The seven Duchies of Central Rynmere and their respective baronies, cities, towns, villages, and landmarks each overseen by a Duke of one of the seven noble families and ultimately controlled by the King of Rynmere.
She had not unwillingly fallen for his trap but in order to continue to test him attacked as if she had been doing so. It was difficult to fight someone so defensive especially when you are generally defensive yourself. Perhaps it was common to want to be the one defending, he had no clue. He was not surprised that the immortal of protection was a defensive fighter though, that was more expected. Her attack was a clever one, well thought out and well executed. Xander hoped he was able to avoid whatever she had planned in the long run with his own move. Her spear came at him and he carefully sidestepped it, even as it feinted to the left he stepped to the right and watched her rush forward.
It was clear she intended to slam him with her shield and so he stepped even further, her shield narrowly missing him as he staggered and kept up right to her side. Now his main concern was her tail. He had no idea how to counter the weapon, it was not exactly conventional. In his mind he could hack at it like it was flesh but the scale looked more like armour than skin. So instead he opted for trying to move quickly and make the most of this brief opening.
He was on her flank and her spear well out of the way, her shield and tail closest but he still had a shot at her back. So he took his chance and lunged the blade forward as quick as he could, gripping with both hands and making sure not to lose his grip. He could no longer watch her tail as he tried to keep his concentration on landing his attack, his ability to split his concentration so many ways was limited. Still he tried to watch it from the corner of his eye while launching his counter on her.
Ethelynda smiled as Xander succesfully dodged her attack, but her smile grew into a grin as he moved to attack her back. He was better than many just beginning to seek her Blessing, to be sure, and while there were many ways she could dodge or block his attack, she did something she had found to be fairly useful in the past. She let Xander's sword hit her armor, where it bounced off the armor without leaving a scratch. "Designed and forged by the greatest smith in Idalos and built to combat the greatest of the Immortals, or other Great Powers." she said, smiling at Xander as she slithered away from him a bit, lowering her spear and shield.
"That's it, Xander Krome. I have seen what I was looking for." she said as she dismissed her spear and shield, the two weapons vanishing entirely from sight. "It is not skill you lack, Xander, but experience. And that can only come from practice. But to face an opponent who outmatches you, facing them with everything you can, speaks well of your resolve." she said, holding out her hand. "And I can help you in terms of what you can do, if you desire my aid."
His blade glanced off of her armour, the sound of steel on steel singing out over the garden. The armour unmarked by the blade that had impacted it. He had not expected to get through the armour but just to make contact with such a formidable foe was something he was proud of. So he watched as she slivered a few steps away from him as she spoke about her armour, clearly not something a mere mortal such as himself could ever breach. The only way to get past it would be to search for gaps, no armour was without gaps. Just like every defence there is always a weak point and one just has to discover where that point is. Nothing is ever completely invulnerable and that was something Xander believed without a doubt in his mind. She lowered her weapons and he allowed his sword to fall, the point pressing to the floor.
She complemented his resolve and said she had seen what she was looking for. He couldn't say what that was of course, perhaps it was his resolve or maybe his skill with the longsword. He thought it was likely she believed him to be a true and honourable being, he believed that about himself and would hope he came across that way to others too. The powerful woman offered her hand and Xander looked at it briefly. If someone had told him just trials before he would be meeting an immortal he would have laughed and believed anything but. In fact he was still getting used to the fact she was here. When he had prayed to her he had not believed she would show, he had had his doubts but it seemed there was something special about this day. Maybe it was something about him that had drawn her to him.
"It would be my honour to accept your aid." Xander stepped forward and took the hand of the immortal of nobility and honour itself. Both things he strived to maintain as well as protection. One day he would have to protect more than just his fiance. With his plans he would have to protect vast swathes of people, those who act under him and believe in him. He would need all the help he could get to protect those who put their trust in him and so if he was offered some kind of help by this immortal he would not even pause to think about denying it.
Ethelynda smiled as Xander took her hand, then placed her other hand on the back of his. "With your acceptance, Xander Krome of Rynmere, I grant you a shard of my own power, the Shield of Taithir." she said, as a surge of power emanated from the Immortal and flowed into Xander. When she removed her hand, the symbol of her Blessing would be clear on the back of his hand.
"My blessing will grant you abilities that allow you to better protect those you care about. They will come naturally to you, in time." she said, smiling at him. "I think you'll find future battles a bit easier. And if you can, you might try for better weaponry in the future. Every advantage helps." she said, grinning slightly as she slithered away from him a bit. "You should rest now, Xander, and see that your fiance is recovering well. Perhaps we will meet again in the future." she said, before she vanished, departing to attend to her other tasks.
She took his hand in both of hers and he looked at her curious as to what would happen next. He was standing with the most powerful being he had ever met and she was about to grant him something. Her second hand covered the back of his own right hand, the one he had offered to her when she offered her own. As hers covered his he felt a strange tingling sensation and maybe even what could be explained as a slight burn as energy surged from the woman into his skin. In truth he had no clue what this was or what it meant. As her hand moved away again there he could see a mark on the back of his hand, it was in many ways like a tattoo and it depicted a shield. He waited for explanation with a burning desire to understand more.
Then she said what he had somewhat deep down suspected, it was her blessing. She was giving him part of her power, the shield of Taithir she had called it and it now graced the back of his hand. She had granted him new power to pursue his just and noble aims and the power to protect those he loved and who trusted him to guide and lead them. However, still he had hundreds of questions he wished to ask the immortal. The woman spoke of abilities that would come to him over time but what exactly they were she did not explain or how to use them and so he supposed he would just have to wait and see. He trusted her when she said they would come and he believed he would soon discover them.
Still if she had stayed he would have asked her about what this meant for him, how he could improve, what the abilities were and how many he would discover. Alas, as he looked up from the new mark on his hand she was already gone, leaving him wondering and curious and with one task to check on his fiance. So he would check on her well being and then rest as she had suggested to him and then come morning he would be able to see what this really meant for his skills and ability to protect his wife to be. "Thank you mighty Ethelynda." He murmured and then set off for the house again.
Endurance: Withstanding the weight of armor
Endurance: Enemy tails hit hard
Blades: Pushing an enemy spear away from you
Blades: Watching for enemy tail strikes
Tactics: Always assume your opponent can exploit your weaknesses
Tactics: Striking an enemies tail
Tactics: An opponents tail can be a weapon too
Blessing Gained: Taithir
Abilities Gained
Serpents Hood: Named for the technique many snakes use to appear more threatening, Serpents Hood generates an aura around the user that makes them appear like significantly bigger threat than the people around them, drawing the attention of enemy combatants towards the Shield-Bearer and away from more vulnerable targets. This ability lasts until the Shield-Bearer deactivates it or is rendered unconscious or dead.
Enduring Scales: The Shield-Bearer's skin takes on a scale pattern, allowing them to absorb more physical damage than they could before. Poisons and toxins also take longer to effect the Shield-Bearer. The effect only lasts for a single Bit, and takes a Break to recharge before it can be used again.
Protective Skills I: Add an extra three skill points to one of the following skills: Any Weapons Skill, Shield Use, or Endurance. Any skill points granted by this Mark can break the 100 point cap on skills.
Devotion: Ethelynda +10
Review
Sorry for the delay on the grade! The thread was fun to write and I hoped you enjoyed it too. There were a few instances where I couldn't tell if you'd made a spelling error or were alluding to something specific in Xander's past. For instance, Xander mentions a priest showing him pitchers in Ethelynda's likeness, and at first I thought you meant pictures. That being said, I think that's largely an error in my understanding as opposed to your writing. Looking forward to seeing Xander use Taithir! =]
