Closed The squire, the patron and some pain.

[Aldhran]

1st of winter 514 Aldran had been pulled out of his dormitory before the sun had been up. Not that he could even see the sun here, there weren't any windows in sight and the hallways were only lit by flickering torches and candles, but there was barely anybody else around in the hallways. The occasional squire being pulled out of bed or leaving on his own. But as soon they left the squire dormitories the hallways were just as quiet. "Sorry about only now meeting you." His patron, a large man with a massive beard. He wasn't wearing any plate armor. He kinda wondered what training he was going to get. He had heard some stories about squiredom from some knights and the thing that always came back up in their stories was the fact they wore plate armor almost all the time. Freezing cold or sweltering heat, it didn't matter. "I've been on an assignment till yesterday. So I hope you enjoyed those few day's without me around. Those are probably the last day's of vacation you're gonna get till your a knight!" He said with a boisterous laugh slapping him on the shoulder. "That's not a problem Ser. I'm just glad I can finally start training." Aldran said, he had been waiting years for his chance to become a knight. He didn't care about the fact he had to work hard for it. His patron laughed again. "So formal. You can just call me Bertrund, or Ser Regarnd if you really want to be formal. But I'm not really a stickler for formalities." He said as he led Aldhran up some stairs. "What's your name then? I can't keep calling you squire. Might get a mite confusing." "I'm Aldhran Tiller." He followed his patron through a door. As soon as it opened he could feel the early winter chill blow around. They were outside. On top of the citadel. This roof was massive and filled with strange architecture that he didn't quite get the point of. Loose boulders, hallway's build outside and even a patch of trees tucked away in the corner. From high up however, he could see for miles around the citadel, with the sun still nowhere to be seen. "Aldhran. this is the antius training ground. You'll be spending most of your time in this place for as long as you're a squire. Especially an untrained one as yourself. Now follow me. We'll get started." Ser regarnd led his squire through the training ground. A few squires and knights were already training and the clang of steel on steel was faintly heard throughout the entire training grounds. They both stopped at a small padded piece of ground out of the way of the rest of the training ground. "Right," his patron spoke up. "First things first. You aren't gonna see the inside of a helmet for a while yet. Or hold a weapon either. I'm gonna drill some unarmed hand to hand combat into you first. "Why?" Aldhran blurted out... His patron looked at him, not angry but urging him to finish his thought. "I mean, a punch isn't going to do much against a guy in plate armor is it?" "you're right on that front. But unarmed combat is more then just punches. And even plate armor has weak spots an armored fist can hit through. But most of the time the knights aren't going to go up against people with plate armor. Unlike the knights most people can't afford the cost of a set of plate armor. So unarmed combat is useful most of the time. Especially since it's a lot harder to cut off four limbs then it is too slap your weapon out of your hand." his patron explained. "Now get on the mat and we'll beat some knowledge into you!" He said in a boisterous tone as he stepped on the padded mats. "So first question, you ever been in a fight? Or had some basic training of some sort in unarmed combat? I've been told you had some very basic combat training with a shield and a weapon." Aldhran shook his head. "I haven't." "Good." bertrund responded. "Blank slate. I can work with that. Lets starts with the basics of the basics then. How to throw a punch without breaking your own fingers. Make a fist." Aldhran did what he was told and clenched his fist. His patron gave a look at it. "Right. don't tuck your thumb in the middle of your fist. If you hit anything with a fist like that you'll break or dislocate your thumb. Not very handy. Tuck it under fingers like this. He showed his own fist and Aldhran quickly fixed that mistake. "Also, When you throw a punch. try to hit with the first and second knuckles. Toughest part of the fist as far as I know." He demonstrated a few punches of his own. going through the motions slowly. "Keep your fist alligned with the bones in your forearm, always punch with the first and second knuckle, not anything else and make sure to always follow through with your punch. Those are the things that make a punch a good punch and not a broken hand waiting to happen." His patron explained. "I can talk all I want though but things like this aren't learned by listening to a lecture. So why don't you start throwing some punches in the air till I say you can stop? If you'll do it wrong I'll correct you. Aldhran started doing what he was told and punched the air. Only for his patron to immediatly pipe up. "Follow through, don't just pull your arm back when you think you've hit your target. Completely stretch your arm. Punch through your target. Also, don't bend at the wrist. Aldhran nodded and tried to fix his mistakes.

[Aldhran]

The sun was peeking over the horizon and Bertrund still hadn't allowed him to stop punching the air. He felt rather stupid as he noticed other squires and their patrons walk into the training grounds and start working on weapon drills in complete plate armor. They looked a lot more of a knight then he was at the moment. "Stop looking around and concentrate Aldhran." His patron said. "And keep your wrist straight while punching, do you want to break your pinky?" "No Ser regarnd." Aldhran quickly apologized and pulled his attention back to the punches. Trying to ignore the burning in his muscles after doing the same movement over and over again for at least a bell. He threw more punches. And after a while his patron just watched him intently as Aldhran kept punching air. "Aldhran. that's enough for now. Your arms are getting to tired. Lets give those a rest for a while won't we?" Aldhran silently thanked the gods for that. "yes Ser." His patron sighed at that. "Ser regarnd or Bertrund. Anyway While those are resting. Lets go over how to kick. Very handy thing to know, usable even when you're holding a weapon and a shield. Very handy to knock somebody on the ground and then split their skull while they're off guard." his patron said with a broad smile on his face. "So it kinda works like this. When you're fighting, unarmed or not, you always have one foot in front of the other. it makes you turn your side to the front and makes you a slightly smaller target, that's easier to cover with a shield and keeps your vitals away from the enemy. your weaker leg is the one in front. While your dominant is in the back." And Aldhran was already lost. Did people have a dominant leg? He guessed that would be kinda like having a dominant hand, but he didn't have a clue what his was. "Er Ser. What's the dominant leg?" His patron just shrugged. "You'll find out by doing it. THe one that feels the most natural probably is your dominant leg. just switch from time to time till you found it." He simply explained before continuing on. "The first kick I'll be teaching you is the simplest one, the front kick. You start by lifting up either of your legs. Like this." He demonstrated. "Then you quickly snap your leg forwards," He kicked hard and fast. "Then snap back and back to the ground. This kick isn't about power, it's all about quantity and speed. Something to surprise and harry your opponent with. So now it's your turn. Lift, snap forwards back to ground." Aldhran stood like his patron had told him, one leg forward, one leg back. He quickly lifted his front leg and kicked forward. "try to hit the air with the ball of your foot. You don't wanna break your toes." His patron chimed in. Aldhran continued with his exercise. "Switch from leg from time to time. We're still trying to figure out which leg is your dominant one." Aldhran nodded. This time he kicked with his back leg. Wobbeling slightly as he balanced on his front one and kicked forwards. Just like with his punches, he was expected to continue on kicking till his patron thought it was enough. Sometimes chiming in with advice or correcting how he was kicking.

[Aldhran]

As syna climbed the sky and time passed. His patron didn't let up and kept him going. As soon as he thought he got the kick down, he started to give him exact orders on how high he had to kick. Sometimes just as high as his own middle, sometimes lower. even a few times all the way up to the chest. But he never managed to do one of those kicks without falling on his arse afterwards. It didn't take long for his legs to start burning and eventually he fell on his arse. taking deep breaths as he tried to catch his breath. "Well, I guess you earned a small break. We have been doing this for a few bell's already. Just wait here. I'll be getting some water. Then we'll train for another bell or so and you can go and get something to eat." His patron said with a laugh. Aldhran just groaned and dropped to the floor like a bag of flour. Just hoping that his legs stopped burning before his patron started the training again. his patron came back pretty soon and put a pitcher of water next to him. "Now drink up, don't want to get you dehydrated." His patron said. Aldhran didn't have to be told twice and he greedily gulped down the water. "You'll get some more chimes before we start again." his patron informed him. Causing Aldhran to groan in dismay. His patron didn't quite like that however. "Don't groan or gripe about training Aldhran. This will save your life or somebody elses one day. So get to your feet so we can start again." Aldhran looked up into the grinning face of his patron. "I thought you said I still had a few chimes?" "That was before you started to groan about it. So get up and lets get started again." His patron said with enthusiasm in his voice and Aldhran reluctantly drug himself back on his feet. Preparing himself for another lesson.

[Katelyn Marks]

Due Rewards

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.”

― Philip Pullman

 

Aldhran

Skills
➢ Socialization +2
➢ Observation +3
➢ Unarmed Combat +1
➢ Endurance +2
➢ Tactics +1

Lores
➢ Ser Regarnd: Patron Knight
➢ Ser Regarnd: Prefers Bertrund
➢ Location: Antinous Training Grounds
➢ Location: Squires Dormitories
➢ Unarmed Combat: Toughest Part of the Fist
➢ Unarmed Combat: Making a Proper Fist
➢ Unarmed Combat: How to Throw a Punch
➢ Unarmed Combat: Dos and Don'ts of Striking
➢ Unarmed Combat: How to Stand
➢ Unarmed Combat: How to Front Kick

Shield Points: +1 for patron

Comments: Good job! This was a nice little thread. I enjoyed reading it, and you wrote very well. It warranted some nice rewards.

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