07-29-2018, 07:31 PM
While Aileen joined her and Blake, Lythia studied each girl's interpretation of preparedness. From Alida's burdens to Elsae's odd choices, but whatever her brief study determined, it stayed safely unreflected on the Aes Sedai's expression. With being intrigued being the predominant feeling to cross the bond at the moment. "Welcome Accepted. While good intentions alone do not win battles, I still commend your choice to be here today." She glanced at Aileen, and the two Greens shared a nod as though they both knew exactly what she was talking about. Likely even a few history lessons might pop into Ellamai's mind about then as well. But Lythia was more curious about whether the Accepted would still feel the wisdom of their choice come this time tomorrow.
She briefly went over the basic layout of the camp: the food line, tents, latrines. Blake signaled to the two Accepted of the Sword, and they swiftly joined them, bowing respectfully for the Accepted when the attention turned their way. Lythia watched the girls' faces for that instant. As she well remembered what it was like to find herself in close quarters with rugged, alluring men at that age. At least Finnaer, with his sweeping brunette hair and chiseled cheekbones, was certainly an eye-catcher. Being the ageless creature she was, A Green was bound to notice. His partner, Corbin, was less dramatic but no less talented. His narrow eyes peered around them with a healthy caution, and despite piecy, brown hair he kept an otherwise tidy appearance.
"You will be participating in essentially a series of war games. We have a containment zone set up."
She turned and briefly gestured at the thicker band of woods up the hill. "It is about a square mile in size and you will sense the wards identifying the boundaries once you get there."
She turned back, placing her hands on her hips in a very matter of fact manner. Some of the former Green's playfulness receded, leaving behind a cool sense of assurance as to who was the leader here. Lythia rarely turned on the more serious shades of herself simply to intimidate Accepted or Novices, but despite the severity of this situation, a hint of amusement danced under her skin, apparent to the Accepted like the twang of a shot arrow unseen in the darkness. Blake, however, tilted his beautiful face her way, jaw tight with enough formality to serve both of them. It was about then the two Accepted of the Sword stiffened their spines, probably emulating the noble master of arms.
"You'll be in two teams. Team one is Alida, Elsae, Nythadri, and Finnaer - then Larea, Galena, Mai and Corbin."
She fixed each person in her gaze a moment when reciting their names. This would be the first they heard of their groupings. "This first mission is simple. One flag per nation waits somewhere in the war zone. The two teams are to collect as many flags as possible. Your team will gain a point for every flag obtained. However, as your two teams are competing for the same objects, you are therefore enemies.
You may use any resource as available to you to accomplish this mission. Your rules are to stay within the warded zone and you must abide by the Three Oaths."
Her voice did not raise, nor her expression harden. Lythia had no need for a physical presence to communicate what she wanted. "Any fault in your adherence to the Oaths will be met with swift retribution to make a runaway novice's strapping on the triangle seem appealing."
She did, however, take time to stick each Accepted with a small smile, the sort flashed just before a Sister found herself betrayed by a trusted friend.
"Now. The Game ends when the time reaches its limit: one hour after sunset. I will send up red flares as your signal. If you can see the sky at that time, you'll see them. And you are to cease everything at that moment and exit the zone. The Game may also end if one team is completely eliminated. To render another Accepted eliminated, you must shield her. Once an Accepted is shielded, she is to cease all activity and immediately exit the zone. Five points are deducted from your team if you lose an Accepted and added to the other team for eliminating her.
Your Accepted of the Sword is a valuable player. You may use him to whatever extent you wish or not at all. Although I'd advise against that."
She glanced at the two boys. They were Blake's selection, after all. A great honor to be deemed worthy of this in the first place, but they also left a fine balance of skill they still needed to perfect. Not to mention the contacts they would forge with these Accepted that made it to the Shawl. Lythia did not much like the idea of pushing promise into Sisterhood just in time for the Last Battle then leaving the Sisters without the vaguest idea of who to bond to protect them. And not for the first time did she entertain ideas to bring the two groups together, faster.
"Accepted of the Sword are more difficult to eliminate. You will have to physically capture and tag him. At which point, he will win - or cost your team - two points, and he will immediately leave the war zone."
"So as you can see. You must be cognizant of many factors. Not just one another. There are obstacles and wards in your way. If you trip one, a point is deducted. If you are eliminated, five points is deducted. If your Accepted of the Sword is eliminated, a point is deducted."
"For any mission in the world remember you are work not only against those who oppose you, but also enemies of the Tower."
She lifted her brows, giving the teams a veiled hint at an abstract enemy within.
There were also snipers in the woods, of course the teams were not aware of this yet. They were armed with training arrows, shafts fixed with padded rubber rather than arrowheads. This would be a difficult task for the trained woodsmen on each team, as the snipers were fanclothed, cloaked warders lurking in wait. Excluding Jael, for it was against custom for unbonded to don that prized cloth, despite the ideas to arm every soldier of the Light with that elusive armor before the Last Battle began. They had allegiance to no team, only to act against whatever wishes that were the Tower's.
It was at this time she dismissed them. Giving the groups thirty minutes to prepare themselves and perhaps devise strategy should they wish it. At the end of the time, it would be Aileen Sedai who escorted Nythadri's group to their entrance site, and Glenna Sedai escorting the other team to the entrance on the side directly opposite.
Just before everyone dispersed, Lythia waved the first of the Accepted to her side. It seemed she was going to have a few private words (or instructions) for everyone. It would be, of course, up to the individual girl if she wanted to share her knowledge with the other members of the team.
First, the bubbling, effervescent Elsae. Not simply because she feared she might not capture the child again once she was released, but because Lythia was intrigued by the girl. She led, strolling along the camp out of everyone's earshot, excluding Blake's who fell into graceful stride a step behind them. "Elsae, you must be diligent for traitors may be found in any team. At a point of their choosing, if its desired, they will switch sides and join the efforts of your opposition. Watch your back as you watch everything else."
She dismissed the Accepted with a simple wave, and watched her go for a few moments. She was young for Accepted, but no more than Lythia was at that same stage in her career. She also had the potential strength enough to earn the shawl. She was also just so...unbelievably whimsical and likable. It was hard to imagine in someone so seemingly sweet, but Lythia learned her lesson. She'd been duped before.
In the brief moments when Elsae left and Alida came, everything Corele had told her about the Dreadlord's inquiry into a girl of the same name flashed through her mind. Lythia of course checked on this in the fleeting moments she had in the Tower between darts to the Black Tower, Caemlyn, Lugard, and Shienar. She knew about the incident in the city, she knew about Darkfriend involvement. Light she'd been part of the team that interrogated the courier, Graham. So there was a connection, although she had yet to discover it. She'd also been of interest to learn the child was from Jarra, and Lythia well knew the night she, Blake, and Byron went there that region was far from sacred, sheltered backwaters. Then again, she'd been slightly distracted lately, but either way, sweet girls joined the Dark One just as often as the horrid ones.
Alida arrived next. Lythia was informed this child was of remarkable potential. She already showed Talents extraordinary with the female threads: air, water, and spirit. It was said she would work the weather like a Sea Folk once experience was hers. She was also talented with forging objects of the Power, which would be a blessing if she forged anything useful to usher victory at the Last Battle. She was also from Caemlyn, specifically from the palace, and was known to Lythia. "Elayne told me a member of her staff was sent to the Tower. She will be pleased to know your progress. I'll make sure to tell her when next I see her."
Then, on to business, "You must be diligent, Alida, for traitors may be found in any team. At a point of her choosing, if its desired, they will switch sides and join the efforts of your opposition. Watch your back as you watch everything else.."
She dismissed the girl, wondering if either her or Elsae would share the information with each other. Or likewise the Accepted of the Sword. It was a question in strategy if ever there was. And a lesson in accomplishing a task when you may be in company of someone working against you. She did not want to foster mistrust among Sisters, as that was not the point, but rather, to keep their eyes open. Only at the end of the game would they realize there was never a traitor assigned as Lythia led them to believe.
The rest of the girls on both teams were given the same sort of private moment. An insightful word of encouragement followed by the warning of a traitor. Then, the last of the group summoned for quiet words at Lythia's side was Nythadri.
A gust of wind caused her to straighten her cloak, until she tucked her hands in its interior pockets for the time being, though she made no indication of being cold. There was no point studying Nythadri as she had the others. The child was the only of the six to come from nobility, beyond that, she was far too experienced at hiding her reactions to warrant intimidation. At this stage, Lythia doubted Nythadri would think this exercise to be more than vaguely beneficial to her training, but Lythia believed strategy, leadership, and foresight were not learned from books but only in the dangerous forests of experience. So whereas she took a different tactic with the others, warning them of a potential traitor that may or may not be there. "I've been warning your team mates the likelihood of a traitor among you. Who likely upon the most advantageous moment will betray your team and switch sides."
Let the Great Gamer stew over that one.
But she wasn't done. Nothing particular changed in Lythia's tone. She didn't alter her strolling gait. Nor did she particularly glance at Nythadri. Lythia found herself watching the distant mountain peaks, contemplating their distance in her mind, and how long it would take riders to cross the terrain or to distinguish wisps of storm clouds from flocks of spying ravens.
"Things seemed to have stagnated in Caemlyn for the moment. Ellomai is keeping an eye on our interests there. You likely don't know her, she hasn't been in the Tower for many years. However, she is subtler than most, and reserved. You will like her I think."
Ell was not the typical Green having the studious heart of a Brown, but she was not a pushover, not with the tenacity of a borderlander in her veins. If anything developed, and suddenly the Vanditeras name circled in fresh rumors, Ell was ready for it.
Then, flatness smoothed her cheeks. Flat as the angle of those slopes rising above the treeline on those mountains. "They flogged him. Five Asha'man. In the throne room."
Sobriety touched the news, but while Lythia disapproved of the violence that was Jai's punishment, she understood it. A runaway novice after all was strapped naked to a triangle on the grounds and flogged with whips, and she wasn't Healed afterward. However, she was not taken to the verge of death either.
She considered telling Nythadri the identity of that line's leading channeler. Together they were powerful enough a group to carve new ridges through the Spine of the World, let alone what damage they could inflict upon one man. "The M'Hael called upon Lennox to direct. You know who that is?"
In the end, she told her. It was tempting to see how Lennox would wriggle if Nythadri's wrath, as Lythia imagined would bubble up, turned his way. But she told Nythadri because the child was going to have to gain an appreciation of Black Tower politics soon enough, and as Lythia said before, such things were only acquired by experience. Lennox was selected for political reasons as much as practical ones. Nythadri may, or may not, understand that.
"Last I saw of him he was alive."
A true enough statement, though the heartbroken wail that still cringed Lythia's heart certainly pegged the Asha'man in her memory clearly these weeks later. As demanding as Lythia was on the fighters for the Light, she was still a woman, one who did not enjoy witnessing such things.
She sighed and shook her head, "then I'm told he got himself flogged again on the grounds the next day. Without the M'Hael's supervising hand this time."
That implied a lot. Mistakes excluded, where punishments were dolled out carefully upon their prized weapons, an Asha'man being an important investment after all, it was still in a controlled environment. On the grounds, on the other hand... "It's unclear what happened after that. He was taken away and hasn't been seen since, but i'm told it was bloody and his fate largely depends on how swiftly a Healer was found."
Ironically it was Aileen who supplied most of the first-hand account of those events, but other matters drew the Green's attention elsewhere. According to Aileen, he should have lived, but that was why Lythia described the outcome of his fate rather than his life. For a man can exist, work, and function but still never quite be alive again.
That was the truth of it. Lythia glanced finally at Nythadri, fixing her with honesty as she had the same that day in her rooms. She held nothing back, except the implication of drink playing the factor in clouding the boy's judgement.
The thirty minutes of strategizing was nearly passed, but just before she dismissed Nythadri, she had one last comment to add. "Do you know the significance of the sword he carried?"
She imagined a number of wondering questions passed through Nythadri's mind, so she elaborated. "Many men, especially in the Black Tower, who arrive with their own rather than carry a commissioned blade, bear such heirlooms. It would be unfortunate to lose one. A connection to home and family as they might represent...But,"
her lips pursed thoughtfully, green eyes waiting for insight if Nythadri had it. She'd not had the time to investigate beyond her own curiosity. "The dragon-etched sword in my quarters was Shadow's. He loved that blade, and earned it. Never was there such a sight...."
If Nythadri had been a Sister, Lythia would have shown her a measure of sadness upon saying that. But the shawl was not yet on her shoulders, and as such, an Aes Sedai's place was one of strength, so she held back the familiarity, but there was no denying the difficulty of losing a warder. Though it was not common knowledge they were reciprocally bonded, it was all the harder the loss to endure. "If I were forced to see it melted down before my eyes, I would..."
Lythia didn't finish that sentence. She shook the feeling off, then paused if Nythadri had something to say.
Then some time later she was dismissed as her predecessors had been. Then it was Aileen and Glenna's responsibility to see the teams to their entrance.
She briefly went over the basic layout of the camp: the food line, tents, latrines. Blake signaled to the two Accepted of the Sword, and they swiftly joined them, bowing respectfully for the Accepted when the attention turned their way. Lythia watched the girls' faces for that instant. As she well remembered what it was like to find herself in close quarters with rugged, alluring men at that age. At least Finnaer, with his sweeping brunette hair and chiseled cheekbones, was certainly an eye-catcher. Being the ageless creature she was, A Green was bound to notice. His partner, Corbin, was less dramatic but no less talented. His narrow eyes peered around them with a healthy caution, and despite piecy, brown hair he kept an otherwise tidy appearance.
"You will be participating in essentially a series of war games. We have a containment zone set up."
She turned and briefly gestured at the thicker band of woods up the hill. "It is about a square mile in size and you will sense the wards identifying the boundaries once you get there."
She turned back, placing her hands on her hips in a very matter of fact manner. Some of the former Green's playfulness receded, leaving behind a cool sense of assurance as to who was the leader here. Lythia rarely turned on the more serious shades of herself simply to intimidate Accepted or Novices, but despite the severity of this situation, a hint of amusement danced under her skin, apparent to the Accepted like the twang of a shot arrow unseen in the darkness. Blake, however, tilted his beautiful face her way, jaw tight with enough formality to serve both of them. It was about then the two Accepted of the Sword stiffened their spines, probably emulating the noble master of arms.
"You'll be in two teams. Team one is Alida, Elsae, Nythadri, and Finnaer - then Larea, Galena, Mai and Corbin."
She fixed each person in her gaze a moment when reciting their names. This would be the first they heard of their groupings. "This first mission is simple. One flag per nation waits somewhere in the war zone. The two teams are to collect as many flags as possible. Your team will gain a point for every flag obtained. However, as your two teams are competing for the same objects, you are therefore enemies.
You may use any resource as available to you to accomplish this mission. Your rules are to stay within the warded zone and you must abide by the Three Oaths."
Her voice did not raise, nor her expression harden. Lythia had no need for a physical presence to communicate what she wanted. "Any fault in your adherence to the Oaths will be met with swift retribution to make a runaway novice's strapping on the triangle seem appealing."
She did, however, take time to stick each Accepted with a small smile, the sort flashed just before a Sister found herself betrayed by a trusted friend.
"Now. The Game ends when the time reaches its limit: one hour after sunset. I will send up red flares as your signal. If you can see the sky at that time, you'll see them. And you are to cease everything at that moment and exit the zone. The Game may also end if one team is completely eliminated. To render another Accepted eliminated, you must shield her. Once an Accepted is shielded, she is to cease all activity and immediately exit the zone. Five points are deducted from your team if you lose an Accepted and added to the other team for eliminating her.
Your Accepted of the Sword is a valuable player. You may use him to whatever extent you wish or not at all. Although I'd advise against that."
She glanced at the two boys. They were Blake's selection, after all. A great honor to be deemed worthy of this in the first place, but they also left a fine balance of skill they still needed to perfect. Not to mention the contacts they would forge with these Accepted that made it to the Shawl. Lythia did not much like the idea of pushing promise into Sisterhood just in time for the Last Battle then leaving the Sisters without the vaguest idea of who to bond to protect them. And not for the first time did she entertain ideas to bring the two groups together, faster.
"Accepted of the Sword are more difficult to eliminate. You will have to physically capture and tag him. At which point, he will win - or cost your team - two points, and he will immediately leave the war zone."
"So as you can see. You must be cognizant of many factors. Not just one another. There are obstacles and wards in your way. If you trip one, a point is deducted. If you are eliminated, five points is deducted. If your Accepted of the Sword is eliminated, a point is deducted."
"For any mission in the world remember you are work not only against those who oppose you, but also enemies of the Tower."
She lifted her brows, giving the teams a veiled hint at an abstract enemy within.
There were also snipers in the woods, of course the teams were not aware of this yet. They were armed with training arrows, shafts fixed with padded rubber rather than arrowheads. This would be a difficult task for the trained woodsmen on each team, as the snipers were fanclothed, cloaked warders lurking in wait. Excluding Jael, for it was against custom for unbonded to don that prized cloth, despite the ideas to arm every soldier of the Light with that elusive armor before the Last Battle began. They had allegiance to no team, only to act against whatever wishes that were the Tower's.
It was at this time she dismissed them. Giving the groups thirty minutes to prepare themselves and perhaps devise strategy should they wish it. At the end of the time, it would be Aileen Sedai who escorted Nythadri's group to their entrance site, and Glenna Sedai escorting the other team to the entrance on the side directly opposite.
Just before everyone dispersed, Lythia waved the first of the Accepted to her side. It seemed she was going to have a few private words (or instructions) for everyone. It would be, of course, up to the individual girl if she wanted to share her knowledge with the other members of the team.
First, the bubbling, effervescent Elsae. Not simply because she feared she might not capture the child again once she was released, but because Lythia was intrigued by the girl. She led, strolling along the camp out of everyone's earshot, excluding Blake's who fell into graceful stride a step behind them. "Elsae, you must be diligent for traitors may be found in any team. At a point of their choosing, if its desired, they will switch sides and join the efforts of your opposition. Watch your back as you watch everything else."
She dismissed the Accepted with a simple wave, and watched her go for a few moments. She was young for Accepted, but no more than Lythia was at that same stage in her career. She also had the potential strength enough to earn the shawl. She was also just so...unbelievably whimsical and likable. It was hard to imagine in someone so seemingly sweet, but Lythia learned her lesson. She'd been duped before.
In the brief moments when Elsae left and Alida came, everything Corele had told her about the Dreadlord's inquiry into a girl of the same name flashed through her mind. Lythia of course checked on this in the fleeting moments she had in the Tower between darts to the Black Tower, Caemlyn, Lugard, and Shienar. She knew about the incident in the city, she knew about Darkfriend involvement. Light she'd been part of the team that interrogated the courier, Graham. So there was a connection, although she had yet to discover it. She'd also been of interest to learn the child was from Jarra, and Lythia well knew the night she, Blake, and Byron went there that region was far from sacred, sheltered backwaters. Then again, she'd been slightly distracted lately, but either way, sweet girls joined the Dark One just as often as the horrid ones.
Alida arrived next. Lythia was informed this child was of remarkable potential. She already showed Talents extraordinary with the female threads: air, water, and spirit. It was said she would work the weather like a Sea Folk once experience was hers. She was also talented with forging objects of the Power, which would be a blessing if she forged anything useful to usher victory at the Last Battle. She was also from Caemlyn, specifically from the palace, and was known to Lythia. "Elayne told me a member of her staff was sent to the Tower. She will be pleased to know your progress. I'll make sure to tell her when next I see her."
Then, on to business, "You must be diligent, Alida, for traitors may be found in any team. At a point of her choosing, if its desired, they will switch sides and join the efforts of your opposition. Watch your back as you watch everything else.."
She dismissed the girl, wondering if either her or Elsae would share the information with each other. Or likewise the Accepted of the Sword. It was a question in strategy if ever there was. And a lesson in accomplishing a task when you may be in company of someone working against you. She did not want to foster mistrust among Sisters, as that was not the point, but rather, to keep their eyes open. Only at the end of the game would they realize there was never a traitor assigned as Lythia led them to believe.
The rest of the girls on both teams were given the same sort of private moment. An insightful word of encouragement followed by the warning of a traitor. Then, the last of the group summoned for quiet words at Lythia's side was Nythadri.
A gust of wind caused her to straighten her cloak, until she tucked her hands in its interior pockets for the time being, though she made no indication of being cold. There was no point studying Nythadri as she had the others. The child was the only of the six to come from nobility, beyond that, she was far too experienced at hiding her reactions to warrant intimidation. At this stage, Lythia doubted Nythadri would think this exercise to be more than vaguely beneficial to her training, but Lythia believed strategy, leadership, and foresight were not learned from books but only in the dangerous forests of experience. So whereas she took a different tactic with the others, warning them of a potential traitor that may or may not be there. "I've been warning your team mates the likelihood of a traitor among you. Who likely upon the most advantageous moment will betray your team and switch sides."
Let the Great Gamer stew over that one.
But she wasn't done. Nothing particular changed in Lythia's tone. She didn't alter her strolling gait. Nor did she particularly glance at Nythadri. Lythia found herself watching the distant mountain peaks, contemplating their distance in her mind, and how long it would take riders to cross the terrain or to distinguish wisps of storm clouds from flocks of spying ravens.
"Things seemed to have stagnated in Caemlyn for the moment. Ellomai is keeping an eye on our interests there. You likely don't know her, she hasn't been in the Tower for many years. However, she is subtler than most, and reserved. You will like her I think."
Ell was not the typical Green having the studious heart of a Brown, but she was not a pushover, not with the tenacity of a borderlander in her veins. If anything developed, and suddenly the Vanditeras name circled in fresh rumors, Ell was ready for it.
Then, flatness smoothed her cheeks. Flat as the angle of those slopes rising above the treeline on those mountains. "They flogged him. Five Asha'man. In the throne room."
Sobriety touched the news, but while Lythia disapproved of the violence that was Jai's punishment, she understood it. A runaway novice after all was strapped naked to a triangle on the grounds and flogged with whips, and she wasn't Healed afterward. However, she was not taken to the verge of death either.
She considered telling Nythadri the identity of that line's leading channeler. Together they were powerful enough a group to carve new ridges through the Spine of the World, let alone what damage they could inflict upon one man. "The M'Hael called upon Lennox to direct. You know who that is?"
In the end, she told her. It was tempting to see how Lennox would wriggle if Nythadri's wrath, as Lythia imagined would bubble up, turned his way. But she told Nythadri because the child was going to have to gain an appreciation of Black Tower politics soon enough, and as Lythia said before, such things were only acquired by experience. Lennox was selected for political reasons as much as practical ones. Nythadri may, or may not, understand that.
"Last I saw of him he was alive."
A true enough statement, though the heartbroken wail that still cringed Lythia's heart certainly pegged the Asha'man in her memory clearly these weeks later. As demanding as Lythia was on the fighters for the Light, she was still a woman, one who did not enjoy witnessing such things.
She sighed and shook her head, "then I'm told he got himself flogged again on the grounds the next day. Without the M'Hael's supervising hand this time."
That implied a lot. Mistakes excluded, where punishments were dolled out carefully upon their prized weapons, an Asha'man being an important investment after all, it was still in a controlled environment. On the grounds, on the other hand... "It's unclear what happened after that. He was taken away and hasn't been seen since, but i'm told it was bloody and his fate largely depends on how swiftly a Healer was found."
Ironically it was Aileen who supplied most of the first-hand account of those events, but other matters drew the Green's attention elsewhere. According to Aileen, he should have lived, but that was why Lythia described the outcome of his fate rather than his life. For a man can exist, work, and function but still never quite be alive again.
That was the truth of it. Lythia glanced finally at Nythadri, fixing her with honesty as she had the same that day in her rooms. She held nothing back, except the implication of drink playing the factor in clouding the boy's judgement.
The thirty minutes of strategizing was nearly passed, but just before she dismissed Nythadri, she had one last comment to add. "Do you know the significance of the sword he carried?"
She imagined a number of wondering questions passed through Nythadri's mind, so she elaborated. "Many men, especially in the Black Tower, who arrive with their own rather than carry a commissioned blade, bear such heirlooms. It would be unfortunate to lose one. A connection to home and family as they might represent...But,"
her lips pursed thoughtfully, green eyes waiting for insight if Nythadri had it. She'd not had the time to investigate beyond her own curiosity. "The dragon-etched sword in my quarters was Shadow's. He loved that blade, and earned it. Never was there such a sight...."
If Nythadri had been a Sister, Lythia would have shown her a measure of sadness upon saying that. But the shawl was not yet on her shoulders, and as such, an Aes Sedai's place was one of strength, so she held back the familiarity, but there was no denying the difficulty of losing a warder. Though it was not common knowledge they were reciprocally bonded, it was all the harder the loss to endure. "If I were forced to see it melted down before my eyes, I would..."
Lythia didn't finish that sentence. She shook the feeling off, then paused if Nythadri had something to say.
Then some time later she was dismissed as her predecessors had been. Then it was Aileen and Glenna's responsibility to see the teams to their entrance.