Sneaking Seminar
Writen by Alyna Gaidar
[Board Intro/Signup Message]
[Lesson One]
[Lesson Two]
[Lesson Three]
[Lesson Four]
[Lesson Five]
[Final]
Board Intro/Sign Up Here
This class will teach you how to follow people around without them noticing, and how to hit them before they have even seen you. This is especially useful for Warder trainees and for aspirants to the Green and Blue Ajahs, but everyone is more than welcome!
This class was taken over from Aric Asha'man, who had taken it over from Alyna Gidar, who had taken it over from Miledha Drin'far'ji, who had taken it over from the original teacher, Cei'ila Sedai.
Note: This class is one way of gaining an Advantage Point in the Advantage Stalking.
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Thanks,
Alyna
Lesson 1: Silent as a mouse
Ji'dar Alyna was pleased to see how many students were continuing with the class after Miledha had returned to the Threefold land. She was honoured to be taking over the lessons, adapted from Cei'ila Sedai's lecture notes. The subject she was dealing with was not often studied, most people thinking it quite unnecessary because the station they would one day have in life would make sneaking around highly redundant. To Alyna though, it was essential. With the Dark One's influence reaching further and further into the world, the skills she was teaching could mean the difference between life and death for Channelers and Warders alike.
Against the pale tiles of the Grey Tower courtyard, Alyna looked even smaller than she were, but her Ji'dar uniform and selfconsciousness made her stand out nevertheless. Alyna wore the Ji'dar uniform and had her black hair tied into a ponytail with a leather string. Her height, along wiht non-musular build made many people believe she wasn't much of a challenge. While she wasn't as strong as most, she made up for it with her dexterous build and her speed. She didn't carry any weapons, preferring to fight unarmed, but her dark grey bracers made of studded leather were as always on her underarms.
The students gathered around Alyna, and after a few minutes she gestured them to silence. "Silence, please," she said, folding her arms in fron of her body. "You have come here to learn about stealth, and stalking. The first lesson I will attempt to teach you is to be quiet. Of course, you all know how to just keep your mouths shut. When you are using stealth, however, you will be moving, and sometimes things will happen that will make you want to utter some kind of sound. That will give you away in any situation, be it in hunting game or in hunting villains."
She beckoned for the group to join her out of the gate into the Gardens, where a small area had been warded off with ropes, and where several strange structures stood arranged. There was a narrow wooden beam resting on two logs about a feet above the ground, a small ladder that hung from a single point, so it would sway when climbed, and a path of round wooden beams that were not secured to the ground, among some other odd setups.
"Start here," Alyna said, pointing at the equilibrium beam, "and continue until you have finished the entire track. If I hear you," and she smiled softly, "I will point you out and you'll start over. Proceed!"
(ooc- If you fail in one of these tests - and I am sure you will, they are very tricky! - you may RP Alyna telling you to start over. Have fun!)
Lesson 2: How to be unseen
When everyone, at last, had finished the practise trail without making notable noise, Alyna gathered her students again and nodded. "Good," she said softly, "this was both a useful lesson and it should've loosened your muscles a little. Which will be needed, of course, for the next part of the class. I will teach you a few ways of moving that will help you when you're trying to stalk someone, or when you're trying to hide from others. While they may not be incredibly fast, you must never underestimate the advantage a good way of moving will give you."
They moved to a moorland on the border of the Grey Tower gardens, where low bushes hid the ground from view. "When you are dressing for a stealthy job, make sure every part of your body is covered," she began. "Especially when you're out in the wild, there may be plants that sting or otherwise irritate your skin. It is also important to wear natural shades that blend in with the environment. If you plan on moving in the night, dark colours will give you a great advantage. You all know the reputation of the Aiel for appearing out of nowhere. Part of this is because the cadin'sor they wear blends in with the colours of the earth, especially in such a dry land as the one they come from."
"The most versatile way of moving while stalking is called upright crouching. It is used especially to lower your height, so you'll be able to duck behind low objects and thus hide yourself." She bent her knees slightly, and bent her back so she was stood at only two thirds of her normal height, while still facing forwards. "The advantage of this move is that while you are quite close to the ground, you are still on your feet and thus able to move quickly. It is the best way to move when you're a considerable distance away from the person or animal you are stalking, and it allows for easily crouching lower. When you move this way, take care to hide as often as you can. Stay close to walls, if there are any, or duck behind objects to take time and make sure you're still undiscovered."
She got down on her hands and knees now, close to the ground, with her shoulders somewhat higher than her hips. "If you have ever watched a cat," she said, "you will know this technique. The feline crawl can be used when you are really getting close to whatever you are stalking, because it's very low to the ground. In a bushy area like this, you will hardly be visible. If you, however, need to stay even closer to the ground, you can lie down on the ground from this position, and use your hands and feet to carefully move forward. Please note that this is only necessary when you actually need to touch the person or animal you are stalking, otherwise it's highly unwise to get so close. For this you'll need the feline flat crawl."
She got up and brushed some dirt from her knees, then nodded to the students. "Divide into pairs," she told them, "and one by one, do the following exercise. One of you will turn around and count to twenty, while the other runs as far away as possible. Then, the first will shout 'ready', and the second will try to move as close as possible to the first person without being seen. Once you touch the other's ankle, it is done. The growth should provide enough cover. Go ahead!"
(ooc- Many thanks to the inquiry.net boy scouting page for the amazing pictures! If you want, you can play this with someone, otherwise use an NPC.)
Lesson 3: Blending in with nature
While everyone was practising, some a lot more successfully than others, Alyna obtained some help from a couple of Drin’far’ji and let them drag up a chest of clothes and other accessories from the nearby courtyard. She threw back the lid with a resounding thud, and many students turned to see what was going on. A smile touched her lips as she noticed some of the students taking advantage of the distraction to touch their partners’ ankles. Always use whatever advantage events give you. One by one, the students came to her to see what would be next, and the contents of the chest made them very curious.
"If it should happen that you are stalking a man or woman," she began, fingering the hilt of a knife in her belt - "sometimes moving quietly and without being seen isn't enough. Although nature normally offers enough covering for you to move unseen, cities or buildings often don't do that. If you want to stalk someone successfully in such an environment, you'll need some help blending in. Those skills are known as camouflage." She had mentioned it before, but there were a few details now that she couldn't forego telling.
"The first, and most important part, of camouflage is in colours. As I told you, it is a good idea to wear colours that blend in with the environment. In a forest, those colours would be green and brown while in a city, you could choose greys and soft red and yellow stone colours. In the north of the Borderlands, sometimes whites and light greys are the best colours to pass unseen in. I will focus on concealment in the forest for time being, for a reason you will soon learn." Reaching into the chest, she took out a simple tunic, coloured in dark green, brown and black, small patches interlinking.
"Once you have found clothing in suitable colours, you'll want to think of a few other things too. For example, an Aiel will always stand out because of his red hair. He could either colour his hair, or cover it with something. I would recommend the latter, both because it's less final and because it allows for some more changes to be made. The cadin’sor has a wide hood and many Aiel make use of this to great advantage. Here is something else that can be done." Alyna took a small, dark green helmet out of the chest and held it up for everyone to see. "No matter which environment you're trying to hide in," she said, "you will want to look like a part of that environment. When you are in a forest, it'd be best to look like a bush or a tree, a natural part of what is supposed to be there." She covered the helmet with a handful of green leaves, and tied them on with a thin end of rope.
"There. Now, of course, different environments ask for different kinds of camouflage. When you are in the city, it is sometimes the best camouflage to look just like any other man or woman in that city. There are more ways to make your camouflage better, like face paint and attributes like nets, or fake bushes. Most of those things are in this chest." She tilted her head in response to the yawn one of her students professed. "Well, that was long enough for today. As an assignment, I want everyone to pick out some camouflage attributes and take them with you. Tomorrow, at dawn before your classes, get up and camouflage yourself, and then go out into the Gardens. You have my permission to do so. I want you to find a wild animal, and follow it as far as you can without scaring it away."
The small Ji' dismissed the class, wondering whether anyone would notice her presence in the Gardens the next morning.
Lesson 4: Being sneaky
When the class resumed, Miledha’s students were a bit more noisy than they had been the last time. Some of them were annoyed because they hadn't noticed Miledha during the exercise that morning, and some of them were ashamed because they hadn't been able to follow a housecat for more than twenty meters without scaring it. These skills needed a lot of practise, Miledha knew all about that, and those who wouldn't accept that fact had a problem the Ji'dar was not about to solve for them.
"Today," she began, "I will speak about a few skills that are not, in themselves, essential parts of stalking, but that might be useful nonetheless. Tell me," she said, pointing to a male Drin'far'ji, "in which cases would you want to stalk someone?" He shrugged, looking from side to side, and then said, "well, if they took something from you. Or if they are dangerous villains, and you have to disable them but aren't able to do so up close." Miledha nodded, her face impassive. "Indeed. We'll consider the first case first. If someone has taken an object from you and you wish to retrieve it without the person noticing, you have to steal it from them."
A few students looked quite shocked, and one even opened his mouth to openly doubt the rightness of learning how to steal in an approved Grey Tower class. Alyna gestured him to silence; she was the teacher here and the boy had to listen. If he doubted her teaching, he should come to her after the class. "I am not saying it is right to steal," said Miledha, "sometimes it is necessary, though. The easiest way to take an object from someone is by searching them out in a crowd. You probably know that when you're among many people, you will often be pushed or otherwise touched. If you know where to find the object you need, you can easily turn such a casual touch into stealing something."
She reached into her boot and with a quick gesture, pulled out a thin, sharp knife. "Something like this," she said, "is very useful to have with you at all times. This knife is sharp enough to cut through most natural fabrics without mentionable resistance. A simple slice will cut through someone's pocket and let the object you need fall right into your hand."
Slipping the knife back into its place, she turned once more to her students. "If you want to steal an object from someone who is alone, you'll have to be even more careful. Most of the time, you want to distract the subject's attention by causing some noise or some event that will make him pay attention to that. You'll want to come up from the side or the back of the subject, and either take the object carefully from where it is stored, or slice through the subject's purse or pockets to have it fall into your hands.
Miledha emptied a sack onto the front desk. It had been full of wooden soldiers like those small boys play with, each about as long as a hand. "Everyone take one of these," said the dark-haired girl, "and then start moving around in the courtyard here. Try to steal as many of these objects as possible, without being noticed. Proceed."
Lesson 5: When necessity demands
The previous exercise had been rather silly, and some students had actually fallen into laughing fits when they had faltered stealing the childish toy soldiers. Now that they were all done, Alyna was about to give them some information that would probably make their laughter stall for a while. It was a subject she had studied under the previous class teacher and one which made her feel quite ill, though it was necessary to discuss it.
"A day may come," she started, "on which you are faced with a dangerous opponent. A Darkfriend, or worse. You are training to become Aes Sedai, Asha'man, Gaidin or Gaidar, yet your powers will never be unlimited, and sometimes such disreputable people will try to kill you without resorting to honest battle. What I am about to teach you may preserve your life in time to come, or that of a Channeller you are protecting. It may even be necessary for you to use these skills yourself.
"Disarming," she said, "can be done using the same skills that are used when stealing something. In truth, what you do is steal someone's weapons so they can't use them. If you are fighting a channeler, however, more will be needed." She reached into the deep pockets of her tunic and retrieved a small leather pouch. Its contents were laid out on a small table before the Ji'dar, three small vials filled with darkly coloured liquids and a cork with a few needles stuck in it.
"Poison," Alyna said. "Some poisons are weak, and in small doses may even be used as medication. They will make the victim numb, perhaps make him loose conscience for a while. Other poisons are more potent. The strongest poisons will kill a victim as soon as it touches the blood." Some people now backed away from the vials, and to prove them wrong Miledha took one of them and opened it, spilling a few drops of deep purple liquid on the table. "These vials are examples of the weaker poisons," she said. "They are made of plants that can be found in the infirmary, and that grow freely in most of the Westlands. Grey Fennel and Peach pits are known poisons, and in a very weak dose they can be used to make someone pass out. Crimsonthorn can be used for the same purpose, but watch out if you ever do. If the dose is slightly too large, it will kill someone in a very slow and painful way. The easiest way for someone to use poison on you is to prick your heel with a poisoned needle."
Her dark eyes focused on a few of the students. "Sometimes, killing is what you must do. Use a sharp knife, preferably with a poisoned point, to make a clean and easy kill. It is never pleasant to kill. Just necessary." There would be no assignment for this part of the lesson, all Alyna wanted the students to do was pass by her table and look at the poisons she had brought. She wanted them to memorise the smell and think about how to avoid such a death, or when it might be necessary to kill someone in this way. She had never actually used this method, being much more inclined towards open battle or sneaking up with a conventional weapon, but no one knew the future and she must present all the options.
The Final Test
After the lecture on poisons, Alyna had dismissed her class, passing instructions to each student for their final exam as they departed. The exam would take place in a forest close to the Grey Tower, and students had been told to camouflage themselves as they thought suitable. The Ji'dar sat under a tree redoing the straps of her bracers and waiting for her next appointment. She had set aside a different morning for each of them. One of the students arrived and greeted her.
"I'm glad to see you've made it," she said, packing up her bracers. They would not be needed for this exercise. "There is a dagger in a hilt on my belt, as you can see. I want you to count to two hundred, while I go into the forest to find a good hiding place. When you have finished counting, find me, and steal the dagger. If you can show me the dagger before I find out it has gone, you will pass this class, and you will be trained in stalking."
As the student turned around and began counting, Alyna melted soundlessly into the forest.
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