Open [Seasonal Event] Diamonds in the Rough

[Lian Windrunner]

Timestamp: 20th Day of Summer, 515 AV It was a beautiful day. Hot, yes; even as early as it was, the heat was a living thing that made the very air shimmer under its weight. But the sky was an endless expanse of brilliant blue. There wasn't a cloud to be seen anywhere you looked. Lian spared himself a few chimes just to gaze up at the sky and admire its beauty. Lian had heard rumors flying around about the Diamond Clan hosting classes on a variety of weapons today. If what he had heard was true, members of the clan would be offering lessons in how to use swords, axes, war hammers, and daggers. Weapons that were more suited to members of the Watch than a hunter like himself. And yet...knowing how to use more than one weapon would be a good thing. Some types of daggers could be thrown, and that might be an effective weapon to use when hunting rabbits, and other small game. For that matter, knowing how to wield a dagger would be useful when he didn't manage to bring his prey down with a single shot. How many times had he had to follow wounded prey until it dropped from exhaustion and blood loss, and bled out? Knowing exactly how to slit an animal's throat to speed its death and end it's suffering would be an incredibly useful thing. With that thought in mind, Lian made his way towards the section of the city where the Diamond Clan pavilions were set up. Once there, he found a large area of grass where a good sized crowd had gathered. It was there that the lessons were being given. As Lian walked through the field, he saw a group of people wielding swords. Some looked as though they knew what they were doing to Lian's inexperienced eye. But there were a few who looked as though they would chop off their own foot if trusted with a sword. Lian suspected that he himself would be among that number if he ever tried to wield one of the long blades. He was far more accustomed to his bow. Someone nearby asked if anyone had a bow. That caught Lian's attention, and he turned in time to see a man introduce himself as Trail Riverstone. The giant of a man had long hair, and a thick, but tidy beard. Lian took note that he had covered his bare chest with mud. At first, he was curious as to why the other man would do such a thing, but a whisper of a memory showed his mother plastering mud on both him and Lukar before they went out hunting. If he remembered correctly, she'd said it would keep them from getting burned by the sun. More importantly, the man was offering a lesson. Lian hoped that Trail wouldn't mind giving him some advice as well. "Would you be willing to teach me as well?" he asked politely. "I know the basics for the most part, but there's a lot I still need to learn."

[Tribal]

Lian Windrunner

“Of course, ready your weapon,” Trail smiled and waved the man over; his intention had not been to run a class today but it beat standing around in the sun doing nothing.

The tall Rayvekh set up three targets, one close, large target, the second further away and a lot smaller than the first, and the third and final target was average in size but rocked back and forth between two posts whenever the man gave it a push. Trail was found of hunting with a bow, though he preferred his favourite weapon, the Bec de Corbin, best. The giant armed himself with his short bow and marched back to the starting line, pointing to where he wanted Lian to stand with the toe of his leather boot. “Show me what you can do close range,” Trail encouraged; he needed to see what this stranger was capable of before he could offer any kind of guidance.

[Naiya]

oocI'm sorry about the wait on my reply, I caught a stomach bug from a customer at work on saturday, and have been completely out of commission for the last three days. I hope you'll all forgive me!

Even as Amunet approached, Mayra backed away, bowing out with brief words and an air of worry that left the other Drykas girl concerned. Within the city, the watch kept them safe enough, so Naiya did not worry for her too much in the time after she left, if she was in trouble, there were Drykas aplenty to help her. Especially on a day when so many converged on the city in hopes of learning a skill or two.

Greetings, surprise, pleasure Naiya sketched the signs to her fellow redhead, their meeting once more seeming less like coincidence and more like the world pointing out all the reasons they should be friends. "Amunet, it is good to see you again, especially in a more favorable environment such at this." She grinned at her own reminder of their first meetings, once in the sea, and again after a collision in the crowds of the market.

Amunet offered her water once more, and she accepted, all too glad at the relief of the cool liquid. She had no doubt that others would be pleased by the substance too, but with only a mild feeling of guilt she nodded along with Bayon's assertion that girls should know how to protect themselves, even if such skills didn't always attract men, it had still worked out for Naiya, and she would steer the woman in no other direction. "If you don't want to buy a blade today, I can lend you mine. I have two, since I'm fairly poor with the weapon, one for using, the other for when I lose the first. You are welcome to that one, I don't think I'll need it today, and then you can make sure to buy one that fits in your hand well later." She pulled the spare blade from her boot, offering it to Amunet with the flat of the blade held carefully in her hand so that the woman could grasp the pommel if she desired to use the blade.

She paused a moment, considering how her words may have sounded to the Drykas male she had just contradicted. "That is, I don't mean to imply that you would sell her a poor blade, Bayon, sir. Rather, often it is best for a woman to spend more coin on a blade forged to fit her size, because, while a man can accommodate for a blade that is not fitted properly with size, skill, or strength, women must rely on their ability to wield their weapon alone, we can't compete otherwise." She smoothed away the blunder of her previous words with new ones, only slightly exaggerating the advantage the men held over women. Perhaps the flattery, blatant as it was, would keep from angering the man.

Bayon summoned her specifically then, and she wondered if perhaps she hadn't done so well as she had thought at explaining herself. Bayon merely asked that she demonstrate her finest thrust at the target, and she would have, had she been less focused on not cowering before the possibly angry man.

She moved with a stiffness that she hadn't had moments ago, carefully determined in posture in hopes of preventing other weaker shapes from filtering through her form.

She stepped up to the target dagger in hand, imitating the movements of the boys before her, and drove it towards the straw her upper body falling ahead of her movement in her nervousness, causing her to tip forward, off balance and nearly take a dive to the target herself. The full out lunge had seemed like it had worked for the boys, although she hadn't listened to Bayon's corrections to them, she had been distracted, but it felt all wrong.

He was dissatisfied with her work, that was clear, but rather than sending her off to wait, he asked her to try again, not exactly an indication of anger. She straightened, taking in his words before trying again. It sounded like a reminder of the unarmed combat exercise from earlier. Stance, force, intimidation. She needed to reevaluate her approach to the task. Not to mention take a few deep breaths to get herself back under control.

She thought for a moment on how she would approach this in a fight, if she was unarmed. There would be no diving for the target, no lunging like a madwoman in hopes of striking her foe.

She bent her knees, shifting into a 't' shaped hanmi stance that she used for fighting, and watching more carefully that she lined up her body properly, her hips facing the direction she would move in. Step forward, drive your weight.

She did, sliding her back foot forward in a proper step, driving her force forward with the press of her back foot into the ground, and placing all that force, the entire strength of her body into the thrust.

The thrust, which was important all alone, was different, her dagger held like a sword or a spear to be thrusted with, extending the length of her arm out and slightly down as it connected with the target at about gut height.

The generated force of her body sent her further forward, and she had to correct her posture, too far extended at though she had thrown a poor punch, she wobbled, her driving foot coming up slightly from it's grounded position. She drew her chest back and up, until she was positioned properly, leaning just slightly above her knee, but not past it as she had in the beginning. It felt strong, to hunch over and press with the entire reach of her body, but if fighting with a dagger was anything like fighting with her body, that hunched position was overextended, vulnerable because she couldn't go any further, nor return to her original position quickly.

Perhaps she was wrong, and you should lean all the way across to stab someone, but that wasn't how you punched someone, so she went with what she knew, and figured the man would tell her otherwise if she was wrong.

That was better, possibly her best, and she was glad to have been given the second chance. After a number of ticks had passed, she straightened, pulling her dagger loose and brushing the dust off on her pant leg. Perhaps Amunet would be next, if she had indeed decided she would join them.

[Amunet]

Amunet gladly provided the water to refresh the fighters and participants. There was a spark in her eye as she performed this service. The diminutive young woman did so gladly. The satisfaction of seeing someone else refreshed, warm, full or feeling better provided her with a sense of accomplishment that she took into her heart and kept it there carefully. It buffered all the things that go wrong and the tragedy that survival can give a person. The death of livestock or another drykas member lost in the sea of grass for only the webbers to proclaim they have returned to the web. This girl felt the sadness and these moments of joy and satisfaction covered those moments so that it isn’t so bad as she preferred to focus on the joy and happiness were she can get it.

Amunet couldn’t sign correctly with her hands full and shoulder balancing the water bucket. The smile she provided could have rivaled with the sun. “Naiya!! It is very good to see you. “ An escaped strand of long red hair was raked over an ear as she sat down the bucket. Once the other red head was refreshed, the water girl put the ladel in the bucket and provided it to the next person. It seemed to be the one running the dagger training or blade training really. The hulking Bayon was an imposing figure as the girl looked up into his face. The herbalist was a little fearless sometimes. She appeared like the wind would catch her and take her up at a moment’s notice, yet the fire that was in her eyes spoke of a deeper reserve of courage.

The big burly man suggested that she try her hand at learning to handle a dagger. Both Bayon and Naiya proceeded to offer her a dagger rather to pay for or borrow. The girl was startled at first as she looked at the targets. Bayon said it would be good for her or any girl to know how to defend themselves. He was right and she also thought of those she cared for. The girl drew a well used dagger that was a little smaller than the one’s either of them offered. The girl had bought it as it fit her small hand fairly well. “Is this good enough, I use it to cut herbs. I do keep it sharp, but it has only ever seen green or cutting stuff not people. “ The girl wondered if it was too small.

Close end combat or any combat she was not used to. When beckoned further to copy Naiya after she had performed her thrusts at the behest of Bayon. The little medicine woman looked at the straw target and bit her lower lip. The girl attempted the stance that Naiya had taken and darted into the target and went through the side portion of the straw and tumbled to the other side. Amunet got up and straightened herself on up. “Im ok, happens a lot.” Unfortunately things like this do happen a lot.

The determined red head came around to the straw target and tried to thrust at it again only for her dagger to get stuck in it deeply. She gave a little yelping sound as she went to try and pull it out. The girl had both hands on the thing tugging and tugging to pull it out. Amunet planted both feet on other side of the stray and pulled with her legs and it popped and back she went on the ground. The young lady blinked up into the sun lit sky and held the dagger up. “I’m OK. I got it out!!” As if her tumble hadn’t announced it, she got her little wiry compact body off the ground. If it’s one thing that little herbalist had, it was stamina.

Once she was standing, Amunet looked at the figure of straw before her, took a deep breath and exhaled as she gripped her dagger like she was going to cut herbs. She tried the thrusting motion again.

[Tribal]

Bayon gave Naiya a long, hard look as she finished babbling about her choice of weapon and why it was important for a woman to use a smaller blade, as if to say 'are you quite done making a full of yourself?' He was about to interject and tell the girl she was speaking utter nonsense when Amunet presented her own dagger, thus putting the lesson back on track. Bayon stood mulling over Naiya's words, how strange, he thought; all of the women in his life were just as hardy as the men when it came to the use of a dagger and any form of combat, though this one seemed to take delight in the fact that she was less competent than a man. His sister would gut him where he stood if he so much as dared to call the opposite sex any weaker than his own. Still, he did live a rather sheltered life, unmarried and without any children of his own; Bayon's talents lay in his craft, not his social skills.

"That's much better!" He encouraged, Naiya, "though I want you to try and picture that the target is your foe. You don't merely want to put the dagger in him, but imagine yourself driving it through him into the man standing behind him. If you hesitate and measure your strike, it will fall short and lose all of its power, leaving your enemy wounded but not incapacitated."

Amunet saw the man make a fist with his right hand and use this to mask his amusement. The girl had two left feet, and if he wasn't more constructive she was probably going poke an eye out with her weapon. "Calm down, deep breath," he smiled. "Look at your target, point your weapon, step forward and strike."

He watched, gave advice and told the girls to stick together while he kept an eye on the young men at his back, who he had instructed to demonstrate the use of their daggers on other targets. When Bayon returned he went over some simple hand grips and how to position a defensive and attacking stance for Amunet, before leaving her to practice; turning his attention on Naiya.

"You're doing well," he admitted, "I'd like to talk about the next level of your training. There are two main grips that I teach my students. The first is called the forward grip," he demonstrated with his own dagger, "this is probably the most useful and comfortable way to hold the weapon. With the forward grip you can attack the main areas that will kill a man, going for the groin, up into the rib-cage via the gut, straight into the heart, and up into the skull through the jaw. Short blade combat isn't about slashing at your enemy as the body is designed to withstand that kind of attack. The dagger is a lot different to the sword in the sense that it is used to stop a person, rather than cut them down. One thrust," he drove his dagger forward powerfully, "into the heart will stop a man in his tracks. If you're standing around slashing wildly at the air, you might graze your opponent but you will not stop him from taking a swing at you. It's better to stop your foe like this, or cripple his attack perhaps by sinking your blade into the soft part of the underarm, than letting him take the advantage."

Bayon paused in case Naiya had any questions before he contained the lesson and would explain the uses of the reverse grip. “Why don't you show me a few more attacks so I can get an idea of your fighting style.”

[Naiya]

This was a weapon. She reminded herself in response to Bayon's words. As simple as the information seemed, she didn't fight with weapons, she fought with her hands. Easily, she fell into stances and grips that made her weapon just an extension of her hand, but to ignore the sharply pointed end of what she considered her hand was folly.

She stepped aside, doing a few simple lunges twisting the force of her hips into the stabbing motion of her arm. Sort of like a jab, but with her body twisting into the force of the blade's propulsion away from her body. "Hm." She considered that in connection to Bayon's words, strike through the body of the attacker. She could do that, probably. If she practiced.

The sound of someone hitting the floor caught her attention, and she sought the sound, her eyes scanning the crowd only to land upon the target. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Amunet had crashed into the ground. Unsurprising because she had met the girl before and had come to expect such silliness from her. The image though, covered in straw and sprawled on the floor, it caused Naiya to laugh aloud.

Determination shaped the girl's body as she stood, brushing herself off and stabbing at the target once again. She didn't fall through it this time, but she did seem to get her blade stuck in the wooden frame. She fell again pulling it loose and Naiya had to turn away to keep from laughing at the girl again. There was no malice in her laughter, and likely by now, Amunet knew that, but all the same, someone else might take offense.

She stepped forward as Amunet moved away, catching the pattern of her steps with a careful eye on her rhythm. "You're supposed to attack the target, Amunet, not let it attack you." She teased affectionately, her hands dancing as quickly as her words. "Come," She said after a moment, "We can keep trying, I think I understand what he's trying to say."

She waited for agreement before taking a ready position holding the dagger loosely in her hand. She shifted her stance so her weapon hand was back, and then paused to consider how to explain.

"I think what he was telling me was to use the leg that pushes your step to push your attack as well. So when you move forward," She stepped forward, exaggerating the push of her back leg, "You can put all your weight into the attack, and stab with the force of your body." She threw her dagger hand forward with her motion, like a punch again attached to her step, the blade of the dagger flashing in the sunlight as she moved. Mildly cautious of her training partner, she demonstrated what she thought was the proper move once more, before moving back to a safe distance to watch Amunet. "Try not to stick me while you're at it." She called softly, a grin splitting her lips.

Eventually Bayon returned, pulling Amunet aside while Naiya lunged at the target again, step in, strike through, pause, switch hands repeat. She kept the mantra going in her mind until the shadow of Bayon's large form neared her own.

Grattitude her hands shaped as he complimented her progress, she had hoped she could make up for her utter failure with the weapon talk earlier. He demonstrated a different grip, similar to her own but strange too, it didn't change much, but it was enough to make the weapon feel odd in her hands. He named a number of targets for such a grip, tender spots, and easily reached ones, gut, heart, jaw, groin. Stabbing, striking with full force, no slashing or swinging her blade about. She nodded with each instruction, trying to store each bit away.

"How do you get in that close without earning stab wounds of your own?" She asked, confused as to how to get into the attack. He explained his answer to her question, and gave her another moment to ask another, when she was silent, he continued.

"My fighting style..." delicate inquiry, embarrassment, apology "I don't fight much with a weapon, not at all really. I have some unarmed combat training, and I've just been adapting that as best I can. That and some stolen tips, my father used to have me be the practice opponent for my brothers when they did weapons, I mimicked what I could." She apologized once more, "Women weren't really taught to fight, armed or otherwise in my pavilion." She explained.

Without pausing for more than a few ticks, she moved away, taking a ready position and running through a few attacks, a step lunge like she had practiced before. She did two with each hand, then repeated the motion with both hands on the blade, a closer range attack, but stronger, or she thought it was anyway.

She was out of ideas, she held the weapon, remembering too late his words about being intimidation, and tried to look fierce as she repeated the motions once more.

[Amunet]

The girl hadn’t intended on being silly. It was just that things like this sometimes ended up that way. She blushed at the laughter but took no ill will towards it as she smiled and just shook her head. There was a bit of a delima in her head. Bayon said to thrust through to purposefully cause injury. While it was very true that an adversary would surely wish you injury, for a medicine woman to want to cause injury was a bit daunting. Amunet fought two feelings: one for the adversary and one for protecting her own skin. “I guess I should always go with bandages so I can patch up who ever I stick with this thing.” The little dagger was waved in the air.

Naiya was helpful in explaining a few things more in a woman’s point of view. The kind hearted herbalist stood to the side and took her guidance. Her mother was not very combative and the male counterparts always thought she would marry soon as she came of age. That did not happen as the fiery outspoken girl was at times too much fire for some. The girl also didn’t stick around long enough to mingle with the available male population. Her eye did not wander but to the sea of grass. If ever there was a child of that expanse of grass, it was Amunet. “I guess I need to get better at this. The sea of grass always has surprises. “

The stance provided and the grips was different than how she cut herbs. Thumb this way along the hilt to move it quickly this way or that. There was the quick jab and then the twist. Naiya’s suggestion of putting shoulder and hip into the thrusting jab was also a nice little nugget. The quick minded young lady took Bayon’s and Naiya’s words, cataloging them in her head as she formulated a bit better understanding of purposefully thrusting a dagger into a body. The very thought made her cringe inside. The very thought of it happening to her, also made her cringe inside. The creed of survival dictates, better you than me.

The girl attempted to perform the stabbing thrusting jab into the straw target with a bit better form. Her little wiry frame turned with the thrust to sink into the straw. The vivid imagination of the young herbalist made a face as she very well knew what arrow and blade could do to a body. There was a part of her that saddened to think that this was done on purpose, yet it was so necessary to know how. She hefted the little dagger in her hand as she looked at it. “Kind of sad though, that this is a poor way of changing people’s minds. I know, I know. “ The girl sighed. “There are always people out there that wanted to take something away from you by force or control something by force. Only an equal force or at least enough to warrant not worth their time.”

Her hand gripped on the dagger once more and plunged it into the target as she continued to practice with a heavy heart. That heart was mingled with the fire that seemed to always spark in those blue eyes. The industrious girl worked on those jabbing thrusts and the twist at the end. Hoping to get better at this and also hoping she would never use it. It was perhaps a hope in vane but such was the heart of a youthful big hearted girl.

[Tribal]

“We talked about trying to intimidate your opponent, use your voice, your eyes, and your teeth. The best way to get the upper hand in close ranged fighting situations is to throw your target off guard,” Bayon demonstrated, coming at Naiya with his left hand reached out as if he were grabbing for her throat, while the right hand came forward, empty this time, to drive his dagger into her gut.

“A slash or stab to the arm is a lot easier to walk away from than a knife to the gut. By going for the neck, I am throwing my adversary off, while blocking the front of my body from his attack. He might come in at the side or try and go for my neck but by that time I should have already buried my dagger in him and immobilised his attack.”

Bayon watched the woman work on her stances and intimidation techniques before casting his eye on Amunet who was still struggling to get the basics right, though she was slowly improving. “That was a good one,” the man grinned. “Of course it is not always people we need fear but the dangers we face every time we wander out into the Sea of Grass.”

For a few chimes Bayon ran his expert eye over the group, watching, critiquing, and offering his advice. Before long, however, he was growing tired and needed a break from the mid-day sun. “Another twenty chimes and the lesson will be over,” he warned, “I have a few more tricks to teach you and then I will have to send you on your way to prepare for the evening class.”

The man got himself a drink and reminded a few people to do the same before returning to Naiya. He waved Amunet over to listen in. “I taught you the forward grip, now I want to demonstrate the reverse grip.”

He spun his dagger in his palm to hold it so that the blade pointed down. “I prefer this grip for defensive purposes. If someone comes at you unarmed and tries to get you to the ground or lift you up over their shoulder you can drive the weapon down into the back, through the rib-cage and into the heart, spine, or neck; all very deadly,” Bayon smiled and waved for both girls to first mimic the hold before demonstrating to him how to use it.

[Amunet]

The straw target before her was supposed to be some approximation of a person. The little dagger was thrusted several times with the improved stance and grip. The stance and thrust was starting to feel more natural no matter how unnatural it was to the medicine woman. The little lady stopped a chime or two to finger the dagger and its sharp edge. There was a sigh at the necessity. It was odd to think what she used to cut herbs that heal and ease maladies could be used to cause harm or even take a life.

This existence they survive in was precarious and no matter how much her youthful heart hoped for no conflict, it was a foolish hope. The intelligent mind mulled over that bit of information. Her big heart often gave her family worry. She did not want to give up that big heart and store it away. The girl was known to be open and receptive to other’s needs. It was ingrained and inborn in her. The little herbalist turned her head when Bayon waved her over to go over a different grip. “Oh, just like when im digging for something out in the Sea of Grass.” The little hand turned it in and gripped it strongly and actually gets on the ground to rather efficiently dig at the soil with the dagger. “Its quite useful at getting under the more difficult roots. The little tip really can get under stuff.” There was a small rather tidy hole in the soil.

She stood up looking a bit sheepish as that was probably not what the warrior meant. “Well it is.” She said in a quieter tone and an uncomfortable shrug. The girl got a drink of water herself when others took a drink. Then back to the backhand exercise as she tried to do the movements prescribed by Bayon. Hopefully her little dagger wouldn’t get anyone. The movement was a bit more natural and adaptable to what she normally does anyway. She even laid on her back and did a back hand stab as her eyes lit up. “oh my goodness. “ The gasp came out softly as she put the other hand on her mouth as she realized its application in a tight spot or if her virtue was in jeopardy. The poor girl blushed as she stood up and swallowed.

Now Amunet was not unaccustomed to the human form. Assisting healers, midwives, herbalists, medicine women and men and having a Pavilion full of older brothers and their significant others lent a certain perspective to all of this. The fact of having someone that close though to her without her permission, not that she was even thinking about it, provided a rather pointed realization of the need to defend one’s virtue. “I expect this will be useful.” The girl said in a small voice.

Amunet practiced in earnest as her small self even got smaller with a good solid stance bending at the knees that placed her very solid and balanced. Her little compact wirey body proved nimble and able to curve around to those little annoying spots people forget about. Her knowledge and medicine had her thrusting at little locations such as the inner thigh and the spot at the back at the lower floating ribs on either side. Those sharp blue eyes loathed to have to think she would need to do this one day but it was an inevitable reality. “Rak’keli teaches that we must be at our best and strong. This makes me stronger, right?” Those youthful eyes looked at Naiya as they practiced together for a bit of moral support.

[Lian Windrunner]

Lian grinned at Trail's response. Now he was doubly glad that he had thought to bring his bow even though he knew this day was supposed to be for lessons with bladed weapons. He watched in eager silence as the other man set up three targets. Lian was fairly confident about the first target, but much less so about the second. And he had never even seen anything like the third target before. But he liked the idea of a moving target. Prey didn't hold still and allow you to shoot it, after all. When Trail was ready, Lian followed him to where he wanted Lian to shoot from. He nodded at the other man's words, then turned his attention to the targets. As he stared at them, gauging the distance between himself and the first target, Lian readied his bow, and pulled an arrow from his quiver. He nocked it, still staring intently at the target, and took careful aim. He took a few ticks to be sure of his aim, then let the arrow fly. It flew true, and struck the target. The arrow didn't hit the bullseye, but it wasn't too far off from that. And it had embedded itself deep in the target. Lian repeated the process with the next target. But it took him a little longer than before to feel confident about his aim. Perhaps a few chimes before he released his arrow rather than the few ticks it took last time. Once again, the arrow flew true. But the target's smaller size counted against him. The arrow struck the rim of the target, and bounced off to lade several feet away. Had he been shooting at a fleeing deer, the arrow likely would have been trampled by the other deer in the herd. The third and final target swung back and forth, seeming to mock Lian as he stared at it. After his failure with the second target, he really wanted to succeed with this one. Lian pretended that the target was a fleeing deer. If it was truly a deer, he wouldn't have the luxury of time to be certain of his aim. So he didn't allow himself that now, either. As a result, he made his shot faster than he had the other two times. But his aim suffered because of his haste. The arrow bounced off of the right post, and came to a stop in the nearby grass, missing the target itself completely. Lian scowled in frustration at his failure for a tick. Then his expression shifted into a rueful grimace. "As you can see, I need all the help I can get." he said ruefully.