Basic Cloud Dancing
Written by Accepted Issyra.
[Board Intro/Signup Message]
[Lesson One]
[Lesson Two]
[Lesson Three]
[Lesson Four]
[Lesson Five]
[Final]
[Return to the Archive]
Board Intro/Signing Up (A few ground rules)
Welcome to Basic Cloud Dancing. This class is open to all interested in taking the class and will cover the basics of Cloud Dancing, from wind to rain to snow and hail. This class is being taught by Accepted Issyra din Adriyen Falling Star, and any questions regarding the class can be directed to her by email. Welcome and enjoy the class!
Signing Up (A Few Ground Rules
Hi everyone, this is the first class that I've taught in ages and ages, so bear with me if I'm a bit rusty. Please post here with your character's name, rank, and your email address, so that I can make a list of who is participating in the class. I want to make sure that you all get credit. All I ask is that you try your best and make posts of a decent length for lessons (once again so you get credit for them). Please wait until yu have passed a lesson to proceed to the next. I will respond to posts as fast as I possibly can. I hope everyone enjoys this class.
Issy :)
Lesson 1 - Making a Breeze
Issyra shifted the stack of books sitting next to her on the stone bench for what seemed the hundredth time. She didn't want anyone to know that she was truly nervous about teaching this class. There were something about the subject that was very personal to her, and she felt like if she didn't teach it perfectly, that she would be letting her Windfinder teacher down in every possible way. She knew that she could handle this class though. She expected mostly Novices, some of them having just learned to embrace Saidar and sure to struggle in this class until they mastered some control. But Issyra loved this subject and would teach until no one wanted to learn anymore. She was taught in much the same way, spending night after night on the deck of the ship, moving the clouds around until she could do it just so.
A few girls clad in white dresses started to arrive and Issyra couldn't help smiling. For the briefest of moments, she wondered if anyone would want to take the class at all. Issyra gestured to the grass and to the bunches around the immediate area for the girls to sit on, and once they were seated, their eyes turned back to issyra and the Accepted knew that this was the moment that she would have to get their attention. She only hoped that she would succeed.
"For a long time, the winds and rain have been a mystery to those that they affect. But now, the members of the Grey Tower are realizing that they can affect the weather around them and in effect, bring about rain or sun or wind as needed. My people, the Atha'an Miere, teach their apprentices from a young age to harness the winds to move their ships and the waves to bring them safely back home, and now you can learn how to control them as well." Issyra took a deep breath and embraced Saidar, the feeling of life filling her completely and she felt for at ease in front of her audience.
"In this first lesson, we will create a breeze, enough to blow the flame of a candle, or enough to blow a feather about." Issyra tossed a feather into the air and then wove air and blew it around before eventually letting it fall to the ground. Then she held a candle and holder in her left hand, using Air to push against the flame, making it flicker and dance. "Making the flame flicker is a question of control. If you use too much Air, you will blow the candle out completely. First I want you each to try with the feather as I did first,see if you can keep it off the ground for a few moments. Then we'll try the candle, I'd like to see them dance a bit, before you finally blow them out." She passed around feathers to all the girls and then sat back to watch their efforts.
Lesson 2 - Making Clouds
Issyra felt that the first class had gone well and she was impressed with the number of Novices and Accepteds that had accomplished her first task. It was true that creating a bit of a breeze was not something complicated, but at the same time, someone who was particularly weal in Air may have difficulty, and would find each future lesson ever more difficult. This next lesson was one that issyra found herself using quite often. In fact, she had used it more than once late at night when she wanted a clear view of the moon and stars and cloud simply got in the way. She decided to break the task down into three parts, so that the students could handle each part in succession and she could find out where they had difficulties. The first part, making clouds, was pure fun and never served any real purpose, without the lessons that she would teach in future classes. The second part, dissolving the clouds, was slightly more useful when sun was needed. The third part, which was the one that Issyra liked to use, was the use of the One Power to move the clouds around. It was more difficult than simply taking them apart, as clouds were far from completely solid and would often just break apart into smaller clouds than move, but at the same time, Issyra didn't like to completely change the weather everywhere, just change it a touch.
Issyra watched as the students joined her in the gardens again, as they had doen the class before. She was pleased that they had all returned for the second lesson. Perhaps it was a sign that she wasn't so bad of a teacher as she had feared. When they were all settled she stood up and rbraced the Source, channeling air, a little water, and a little earth and shaped them into a cloud, which floating at abut her eye level. "This lesson will be about clouds, which can create a great effect on the weather. We will also make them dissipate and move them around so that they cover and uncover the sun, creating shadows and shade. The last part will be the most difficult, and possibly not all of you will be able to do it, but try it anyway." Issyra channeled more Air and pushed it into the middle of the cloud she had made, pushing it apart until it gradually drifted into nothingness. "There are many ways to make the clouds go away, but this will be the method we will use for this class, as taking weaves apart can be too dangerous unless the maker is very skilled." Issyra made another cloud and then channeling Air at the bits of Earth that gave the cloud substance, the cloud began to move back and forth through the Air. It moved slowly and not terribly smoothly, but concentrating so many flows of Air around so many bits of Earth was not exactly easy.
"Now we'll begin with making the clouds. They should be relatively solid, but will not be completely solid." Issyra took the cloud apart and made another, showing the class once more how the cloud was made, making each flow very deliberately. "Now each of you try, and once you have made it through this first part, we'll move on and see who can complete this lesson. Perhaps when we get to the last part we'll pair up and make a competition of it, with those able to push their clouds back and forth most getting a prize."
Lesson 3 - Bring on the Rain
Issyra was certain that the class was going well now and the number of students that had successfully handled the lesson from the day before, made her even more confident about the lesson for today. They would take the clouds that they had made the day before and add more Water to bring rain from the clouds. Issyra glanced up at the sky and found the absence of clouds to be a good sign. It meant that the students would not be able to use the already existent clouds and would be required to make their own. In every class Issyra tried to find ways to make the lessons challenging and looked for ways that the students would use the world around them to make the task easier. She wanted to measure their abilities with Saidar, not their ability to be resourceful.
Students began to arrive and Issyra prepared to explain the lesson to them. Though they would only be adding one simple weave to what they had already learned, it would be interesting to see who coud manipulate the flows for the clouds as well as those that would control the rain. It wasn't so much a matter of strength, but a matter of control. Some Novices mastered comntrol quickly and others simply could not. And it was nice to find out who had control and who did not. Issyra knew that she was lucky to have learned control before ever setting foot in the Grey Tower.
Once the students were ready, Issyra stood up and began to explain the lesson. "Now that we've learned how to make clouds, We're going to make rain. Simply by adding a weave of Water into the clouds in order to make it rain. And depending on the amount of Water used, the rain can be anything from a sprinkle to a downpour. Watch closely while I show you how to make a light rain, then I want you each to try it and vary the amount of water you use, in order to increase or decrease the rain."
Issyra embraced the Source and made a cloud the same way that she had before. Then she added another weave of Water to the cloud and slowly rain began to fall from the cloud. Then she added more Water to the weave, thickening the flows, and made the rain fall harder, illiciting a few shrieks from the Novices and Accepteds that didn't want to get wet. Issyra couldn't help laughing and then she dissipated the cloud and let the others try. "Everyone take a try, and then we'll move on. Start with a small shower and then increase to a downpour."
Let it Snow
It was the day for the fourth lesson and it still surprised Issyra how well things were going with her first formal class. No one had hurt themselves and no one had left the class either. There had been no behavior problems and Issyra knew that the class would be concluding soon. She already had in mind another class, a bigger and more exciting class, though she wasn't sure if she would be allowed to teach it, because it would be dangerous. But she pushed that to the back of her mind and got ready for the next lesson. Issyra wondered how this lesson would do, because it was really on something that she had had no personal experience with before coming to the Grey tower. She had never truly seen snow, except for when the Windfinders made it using Saidar. But now that she was settled into the Grey Tower, and the weather of the Mountains of Mist had become normal to her, she knew that snow was not always so pretty and dream like. It seemed that she had always been raised around warm waters and that snow was something that was only talked about when dealing with mountains and the Borderlands. But it snowed at the Grey Tower, oh yes, and she knew that this lesson would be well understood by those that now called the Grey Tower home.
But the girls gathered as they had the three days before, and Issyra waited for them to settle before beginning the lesson. "Today we're going to take everything that you've learned so far, how to make wind and rain and clouds, and we're going to make snow." A few groans from the girls at the mention of snow made Issyra smile. "I know that all of you have just gotten over clearing the walkways of snow and are happy that spring has finally arrived, as am I, but this lesson must be covered if you are to learn all that is Cloud Dancing." Issyra made a cloud as she had in lessons before and added a weave of water to make a light rain fall. "As many of you know, Fire is often used to make things warmer, whether it's the air or tea or whatever else needs to be warmed. In a similar way, Water can be used to make things colder. Adding another weave of Water to the air and is around our cloud and rain, can change the rain into snow."
Issyra let the smaller cloud dissipate and made a much larger one that she positioned over the class. She wove Water to create the Light rain and then wove a ring of Water around everything that she had made so far. The rain began to turn white and soon a light snow was falling over the girls. Some laughed, some shrieked at the return on winter and some just watched the cloud in fascination. Those were the girls that Issyra particularly wanted to reach, the ones that had a talent and that wanted to understand all there was to Cloud Dancing. "Now each of you try to make a small snow, and I'll check what you've one. Once you have completed the lesson, you are dismissed to your studies and chores."
Lesson 5 - Hailing
In some ways, issyra was sad to see the class finish. She had worked hard to make it an educational class for her students and they in turn had shown her their best efforts in their work. But there would be more classes and other chances to find Cloud Dancers among the Novices. There were a few in the class that showed some potential and she only wished that she had her Windfinder teachers here to confirm the ones that she wanted to work with further. She was going to show them a few tricks this class that she hoped would help them in their other classes such as tying off a weave, so that it did not have to be maintained while trying to manage so many other weaves. That would be especially helpful in this lesson, because the students had to create the cloud, the rain, then snow and finally hail. That was many weaves to maintain as a Novice. Issyra tied off weaves most of the time herself, because it drained her less to do it that way.
When the girls assembled for the final time, Issyra waited until they had settled before starting the lesson. She didn't mind if they spoke to their friends, as long as it was kept short and did not interfere with her teaching. "As most of you know, this is the last lesson for this class, and I couldn't be more pleased with the effort that you have shown me in this class. However, this last lesson will really test your abilities. You will have to control four different things at once in this lesson. Therefore I'm going to show you how to tie off your weaves in case you have not been told before, so that you do overwork yourselves on this last lesson." Issyra embraced the Source and felt the light and life that was Saidar fill every pore in her body. She felt incredibly alive and everything seemed somehow brighter.
"Now first we'll make the cloud as we normally do. Everyone embrace Saidar, so that you can see exactly what I'm doing. Now if you do not wish to maintain the cloud on your own, you can tie the weaves that make the cloud into something like a knot. And now even if I let go of Saidar, the cloud will stay there." Issyra let the glow of Saidar fade from around her and still the cloud hang in the air between her and her students. She picked up Saidar again. "Now I have found that the thicker the flows used, the longer something will last before it fades away. There are exceptions to this I'm sure, but as a rule it seems to be the case." Issyra turned to the students again. "I want you to each try to make the cloud and tie it off, then we'll continue. Being able to tie off weaves is very important." She gave the students some time to try this and then when it looked like they had all succeeded, she continued.
"With our clouds firmly tied off, we'll add Water now to make rain as we did in our third lesson." Most of the girls had no problem with this part of the lesson and Issyra moved on quickly. "Make sure that you keep the rain very light, as you will see why in the next few parts." Issyra added the weave of Water she had taught them in the class before to make snow. "Now this is where the lesson will get much more difficult. We're going to add a touch of earth to the raindrops and then use Air to compress them together to make hail." Issyra bit her lower lip in concentration as even this simple exercise took some concentration when she had not used to weave in a while. A few Novices moved away from the hail shower, but others who had never seen hail had found it fascinating.
"Try to make hail on your own, managing the flows as best you can, then I will ask each of you which flows you would choose to tie off to make the lesson easier. Then if you have given a good answer, I will let you try the lesson again with the weaves tied off. You may try now."
OOC: Please try the weave first with nothing tied off and answer Issyra's question, then once I pass you on that, write trying the weave again in a separate post, then you're done!
You're Done!
Once you have been passed for all the lessons, please post here with your character's full name, rank, and your email address, so that I can send you a certificate of completion for the class. Also post with your general impressions of the class and anything that you would change or improve about the class.
Issyra :)
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