• Memory • All Downhill From Here

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Praetorum
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Posts: 1425
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2019 11:08 am
Race: Ithecal
Profession: Mercenary
Renown: 1020
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Wealth Tier: Tier 5

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All Downhill From Here





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72nd of Vhalar, Arc 707

"Seventeen..." Prae grunted, shoulders and abdomen already starting to ache. Doing a pushup like this put an unsurprising amount of stress on his back as well, but mostly it was the usual strain that came with this particular exercise. Already his core muscles were complaining, and his breath was coming in short. Still, he persevered.


"Eighteen..." It was the decent that was worst, trying not to give in and just let his whole body collapse to the floor as his arms bent and his chest lowered towards the ground, brushing against the grass. The balancing act of trying to go low, without going too low was exhausting, forcing Praetorum to modulate the amount of effort he expended, as well as keep his balance, while also keeping his spine straight. It didn't help that his mother insisted they use military pushups, keeping their elbows tucked close to their body. 


"Nineteen..." Comparatively, going up was easy. All Prae had to do was, well, push against the ground until his arms straightened out. Easy as pie. 


"Twenty..." Praetorum was nearing his limits. His back was killing him, his arms were aching, and if he had been a human, he would have been dripping sweat. He'd already beaten his previous record, it wouldn't be shameful to stop now. And yet. Maybe he could manage just one more....

"Twen—gah!" Nope. He couldn't manage one more. With a wheeze, Praetorum's arms gave out, and he dropped, face first, into the grass. On his back, Serinus let out a startled squawk midcount, toppling to the ground as he fell off of Prae's back. "Hey, careful!" He flopped onto the grass by Prae's side. "Bit too much, huh?"


Prae nodded into the grass. "Just gimme fifteen bits." 


Ri scoffed, sitting up. "C'mon, don't you want to do anything other than pushups?"


"You were the one who suggested doing this in the first place."

"Yeah, when I thought it'd be funny to read a book on you while you exercised. I didn't expect you to sit around and do pushups for a break." Serinus nudged him with his leg. "I'll race you. To the old elm and back."

Prae lifted his head at that, squinted at his brother. "I thought you hated racing."

"I hate it when mom makes us do that—" Ri made a noise that very roughly approximating a sprinting sound— "five times a race. I want to try running the way I want to run, you know? "


"It is very annoying." Prae admitted. "Alright, running with no rules. What if... we did it to the campsite?" Serinus shoved lightly at him, and Prae laughed, raising his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. The elm and back."


Shoving himself to his feet, Praetorum rolled his shoulders, then stretched out his sore muscles, readying himself to run. By his side, Serinus did the same, jogging a little in place to get the blood flowing before they raced. Once both brothers were ready, they lined up at the edge of the garden that marked the unofficial start line for all their races. 


"Ready?" Prae asked?

"Set." Ri responded. Both of them tensed in preparation.

"GO!" They cried in unison, and shot off. As usual, Serinus had the advantage at first; slim, sleek, and far lighter than his brother, Ri was quick to start, quick to stop, and quick to turn, which gave him an edge when it came to the shorter routes the twins were used to running. There was one route, a zig-zaging path with seven checkpoints, where Prae had never beaten his brother, ever. With his large, bulky frame, Praetorum simply didn't have the turning radius Ri did. But one thing Praetorum did have in spades was endurance. Serinus had been a sickly child, and he'd grown into a rather petite adult. Prae, on the other hand, had always been sturdy and robust. So longer routes, like the one that had them skirting the shore to reach the campsite on the other side of the lake, favored him. As did the exercises their mother put them through, which emphasized those short bursts of speed Paltharnum were so well known for. Prae's ability to recover his strength helped there immensely.  


The elm tree route was something of a frequent compromise between them. It was a relatively short distance away, but the uphill slope on the approach made it a much more tiring route than normal. And the downhill return was a challenge neither brother had quite mastered yet; while there was nothing quite like winning, it was definitely much funnier to see the other trip right at the end, and skid their way past the finish line. 


Prae was happy to stay a tail's length behind his brother at first; this was how this race always started. The route started with the steepest incline, and Prae would rather save his strength. So as they ran over the well worn path, racing up the hill, Prae kept a steady pace, mindful of his breathing as he followed Serinus's lead. One issue he'd only recently corrected was keeping his breathing steady, instead of the slapdash, ragged rhythm he'd used to use. He hadn't seen a problem with it before, but he'd found since that keeping a steady pattern of inhales and exhales helped keep his footfalls even as well. 


As the route started to level off, Praetorum picked up his pace, slowly but surely catching up to his brother. When he caught sight of Prae out of the corner of his eye, Ri began to pick it up as well, but not quite fast enough. Before long, the pair were neck to neck, just as the first leaves of the elm came into sight. The pair hit a flat stretch of the route, and suddenly Praetorum was left in the dust as Ri broke into a sprint. For a moment, Prae tensed to follow him, to keep pace, before letting it go and continuing on his steady pace. He'd need all his energy to successfully pull his plan off. 


There was a second steep slope on the way up to the tree, and as Prae reached the bottom of it, he spotted Ri skidding to a stop, and twisting to turn around, slapping his tail against the bark as he did. He reached out a hand as he charged upwards, and Ri met him halfway down the slope, slapping his hand as he went down the other direction. 


Prae didn't waste a trill when he reached the tree, twisting and planting one foot firmly on the tree to control his speed as he came to a stop. Then, in an instant, he pushed off the tree, and went flying down the hill. 


The main issue with running downhill, Praetorum reflected, was once you reached a certain point, you started falling faster than you could run. Unless, of course, you were a Paltharnum. It wasn't long before Prae felt himself begin to unbalance; it was a feeling he was very used to by now. But then he hit the flat stretch again, and managed to right himself. Like his brother had mere moments before, Praetorum took this opportunity to put on a burst of speed, thighs aching as he burst into a sprint. 


Only where Ri had lost momentum going up the hill, Prae only gained it going down.


By the time he caught up with his brother, Prae was less running, and more bounding, his feet touching the path only long enough for him to push off again. He'd worked up to a ludicrous speed by now, and was spending far more effort in trying to keep his balance than he was in the actual running. He didn't even have time to made a comment to Ri, instead leaping path him like a drunken, oversized frog. 


"Are you crazy?" Praetorum heard as he left his brother behind, rapidly approaching the steepest, final stretch of the route. 


The answer to that question was yes. When Praetorum hit the slope, he found his ability to keep upright very quickly eclipsed by his momentum. This left Prae with two choices: he could try and sprint to catch up with his falling upper body, in which case he would most likely blow past the finish line, and directly into the side of their stone house; or, he could hope he'd given himself enough of a lead, and slow down. 


Stop, really. 


Well. Fall. 


Twisting to the side, Prae let himself tumble to the ground, digging his claws into the dirt to try and keep himself from rolling head over tail. He ended up in this ridiculous half prone position, skidding on his side face first down the slope as he tried to scramble back to his feet. 


He'd barely managed to right himself when with a "Hup," Serinus leaped over his prone form, and continued down the hill, perfectly balanced. 


By the time he made it to the bottom, Ri was doubled over, half wheezing, half laughing. "Unbelievable." He hiccuped as Prae stumbled close. "Do that again next time we train, mother will appreciate it."

"We're never speaking of this again."


"I am never going to let you forget this."
word count: 1571
Let's play 'What's Weird About Prae'

Head

  • A fiery rune shines under his right eye
  • A firey glow in the back of his mouth

Arms

  • A ring of blue runes floats over each of Prae's wrists
  • A silver shield marks the back of his right hand
  • A ring of light around his left forearm

Misc

  • His tail is about eight feet long, usually knotted around his waist
  • His body temperature is uncomfortably high

Surroundings

  • Wind gusts with every step he takes
  • The area around him is slightly more static-y than normal
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Strange
Prophet of Old
Posts: 1105
Joined: Wed Mar 27, 2019 1:43 pm
Race: Undead (Ghost)
Renown: 999
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Wealth Tier: Tier 1

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Re: All Downhill From Here


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Thread Review

Praetorum

Praetorum
Skill Points: +10
Magic XP: None

Renown: None

Injuries/Overstepping: Scrapes and scratches from tumbling down a hill
Wealth Points: None
Loot: None

Skill Knowledges:
  • Acrobatics: Making a controlled fall
  • Running: Keeping your breathing even
  • Running: Pushing off something to change directions
  • Running: Trying not to trip while running downhill
  • Strength: Doing pushups with someone on your back
  • Strength: Military pushups
Non-Skill Knowledges:
  • None Requested
Notes: none.

I feel like I got a decent work-out just from reading this thread... maybe some shin splints from those inclines. Successfully written immersion, and Ri is an excellent foil for Prae. I enjoy reading their interactions a lot. Ri definitely is crazy, but in that good sort of way that helps Prae develop into who he'll be later.

Great job and enjoy your rewards!

PM me if you have any questions, issues or concerns.

Total Word Count: 1587 words.
Review Request Link: viewtopic.php?f=242&t=16103&start=470#p114745
stampcodehere

word count: 166
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