An 'orrible little bugger does his best to batter the volunteers and wounded into something resembling soldiers
Beyond the city of Rharne lies the Stormlands, which is home to a number of farms, forests, fields, Lake Lovalus, and the River Zynyx. This subforum also includes the Stormwastes to the south.
There was a moment, just a moment, when Mathias thought he might succeed at driving his training sword into Kasoria, but the moment passed. As the sword was ripped from his hand, Mathias instinctively drew backwards and his hand dropped towards his quiver of arrows before he remembered that he was dueling with a sword. He didn't get far though, half a step and Kasoria's leg swept his own from beneath him. Mathias his the ground with a hard thud and remained there for a trill or two while his breath came back to him.
Kasoria offered the hilt of the training sword and a advice, Mathias took the advice but stood mostly on his own before taking the sword to help him the rest of the way. He didn't trust the Raggedy Man not do let the blade slip in a critical moment to get a laugh from the crowd of watchers. Mathias shifted his grip on the sword while Kasoria moved a few paces away. The Raggedy Man conjured a shield and Mathias's eyes widened slightly. Magic. He had never practiced absorption, but Sylvia had shown him it before. He had no way to test it on Kasoria though so the thought quickly passed. How would he get passed a shield?
How would he get passed a shield... he didn't know... but he had an idea.
Mathias assumed the same stance he'd taken before but this time one had remained on his quiver. He had some training arrows still. Mathias neared Kasoria with narrowed eyes, not as slowly this time because he didn't want to risk the better swordsman recognizing the move he'd taught the young killer. Mathias quickly gripped the fletchings on two of his training arrows and pulled them from the quiver, flinging them a little high towards Kasoria. He wasn't aiming for the man's face but he'd been trying to get him to raise the shield high for what he did next, because after the training arrows left his hand, Mathias moved in with the training sword, swinging low towards Kasoria's thigh.
In the trials to come he would wonder why he didn't just use an ether-bolt... it would have been easier to throw.
At some point, it stopped about finding an opportunity to punish the boy. The impulse would remain, but Kasoria almost lost himself in the lesson itself. The staring eyes around them were the catalyst, he thought afterwards. Everywhere he turned, men and women and even children were watching, drinking it all in, studying every move and word and trying to commit them to memory. They knew skill and ability when they saw it; more importantly, they knew they'd need some of their own, and soon.
So make it useful.
Mathias advanced, cautious and poised this time. None of the rush from bits before. Kasoria silently approved, and braced himself. Amateurs. Most times they were wheat before the scythe, but sometimes...
He was proved right a moment later when Mathias' hand whipped to his quiver and then whipped back towards him again in the same motion. He heard the scrape of wood on leather, knew something was being drawn and thrown and jerked up his Shield-
CRACK-CRACK
-just in time for a couple of arrows to go clanging away from the ether-forged protection, sound eerily close to metal clashing against metal, though the energy protecting him was anything but. Through the opaque haze Kasoria could see the boy darting forward, under his guard-
Feint high, strike-
CRACK
-low.
It was a simple feint, but one he'd wager many hadn't seen. In the span it took for Mathias' to lunge and swing, Kasoria made his decision... and let the sword whack against his thigh. He swallowed a grunt, ripple of pain tearing quickly up his body before vanishing. Around him there was a murmur, as much with surprise as interest. He looked around and saw people exchanging glances, whispers, words... and he smiled slowly.
"Good!" He said, gesturing to Mathias. "When yer dealin' wiv' a shield, y'can go through it, around it... or move it. Best way t'do that? Get the other wanker t'move it for yeh. Best way t'do that? Convince him yer strikin' one place... while yer actually going somewhere else."
Kasoria flexed his leg and not a wrinkle on his old face so much as moved. He stared down Mathias the whole time, silently making the point that even if he'd not let it happen, the wound would hardly have slowed him. Now, a real sword... that would have been different. Speaking of which-
"Y'use a sword, idea is t'go fer the throat, the chest, the belly-" he gestured to each body part as he spoke "-but if yeh have to? Bleed 'em an' cripple 'em slow. Slice at their tendons, in their arms and legs. Cut the veins an' arteries there. Take their movement, their feet, their hands. Sometimes it can't always be a quick kill..."
The lowered his arm and in the time it took for him to do so, the Shield withered away into nothing. A single mental command was all it took. He looked around the sweaty faces, then noticed the position of the sun in the sky. Well past midtrial, he'd wager. So that would make it... Fates, going on four hours. Nodding to himself, he waved a hand at his class.
"A'right, class dismissed fer t'day. Got other shite youse all need t'be doin'. An' you-" he said to Mathias as the younger man collected his arrows "-I'll be seein' tomorrow..."
word count: 576
Common Speech | Thoughts | Ith'ession Speech | Speech of Others
The arrow flew straighter through the air than Mathias had expected and Kasoria raised his shield, as Mathias had expected, but when he did Mathias saw the folly in his plan. Kasoria could see through his shield. He hadn't managed to blind Kasoria with the throw and so he was sure that his low swing would be blocked as well- but it wasn't. The stick smashed against Kasoria's thigh and sent a shock of Mathias's arm as the contact he was never expecting came.
It worked... holy shit... he's gonna remember that... wait how did that work?... Did he let me do it? The thoughts raced through Mathias's mind faster than he could get a hold on them after his training sword had smacked into Kasoria's thigh. He listened as best he could despite his amazement as Kas gave one final lesson to the rest of the recruits and seemed to dismiss them. Kas said he'd seen Mathias tomorrow and before the young archer knew it, everyone had dispersed. In the end Mathias decided that he didn't care whether or not Kasoria had let him do it, the deed had been done all the same. He'd chalk that up to a victory even though he had a strong feeling Kasoria could have stopped his sword. When the rest of the onlookers and Kasoria had departed, Mathis picked up his bow for a few more practice shots only to feel the soreness settling into his fingers.
He'd find some other way to help out now.
So Mathias left the training area in search of some other tasks to complete. This late in the trial more people seemed interested in taking a break and Mathias couldn't fault them, he wanted to take a break as well, but he didn't. He knew there was work to be done somewhere and he knew he'd be the one to do it.
Non-Skill Knowledge:
PC Mathias: Fine Archer, But Lacking in Swordsmanship
Renown: 5 for running a training exercise in preparation for war.
Skill Usage: Appropriate to level.
Loot/Losses: none
Injuries/Conditions: none
Consequences: Karim is known as a more than competent teacher.
Mathias
Experience: 15 No magic
Knowledge:
Skill Knowledge:
Blades (Shortsword) x 6
Tactics x 3
Thrown (Arrows) x 2
Renown: 5 for taking part in a public demonstration/exercise
Skill Usage: Appropriate to level.
Loot/Losses: none
Injuries/Conditions: Minor bumps and bruises that won't hinder him much within a trial.
Consequences: The fellow recruits respect Mathias more for having demonstrated some skill against the horrible old bastard.
Comments: This was fun for a training thread. I enjoyed the bits of marching songs that were featured at the top of the first few posts. Kasoria is always a horrible old bastard, but didn't shed much blood today for that. I enjoyed reading about him as a Pai Mei type figure, teaching recruits to fight with all the harshness you'd expect. It was an interesting character exploration, especially as he reflected on the man who trained him to fight.
Mathias was an interesting addition to this thread, and made it more interesting halfway toward the end. He's a stubborn boy, clinging to his bow as he does, but maybe he learned the value of versatility and changing up weapons from Kasoria. There's no one tool for every situation, afterall.
Good job guys and enjoy your rewards.
If you have any concerns about this review, please PM me about them.
