• Solo • [Treth] Swept Away

[Tei'serin Nji'ryn]

3 Vhalar, 716


Tei'serin watched as the last of her students gathered up their things, and trickled out of the classroom. Sorin had been the last to leave. Tei'serin couldn't help but feel uneasy in his presence. He was a child, and her student, true; but he was also his son. She and Sorin both knew that he lived in Treth so he could keep an eye on her while Thorin was away.

Once her students had left, Tei'serin gathered up her own things. Then she headed into the teacher's lounge so she could take a look at the new teacher's guide the school had bought recently. It was important to always keep up with the latest information when it came to teaching. In this, the teachers were just like their students; there was always room to learn.

As Tei'serin skimmed through the guide, she found a chapter on lesson plans that fascinated her. Most of the teachers she knew simply picked a topic they needed to teach to their kids, and went from there. But this guide suggested a much more detailed approach.

There are eight essential steps that must be included in any lesson plan. Those steps include your objectives and goals, the anticipatory set, direct instruction, guided practice, closure, independent practice, required materials and equipment, and finally, the assessment and follow up.

Tei'serin quickly grabbed some paper, and began taking notes.


The objectives of the lesson must be clearly defined. It is important that you write precise, detailed goals for each lesson. What do you want your students to learn during this lesson? What are your criteria to judge that the students have learned the lesson satisfactorily? How will the students show that they have understood and learned the goals of your lesson? These are the important questions to keep in mind during this step of creating a lesson plan. By thinking clearly and thoroughly about the goals of your lesson, you will ensure that you are making the most of your teaching time.

The anticipatory set will help you decide what to say as you begin your lesson. If the material you plan to cover is a continuation from something you have taught your students previously, this will help you to provide continuity from previous lessons by making connections to familiar concepts and vocabulary as a refresher. This is where you tell the class what the lesson will be about, and whet their interest in the subject. It is important to gauge their background knowledge in the subject of your lesson as this will help you to teach them what they need to learn. An important question to ask yourself is how you will involve as many students as possible in your lesson. A question and answer session before the lesson itself is a good way to accomplish this.

Direct instruction is the lesson itself. How do you plan to teach the students the lesson? Have them read a book about the subject? Show them diagrams, or real life examples of the subject matter if it is possible to do so? Discuss the relevant information in a lecture on the subject? These are the things to keep in mind when deciding how you will teach the material you need to cover in your lesson.

In the guided practice section of your written lesson plan, you should outline how your students will demonstrate that they have grasped the skills, and concepts, that you presented to them in the direct instruction portion of the lesson. This can be done through having the children answer questions about the subject matter, write an essay, or complete a book review if you've given them a book to read, or by drawing pictures of what you have taught them. There are many different things you can have your students do to show what they have learned depending on the subject matter you are teaching them.

Closure is when you wrap up your lesson, and help your students organize the information they have learned into meaningful contexts. Discuss the material you have just taught with them. Ask them questions to see how well they have understood the material. You should also consider asking what information from the lesson the students will find important three years from now and why. That will help your students begin thinking about how to apply what they have just learned to their own lives.

Independent practice is the part of the lesson where students are given the opportunity to practice what they have just learned. By assigning homework, students have a chance to reinforce skills and synthesize their new knowledge by completing a task on their own and away from the teacher's guidance.

The required materials section of a lesson plan is where the teacher decides what materials will be necessary for the lesson they wish to give. This may include books, paper, pens, pencils for drawing, materials for making a model, and a wide variety of other materials depending on what the lesson is about, and the age of the students you are teaching.

The assessment stage is where you assess the final outcome of the lesson and to what extent the learning objectives were achieved. This can be done through a wide variety of means, including quizzes, tests, independently performed worksheets, hands on experiments, oral discussion, or question and answer sessions. If the learning objectives were not adequately achieved, you will need to revisit the lesson in a different manner; either you will need to teach the lesson again, or you'll need to clear up areas that confused several of the students. Student performance will help to determine future lessons, and where you will take your students next. If the assessment showed that the students fully grasped the topic, you may want to proceed immediately to more advanced lessons. But if the students' understanding was moderate, you may want to take it slower.

Tei'serin organized her notes, and carefully put them away for future study. Then she put the book back where it belonged, and left the teacher's lounge. On the way out, she picked up her katana for the long walk home. After the fight with the shadow beasts on her farm, she was reluctant to be caught outside for any length of time without a weapon, just in case they returned.

[Tei'serin Nji'ryn]

When Tei'serin left the school, she found a big crowd gathered at the center of the small town. A man was addressing them in Common.

"The people of Ne'haer need our help. The shadow beasts that we've seen here in Treth have attacked the city in far greater numbers than we've seen here. A call for aid has gone out to all of the surrounding territories. Places like Ironridge, and Lysoria are bigger than us. They can supply a lot more fighting power than we could ever hope to send. But they are much farther away than we are. Any aid they might send could easily come too late. Cycres has problems of their own, with bandits, and pirates. Ne'haer has to protect them. They won't be able to send any aid. And Bayward is full of criminals. I doubt that they will bother to send aid at all. This is our chance to prove ourselves! Bigger isn't always better. We may be a small community of farmers, but we can hold our own when it really matters."

The crowd cheered wildly. Tei'serin wished them well. She tried to move around the group so she could head home, but as the would be fighters began getting into their wagons, she was caught up with the others. She could only guess that bearing a katana marked her as one of them in their minds, and her attempts to try to tell them otherwise were taken as last bit nerves. Before she knew it, Tei'serin found herself bundled into one of the wagons, and the caravan was heading out of the town. Terror overwhelmed Tei'serin. She wasn't allowed to go to Ne'haer; her guardian had forbidden it! The thought of how much trouble she would be in if Thorin ever found out about her trip to the city made her feel sick inside. All she could do was hope, and pray that he would never found out.

Please, Moseke...I am no fighter, but if it is your will that I help these people fight the shadow beasts, I will do my best to help them. But please...I am begging you. If I survive this, let me get home without Thorin ever learning that I went to Ne'haer. she prayed silently.

They traveled for several breaks until it started to get dark. The order was given to get the camp set up while there was still light to see. Several people worked to set up the tents while others set up a patrol to guard the camp against shadow beasts, or anything else that might threaten the group. Tei'serin, and a Sev'ryn woman who introduced herself as Zera were assigned to building the fire, and preparing a meal for the group.

"You've never done this before, have you?" Zera asked when she saw Tei'serin's obvious confusion.

"I'm afraid not." Tei'serin admitted softly.

"Then it's a good thing I'm here to show you the right way to start a camp fire."

"Thank you." Teiserin said, giving the older woman a grateful look.

"Don't worry about it. I used to be just like you, hopeless when it came to camping. In Descind, where I used to live, fire is rare. Living in the Makubwa Lori as we do, fire is a dangerous threat; both to the ancient forest, and because our homes are all made out of wood. There are cooking fires, but we use something else as a source of light. And our cooking fires are carefully controlled. Not everyone knows how to make them. Fortunately, when I left Descind, I met someone who took me under his wing, and taught me what I needed to know to get by. All he asked of me in return is that I do the same for others."

Tei'serin listened in fascination. She loved to learn about her mother's home, and her people. It was something she rarely got the opportunity to do since her guardian didn't like her learning about such things.

"The Makubwa Lori..." she murmured softly, trying to say the unfamiliar name the way the woman had said it. The woman corrected her with a smile, then nodded when Tei'serin got it right.

"Yes. It translates to Common as the Endless Forest. If you're interested, I can tell you more about Descind later. For now, though, we have a fire to build."

Tei'serin nodded.

"The first thing we need to do is dig a fire pit. The pit will help keep the fire contained, and make it less likely that the wind will blow sparks that can set nearby plants on fire. We also need to clear a good sized area around the fire pit so that if sparks to form, they won't land on anything that can burn."

Zera showed Tei'serin what to do, taking a hand shovel from the supplies to get the task done. After a few bits, she had Tei'serin take over. The ground was quite hard, and the fire pit wasn't very deep; it was more of a depression than a true pit. But Zera told her that it was good enough once the fire pit was wide enough to hold a good sized fire.

"How do you say fire in Xanthea?" Tei'serin asked out of curiosity.

"Jere. And fire pit would be jere eledin. A camp fire like the one we are building would be called a diuniuth jere, while a cooking fire would be a jama'a jere."

Tei'serin said each of the unfamiliar words several times, trying to make sure that she was saying them correctly. Zera corrected her as needed. When she had the pronunciation correct, she continued to say each of the words several more times so she could memorize them. She asked how to spell them, and wrote them in the newly loosened dirt several times as well. Then it was time to get back to work.

"When building a fire, it is important to have everything you need within easy reach when you start the process. The first thing you need to do is line the bottom of the fire pit with kindling. If you don't know, kindling can be small twigs, bits of dried grass or bark, even crumpled sheets of paper. Things that burn quickly when you set them on fire. The trick is to set the kindling on fire first, and then when it is burning, see if you can get increasingly larger pieces of wood to catch fire, too. That's called feeding the fire. You start with twigs that aren't much bigger than the kindling you're using, and gradually work your way up to a good sized log, or branch, like this." Zera said, pointing to a near by branch that must have fallen during the last storm.

The two of them split up to look for branches, and kindling they could use to build their fire. It didn't take them long to find what they needed, and when they did, they returned to the fire pit, and set the supplies near the pit. After a brief lesson, Tei'serin began lining the bottom of the fire pit with the kindling they had gathered.

"The best way to start a fire is to use flint and steel, like these."

Zera showed Tei'serin the flint and steel she had.

"You strike them together to make sparks that fall onto the kindling. Eventually, the kindling will catch fire. If you don't have flint and steel, you can use a piece of broken glass to magnify the rays of the sun, and concentrate them on what you are trying to burn if the sun is out. You can also try rubbing two sticks together. If you do that fast enough, the friction and heat caused by rubbing them together will eventually cause the sticks to burn. For now, though, we can use these."

Zera demonstrated how to create sparks using the flint and steel, then gave them to Tei'serin to try. It took her several attempts to create sparks, and when she did, they landed on the bare ground outside the fire pit.

"It takes some practice to get the hang of aiming the sparks onto the kindling. You'll get the hang of it eventually. But I'll do it this time. We need to get the fire going quickly so that we can get dinner started."

Before long, the kindling was burning, and Zera told Tei'serin to add one of the smaller twigs. She obeyed, but she moved too quickly. The breeze created by her movements blew the tiny fire out. Her second attempt met with better luck, and she managed to feed the fire until it grew into a good sized camp fire.

"Not bad for a beginner. As with everything worth doing, you will get better with practice."

Tei'serin grinned at the praise.

"We'll make fried vegetables for dinner. It's easy, and it doesn't take much time to cook."

Tei'serin nodded. She wasn't really good at cooking, and had no idea how to prepare a meal for a group this big, but she was here, and she would help where, and when she could. Perhaps then she would be seen as less of a useless burden when the others realized that she was no fighter like the rest of them were. Zera handed her a knife, and had her start peeling, and chopping up some potatoes.

Tei'serin held the first potato awkwardly in her hand, and hesitated, trying to decide how best to peel it. Zera saw her confusion, and chuckled.

"Here, hand that to me."

Tei'serin obeyed with a grateful smile.

"When peeling any vegetable, you always want to cut away from yourself. There's less of a chance you'll cut yourself that way. Let me show you."

Zera demonstrated, peeling the first potato. Tei'serin watched closely, taking note of the long, shallow cuts the older woman made. It was more like she was scraping the skin off of the potato, rather than cutting it. When it was her turn, it took her several attempts to figure out how far to press the knife into the potato she was peeling; too far, and she was cutting away more of the potato than she needed to, but if she cut too shallow, bits of the skin remained.

When it came time to chop the vegetables she had just peeled, Zera offered her advice on that as well. It was easiest to start by cutting the vegetable in half. Then into fourths, and so on, continuing to cut the pieces smaller and smaller until they were bite sized. The carrots were easier to deal with since they could be sliced into pieces that were roughly half as thick as her thumbnail was wide. The two women talked as they worked. Tei'serin learned that chop was porowhita, potato was dluk, carrot was eaz, and onion was tirea in Xanthea.

"Normally, we'd add some kind of meat into this dish. But we don't really have time to stop and hunt for fresh meat. We have some dried meat in our supplies, but that won't work in this dish. And if this were a hunting trip, we could use these vegetables to make a good stew rather than frying them. We'd boil them in a big pot full of water, and let them simmer over the fire all day. But that isn't an option for us, either."

Zera and Tei'serin worked in silence for a while. Although Zera did most of the actual cooking, Tei'serin watched closely, and picked up a few tips. She also cleaned up afterwards, and put out the fire. Soon after everyone was finished, they turned in for the night. They still had a long day of travel ahead of them before they reached the city.

[Tei'serin Nji'ryn]

Tei'serin woke instantly when someone nudged her. She blinked sleepily as she looked around to see what had woken her.

"Shh...the others are still asleep."

It was Zera. The older woman didn't sound especially urgent, and had not been one of the people chosen to stand guard that night, so Tei'serin relaxed.

"What is it?" she whispered.

The sun had not yet risen, but the pale grey of the sky suggested that it would in another break or so.

"There's a good sized stream not too far from camp. I wanted to see if I could find some food to replace what we ate last night, and refill the water canisters while I was at it. We'll be leaving a break or two after first light, so there isn't much time, and I could use some help. Want to come?"

Tei'serin didn't have to think twice. She nodded, and got up quickly. Helping Zera would be another way she could make herself useful, and it seemed likely that she could learn a few things in the process.

"Good. Don't forget to bring your katana. There's always a chance that the shadow beasts will attack us."

It didn't take Tei'serin long to get ready, and Zera already had most of what they would need for their foraging trip. They told the camp guard where they were going as they headed out of camp; that way, if something happened to prevent their return, someone would know to look for them. Zera seemed to know where they were going, so Tei'serin was content to follow along. But when she saw the older woman using her knife to mark the trees as they walked, she had to ask why she was doing so.

"It's simple, really. I've been traveling through the woods all my life. It would be very hard for me to get lost. But forgive me for saying so...you don't have the look of someone who can say the same."

Tei'serin blushed, and shook her head.

"You'd be right about that. I live on a small farm outside Treth. I go into the woods quite often in search of herbs, but I've never really spent much time camping out in them, and I rarely go far from my home."

Zera nodded.

"I figured as much. These marks are to help you more than me. They mark our path, see? If you get lost...well, the best thing you can do is stay where you are, and wait for me to find you. But if that isn't possible for some reason, look for these marks. They will tell you which way we came. And the direction of the arrow will tell you which way we traveled."

Tei'serin's eyes lit up as she understood what Zera was explaining.

"A mark this size won't hurt the tree any, but it will help you find your way if you need to. And since I'm marking every five trees we pass, you'll know if you get turned around if you pass more than five trees without seeing another mark."

They walked in companionable silence for about a quarter of a break, until they came to the stream. Zera grinned, as she pointed to what looked like clumps of grass growing at the edge of the water.

"I thought we'd find some wild onions here, and I was right!" she said excitedly.

Zera ran to the edge of the stream, and began pulling some of the wild onions up. Tei'serin followed more slowly, studying the plants carefully as she did so. She wanted to recognize them again if she saw them in the future. They looked like tall, bright green grass, and they stood out from the rest of the grass surrounding them. But when she knelt beside a clump, she noticed that at the base, they had round stems. Unlike grass, they had a strong onion smell.

"I love wild onions! They can be eaten as is, or cooked with other foods, like eggs. They can also be used to add flavor to soups and sauces. If we're lucky, we might find some wild garlic, too. They look a lot like wild onions, but they have a taller, thicker stem. And they'd smell like garlic instead of onions. We're too late to see it now, but in mid Saun, they produce a beautiful purple flower."

Zera pulled a few more wild onions up, then turned back to Tei'serin, who had started to pull some of her own to add to the sack that Zera had brought with them.

"It's very important that you make sure that something that looks like a wild onion, or wild garlic smells like it, too. Lilies look like wild onions when they aren't in bloom, but they're poisonous. Oh...you mentioned going out into the woods to look for herbs. Are you an herbalist?"

Tei'serin nodded.

"This might interest you then, if you don't already know. Wild onions can be made into a tonic that can be used to treat colic, croup, hives, colds, sore throats, and liver problems. My mother was an herbalist too, and she always made us drink a wild onion tonic when we caught a cold."

Tei'serin made a mental note of what she had just learned. She wished she had her journal so she could write it down, but her memory was good enough that she would be able to remember it until she had the opportunity to do so. She wondered if the book she had back home would tell her how to make the tonic that Zera had told her about. It sounded like a useful one to know how to make.

The sound of the stream was soothing as they worked.

"How do you say stream in Xanthea?" Tei'serin asked after a while.

"Yän. And river would be sämuwär. Why do you ask? If you don't mind my asking, why don't you know Xanthea already?"

"My mother grew up in Descind, but I've never lived there. She died when I was young. I've always wanted to learn Xanthea because...well, as a way to feel closer to her, I guess. And to my own people, even though I don't know many Sev'ryn. Mother and I were always very close when she was alive."

"I'm sorry...I didn't know."

"It's okay. I was only five when she died. You're the first person I've met who knows Xanthea, and is willing to teach me some. I know a little that my mother taught me when I was a child, but I'd love to learn more."

"I think we can arrange that. It will be something to do while we travel."

They continued to gather wild onions. Tei'serin noticed that the white bulbs near the roots were much smaller than a normal onion would be. When she asked about that, worried about how many they would need to feed the group they were traveling with, Zera laughed at her. Then she told her that the entire plant was edible, not just the bulbs. After they had taken maybe half of the wild onions growing along the stream, Zera told her to stop.

"You never want to take all of the wild onions you find. Or all of anything else you find out in the wild for that matter. By leaving some behind, you ensure that the animals of the area will have something to eat. More importantly, the ones you leave behind will continue to grow, so there will be some available the next time you need some."

That made a lot of sense to Tei'serin, so she nodded. It was something she would keep in mind when gathering herbs in the future. A willow tree stood near by, its leaves drooping into the stream.

"Do you think I could borrow your knife to get some of the tree's bark?" she asked hopefully.

"If the shadow beasts are as much of a threat in Ne'haer as we've been told, then they might be running low on herbs. The willow bark will need to be dried before it can be used, but it might be a welcome gift to the healers in the city. Willow bark is an herb that when drunk as a tea can ease pain; especially headaches, muscle aches, and back pain. It can also be used to ease cramps during a woman's cycle."

"Of course. There's no reason not to when we have the chance to get some." Zera said with a smile as she handed her knife to Tei'serin.

"Oh, and since I know you're interested, tree means ọludïbọ in Xanthea."

Tei'serin grinned back at the older woman, and thanked her. Then she got to work. Knowing that the tree would die if she cut a ring of bark off of it, she was careful not to do so. She was also careful not to take too much for fear of injuring the tree. But what she was able to take would supply quite a bit of tea once dried, and ground up.

"Thank you for providing us with food, and medicine, Moseke. We will use it well, and honor the plants that gave it to us." she prayed softly, thanking the Immortal for providing them with what they needed.

When she was done, it was lighter out. The sky was awash with color; bright pinks, yellows, and oranges...it was a beautiful sight to behold.

"Do you see what direction the sun is rising in?" Zera asked.

Tei'serin nodded, curious as to why the older woman was asking.

"The sun always rises in the east, and sets in the west. If you are awake in time to see it rise, you will know what direction east is, and that will help you keep track of where you are." Zera explained.

"Our camp is southwest of here. Do you know what direction we need to walk in to get back?"

Tei'serin considered the question. If the sun rose in the east, then east was to her right. West would be to her left, north in front of her, and south behind her. After a few bits, she turned around, and pointed towards the southwest. Zera grinned.

"You've got it. This trick only works if you see the sun rise or set, and can remember what direction you saw it rise or set in. But if you can do that, it's a useful trick. Speaking of getting back, we should start heading back to camp. They'll want to leave soon after first light."

Tei'serin nodded. Then the two women began the journey back in companionable silence.

[Tei'serin Nji'ryn]

As the caravan approached the city, Tei'serin could only stare in horrified shock, and dismay. Her memories of Ne'haer were vague, and blurry. She remembered the intense grief of losing her mother, and her entire world when their ship was lost more than she remembered the city itself; and even those memories were blurred by the passage of time. She had been expecting a larger version of Treth, with little idea of just how much larger the city would be. Ne'haer was huge...but it was in ruins.

Fires burned everywhere. Smoke rose from the ashes of burned out fires where the fire itself no longer existed. Buildings that were far bigger than anything she could have imagined lay collapsed in ruins. Everywhere she looked, people were fighting the shadow beasts. Fighting...and dying. To Tei'serin, it seemed like a hopeless battle. If the monsters were killing what looked to be skilled warriors with ease, then what possible use could she be?

Bodies lay where they fell. Some had clearly been torn apart by the shadow beasts. Others had died when the building they'd been in collapsed, and were partly trapped in the rubble. Cries of pain and despair filled the air, torn from those who were unfortunate to still be alive. Tei'serin couldn't help but wonder if the dead were the lucky ones; for them, the terror was over.

Zera sat beside her in the wagon. When the older woman felt her trembling, she reached over, and held her hand gently in an attempt to comfort her. But Tei'serin could tell that the woman she had come to think of as a friend was terrified, too. They had come to help the people of Ne'haer fight the shadow beasts. Now, it looked as though they had come to die...alone, and far from home. It was very hard to see any sign of hope here.

The caravan pulled up to an area where a group of warriors were gathering, and came to a stop. As everyone got out, Zera pulled her aside.

"No one would blame you if you didn't stay with us, Tei'serin. You're an herbalist, not a fighter like the rest of us. And the chances of us surviving this aren't good, never mind someone who isn't skilled with their chosen weapon. There are some healers over there, tending to the wounded. I think you'd be far more useful to them then you would be to us. Good luck, Tei'serin. I wish I had met you under better circumstances. I would have liked to gotten to know you as a friend. Perhaps we will meet in our next lives, and become friends. May Moseke keep you safe."

"May Moseke watch over you, too. I also wish we could have gotten to know each other better."

With that, Zera was gone, rejoining the other fighters from Treth. Tei'serin was pretty sure that she would never see the older woman alive again. After a moment's hesitation, she decided to take Zera's advice. She was no fighter. She would be of far more use to the healers if they would have her. So while the fighters introduced themselves to the warriors gathered in the area, Tei'serin quietly slipped away to see if she could help with the wounded.

[Malcolm]

Tei'serin Nji'ryn

Knowledge:
Teaching: Essential steps for a lesson plan
Teaching: Making lessons exciting
Teaching: How to end a lesson
Writing: Note Taking
Xanthea: Terms for camping objects
Xanthea: Names of vegetables
Xanthea: Landmarks
Fieldcraft: Building a fire
Fieldcraft: Starting a fire
Fieldcraft: Finding edible food
Cooking: Fried vegetables
Cooking: Preparing vegetables
Navigation: Sun rises in the east

Loot: n.a
Injuries: n.a
Fame: n.a
Magic: n.a
Devotion: 2

Story: 5/5
Collaboration: 0/5
Structure: 4/5

Comment: Story was well done with a few errors; the one I was most surprised about was the misspelling of Desnind. Little bit grindy, but there was enough historical information about the character to keep me engaged.