Closed The Master and the Serpent

[Markus Andres]

Markus eyes narrowed again and his voice and gaze became hard as stone. Maybe he could let it slide once, perhaps even twice. But this was going too far. "Dhani or not, it does not mean you can ignore the rules. You will address me as ser or master. As goes for any other ranking knight who you speak to. The day you become a knight, is the first day I want to hear you use my first name again. Is this understood? There will be consequences if you do not abide by the rules. The large as well as the small." He let the threat of the consequences hang in the air. He would await confirmation from the snake before he would continue. He drew his sword in a single smooth motion. Held it diagonally before himself. The palm of his left hand touching the smooth flat side. "You have two forms? Certainly going to be interesting to see." He had seen a Kelvic change once. It was majestic. With the swirling light. He wondered if a Dhani transformation would be anything like that. "But enough of that for now. Listen closely. There are eight basic striking angles and thus, eight basic strikes. Watch closely and remember the numbers." Markus stepped away from his squire to make room for him to strike without hitting the snake. The first strike was an underhanded swing up diagonally from his right to his left. Simple powerful swing. Markus' legs shifted with the swing. His legs turning to put more power into it. His feet sinking a little into the sand, but he compensated for the shifting balance with ease by relaxing one leg more than the other. His feet were at a shoulders width a part. Knees were slightly bend and he looked deceptively nimble, despite all of the heavy armour. "One" The second was a sideways swing. Slicing the opponent apart. Slicing across the belly. Centered around solar plexus. As had the first diagonal strike been. "Two" His powerful voice counted. The third was another diagonal slice this time travelling from top right to bottom left. Markus' swings were not fast. He was not there to impress his squire. He was there to show his squire the correct strikes. The correct stance. "Three" Now came the two odd ones, in terms of synchronization. Six, seven and eight were just mirror versions of the first three strikes. But Four, was an overhead chop down. Powerful. Deadly. Striking directly at the most vital area of an opponent. Also the most guarded. "Four" The fifth strike was a thrust. Straight at the second most vital area. The heart. Stabbing deep into the imaginary heart of the invisible opponent. His form was excellent as he drew his strength from the ground. Even with the loose sand. "Five" He continued to do the mirror images. Mentioning the numbers after each attack. Finishing the eight basic strikes. Targeting each their vital area and each trying to circumvent any defence an opponent would create. "Your turn. Repeat the whole circle three times. When you are done. Explain why and how six, seven and eight might pose a problem when you're fully equipped." A little exercise for the brain as well. See how clever a squire he had to deal with. He would walk around his squire to see his posture and stance. Ready to correct it should it be horribly off.

[Savitaire]

The tone of his voice set his teeth on edge, he wouldn’t be calling anyone ‘Master’ regardless of the consequences, but the other title he could manage just fine. Markus would see it in his eyes, the blaze of anger, but it simmered down as he reigned it under control. He set to moving as best he could to the man’s movements as he spoke, but even after he kept moving and repeating what he had seen. The sword was awkward in his hands, he wasn’t used to using a weapon, but not once did he allow it to wobble. It made his arms tired, but he was stubborn, he wanted to make sure that while he was not used to holding it that it at least held still.

He didn’t know if his form was good or not, at this point he was just happy that he was learning something. When he was done he stabbed the blade in the sand with a sigh letting the tension flow out of his limbs. “To be honest Ser, I have no idea, about the only thing I know about swords is that they are bigger, heavier and more lethal knives, as for armor… To me its bulky metal skin used for keeping my hide from being poked full of holes. I’ve never needed to use either, but here I am doing so, I’m greener than grass when it comes to this stuff.”

While one could think he was making a smart comment or just being lazy, he was actually being perfectly honest. He didn’t know a damn thing and couldn’t even hazard a guess as to why it could be dangerous. He was the student, him the teacher, since he knew nothing it was up to Markus to teach him, it was that simple to him.
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[Markus Andres]

Markus didn't give a flying petch that Savitaire got angry at the reprimand. He was a Syliran knight now and would be required to act as one. He would see no kindness in Markus' eyes, just a gaze of steel meeting the squire's anger. But he was none-the-less pleased that his squire decided to practise the basic attacks. Markus tilted his head and observed as the squire moved. His stance was wrong. That was the first thing Markus noticed. Then recalled that he had actually not mentioned stance. He frowned at his own foolishness. Stance was about the most important thing for a professional warrior. "Continue. Relax your shoulders." Markus spoke, as he started to walk around Savitaire. Looking from different angles. Trying to get a big a picture as possible before he continued. The stance was the first thing. That would be main thing to improve upon. Second, get him familiar with the weapon. That would take a long time. But Markus had the time, it wasn't like he was going off for war any time soon. Savitaire stopped the multitude of strikes and Markus had come full circle and stood before him. Awaiting the squire's response to his initial question. Markus frowned at the response. At their first meeting he had assumed his new squire to be a bright young human. It seemed the two latter had already been debunked, he really hoped the first still held true. But to Markus, Savitaire's response seemed like nothing more than a vague excuse to why he shouldn't know anything about the weapon. Even worse, it sounded like an excuse a child might give. Markus gave Savitaire a hard long stare. "Pick up your sword! Never just stick it into the ground, sheath it or keep it in your hands. You are training to become a part of the knights! Not joining a peasant militia!" Markus said with an undertone of anger in his stern voice. Waiting for the squire to pick up his sword before Markus continued. He had hoped his squire could see beyond the here and now and actually think of a scenario where he was holding a shield that would make it harder to perform the latter three swings. He would just have to show him. Markus drew his blade in a single fluid motion. Held out his left arm as he was holding a shield. ”Good you have me to teach you then… If I wore my full equipment, I would be carrying a shield in my left arm.” Markus withdrew his arm and in a lightning quick succession performed the trio of basic strikes. ”That shield would have been in the way for those three strikes, so that might pose a problem for a fully armed knight. A problem, but not impossible.” Markus explained. ”In the future, try to give an answer, not just give me an excuse. Understood?” A let a smile cross his lips. ”But back to the topic at hand. As I suspected and you confirmed, you lack the proper stance, the stance is important as it gives you a strong balance and solid foundation to strike from.” Markus stepped back with his right leg so the left was leading. ”This is the most basic stance. Left leg leading, shield between you and the enemy. Sword in the back hand.” He first imitated the stance as if held a shield. Then, held the sword with both hands. ”This, will be your common stance when dismounted.” Markus performed the fourth, fifth and sixth strike of the basic strikes in a rapid succession. Markus considered himself an expert with the weapon, so these easy strikes slid flawlessly through the air. ”You told me you were stronger than ordinary humans… Time to prove it. Repeat the drill until I tell you to stop!” Markus said as he stepped away from his squire and waited for him to begin the training.

[Savitaire]

Well and well, he didn’t expect the man to believe him nor think he was being honest. He’d remember about the sword, he could have pointed out that he’d up till now never seen humans in such things, but held back. He didn’t think the man would have taken his speaking well, he’d become different than how he’d been when they first met. Such was how one must be when teaching he supposed, so he kept his mouth shut and did as instructed. For all his strength he knew that by the end of this he was going to be welcoming rest, learning a weapon was much harder than he thought. He took it slowly and carefully, he didn’t rush it and allow himself to make the same mistakes over again. Each and every movement he took care with, any corrections and he made sure to try and do them. While he felt himself slowly grow tired he knew that had he rushed it or allowed himself to lose his temper he’d gain nothing.

Eventually however he grew tired, he missed a step almost sliding in the sand and he stopped. So be it, if Markus reprimanded him he’d take it, but he needed a break. He didn’t know how long he’d been at it, his tired body made it seem an age, but he knew it was probably significantly less. He knew how long he could push himself, though that was merely from practicing his unarmed forms, he hit his limit sooner with this new style of movement. He had plenty of endurance, but like with anything new it wears quickly, though as he kept practicing that would slowly fade. However he had to make progress at this first start for from here it would set his body to remember for the rest of his life. His silvery grey eyes watched Markus glittering, his expression neutral, his body relaxed. He knew if he kept tense he’d only regret it, it took an effort to keep relaxed with how tired he was.

He was willing to endure anything to accomplish the things he wanted, the skills he would learn would mean life or death and he must get them right.
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[Markus Andres]

The lack of confirmation did irritate him a little. But he let it fly, best to slack a little on the discipline early on and slowly add more and more. Best not to overwhelm him with discipline and training so he started to hate the training lessons. On the other hand, the vigour which he started wielding the blade with was a refreshing sight and Markus could see the strength in those movements. The finesse, not so much, but raw strength? Most definitely. He would make a great knight one day. Definitely a feared warrior, Markus would see to that. He looked at the movements. The stance of his squire. There was room for improvement. But all in all, he was rather satisfied with how quickly his squire had adopted the stance. He walked around him. Observed, corrected him when his stance got sloppy or he was too tense. But the thing he was most pleased with, was that his squire was not rushing into it. Not developing bad habits and trying to learn everything at once. He took the training slow and methodically. It meant Markus needed to guide him less. Markus found the same hill as before and just stood there, observing his squire. While Markus himself wanted to join in on the training or get some more advanced training done, he couldn't. His squire's needs for supervision superseded his own desires. Just like the needs of the knights superseded him. Markus could see that Savitaire grew tired. His swings deteriorated in quality. Yet, Markus did not allow him to stop, not quite yet. He wanted to see how long his squire would force himself to continue. It was longer than Markus expected a fresh non-syliran squire would press himself. If the squire expected a reprimand, he would be surprised. "Was wondering when you would get tired" Markus said with a smile. "You are doing well, considering it is your first time holding a sword. You have a ten chime break before we begin again. If you have any questions, regarding the training, the knights or anything else, now is the time."

[Savitaire]

He sheathed his blade and sat down with a sigh “I figure any questions I may come up with will be answered by paying attention, if not I’ll make a list. I’ve got plenty of time and I won’t rush through everything. You’ll probably agree that with age comes wisdom, I learned a long time ago that rushing helped no one in the end.”

He watched the water lap at the sand and the waves fade and return, the sea birds making noise. It was peaceful and he let the tension ebb with it keeping his breathing even. Once his arms didn’t feel like they were shaking he stood up and started again. It was sooner than expected, but he was willing to push himself a little. Markus might have forgotten that he was much older than him and under his mother’s not so gentle hand he had learned his limits early. He kept his pace slower, holding to the form now that he had the corrections he’d been given. His form still wasn’t flawless, but he stayed patient.
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[Markus Andres]

Markus looked at Savitaire for a bit. Wondering if the squire just was this way by nature, or if it was a part of his upbringing. Not curious or interested in the way of the knight at all. It did bother him that Savitaire so expected everything to be taught to him. Not having to figure something out on his own. Lacking the desire to explore and learn for his own. Standing in the position of his own master, Markus just realized how much he had encouraged Markus to think outside the box when it came to combat. Constantly imploring him to be more innovative in his style. Not so much with Savitaire, at least not yet. Markus would have to remedy that. Give the snake a little homework so he could learn something on his own. Tactical lesson perhaps. When the break was over, the snake went right at it. The man had much more discipline than Markus when he had started. Like day and night, Markus always wanting to know more, do something new and exciting. None of this repetitive boring stuff. Standing there at the moment, he realized that it had been a while since he had last wanted to go out and explore the unknown. Find an adventure. Was he growing old and dull? Getting complacent and predictable? Markus blinked a couple of times. His thoughts having drifted for what had seemed like a brief moment, but had most likely been a chime or two. His wayward mind returned to the present. Markus had quite a patience when it came to his duties, but even his patience had an expiration date. The novelty of watching a novice swordman take his first steps into the world of a warrior wore off rather fast. "Keep your wrist straight." Markus instructed as he walked around his squire. "In fact. It is enough for now. I expect you to train this at least thrice a week. Preferably more often. Train it until I can wake you up in the middle of the night and you will still be able to perform it flawlessly. Secondly, show up wearing full armour next time. Thirdly: Work on your horsemanship. You can't be a knight if the horses throw you off because they're afraid of you." Markus paused to let Savitaire acknowledge the order. "So. Were you willing to show me your other shape, or are you too tired? Do not take offence at this, does your mind alter when you alter your physical appearance?" Markus asked, he was quite intrigued when it came to magical shifting, but also very cautious. Magic was a nasty business, almost as dangerous to the wielder as the target, quite often more so. If Savitaire would want to lead them to a more secluded place for the shifting, Markus would oblige his wish and follow him.

[Savitaire]

When it came to lessons the Dhani did exactly as he was instructed, one could change things once one understood things better, but when learning something it never did one any good to start getting imaginative. He sheathed his blade and stretched, but Markus’s question amused him, he looked at the man flashing him a grin “This human form isn’t my natural shape, this is just the form I take to make it easier on myself and much more easier on everyone else. Regardless of my form, I am still very much myself, but no...changing shape will not tire me out. Actually its beneficial to change, its why when I tire of this skin I go and find a place to shed it. I will warn you that to change shape I cannot wear clothes, so, if you embarrass easy you might wish to turn away. My change isn’t fast and a...poof, its slower and a bit unsettling for those unused to watching.”

As a fighter he was sure the man had seen plenty of blood, but watching another change, the shifting of skin, muscle, the popping and realigning of bone, that was different. He didn’t think the man would get ill, but anything was possible and he at least gave him warning. He shed his clothes, unconcerned with Markus’s presence, clothing was just an extra skin to him and shed just as easily as his human form. He changed, he chose to turn first to his true shape and not his snake form first. Within thirty seconds the Knight would see the form that his race was named after and was known to make him the most dangerous. His lower half coiled around him, he was relaxed and merely watched the man to see his reaction. His scales an ink black with silver markings, his fingers tipped in curving claws, his tongue occasionally flicked out tasting the air.

He could see as well as taste the heat from the sand, but from also from the man standing in front of him. If a normal person were to walk by seeing him in his form now would probably send them screaming. His current form, once one adjusted to the shock, wasn’t monstrous, but it was a shock. He looked like he could do damage if he wished, the play of muscle under his skin showing that unlike his true form this was the form of a being made to effectively kill should it be wished. He was twenty two feet long in his current shape, quite capable of of overpowering a warhorse and devouring it, just in chunks not whole. A lone man on a beach could be prey, or any human and more easily swallowed, if he chose. “You may come closser if you wissh, I won’t mind.”

His speech was different, the s’s being more a hiss, but he spoke carefully so as to be understood. Markus would get a flash of teeth as he spoke, teeth just as dangerous as his claws. For all that he was a sight that could send small children screaming, a prepared adult would probably find him unsettling, but not scary or intimidating unless he really wished to be so. When he eventually chose to change to his snake form, there wasn’t too much to really change after that, but the forty five foot long massive constricting snake looked very out of place on the beach. In the forest, coiled up in a tree would have suited him much better and one had to admit that in his snake form he was quite a sight. His scale colors were quite exotic, but anyone encountering a snake of his size was in for a shock. One didn’t have to be a lover of snakes to find the beauty in the danger that he could be if he chose, coiled up he could have been taken as a massive exotic pet.

He changed back to his human form and dressed, while he was tired, there was a renewed vigor to him that hadn’t been there before his change. “Horses and dogs, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to compromise with them, but horses are usually more sensible than an errant mutt.”

The fluid serpentine grace was still present in his human form, the way he watched the Knight keen towards his movements. Once one had seen him in his true form it wasn’t hard to notice how he was still very much a predator when he shed his scales. Yet for all that he didn’t go out of his way to intimidate people, he was perfectly willing to let things be, very relaxed and easygoing. One would just know that in a flash all that could change and serious harm could result if his intent was to take care of trouble.|
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[Markus Andres]

Markus shrugged when his squire spoke of getting embarrassed by male nudity. If he was, he wouldn't spend as much time as he did in the soothing waters. There his visual organs were constantly bombarded by male and female nudity. While he preferred the latter, he was not bothered by the former. When the self-proclaimed Dhani undressed, Markus could appreciate the inherent muscular beauty of the man. Well-defined muscles, noticeable, but not bulky and a detriment to his movement. But most of all, Markus could see where the man got his impressive strength from. A strength Markus wanted to enhance and make even more devastating to the enemies of Syliras. Though that thought took a backseat to the more horrified series of thoughts that followed as he saw the human shape before him snap out of place and twist and turn. Fuse into his body. Legs becoming one and elongated. Although his mind almost begged his sensory organs to look away, he simply couldn't mesmerized by the disturbing sight before him. At some point, he unwillingly took a step back from his own squire. He could understand all too well now, why people feared this race and would rather not have his kind within the city. Markus didn't realize that his right hand had went down and was resting upon his sword, although the usually impressive several feet long blade would seem insignificant against a creature of this size. When Savitaire spoke, Markus recognized the voice, although it was quite different from usual, more hissing and serpentine. It invoked the primal instinct Markus had to turn and flee. But his knightly upbringing disregarded and sheer stubborn pride kept him grounded. This was his squire. HIS SQUIRE. Not a monster. His appearance might be that of a monster out of the old books, but Markus knew the man that hid underneath the exterior. The inky black exterior. Markus approached the Dhani. Looked closer at the odd ways hid body had changed and melded together at places. He didn't reach out to touch, mainly because that would be weird, even if Savitaire had been wearing his human shape. Markus spend several moments just admiring the serpentine beauty of his squire. It was strange. He felt a primal instinct to kick the thing and run, but his more sensible self could also admire the handiwork of the gods when they had created these creatures. That was when the man shifted again. Into an insanely long constrictor-snake. Markus just looked at the incredible creature, eyes wide with awe. The thing was several times longer than Markus was tall. There was no doubt that the Dhani was an amazing creature. Capable of such transformations in such a short time. Markus would have to think about the potential, but at the moment. He saw great possibilities for his squire. "Not what I had expected, to be honest..." Markus said when before him a nude human male stood again. "I can understand why animals might be frightened of you, even when you... wear? ... this form." Markus paused. He knew he would always look at Savitaire in a different light now. Never certain if he was speaking to a man or a snake. For now, he would trust his initial instincts. This was a good man and a man worthy of his trust. "I am glad you were willing to show me that form and one day, when you're more proficient with the blade, I expect you to be ready to try and wield a sword in that form." He looked about. Perhaps it was time they stopped for the day. Markus did have other things to do, couldn't spend all day looking at his squire perform the same 8 basic strikes. Plus, after watching such an awesome and horrific transformation, he would be bored out of wits after a mere moment. "I think it is enough training for today. In any case. Best not to overdo it the first day. We will meet again either tomorrow or the day after. Depending on my other duties. Still too early for you to accompany me on those. Keep practising those strikes. Just as important, spend time at the stable and try to familiarize them with you. But if the stable master tells you to leave, follow his orders. Any questions?"

[Orion Michaels]

Marky Mark +3 Teaching +4 Observation +1 Rhetoric lore : Instruction: Correcting Mistakes with Courtesy Savitaire is a Constrictor Dhani Instruction by Demonstration Savitaire: Difficult Squire The Different Forms of a Dhani Snake Let me know if you come back and I'll talk to you about getting your grades. Notes Nice thread you two. Sorry to see Savitaire go AWOL. It was an enjoyable story. Keep up the great work! PM me with questions and edit your grade request to reflect this grade.