Completed Beginning of the Bond

Samuel decides on a Tiaden, then gets some riding practice in.

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This shining population center is considered the jewel of The Sylira Region. Home of the vast majority of Mizahar's population, Syliras is nestled in a quiet, sprawling valley on the shores of the Suvan Sea. [Lore]

Beginning of the Bond

Postby Samuel Longwell on January 13th, 2017, 10:14 pm

Beginning of the Bond


Date: 1st Winter 516AV
Location: Windmount Stables/Windmount Track and Field

Samuel Thoughts Others


Perhaps this was the horse that the knight was looking for. Samuel admired the stallion's powerful muscles rippling under the jet black coat as the groom led it out of the stables. The Tiaden was black all over apart from its lower legs, which were white. As it drew close Samuel realised the mount certainly had the characteristic height of the order's warhorses, Samuel barely came up to the Tiaden's shoulder. “How tall is he?” the knight inquired as he placed his hand on the Stallion's flank. "18 hands,” the groom replied, “he comes from good stock. His papa was even taller than that.” Samuel nodded, it was a good height for a warhorse, he knew that much. He ran his hand over the mount's coat and the stallion turned inquisitively to sniff at the newcomer. Deciding that he didn't much like the smell of the knight, the Tiaden turned his head away and pointedly ignored Samuel. The knight laughed. It was one thing that he loved about horses, unlike humans they made their true feelings clear to those around them. Undismayed, he pulled out half an apple and offered it to the horse. The stallion examined the fruit for a moment before snatching it from Samuel's hand and once again turning away, but with less dismissal this time

As the Tiaden had appeared to at least accept his presence, Samuel grabbed a brush and began to clean the stallion. The groom had clearly already given the horse a once over, the black coat was well looked after. However Samuel was very particular about taking responsibility for the animals in his care, even if it was just for a single ride. Once he was satisfied, Samuel passed the brush to the groom and mounted up. Squeezing very gently with his calves, he nudged the Tiaden into a walk. Samuel didn't want to rush into anything until he'd got a feel for the horse beneath him. The warhorses tended to be more spirited than a regular horse, so it paid to be careful. The Tiaden behaved as desired for a few laps of the workout arena, so the knight decided to increase the pace. More gentle pressure on the stallion's sides pushed the the horse into a gentle trot. This also seemed to go well, and so the knight began to relax.
Last edited by Samuel Longwell on February 8th, 2017, 1:05 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Samuel Longwell
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Beginning of the bond

Postby Samuel Longwell on January 14th, 2017, 9:06 pm

Samuel Thoughts Others


Samuel adjusted the motion of his body to let the Tiaden know that he wanted to slow down. His patron had often stressed the importance of riding with your whole body not just your hands. But he was out of practice and the warhorse ignored the knight's prompts entirely. Samuel, realising that it wasn't working, ceased being subtle and stopped moving in time with his mount. He clenched his core tight and pushed his backside into the saddle. The Tiaden slowed to a walk, then halted and snorted in annoyance. Samuel rubbed the stallion's neck and pulled out another half apple for the horse. He readjusted his weight and sat comfortably in the saddle. The horse was well trained, but Samuel would need to be firm otherwise the horse would think it could away with anything. Samuel realised that he had already subconsciously decided that he wanted to buy the Tiaden. He shook his head in amusement, he'd already started planning ahead.

Once his mount had finished eating, Samuel again set the horse walking. There wasn't room to do much more than trot in the practice arena, so he knew he'd have to take his mount to either the track or outside the wall to see the Tiaden's true capabilities. Once he'd reached the groom the knight dismounted. “I think I'd like to buy him.” Samuel stated simply. The groom nodded. “Of course Ser Longwell, that'll be 300 gold mizas.” The knight smiled, then suddenly realised he didn't know what his horse was called. He asked the groom, who immediately looked bashful. “We've, erm” the groom stuttered, “we've been calling him Socks on account of his colouring. But you can name whatever you please.” Samuel's eyebrows drew together. Socks was no name for a warhorse. “I think I'll call you Dan,” the knight said finally, “an honourable name indeed.” Pleased with his transaction, Samuel set off for Windmount Track and Field with Dan in tow.
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Samuel Longwell
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Beginning of the Bond

Postby Samuel Longwell on February 6th, 2017, 9:19 pm

Samuel Thoughts Others


Samuel kept his hand on his new mount's flank for much of the walk to the track. The knight believed it would be a good way to start their relationship, with kindness and gentleness whenever possible. A loyal warhorse was an incredible ally, that Samuel knew. Once the pair arrived, Samuel remounted. It was time to get to work. Samuel sat relaxed in the saddle, bare hands calmly holding the reins. With a word of encouragement and some pressure from the knight's legs, the Tiaden started forward into a walk. For a good lap Samuel made no move to increase the pace, so the pair could get used to each other. However it didn't take long for the knight to get bored. “Let's see what you can really do huh Dan?” he whispered to the warhorse, stroking his mount's neck as he did so. With these words, Samuel leaned forward in his saddle and pushed Dan into a fact canter. The knight bounced up and down in time with his mount's swift motion, rider working hard in partnership with horse. The knight began to sweat, anyone who thought that riding was lazy was not doing it correctly.

“Now this is living.” Samuel shouted, a broad smile on his face. The wind buffeted him as the two sped round the border of the track. There was something about riding fast that filled the knight with indescribable pleasure. Perhaps it was the adrenaline, or the feeling of freedom. Either way, Samuel had always relished the experience. It had been the training he hadn't taken to most quickly when he was a squire, quickly outstripping his peers in ability. His grandparents had insisted that it was his Drykas blood that gave him the edge, all that Samuel knew was that he had a decent amount of natural ability with horses. He was still a little rusty, a long break from practice would do that to anyone. But he was still a decent horseman, the knight thought with pride, he had no problem keeping his seat. Samuel would look back on that moment with no small amount of irony. Barely a few ticks after this thought entered the knight's mind, the Tiaden stepped on a piece of uneven ground and the unexpected motion threw his rider off balance. The knight nearly toppled sideways out of the saddle, grabbing the reins to stop himself from crashing to the ground. Dan, feeling the hard tug on his reins, wheeled to the left. Samuel grabbed hold of the saddle and managed to pull himself upright. The knight quickly corrected the Tiaden's course then glanced about, hoping no one had seen his obvious failure.
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Samuel Longwell
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Beginning of the Bond

Postby Samuel Longwell on February 6th, 2017, 11:39 pm

Samuel Thoughts Others


The shock of his near fall prompted Samuel to slow his mount down. It didn't seem like anyone was paying him any attention, but the knight was feeling embarrassed and wanted to avoid any situations that might result in him losing his balance again. He decided it would be a good time to work on technique, which although was not as interesting as riding fast it was still important for riding improvement. Once Dan had slowed to a walk, Samuel guided him to a quiet part of the field. The knight then started the Tiaden walking in a large circle. This was the beginning of an exercise that his riding instructors had always been a fan of. The knight understood why, it taught control and precision. Something that Samuel now felt he had better work some more on. Once the first loop had been completed, the knight pulled his mount into a slightly smaller circle. This continued, every time rider and mount passed their original starting point Samuel adjusted their course into an tighter circle. Seven or eight concentric circles later, the knight finally stopped tightening the angle of motion and started to increase the size of the circle again. The pair spiralled outwards until they reached their original circle.

“Technical and boring.” the knight murmured to himself, “I guess it's necessary though, and no time like the present for self improvement.” So he began the exercise again, this time circling in the other direction. The great warhorse slowly plodded around in concentric circles, the rider on his back controlling the Tiaden's motions as best he could. The second set of circles completed, Samuel dismounted and went to collect a practice longsword with which he intended to work on his mounted combat. Before remounting he moved through a short sequence of sword strikes to warm up his sword arm. Holding the blade with two hands he stepped forward, swinging the blade across his body in a powerful horizontal strike. Bringing his feet together, the knight pretended to deflect an opponent's blow, then lunged forward. His blade flashed out as he stabbed, then he stepped back to finish with another horizontal slash. He repeated the exercise a few times until he felt he was ready, before pulling himself into Dan's saddle.
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Samuel Longwell
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Beginning of the Bond

Postby Samuel Longwell on February 7th, 2017, 1:10 pm

Samuel Thoughts Others


With right hand gripping the handle of the practice blade and left holding the reins, Samuel started Dan into a walk. The knight leaned over to his right, swinging his blade in an arc at the height of his ankles. His legs kept a tight grip on his mount, so as not to lose his balance. Leaning over to the left, he tried to repeat the action. The fact that the sword was in his right hand made the motion awkward, one arm obstructing the natural path of the other. As such, the swing had very little force behind it. The knight tried again, leaning out a little further to swing with a little more success. He knew that if he leant out any further that he would be in danger of falling to the ground, so pulling himself back to a comfortable position the knight decided to try something else. Instead of slashing at where an opponent's centre of mass would be, Samuel would stab at the same location. Twisting in his seat, the knight thrust with his blade round the left side of the Tiaden's neck. Once again it was an awkward motion, this time his mount's body was in the way of the most natural motion. He repeated the strike several more times, but he wasn't too sure how effective it would be in actual combat.

Samuel's forehead creased as he considered the problem at hand. Most of the time he would use his shortbow from horseback, or would dismount to fight. But there were certainly advantages to being able to strike down upon his enemies from above. “Maybe the problem is a lack of flexibility.” the knight mused. He shrugged, sheathing the wooden longsword. His plan was to do some flexibility and balance exercises while on horseback, which should improve his riding ability and might also have an effect on his mounted combat. With Dan still moving at a slow pace, Samuel twisted his upper body almost a quarter circle to his left. He could feel the stretch in his sides. The difficulty of the exercise was increased by the Tiaden's slight rocking motion, but not too much that Samuel had any real trouble staying balanced. Twisting back in the other direction he repeated the exercise to his right. Several chimes were spent in simple repetition, Dan walking on as Samuel focused on becoming more limber. After the knight was satisfied, he moved onto a balance exercise. He leaned off to the left just a little, using his core and legs to hold himself steady. He slowly counted to ten, then shifted over to the right. Another ten ticks passed, and Samuel righted himself. This he also repeated, after a few sets his abs were aching and sweat trickled down his face and back. There was a small grimace on his face, he didn't enjoy exercises like that. “Come on then Dan,” he whispered, patting his mount's neck, “let's have a bit more of a ride then we'll get you back to your stable.”
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Samuel Longwell
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Beginning of the Bond

Postby Elin on May 13th, 2017, 6:17 pm

Your grades are here

Samuel Longwell
Skills
  • Horsemanship: +2
  • Riding: +5
  • Shopping: +1
  • Observation: +1
  • Weapon: Longsword: +2
  • Endurance: +1
Lores
  • Dan: Tiaden Warhorse
  • Dan: 18 hands tall
  • Dan: From good stock
  • Dan: Originally called Socks because of his colouring
  • Riding: Uneven Ground can knock you off balance
  • Riding: Grabbing reins while falling will change your course
  • Riding: Correcting course
  • Riding: Training can be technical and boring
  • Longsword: Swordplay is different when on horseback
  • Riding: Ride with your whole body, not just your hands
Other
  • +1 Tiaden Warhorse
  • -300 GM

Shield Points
Training: +2

Notes
An enjoyable thread
I liked Samuel meeting Dan, and the change of name was a good choice

Hope this is all okay and if it isn’t, just let me know :)
Exam week
Very likely to be inactive until the 27th
Sorry to everyone I'm in a thread with, but I'll be on when I need respite from studying

~
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Elin
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