glass instantly puddled but stayed suspended in mid-air. Motioning to the stone boxes Duurth perched on the table’s edge and Amdirlain could feel him listening to class’s minds. The first sound was the tinkling of glass as an orb in Nomein’s set shattered.
“Know you should just leave them sitting in the box for this exercise,” instructed Duurth dryly.
“Novice Amdirlain what might be a combat use of this technique?”
“If we learn how to heat something quickly then heating a blade would let us cauterise a wound, or inflict a burning injury. Alternatively if they’re using wire bound hilts, heating an enemy’s weapons could force them to discard them or risk injury.”
“Know that last is an example to remember. Know that while the Slaadi are our most prolific foes and mostly use natural weaponry, the Githyanki’s silver swords are another matter,” offered Duurth.
Careful to avoid using Chaos Shaping to repair it, Amdirlain used an image of a tiny dot of white heat sitting within the seam. The glass immediately began melting, and she cut the force of her will. On the second attempt, she tried again projecting just the melting feeling of a hot Australian summer. When the glass warmed with a soft glow and softened, the fracture was still obvious while the seam sealed together.
“Know you are doing well, Novice Amdirlain. Can you determine why you’re not overwhelming the glass during this exercise?”
“It’s completely different to other activities I’ve attempted with Telekinesis,” replied Amdirlain and considered her explanation. “My mental images for grasping the sphere might be too close to the combat images I use.”
“Know that is a possibility. What image are you using for the other exercise?” enquired Duurth.
“Just holding it aloft in my fingers,” replied Amdirlain and gave a sharp nod. “I know how strong I am, and so the glass shatters under my touch before I can feel it. I’ll come up with something different.”
“Know that might be the key and something for all to consider. Know that while we can’t expect to succeed initially, it is important to examine any mental images used after repeated failures,” replied Duurth. “Know the best and worst of teachers insist that things be done their way. Why is such a conflict of perception possible?”
“If teaching people of a similar background their images might be identical in context?” said Amdirlain and continued when Duurth simply looked at her. “Those of that background would learn quickly but they’d struggle with teaching those with unfamiliar backgrounds.”
“Know I was referring to something else. Is there another suggestion?”
Gemiya motioned when the others looked at each other, and Duurth nodded to her. “Are they forcing their students to tackle things rigidly? Know that the issue is lack of adaptability of their minds, and likely they are impressing the image and expected result into their students.”
“Know that a risk when being taught by a powerful Psion outside monasteries is that some enforce technique implementation and expectation upon their students. Know this effectively moulds their techniques into mere copies of their teacher’s without the same grounding, making them more fragile, though frequently learnt faster. Know you should always examine the reasons behind what you are learning.”
“Do you mean people believe they’re the best because they’re forcing their students’ growth but their techniques are flawed?”
“Know that is correct. Know you are each to continue this exercise until you have repaired four spheres. Know after you have done so, hold one aloft while you repair another,” instructed Duurth, and smiled at Amdirlain’s groan.
The images she tried didn’t hold a sphere aloft, but at least she gained a brief sense of contact before each shattered.
Their afternoon maths lesson progressed quickly enough but for whatever reason, despite her understanding of maths, it didn’t unlock any related skill. The only guess Amdirlain had was because she was doing the calculations in her head using her knowledge of maths and then translating the result with her crazy intelligence, making it a cakewalk.
She had made some progress scrubbing the corridor when angry footsteps thumped her way. With the scrubbing brush that Sarith held in a white-knuckled grip, Amdirlain moved over to ‘her’ side of the corridor and kept scrubbing.
“Know I hate you,” Sarith said after a few minutes, angrily scrubbing the floor.
“That’s fine,” Amdirlain responded casually.
At her relaxed acceptance, Sarith hissed in rage. “Why is it fine?”
“It’s your choice who you hate. Though I shouldn’t say it’s fine, I’ve got issues with my self-respect, Elliyna would say it’s not healthy to make light of another’s dislike. Sarith, my presence might seem world-shattering to you but regardless of your feeling towards me, I simply have other problems,” replied Amdirlain and sat back on her heels when she was blunt. “Do you want my assessment of where your hatred stands?”
“Know that I couldn’t care less, but let’s hear it,” retorted Sarith, slamming her brush into the bucket, so water slopped across the floor.
Amdirlain didn’t even spare a glance at the puddle she’d made but continued calmly. “As far as my problems go on a scale of one to one hundred, your fiercest hatred of me rates maybe one if I’m being generous. My worst problems rate several thousand because they are so far out of my league. Your hatred will make things worse for yourself well before it can cause problems for me. There are certain people that agree with you, but at present, you’re certainly upsetting your twin. Why did you get sent to scrub the floor? This was supposed to be my punishment for staying out of the dormitory last night.”
“Know that I screamed at Gemiya, because of you,” accused Sarith in a growl.
“No, Sarith, I certainly didn’t make your mouth waggle, or the words come out. If you screamed at your sister, that’s all on you. You took your anger with me and the situation out on her, so you’d better own that and make amends,” replied Amdirlain, and went back to scrubbing the floor.
“Know this is your fault,” accused Sarith.
“No, it isn’t. Life will suck; you can never completely control what will happen. You can, however, control how you choose to react to it. Life can either break you or make you. Your choice is to let your hatred put breaks in your relationship with Gemiya, and that’s on you.”
When Sarith tipped over the bucket, Amdirlain absorbed the bucket, water and brushes into inventory and sat back again, the bucket sitting suddenly upright beside her with the water once again inside. “You’ve got a lot of fire, Sarith, but I’m not your enemy. I’m also not your ally with how you’re behaving, but I’m not your enemy. If you want to learn an Affinity, turn up with the others, and I’ll teach you, but stop hassling your sister. Treasure that relationship.”
A rush of water sprayed down the corridor’s length, only for most of it to disappear again. Amdirlain moved along, scrubbing the stone as she went and ignored Sarith for the punishment’s duration.
Amdirlain arrived at an empty courtyard but stepped back into the corridor to await Tenzin’s arrival after a moment’s consideration. After scrubbing the passage two days in a row, she wasn’t eager to try for a third or whatever an escalated punishment might entail.
She didn’t have to wait long before Tenzin stepped out of the dormitory building, and Amdirlain caught the faintest twitch of her lips before Tenzin motioned her to enter.
“Know that it is good you can learn to follow the rules, Novice Amdirlain,” said Tenzin, her expression so settled in its usual calm, that the twitch might have looked like a trick of the light if Amdirlain needed normal light to see.
Giving Tenzin a rueful shrug, Amdirlain was honest. “I figured three days in a row scrubbing the halls would not be good.”
“Know there is no third day; the next punishment in a row involves spreading fertiliser among the crops,” replied Tenzin, sounding amused.
“I’ll try to keep my days scrubbing floors to a minimum.”
The look that Tenzin gave her made it seem she doubted Amdirlain’s ability to make good on that statement. “Know that would be best.”
“Does each dormitory have this same layout, Master Tenzin?” asked Amdirlain, trying to change the subject.
“Know you are correct; each is in a quadrant around the main tower to ensure they are deep within the monastery’s protection. Know that most of our settlements in Limbo house the most vulnerable towards their interior,”
“I’m honoured that Master Jarith? allowed me to join them,” replied Amdirlain.
“Know if you hadn’t conducted yourself with restraint and honour previously, it would not have occurred. Do you believe all those that sought to speak to you will attend?” asked Tenzin.
Amdirlain walked to where she had conducted the previous exercise with Master Jarith?’s group before she replied. “I don’t know. If they want an Affinity, hopefully, they will take the opportunity, regardless of their view on me.”
“Know that dislike doesn’t just include Novice Sarith,” cautioned Tenzin.
“Given Master Jarith?’s words, I was aware, though she’s the only one fierce enough to say things to my face,” offered Amdirlain.
Tenzin cocked her head at Amdirlain’s choice of words. “Fierce enough?”
“Yes, I like her spirit; her temper, not so much. At her age, I’d have been hiding from someone like me, not telling them off,” explained Amdirlain.
As much as the accompanying smile, her words earned a snort from Tenzin. “Know then she can count herself lucky you have more patience for her behaviour than I do.”
Lezekus emerged along with a few Novices, and Amdirlain wondered if the rest had changed their minds. She was about to enquire when the sound of running feet caught her attention. Amdirlain looked at Tenzin when the Novices streamed out. Their headcount showed only a few of the dormitory hadn''t taken the opportunity. “You won’t have much of an enrolment left.”
“Know that it isn’t a concern,” replied Tenzin and continued when Amdirlain didn’t hide her surprised reaction. “Know that the need for able Anarchs is often higher than we have numbers.”
Amdirlain knelt and sat back on her heels, and the closest Novices followed her example; only when they were all settled did she explain the process. One by one, the Novice joined the connection she offered, and Amdirlain kept herself from reacting to the suspicions some directed her way.
However, when Sarith entered the connection last, she radiated a mental wave of heated rage that Amdirlain blocked with Ki’s calm. Its coolness softened the rage but became a mist that rippled across the Novices. The same awareness she had felt from Tenzin bloomed in each of them at a touch of the energy. The intensity of Sarith’s fury caused it to swirl into a yang state within her consuming her internal tempest. It was an inferno that left an odd, ashen calm in its wake that Amdirlain had never previously experienced.
A mental sigh was the only notice from Tenzin, and she mentally signalled Amdirlain in their private link to continue.
“Nineteen Novices now opened to following my Monk way. Should I offer them the option to purge the Class?”
“Know that, given your victory, it’s unlikely to be accepted, and Sarith wants to be strong enough to challenge you herself,” huffed Tenzin, her annoyance clear through the link. “Know I informed Master Jarith?, he’ll seek teachers of this way among the Githzérai living on other planes. Know that while it was just Nomein and I then practice between us could be effective, but not for multiple tables of Novices.”
“Should I go on with teaching the Affinity?” asked Amdirlain.
“Know that would be for the best. Know there is a proper decorum expected of a Novice and she’s stepped far beyond acceptable with that display of rage—we will have words.”
“Please go easy on her, Master Tenzin. This is a most unusual situation,” requested Amdirlain.
“Do you wish to share her punishment, Novice Amdirlain?” asked Tenzin, her suddenly mild tone all the warning Amdirlain needed.
“No, I think her choices are her own and I’ve got enough on my plate at present. I was concerned because her emotions seem strangely calm now.”
Tenzin’s focus flickered for a moment before she replied. “Know that I’ll take her to a healer before I discuss her punishment. Know you should complete the session so that I can see to it that she has suffered no harm.”
Amdirlain started conveying Air to them, the strength in its presence, and motions, and the dangers of its absence. The paradox of the Air’s life-sustaining nature coupled with its ability to kill, either violently or silently. Lezekus was the first to gain the Affinity and ironically Sarith was only an instant behind her. The entire session took only twenty minutes and at the end, each of them showed Psion, Monk, and Wizard, with a rapt Lezekus showing a fourth.
Priest.