PM to join The Strangest Animal(Nix Mao)

[Richard Burke]

"Non sense," started Richard, he was quite firm on the opinion that the person who does the inviting should pay for the meal, "I invited you to the tavern, its nothing." he coninued, playing it off. It wasnt that expensive of a meal, a few mizas wouldnt hurt the squire.

The squire raised his hand to order an ale for Nix, there really wasnt much else to drink in the tavern, and though u
he never tried, he didnt think they would allow outside food in. Nix's ale came, and Richard switly covered the tab, giving the kelvic a look that said, 'dont worry about it.' Then the squire went back to his food, he hadnt noticed he was almost done, training always made him hungry.

He shoveled in the last few bites of his meal, and then took a drink of ale, "When youre done, we can head outside the city to train. Itll be less of a hassle, they wont let people who arent in the knights, onto the training ground," the Antinious grounds would have been a perfect place to train, but it was too dangerous if you werent a knight, "and the guards might object to weapons practice in the city."

"Would you mind if I asked why you came to the city?" He wasnt going to mention her starting point, not inside a tavern full of people who had ill feelings toward Ravok, and even more bitter feelings towards Rhysol. He thought about cautioning her about that, but he didnt want to keep pressing the issue, or make the woman feel less welcome in the great city.

[Nix Mao]

[Richard Burke]

OOCI call the short sword an "Arming Sword" the short sword is a modern term to describe the blade Richard uses. Any points you get for it will be under Short Sword in the eyes of the mods

Richard stood and quickly stretched, his body adjusting to being full after a long day of training, practice and study, he glided through the crowds of the city effortlessly to Nix's apartment to grab her gear, then they worked thier way quickly to the gates, he bantered with the gate guards then left the city, and headed just outside of the gates to a small clearing just out of veiw of the gates.

He drew his sword, the blade was 35 inches of well oiled, sharp, and cared for steel, it had a fuller that extended up 2/3rds of the blade which tappered to a nearly sharp point, the blade was just over 2 inches wide. The grip and pommel were 7 inches total, and the whole sword weighed just over 2 pounds. The pommel was polished bronze, and strikingly, and unusually beautiful for such a simple weapon. The cross guard was 7 inches wide, and curved slightly. The handle was hardwood, wrapped in leather that had been well worn by use and time.

The squire looked at Nix, and he pointed to a low rock where she could place her gear. "This is the arming sword, it is a balanced, and light weapon." he rested the blade on the back of his palm, at the balance point of the blade, it was 4 inches up from the hilt, "the sword is good at both thrusting" he demonstrated a thrust, pointed at the neck of an imagined foe, "and its good at slashing" he showed a slash, coming from the hips, with power working to the shoulder, then elbow.

He looked again at the Kelvic, and handed her, his sword, hilt first, so that he could begin to teach her the art of the sword.

[Nix Mao]

[Richard Burke]

Richard watched Nix work, trying to pay attention to everything the woman attempted, her slash was weak, but you really shouldn’t slice with such a weapon anyway. Her thrust was very well done, but her foot work was awkward and unbalanced, he would have to show her how to get into a proper stance. He raised his hand to tell her to stop swinging, then he stood next to her so that she could mirror his actions.

The squire started by saying “Your thrust was good, don’t worry about the slash, the blade is too light to make an effective ‘hack’.” Richard dropped into his stance, his left foot was forward, pointed towards the target, his right foot was a shoulder width behind his left foot, “This is the natural stance,” he moved his hand down the center of his stance, “There is a line that should separate your stance, to keep you balanced.”

He didn’t want to give her too much information too quickly, but he had to teach her at least the basic of foot work tonight, “Should you have to change your leading foot, do it like this,” he brought up his right foot forward, then moved his left foot back. It was a simple step, but one everyone should know. He did this a few more times before returning to his natural stance.

“Now, moving forward is another simple matter,” He demonstrated the step, his leading foot moved forward first, almost its full length, then he brought up his right foot. “If you have to move back, do this,” he moved his right foot back, and then his left foot this time, his leading foot was still pointed at the imaginary target. “now, you try.”

[Nix Mao]

[Richard Burke]

Richard watched Nix, she had good stance, good balance, she was still clumsy, but it was how everyone starts with the sword, she was an agile woman, he wondered how he had managed to knock her down, in the early morning, when she had balance like this. But, he didn’t speak, as she moved, switching stances, and watched her gathering, and retreating steps, her thrust was clumsy, and not very strong.

She was learning, and he was a patient man, and he valued people that wanted to fight for their freedom, and their values. Maybe one day these things he taught her will save her life, the knights cant be everywhere, and the world is a dangerous place. She was a kind woman, and he hoped that she never had to use these skills. “It would be very fun to spar with you. I might be able to borrow a couple wooden swords from the training ground.” He was excited, for all his learning, and religious studies, he was a man of the blade, and a defender of the city foremost. He was letting his own excitement get ahead of him, he had to make sure Nix had a good solid base of training.

Her smile was sweet, and made Richard pause briefly before he continued training. “The most important thing to remember is that his is a weapon meant to kill.” He extended her arm out straight to demonstrate something. He placed his finger on the tip of the blade, “From here,” he pointed to the strong of the blade, the part near the hilt, “to here” then he pointed at the hilt, “The entire sword is a weapon. Your entire body is a weapon.” He placed his hand on Nix’s elbow, then shoulder, showing her where to find her best weapons in a fight.

“In a fight, it is most important to survive, and to survive, you have to fight to win, to kill.” He was somber now, he didn’t like sharing this nugget of knowledge, not because it was some great secrete, but because he was giving Nix power now, real power, forged from the edge of a blade, tempered with viciousness, and welded with a need to survive.

[Nix Mao]

[Richard Burke]

Richard listened to the woman, she raised a point, that the squire often thought of, could he end a life? Would he end the life of a person? He thought that he would, but it was a painful thing to think of, he knew the city might require him to kill one day, maybe you weren’t supposed to think about killing, he sighed quietly and let it go, there were other things to think about today, no reason to let a little melancholy get in the way of learning to use a bow. He took back his sword, and guided it into is scabbard. The weight hanging from his belt was comforting, and he rubbed the pommel as he listened to Nix speak about her bow.

She was very happy, and it became infectious, as Richard returned to his more jovial nature. He watched her get into the stance, he noted to balance of the weight, and the distance of her feet, then he noted how they pointed, he did his best to commit them to memory, this stance would be the basics of how all bows are used, and if you cant the basic foot work down, the nothing else will stick about the bow. He watched the tension held in the bow as she pulled the string to her cheek, he noted how her orange eyes sighted down the arrow, and then the soft sound the bow made as it released the arrow, and then a second noise, as the arrow hit the tree. He watched again, as she did the same motions, almost identically to the first time.

Richard took the bow, it was a lot lighter than he thought it would be, the bow weighed nearly nothing to him as he took the stance Nix had showed him. It felt awkward to him, as he never stood like this while using a sword, shield, or spear. It felt to be for balance, and stability, rather than power. He held the bow like she did, as he notched the arrow, he brought the bow up, and slowly pulled the string back towards his cheek, pulling the string required more effort that it would have appeared, but the squire had the strength to pull it back. He looked down the arrow, towards the tree, and let string go, keeping the bow up, long after the arrow had missed the tree. “Shyke” he whispered loudly.

[Nix Mao]