Other Worlds
Written by Oshari Sedai former member.
[Board Intro/Signup Message]
[Lesson One]
[Lesson Two]
[Lesson Three]
[Lesson Four]
[Lesson Five]
[Final]
[Return to the Archive]
Board Intro
Oshari, a young Shienaran Indigo Sister, sits in front of the small, cool classroom and eyes you with her orbs of liquid blue. She will teach you about strange worlds today, the worlds that lay behind Portal Stones, within Waygates, in the Dream and behind the strange doorframe ter'angreal that are sometimes found.
Lesson 1: An Outline
Although it was an early spring day, Oshari had opened the windows of her classroom widely to allow the brisk light and chill wind to enter unhindered. She had been assigned to a small classroom, and the fire in the stone hearth had no difficulty keeping the room warm despite the wind. The Shienaran Indigo thought it a crime to keep out the sunlight on one of the first beautiful days of the new year.
When she was Accepted, she had put it off as long as she could, yet there was no way to escape teaching a class. One Power Basics hadn't been bad – although shy, Oshari could keep her strength up in the company of one mere novice. Anxiety for her second class had left her sleepless for three nights in a row. Now, she was teaching it for the second time, and there was a certain serenity in the Indigo's face, although she still felt uncomfortable with the prospect of dealing with many people at once.
Small and slight, Oshari was a diminutive figure. Her raven-black hair reached the small of her back nowadays, neatly combed out of her face, her large blue eyes were mostly averted so that their brisk, icy tone would be noticed by few, if any at all. She sat on a chair between the windows and the fireplace, her face blank and serene while watching the door to the classroom.
Kirenna had told her not many students had signed up for her class – hardly surprising, considering its exotic subject – and this knowledge had given the Sister a tad of self-confidence. All we have to do is to speak, to speak and to listen. As their teacher, you are far away from them. Come no closer than is necessary, Oshari.
A hesitant knock shook her from her thoughts, as the first student entered, a mousy-looking Dedicated she didn’t know by name. “Have a seat,” Oshari spoke softly, fearing for a moment she would be forced into a conversation with this stranger. Luckily, the door opened again and more people entered, and soon, a dozen or so students were conversing with each other.
“Excuse me?” Oshari spoke after the bells had tolled, and a novice on front row looked up to her but soon resumed her conversation. “I would like to start the lesson.” No effect. Be bold, this once. Clearing her throat, Oshari looked into the classroom and straightened her back. “I WOULD LIKE TO BEGIN!” she shouted, although her shout was hardly louder than an average speaking voice. Still, it seemed to work.
Reluctantly, her students set their conversations aside, and soon, they were all looking at her expectantly. Even worse. Folding her hands and squeezing them together, Oshari produced an uncomfortable-looking smile. “Welcome. My name is Oshari and I will teach you what I know about Other Worlds. In this first lesson, I will tell you briefly about the subjects we will deal with, and I will give you an easy exercise to start with.”
She sounded a bit hoarse, she noticed, so she cleared her throat again, raising her slumped shoulders. “When I say ‘other worlds’, I mean worlds different from our own. They can be close or far away, alike or very different. Most of you have heard of the first world I’ll speak of, the Unseen World or tel’aran’rhiod, the World of Dreams. The Portal Stone worlds, alternate realities in truth, form a more exotic subject. I will also teach you about the Ways, and even about the category of ter’angreal I’d like to classify as ‘portals’, objects that lead the user to a different world. They are most commonly found in the shape of doorframes.”
A soldier on the second row was staring at her very sheepishly, and a drin’ in the back of the classroom seemed to be dozing off. Their own responsibility, Oshari. “This class deals mostly with the theory of these items and phenomena, which is why it’s a non-channeling class. However, those who are interested can come to me when the course is over and ask for a lesson in using Portal Stones and Waygates.” Many of the channelers looked up now, interested for the first time since she started.
“As a first exercise, please write a short essay on a story you heard about one of these subjects. It doesn’t have to be a true story, as long as it’s interesting and it’s focused on an alternate world. Please also tell me where you heard or read the story, and whether you think it’s credible.”
(ooc: In case you didn’t notice, Oshari is a bad teacher. She speaks too softly, has no body language whatsoever, seeks no interaction at all with her students. I’d like to read your character’s reaction to this in your response, and please keep it in mind during the remainder of the class.)
Lesson 2: Thw World of Dreams
Oshari was in half an hour before her class would commence, and after writing 'Tel'aran'rhiod' on the blackboard in her awkward, small handwriting, she sat down in the windowsill and stared outside, alone with her thoughts and trying to ease down, so she could face the humiliation of teaching once more. Last week hadn't been a great success, and she was quite sure today wouldn't make a difference. Be strong, go on, we will reach our goal eventually...
Her students dripped in reluctantly, a few less than last week. It seemed Oshari would be left with only those few that were truly interested in her subject - a good thing, but a dangerous thing at the same time. They might start asking questions, and Oshari didn't know if she was ready to answer them. After all, we hardly know more than they do, and they always think me strange...
It took her less of an effort to silence her reduced class this time, and she started talking in her soft, droning voice. "The World of Dreams, the Unseen World, the Wolf Dream, tel'aran'rhiod... There are many names for the World of Dreams, perhaps the best known of the worlds I will deal with in this class. The World of Dreams is a reflection of our own world in a sense, but much more than that in another."
She made a clumsy sketch on the blackboard, showing a room with a thin sheet above it. "When you enter the World of Dreams, you will only see what is steady in our world. Tel'aran'rhiod averages over time, and brief events, like a cat walking through a hallway or a letter lying on a desk, are simply not important enough to be remembered. A chair that is usually in the same place but sometimes moved may look a bit shifty, while a wall will look as solid as these here."
She erased the drawing and stared out of the window for a moment, recalling her own experiences with the Unseen World. "Furthermore, it is a world of thought. Whatever you see when you go there is only the barest outline of what it can be. Focus strongly enough on a thought, and your thought will become as real as the rest of the Dream World. Be convinced of something, and it will be real to you. It is not only our world that is reflected in tel'aran'rhiod - every world is there, an ethereal reflection of the truth."
Turning back to face her students again, Oshari folded her hands and finished her lecture. "If a dreaming person enters the World of Dreams, he or she will be only as real as tel'aran'rhiod itself. If a person enters in the flesh, by using a portal weave, grave effects can occur because of the difference in nature between the person and the world he or she is in. Think of the World of Dreams as a sketch of the world, and one who walks it in the flesh as a living, breathing, solid person that is slowly forced into the same twodimensional perspective. One who walks the Dream in the flesh loses a part of their being. Be wary."
She felt a chill run over her spine. Show them no fear. "Your exercise is another short essay. Think about what you have learned here, and find some books about the subject if you have to, then tell me whether you think the World of Dreams is real, and why you think so. I will see you next week." Oshari took the pile of last week's essays that was on her desk and hurried out of the classroom.
Lesson 3: The Ways
Oshari had brought a large poster this time, which drew her students' attention away from each other and towards the drawing a bit. It served her well to gain their attention before the start of her lecture. "You may know that what you are looking at is a drawing of a Waygate. There are dozens of these gates in the world, if not hundreds, most of them forged during the Breaking of the World and some in the centuries that followed that tragic event."
The poster was a stunning replica of a well-kept door in northern Saldaea, bright, lively colours patterned into a dense forest of leaves and flowers, the avendesora leaf nearly insignificant in their midst. "The Waygates lead to one of the other worlds I would tech you of, the Ways. They were built as a quick means of transport between Stedding, a gift to the Ogier from the male Aes Sedai who, in their Stedding, found shelter from tainted saidin and their inevitable madness... for a while. They form connections between parts of the world, and no matter how much the world changes, the connections will hold.
"The male Aes Sedai left the Stedding eventually, unable to resist the urge to channel, and they perished. Before they left, they gifted the Ogier with the Talisman of Growing, a powerful artefact that could grow new Ways and make new Waygates, to use when Stedding were rediscovered. They used it, for centuries, and what happened to it afterwards is lost - some say the Ogier still have it, kept on a secret place, some say the Talisman broke during the Darkening of the Ways."
Looking at the poster, Oshari resisted a tremor and continued speaking softly. "During the War of the Hundred Years, after Artur Hawkwing's death, the Ways started... changing. The beautiful light that had filled them dulled, the strong and steady roads began to crumble, and a wind could be heard howling in the distance, speaking of death and damnation. No one knows what corruption brought this change upon the Ways, but it is logical to assume it has to do with the taint on saidin. Perhaps the Dark Wind that haunts the Ways nowadays, Machin Shin, is the taint embodied, the Dark One's evil set loose on the once splendid Ways of the Ogier.
"Another interesting question is the one dealing with the nature of the world the Ways are in. Some say it's a world-between-worlds, like the World of Dreams, a world without laws overlaying our own. Others argue it is the same void one enters when Skimming, which is a more plausible explanation because distance isn't entirely lost in there, it is just altered."
She stared at the drawing for another long moment and then turned to her students, glancing at them absent-mindedly as though she had forgotten they were there. "The ways can still be traveled, but some paths are blocked and if Machin Shin comes, the only thing that may leave the Ways is the empty shell of your body. The danger found in the Ways is beyond imagination. Your exercise is to either think of a reason to enter the Ways despite their danger, or of a way to study the Ways without compromising one's safety."
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Lesson 4: The ways
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A hard spring rain was hammering on the classroom windows, some of it spilling on the windowsill through the window Oshari had left open. It was one of those rare terrible days this early in the year, and Oshari felt dreadful because of the lack of warmth, the lack of sunlight. Her students, a group about as large as last week - it seemed those who weren't really interested had given up on her course - dripped in one by one and Oshari was sure some of them noticed her unnatural pallor, the slight tremors in her frail hands. She gave them a hesitant smile before starting her lecture, grateful so many had decided to go on with her course no matter the teacher's skills. They must truly hate you, Oshari.
"My subject for today is Portal Stones," she began hesitantly. "The worlds that can be reached through Portal Stones are truly different worlds. Most books call them reflections of our own world, or mirror worlds, but there is a different theory on their nature which I will explain later on." She pointed to a poster that hung on the blackboard, an expertly drawn image of a Portal Stone adorning it.
"No one knows when the Portal Stones were made. They date back at least to the Age of Legends, and possibly to long before that. Consider that they are objects forged of the One Power, yet many of them show wear and damage. They must be ancient. They are placed on many different locations, the logic of which is impossible to discern."
There was a Portal Stone in the Tower Gardens by pure chance, Oshari was sure most of her students knew. "As far as I know, all Portal Stones are different. You may have studied the one in the Gardens once or twice, although it's uncomfortable for channelers to go there with the shield woven around it. It is necessary, though, because cases are known of young channelers intuitively triggering a Portal Stone. The weave isn't all that difficult, and its result can be disastrous."
Recalling her adventure with Suilela, Oshari was glad she had seen some of the possible dangers and survived them so that the next time she faced them she would be fine. "There are many Portal Stones. The lower limit on their number is the number of symbols that is on the stones themselves, and it is possible that, using combinations of the runes, still different worlds might be reached. The number of combinations is near infinite, and all worlds reached are different. Some of them resemble our own but know minor changes - the language might be different, or perhaps the White Tower rules the world instead of our Kings and Queens. Others are so different we cannot even breathe the air or look upon the surface. To know where one can travel in relative safety, one must study all literature that can be found about the subject, which tends to be a long-winded yet intriguing task." She had spent several years on it herself now, the first Indigo Aes Sedai to focus wholly on the subject of Other Worlds.
"I told you in the beginning of my lecture that there are two competing theories about the nature of Portal Stone worlds. The first theory claims all Portal Stones are reflections of this world, with minute changes. This theory places our own world above the others. The second is the one I think most likely, and many famous philosophers have thought about it. What if our world isn't that special? Because we live in it, we tend to think that it's the most real, most true world. Wouldn't people in other worlds think exactly the same thing? I think all Portal Stone worlds are equivalent, with the same lines in the Pattern - the Breaking has occurred in all worlds, the Dark One is sealed in Shayol Ghul, the Dragon has been reborn - and just some processes of chance that make it look different.
"Your exercise for this week is to think of the two competing theories about Portal Stone worlds - are they equal with our world in importance, or are they lesser mirrors of it - and write down a short essay about which theory you think more likely to be true, and why. I will see you next week for the last lecture."
Despite her ill feelings, Oshari noticed she was already smiling when she reached the point she felt she needed to. Perhaps there is something to like about this teaching thing after all. Watch it well, Oshari.
Lesson 5: Ter'angreal
The Shienaran Sister slung a heavy purple cloak around her lithe body and hid her black-haired head in its cowl. It was another cold day, but the chill wasn't what made Oshari feel so cold. Today, she would teach the last lesson of the other worlds class, and its subject was one that didn't leave her untouched. She had an hour before the class would begin, and it seemed a good moment to descend into the storerooms and take a look at what had been her prison for centuries, for the first time since she had entered the Tower through it.
It was dusty in the storeroom the doorframe had been moved to, but there were torches on the walls and footsteps on the ground. Clearly, her appearance had led to someone investigating the ter'angreal she had appeared through. She touched it briefly, the polished wood cold to the touch. We are free of them now, Oshari. The two of us, alone here, in a world where no one cares, where we can be what we want to be. Rejoice, for we are truly free...
Oshari entered her classroom with a mysterious smile on her lips and lit the hearth, then hung her cloak on a peg on the wall, neatly smoothing out the creases. A handful of students would be here today, to learn about the most exotic of subjects she taught here, and hopefully, some would be interested and perhaps, in the future, aid her in her investigations. Even if we cannot trust them, their efforts could be invaluable.
"Not much is known about the last type of alternate world I would teach you of," she spoke softly, a couple of chatting novices falling silent when she was halfway through her sentence. "A few carefully stored reports are known of people going missing while experimenting with ter'angreal, a few incredulous stories of people entering a mysterious world and returning with treasure, or disease, or worse..." She fell silent for a moment, allowing her students time to think on what she just said.
"The most famous of the portal ter'angreal is the arches ter'angreal in the vaults of the Tower. Another is the room of glass columns in the Aiel city of Rhuidean, used to test aspiring clan chiefs. Others have been reported; a doorframe in the Stone of Tear and another in Rhuidean, a mirror and a doorframe in the vaults of the Tower... None of them are alike, yet they all seem to serve a similar purpose..."
She knew there were scholars who thought the ter'angreal she had just enumerated were not all a part of one class, but it fitted her own theories and she thought it right to teach it this way. "How these ter'angreal came into existance is a mystery. Some of them lead to worlds created by the thoughts of those who entered them - worlds akin to the World of Dreams. Others lead to worlds where sentient beings are waiting for them, some of them friendly and some of them malicious. Those worlds resemble Portal Stone worlds. The first kind was likely created by Aes Sedai, in the Age of Legends, although some may have had entirely different purposes them than they have now. The latter kind... no one knows for sure, but I think they may have been created by the beings that live in them. They need us, to a certain degree, to fulfill whatever dark purpose in life they pursue. Of course, this leads to the question how many of these worlds do exist, and how many of them are linked to our own world in one way or another?"
There were thin wrinkles on Oshari's forehead, hinting at the amount of thinking she was doing at that selfsame moment. "I will leave it at this," she said. "Go to the Library and find an account about one of the ter'angreal of the type I mentioned today. Copy it, and tell me what you think. I will send you and the appropriate officer a notice if you have passed my class."
Final: Your Turn!
[ooc]
This is where your own creativity comes in. After following Oshari's class, you no doubt have questions about some of the subjects she dealt with. You may wish to learn how to enter one of the worlds she spoke about, you may wish to see one of them for yourself.
Whether your interest is sparked by something Oshari said or by something you read somewhere, you now have the urge to go to her, and ask her your question. You may find her in the library, the Indigo storerooms, the gardens or her own office in the Indigo Halls, any part of the day, any time of the year... It's up to you. We'll do a short roleplay, and you'll have finished the class.
One note: There is no way she will take you through a doorframe ter'angreal. Read her bio if you wonder why ;)
Thank you for taking my class, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please leave any comments and suggestions below, too ;)
[/ooc]
In the Light,
Oshari
Aes Sedai of the Indigo Ajah
Tai'shar Shienar
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