Solo What the Future Holds

[Maria Talwa]

77, Winter, 518

Having originally intended to travel to Ravok, Maria had aborted those plans, and traveled with a merchant caravan out of Riverfall for a year and a season. Now she had finally found her way back home to Sunberth. Much to her surprise, her house hadn't been looted or plundered, and was just the way she left it. With her two new wooden short swords in hand, Maria looked around her little cottage and smiled to herself. It wasn't much of a home, but it was hers. Feeling good, even after being out on the road for so long, Maria decided it was time for a some training.

There wasn't much more she could improve just by swinging swords at thin air anymore, so Maria had brought a very nice training dummy yesterday, and had it installed in her little cottage. It took up a good bit of room, making her think an upgrade in living quarters might be due in the near future. Holding both wooden short swords underhand style, Maria dropped down into a fight stance, and prepared to have at her stationary opponent. Living in Sunberth wasn't always easy, and she wasn't about to caught defenseless.

Lunging forward she struck the dummy in the side, causing a small wooden 'clack' and followed through with two more quick strikes, then quickly ducked down and spun back, as if to avoid a counter attack. Tilting her to one side, then the other in a curious manner, she struck the dummy again, watching it wobble slightly. It did react like a person to a small degree, which made for a nice change, and gave her something solid to hit. That was something that she very much liked. With a bit of a smirk, she spun both swords in hand, determined to get her moneys worth out of this new play toy.

Spinning the swords in hand a second time, she circled slowly, like a predator moving in for the kill. In many ways, Maria was. Right now she was just refining her skills. Slapping the dummy with her swords five times in quick succession, she spun around with a roundhouse kick, caught her leg on one of the chains, and fell back onto the floor. Laying there and staring up at the ceiling, she let out an annoyed sigh. Had this been a real fight, she would have been in serious trouble.

Maria was getting a lot better with her swordplay, but unarmed combat was still a bust. While laying there and thinking about that, it started to rain. Listening to a peal of thunder ripple across the gray clouds outside, the water began to patter across the roof. It also began to drop through one of the tiny holes onto her forehead.

“Figures.” Moving a chair under the drip, she took a wad of cloth, put a small bit of leather over it, then stood on the chair and stuffed it into the hole. Ready to practice again, she moved the chair, picked her swords back up, and looked at the dummy.

“Alright you wooden menace, you and me are gonna have it out.”

WC: 525

[Maria Talwa]

Trying out different techniques, rather than brute force, even though it was her preferred, Maria spun around, whirling her blades. The idea was to try to work on a technique that was fast and confusing. Coming around in a circle she slid the blade across the dummy's chest in a slice, instead of her normal slam the blade into someone and hack. Her skills had improved enough that Maria felt it was time to develop a refined technique, instead of smash and bash.

More than once she struck the dummy resulting in the wooden blade clattering to the floor. Over and over she tried different approaches, speeds, and angles. The swords were also raining down almost as much as the water on the roof. When she couldn't take the frustration anymore, Maria hauled off and sucker punched the dummy in the head. It rocked back and forth seemingly no worse for the wear, though the same couldn't be said for her. Walking around in a circle, Maria was shaking her hand and swearing to herself.

Anger wouldn't serve her well here, this was something that required patience and practice. That was a problem, because most of the time Maria's anger was barely contained, simmering just under the surface and waiting for a excuse to break free. Self-control was never something that had been prioritized, instead yielding to passion and enjoying it took precedence. Taking a deep breath, Maria picked her swords up, and began to spin them around again. This time she decided to use a different approach. Trying to learn everything at once would only makes things harder, so the one step at a time method seemed like a better idea.

Weapons in hand, Maria swung it at the dummy, barely striking it, then drew back and repeated the same move. She struck the dummy over and over again in the exact same manner. As Maria did this, she began to think about having seen other fighters doing the same thing. For a long time Maria wondered why, now it was starting to make sense. Wood cracking against wood, over and over and over again. Connecting with the same strike until her arm began to tire, Maria's mind was sharpening. She could see her opponent so clearly now, he was already laying dead on the floor.

The sound of wood against wood, it was almost hypnotic. Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack. Not even thinking about the spinning motion that came before the strike anymore, Maria's arm moved in an arc, nor did she think about where the blow would land, instead seeing it in her mind, and then making it happen. Then all at once the focus shattered like a rock hurled through a window as she realized something... there was no anger in her attacks. Instead of the nearly mind numbing hatred that surged through her in battle, she had been training without it. She didn't even understand that. Her anger had been there since the earliest memories she could dig up, driving her forward, keeping her alive.

WC: 510

[Maria Talwa]

Standing there in her little cottage, Maria was like a statue, looking down at the hands that were curled around the wooden swords. It was gone... there was no anger... there was... no... her left hand began shaking as her mind raced. Where was her hate, her anger, her lust for blood and vengeance. It was gone and there was nothing in its place. Only the patter of rain on the roof and stillness of her own mind. Both hands were shaking now, and letting out a shriek that would stand hair on end, Maria lunged at the dummy, striking it over and over again.

There was no focus, no grace, not even skill. It was wild hacking of a panicking mind that had lost the only thing it had known for so many years. Beginning as a small spark, a smoldering ember in the back of her mind, the anger exploded like a tidal wave. Muscles tightened, arms swung faster, and each blow swayed the dummy harder than before. When Maria finally stopped, her heart was pounding like a drum in her ears, chest pounded under the force of her breathing, but all was not well. The anger that she had been so desperately searching for had returned, but now, it felt... wrong.

The anger was Maria, she was the anger. They had existing as something that was one in the same, two that had been fused together such that one could hardly tell where she started. and the anger stopped. Now there was Maria and her anger. There was this division that her mind couldn't reconcile. Something was different, something... had changed. Her anger had always ebbed and flowed, like an ocean tide, but this was the first time that she had ever been completely without it, and it felt as if a part of her had been ripped away. It was like this giant, empty hole inside of her mind. Trying desperately to understand what was happening, Maria's mind raced.

It had happened when she focused on the training so much, that it was the only thing in her mind, her world. In that one moment, the only thing that had existed was the dummy and the sword that was striking it. Needing to know what was happening, Maria narrowed her eyes, and leveled the weapon at the wooden nemesis. Again she began to strike, hitting it time and time again, without thought or intent. She let the motion become as natural as walking or talking. Her breathing became rhythmic, the motion steady, then she staggered back as her focus shattered a second time.

Like a frightened animal her anger clawed its way back into her mind. It tore through her causing blood to boil, making Maria so angry that her vision began to turn red. She wanted to destroy everyone and everything in sight. It didn't matter, it all had to go! Then the anger disappeared again, just as quickly as it had overtaken her. The focus began to return and Maria could think clearly again. None of this made any sense, she shouldn't have been that angry. It was truly rare for her to be so enraged.

WC: 532

[Maria Talwa]

It started out almost like heartburn, the pain in Maria's chest. It burned, bubbling and roiling like acid, churning and spitting as it tried to get loose, only to fade a moment later and be replaced by calm. The mental back and forth continued until Maria was grabbing at the sides of her head, ready to tear her hair out. It was like two voices vying for dominance in her mind. Hate... calm... kill... think... destroy... reason... passion... serenity... It was getting to the point of driving a crazy man sane, and Maria couldn't take it anymore.

“SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUP!” Throwing her head back, Maria screamed at everything and nothing at the same time, and in one explosive outburst, it stopped. Silence reigned within her mind once more. While Maria may have relied on passion and instinct for survival, she wasn't an animal and capable of rational thinking. She needed to know what had happened, figure out why her mind felt like it was tearing itself apart from the inside out. Walking out into the pouring rain, she was little more than a shadow in the night, appearing ever so briefly to the crack of lightning, only to be cloaked in darkness once more.

Looking into the sky as if it held any answers, the water felt good against her skin. It seemed to wash away the frustration she was feeling. Closing her eyes against it, Maria let go of the tenuous control she had over her own mind to see what happened. If she was ever going to be able to control this, first she needed to understand it. The hatred, anger, and desire to inflict pain on others was still there. More powerful and violent than ever, like a monster clawing at the walls of it's cage, trying desperately to break free.

What was it she had felt it that one brief instant that had done this to her. Before Maria started to train, she felt as she always had. Full of fire and fury, ready to destroy anything that got in her way. Oh so willing to tear anyone apart who even looked at her the wrong way. She felt free, and then... this. There was her anger in one hand and something else in the other, but what was it? What was she feeling? Maria's mind began to think faster and faster, searching for the answer that felt like it was beyond her grasp. By the Gods it was right there, if only she could give it a name.

All her life her anger had driven her forward, pushing on through pain and suffering, lose and heartache. Of all the emotions she ever felt, it was the only one that never faded, never left her like everyone and everything else in her life eventually did. It always shielded her, and only grew stronger with time. Burning away everything else in it's path. Pain, suffering, lose, fear, in the face of that ever present anger, that unyielding fire, it all turned to ash. Yet now it was held fast, like and animal chained deep with her. Her anger was being... all at once it struck Maria like a tidal wave as she finally found that one word she had been searching for. The single name that eluded her until now... control.

WC: 553

[Maria Talwa]

It started slowly at first, a twitch here, a spasm there. Then Maria's lips finally pulled themselves apart into a grin as big as as the cat who had just eaten the bird. All these years, a lifetime of living by anger and the will to survive, and now she finally realized the truth. Maria had been letting her anger control her, acting like little more than an intelligent animal. She had only ever controlled her passions enough to avoid trouble, letting them think and act for her. Maria wasn't anger, not anymore, now it belonged to her.

She could feel her control starting to slip, knowing that this wasn't some miracle that would just change overnight. She'd allowed her anger to run wild for so long, that it would take time to learn how to keep it under control. The difference now was that she knew how. Maria always thought that doing what she wanted, when she wanted, was what freedom was all about. Now with that anger in its cage, she could see that freedom was about being able to think and decide for yourself. Not letting some feeling or whim dictate your every action.

The anger still had its uses, and Maria couldn't deny that it still had a lure. She liked what it drove her to do, but she couldn't let it be in complete control, not anymore. If she did it was likely to get her killed one of these days. Her new pet still had its uses, and she had no doubt they would be together for many more years to come, but now she would be the one in control. It gave Maria strength, drive, and a will to survive at all costs, and that wasn't something she would just toss aside. Instead of letting the anger tear through her like a wide animal, she began to let it loose, but kept it on a leash.

Before, Maria had always been angry, usually hating everyone and everything around to her some degree, and lashing out at them because of it. Now, as the muscles in her body drew tight and the anger came forth, she was angry... and liked it. It was power, and strength, and it belonged to her. Now instead of a wild animal that was out of control, Maria had focus. In that moment she also began to feel something else as well. Her passions for the moment, were growing and changing. No longer would she be satisfied simply with the here and now. Maria wanted more, and she began to think about the future. So this was what ambition felt like.

“Hey there hot stuff, wanna have some fun?” First Maria's eye moved to the left, followed slowly by her head. There in the rain a few feet off was a rather ragged middle-aged man, using a piece of burlap to cover his head. In a flash, the glint of silver could be seen in the moonlight as her short swords were ripped free of their scabbards, and she nearly leapt at the man. Blades spun with a speed that was almost impossible to follow in the darkness, slicing into the man's clothing as he quickly backpedaled.

Slamming into the wall of a building, the man's clothing was in tatters, but his wounds were superficial at best. The metal blades were crossed against his throat, and the man was a step away from a heart-attack as he looked at Maria, eyes wide as saucers. Like a predator in the wild she had just cornered her prey, and the kill would have been sooo easy. Yet this man wasn't worth it, his blood was unworthy of her blades. No, they would need worthy prey to satisfy their thirst. Slowly lowering the weapons, Maria leaned closer, so close that he could feel the warmth of her breath against his cheek. Then she spoke, her voice smooth and gentle.

“Are we having fun yet?”

“Lady, you're crazy!” As if possessed, the man went running down the street, arms failing. Slipping in the mud he fell, scrambled back up, and ran ever faster. Watching him go, Maria began to laugh.

WC: 697
Total: 2,817

[Orakan]

Maria

Skills

● Planning - 1XP
● Acrobatics - 2XP
● Observation - 2XP
● Dual-wield - 2XP
● Unarmed Combat - 2XP
● Construction - 1XP
● Socialisation - 1XP
● Endurance - 1XP
● Body Building - 1XP
● Meditation - 1XP
● Philosophy - 1XP

Lores
● Planning: Preparing yourself for whatever Sunberth has to throw at you
● Acrobatics: Lunging at an opponent
● Acrobatics: Duck and spin to avoid an opponent's attack
● Maria: Likes hitting things
● Dual-wield: Quick, successive strikes
● Unarmed Combat: Roundhouse kick
● Construction: Makeshift patch up job for a leaky roof
● Short-sword: Refining your technique with more precise cuts rather than brute force
● Unarmed Combat: Sucker punch to the head
● Endurance: Repeating an action over and over again can tire the body
● Dual-wield: Striking the same spot repeatedly with both blades for greater effect
● Fighting without anger and hatred
● Dual-wield: Steady breaths and rhythmic motions
● Meditation: Trying to understand the mind
● Anger has always been your constant companion, your controller
● Maria: Learning to control anger gives you power
● Philosophy: True meaning of freedom


Misc/Penalities/Loot

You failed to deduct the necessary Travel Expenses from your ledger. According to the Travel times page, RF -> Zeltiva is 82 days and Zeltiva -> Sunberth is 64 days, totalling to 146 days travel without stopping. Travelling with a caravan adds 10 days to this, bringing your total expenses to 156gm (1gm/d). Please deduct this from your ledger. You are not eligible for free travel due to city closure since your PC was not active in the season leading up to when it closed.

Comments

Hey Maria, please make sure to keep to your PCs skill level. They will not do everything perfectly of smoothly at novice-competent and that's something you need to be mindful of. Also showing more rather then telling me what she does - how it feels, how the actions affect her - is important as she increases in skill level. I need to be able to see her really using the skill in detail to reward it once she's no longer a novice. I am not able to award points when the same action is done repeatedly throughout the thread, or the action is beneath her skill level. Just a heads up, thanks! Be careful not to metagame either; I definitely recommend having Maria learn new techniques from city NPCs or other PCs rather than just pulling proper ones she doesn't know out of thin air.

Don't forget to delete/edit your request in the grading queue.