The journey was rough. It could be raining buckets in one area, ten minutes later in the hike you could be on your knees gasping for air. But no matter what obstacles were put in place for Jodeen, he kept going. I have to. They promised me.. power..

 

Through forests to jungles, he finally reached the Blight. "I've been lucky so far," Jodeen muttered to himself, as he trekked down the slow desert trail, "Whitecloaks.. Aes Sedai witches.. Borderland armies.. I wonder if I'll find an entire group of Red Ajah waiting at the base of the fortress." He was alone, and talking to himself. One could only speculate what was going on in his head..

 

It wasn't long before someone approached him from the shadows. Jodeen could swear he just.. appeared there. What am I supposed to do? Fight him?. It probably didn't look very good for a tiny, grimy man to be wandering in the desert talking to himself.

 

Jodeen braced himself, not really knowing what to do. The person came closer over the horizon, and seemed as if the Dark One himself was emerging from the engulfing sun. I could run.. no, he's moving faster then I could run!

 

All the world was around him and he still felt as if he was cornered. He couldn't move, even when he tried. Fear. Jodeen dropped his belongings, preparing to give a fight; though even he knew he couldn't take a Trolloc-without-a-arm. He was a servant in an Inn, not a hero.

 

It wasn't long until Jodeen could see it's face.

 

"...

If there was any part of the job that Michael dispised, it was waiting along the Blightborder for recruits. Most of them got in touch with the circles, who then put them in touch with the waiting Dreadlords. However, there were always a few that chose to do it the hard way and march for the Blight without any real knowedge or thought. The ones that they didn't catch never made it to the Fortress, and it seemed that most of those that chose the hard way went through this area. Oh well, that's what you pay for immortality, he thought, shortly before a bluefinch sang out. It seemed that the day wouldn't be entirely wasted.

 

This one seemed to be especially confused, as his appearance became one of startlement as Michael approached. That worked just fine for him; there was no need to make the man feel comfortable, especially when he might be dead within two weeks. One less that I'll have to worry about, he thought. The man was trying to decide whether to attack him or not. Let him try, Michael thought, the cold of the void giving way to the fiery death of saidin faster than thought. Even before he started speaking, Michael slammed a shield onto the other man. He didn't want to have to deal with any crazy channeling before the man knew what he was doing.

 

"You're quite far removed from the normal routes. What brings you to this neck of the world?" Michael asked.

The man spoke in such elegance that Jodeen was breathless for a second. He wasn't sure what to say. He lowered his hands, as if it would do any good though.

 

"You're quite far removed from the normal routes. What brings you to this neck of the world?" Michael asked.

 

"I.. I was told to come to a Fortress residing in the Blight."

 

Jodeen eyed this man that came to him up. He wasn't sure who he was, but he could feel a presence among him. Something.. flowing, through his veins. Am I suppose to kneel? Am I suppose to run at him? No, can't do that, I don't know enough of this.. power.. they called it yet. He simply stood, staring at awe in the man that walked so nonchalantly throughout the desert.

 

"Am.. am I close to this Fortress that I have been told to come to?" Jodeen asked innocently. He should probably be afraid that maybe he was a hunter, a hunter for his kind, Whatever that is.

At the mention of the word "fortress," Michael's eyebrows arched a bit. "Boy, you may not survive much longer, so learn this quickly: discretion is what keeps us hidden. If you ever so much as mutter about that topic again where there might be unseen ears, there won't be enough left to feed to the Trollocs. Understand?" Michael didn't even wait for an answer. He didn't like having to put up with the new students; the moment they got back to the Fortress and he had situated this one in a room, somebody else could take it from there.

 

Michael moderated his tone, his voice carrying none of the threat that it had before. "So you've come to learn, have you. Your next lesson will be obedience. I want you to close your eyes and cover them with your right hand." It wasn't that surprising when the recruit hesitated. The earlier reaction couldn't have been all that calming. "Come now, cover your eyes. If I were going to kill you, you'd be screaming already." Despite knowing that a shielded person couldn't see the flows, it was common practice to make sure that recruits never saw some weaves. Traveling was definitely one of those weaves. The recruit had only just covered his eyes when Michael wove again, threads of Spirit to draw the Pattern together and to bore a hole in it, opening a hole in space at another location. Maintaining the weave, Michael maneuvered the blinded recruit through the hole and onto the hard stone of one of the basement rooms of the Fortress.

 

Michael closed the gateway behind him, muttering at the recruit to uncover his eyes. Only sparing a few seconds to allow his eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness, Michael set a rather rapid pace through the lower levels of the Fortress, up two flights of stairs, and to the dormitories. He scanned each door they passed, looking for an empty chamber. "Here we go," he muttered, stopping outside one door about halfway down the corridor. "This will be your room for now," he said, pushing the door open. "It's small, and a tad uncomfortable, and it will be your home for quite some time. Wait in here, and somebody will come along to show you the rest of the Fortress eventually." If the recruit said anything, Michael didn't hear it; he had to tell the clerk which room the recruit was in, then get back to his station. Great Lord, I hate this job.

 

OOC: My next post on this thread will be introducing your guide, who probably won't tell you his/her name either.

 

Michael Daemeau

Dreadlord NSW

It seemed to go by so fast. Jodeen closed his eyes, and when he opened it he was sitting in a dungeon-like atmosphere. Wha..wh..what did I get myself into.. Jodeen was about to ask this.. person.. where he was, but he figured he'd look like a fool. This must be the Fortress, or so I've been told.

 

Jodeens 'guide', if you could call him that, led him through the darkness and, basically, threw him inside a room.

 

It's small, and a tad uncomfortable, and it will be your home for quite some time. Wait in here, and somebody will come along to show you the rest of the Fortress eventually." the man had told him, in what seemed to be a pretty harsh tone.

 

Apparentally this guy doesn't like seeing new recruits. Jodeen looked around the room, and saw what the man had said about it's vague description. It was a small room, about seemingly the same size as his cubby hole in the inn where he had stayed. It smelled pretty horrible, to. But Jodeen didn't complain, he was where he wanted to be, and where he deserved to be, at that.

 

All that remained in the room was a small bed, that seemed to be made out of stone. A small rack on the right side of the bed, and a trunk for storage at the foot of the bed.

 

Comfortable enough for me.