PM to join [Training Grounds] Bows and Brawn (Samuel Longwell)

[Garland]

Garland raised up his axe and stretched his arm. His arm was a bit strained, but he didn't plan on using it much.

He was more into training his shield arm for now, he had been neglecting his shield-work for a few seasons now. "When did I join? When I was a 17, a year and a half I reckon. I'm 18 now."

Garland followed Samuel, these twisting corridors and bland walls were reminiscent of the walls around Syliras. Despite the wall, one could hear the sound of clashing of swords and weapons outside.

Garland nodded, when Sam asked if he was ready. Garland took a deep breath and watched Sam, he didn't waste time, and thrust his shield forward.

Garland met shield with shield , holding his own against Samuel's might, years of experience shown on his movements, but Garland held firm, he was young, brash, yet had his own share of experience.

Garland felt a blade thrust to the side of his armor, bouncing off the pauldrons, but making a scratch to the already battered armor. Garland's armor was typical, simple plate-mail, but this armor had seen plenty of action.

The squire pushed back and raised up his axe high over his head, and threw it down, he missed horribly, he didn't gauge the distance correctly and paid for it. He tried to recover by using the momentum tackle Samuel so he couldn't attack Garland while he recovered from his blunder.

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others As the two shields crashed together Sam felt the vibrations run up through his arm and into his shoulder, making his left arm go slightly numb. Samuel saw his opponent's axe falling and took a small step back, raising his shield slightly in order to block the blow. However, the axe fell short and Samuel lowered his shield to see Garland moving forward quickly to tackle him. He realised that his own shield had blocked his view of the fight, so was now at a disadvantage. Samuel took several quick steps back, hoping to stay out of range of the tackle. He placed his shield in the squire's path, hoping to deter his opponent from grabbing him. “Keep him at range.” Samuel told himself, continuing to retreat down the corridor, his blade occasionally jabbing out at his opponent. “I'll wait till he makes another mistake, then I'll step forward to attack.” Samuel decided. Unfortunately for the knight, his room to retreat quickly ran out. His back bumped against a wall behind him, but there was no wall to his right. Samuel froze for half a tick but then realised he'd reached a corner. The hesitation cost him valuable time, forcing Samuel's hand. Feeling like he didn't have enough time to retreat safely, he attempted to return to the offensive. He attempted to draw Garland's attention with a sword slash, hoping his opponent would his obscure his vision by raising his shield, just like Samuel had done earlier. As he did so he stepped forward, preparing his shield to deflect the anticipated counter attack. He followed with a low kick with his left foot, trying to strike the squire's right leg. The knight's balance was off though and the kick therefore had very little power behind it. Even if the kick did connect, it was unlikely to do anything more than just glance off his opponent's armour.

[Garland]

Garalnd saw the blade coming in and instead of blocking with his shield like a sensible person, he blocked with the axe, and pushed his shield forward to meet with Samuel's own shield.

Garland held his own against Samuel, the squire jumped back, hoping to make Samuel over commit to pushing and tripping himself up. Instead he saw Samuel's foot try to kick Garland's leg.

Garland swung his axe at Samuel, aiming at his shield. Other people would try to find openings in his defense but Garland fights by using his weapons as his defense rather than offense, and vice versa.

It was strange, and unorthodox, but it did get people off guard and Garland could come in and go for the kill so to speak.

Garland swung hard, hoping to shaken Samuel. Garland ducked low and pressed his shield under Samuel's shield and bashed his shield up, trying to put a large opening Samuel's defense.

At least that was the plan.

Sam could very well deflect Garland's plan by simply moving out of the way rather than blocking. Garland did not really factor in the bend or the fact that using the environment to his advantage.

Down the corridor was a bit wider and had fake stalls set about, if squires use this building they would be taught to use their surroundings in every fight. The sparring ring was for the more traditional way of fighting, dirty tricks like throwing sand or dirt or hitting below the belt was frown upon in the rings.

Here though, it almost had no rules, the only rules was to never permanently injure your opponent or to kill them. Both were more like common-sense, but common-sense is usually never common.

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others Garland completely defied Samuel's expectations by blocking with the axe, the unexpected movement surprising him. The squire jumped back as Samuel sought to re-balance himself after his disastrous kick. Samuel hadn't quite managed to regain his footing when a powerful blow from his opponent's weapon struck his shield and sent him stumbling backwards. It didn't look good for the older man, Garland had the advantage of momentum and solid footing. As the squire pressed his advantage against the tall knight, Samuel tried his best to regain control of the fight. He took another step backwards so that his back was touching the wall. This gave him just about enough time to settle himself before Garland's shield slammed into him. His positioning meant he was only pressed against the wall rather than being knocked over completely. Although still at a disdvantage, he now had a chance. His opponent's shield had pushed his own up, so Samuel decided to try and use this situation to his advantage. “I'm really on the back foot here, so something bold is required.” he thought to himself “My shield is in a pretty good position to strike with, so that's what I'll do” Samuel took half a step forward, leaving himself fairly vulnerable to Garland's shield which was now almost pressed against his chest plate, and brought his shield down as fast as he could. He angled the shield as he brought it down, hoping to slam the edge of it into Garland's shoulder and incapacitate him in the process. He followed the move with a wild slash of his sword but it caught on the edge of the wall and bounced off, completely ineffective. A talented fighter watching the fight would realise that it was nearly over, Samuel had left himself completely open in his attempt to level the playing field. If Garland did manage to avoid the shield hurtling towards his shoulder then the knight would be almost completely at his mercy. OOCYou can finish the fight here if you want, Samuel is completely all in on his attack. If you do avoid the shield (which is fairly likely) feel free to knock him to the ground or something

[Garland]

Garland grinned as his plan worked by opening a huge hole in Samuel's defense. Garland was about to bring his axe down on Samuel's chest to finish the fight. He just needed one clean hit to win.

Garland didn't notice the shield coming down on his shoulder until it was too late. His arm was already invested in the attack on Samuel and he could not pull back from the attack.

The shield slammed down on Garland's shoulder, sending pangs of pain down his arm and through his fingers. Garland saw the blade coming in from the side and he threw up his shield in defense for the blow.

Garland heard a 'ting' from the sword, and he knew that was not the sound of a blade hitting a shield, not to mention he didn't feel it. Garland gave a battlecry to pump himself up as he slammed in shield into Samuel's shield and then started pushing him back until he was at the wall.

Feeling returned to Garland's arm, pins and needles ran through it, but otherwise it was fine. He raised up his arm and quickly raised it to Samuel's neck. He didn't press it close, he wasn't use to using this kind of weapon, and he didn't quite have the feel for the blade itself.

Garland sighed and backed off. "That was a great fight. If that wall wasn't there, this would still be going on." Garland said with a grimace at his arm. "Ahhh now my arm doesn't feel the strain from the bow before, I'm feeling a whole new kind of pain."

At this point Garland would sheathe his weapon and shake Samuel's hand, but he didn't really have a place to store his axe. "Well, I'm gonna feel sore in the morning. Would you like a drink, if you don't have anything else to do today."

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others Samuel was knocked backwards into the wall, his attack merely slowing Garland down. He stared down at the axe levelled at his neck and grinned at the victorious squire. “Very impressive,” Samuel complimented, “You beat me fair and square, doesn't matter what would have happened if the wall wasn't there. I certainly did enjoy that.” Samuel stretched his back and massaged some of his sore muscles. He, like Garland, would be feeling a little worse for wear later on. “I guess that makes it one all” he said with a wink. Shaking the squire's hand, Samuel smiled at the suggestion. “I actually have guard duty tonight, so I need to keep a clear head. But a drink another day would be good,” he replied, “and I'd certainly enjoy training with you again.” Samuel started to walk out of the indoor training arena, Garland following him. As he left, the knight looked over to the two young squires he had spoken to earlier. They were having a gentle spar and looked to be enjoying themselves. “Well done you two.” he called over to them, “Keep at it!” Samuel then said his goodbyes to Garland and set off round the training ground for a slow run. His body was starting to bruise from the sparring but he pushed himself round, knowing that he would not always be fresh when he needed to move quickly. He tired quickly, his energy sapped by the variety of training he had done. He ran until the pain was too much, then started to head back to his room. “I've got a few bells till I've got to be on duty,” he thought to himself, “I think it's time for something to eat.”

[Aladari Coolwater]

Grades Ahoy!

Name:Garland

XP Award:

• Weapon: Crossbow +1
• Weapon: Shortbow +2
• Endurance +4
• Shield +2
• Weapon: Axe +3

Lore:

• Crossbow: Always Easy Bullseyes
• Shortbow: Speed Sacrifices Accuracy
• Ser Samuel: Doesn't Waste Time
• Moving Shields Leave Vulnerable Spots
• Archery and Swords Leave Different Aches

Name: Samuel Longwell

XP Award:

• Weapon: Shortbow + 3
• Endurance +4
• Running +1
• Teaching +2
• Leadership +3
• Shield: +3
• Weapon: Shortsword +3

Lore:

• Leadership: Lead by Example
• Shortbow: Speed Sacrifices Accuracy
• Garland: A Skilled Squire
• Small Spaces Restrict Sword Swipes
• Running: Armor is Too Heavy

Penalties/Rewards :

I won't go into the details of the stressed muscles as they're rather minor.

Shield Points- Garland: + 3 for training
Samuel Longwell: + 3 for training, + 1 for training another knight's squire

Comments :

I would've liked to see a little more discussion between the boys. This felt rather grind-y, instead of like a story. That said, I do enjoy the way both of you write. They are different styles, and they fit together well.

Don't forget to edit out your grade request. Please message me if you have any questions or concerns about your grade.