Taught by Chyane Liale Sedai, Keeper of the Chronicles, raised from the the Brown Ajah

Some people claim that the greatest enemy is the one within. That is often the truth, but there is no one who can help you and teach you how to conquer it. I am here to teach you about the enemy out there -the creatures of the Shadow, the Evil that taints everything and everyone. You must learn to recognize it, so that you can fight it. Tarmon Gai'don is coming ...

Note: This class is one way of gaining an Advantage Point in the Advantage Shadowspawn Lore.

Sign up here!

Welcome to the darker side.

name:
rank:
email:

If you would like to contact me, Chyane Liale Sedai, Keeper of the Chronicles,

email/msn: say_kiwi@hotmail.com
AIM: ElfWarrior07

You may answer multiple lessons at a time if you wish, only wait to answer the final until you have recieved a pass on all previous lessons.

Also, please feel free and encouraged to respond to the answers of other students. Maybe you're character disagrees with another student or has something of their own to add. But be origional! Don't just re-word someone else's opinion.

Posts need to be a minimum of 150 words in length. If you're character's spoken answer is not enough, write about their personal thoughts on the subject and reactions to the class.

Lesson 1 - The Basics of Evil
Newly raised to the Keeper of the Chronicles, Chyane Sedai wore a brown stole to mark the ajah from which she was raised. Her dress is green, matching her eyes, although green enough to evoke thoughts of the green ajah. Despite the subject matter of the class, the thought of actually facing a real battle terrified her.

A collection of sketches were still loosely attatched to the walls, reminiscent of the first series of lessons she had taught. Several books still sat on the desk, ignorant of the change she was facing.

The students filed in, much quieter then the others had been, much less open then when the teacher was an Accepted. They looked around at the walls and the images, and Chyane wondered what their reasons were for being here. Some truly desired to learn the material, some needed another class.

“Welcome students, I am Chyane Sedai, Keeper of the Chronicles, raised from the Brown Ajah. We will be studying evil, both it’s idea and it’s offspring. Because evil is a very... debatable topic, you are free to bring up questions or arguments either during class, or after if time is not permitted. Please feel free to disagree with me on any theory, as long as you do so respectfully. No idea is wrong, only different.

“Evil is a very difficult idea to define. The clearest definition we have is that the Dark One is Evil, contrasting to the Creator being Good. I hope no one disagrees on this theory.

“The Dark One has his own followers, which can be split into two groups: shadowspan and shadowsworn. Shadowspan are those things actually made by the Dark One for his purposes, such as trollocs and darkhounds. Any human, on the other hand, is called a shadowsworn. A shadowsworn had made a clear choice to serve evil, and might therefore be seen as worse then shadowspan who had no other option.

“There are of course other, more difficult to explain evils. One is called Machin Shin, a wind that haunts the Ogier-built Ways. It’s impossible to know if this is directly connected to the Dark One or not, but many would say anything evil must have been created by the evil lord. A similar example is Shadar Logoth, previously a city called Aridhol. The presence there came as a result of great hatred and selfishness of the people of that city, and no one dares venture there without risking great danger.”

It was the end of her lecture, and Chyane stepped back behind the desk, looking around at the drawings on the walls. They were mostly drawings she had found and copied herself from manuscripts.

“As I said earlier, evil is very difficult to define. Though we label these things as evil, what can make a human being evil? We are all made the same, are we not? And we all have the same freedom of choice. What decisions might a person make that would lead them to be called evil, a much stronger word then simply mean, spiteful, or rude.”

Unsure of what they were supposed to do, no one answered her questions. She turned back to face them again. “If you do not wish to speak up, though it would be easier for us all and give the other students a chance to hear your opinions, you may write your ideas on a piece of parchment and bring them up to me. Who would like to speak first?”

Lesson 2 - Sworn to the Dark
Chyane was sitting in her desk when the students came in. The same pictures still hung on the walls, setting a mood over the whole class as they entered and look around them once again. When the last student entered, she began.

“The term ‘darkfriend’ is synonymic with shadowsworn. However, this term is often used much too lightly, to describe anything someone might think to be strange or different. Children of the Light often accuse anything that blocks their path to be associated with the Dark One, including of course Aes Sedai.

“But despite these exaggerations, we must not completely discredit the existence of such a group of people. Darkfriends have been around since before the breaking, which makes them even older then the channeling society of the White Tower. In the Age of Legends, even, they openly called themselves ‘Friends of the Dark’ and ruled in territories held by the Shadow after the Collapse. After the Dark One touched the world through the bore and the Age of Legends collapsed, this evil spread more and more among the human race.

“The structure of these darkfriends is such that each darkfriend may only know of a few others for their entire lives. This way, no one knows too much and therefore no one can leak out too much information if caught. Among other darkfriends, worldly ranking does not matter. It is possible, and often occurs, that a beggar has authority over a noble; a darkfriend must obey anyone who gives them the proper sign. Everyone must be very careful of darkfriends, but not so fearful as to make unsupported accusations. Remember that the Dark One relishes the use of ignorance against us.”

Taking a deep breath, Chyane gave the students a few moments to take in what she had said. A few were writing down notes on parchment, but mostly they realized there wasn’t going to be questions over the exact facts she gave out. She could see well enough if they had understood the information by how much they put into their answers.

“Eyes-and-ears, something you may know is used frequently within this Tower, is also used by the Dark One for his purposes. However, he does not only used human spies, but animals as well. Ravens, rats, and foxes are to be watched out for if you fear the Dark One and his minions may be looking for you. But these creatures were not created by the Dark One, and certainly not of an intelligence level to make a willful decision to serve the Dark One. So then, how do you think they are used so abundantly?

“And also on the topic of darkfriends, what do you think would lead a person to serve the Dark One? In the Age of Legends it was believed they were mentally ill. What do you think? Are they ill, misguided, or outright evil?”

Chyane leaned back on her desk, interested to hear what the students would say. It certainly wasn’t a topic that could be given a correct answer, and she wouldn’t influence their own thinking process by explaining the theories she had developed over several years of teaching the class.

Lesson 3 - Shadowspan
Chyane could see the students still looking around at the drawings on the walls. She doubted any of them had ever seen one of the nasty creatures, but neither had she. Someday she might, but she certainly wouldn’t plan for it. Studying them from books was just fine for her.

“Today we will finally talk about the pictures I have hung up on the walls, shadowspan. If any of you have had any personal experience with any of these creatures, feel free to share it at the end of class. We can all learn from others.

“There are four types of shadowspan, and the first one we will talk about is trollocs.” She pointed to one of the drawings, a creature with a boar’s head, cow’s hoofs, but a human’s hands. It held an ax in one hand, and stood up like a man only about two heads taller.

“Trollocs were first made by combining humans with creatures such as eagles, wolves, wildcats, boars, rams, and others. The Forsaken Aginor was the ‘scientist’ who created these creatures during the War of the Power, and they reproduce very effectively. Trollocs are usually taller then humans and have more brutal strength. They were created to be intelligent enough to fight but with too little will to do more then obey their masters, and also have a strong animal instinct.

“One fault of Trollocs is that they tend to be undisciplined if not constantly watched and will leave their missions at the smell of meat. But the trolloc army is quite vast, and can move at unmatched speed when pushed. They even have a rudimentary social class of tribes - the known ones from the Trolloc Wars being the Dha'vol, the Dhai'mon, and the Ko'bal, among others. They speak in a guttural tongue very different from ours, but no loyalties among family or clan have been discerned as far as studies have been able to tell.

“Their weaknesses lie mostly in their intelligence levels. They have just above an animal’s level of intelligence, and tend to be both mentally and physically clumsy. Their weapons and armor tend to be primitive and ineffective against a well trained army. They are also known for being cannibals and desiring meat of any kind. Any kind."

Chyane herself had little personal interest in knowing how to fight such creatures, she certainly planned to keep herself as far away from such danger as possible. But the purpose of this class was to learn not just about evil, but to know enough about it to fight it. She hoped they understood.

Turning to the next picture, Chyane let the students look at it a moment before she began to speak. It was hard to tell in a drawing, but she had been told from accounts about how its eyeless face seemed to bore right into you.

“As I mentioned earlier, a trolloc needs to be watched closely to be sure it is obeying orders. A myrddrall, which is actually a throwback offspring of the trolloc, fulfills this purpose. They are sterile hybrids taking after their human halves, and their animal heritage is not clearly visible. The shadow’s taint gives them many special abilities. For example, they can see very well even without any visible sensory organs and their gaze causes paralyzing fear toward even the bravest individual. They move with the speed and grace of a viper and are excellent swordsmen - especially with the blades made in Thakan’dar that can kill anyone with merely a scratch. In addition, they can even vanish into and transport themselves through places where there is shadow. But their greatest asset is that they can be linked to Trollocs and control them. In other words, they take control of their minds and make them into a disciplined fighting force.

“As always, there are several weaknesses to a myrddrall. They are afraid of water and will cross it only at a great need. Also, though they are very difficult to harm, once killed they will not completely die until the sun rises, and any trollocs they are linked to will die with them. So you can see that in battle this may be a good strategy, though risky. Not that I claim to know anything about battle strategy,” she said with a small smile. She had once heard it said that though he may never use the information, one who sits and studies knows more about a subject then the man who faces it. That is why the two must work together.

“There most fearsome ability, though rarely used, is that if thirteen myrddrall are linked to thirteen Darkfriend channelers, they can convert a channeler to the Shadow against their own will. There is nothing, nothing, that can be done to stop this once it is happening, but must be avoided at all costs.

The third picture was one many of the students may not have ever seen before, as little was truly known about the draghkar, and few have ever seen one. The one drawn in the picture stood straight like a man, but it’s arms stretched out to show its black wings. The face was pale, and it’s thin mouth was parted to show a row of pointed teeth.

“Some might say the draghkar is the most fearsome of all shadowspan. Though they prefer night, the draghkar can fly in both night or day and spot things on the ground. They draw their prey by singing, a wordless tune that seems to the listener to be the most beautiful thing they have ever heard. Once entranced, a draghkar will draw you into its wings to give you the kiss of death, which literally drains your soul.

“If you do manage to see what is going on before hearing its song, and can prevent your ears from hearing it, they are relatively easy to kill. A simple dagger could kill it if one can get close enough.”

One more to go, Chyane thought to herself as she pointed to one more drawing. This lesson was the longest of all, and she hoped the students were not bored. If they were taking this class, it was mostly likely because they may someday need to use the information. And they needed to understand the creatures she spoke about if they ever hoped to fight one.

“Just one more, the rarest of the shadowspan, dark hounds, said to run only when the Last Battle is approaching. In the Age of Legends, they were used as guard creatures, but were later trained to hunt and attack anything living. It has an enourmous size and weight, and both its fangs and saliva are poisonous. Usually traveling in packs, Darkhounds hunt down their prey and almost always kill it. Normal weapons do not kill them - their pieces stick back together like a black fluid. Usually One Power wrought blades can destroy them, but even that may not work every time. Their known fears are water and the One Power."

A dark hound was one creature to avoid altogether, and she hoped the students understood that there was little that could be done to kill them. She did not mention the once sure way to be rid of a darkhound, balefire. It was prohibited to any member of the Tower, and though she had no idea how it was made she had read that balefire could literally rip threads of the Pattern.

“Now, today has been more of a lecture about the nature of creatures then a true discussion about evil. However, you must realize that the first step in knowing how to fight something is understand its nature and how it might attack you. If anyone has had any experience with any of these creatures, please feel free to share it now. But remember I am asking for factual information you have learned which might assist your classmates, not overblown stories.

“And the second question for today is this. Do you think creating creatures in an artificial way is inherently evil? Obviously we fight these creatures, but if it were possible to have them on our own side, should we?”

Lesson 4 - The Shadow's Assassains
Chyane stood silently behind her desk as the students filed in. She could see in some of their faces that they feared another long lecture like the last week, while others looked eager to build on their knowledge. When the were all seated, few talking and mostly waiting for the Keeper to begin, she opened with a question.

“Have you ever noticed that sometimes you notice that some people just never stand out? They just seem to blend in with the crown wherever they go? The Dark One’s assassins, called Grey Men, could be defined in this way. Grey Men were once people but have not only sworn themselves to the shadow but given themselves to it completely. They are sent out to get rid of pesky channelers like many of us here. What is left behind of their once human body’s is a husk, living, breathing, and intelligent but soulless.

“This lack of a soul seems to make them stand out less, even when they are within feet of their victim. This is their most dangerous aspect, that by the time you notice them it may already be too late. They can, however, be killed easily if they are noticed in time.

“But Grey Men are not the Dark One’s only assassains. Gholams are said to have been another of Aginor’s experiments, and are inhumanly agile and can rip a human apart with its bare hands. But its greatest advantage is that a gholam is immune to the One Power, which is why they are also sent to kill channelers.

“Gholams can mold themselves into any shape they desire, and can fit through the smallest spaces. It is said that once can go into a locked room through something even as small as the key hole, and can move without a sound. These creatures have only begun to appear recently, but there are some documents from the Age of Legends which mentions these creatures appearing near the time of the Breaking.”

“You can see that both Grey Men and Gholams have characteristics which support strongly any assassination attempts. Just as with a human assassin, the best way to avoid them is to be constantly attentive to your surrounds, sometimes even when you feel the most safe. It is creatures like these that make Warders so appreciated -they know nothing of the One Power but nevertheless can defend a channeler or themselves.

“For today I have two questions I would like you to address. You need not answer both fully if you have stronger or deeper thoughts on one or the other. What possible motivation could the Grey Men have had to sacrifice their souls to the Dark One? And the second question, what do you think of the increasing appearances of creature like Gholams means, among other events? Do you believe these are signs of the growing strength of the Dark One and the coming of the Last Battle?”

Chyane hoped the students were considering the implications of the lessons, and that the information would be used wisely. She nodded to the first person whose hand went up, curious to see what they thought about the topic.
Lesson 5 - Channelers of the Dark
Today would be the last real lesson of this class, and included the most touchy subject at all. However, it was also one of the most difficult of all evils to fight, especially when it could be living within one’s very walls.

“We’ve already talked in some detail about shadowsworn, specifically the lowest ranks, the darkfriends. However, the more powerful shadowsworn, the channelers, are the Dreadlords. Dreadlords have existed in all Ages, but they were most prevalent in the Age of Legends and the Trolloc Wars. They were once Aes Sedai who, like the darkfriends, desired more power, and sought this from the Dark One. They soon became the leaders during the great wars, of both shadowsworn and shadowspan. Their pledge to the Dark One and their channeling ability naturally gave them additional advantages over the others. In this era, the Dreadlords are most well known for their involvement in the Trolloc Wars, where allegiance to the Dark One was openly claimed.

“Probably one of the most difficult evils to face up to is the existence of the Black Ajah. After defeat, the shadowsworn channelers went into hiding. Rather then openling proclaiming their allegiances, they may first appear as friends but later betray those who follow the Light. Many organized themselves into what they refer to as the ‘Black Ajah.’” That name was bitter on Chyane’s lips. How could they call themselves an ajah, something created to serve the Light and its purposes.

“Members of the Black Ajah serve as Aes Sedai and Asha’man, pretending to serve their established ajahs in the battle against the Dark One but secretly obeying him. Perhaps they have Gaidin helping them as well. You may all believe that because you are in the Tower you are safe from evil, but you must always keep mind that not everyone here is a friend. Of course, it is useless and dangerous to make accusations or assumptions lightly. The Black Ajah is no story, many accounts claim its existence and we must always be on our guard.

“Even more dangerous then members of the Black Ajah are the most elite group among the Dreadlords, the Forsaken. There are thirteen Forsaken, each with their own characteristics. This also means they all have their own strengths, and weaknesses. It is impossible to cover each in this class, but to summarize remember that each is, or you might say was human, and each one is different in the same way not two of us in this room are the same.

“As ridiculous and horrifying as it sounds, the Forsaken are over three thousand years old. The Dark One originally had many Aes Sedai channelers on his side at the end of the Age of Legends, but the Dark One wanted only the most powerful. So he let them compete against each other until only the last thirteen remained alive.

“You probably know their names; Aginor, Asmodean, Balthamel, Bel'al, Demandred, Graendal, Ishamael, Lanfear, Mesaana, Moghedien, Rahvin, Sammael and Semirhage. Some are rumored to be dead, but one can never be sure. The philosophy of competition remains among them to this day, and this very fact may be there greatest weakness. They may serve the same master, but they are not bound together for a single cause. Rather, they each scheme for the Dark One’s favor, wasting their energy by battling each other in addition to followers of the Light.

“The Forsaken had both immense strength in the One Power, and power over other people to get to the place they are now. Many of you, if asked, would claim that if you had this power you would use it to do good. But what do you think so much power does to a person who holds it? What might cause someone seek greater power from the Dark?

"If we're honest with ourselves, do we sometimes wonder what it might be like? Few ever go further based on curiosity alone, but we can't forget those who do. And how can we ever save them if we don't have some understanding of why they turn? Please, speak freely.”

Final Exam
Chyane arrived a few minutes earlier then usual for the last lesson of the class. The same pictures still hung on the walls that were there the other time she had given a final for this class, with only one or two additions. Winter was coming soon, so she went over to shut the windows against the chill. This of course made the room quite a bit darker, but she didn’t mind so much. It fit the mood, anyway.

Walking around to each of the desks, she placed one sheet of parchment on each. When the students arrived, she asked them to take their seats and she began.

“I have defined ‘evil’ in this class in terms of its visible manifestations. But what is the true cause of this evil, is it true that we all have a bit of evil and life sometimes brings it out? Or, are some people simply born evil.

“I would like you to develop your opinion on this issue. I will write some specific questions I would like you to address, but I would like you to answer them within a single essay, not separate questions. However, to not feel bound to only giving me the answers to the questions, I would like you to write an essay about what you think and believe”

Chyane wrote the questions on the board.

Do Shadowspawn possess freewill or are they biologically determined to serve the Dark? Keep another idea in mind--are we, as creations of the Creator biologically determined to serve him, or do we possess freewill? Can we compare the two?

Do you think a human can be evil and corrupt without being a Darkfriend and serving the Dark One? And with this I mean ordinary people, like you or me.

Why do you think the Shadow is the wrong side? If you ask Trollocs and Forsaken, they will say that it is the people following the Light who are bad. What is it that makes you and not them the good one?

“You may begin. This is not a time for discussion, but you may come to my desk if you have any questions. When you are finished you may bring your paper to me and go.”

OOC: You're post needs to be at least 200 to 250 words in length.