[Bronze Wood] The Arrow's Path (training)

[Akiva Korvashi]

Akiva had thought that one was pretty good, for a beginner, though I suppose to a more trained eye it would have been lacking. She frowned, hoping this would be one of those things that she just kind of...picked up, like so many humans she had seen picked up things, like fishing, or dancing, singing, music. She didn't have any real talents, seducing random men excluded. Oh well, she would work at this, like she worked at everything else she did. She lifted her bow again, positioning everything the same as she had before. Her mentor stopped her before she let the arrow go, "Your angle is a little bit low. The preferred angle is at about 45 degrees, but I wouldn't suggest that for this setting. Try a little bit higher though. Don't aim with your eyes, aim with your mind." he lifted the hand that was on her bow, positioning it at a higher angle. "There is a force we archers like to call gravity, it forces our arrows to go down, so they don't hit the point they would appear to hit just by looking. In other words, they don't fly straight, so you have to judge by how distant your target is how much to angle your bow up. The further away the target is, the higher you'll need to aim. Never aim straight up though, that may end in bloodshed - your own bloodshed that is, but even then the chances are pretty slim. Probably still not the best idea though. Also, you always stand so straight. That's all well, but you don't have to always stand like that. When you're hunting it's not logical to stand in the middle of a forest, you need to crouch. I would suggest staying like this until you get a better feel for your bow though, strengthen up your arms. Now, try again at this angle." He let go of her hand. She let the arrow fly, listening intently to the mentor's instruction. She would hang onto that, she was sure he knew way more about this than she did. The arrow zipped through the air, lodging itself into the wood. It hit the trunk a few feet over where his first arrow had been. "Very good, I think we're ready for the targets," the man said, pointing to the targets lined up in front of the trees. "Now try everything I just told you, only try to hit the very center of that target." She followed his instructions, raising her arrow to her bow and first aiming it at the target in a straight direction, then tilting the bow up just enough. She was almost sure this would hit where she wanted. She was pretty confident with the bow now. She let the arrow go, but was disappointed in the results. It did hit the target this time at least, but it did not hit the center. It had landed on the very edge of the circle on the right side. "Good, good. I didn't expect you to do so well. It looks like you've got the basics of this down, now all you need is practice and you can his that center." He stepped back, dusting his hands off as if he had been doing manual labor. "This really didn't take very long, you picked it up fast. How about we make it 25 gold mizas and call it even?" He said with a smile. "Sounds fair to me!" She fished the mizas out of her pocket and handed them to the man. "it was nice working with you..." she stopped, she hadn't actually ever learned his name. "What is your name anyway?" "Stefan, nice to meet you. Anyway, I'd better be getting back to my family, good day," he said, and walked off along the forest's edge. What a strange man, she thought. She gathered what arrows she could from those that she had shot, and that he had, and ran toward the city of Syliras, excited about her newly acquired skill. She would have to tell Keorvic all about it, and have a hunting trip as soon as possible. [End of thread]

[Tabarnac]

XP Award! Akiva XP Award: Shortbow +6 Lore Award: Archery (basic) Finances: - 25 gm to Stefan Grayzdo XP Award: Teaching +1; Shortbow +1 Additional Note Akiva, awesome work learning on your own and with the help of mentor, though I hope you got permission from Grayzdo before speaking for his character! Grayzdo, it’s difficult for me to award much XP when you give one-liners to Akiva, who is putting in quite a bit of effort in this thread, but if you go into more detail next time, I can do better by you! Also, you should change Archery to Shortbow on your character sheet and bear in mind that 10 in shortbow still makes you a Novice, so try not to play him as Robin Hood! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns. Keep writing!