Herein I hope to detail the methods I have used when training my students. I recommend them as I have had such success that it amazes my elders and peers with whom I have spoken. Hopefully, by disclosing my methods and philosophies, greater success and prosperity will be attained by practitioners of our honored path.
Firstly, I must discourse on the philosophies behind my training methods, for without them, the methods will not achieve as much effect. If you wish to undertake the journey of becoming a teacher, you need only knowledge to share and the fire that makes one a true teacher. It burns fiercely and lights the way you must take to educate. Your students must always come before profit or yourself. If you know your student needs a valuable item you have found, give it unto your student. He who gives of himself to his students will find some of himself revealed within them. If you are a great teacher, your students will be great as well. Many great students will bring you honor and will give you great satisfaction. Your students can be your greatest assets, do not take them for granted. Always put them first and thereby advance their greatness, advancing yours as well. Knowledge is the greatest power, to give your students great knowledge is to give them great power. Do not simply tell them where to find skills, you must teach them about these skills. Do not let your students wander without guidance before you have taught them of Temuair, aislings, and the obstacles provided by both. Tell your students why their training is important, not simply that it is necessary. Finally, you must always try to answer the questions of your students or help them to find the answers if you know not.
To some, my philosophies may seem obvious, but many do not consider such simple things as how one should teach. Many think that to have a student is to guide them once or twice, then provide mentorship on occasion. I say that is not teaching. You must do more to truly be a teacher. I am no fountain of wisdom that preaches of right and wrong, but I do have both experience and great success with the training of my students. A teacher shares their knowledge and what they can of their experience with a student in hopes of molding that student into something greater. Make your students great and they will bring great honor to you. Your own legend is spread by that of each of your students. Become great by helping others to be great. To be a monk is a unique responsibility. We have many skills and traditions that cannot be learned easily on ones own that are very valuable. We need to share this knowledge so that it is never lost from Temuair.
The methods I use when training are not difficult to employ. Those of our path are uniquely suited to helping our students to an excellent start. A good start will help insure a successful guiding and help keep your student from encountering Sgrios sooner than they should. I do not advocate that you make your students' paths as simple as possible, that defeats the value of their experiences. You should simply be sure they have all you can give within reason.
One should always encourage students to speak with all of the mundanes to help them achieve new insights. Each of the mundanes will help your student learn more. Keallach the fighter will offer advice on battle tactics and weaponry. Devlin, the fae priestess will tell of faery love and the East Wood. Naomhan is the keeper of the church and can tell of the Altar of Mileth. The smiths of Mileth, Callough and Torranie, know of arms and other gear.Some of the mundanes also have minor quests or tasks that can help your students have valuable experiences leading to even more insights. If all these tasks are completed and another I will discuss later, your student will receive a mark upon their legend. One task mentors often neglect to tell students of is assisting the weapon smith, Callough. Make sure your student does this before they have much money. The smith reserves this task for those whom are not well off. Have your student ask him about sparing a stick. Callough will offer to make a stick for battle and a shield if your student will but gather stout branches for him. These can then be found below any trees in Mileth or the East Wood. Your student need not keep the stick or shield, but the task has value none the less. The fae priestess, Devlin, can also provide a task for your students. She is often in need of raw honey or wax. Both of these can be gained by slaying bees and wasps in the East Wood. It is wise to have one of each on hand for your new student. This way, they can give the priestess what she needs to witness the benefits of helping others first hand. Dar the dark wizard is often in need of things as well. He needs dark things, or bits of the various creatures inhabiting the crypts of Mileth. Having one of each of the bits you can secure handy is also a good idea. They are a spider's eye and silk, a centipedes gland, a bat's wing, and a scorpion's sting. The sting is problematic for many, so don't worry if you cannot secure one. Odds are, Dar will ask for another bit. Cian is Dar's more benevolent counter part. He is often in need of various molds or rotten foods for his research. These can also be found in the crypt. They include tomatoes, cherries, grapes, apples, mold, and vegetables. These you can obtain quickly, so it's not necessary to have them on hand. The skill of herbalism has always been one of our strong suits. With this and tailoring, we can have ready a cache of gear and goods that will get our students off to an excellent start as an aisling monk. In the East Wood Garden you will find the herbs needed for brewing very useful deums. Personaca, hydele, and betony deums can all be produced with wine and these herbs. One way this knowledge will help your students is that they can use these deums in their adventures to protect and heal themselves. The other way they can be employed will help them gain insight. Mother's in Temuair often have need of herbal remedies, especially those who run bakeries as they can't always keep an eye on their childer. They always need one of the three aforementioned deums. Herbalism will also allow you to make ancusa ceir, or speckled wax. Those whom work in inns sometimes need this to help soothe burns due to fires caused by neglected candles or untended hearths. This will also help your student to achieve insights. Having done the tasks of Mileth and helping a burned inn-keeper will give your student a legend mark as I mentioned earlier. Another benefit of helping mothers and inn-keepers is that they often offer honey in jars or flowers to those helping them. In addition to providing the deums for your student, I recommend tailoring a dobok to provide better armor for them. They will not be skilled enough to wear the dobok initially, but this training regimen detailed herein will get them ready to wear it before you are done. If your student wishes their dobok dyed, you may do this after tailoring if you are a respected citizen or know one.
The final tasks you should show your student before their eleventh insight guiding are berry picking. In Suomi, there is a cherry farmer and a grape farmer. They will both allow you to pick the fruits of their farms for a fee. Give your student enough coin to do both. It will take roughly fifteen-hundred golds. Several times I myself have achieved an insight while picking fruits in Suomi's quiet fields. Be sure to tell your students that each task can be done again after a day or so, depending on the task. As to their training, your student should advance all their abilities equally until they can train in a form. You should tell them about each form and explain all you know of them. You may encourage your students to select a particular form, but always respect that the final choice is theirs. All of my students whom I guided through all the aforementioned tasks were ready for a form within the first day. Also make sure to have a viper's gland, an extra spider's silk, and a thousand coin handy for purchasing your students first skill, the kick, from Keallach, the Mileth fighter.
Once you have completed this training regimen with your student, you should mentor them as your student at Dar's or the Devlin's shop. Take note of the date so that you know when you may next mentor your student. Tell them of the date you will need to meet for this. Explain that mentoring is a greatly beneficial experience for both your student and yourself. Tell them to either whisper to you or to send you mail if they have questions or need help before their eleventh insight. Tell them that once they achieve the eleventh insight, they should inform you and seek you out and that you will then guide them. Explain that the guiding is also a beneficial experience for you both. Finally, allow your student to explore and adventure on their own.It is my hope that this simple guide will help my craft to prosper as we are fewer in number than any other as I write this. Those of other crafts are welcome to adapt my teachings for training their own students. May you benefit from this and may your students bring you great honor.
Zeforn Ger-rai
White Bat Monk and Mentor