[Venora] Building A Strong Foundation

[Faith Augustin]

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17th Saun, Arc 716

So, there were these guards and they didn't speak. But she was going to train with them and, thankfully, Lord Venora's mentor Damien Noth was there too. He wasn't going to help her train, as such, but he was happy to help her in terms of tactics and so on. Some of that was able to be done whilst they were travelling on the horses, and so as they moved, he had explained to her a few things. He had a strange but funny way of explaining things and so, when he had spoken he asked Faith (and he was always very polite) to repeat what he had said back to him, in her own words.

In fact, he suggested, why didn't she tell the horses?

Faith looked at him and nodded. That made sense, she considered. So, very seriously, Faith spoke in the direction of the two horses that they rode, side by side. "The thing I have to remember" she said, most sincerely "Is that I am small and not strong. I have an advantage, in that I am stronger than I seem to be" which wouldn't be hard, as she still looked waif-like. "And whilst my status as a slave is an advantage in so much as nobles tend not to look my way, I am completely expendable. So if I am going to act, it must be swift and decisive" she considered that and it made sense. "It is best if I aim to either kill or do not act. Anything else has the potential for significant backlash and could put those around me and myself in danger" It made sense and she looked at Damien with a smile as the horse let out a whinny. "I think he understands and agrees. I am small, but I am swift. Use that. Strike decisively and do not hesitate."

Damien looked at her and smiled his agreement, unable to stop himself from smiling but keeping quiet in case he laughed at the earnest slave who was talking to her horse.

So, when they made camp and she had some time to do so, that night, Faith would start to practice that. She asked three of the guards, very politely (she didn't know who was who) if they would stand in a sort of half circle and be prepared to be attacked. Before she started, though, standing there ready to fight (she thought) Damien let out a small cough. Then he pointed to the way that the three guards were standing and then to Faith.

Faith had learnt the art of unarmed combat in the slave school of Athart - no one had ever taught her, she had learnt to fight when pitted against other slaves either as punishment or for the apparently random pleasure of the owners. Damien took the knife from her hand and suggested, kindly, that she should get the basics like stance right before she moved on to using the pointy things. She couldn't disagree with that as a suggestion, so she nodded her head and apologised to the guards, asking if just one of them would help her with that.

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Use of NPCs approved by Alistair

[Faith Augustin]

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Standing and watching him, this guard, Faith had asked him to not attack and she looked at what he was doing, in terms of stance. Yes, that made sense she considered and she realised that she most certainly didn't do it like that. So, slightly on the balls of the feet, one foot in front of the other slightly and with feet spaced about shoulder width aparth. She stood and looked then she tried it herself. It felt comfortable, she thought, and then she considered that should she need to she would be able to distribute her weight evenly or she could put more weight on her front or back foot. "Well, that's clever" she said, with a smile. She practiced that movement for a while, bouncing on the balls of her feet and considering it. Yes, it was comfortable, it allowed her to stand more firmly and be flexible too. Good, all good.

She knew that, as she got better at it, as it became second nature, she'd be more able to put her weight forward on her feet without having to be quite so.... up. But still. It was useful to know. Then, she moved around and studied the guard, looking at his arms, his back and how he held his weight. Back to in front of him, she stood and lifted her arms. Right arm higher, slightly further forward, left arm lower not forward. Both bent at the elbows and forearms in front of her body but not too closely so. She frowned and looked more closely at the guard's hands. Thumbs up, hands open and relaxed, fingers turned slightly inward.

That made sense also and Faith focused on remaining relaxed. Then she practiced a few times, punching and then kicking whilst remaining in that stance. It was not easy at first and she felt herself overbalance and then balance too much to the side, but she practiced and she practiced some more. Then Faith realised something and she turned and said to the guard "I am sorry. I'm done now, I can practice alone tonight. Thank you though" and she watched as he walked away. What strange people they were these silent guards, she considered, but that was how it was and Lord Venora had told her to not ask so she did not. Instead she practiced. Picturing an imaginary opponent in front of her, she young slave girl kicked and punched, aiming for specific spots and she held up her arm to deflect blows here and there, always trying to keep her stance steady and switching front feet regularly, so that she did not over rely on one stance.

When she judged that she had done that enough, Faith moved over to the horse and grabbed a towel from her saddle bag. As she did, she whispered in the horses ear. "It is sweet, but a little worrying that they all seem to think you understand me, you know. I hope it is Lord Venora's only delusion" and she promised herself to remember to tell Master when she got home that his cousin was as mad as a box of frogs and genuinely thought that horses understood him when he spoke.

It was a shame, really, she considered. Other than that he seemed like a reasonable chap.

[Rumour]

Name:

Knowledge:
Basic Knowledge:
Unarmed Combat: Basic fighting stance
Alistair Venora: A few cards short of a full deck

Specialized Knowledge:
Tactics: How to use your size to your advantage
Tactics: Choose to kill or not act in order to avoid danger in a fight
Tactics: In a fight, strike decisively and do not hesitate
Unarmed Combat: A good fighting stance helps evenly distribute weight and maintain balance
Unarmed Combat: How to hold your arms to guard your body
Alistair Venora: Believes horses understand him

Loot: N/A
Injuries: You will be sore for 2-3 trials after training. Don’t forget to stretch!
Fame: +1 for making a fool of yourself in order to make Alistair Venora feel better

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

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Comments: This was a nice little training thread, Faith! It was a good way to gain some additional knowledge for your PC while still playing into fun plots from previous threads (using Damien as an NPC & referring to Alistair's earlier joke). I gave a 4/5 in Story because I did feel like the story was a bit short and could have used a tad more flavour - perhaps in the form of more interaction between Faith and Damien or Faith and the guards. I would encourage you to keep writing training threads & look for ways to expand their story potential through more dialogue and interaction with the environment.

If you feel I've missed anything or if you have questions about your review, please don't hesitate to send me a quick PM. Thank you!