Completed First Impressions.

[Archailist]

3rd of Summer, 514.

The squirrel had been told, after meeting with the knight at the Order Recruitment, to stop by the following day outside the Training Grounds to meet with his new patron knight. The one that would be teaching him in the ways of the knighthood - help him hopefully achieve the required skill to make it to full knight status. And teach him the ways of the knights - not just how to wield a sword like a knight, but make the right decisions as a knight.. how to protect the domain, from the forces of evil. This would be his test, his challenge - he could show this new patron knight everything he'd learned while in the city of Nyka, and they could grow on it together. He was so giddy from excitement that he thought he might faint, but he blinked the anxiety back and stood straight. He couldn't afford to look any smaller or weaker than a Pycon in the shape of a squirrel could, and besides - even with his patron nowhere in sight, there were plenty of other squires and knights wandering in and out of the Grounds. Even a Weaponmaster here or there that passed only a brief glance before readying their swords and beginning their rounds.

When he did sit down, he first thought he was a bit early. It certainly wasn't too early for the other patrons and their squires, even a few knights and their Sergeant. All of them wandered past eventually, some offering nods and others unfortunately too focused to notice the Pycon, even though he understood. All polite - perhaps they hadn't heard the news that the squirrel had joined the Order yet. As the morning wore on, though, and more people begun to move in and out of the various small buildings that surrounded the great Stormhold Castle, the squirrel really begun to worry. More people passed, the day continued. It'd barely been a few bells but the squirrel was read beginning to get edgy - fidgeting in his place and glancing from one person to the next in the hopes that he could see his patron. They were supposed to be well-trained knights, who were being put in quite an important position - managing the next generations of Knights. What would Loren Dyres say if he was here today, waiting for the knight to make a punctual and professional appearance, only to be left waiting?

He didn't even know who his patron was, but he still hoped he could see whoever it was. "Are you my patron?" the squirrel suddenly blurted out to a man walking passed in heavy platemail, with a short-sword at his side, sheathed, and a shield also pressed against the small of his back. He looked like a knight - a respectable knight that would at least be working for the Order, if not one that would know more about it than many. But the man only barked a bit of a laugh and shook his head in reply, letting the squirrels heart sink even further - literally. It must have been around where his stomach should have been, how low it'd sunk. This was the moment that he had been waiting for - the day he would meet, and then be trained by an actual Knight of the Order. To become a Knight of the Order, and a Knight of Syliras. These were supposed to be his dreams.. but the further he went, the more he wished he'd woken up sooner and smelled the reality.

"I'm not your patron, squirrel." He'd gathered that part already. What with the laughter. "Though I certainly feel sorry for him." The last part was muttered under the mans breath but the squirrel only felt worse and worse by now. Even if it was a gentle poking, or a sincere feeling, he felt bad. Maybe he should have forgotten about being a squire altogether and just left this dump of a city. He could go back to Nyka if he wanted to - get something better for himself in a place filled with weird monsters. It would be much more forgiving than this city, he knew - at least there, the monks were polite after he'd spent a while there. And yet, he'd spent the majority of his life in Syliras - he'd even been born in the city. But as soon as he left for a while, maybe a season at the most, and returned again, even the knights were beginning to make fun of him and mock him. It wasn't fair.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

The squirrel was just about ready to get up and leave the courtyard when a man walked by and nearly stepped on the squirrel in the process. He may have gotten used to such things but that didn't mean that he wouldn't get outraged over it. Especially when he saw that gleaming plate-mail armour that he wore - damn knights. Why couldn't they watch where they were going? There were citizens, ad even squires and knights of the order hanging about in these parts of the city. Some of them waiting for their patron knights to appear. "Hey, how about you watch where you're going?" The squirrel didn't care if he sounded rather rude or not - and he probably did because the man soon glanced down on the squirrel with a look of sudden surprise. As if the man wasn't aware that there were people and creatures other to him walking on this world. Goodness knew what would ever happen if such a man were to find his way to Pyconia - likely he'd mistake the houses for stools and crush the entire place beneath his giant red arse.

"You can talk." The squirrel could only stare at him with a look that shouted the obvious. The man eventually shook his head and apparently decided to let the entire matter slide. And it was about that point that the squirrel realized that the mans face was entirely red - of course, he'd seen it before, but the matter really didn't hit home until he was left staring into it for more than a few ticks, with eyes roaming over every feature. It was as if someone had thrown bucketfuls of crimson blood all over his face. Not just red from a bit of sunburn, but his entire body was red. His skin colour, natural colour, was red. That or he'd managed to get a really big, even sunburn around every inch of his body. It seemed almost comical, or alien, but he didn't really bother to make any comment on it, less he look like an idiot by stating the absolute obvious. Like the man had, mere moments ago. "Ah, it doesn't matter. I was wondering if you knew about a squire called Archailist. I'm supposed to be looking for him but I can't find him. It's not looking good for him right now. New squires are supposed to be on-time." Arch could only stand there, bound in shock for the longest time while staring up at.. what he could only guess would be his new patron. A man that didn't even know that the squirrel stood before him would be his squire. Oh dear.

"Actually.. ahem. My name is Archailist." Now it was the mans turn to be awkward and silent, as he looked up and down the squirrel over and over. He could tell that there was a serious case of nerves in his face, but the man kept it under control for the most part. The anger was still there though, beneath the folds of his crimson face that masked most of the anger anyway. Arch suddenly understood why the other knight had said such things. He felt sorry for the patron knight too - after all, to have to teach a squirrel the arts of the Syliran Knights must have felt like a complete mockery to everything he'd ever done. Not that the squirrel would ever be able to really relate to such a thing but if he put himself into the mindset of the human.. if it was a human.. and he realized that he would have to teach a squirrel-squire for the rest of his time.. well, he could just about hear the other knights laughing and mocking him behind his back too. It couldn't even be thrown off as some funny joke, or a light jab.. it was an full-blown insult to the face.

"You're Archailist, the new squire that's waiting for his patron knight." He obviously hoped there would be some mistake, but the squirrel could only nod and swallow, ready for the worst that could be thrown. He didn't even feel like looking up at the man - he was pretty much a disgrace before he'd managed to show anything about himself. The man made absolutely no comment on that, but turned swiftly on his heel anyway. "Alright then. We'd better get down to business as soon as possible. My name is Ser Iros, although you will call me Ser. I will be teaching you everything you need to know in order to become a Knight of the Order, and you will become a Knight of the Order as long as you do everything that I tell you. We will be training as often as possible, so I expect to see you in the Training Grounds at exactly the sixth bell of every day." The man was quick to lay down the law and the squirrel struggled to keep up with the quick stride that the man set up, and concentrate on what he had to say at the same time. "Do you have any questions before we begin."

Well, he did have one. Although his voice had become suddenly much higher and softer than he could remember. "Uhm.. where are the Training Grounds." Oh, the day couldn't have started off worse, and it wasn't going to get any better afterwards, he could tell that.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Something in the squirrels voice must have caught a nerve, because the red-skinned man's expression softened from the rather crude scowl that'd taken over it in that brief moment. Perhaps it was the fact that the man really couldn't look that angry compared to most of the Nykan monks had, during their entire time around Nyka, or the fact that he seemed to change himself on a complete whim.. but the squirrel suddenly saw the man in a completely different light. Perhaps squire-hood wouldn't be so bad after all. "Look. Let's start out easy. Do you have a... erm. Pycons don't ride horses do they." He looked a little more thoughtful after that, staring off into the sky as the squirrel stood there, slightly perplexed. But eventually, he decided that the man wasn't going to get to the right answer by himself. Goodness, if the man knew so little about Pycons, then it was going to be a difficult time for Arch. His patron would have no knowledge of the Py-Pole, or the Py-String, or the Py-Whip.... or Py-Ken.

"We use riding dogs, Ser. I have one at the Windmount Stables, although I don't ride him often." Mainly because he just disliked riding dogs. He didn't dislike dogs, but he hated riding them. After all, he could get about on the rooftops of the city just fine. Just as he had with Nyka. He could traverse the trees with ease, he could run about the city like it was nobody's business and he could make it around the areas just fine. The only times he ever needed to actually ride his dog was over extremely long distances, like across the Wildlands to reach other cities. But he wouldn't need to visit them often, and more times than not, he'd managed to hitch a ride with a wagon and follow them. He didn't need to ride a dog for day-to-day life, and neither did he feel comfortable riding them. He was a squirrel, and squirrels didn't ride dogs. They relied on themselves, and their own running and jumping abilities. If they couldn't run to where they wanted to be then they had no right trying, and no reason being a squirrel in the first place.

But.. the knights commanded it, and so he would follow, for now. "Good. We can go there now, and you can show me how good you are on such a creature. We shall work on your horse-riding until you can ride it with at least some speed and competence. And we will spar in the Training Grounds until you can swing a sword and block with a shield as well." He hated to break the mans spirit so soon but he felt like he had to object to all of this. He couldn't for a while though - the red-skinned man seemed so pleased with himself, as if he'd just resolved himself and all the issues. He hadn't, though.. and the squirrel couldn't let them fester like old wounds, it would just be cruel.

"Actually, I don't use a sword.. and I don't use a shield. I usually just end up jumping out of the way of everything. And I use my own fists, and a Py-Pole." Oh boy, this was becoming a really awkward first meeting for the Pycon and his Patron both. Hopefully things would improve in the future...

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

The mans lips tightened but he said absolutely nothing more. In fact, they walked all the way through the city in complete silence, with only a few glances their way - and those were swiftly turned away again when they saw the expression of the Patron knight that walked with his fists clenched and his mouth turned into nothing more than a tight, thin line. Of course Archailist felt entirely responsible, but he supposed that should have been accepted - since he was entirely responsible. He didn't feel overwhelmed.. but he did feel a bit sorry for the man, still. So, perhaps he could steer the conversations into something more friendly. "If I may ask.. why is your skin red?" Iros practically stopped mid-stride to look down at the squirrel with a look of complete surprise - thankfully, without a hint of condescension or any anger. Hopefully they could keep the conversation off the squirrel and on the patron, and everything would be just fine. They'd have to continue doing that for his entire squirehood, but it would be better than trying to face the fact that the squirrel was a squire now.

"I'm an Akalak." He'd never met one of those before. He couldn't even tell where they hailed from. "You've never heard of the Akalaks before. Riverfall? The Cyphrus Region?" The squirrel shook his head with each name, and the man only grew more and more dumbfounded as they continued. The Pycon had never traveled that much - sure, he'd gone to Nyka, and around and about during his years. But to travel all the way to these far-away lands was completely useless to him. He wanted to be a knight, yes.. he wanted to explore, yes. But exploring took so damn long, and he'd practically brushed the surface of Nyka and Syliras only. Nothing more. These new places were far too far away, and too disconnected from the world that the squirrel lived in and yet still knew so little about. Why should he spend so much time traveling over these strange seas, and these strange lands, just to visit them.. when he could remain completely content in the lands of Syliras?

Eventually, it didn't matter. They both stopped outside the Windmount Stables and the knight shook his head once again. "That is... surprising. There are few that do not know of us. Anyway - my skin is red because I am an Akalak. We all have darker skins than the.. other creatures." Well, it was certainly an intriguing thing to have, but right now, the squirrel would have to put such things into the back of his head to worry about later. Not even his braying curiosity could not spoil the moment that he would spend with the knight, riding across the city. At least until he realized that he wouldn't be traveling at eye-level. Or even.. foot-level. The knight's horse was huge, compared to the others, when he saw it standing there just outside the gates. A behemoth in all senses possible, although the man was pretty large too. "Since it'll just be... easier, why don't you hop up and I'll carry you to the dog. You just need to show me where." Well, at least the squirrel could climb, as long as the horse remained completely still.

First, he hopped right up onto the back leg and wrapped his arms and legs around it, before inching his way up. It was really more of a scooting because he couldn't even get a good grip on the coarse fur, but eventually the muscles tapered out and he had to use what little grip he could find on the clumps of fur to make his way the rest of the distance up the flank and to the space behind the Akalak. The horse's body was so huge, that the squirrel didn't even need to sit down.. it was big enough that he actually needed to walk from one end to the other, to climb over the Akalak's lap and onto a point just before the nape of its neck. The mane offered a better grip, and when he eventually glanced up to nod to the patron, he could see a bit of a smile there. Perhaps he'd actually managed to impress the knight, without even intending to.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

As the knight gently nudged the horse's flanks with his ankles, the horse jolted forwards into a gentle walk, and they begun their travels through the cacophony that was the Windmount Stables, both on horseback. The squirrel had to admit, he'd never thought he'd ever ride a horse. Let alone alongside a knight. "So, tell me. Do you know anything about riding a horse, Arch? Or riding a dog?" The squirrel could only shake his head - he knew nothing of either. Sure, he'd spent some time on them, but that didn't mean he knew anything about riding them. One could carry a sword their entire lives and never learn how to use it, so the same could go for riding a dog around. The knight only nodded, apparently storing it away for later. "It's one of the things you'll have to learn. A knight must be able to ride his dog into battle, and around the city on patrols whenever needed. You and I will have to go out and ride often, in patrols and general riding lessons, until you can at least stay on your dog while it's moving about. It's essential." Well, he certainly had picked one with a sense of work ethic. He could tell he'd be working hard over the next season or two, to get his knighthood. But he could also tell that he would be getting that knighthood.

Soon enough, they turned a corner and came to a long row of stalls - each with horses in them. As they walked further down, though, they could see one which didn't. And as the knight leaned over to inspect the insides, he smiled and pointed down with one large, red finger. "I think we just found your dog. You'll have to wake it up." The squirrel couldn't believe it until he'd jumped off the horse and straight onto the wooden door of the stall, but there he was - unsaddled, unbridled and the rest of it, but curled up and sleeping soundly. He almost didn't want to wake the poor thing, but then again.. this wouldn't just be a trial for the squirrel. His mount would have to work as well - he'd be the one waking up early every morning for saddling, and he'd be the one forced to put up with all of his blunders. And thinking back on how many blunders that the squirrel would most likely make, Arch suddenly found himself feeling a lot more sorry for Xarex than he had only a few moments ago.

"Come on, Xarex! Wake up already, we need to get moving!" The squirrel soon enough hopped down from the stall gate to stare at the waking dog, but the gate opened only a few moments later so that Ser Iros could step inside and inspect the 'mount', as well as the gear that hung on the walls and hooks around the stall. He seemed to approve, anyway. The Sykanis frankly couldn't give a petch as it rolled over onto its side and remained there instead, sprawled out with its tongue even drooping lazily from the corner of its mouth. They didn't have time to be messing around though! A few gentle, but persistent nudges against the canines chest at least brought attention back for long enough that the squirrel could display the reigns he'd picked up from the floor. And then, everything practically exploded as the dog realized what was about to happen. Archailist had trouble even managing to calm the dog down after that. "Hey! Stay still, otherwise I can't put this on.. uhm, Ser Iros, would you mind handing me the saddle? Wonderful.."

He wasn't very used to equipping the dog. When riding with Naia, he'd watched the girl equip her horse with all of its gear and afterwards watched her repeat the same thing for his dog. But he'd had very little practice doing it all by himself, and Gods forbid if he ever had to do it again. The saddle kept slipping off for whatever reason he didn't know, and the bridle kept slipping out of the canines mouth. Eventually, Ser Iros begun giving little snippets of advice - but even with those, he was visibly struggling. Xarex wasn't helping, with his energetic squirming.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Eventually, the squirrel managed to reach underneath the dog and secure the saddle on Xarex's back. Then the bit pushed into his mouth and the bridle set around his muzzle, like he'd seen Naia do with her horse. Finally, the reins attached to them in turn. At least he knew how to prepare the dog for riding.. although that never seemed to translate to actually being good at riding it. Throughout the entire thing, Ser Iros only watched patiently, judging him. He could tell that the man would most likely be assessing everything he did - after all, first impressions and all that. Although, there was no point. He knew absolutely nothing about riding. Even when the dog seemed all ready to roll, and the squirrel was about to hop onto his back, the man coughed and raised a hand, stopping him.

"Ahem. Your stirrups are tangled." It took the squirrel a while to understand what the man was talking about - at least, until he looked down and saw what he was pointing at. The round little things hanging off either side of the saddle were actually getting tangled up in the rest of the leather straps, pulling them back at awkward angles. Although he didn't see why it was important, he loosened the straps to pull the stirrups out of their way, before tightening them again so that the saddle wouldn't slip and slide about too much. When he tried a second time, there were no objections. But he still struggled a little to grip onto the saddle and tug himself over the dog's back, and situate himself in a way that was at least comfortable. The back of the saddle kept digging into the base of his tail and it turned his concentration off staying on the dogs back. He needed one that was more... adjusted to the squirrels figure. He didn't really want to move his tail, but eventually he consciously altered the position of the tail, and rose the joint an inch until it was somewhere around his lower back, instead of his hips.

"Alright. Sit up straight. Keep the reins loose, but hold them firmly. Squeeze gently with your knees and feet, and when you want to turn left or right, tug gently on the reins and squeeze with one knee. We'll walk out of here together, and then we'll move out of the city and towards the North Kabrin Road and the Bronze Woods to continue training. I'll need to show you everything about riding a dog, I suppose. It can't be that different from riding a horse." The squirrel nodded and gave it a try - gently tugging only one side of the reins, to tug Xarex's head to the right, while also squeezing with his right knee. To his utter surprise, it worked. Xarex slowly turned on the spot until they were facing the stall door.. and when he squeezed with both knees gently, the dog begun moving forwards. It wasn't very fast, and it felt very awkward.. but he was doing it. He was riding a dog by himself, instead of having a halter and lead connected to Naia's horse.

And he wasn't the only one proud of himself. Already he could see the Akalak nodding approvingly, before turning swiftly and walking down the alleys of stalls again, back the way they'd came. The squirrel struggled to keep up, though - when he tried turning again, he accidentally squeezed with the opposite knee and the dog couldn't make up which direction he was supposed to go. They turned nearly a full circle until the squirrel could stop the dog again, by tugging possibly a little too hard on the reins and pulling the dogs muzzle a little closer to his throat. Then they started walking again. Needless to say, Ser Iros didn't seem to be fond of waiting for them to catch up. He'd managed to turn his horse around, and fold both arms over his chest while he waited for the squirrel to catch up. "You'll need lots of practice. Maneuvering your dog... uhm. What's his name?"

He didn't even realize that he'd completely forgotten to explain what his riding dogs name was. "His name is Xarex. I got him in--" That was about as far as he managed to go.

"You'll be practicing with Xarex a lot. Teaching him, and yourself, to get through large crowds and under larger horses will be important if you want to make it out of simple patrols alive. We'll start practicing with that soon enough. For now, we need to make you more comfortable riding on a dogs back. Later, the complicated stuff."

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

After the speech, they continued walking in moderate silence - only broken by the occasional yelp and struggled grunt as the squirrel tried to control the energetic little canine. He could only steer when they were walking slow, but Arch wouldn't have any of that. He wanted to run - and catch up with the patron knight that walked far ahead, only giving the occasional glance back to make sure the squirrel was still on his dog. It felt more like a wrestling match than anything, maintaining control over the little dog as he tried, over and over, to lurch forwards and get closer. When they rounded the corner and the patron disappeared nearly completely from sight for a few ticks, the dog suddenly seemed calmer. Everything was easier - he could steer Xarex left and right with much less resistance, and their was a slow pace that wasn't forced. At long last, he could really feel like he was getting the hang of riding a dog - and it didn't feel that bad, in the end. It certainly made the squirrel feel a bit taller than normal - and a bit more regal. Like a real knight.

One day, he would ride in shining steel-plate armour and Xarex would have all the tack and plate as well, as a war dog, and they would both ride about the entire city, with nobody to challenge their might or their right as a knight of the Order. He could all see it before him, as clearly as he saw Syna's light in the sky!

And then they rounded the corner as well, and the knight came back into view. He was a lot farther than the squirrel remembered, even looked a bit smaller, because he stood right next to the gate out of the stables. All at once, the dog lurched forwards once again and the squirrel wasn't prepared for it. His grip tightened as his entire body tipped backwards - it was only the stirrups and the reins that held the squirrel on Xarex's back, and even that grip was flimsy and unsure. He nearly toppled right off - but only nearly. Soon, the control was back and the dog was restrained. He'd have a long way to go, but hopefully it wouldn't go by that slowly. As long as he could keep the gentle hold that he had on the dog.. as long as they could keep it going slow and steady, where he could maintain complete control. Apparently Ser Iros had other ideas, because the next words flung across the Stables nearly turned his entire body to stone.

"Arch, give him leeway. Snap the reins once and give him a gentle nudge in the sides. We need to get moving if we're going to get anything done today." He didn't want to give the dog leeway... whatever that meant. But he didn't want to disobey his patron knight, least of all on the first day with him. So, he did what he was told.. and gave a quick snap to the reins to make them tug gently on the dogs muzzle, before nudging his sides and then relaxing them again. He'd expected it to give a bit of a kick - not what really happened though. He had to say, the man knew a lot about riding anything, even if it was a dog.

Suddenly, Xarex broke into a burst of speed that the squirrel was nowhere near prepared for. The body jerked beneath and even as he tried to tug on the reins to try and slow the body down, it continued to lurch forwards faster than the squirrel could regain balance. It only took a matter of ticks before his grip fumbled and slipped altogether - causing Arch to tumble right off the back of the canines back, and roll to a stop on the floor. The dog, meanwhile, continued running while completely rider-less all the way up to the giant horse and the man, before sitting there and waiting for the squirrel to rise up and walk there himself. He would have ran, but.. he honestly couldn't pick up the energy to do so. His head hung low for that moment. Even lower, when he heard the voice of his patron but couldn't even bring himself to lift his own head. "We'll have to work on that."

Continued here.

[Radiant]

Archailist :

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	+4 XP
Socialization	+3 XP
Rhetoric	+2 XP
Riding: Dog	+3 XP
Acrobatics	+1 XP
Leadership	+1 XP
Endurance	+1 XP

Lores

Lore Earned

Iros: My Patron Knight

Iros: A Red Akalak

Akalak: Warrior Race From Riverfall

Location: Antinous Training Grounds

Location: Windmount Stables

Pycon Ride Dogs, Not Horses

Xarex: My Riding Dog

Riding: The Basics

Loots

+6 Shield Points

Notes :

Wooo! What a long and wonderful solo, Arch!

Enjoy your grades!

My radiance is not bright enough?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, beam me a PM and we can work it out.