The short, sober form of the Asha'man assigned to this class looks more than a little bit out of place in this room.  Surrounded by orderly stacks of unlit candles and lanterns, the neatly dressed man has apparently made a futile attempt to make the room look neat; the way the singed desks are arranged into geometric rows gives away his Cairhienin roots.

This class is taught by Lembirt Antii, Asha'man of the Indigo Ajah and Master of Soldiers.   Please direct any questions, comments, or concerns here.

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As with my other classes (except crossbow, of course,) passing in this class is not dependant on your character actually being able to do the assignment. That means that your character doesn’t actually have to learn the skill being taught, although they do have to try somewhat. However, I do most certainly expect you to write a decent length response to each lesson (minimum 100-200 words) explaining why your character does or does not do well in the lesson. (That way, you’ll be developing your character realistically. After all, not every Soldier is going to be good with fire, although most probably are.)

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If there are any questions, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me or contact me via AIM, MSN, Y!, or ICQ, respectively CadJass, jvernham@istar.ca, pvanstalts, and 8424347.

Lesson 1 - Lighting the Candle
Why in the light did I agree to this? wondered Lembirt as he surveyed the interior of his new classroom. An interior room, there were no windows, so the Asha'man was forced to weave a few bright light spheres and tie them off near the ceiling of the room. Now it was bright enough to see in here, but the light didn’t do much to ease Lembirt’s apprehension.

From the charred desks, arranged at random around the room, to the multiple hearths, to the way the creamy grey marble was streaked with soot, it was obvious that this was a room where Soldiers learned to weave Fire.

Resisting the urge to mutter furiously to himself, Lembirt went about arranging the heavy, slate-topped desks into a neat grid, using his limited control over Air to move the heavy instructor’s desk to the rear of the room. The various supplies he would be using in this set of lessons were stacked neatly to one side, and he prudently stored his papers in the desk drawers until he would need them.

By this time, students had started to arrive. Once it seemed like no more were coming, he closed the door with a thread of air and then walked to the front of the class. “As you are no doubt aware,” he began, deftly tying off his voice amplification weave and releasing the Source, “This class will attempt to teach you what sort of things you can do with one component of the One Power, in this case, Fire. Of course, the range is limited, since this class deals with weaves that use only Fire, or else very little of a second element.”

His voice was mild, polite, and had the tone of a career lecturer; after all, he had aspired Brown before finally donning the Indigo cord. “The first thing I need to discuss with you is safety. Because we will be dealing with a rather dangerous form of the One Power, I will ask that you only channel when I specifically say that you may. For that matter, do not practice any weaves other than the one I tell you to. And especially do not set anything on fire that you are not supposed to.” That last was meant as a joke, but only a few of the Soldiers laughed. It was difficult to pick out the jokes in Lembirt’s dry tone, and would probably take these young men a few weeks at least.

“Secondly, remember that if you accidentally set something on fire that you do not mean to, all you need do is extinguish it. I will teach you how in a moment. Panic is the worst thing that can happen to a channeler. If you do panic, I will not hesitate to shield you.” That was mostly a bluff; most of the boys in this room could probably already channel more strongly than could Lembirt.

“Now, for today’s lesson. You will find candles and lanterns stacked against the wall to your right. Your only task in this lesson is to light the candle, lantern, or if you feel ambitious, you can light one of the hearths.” Grasping the Source once more, he channelled at one of the short candles from the nearest stack, floating it in the air in front of him. “This is a fairly simple process; just channel a very thin strand of Fire into the candle wick, or whatever else it is that you wish to set fire to.” He demonstrated this, setting the candle alight. “When you wish to extinguish the candle, simply pull the fire of the candle into yourself, like this. I wouldn’t advise telling this to any of your Novice friends, women hurt themselves terribly if they try it.” He demonstrated that as well, absorbing the heat from the candle flame. “Now, everyone get a candle or lantern and practice this until I say that you may stop.”

Lesson 2 - Balls of Fire
Lembirt stood amid the rubble of the heavily warded channelling yard, once again looking out of place in his impeccably starched and pressed uniform, his gleaming boots not covered by even the slightest layer of dust. He had reminded all of the boys at the end of the previous class that the next lesson was to be held here, and from the large black-coated swarm moving toward him from the direction of the Great Serpent, he had a feeling that most of them had remembered.

When the soldiers arrived, he spoke. “Today, we are meeting in the channelling yard because you will be learning to weave a fireball.” Excited whispers passed among the gathered boys. The whispers died off quickly as Lembirt fixed them with his cold, almost bored gaze. “This is a relatively simple weave, but a dangerous one at that. Although obviously this can be an offensive weave, there are a few other uses for it.”

A few of the students were giving him puzzled looks. He knew what those looks meant: what else could you possibly do with a fireball? “The fireball weave can be used to start a fire effectively, if you are unable to ignite the fuel using the method you learned yesterday. Wet fuel, or unconsolidated fuel, such as a living tree or a field of green grass, will not readily become a conflagration with the simple method.” He smiled slightly, although it was as much as the Cairhienin man ever smiled. “The Fireball also makes a very good signal, if you ever have need of one; it is hard to miss a sphere of fire if it is hurled straight up.”

He looked around, making sure what he had said was understood. “There are many ways to weave a fireball, but this is the way I favour personally.” He seized saidin then, the artificial chill of the void overtaking the polite blankness that usually graced his fine-boned face. “This is a weave of fire only, with perhaps some air if it makes you feel better.” Describing the procedure as he spoke, he several separate strands into a sort of loose sphere, by first forming the strands into a sphere, and then bending parts of them in so that the end result was a tightly packed ball. Then, he loosed the ball toward a nearby stack of rocks. As the ball flew through the air, starting as a dense, tight ball of light, it spread into a larger sphere of fire, taking in more air to burn as it did. When it hit the rock, the fire burned sporadically on the straw that was scattered there.

‘This weave is sustained by the fire you channel into it,” he explained as he released saidin once more, “until it hits something that it can burn upon naturally, at which point it is like any normal fire and must be extinguished as such. Now, practice the weave. Please do not set each other on fire; my healing ability is limited and I am not of a build that I could carry one of you to the infirmary from here.” This time, a few of the students caught the joke and laughed, although most just looked horrified.

Lesson 3 - Flame Without Fuel
Back in the stuffy, windowless room once more, surrounded by soot stains and charred desks, Lembirt was busy preparing for the days lesson. The candles and lanterns wouldn’t be needed today, so he was moving them into the vast storage cupboard at the back of the room. In fact, there was no equipment needed for this particular class, so after putting away the last lantern, he sat down at his desk and waited for the students to arrive.

And arrive they did, looking somewhat disappointed to be back in the classroom after the last lesson in the channelling yard. After making a final note to himself in the Adillarn House cipher, he stood and addressed the class.

“Today, class, we will be looking in more detail at something that I have mentioned previously, the concept of fire that burns without fuel. This is, in fact, not possible, as all fire needs some sort of fuel.”

Fire was the element of the One Power that Lembirt was strongest in, and as the Cairhienin man was quite a weak channeler, he put a great deal of time into developing his talent there. That and his talent with the manipulation of sound; when one had few strengths, he couldn’t afford to take any of them for granted.

“You can make it appear to burn without fuel, though, as long as you do not tie off the strand of Fire but instead continue to channel more and more of the One Power into it. This can be tiring, but useful, and is especially impressive to those who are unable to channel themselves. It can also be used to channel a flame above a flammable surface that you do not wish to actually burn, as long as you keep the two at least slightly separate.”

He demonstrated the weave then, balancing a hand-high flickering flame over the back of his left hand, held up in front of his face at eye level. The flame was composed of a little ragged ball of Fire that he occasionally tucked another strand into; this could be done was a single strand, as he would explain, but using a few at a time made a more versatile flame.

In an unusual show of theatrics, he juggled the small flame back and forth between his hands, flickered it through his spread fingers like a gleeman with a throwing knife, tossed it in the air and caught it in a cupped palm, and did a number of other small tricks as he taught. It was a good exercise of concentration for him, keeping the little flame alive as he flicked and tossed it, and a relaxing one as well. “I want you to begin by forming a flame, using a single strand, or several as I am doing, whichever you are more comfortable with. Float this one above you hand, and try passing it back and forth. Then, move along to one of the hearths, where you can practice with a larger fire. Finally, if you feel ambitious, you can try setting a fire just above the surface of your desk; as long as the two do not touch, the fire will be fed solely by the One Power, and will not singe the desk.”

Lesson 4 - The Branding Iron
Only one more lesson of this, Lembirt, and then you can swear never to teach a channelling class again. That was the Asha'man’s mantra as he used the One Power to place a small iron bar – blanks borrowed from the blacksmith in the town nearby – on each student’s desk. Somehow he had been roped into teaching one of the most basic classes, so there were quite a few Soldiers here, and thus quite a few desks. He didn’t understand whose idea it had been to place an Asha'man with less strength than some Novices in charge of a channelling class for new Soldiers, but apparently someone had thought it a wonderful plan.

“Today’s lesson will be in several parts,” he said without any preamble once the last student had entered the room. A thin tendril of air shut the heavy wooden door with a muffled thump; Lembirt mentally scolded himself for wasting precious energy on so mundane a task. He had a feeling that by the end of the day it would have become a strain just to maintain his network of sound amplifiers.

“First, we will be learning how to heat a metal object, or other object that would not take flame with ease. Heating something such as a rock is a good way to have a long-term radiating heat source without having to maintain a weave, or worry about smothering under the weight of your own heat. There are other uses as well, which you will no doubt learn eventually through experience.” His voice was cool and mild, as it always was, and thanks to the amplifiers moved about the room so that all of the students could hear him with clarity without the instructor raising his voice above a moderate tone. Of course, the network was manipulated skillfully enough that those sitting in the front weren't blasted by an overloud tone.

Lesson 5 - Watched Pots Do Boil

Lembirt wanted to sigh with relief as he arranged the last of the heavy metal pots in a neat row in front of the desks. He might have been an Asha'man, but there were more than a few Soldiers who would some day have twice his strength or more in the Power. Fo that matter, there were many who equalled or surpassed his strength right now, and moving all of these supplies around was straining. But he didn’t sigh, of course; he was Lembirt Antii and there were some lines that he would never cross. This was the last day before the final exam, at least, so there wouldn’t be too many days of choosing between exhausting himself hauling things about with Air or exhausting himself moving them with his arms.

“Now we will learn of a simple, yet useful trick,” he said, his voice carried through an amplification network that was somewhat simpler than his usually was; moving those iron pots and the water they were filled with had taken a lot out of the Cairhienin man, although he would never let it show. “We are learning how to heat water.” There were whispers of understanding from the class; many had no doubt been wondering why there was a mug of cold tea on each desk.

“Obviously, there are many reasons this is useful. No-one wants to drink cold tea or take a bath in cold water, after all.” He cast a cold gaze around the room, quieting any continuing whispers. There weren’t many whispers in his class, though; his natural air of callous authority intimidated most people into silence. “However, there are things to consider. First, remember that heating something with the One Power is the same as heating it over a fire, so your tea will taste bitter. Second, realise that water expands when you heat it, so you should never heat water or any other liquid that is trapped, or is sealed away, unless an explosion is what you are striving for. Third, remember that weaves of the One Power are not effected by natural phenomenon. So, if you try to warm a moving stream, then the heat will be concentrated only in the space that you have directed your weave at; it will begin to cool naturally as soon as it flows past that point.”

Once he was sure that there were no questions about the theory, he demonstrated the weave, first using Air and Water to pluck a sphere of water from one of the pots and float it in the air before him, so that all of the students could clearly see the weave and what it did to the fluid. He explained, of course, that he didn't expect his students to pick the water up like that, but that he merely didn't want to let the cup hide the weaves he was demonstrating. After tying off the sphere-weave, he spun out a hair-fine thread of Water, and intertwined it with a similarly fine thread of Fire. Then, he passed this into the sphere, curling it about inside. Adding more Fire to the existing thread, thickening it, he sped up the heating process so that soon there was steam rising from the floating ball.

“I want you all to practice this,” he said, “by heating your tea-cups up to drinking temperature. Please do not burn yourselves. If you feel ambitious, you may try heating the larger pots.”