Despite everything, Praetorum was still at heart more a soldier than a mage. He took advantage of everything he could, but he put his faith in things that couldn't be taken away—his mind, his body, his training. It was a mindset he wanted to impart to Elisabeth, especially with those cuffs so close to home. He knew all too well what it was like to be too caught up in the joy of magic and be caught off guard without it. He wouldn't have Elisabeth learn that lesson the hard way.
Pebbles large and small marked off a combat ring, large enough for someone of Prae's size to maneuver in, small enough that one had to be mindful of their surroundings. Torches would give them enough light to fight by on this dark night, and Prae laid out the rules of the bout as he planted each of them around the ring.
"You can fight with anything and everything except defiance. No such thing as a low blow or a dirty trick in combat. I'll use my quarterstaff and no shield or magic. Your goal is to try and hit me as many times as you can—don't worry about me, this leather armor is as good as full plate—and not get hit in return. You can call for a break at any point."
Rolling his shoulders, Prae summoned his quarterstaff to his hand, and stepped into the ring. Turning back to Elisabeth, he beckoned her into the ring with a playful grin. "Ready?"
Last edited by Praetorum on Fri Apr 23, 2021 2:28 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 278
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
He had been a bit stubborn about it but in the end, he had won the battle.
To be fair, it hadn’t been much of a battle. The conversation went something like “Elisa, I need to find out how your blade skills are. Meet me tonight on the beach.” …and the young mage had quickly agreed.
Maybe it hadn’t been a battle at all. Huh.
Carrying Iustitia, Elisabeth had met him at the agreed-upon time and place, smiling brightly at her friend. She appreciated the detail he put into her instruction, letting her know the boundaries of what she could do and couldn’t do. Of course, real combat wasn’t like that. “Well, thank you for pointing that out. I tend to need those boundaries. One of the last times I sparred with Balthazar in unarmed, I didn’t figure out until the end that I could tackle him because I considered that more brawling-ish. Lesson learned. Everything in when it comes to him.”
Quickly loosening up and stretching as they went over last-minute instructions and advice, she picked up her longsword and stepped into the ring, grinning back at him. She had to admit – having Prae around lifted her spirits more than she had anticipated. Elisabeth was certain Balthazar felt the same way. They would have to convince him to visit more often now that he knew where they were.
Nodding her head. ”Ready.” She quickly considered her options. Having never faced Prae one-on-one with her blade before, she was unsure as to the best opening move. Their previous battle had been a group session and that was an area she lacked tactical skill in. Not wasting a second, she immediately rushed in to test his reflexes with the staff. She had faced Balthazar when he was wielding a staff, but she had a feeling Prae was much more skilled. Her blade started high, arching for his shoulder, flowing into a backhanded strike to his other side as she turned. Knowing the power of a combination attack, she immediately lowered, swiping at his knees – simply to see what he did.
Last edited by Elisabeth Black on Sun Jul 25, 2021 3:34 am, edited 2 times in total. word count: 363
Praetorum chuckled as Elisabeth told him about her spar with Balthazar. “Good thinking, but I wouldn’t recommend trying that here.” He was sure he didn’t need to tell her why. As far as Prae was concerned, she was far more likely to hurt herself than him with a tackle. Still, she was clever and imaginative. He was sure she would think of something.
Her opening flowed smoothly from move to move, and spoke to a great deal of time spent training and honing her body and combat style. That was good, if not unexpected from someone as studious as Elisabeth.
The first move he dodged, shifting his body so the blade missed his shoulder and passed an inch from his chest—the second he deflected, his quarterstaff coming down to knock the blade aside as Prae pivoted on one foot to get into a better position.
The third attack, Prae didn’t allow Elisa to get off at all—even as she began to lower into position, Prae guessed her intention, and stepped forwards, quarterstaff sweeping in, not to knock away her blade, but to attack at her wrist before she could properly start the motion of the blow, forcing her to either withdraw or change tactics.
He didn’t give her the space to do either, taking advantage of his far superior range to step out of hers while jabbing at her stomach with unerring accuracy. Prae’s intention here wasn’t to win, but to see how she would deal with unexpected situations. In this case, he was curious to know how she would deal with him being inside of her effective range, rather than in it. Would she pull back so she could use her sword against his staff, or would she switch weapons and use her bare hands? Or perhaps something else entirely.
word count: 309
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
Grinning a bit, she smiled. “It didn’t really work so well with him either, but at least I’m aware now that he doesn’t have many rules when it comes to unarmed….and not to worry. I’m not stupid.”
He was as good as he was the last time they fought. The difference this time was her and her increasing skills. The thing about movement when it came to blades was paying attention to footwork. Her work in unarmed had bolstered the effectiveness of her footwork, making her much more aware that stopping her motion was not advantageous and if she was stopped, push off and use that momentum in the opposite direction.
She missed his shoulder but when her second strike was deflected, she simply allowed the deflection instead of trying to force the matter, letting his energy fuel her movement. Withdrawing wasn’t an option, so a change of tactics was necessary as he anticipated the third move, spinning and bringing her sword around in a backhanded motion to his other side, still low, but saw the quarterstaff coming for her stomach and jumping back a bit to avoid it, giving him a smile. “Balthazar tried the same thing, but he wasn’t as good as you are with that thing.”
He was close. Very close…so she needed to change things up. Her small size was advantageous in close quarters because she could move faster than he could. He was still jabbing at her and while she could have used a variety of unarmed techniques to even the odds, his size was a problem.
She needed a new playbook.
Ducking under his weapon, she grabbed the quarterstaff with her off-hand, sending a front kick towards one of the hands that held the staff, sending her sword for the other one. Successfully or not, her next move, if she got that far, would be bringing her sword up underneath the staff, attempting to knock it up and out of his hands. It was interesting to her because before, she had used her blade knowledge and unarmed experience as separate entities but as her skills increased, she was beginning to learn how to meld them together.
Her fluidity had increased some since last time, Praetorum noted. Last time they fought together, there had been a stiffness to her movements, the faint feeling that her actions were rehearsed. Her attacks had had almost too much polish, like they were for practice or display, with a tenseness that spoke to a lack of actual use outside of drilling. Now though, every movement was smooth and well balanced, and flowed naturally from the last.
She was more mobile too, her footwork continuous in a way it hadn’t been last time. The best way to explain it was that previously, her attacks had been distinct actions, each with their own momentum, whereas now, each attack added itself to the next.
It was growth that spoke to long days and nights spent practicing, and Prae couldn’t help but smile to see it. Still, there was always more room to improve. And he intended to see her do so.
She grabbed hold of his quarterstaff, and attempted to disarm him, sending a kick and a slash at his grips. Not bad, but to grab on to another’s weapon was to anchor yourself to them—to then lift one leg was a risky move, leaving yourself only one other anchor to the ground.
Prae neatly demonstrated that as her attacks landed—both hands shifted positions towards each other, so both her strikes landed against wood—then, he shifted his weight, and shoved sharply, taking advantage of the fact Elisa was standing on one foot and holding on to his staff to knock her off balance.
Just to really hammer the attack home, his tail whipped around, and swept at her leg from behind, just in case the shove wasn’t enough to knock her off her feet.
word count: 297
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
Elisabeth knew she was better than the last time they sparred together – time and training had ensured that. Balthazar was a hard taskmaster when it came to training and he had instilled the same drive and determination in her. She hadn’t fought in any skirmishes or anything, nor did she feel that he wished that to happen, but to simply be prepared should she need to defend herself or others. In this way, he could worry about her a little less.
It wasn’t simply her blade skills, body movements, or footwork that had improved though. Her eyes were better, noting subtle changes as they happened and reacting to them. Her ability to fight harder and longer was easily noticeable.
As she moved in to disarm him, a few things went a bit awry. His hard shove managed to wobble her a bit, but not totally knock her over, shifting her core instinctively to regain balance against his unexpected move.
What she didn’t anticipate though, was the damn tail.
She saw it move in at the last minute – far too late to do anything about. The young woman attempted to vault over the oncoming appendage but as soon as her feet left the ground, it was there, striking her ankles and taking Elisabeth down sharply.
Landing with a thud, she closed her eyes for a moment, catching her breath and giving a soft laugh. One thing she knew how to do well, was take a hit. Being on her ass in the sand was a common occurrence during her sessions with Balthazar. “I know, I know. Stop leaving the ground. It’s a nasty habit. Balthazar tells me the same thing.” Gracefully rolling up on her feet, she readied herself again, instantly spinning, attacking with a backhanded strike, followed by a volley of strikes meant to back him up and give her space.
“It’s been a while since fighting someone with a tail..."
Prae grinned at Elisabeth’s comment. “You can be grounded, or you can be flighty, but you do have to be one or the other. If you’re going to anchor yourself to someone else, be prepared for them to use that against you. There’s nothing wrong with leaving the ground, if you know what might go wrong and defend against it. Especially as a defier. It’s when you take uncalculated risks that you start to lose.”
She rolled to her feet smoothly, and transitioned immediately into an attack—and then another, and then another, trying to push him back. “Excuses excuses,” he teased lightly as she grumbled, blocking and dodging her blows. “It’s not just your body and instincts we’re honing here, it’s your ability to think on your feet when things become unexpected.”
With her flurry of blows pressing him, Prae didn’t have the breathing room to counterattack, and was forced to stay on the defensive. It was a good maneuver, if she had the stamina for it. But being the one always stepping back meant Prae had control over where they moved. So he led her on this dance, sidestepping around her until Prae had his back directly to a torch, standing in between it and Elisabeth, and stayed there for a moment or two to let her eyes adjust.
Then, on her next blow, he didn’t just block—he parried, knocking the weapon up and to the side. Not strong enough to disarm her, but enough to keep her off balance for a moment.
As soon as he parried her weapon, he stepped to her left side, his stride wide enough that he was no longer blocking the light from her eyes.
In that brief moment where he expected her to be dazzled, he struck out twice with his quarterstaff, jabbing at her ribs and right arm respectively.
word count: 319
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
Grinning back at him, she rolled her eyes teasingly. “You know I’ve never liked locking myself into the expectations of others, dear friend.” It was absolutely true – she hated being predictable. Further training in combat had made her much more fluid and opened a wider playbook by which to work from.
Another smile found its way to her lips as she attacked, hearing his retort about excuses. “I’m not sure there are ever moments when I’m not thinking, so wouldn’t that mean, by definition, I’m always thinking – on my feet or not?” The smiling transitioned into a grin. Elisabeth was being cheeky, and she knew it, but Prae tended to bring out that side on her.
Of course, she also didn’t realize where she was being led, which was a problem. The young mage was so focused on her opponent, she completely neglected to keep track of where she was, falling into the trap easily enough.
The combination of his strike and the glaring light in her eyes did the trick, blinding her momentarily. Realizing what he had done, Elisabeth immediately retreated, sighing in frustration at having been played by him, but a soft laugh of amusement slipped free. “Ugh. I can’t believe I fell for that. Situational awareness fail. Don’t tell Balthazar or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
To be fair, it was almost reasonable that if she were going to blunder, it would be that specific area that she did so in. Focusing too much on an opponent, and not enough on what’s happening around one was a mistake easy to make when one had too much training and not enough practical experience. Elisabeth had trained, and trained, and trained, and trained…but only a few missions under her belt where she had needed to use her training.
“Unpredictability is only useful if you have the skill to make the unconventional viable,” Prae pointed out with a smile. “Common moves are common for a reason—they’re normally the most efficient, most effective ones. Figure out what you gain and lose by being unpredictable and decide on the fly if it’s worth it.”
To her cheeky response, he just laughed. He didn’t clarify, knowing that she understood his meaning, and was just being playful. Besides, the more of her mind was focused on joking, the less of it was focused on what Prae was doing.
His gambit worked, as he’d expected, and he landed his blows, before letting Elisabeth dance away to regroup and process her mistake. "Don't be too hard on yourself," he told her with a grin. "These are things you learn over time."
“I’m sure you know already that you focus too much on what’s in front of your face—namely, me. You meditate, don’t you? Try and find that calm space when you fight—thoughts flow smoother then, and I find it useful for a part of my mind to focus on seeing the fight from my opponent’s perspective.”
“This is also why we drill so hard—when you can attack and block almost on pure reflex, you free up your mind to think of the battle as a whole, rather than each move as it happens. A fight is so much more than a series of clashing actions.“
Easing up slightly, Prae stepped up to trade a few probing blows with her, giving her time to try and find that calm that Prae almost wholly lived in during fights.
word count: 284
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
It was a valuable lesson for sure, but the young mage tended to be her own worst critic. Balthazar used situational examples as well to teach her what she was doing right and wrong – usually wrong – so she was used to the more practical way both mentors educated her. She could learn either way, verbally or hands-on, but with something like blades, the hands-on approached generally served her better.
She remembered, back in Rharne, he had mentioned the meditative state they were now speaking of. At the time, Elisabeth had found peace in imagining falling snow. Of course, it was difficult to imagine that in the middle of a beach, but it wasn’t really about being able to see snow falling. The point, was to put oneself in a peaceful state by feeling something, and if falling snow could get her there…
Breathing in deeply, she let her mind go for just a trill, finding the water’s edge and willing herself to remember Viden. Viden was a port city, so there was water there too. Letting her mind travel along the threads brought her to the place where she would walk along the streets in the evenings, snow gently falling around her.
Grinning, she looked at Prae, deflecting his first couple light blows. It was obvious he was waiting for her to find what she needed, and she had. Using the momentum from his last strike, she pushed off the quarterstaff, spinning to the reverse and bringing her sword around, aiming for a mid-body strike, whipping her head around to spot the target before her body completed the turn, to keep from getting dizzy – a trick she had learned early on. It was interesting for her to note that finding her center hadn't been as difficult as she had thought it would be within the midst of combat.
His staff had a longer reach than her sword, meaning he could block from both sides should he desire. The only thing that had worked thus far had been pushing him back with a volley of strikes, but he had shown her how that could be use against her. He was as skilled with his weapon as she was with hers, so that was an issue. Prae was also much stronger than she was, simply by virtue of his race.
Options limited; she went with what she knew. Elisabeth had already tried to disarm by bringing her sword under and striking up but the grip he held on the staff was too firm. Perhaps the opposite would work better. Swinging her sword into position, she quickly feigned with a jab to left and stepped to his side, turning her body just a bit so that she was facing his side, bringing the sword down between him and the staff, letting momentum push the staff outward….or be trapped.
Last edited by Elisabeth Black on Sun Jul 25, 2021 4:27 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 486
