Solo Weapons & Horses

[Poppy Blackburn]

10th Spring, 516 AV

Horse riding. Mounted combat fully armoured. Poppy was about to take on these two challenges today, and of the two, one had never even been attempted by her before. She’d never fought or used any form of weapons while on a horse. This would be venturing into new territory for her. Well, somewhat. After all, she still knew the basics of riding a horse. While she was no expert at riding horses, she wasn’t a complete beginner either, having some experience on horse riding before.

The last time she had been anywhere on or near a horse, she was still back home in the Mithryn Outpost. Without a horse to ride, her riding skills had been left dormant until now. Her patron, Ser Ramsey Druva had arranged for her to loan one of her own from the Windmount Stables, which she would be using for the entirety of her training in the order as a squire. Making her way to the stables at the allotted time, the lass waited patiently, and her patience was soon rewarded as the Sergeant Knight led out one of the most beautiful mares she had ever seen.

It was a Kavinka Painted Mount. Trotting up slowly to her saddle-free, led by the reigns that he held, the mare seemed docile enough, yet still somehow managed to have a lively vigour about her. He handed the reins over to her, and Poppy gave the horse a pat, caressing its neck and mane. “What’s her name?” she asked curiously.

“Sunstar.” the answer came back almost immediately. “A beautiful name for a beautiful horse.” she remarked. The lass continued patting and caressing the head and neck of the horse, this time using its name, introducing herself to the horse.

“My name’s Poppy, it’s very nice to meet you Sunstar. I hope we will do well together.” Ser Ramsey walked over towards the inside of the stables, peeking his head out and asking “Like her?” Turning her gaze to him, she answered “Yes, I do. Very much. She’s lovely.” Giving her a contented smile, he simply said “I thought you would. Seems a bit like you in several ways.”

He then followed up with a hearty chortle. Two chimes later, Ser Ramsey emerged, leading out another horse, a black stallion, which was no doubt his. “Saddle up, girl. You know how it goes, you’’ve done it before.” Giving him a curt nod, she grabbed the saddle blanket hanging over a wooden post nearby, and began hefting it, then throwing it over the mare’s back.

“A little more down, it’s too high up.” Her patron suggested. Quickly making the adjustments, Poppy pulled the blanket down the back of the mare slightly. With that done, she grabbed the saddle and lugged it back to Sunstar, before hauling it up over the blanket. Next, came the bridle.

Now, this was the part she really disliked doing, for it can be rather tedious. Placing the reins over the mare’s head and resting them on the horse’s back, before placing the bit over Sunstar’s mouth. Poppy was surprised with how well the horse was taking all of this without any fuss at all. She gave the mare an affectionate pat and whispered to her gently. “Well done girl. You’re great.”

[Poppy Blackburn]

The next step was all about mounting up. Poppy was no stranger to getting atop a horse, but this time it was different. This time she was clad in full plate armour, and she was a lot more heavy and bulky, which presented a whole new level of challenge. She knew the motions would be the same, however her movements were more restrictive now, and she had to put in the extra effort compared to her unarmoured self. Placing one hand on the horn of the saddle and a foot in a stirrup, the lass made an attempt to lift herself up with a little hop, but what would usually work with hardly an problem at all now posed a different set of problems.

Not taking the extra weight of the suit of armour into the equation had led her to lose her balance, causing her to fall to the ground in a cringe-inducing noisy crash of metal. She could hear the laughter of her patron somewhere in the vicinity. Urgh. Seeing stars and with the breath knocked out of her, she decided to lay there for several ticks to regain her focus. The knight wasn’t about to let his squire slack, as he promptly quipped. “Hey, you sleeping or what?!”

Not bothering to retort to his snarky remark, Poppy got herself up to a view of his smirking face. Determination now filled her as she willed herself not to fall once more. Attempting the maneuver once again, the lass gripped the horn firmly, let one foot into a stirrup, and lifted herself up, leaning forward to account for the extra weight of her armour. Maintaining her balance, she shifted her other leg to the other stirrup and firmly shifted herself in the saddle, giving the thumbs up gesture to her patron with a smile. When the both of them were mounted, they headed out of the stables and began to make their way to the Windmount Track and Field.

It was a large open field that was designed not only for the training of horses but the racing of them as well. The fence placed around the perimeter helps out the natural predators such as wolves and the like.

Upon their arrival in the field, Poppy glanced around and saw that it was almost empty, despite it already being late in the morning. Right in the distance ahead was what looked to be a training structure of sorts. A worn metal breastplate fitted with an equally worn and badly scratched helmet on its top. A long pole stuck out on one end was fitted with a worn faded looking shield, while on the other hand, it was weighed down by a heavy sack. A gaze was broken as Ser Ramsey spoke up.

“That is a quintain, and what mounted squires and knights use to practice mounted combat. That’s what you’ll be practising with today.” A quintain. An interesting piece of ingenuity to say the least. “Watch closely. I’ll show you how it’s done.” Before he was even finished, he had raised down the visor of his helmet and urged the horse into a gallop, his greatsword drawn in one hand, and shield in the other. As he approached the shield, he swung his sword in swift move and the sharp clash of steel upon steel filled the air.

Turning back around, he did the same, this time thrusting his blade in a quick stab, striking the shield once more. Returning to her, he raised his visor and said.

“That is how it’s done. Now it’s your turn.”

[Poppy Blackburn]

It was her turn. Her turn to give an attempt at what she had just been shown. Resettling and adjusting herself in her seat in the saddle, she mustered her determination and exhaled. Raising down the visor of her helmet, Poppy urged Sunstar forward with a simple tap of her foot, just like how she had been taught long ago by the hunters and knights at the Mithryn Outpost.

Control the movements and speed of the horse through your legs, for your hands are often full, or better left to carry out more useful tasks. With the blade in her right hand, and the shield in her left, the lass didn’t really have any other options. Ever welcoming of difficulties that presented itself, Poppy usually rose to the challenge, knocking them out of the way. This would be no different. It wasn’t wrong to say that she was highly confident of her activities. The trot turned into a canter that gradually turned into a gallop, as the squire and mare pair pounded on the grassy ground, rapidly approaching the quintain coming right up. As the shield of the quintain came within striking distance, the squire lashed out with her blade, but felt nothing as the weapon struck the empty air. She had missed.

Hitting the shield arm of the quintain was not an easy task especially when using a weapon with as limited a reach as a longsword at that speed. Those who practised usually did so with a spear or a lance and that made the job significantly easier. The fact that her arms weren’t very long to begin with was yet another challenge to overcome. She knew that she needed to both account for the distance to target as all she had was one swing. Wheeling the horse around by leaning on her right applying pressure on the right seatbone, the mare got the message and turned and she led the horse back to the starting point to give it another try. As she got back, unsurprisingly, Ser Ramsey lectured her on the failure.

“Account for the distance to target and swing your weapon in time, girl! Reach out with your short arms and strike the target. Lean out of your seat if you have to, just don’t fall off, for the love of Yahal.” Simply giving him a nod, Poppy turned Sunstar around to get ready for her second attempt.

After several ticks, they were off and forwards once more, as the lass made the attempt to move as close as she can, and as the shield of the quintain zoomed up close, she leaned slightly out of her seat to the left, extending her sword arm, and counting down in her head, 3..2..1..Poppy swung the blade out and this time, the satisfying blow of the impact of steel on steel sent the sound of the blow up in the air, as vibrations crawled up her arm, and a sense of joy overcame her, the feeling of warmth and delight sprouting beneath her chest. She did it. She’d hit the target. Now to do it several more times until she got the hang of it down.

[Poppy Blackburn]

Strike the shield several more times on the quintain she may have, but Poppy was not close to being done yet, as she would soon realise when she slowed her mare down into a trot back towards her patron back at her starting point in the grassy field. The lass was however surprised to see the senior knight now resting with the butt of a spear’s shaft resting on the grass-field ground. When and where did he get that? I didn’t see him leave. But then again, there may have been plenty of opportunities for him to go and get them for her attention had not been constantly fixed onto him, but on the task on hand, which was then focused on striking the quintain. Gripping the shaft of the lance in his hand, he mimicked and gestured in the correct motions of how she should use the lance to strike the shield, thrusting forwards, in an action not too different from a spear.

Several chimes later, with the demonstrations completed, Ser Ramsey motioned for her grab the weapon from him, and she did so accordingly, grabbing the shaft of the lance as he tossed the weapon at her, catching it with a firm armoured grip. Being a much longer weapon than the longsword she had been using for the last bell, she held the lance in a horizontal fashion this time, with bladed head facing forwards poised to attack. Urging Sunstar forward, the mare progressed from a canter into a gallop, gaining speed along with momentum, weapon ready to strike.

With significantly more reach than the sword, the difficulty in reaching the shield was much, much lower than before. It was always easier to progress from difficult to easy after all. The tip of the lance struck the quintain’s shield with a harder and more impactful blow than she had gotten when using a sword, propelled by the momentum of the driving force. The impact caused her to jerk back in the saddle slightly, but the lass soon recovered a she righted herself.

Despite this being the first time using a lance, it was not a complicated weapon to use at all, and especially not on a stationary target. Poppy could definitely see herself getting used to the lance as a secondary weapon while on horseback. There would be one other weapon to practise on horseback, and when the squire returned once more, she was not surprised to see the recurve shortbow he held in his hands, indicating to her that this was next.

Now, this would be a greater challenge. She wasn’t even a competent archer on foot, being mounted would simply make it worst. Poppy protested vehemently, stating that she still needed more practise on foot first, but the protest fell on deaf ears. “I can’t even shoot that well on foot yet, let’s not do this now, please?” Ignoring her plea, Ser Ramsey urged her forward with nary a word, his unrelenting stoic expression spoke about the lack of concern he had for her difficulties.