Just Asking for a Spar [Springwater Square]

[Calven]

5th of spring 521

Calven was at his place of employment but he was not there as an employee, he was there to get some assistance with his massive sword that didn’t seem to fit quite right in its harness. He had purchased his equipment from this establishment so the employees were happy to adjust it for him.

“Nice day,” Calven thought as he looked out in to the busy marketplace. He thought he might walk around and explore for a while since he did not have much on his plate for the day. He tried to look for people that really stood out but he was not much of a people watcher. Everyone sort of looked the same in the grand scheme of things. All tiny pawns in some bigger game at play, or so he assumed. Calven let out a yawn and turned his head to see that his harness had been adjusted.

Calven gave his thanks and equipped the harness and sword with difficulty. The sword in its entirety was almost as tall as he was so it was always an awkward feat to transport it. He did not know why he even bothered with it since it was so hard to lift it. His body went tense as he struggled to figure out just how he wanted to walk with it. The weight of the weapon threw his balance off so he had to take careful steps at first. The process engaged the stabilizer muscles in his legs that he rarely had any use for to this degree and he even stumbled twice to the ground. He got the hang of it though and before long he had it all figured out.

Calven was not wearing anything out of the ordinary, just his basic clothing and shoes. His hair was neatly combed to one side and he would bear no beard. The only thing that might draw attention to him would be his sword and maybe the way that he mis-stepped every so often and made him bump into people by accident. He was on his way to the Springwater Square where hopefully he would find something to do.

[Moritz Craven]

5 Spring 521

Moritz took a heavy breath as he headed down the street. Julan, his ghost companion that tended to follow him about, was bobbing in the distance. He seemed distracted by some of the window displays and items near the front of businesses, only to rush to catch up. This turned into an odd game of catch up where Julan was perpetually losing.

The young Kelvic was a bit more clothed than he liked, wearing the annoying boots that captured his feet in odd ways. He preferred to be bare foot as much as he could, but his mother seemed to have an odd focus on him being shoed and got angry if he left the house without them. Moritz didn't understand why and as far as he knew she had never explained it, but he knew that a fight would ensue if he didn't wear them any time he left the house and so had slowly grown accustomed to it. Annoyed and disliking every moment, but accustomed.

Along with that he was wearing his backpack with some money and other items inside, underneath which he was wearing his weapon harness. The only weapon attached to that was the scabbard on his back which held his pair of dual swords. Not that he was skilled in using two, but as they were of the type commonly used in pairs his mother had bought him two.

They were in fact his reason for being there that day, as his mother had given him some details about the weapons but had also seemed to not know much about them... Which left Moritz to wonder how much of what she said was a gross exaggeration.

He still felt a bit odd wearing the weapons, and was still trying to decide where to best place them, having to make sure they were high enough to not drag but low enough that he could draw them. In the end he had placed them on his back as he did not expect to use them, they were slightly concealed by his pack, and they never dragged when there. They were however harder to draw from there, as his pack tended to block them.

Still a young kelvic who was quickly growing he already matched his mother in height who was 5'4", if not a hair taller, and he only appeared 12 or 13 in human years. In truth he was just over 2 years old, but as was common with kelvic he aged fast compared to a human. He was sure when he was done growing he would be quite the imposing figure, even if he was not quite there yet.

"Julan keep up, we are almost to the smithy aren't we?."

Julan, having forgotten that he was leading and managed to fall behind, nodded quickly before returning his gaze to a buildings entrance. Luckily the pair were close enough that he felt he could find the place, and so looked for any signage that would point him in the right direction.

Luckily most of the things to see where at street level, not up or down, and so his Okomo style eyes were good at looking about. Moritz had much greater peripheral vision even in his human form due to his Okomo style eyes, though admittedly not as good as in Okomo form due to the differing shape of his head. Of course that did mean he had more issue seeing higher up and down, but on the horizontal he was quite good at seeing further on the periphery and sensing motion.

It was this view that saved him as a man careened down the street and nearly stumbled into him. Seeing the motion he moved with his feet by pushing off with one leg and turning to thrust his body out of the way, more or less jumping to the side to narrowly avoid the man slamming into him Not, Moritz addmied, the cleanest avoidance, but then he was not trained acrobat like his master. Seeing this man walking as he was Moritz was left to wonder if the man was drunk or uncoordinated. He was about to say this to him when he noticed the large weapon the man was carrying, which brought a smile to his lips. And then a laugh. It left him seeming more like a pack mule than anything else.

"Ha! Mm.... What? Ha! What is that thing?"

Looking closer Moritz realized it was shaped in some manner like a blade, though he could not fathom how the man planned to use it if ever it was needed.

"Wait... Is that thing supposed to be a sword? How would you even use it? And when would you even need to use it?"

This later part was spoken with much less laughter, and more of a tone of being an actual question. Looking at it Moritz found it to be somewhat absurd, as weapons went. Of course his master Kyra preferred lighter and faster combat styles, but still Moritz could not imagine when he would need to sling a man sized piece of metal at someone, or how that would be the most useful weapon in a situation.

""Like... Really? When would that ever be a suitable weapon?"

Moritz was left to decide to himself that either there was no logical reasoning to be found, or at least not one he could find, or that the man was just being silly.

WC: 910

[Calven]

Calven continued to struggle to walk properly through the town despite his best efforts. Sure the weapon fit snugly in its harness but the human was learning that walking around with it was a little too much for him to handle. He nearly bumped into someone badly and at that point Calven knew he needed a break. He panted and rested his back against a building and wiped his sweat from his forehead. Who would have thought that it’d be so exhausting just getting around? After having carried the sword all the way to the shop and nearly all the way to the square he was feeling rightly exhausted. His legs stung and now his lower back was feeling the pain from not being used to supporting the sword’s weight from behind.

Calven turned to take a better look at the person who was talking to him. He looked to be an early teen so Calven did not take offense to the boy’s words. If he’d been older Calven would have suspected he was being made fun of, though he guessed he did not care either way. He could not deny that he looked right ridiculous today.

Calven said, “This here is a Greatsword. I haven’t the feintest clue about how to use it because I’m too weak to even wield it properly, but my dream is to get stronger and perhaps use magic to increase my strength to the point that I can use it to do battle. Whether that’s a good idea or not… is to be seen.” Calven could not truthfully say that his idea a good one since it was just some boyhood dream of his to wield a big weapon and slay creatures with it, like some kind of hero. He wanted to see his dream through!

Calven coughed and wiped his forehead again as he finally started to cool down. “So, uh… sorry by the way for almost knocking you over. I suppose I should just carry it in my hands and take it home. So much for a nice walk by the square. Can I get your name by chance? My name is Calven. I work at the Touch of Fire blacksmith’s shop.”

[Moritz Craven]

Moritz listened as the man explained his weapon, frowning in concentration as he worked through his words. While it seemed the man had some sort of internal logic to his use of the weapon, or a plan at least to use it while he could not do so now, Moritz was unsure he agreed with his reasoning. And so he did as he tended to do, picking apart the reasoning bit by bit till he had sorted through it.

"If you have no way of using a weapon, why are you carrying it around? And what makes it so great? Is it just because its so great big?"

As he spoke through his reasoning Moritz tried to expand his thoughts, including as he thought Kyra would do by including tactics and how the prolonged use would affect a battle or battles.

"As for that... What sort of magic would you use to make yourself stronger? And is it some kind you can just keep using? I don't pretend to know everything about magic, but from my understanding using too much can do bad things. So if you need magic just to use a sword... Seems you'd be at a disadvantage against anyone who doesn't need magic to use their weapon. Particularly if you are fighting several foes in quick succession... Or a longer battle... It'd wreck your endurance. Maybe it'd work for a one on one duel, but seems for anything else it'd be a downside."

Once he began speaking Moritz seemed to just unload, a constant babble and stream of thought as one thing he said made him consider another.

"The same for carrying around a huge heavy blade. That would tire you out, which means you wouldn't last as long fighting. And the more weight you are carrying, the slower you will move. Which means it would be harder for you to dodge or avoid a blow, having to block more and or getting hit more... All in all, it seems mostly downsides over any upsides."

His eyes suddenly - not literally- lighting up with another thought Moritz seeming end continued as another thing came to mind.

"And imagine a light and fast foe. Or say someone who also trains in unarmed combat like me. With that big, heavy, slow thing swinging around they could avoid the weapon, get inside your guard, and attack you directly with their body. How would you react to that?"

Moritz heard but did not react to the sudden apology, his mind clearly still working on the subject of the oversized sword and its usage. Churning away silently in his head

"Yeah, sure... I'm Moritz."

The mans mentioning of the blacksmith broke Moritz from his concentration, reminding him why he was there.

"Actually that's where I'm headed. My mother bought me these weapons, but didn't seem to know much about them. Or at least, the stuff she didn't seem to just make up on the spot. So I was hoping to find the smith who made them to tell me about them, what they can do and not and such. Master Shallon told me a bit but I'm sure the crafter would know more. Although I seem to have misplaced my ghost.... Julan! Come along!"

At the shout the visibly spectral boy would appear, blinking into the spot next to Moritz as if he had been birthed suddenly from the ground fully grown. A more normal thing to Moritz who was used to ghosts which did not even make Moritz flinch. Other people less used to ghosts however....

WC: 594

[Calven]

This kid’s questions and comments were hurting Calven’s head. He said, “hey, I never said it was a good idea. That’s just my goal and if I have to be at a disadvantage for my whimsical dream so be it! But anyways I suppose Flux might help give the necessary burst of energy to manipulate a large weapon. I’m not very good at using it yet though. It’s all a work in progress for me.” The boy did pose some very good points though. Calven was beginning to realize that he would likely be better off using more traditional weapons but it’d take a little more than common sense to pull him away from his dreams.

“Which weapons were you interested in learning more about? I work for a smith who would probably be able to help. I have little knowledge about weapons but I would like to learn some things as well. I’ve only gotten accustomed to making basic metal parts and am a long ways away from making even the simplest of weapons… though I suppose any chunk of metal could be a weapon in the right hands.”

Calven also cocked an eyebrow when he saw the ghost appear out of nowhere. Calven had never interacted with a ghost before so he waved and said, “hi.” He did not know what exactly one was supposed to say to a ghost.

“If you want I could show you the way to my employer, or I could just point you in the right direction. I think I’d prefer to go with you so I can store my weapon there. It’s quite heavy as you’ve noticed and I really don’t think I can carry this all the way home.” Calven laughed in the face of his exhaustion even if it did make him even more tired by doing so.

[Moritz Craven]

Moritz frowned as he listened to Calven's response, short as it was, as he was having trouble understanding the man. Moritz was if nothing else a logical creature, especially so when dealing with combat. Kyra had drilled into him logic, tactics, and such reasoning in combat as to her it was a means of surviving. Anything irrelevant or not aiding in her survival to the next day was tossed aside. To her combat was a refined art honed down to its simplest and most important elements, something she had conveyed to her student as well.

To Calven though.... Combat was... Something else which he could not name. A dream? A plan, a goal, but without an end beyond making that dream real? Even if it mad no sense or would not keep him alive if he was attacked. Such lack of reasoning was anathema to Moritz own mind.

"Why then? What? Why are you learning to fight then? What is fighting, combat, what is its purpose to you? To me it is about being able to stay alive, to keep myself and others safe if needed. To live. What is is to you then? It sounds like its... Something about learning it for dreams and whims and a plan based on something other than keeping yourself and others alive? I don't understand your reason."

At the mention of a magic Moritz frowned again, having not heard of it before. Flucks? From what he said the man was a practitioner, but Mortiz did not really understand what it was or what it did.

"Whats Flucks? And how do you spell that? I'm not sure I'm saying it right... I've not heard of it before."

As they turned back to the weapons Moritz held his hand on the side of his weapons scabbard, remembering back to the moment he had received them.

"The weapon in question I received is a pair of tiger hook swords, though that's not really the part I'm asking about. Its how it was crafted, what all was done to them. And also about cold iron, what its properties are. I was told they were made of that, but I don't know much about them and would like to confirm their details from someone who knows more about the weapon being made. If possible the crafter."

"You can help if you'd like, but since you didn't make them I'm unsure how much you'd know about them. How involved are you in the weapons made here? It doesn't sound like very, if you are just learning the basics..."

Julan simply ignored the mans greeting, focusing on another storefront and darting a glance at Moritz in question. Moritz, deep in thought as he was, did not register the ghosts attention beyond the fact that he had come along.

"Sure, show the way. I suppose if you work there it might make things a bit easier. And I'm not one to turn down offered help for no reason."

If Calven led Moritz and Julan would follow along after him, inside the smithy or wherever he showed them.

WC: 516