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

[Garland]

Summer 51

The days have gone by and the storm had rolled off. There was the occasional drizzle of rain and wind that lasted maybe a bell or two, but so far nothing really people should be worried about.

What people should be worried about is the large influx of bandits coming in and plundering trade routes. Garland stood on the range, the sun burning high in the sky as Garland readied his crossbow.

He yelled out to a squire on his left, holding a similar crossbow. "Hey Cree! What time is it!?" Garland said, trying to trip him up with his booming voice.

Cree's shot was dead center if Garland hadn't called out. "It's high noon, you shyke for brains, you've asked me like five chimes ago." Cree gritted his teeth and spat out a piece of straw he was chewing on and reloaded his crossbow.

Garland laughed and fired his own crossbow. The mechanism released the latch holding the bolt and sent the glorified stick with metal on one end and a few feathers on the other into the target, hitting the bullseye.

It wasn't really hard to hit constant bullseyes with a crossbow, the only problem was drawing it fast enough and firing it in the thick of battle without hitting your own friends in the process.

Though the same could be said about the bow, using any ranged weapon in a large fray just seems like a bad idea unless there was more of them and less of you.

Garland pulled back the string and locked it back into place. He then pulled another bolt and placed it on the grove of the crossbow. He aimed it again and fired.

The bolt flew straight, there was no wind today and that meant it would be good to practice archery or crossbowmanship. Though if one was hoping for practicality, then it would be better to get use to the wind being a factor in ever shot.

"It's not exactly high noon if it's five chimes after noon actually. Though I admit 'it's five chimes after noon' doesn't sound as good as high noon"

Cree just sighed and continued practicing with his own crossbow.

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others Samuel's armour clanked loudly as his feet pounded the ground in the training grounds. He had decided to occasionally run in full armour in the effort to try and improve his mobility in battle. However the midday heat was fast approaching and sweat poured off his face and slightly obscured his vision as it dripped into his eyes. Samuel's legs felt like lead, the additional weight of the armour severely increased the difficulty of the exercise. Seeing his decided endpoint in sight, Samuel tried to increase his stride length in order to finish his run with a burst of speed. His effort was somewhat successful, leaving him gasping for breath with his hands on his knees once he had finished. After he had recovered Samuel removed his helmet and looked around the training grounds. Having already engaged in some high intensity exercise, Samuel decided that he wanted to do something slightly less demanding. His eyes fixed on the archery range. “Aye, that'll do perfectly” he thought to himself as he walked over. Samuel watched two squires firing crossbows and laughed quietly as one tried to distract the other. Watching them brought back bitter-sweet memories of his own antics as a squire and friends who were gone. “Not the time to dwell on the past” he decided as he pushed the memories to the back of his mind. Samuel watched closely as the squires reloaded the crossbows. It took much longer than reloading a short bow and he wondered how easy it would be to reload while riding a horse. Samuel came and stood just to the right of the two squires, readying his short bow to fire. He placed his feet in a firm position, shoulder width apart. He nocked an arrow, drew, and let loose. The arrow struck near the middle, the lack of wind and proximity of the target meant it wasn't a particularly difficult shot. “Not perfect though” he thought to himself as he carefully lined himself up for another shot. After placing a few shots in the target (and one missing by a hair due to a lapse in concentration) he turned to the squire next to him. “Have you tried reloading one of those on horseback?” Samuel inquired, “I'm wondering how difficult it would be. The name's Samuel.” He smiled in greeting and extended his hand to shake.

[Garland]

"Huh?" Garland turned to the right to see someone else joining in on the practice, Garland noted the symbol of a sword on his person. "Loading it on horseback huh? It depends, ser. If you plan on using a full-fledged crossbow, the big ones, then it's pretty much impossible to reload it, but if it's just a small one like this." He motioned to his own weapon. "You only need one hand to load it."

Garland reloaded his weapon again and fired at the target. He didn't bother aiming, he was interested on the knight next to him. "Ser, mind if I ask for your name? My name is Squire Garland of Sera Catherine charge."

The bolt he had fired landed right on the target again. Garland was by no means an expert with a crossbow, heck, in a battle after the first shot he would just throw his weapon away because reloading it in the thick of battle was hard, but actually firing and hitting the target was easy.

If he really wanted to train with a crossbow, or at least the way he uses it, he would need an obstacle course rather than a stationary target. Though he doesn't remember any obstacle course on the training grounds, so the only thing he had to train with is a stationary target.

"I should practice my shortbow skills and marksmanship now that I think about it... Even though this crossbow is my weapon of choice for ranged attacks, it's not as fast as a bow I must admit." Garland said and went over to a rack filled with weapons. Garland took out a shortbow and a quiver of arrows.

"It's been a while since I've actually used a shortbow. Ser, mind giving me a few pointers?" Garland held out his bow and pulled out an arrow from the quiver.

Garland nocked an arrow into the bow and drew back the bowstring, aiming at the target. His hands shook at the tension of the bow, he wasn't use to using a shortbow, and when he released, it hit the target, but no where near the bullseye.

Garland sighed and tried to remember what Alex had taught him that one time. Legs apart, body to the side, DO NOT DO the thing where Alex raised up his longbow and slowly brought it down to draw, apparently that was only used for longbows.

Garland nocked another arrow and pulled back the bowstring to his chin. He took a deep breath and held his stance and fired. He was not accustomed to a bow, even if his stance was good, his hand still shook, but the arrow hit much closer to the bullseye than the previous shot.

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others Samuel inspected the weapon closer, it certainly did look easier to reload than a regular crossbow. Samuel recalled the way the large crossbows had to be braced against the ground to reload, the marksman's foot providing the necessary draw strength. As Garland reloaded again, Samuel tried to work out how much longer it took to reload than a bow. “As a rough estimate I would think the fire rate is at least two times slower than my shortbow,” Samuel thought to himself, “perhaps even slower.” Samuel raised his bow, pulled the bowstring taut and, keeping his body as relaxed as possible, released the arrow. The arrow struck very close to the bullseye, one of the best shots Samuel had made today. The knight smiled, happy with the shot. Just as Samuel lined up to take another, Garland asked Samuel to help him with his own archery. The distraction resulting in the arrow barely striking the target, but Samuel wasn't upset. He realised that being able to fire in all types of situation was important. Turning to the squire he said “Aye, I'm happy to do that. Just to warn you, I've not had too much experience with teaching others. I'll certainly do my best though.” Samuel watched as Garland fired at the target. For the first shot Garland's form seemed weak in Samuel's opinion, but it was improved for the second. Samuel stopped him before he fired another arrow. “I think the biggest problem you're having at the moment is the fact that you're not that used to firing a bow.” Samuel suggested “How about we do something fun to try and change that? I suggest we both see how many arrows we can fire in a single chime, I'll call halt when it's been about that long. Forget about where they strike on the target, just get used to the feel of a bow as it fires an arrow. How does that sound? It's occasionally not a bad idea in real life either. If you've got a group of enemies charging you down, aiming isn't terribly important.” Samuel smiled encouragingly and fixed his stance, ready to begin as soon as Garland said he was ready.

[Garland]

Garland nodded and shook his limbs, to loosen them up. "Right. Let's do this..." Garland looked over to the knight and tested the bow string, feeling the power of the bow. There wasn't really much power in the shortbow, but to be fair, it wasn't made for power, it was made for speed.

Garland lifted up the bow and held his arm out and his hand hovering over his quiver of arrows. "I'm ready." As soon as Garland said that, their little competition had started.

Garland quickly pulled out an arrow and nocked it, he pulled back to his chin, fully drawing the bowstring rather than the practical thing of only half-drawing for speed.

He release the arrow and sent it flying down the range, with a satisfying twhoop the arrow embedded itself into the target, rather close to the center.

But accuracy isn't what Garland is after right now, Ser Samuel might have already shot two arrows by the time Garland shot one. Garland dared not avert his eyes from the target as he took another arrow from the quiver and nocked it into his bow.

He pulled back, not to his chin, but not enough to bridge the distance to the target. The arrow fell just short of the target. Garland growled in frustration and pulled out another arrow.

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others Samuel nocked his arrow and released, drawing the bow to about 75% and firing. Such a technique would be next to useless against someone in armour, not that shortbows are particularly good at piercing armour anyway. The arrow struck the bottom of the target. Samuel's mind briefly recognised the fact that a crossbow would be much more effective at punching through armour than his own ranged weapon. The thought cost him a moment as he fumbled his next arrow, so reloading took slightly longer than he wanted. This arrow flew true as well, striking the target just before Garland's shot fell short of the target. Samuel focused on consistency, drawing a similar amount each time and trying to not waste any time while reloading. Samuel was faintly aware of Garland firing arrows next to him, but he tried to block it out and focus on his own technique. Most of Samuel's arrows were striking the target, but a couple had gone wide due to the fact he was taking very little time to aim. About halfway through the chime, Samuel dropped an arrow as he was reloading. Instead of ignoring it and just using another he wasted precious time trying to grab it from the ground. Samuel growled quietly, annoyed at the inefficiency of his decision. As the time continued, Samuel realised that his right arm was starting to ache. He wasn't used to this speed shooting and his body was all too happy to notify him as such. Taking a couple more painful shots, much more slowly than he had been at the start, Samuel finally called “Stop.” The knight massaged his arm, feeling its tightness and trying to relieve some of it. “How'd it go for you?” Samuel asked “I find doing things like that quite refreshing. Shall we go and count up?” Samuel wandered over to the target and began to count how many arrows he'd fired and how many had actually struck the target. “I fired 24, 5 of which missed the target.” he said. Samuel did the subtraction to double check that he'd counted correctly. “Which means I score 19, which is how many there are in the target.” he said with a small smile, “What did you get lad?”

[Garland]

Garland fired another arrow at the target, slow but accurate. He tried firing faster, but it ended up either missing, or falling short of the target.

Garland pulled out another arrow, nocked it, and pulled it back to his chin. The arrow flew straight at the target, striking it dead center on the target. After a chime of firing, nocking, and firing again, Samuel had stopped their competition.

"Shyke!" Garland cursed and pulled the arrow away from the bow. It was obvious Samuel won because of the speed, but if this was about accuracy, Garland only missed twice.

"Fifteen hit, two missed." Garland counted off and looked over to Sam. "Good game, I enjoyed that, and I feel like my arm is jelly right now, a crossbow is a lot easier on the arm I must say."

Garland retrieved the arrows from the target and returned them to their quiver. A groan escaped Garland's mouth as he shook his hand to remove the stiffness from firing the bow.

"Well, It seemed you won our shooting competition. What about a spar then, Ser? That might be a good way to get the bow strain in our arms off." Garland offered and went over to a weapons rack and pulled out a familiar feeling training sword.

Garland thought about using a different weapon to train with, he was pretty good with a blade already. He then spotted another weapon, a weapon not used by the majority of the knighthood because it's more effective on armored opponents rather than the usual rabble.

A blunted hand axe was sitting nicely on the rack, although a bit disused, it's still a good weapon and felt balanced in Garland's hand. Garland took a few cautionary swings in the air, trying to get a feel for the weight and length of the weapon.

Garland took a shield as well, a heather shield, sturdy but very used and dented in a few places. "Let's head to the training pit."

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others “Aye, it was good fun.” Samuel replied, “My arm is feeling the burn too lad, firing at that speed is not a regular occurrence for me. Your shots were more accurate than mine, your consistency is pretty impressive. It may be a good idea for you to do this exercise again at some point. See if you can go any quicker!” Samuel copied Garland and collected his own arrows, putting them away in the quiver and setting them aside. Samuel nodded when Garland suggested a spar, moving to pick up his shield and put it onto his arm. He grabbed his sword and followed Garland to the weapons rack. The way Garland picked up the sword made Samuel feel slightly nervous, he handled it with a confidence that hinted at great skill. “I do believe this squire is actually my superior in swordsmanship” Samuel thought to himself with a grimace. Samuel relaxed a little when the squire picked up the hand axe, he seemed much more cautious with that weapon. Samuel had become wary of squires that appeared to have joined the knighthood late, they tended to be just as deadly as the average knight and Samuel was definitely not at his best at that moment. “Actually I've been meaning to practise fighting in enclosed spaces a little more, I currently do far too much slashing for use in corridors and such.” said Samuel, “Perhaps we could spar in the mock hallways? It would be most helpful for me if you're happy to do so.” Samuel hoped that the fact that he was a knight would be enough to convince Garland to listen to him, but he would not order the squire to train in a certain way if he didn't want to. He believed that the best way to lead others is by example and Samuel knew he certainly wouldn't want a superior forcing him to train in certain way. “Only his patron knight has the right to do that” Samuel decided, and waited for Garland's response to his suggestion. Samuel decided he would follow Garland wherever the squire decided he wanted to spar.

[Garland]

Garland nodded at the training hall. The problem with that is a sword isn't really all that good in tight spaces. "Are you sure?You're putting yourself in disadvantage in cramped spaces."

Garland simply smiled and shook his head, who was he to question a knight? And learning how to fight in cramped quarters would be beneficial since most of Syliras is just tight halls and corridors.

"Sure, let's spar in the mock hallways." Garland said and headed off to a large building that was usually used for indoor training when it was impossible to train outside.

The main room inside was spacious, a large open area with smooth stone flooring and wooden walls that held torches on the walls, there were also windows and several rooms scattered about.

The large main room was meant for regular spars, a large open area with only skill and the weapons you have as a means to win. The rest of the building however was rather unorthodox. The entire building was a huge exercise to teach squires and sometimes even knights that the fancy parries, ripostes weren't all that effective when chasing someone down or when someone uses their environment to fight.

In truth, this building wasn't used much and only used when training outside was impossible.

Garland walked into the building, seeing it empty with only a few squires and pages cleaning the area or at least pretending to look busy.

"How do you want to do this? I'll follow your lead." Garland said and walked around the room, he swung his axe around, getting more of a feel for the weapon, it was going to be difficult to gauge the distance with the axe because Garland has no idea how to fight with an axe. He has no idea where to hold it, what kind of swings and movements were better suited for an axe rather than a sword or some trick axe users use against opponents with longer range than them.

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others Samuel grinned wryly. “Aye, but being at a disadvantage is something we should all learn to deal with.” Samuel said, “I'm sure I'll cope.” Samuel followed Garland to the indoor area, studying him to work out how would be best to beat him. Samuel was a fair few inches taller than the squire, so he supposed that he should try and use his superior reach. However the squire seemed powerful for his size, so Samuel was not sure who would have the advantage in terms of raw strength. As the pair arrived, the knight looked round the main room and noted the building was nearly empty. However his eyes narrowed slightly when he spotted two squires aged about 14 chatting loudly in the corner, clearly shirking. “You two!” he called over to them, a disapproving look on his face, “I assume you're not supposed to be just chatting? Find something productive to do or I'll assign you something.” The two squires quickly got up and moved over to a weapons rack. Satisfied that he'd been obeyed, Samuel turned back to Garland. “Squires are often lazy at that age,” Samuel commented, “I know I could be.” Samuel smirked at the thought of it, remembering the squire who had helped him change his attitude towards training. Now he enjoyed honing his skills, but back then had been a hesitant learner at best. “At what age did you join the order?” he inquired politely. Samuel gestured over to the twisting corridors and started to walk over, assuming that Garland would follow him. He strode through the maze-like structure, walking for about a chime until they were deep within the corridors. Turning to face the squire, he limbered up and took a defensive stance. “Let me know when you're ready” he said. As soon as Garland replied, Samuel started the fight in his favourite way. He dashed forward, throwing his weight at his opponent and swinging his shield in order to try and unbalance Garland. He followed that with a simple jab with his blade, remembering that slashing would be difficult in the enclosed space.