Call of Destiny (Intro Post)

[Segurant]

Byron stared out the window of the carriage as he approached the famous Fortress of Light.  He has only seen the Fortress of Light from afar and was excited to actually going to this fabled fortress.  The carriage came to a stop, and Byron exited the carriage.  He turned to gather his belongings but to his astonishment, the carriage started for the gates.  His bag was on the other side of where the carriage should have been.

 

"I guess it is just me now." he thought to himself.  He had a feeling his father would give him one final test.  He hated him for this.  He knew he was ready to strive out on his own, but he was not prepared for it now.  He walked up to his bag and collected his things.  He let out a big sigh and proceed to seek out the Head Clerk.

 

Byron walked into the Fortress and came across a huge desk.  "Reporting for duty!" he exclaimed in front of who he hoped was the Clerk.

[Nynaeve]

IC:

Roudal was frightened. He sat rigidly in front of his desk, not daring to move. Just shallow breaths. And the rumble of his stomach. His wife was standing opposite to him, fists planted on her hips. "Did you tell Arina she could go out all night?". Roudal swallowed. It was hazy. He was watching two of his friends spar and the girl sneaked up behind him and asked him something. She was clever and quite astute. Worse than her mother, at times. Why couldn't he have had boys? They were easier... to an extent.

 

"It is possible...". Rina raised an eyebrow. "Possible? POSSIBLE?!?! Roudal, for heavens sake, she's only seventeen. The light knows where she was roaming all night. And now I can't even punish her because you authorized her to be out." Roudal peered around. Everyone was doing their job, but he spotted them all watching from the corner of their eyes. Some were smiling. He made a point of remembering who. He needed his quarters cleaned anyhow.

 

"Fine fine. Send her here on the afternoon. I will solve it." Rina's eyes shone stubbornly. "You better. Otherwise you sleep in the hallway tonight." Rina took her leave of the office, all eyes following her, including Roudal's. She was a formidable woman. Very protective of her daughters. And blamed Roudal of every error they made more often than not. But it was his error. Conceiving them, that is :P

 

Roudal saw himself sleeping on the cold hallway floor and frowned. He suspected he wouldn't enjoy it much. So he resolved to use a firm hand with Arina. He was going to lay down the rules and she was going to listen. He suspected that it will backfire if the girl went off whinnying to her mother like they frequently did when he decided to put his foot down. But there was no other way, Roudal decided. He would have to endure. Because at the end of the day, in a group of women, he always came out losing.

 

"Reporting for duty!" Roudal raised his eyes. There stood a young man, no doubt seeking enrollment. "Don't ever get married, lad. No matter how pretty she is. The prettier they are, the better vocal chords." The young man looked at him like he was an odd bird and Roudal finally sobered up and realized he was talking to a complete stranger. "Erm... Very well. What can I help you with?".

 

 

OOC: Tell Roudal what brings you to the fortress of Light. Feel free to NPC him asking for your full name, age and place of origin and writing you down in the recruit book. I'll take it from there after you post ;)

 

 

 

Roudal

Head Clerk

 

[Segurant]

"Don't ever get married, lad. No matter how pretty she is. The prettier they are, the better vocal chords."

 

Byron blinked not knowing what to say.  This is obviously the clerk's desk, but he wondered if this old man was indeed the clerk of the Fortress.

 

"Erm... Very well. What can I help you with?"

 

Byron blinked again.  So this was the clerk.  "I am Byron Taliesin.  Son of Lord Hadin Taliesin of Amador.  I am here to join the Children of the Light. I..." he said before the clerk cut him off.

 

"Ah another young whelp thinking he is good enough to be a Child of the Light.  What's your name, boy?" Roudal's raspy voice filled the room.  Byron replied his name but was cut off before saying more.  "Where you from, Byron?"  Again Byron replied but was cut off before he could continue.  "Amador you say?  Not far from home are you.  That is good as you won't have to walk as far if you can't make the Children of the Light.  Now what's your age?"  Byron was getting upset by this old man.  He replied his age and nothing else this time around.  Roudal smiled, "Ah you learn quickly for a whelp."  Roudal entered the information into the journal.  "Now what brings you to the Fortress of Light?"

 

Byron waited for Roudal to finish before he announced his reasoning.  "I am here to join the Children of the Light and become an Inquisitor like my father before me."

[Nynaeve]

IC:

"I am here to join the Children of the Light and become an Inquisitor like my father before me." Roudal yawned. "That is quite an aspiration, lad. Especially since most recruits don't make it through the first day." It was a lie. Some recruits left on the first few days when they realized the kind of life they were expected to lead. However, quite a few remained. But it was best to give Byron the wrong impression. If he was smart enough, he'd make it and be better for it.

 

"So your pa was a questioner? Interesting." Must have made a hell of a childhood. Growing up with a questioner as a father. Must have been... intense, to say the least. Suddenly, Roudal felt a bit of sympathy towards the boy. And it gave him perspective over how little control he had over his daughters. He'd have to remedy that. Hopefully prior to his wife decapitating him.

 

"Well, we're all done now. With me, that is. Your next stop is Emanuella. She's the Quartermaster. She will assign you a room and give you the usual touchy feely speech of hers. She's a very sentimental person. As are most women. Don't let her sweeten the pill. Just swallow it and keep it down. The rest will come with time." Byron gave him a confused expression and Roudal sighed. So much for sharing an insight. "Go on now. You're not going to get instructions on how to get to her office. You need to get a feel of the layout of the fortress and the only way to do that is to wander through it. Off you go!".

 

 

OOC:

RP Byron's reaction to Roudal's words. Have him arrive at Emanuella's doorstep. Feel free to ask her any questions or doubts that Byron might have and once you post I'll take it onward! :D

 

 

 

Roudal

Head Clerk

[Segurant]

"Go on now. You're not going to get instructions on how to get to her office. You need to get a feel of the layout of the fortress and the only way to do that is to wander through it. Off you go!"

 

Byron turned to leave as ordered.  He felt insults by this old man thinking he was not going to last the first day.  He held his temper for he was still not a member of the Children of the Light and the fact that Roudal still outranked him.  Byron made a mental note to deal with Roudal later when his career takes him to the top.  Byron wandered the Fortress to Emanuella's office.  The old man might not have told him where to go, but his father's lessons included a layout of the Fortress.  I had to memorize each location.  He wished he did a better job of remembering. 

 

After making a couple of wrong turns, Byron approached the door with a name plate listing "QUARTERMASTER".  Byron cleared his head and proceeded to knock on the door.  He opened the door when he heard someone ordered "Enter" from the room.  He walked in and stood in attention.  "Byron Taliesin, reporting for duty!"

 

[Nynaeve]

Emanuella stretched in her chair. She was no longer fit for long sit outs in her office, buried under a pile of papers and spending a whole day digging through them and putting everything to order. But the job had to get done, there were no buts and ifs about it.

 

Emanuella had requested help, but it seemed all spare assistants found their way to Roudal's office. And it came as no surprise to Emanuella. Roudal was awfully fussy and giving him an horde of assistants seemed like the best way to keep him from making a mess of things. He knew his trade, but he was getting old.

 

A knock on the door made Emanuella's eyes climb up from the papers. "Enter."

A young man came in. "Byron Taliesin, reporting for duty!" Emanuella smiled and gestured Byron to sit down. His face was not familiar, so it wasn't hard to guess what he came for. "I'm assuming you've been sent by Roudal?". Byron nodded. "Good. I'm Emanuella, the Quartermaster. First thing first, everything that Roudal told you, and I mean everything, just ignore it. He tends to exaggerate and I wouldn't like you to get the wrong idea of how things are ran here."

 

"The Fortress is going to be your home from now on. The first few days will be the hardest. You need to find yourself within these walls. But it will come with time, no doubt." Emanuella flipped thorough her room assigning book. "Looks like you will be sharing a room with Zari. He's a good lad, so you should get along fine. Room number 57."

 

Emanuella closed the book with a thud. "As for superiors, you will know all of their faces, ultimately. In general, though, the military officials wear insignia. The questioners, on the other hand, seldom use the appointed insignia. However, you can distinguish them quite easily. Added to the sunburst icon on their cloaks as the rest of the Children, they have a red shepherd's crook behind it. Impossible to miss. You are expected to address them with the title sir. Added to a bow when it's a Questioner and a saltue when it's a Commander." Emanuella smiled warmly. Byron would soon learn the politics of the Fortress.

 

"You will find five sets of uniforms in the closet in your room. Take good care of them. They will not be replaced. As for curfews. You have one day of rest and one afternoon off a week, in which you're permitted to leave the fortress. At any other time you are expected to remain within the Fortress' grounds. Now, if you have any questions, I'll be delighted to answer. But first and foremost. Welcome to the Children of the Light."

 

 

 

Emanuella

Quartermaster

[Nynaeve]

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