The Yellow Ajah

Weave: Sydias stepped onto the Yellow stair with confidence. The yellow flames dancing beside him were in his peripheral, but he paid them no mind. Now was his chance to prove he was worthy. Suddenly, a bright flash appeared before his eyes and a silhouette was slowly coming into true form behind the yellow flash. As if the two were closely tied together, a bizarre, flaming itch erupted within his throat, and he found himself hacking and coughing away. He also found that the room was suddenly very hot and uncomfortable. Yes, they had to be connected. He did not let his eyes fall from the silhouette.

The image came slowly into focus before his eyes, and the itch in his throat became worse. Oh, how he would have given his left arm for a glass of water right then! But he knew this was part of the test. He tried to disbelieve it as an illusory weave, but something told him that was wrong. Instead, he watched as – a symbol? No! A number came into view! It was the number 46. Somewhere in his mind he realized what this was. They had warned him, but in the cough fit and intense heat he had forgotten temporarily. He was to do White Ajah Weave number 46 to pass this portion of the stair.

Seizing Saidin, Syd began weaving a net of Spirit. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he then took Air and wove it swiftly and accurately into the small holes in the Spirit net. This weave was supposed to work like Delving for a Yellow, but instead of telling what was wrong with the body it was specifically designed to help determine what may be ailing the mind. Sydias was eager to have someone do this weave on him as he could not do it on himself, but thus far every Aes Sedai and Asha’man had told him it would occur when the time came. Perhaps if he could pass this test the time would be right.

He let the weave settle into the yellow flame where the number had appeared. The coughing fit worsened for a moment and the temperature was almost overwhelming as he felt the scorching heat from within him, but he tried his hardest to ignore the pain racking his lungs and throat as he concentrated on his weave. Suddenly, the light dimmed and the burning in his respiratory system ceased. The world around him began to change.

Step: Sydias found himself upon the streets of Tear upon a yellow stepping stone embedded in a dirt road. Somewhere in his mind he knew that he did not belong upon these streets, that he was somewhere safe that he called home, but he continued his trek alone amongst a crowd of hundreds.

As he passed a throng of people he was approached by a beggar girl. The poor thing was still soaked from the morning rain and had obviously not found shelter in time. She was also very dirty, and the clumps of sod clung as mud to her small frame. She held forth a small cup with a few coins within, shaking it slowly before him. Her eyes told of a pain Syd had once known many years ago, long before becoming Asha’man for the Grey Tower.

He reached into his pocket and withdrew some coin that he had to spare. These days he had quite a lot of coin for traveling purposes supplied by his illustrious White Ajah, but seldom did he have excess. Today he did not care as he began to offer the money to the child before him.

“Thank you,” The girl managed before she was taken with a violent cough. As she pulled her hand away, it was covered with blood. She was obviously ill, and very likely dying.

“Little girl, could I offer you a stay in an Inn? I have two rooms at a local inn, one for me and one for my traveling companion. I think that she may be able to help you with your cough.” When she nodded, he led the way back to The Bumbling Pikefish and the room where his Yellow Ajah companion was staying.

Upon arrival, Sydias took the young child into the Yellow Sister’s room. She was not present, so Sydias Delved the child himself. She was quite ill with something similar to The Plague that Syd suffered as a Soldier during the Seanchan Siege. He dug through the Yellow’s belongings and removed a vile with yellowish liquid within it. He then took out another vile with a white powder in it, mixed the two, and replaced the stopper on the vile. He shook this vigorously and then spooned out some that he offered the child. “Drink this.”

The child did as asked, and immediately entered another coughing fit. “This liquid is called Pink Moldroot. It tends to fight off many bad sicknesses. I myself used it once, so I know it will help you. Take this twice a day for ten days. There is enough in this vile to last that long.

He turned as the Yellow Sister re-entered the room, but before he could discuss the issue with her, he watched as the world around him began to fade out of existence.

The Green Ajah

Weave: Back on the Great Stair, Sydias moved up to the green stone. The green flames of the lanterns here were very foreboding. He became uneasy, and began looking to either side of him and in front of him for might be causing his skin to crawl. A quick silvery flash of an axe swept out and nearly took off his nose! Light this is not what he had expected! Several more weapons flew out upon him, each one he tried to dodge barely nicked him. He discovered if he stayed in place, they all seemed to miraculously fall away from him. They were testing his fear, trust, and resolve here.

Sydias watched the green flame for the number. Just like with the Yellow Stair, a number appeared within it. As he tried to keep his cool and stay in place without flinching, the blood from a few small scratches and shallow cuts dripped upon both his uniform and the Stair. Then he saw it. 2.

He smiled. This weave was one of the most simple weaves he knew, and it only took one of the five powers. He again took hold of Saidin and began weaving Air towards the number. A small wind blew in the stairwell, up towards what he was sure were the other stairs. All he saw was the number and the weave he had aimed upon the number. The silver of the blades seemed to pick up speed, but they were in another life outside of the Oneness. As if on cue, the blades vanished and he nearly fell to his knees. The world around him began to change for the second time.

Step: The green grass below Sydias\' feet had a strange, almost stone feeling beneath him as he walked over a small patch and onward through the small village. His feet soon found the soft ground again, and he looked back curiously. Two evergreen trees had a strange glow to them like they had once been lights. He shook his head as he began to tell himself it was all in his mind and he went on about his business.

He had come with a delegation of Grey Tower members to this small town in Ghealdan on a mission to find new initiates. He was along to study the art and culture of the villages and towns so that the group might better approach each village (and also so he could try to steer these youths to his wonderful Ajah), and they had so far visited a good twelve places with mixed results. Syd was eager to return to the Grey Tower. The Brown Sister was as well, not ready for the big adventure outside her Library haven. The Indigo Brother had no difficulties here at all. He was ready for anything, or so it seemed outwardly.

They were well received by the locals, which surprised Syd. Usually anyone claiming they could channel that walked proudly with Asha’man beside the Aes Sedai, whether Sisters were accepted or not, oft times found the Brothers turned out quickly. Even with the Taint cleansed, news traveled fast and old fears were hard to turn a cold shoulder to. He knew the Prophet had worked wonders throughout Ghealdan, but he just could not believe how they opened their arms – and homes – to them.

This town was only slightly different. The mayor of the town approached with his entire council and the entire Women’s Circle. Both Mayor and Wisdom made their way up to the Blue representative, informing him that thieves had been ransacking the town and asking for help. The Indigo brother now seemed lost, unable to come to a solution. He stuttered a bit, which caused Sydias to roll his eyes and step forward.

“I understand you have no militia. How many hunters and foresters do you have? We will need as many that are trained with a bow and with hunting knives as you can spare. Anyone who knows this area like the back of their hand should coordinate with us as well.”

The mayor smiled dumbly and nodded excitedly as he rushed off. The Wisdom winked at Sydias and ran off, no doubt trying to gain favour with who she thought was the leader of the bunch. Sydias ignored her and turned to his companions. “We will need to build a few traps to capture these thieves and bring them to justice. Hopefully the yeomen will be more of a scare tactic and there will not be much bloodshed, but that depends upon the tenacity of these knaves. We will need the foresters to find the best locations for traps and help us set them and disguise them. We should be able to trap most of the thieves in one fell swoop and be done with it.”

The other two nodded in consent. “If you two would like to find us an inn, I will take over from here.” Of course they took their leave. Sydias made his way to the rest of the Council and Women’s Circle to tell them the same thing he had told his companions. As cheers left the mouths of the villagers, Syd set to work.

A few hours later, the traps were in place. Now all they had to do was sit patiently. Syd hid behind a bush with an arrow knocked in his bow, the string undrawn in his hand as he sat in anticipation.

A movement caught his eye to his right, and Syd spun to see. Someone nearly stood up off to his side, bow string drawn and ready to fire. Sydias held up his hand to signal to hold fire, and they watched as the band of 6 bandits passed them. Sydias waited for a few moments until the men were in place, and he dropped his hand. He himself quickly loosed an arrow as did many of the others, and a wall of arrows fell out and down upon the bandits as they ran for cover – right into the trap that Syd and these villagers had made. As the bandits were swept up into the net high above their heads, the townsfolk gave cheer. Sydias smiled and went to congratulate some of the men when his feet hit solid green stone and the world around him winked out once again.

The Blue Ajah

Weave: As Syd’s feet fell upon the Blue Stair, he noticed a statue of Lady Justice. Her blindfold was snug upon her eyes, but something made him feel as if she was watching him. Her scales were far off balance, and a blue torch behind her stood unlit. The braziers to either side of him had the blue flame that marked the stairs, but something told him this singular torch would create the blue flame that would show the number he needed for his weave. He looked about himself frantically for something to fill the scales with, but found nothing.

Then it hit him. Justice is blind. He grasped again for Saidin and began weaving flows of air and earth, trying to make an invisible weight that would balance the scales. He was still sore and bleeding from the last two stairs, and here he was sweating like a pig again. He worked carefully, adding only a small portion to the weave at a time until he saw the scale balance out. The trigger was set off, and the torch lit before him, nearly blinding him. The number 87 flashed in that light, and Syd’s mind raced as he tried to recall which weave that was.

Upon remembering, Sydias began to weave Fire and Air carefully into each other. The two weaves braided carefully inward and then back outward together as if one giant strand of AirFire in two directions, then back in on themselves and separated as two distinct powers again. He had created Folded Light, which he then laid upon the visage of Lady Justice to hide her and the blue flame from his site. The strange feeling of being watched left him, and the world around him faded to black.

Step: Blue cobblestone came into view as Sydias faultered in his step. There was something about Lady Justice burning in his mind, but he could not recall how that held any importance. Blue sunlight slowly faded to the natural light he was used to, another unexpected sight for his eyes.

He looked about him and remembered where he was. Today he was headed into deal with the circumstances that a local magistrate had brought to his attention. There was a man standing trial for murdering his daughter’s husband. Claims had been made that the man was abusive by the suspect, and for whatever reason, Syd’s White Ajah mind was going to be picked by the ruler to get an answer that was desired.

He entered the magistrate’s office, looking about at the mess all over the room. All sorts of documents laid strewn about the floor. Many had nothing to do with this case. The magistrate was going through them all in a frantic search for something.

“Greetings, your Honor. I hear tell that you need my assistance with a case you are overseeing?”

“Aye, I do, Sir. I do be between a rock and a hard place! You see, there be many problems with this here case. The man who do be charged with the crime do be an honorable man and a well respected man. He has never had issues with the law and has never harmed a fly. He do be an asset to this town, and I no do want to be the one to bring him down if he no do be guilty.”

“So what is the cause of your plight here?”

“There no do be any evidence marking the victim as abusive. He claimed it was in defense of his daughter because he came in as she was being beaten and didn’t think. He says he acted with only the thought of protecting his little girl. That do be a heart-felt tale, but as I said, there no do be evidence.”

Sydias stood there calmly and thought a moment. This was more of a problem for a Blue, but he would take care of it himself. “Sir, the answer is obvious, but a sad one. Your man is guilty of murder, whether or not it was in self defense. I would give him manslaughter with a lighter sentence if there was proof of the victim having been abusive, but there just is not any evidence. You say that this father was well respected in the community. Was there any indication that the man was sick mentally, or did he just hate his daughter’s husband?”

“Now that I think back, he always did say he no did approve of the wedding.”

“Then I think you just answered your own question and came to the conclusion on your own, Your Honor. The father is guilty of murder out of emotional plight, and you should seek out the maximum that you can seek out for someone guilty to that degree of murder.”

The magistrate hung his head. “A sad say this is, but you are right.” The rest of what he would have said trailed off while he flipped through another document and made some notes. The world dissipated before Syd’s eyes, and he was back upon the Blue Stair.

The Indigo Ajah

Weave: As Sydias shook off the cobwebs loose in his mind as the world he just visited faded away from memory, he took his next step on the Great Stair. The Indigo stone beneath him was oddly fashioned, as if someone put even more effort into smoothing it with the Power when making it than the already smooth steps of all the other bits of the Great Stair. He had to smile at that. Those Indigos and their determination to prove they were better than everyone else with their channeling gifts. A quick flash of silver in the light of those indigo braziers made him blink and nearly take a step back, but to do so would symbolically mean he was backing away from his challenge and it would mean ultimate failure. Instead, he tried to regain composure. Then he could see a number burned into the afterimage that still glowed as he tried to adjust again to this strange light. He must do weave 30 to pass this fourth step.

Once his mind settled upon it, Sydias began doing the weave required. Suddenly bizarre and disheartening crackles could be heard from the Indigo torches. Purple lightning arced out from the braziers as Sydias tried to hold his ground. Each arc missed him as he stood there, but barely. He could feel the energy harnessed within each bolt as it flashed inches from his flesh. He could feel the static shock pulsate through his insides, making him dizzy and nauseous. He focused in on the weave of water, fire, and air that he shot out of his hand towards the torches. He sharpened the air to cut through the barrier that was set up between him and these torches, and the water and fire quickly rippled through the arcing lightning and calmed it down into nothingness. The world shifted around him and Sydias prepared for the next ride.

Step: Sydias looked about himself in a slight daze. An after image of violet and silver still played in his eyes as he looked to the man before him. The topknot gave him away as Shienaran, but something told Syd he should have known that. He was inside a small fenced in town in the inn with a man who met him on the streets, recognizing his uniform. He had asked to meet in private. Apparently this man was a farmer by his dress and his lack of education, but Syd thought little of that. It was the item the man had pushed towards Syd across the table.

Between them sat a statuette of a woman. The left side of her body was adorned with lavish jewels and expensively cut clothes. The right side of her body was scarred, with tattered clothes hanging off her frame. Down the back of the figure were carved the words “Lady Luck.”

“I swear dis ting, it bring me nothin’ but bad luck. I can’t keep it. It ain’t natural. Some sorta hocus-pocus Power stuff if you ask me. Bad business, this.”

Sydias winced at the bad speech patterns, but he shrugged it off and regarded the item. It was just casually set upon the table. He was afraid to touch it with his bare hands lest he suffer much the same as the bloke across from him had. He had lost all of his crop for the last two seasons and had lost a son and half his livestock in the last six months. His farm house had burned to the ground last week, and now the man had lost an arm in a freak accident. Each time one of these events occurred, the item glowed a bright read or a dark black. He said there was one time when he had bought it from a peddler that the item had glowed green and blue for about a month and a half, and he had received money and crop with it he had not expected to gain.

“I’ll take the item for you. I will make sure the right people can study it. How much do you want for it?”

“Are you pullin’ me bum arm? You can have the little devil! Take it! Please!”

Sydias pulled out a white cloth that he wrapped the item in to avoid bare skin contact with the statuette, and then he made his way out of the bar. “Have a good day, Sir. I have a feeling your luck is about to change.” The man would have replied, but he and the entire common room of the inn faded from Syd’s vision to be replaced once more by that Great Stair.

The Brown Ajah

Weave: Back upon the Stair, Sydias stepped up to the Brown Ajah platform. Suddenly everything but the step he was on and an alter containing a very old, decrepit looking tome vanished. The number for his next weave was in there, and he needed to find it now.

He approached the book and tried to read the page, but it was all in some archaic language. He could not make out any of it. As he turned the page, that one and a few others turned to dust. NO! I may have needed those! And suddenly the dust was in his nose and mouth as he tried to breath. His throat constricted as he tried to locate the number for his current weave. As he looked through it and his breathing became more laboured, Sydias saw a number 47 staring back at him. He tried to sigh in relief, but choked on his own exiting breath. The coughs that ensued robbed him of precious time. He had to do a preservation weave upon the book.

He pulled the Power back into him again, bending and shaping it to his will. A weave of Spirit formed a net, and then a complicated yet swiftly formed weave of Air and Water combined was forced through it. He settled this upon the book, allowing it to seep in like water. As it became one with the tome, it seemed like time slowed down and stopped around the book only, the dust and bits of parchment from the tome that had flaked and disintegrated hung in the air as if stuck in some sort of gel. The book was done crumbling. Syd released the Power and wiped the sweat from his brow. The world shifted to nothingness around him.

Step: The gateway closed behind Sydias and the young Accepted he had brought with him. Why a White had been sent out by the Brown Ajah to find an old man with vast knowledge in the black Hills was beyond him. And the young Accepted was simply his Gatekeeper, ready to weave the gateway for him when the time came to return to the Grey Tower. She was aspiring Brown, and it was Syd’s guess that they wanted her to learn something about the Ajah but wanted someone with a level head to determine if the find was worth the rest of the Brown Ajah truly investigating.

As they came up to the farmhouse, Sydias knocked on the door. He was greeted by a very, very old man. “Hello, sir. I am Sydias Caspian Asha’man. I have come from the Grey Tower in response to the pigeon we received from you about a collection of history you wanted our illustrious Tower to have.”

The man nodded; a somber look upon his face. He welcomed them inside his humble abode, and took them into another room. “I am offering these documents to your Tower because my dead wife and former Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah of the Grey Tower wished it to be so. These are all her findings from the time she retired from your services. We met out here many years ago, and she Bonded me as her Warder after we married so that I might have the long lasting benefits of a Warder. Before she died, she released me and told me to send the carrier pigeon before I, too, passed on. You may have all of her documents, which she organized and left in the other room.”

Sydias shook the man’s hand and gathered the items the former non-trained Warder spoke of before thanking him and taking his leave. His Gatekeeper opened a Gateway, but before either of them stepped through with the documents, the world around ceased to be yet again.

The Grey Ajah

Weave: As Sydias stepped up from the Brown step to the Grey step, all he could think of was how annoying this world shifting thing was getting. He was glad he only had to go through this once. It was not an easy test to pass. Unlike with the 3 Arches where you were forced into situations that played on your emotions and made you see the faults within you, this test was more aimed at picking your mind and high level thinking, something he himself enjoyed. While he did not enjoy the shifting, he was glad for the mental exercise.

As he stepped onto the Grey Stair, he found another alter. This one contained a rather large scroll. He opened it, and the parchment seemed to unravel for a league. A gong tolled, and he realized this time he was on a timer to find his number. As he read on, he realized it was a peace treaty.

Words flew by with bits and pieces of law that he had no understanding of. Something about Manifest Destiny and the like zoomed past on the document as well as certain words about amnesty and other such nonsense all crowded a rather wordy document, and Syd felt like his head was going to explode. That gonging timer echoed on, bringing him back to the grave reality before him. If he did not make this weave in time, all his hard work for the past four and a half years was lost!

Right when he was about to give up in frustration he saw a number appear over the words he was skimming over. The number 21 appeared and embedded itself in his mind. He seized Saidin in a rush and set forth to complete his weave. Water threads flowed forth from his hands, accompanied by a flow of Earth. A small portion of the step below him took on the properties of quicksand, and he buried the treaty within the stone floor. The buzzer stopped suddenly, telling him he had passed this part of the test. Waves of calm overtook him as he entered yet another phantom world where he would be tested.

Step: As Syd stepped away from the lone grey cobblestone within all the white stones in the Palace in Caemlyn, he approached the throne room where two warring generals were at each other’s throats over some current local feud. He had been the nearest Grey Tower representative to the situation. The White Tower had sent their delegate, but she had not arrived yet. She was very likely a Grey Ajah member herself, but Sydias was more concerned about the here and now. If he let Inter-Tower relationships get in the way of this feud, it would put a black spot on the visage of the Tower that Syd would have to live with the shame above all others.

As he entered the room, he walked up to where the two men stood, yelling back and forth. Sydias had awoken with a minor headache that day, and these two were not helping issues at all. He could feel his head pound with each syllable that either man uttered.

“Excuse me, gentlemen. I am Sydias Asha’man of the Grey Tower.”

Both men stopped their arguing and looked over to Sydias. Clumsy bows and apologies spewed forth, and it only made Syd’s skin crawl more as his head spun. Maybe he was coming down with something…

“What seems to be the problem, good Sirs? I’d like the Andoran General to go first, the Cairhienin to follow, and then I will allow rebuttals from each.”

The Andoran flew right into explaining how some Cairhienin men had been caught looting and pillaging Andoran villages. When it was discovered that these men were soldiers, they were taken as political prisoners of war and given the treatment mandated by the pact of the nations on how to deal with prisoners. A message was sent to Cairhien to inform the government and the military of what these men had been charged with and the a hearing would take place as decreed by the treaty the two nations were forced to sign after the Dragon Reborn took control of both nations.

The Cairhienin shot back that according to the rules laid forth in their country, these men had to return to Cairhien to face a military tribunal and likely a dishonorable discharge and strict punishment involving prison time.

The Andoran rebuked that the Cairhienin were going to just let them men off the hook, and justice would not be given to those families who had suffered at their hand. The Cairhienin argued that the Andoran Law would see that the men lost both of their hands for the thievery and would never have use to the military again, whereas to try them in Cairhien would see that these men were rehabilitated to fit properly back into both society and the army upon their time served in military prison.

Sydias put up his hand before the bickering could go further. He had read the reports of this and knew all of this, and he had studied both Andoran Law and Cairhienin Law as well as that treaty before walking through that door. This was just being fair and giving them a chance to sway his opinion one way or another. It did not work. “Here is what I think, gentlemen. Firstly, the crime occurred in Andor, therefore the trial should occur in Andor.” The Andoran smiled while the Cairhienin tried to interject. “However,” He waited for them to fall silent again. “Cairhien still has a claim here as well. By Law Andor has the right to try them and find them guilty. Yet by Law, Andor must try them by the Law of Cairhien. Thieves do not get both hands cut off even in Andor for a first offence, and it would be wise for all involved if this did not make precedence. Instead, I move to say that if found guilty these men should be held in an Andoran Military Prison for whatever number of years the Law mandates. They should then be returned, unharmed, to Cairhien for rehabilitation. Is this fair?”

Both generals pondered his suggestion, and they nodded. They shook hands first with each other, and then with Sydias. “Thank you, Asha’man. Thank you so much!” As he let go of their hands and turned to depart, he found the world changing back to the Great Stair and that Grey step.

The White Ajah

Weave: Sydias shook his aching head as he stepped up to the White Stair. He saw off in the distance what should be the next number. It was far too small for him to read, but he decided to move toward it. As he did so, half of the white platform he was on disappeared and were replaced by black spaces. He went to move again and found that the pattern shifted in the floors, and his feet were hanging over not a black space on a platform, but a hole that would lead certainly to his death if he fell. This was going to be tricky.

He stepped backwards and the ground shifted again, this time back to where he had been just moments ago. He took this pattern into his mind, memorizing what he could of it. He stepped forward again, this time careful not to step too close to where he knew the new hole would appear. Again he memorized the holes and the platforms. He tried stepping onto the platform to his right and took note of how it created a third distinct pattern. He was beginning to wonder if it was worth memorizing the floors.

He took a step backwards from here and noticed that he was back to pattern one. He smiled and decided to jump left from here. It shifted to pattern 3, and he moved forward. He kept up this moving and recalculating between the three floor plans, each one requiring a slightly different move, but two in every three moves took him forward and to the side for every one move he was forced to take back. Before long he was close enough to see the number 99 etched into the far wall.

Seizing Saidin, Sydias took in the One Power and calmed himself within the Void. He wove Spirit only in such an intricate pattern, four separate weaves that were then joined as one distinct, tiny weave. This was supposed to be the weave for calming an individual and influencing them to think with a mind of reason and logic rather than with pure emotion. It was the closest to compulsion any weave was allowed to go, and yet it was nothing similar to that outlawed weave. It simply allowed a person to feel relaxed and calmed down. It then allowed the person to trust logic over their own emotion, and what continued from there was all entirely up to the person the weave was settled upon. Sydias settled this weave upon the number, and slowly the puzzle platform dissolved back into the Stair for a brief moment before dissolving into yet another world for Sydias to be tested within.

Step: Sydias stepped out of his room with the white marble floor and made his way down the hall to where the First of Mayene sat. Something in his mind told him this woman was as unwise as she was ugly. Something else told him that this was not the same First of Mayene that he had read about in the Tower back in his youth. Was he going mad, or had the First switched and he not known about it? Of course not! That was rubbish and he knew it. She had always been First so long as he had known, and he had been appointed her advisor because of how well he had come to know her and her court after they found him near death in the Drowned Lands. As he did not have a Gatekeeper with him, he simply sent word by pigeon to the Grey Tower years ago, and they asked if he would stay on as advisor for her as she had requested one. It seemed the best choice for him at the time.

Yet he was reminded daily of her stupidity. Today was no different. She came to him with what she claimed was a very puzzling ordeal. Some commoner had been found to be the murderer of a very high profile crime. All evidence pointed to him, and he made no attempt to deny it. Instead, he proudly proclaimed he had done it, and that the Wheel and the Pattern of the Ages made him do it. The sick thing was this man had undergone counseling with Sydias himself, and this guy genuinely believed he had been commanded by higher powers than anyone present. It was like a bizarre religion to the man, and it actually had Sydias question his own faith in whether the Creator yet lived. It didn\'t sound logical at first, but much studying revealed that the man had either done some digging and knew his theology inside and out or the man really had been sent by the Pattern to commit that crime.

As the First pleaded with Sydias to get some sort of an answer, he thought through everything with every bit of reasoning he had. Soon, he had worked out a solution. “The Light Illumine you to forever be the First. I have a solution to your problem.” She looked at him in anticipation, so he prattled on. “You see, as I have mentioned this man honestly believes that the Pattern set him forth to kill the man he killed. All attempts to knock holes in his defense have failed, and we have all accepted that he truly believes this. We also all have had our faith tested by this man’s resolve, no one more than me I am afraid. However, he sentenced himself, and I think he knows it.”

She stared at him in disbelief, but he simply smiled. “You see, he claims that he was sent by the Pattern to commit such a heinous crime as he did. The Pattern dictates that he had no choice. If the Pattern truly dictates that there is no such thing as free will and that we are all to make choices that are predetermined for us, then he would know that our City-State is forced by the Pattern to sentence him to the fullest ability of the Law of the land. The only thing that makes sense is to punish him to death.”

“Light, Sydias Asha’man, you are right! Thank you for your help in such a delicate matter of state!”

As she said this, the world dissipated for the final time, and he found himself back upon the Great Stair. He took his step up beyond the White Stair.

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