Sorry, Wrong Store... (Danyella)

[Berus]

Berus smiled at her and nodded. Then he turned his attention to the dummy, determined not to make quite such a fool out of himself this time around. The dummy seemed to leer at the small man as he attempted several different stances and tried holding the spear in several different ways. Finally, Berus settled on a two handed grip with his right hand close to the tip of the spear and his left further back near the butt. He went in a semi crouch, attempting to imitate the illustrations of spearmen in the books he had read about. He just hoped he didn’t look too ridiculous and this at least appeared to be the correct stance.

Alright, here goes.

Berus charged forward, thrusting the spear out hard as he did so. Amazingly, it managed to connect with the chest of the dummy despite the fact that he closed his eyes right before impact. He grinned broadly in the split second the spear hit the dummy.

Thunk!... THUNK!

Sounding like a louder echo of the spear’s strike, Berus’s momentum carried him right into the dummy for a painful crash. The wind was knocked out of the slight bard and his spear dropped to the ground as the leering dummy refused to budge even an inch in pity. The bard slid to the ground with the world spinning all around him and beautiful stars descending from the heavens to dance in front of his eyes. Ow.

Almost passing out, Berus reached out and grabbed his spear. Determinedly, he used it to lever himself back up to his feet. He almost fell flat on his face as a wave of dizziness struck him but luckily his spear doubled as a walking stick and he was able to lean on it for a moment to recover. Alright, so that’s another way you don’t do a charge. Got it, Berus thought, rubbing the bruises on his face.

He grinned to Danyella to show that he was alright before he got back into his charging stance. Using the same hold as before, he leapt forward for another foolhardy charge. He rushed forward and thrust the spear out just as strongly as before, but just as it connected he planted his front foot down in front of him to stop his momentum.

This backfired immediately as his feet gave way and he went into a vicious slide. His boot smacked against the dummy with a force even stronger than the spear thrust and the bard could hear his toes crack. This time, Berus didn’t linger on the ground but rather jumped up high into the air and hopped for a moment, holding his injured right foot.

After a moment the pain subsided and he gingerly touched his foot to the ground, leaving heavily on his spear. He looked over at Danyella, suppressing an embarrassed blush and pushing away the pain of his aching foot. “I don’t know how this is working out, Danyella. I seem to be taking more damage than this dummy of yours,” he said, grimacing slightly and unable to pull of his usual grin.

Berus figured that he might be able to pull off some acrobatic stunts using the spear, stabbing it into the ground and using it as a pivot from which to kick enemies in the head came to mind, but so far all he’d managed to do fall on his face, smash into a dummy, and almost break his right foot. Maybe I’m just not cut out for fighting and adventuring… Or maybe I’m just plain clumsy, Berus thought. Or maybe that dummy is just evil and out to get me. He glanced warily over at the dummy, where it seemed to grin at him evilly as it invited him to attempt another stupid charge.

[Danyella]

She laughed at his failed attempts and believed she had enough info to make his spear. She could tell he would be more suited for acrobatic spear fighting rather than the typical stab and bash style. She saw the way he gripped his spear, using a wide grip. She figured a slightly longer pole would be better suited, as well as lighter and more flexible. His balance was all front heavy, so the spear head would need to be lighter, but if he was going to be using acrobatics he would need a large tip to serve as a more stable base.

She looked at her drawings and thought about it for a moment. Strong, flexible wood... Birch or the more tropical Lancewood. However Birch was always out of stock due to it's popularity. She was fairly certain they had a grade 3 pole of Lancewood in the shop. She figured he'd need to have the head made of steel, be large and wider than typical, leaving hollow sections in the blades to make it lighter. So a grade 7 lance head with hollow modifications. They usually had those in stock for ballista missiles too. She walked into the shop, found the already appropriately shaped pole and spear head. She stuck the pole into the base of the spear head, she then placed the spear head into three clamps to hold it firmly into place. She grabbed a wooden mallet and began hammering the bottom end of the spear pushing the shaft further and tighter into head. After ten minutes of this she wrapped the entire wooden portion of the staff in wet cloths, so the wood would absorb the water and expand, further tightening the hold of the head. She then, using her whetstone, sharpened the spear properly so as to pierce leather but not break on metal armor. She polished the metal portion to a brilliant shine.

Satisfied she carried the wrapped spear outside and held it out. "I believe this should suit you until you are skilled enough to have me make a custom spear for you." she said her voice practically bubbling with enthusiasm.

[Berus]

Berus smiled broadly and accepted the spear, hoping that Danyella wouldn't notice the bruises he'd managed to obtain in the two failed attempts to defeat the dummy that had occurred while she was away. He held it out, feeling that it was a bit lighter than the other one and more suited to his build. Perhaps when he charged with this one he wouldn't end up face first on the ground or end up being ambushed by dancing stars?

"Thank you very much for the time and effort you put into helping a lowly bard find himself a weapon! Trust me, it is very much appreciated," Berus said, grinning boyishly. He reached into his purse, "How much will you charge me for this marvelous spear and the many bruises I have incurred in your lovely store?"

The back of his neck prickled, but he refused glance back. He knew that the dummy was watching, ridiculing him for his failures and challenging him to try again. Silently, he vowed to someday return and send his spear right through that Dummy, without falling on his face! For now, though, he knew he needed to train his skills and bide his time. The dummy's time would come, oh yes, it would.

[Danyella]

"Lets say... 5 gold mizas." she replied. "Now time to try it out." She drew her hammer and charged towards him, doing a halfspeed downward swing at his shoulder. She hoped her work would withstand her assault. It had to he of the highest quality or he would die if in a real fight. While attacking, "When sharpening the blades you need to make sure they are flat on the end, same with the spear point, or you will constantly chip it." She took another swing at him, "Put moist rags on the wood every day for a week." She did one last attack, a swinging uppercut, "The spear head should be wrapped when in nondangerous territory and polished regularly."

She stopped attacking, and smiled. "Came for a hat, left with a spear, a true Vantha, from front to rear."

[Berus]

Berus looked down fished out the five gold mizas and then held them out for Dany, smiling as he did so. Then his eyes widened as he noticed she was charging at him with hammer raised high! He dropped the coins and grabbed his spear firmly in both hands, holding it over his head in the path of her hammer. This girl is crazy!

He barely blocked the blow, arms tingling, and took a step back as she swung another at him, which he barely deflected in the same manner as before. The blows were hard and the loud thumping sound of her hammer smacking the wood reverberated off of the surrounding buildings, but the spear held marvelously. The same could hardly be said for his arms, however, as they started to ache from blocking the blows, halfhearted as they were. I should really work out more... Berus thought right before Danyella came in with a powerful swinging uppercut.

The bard managed to get his spear in the way, firmly grasped in both hands, right before the blow struck. The spear held, to Berus's relief, but he lost his grip and it flew backwards out of his hands. He almost kept his feet as he stumbled backwards, but ended up on his butt in the snow for the millionth time that day.

He looked up, rather embarrassed, but found that she was smiling down at him. Appreciating the rhyme, he leapt up to his feet nimbly and recovered his spear, preparing a witty response as he did so. "Thank you for coming out and helping me, even in this weather. But now, I must depart, for I still need a hat with a feather." Berus winked, "I shall not soon forget our time together."

He offered a farewell handshake to Danyella, grinning boyishly.

[Cheshire]

. Character: Berus Experience: Interrogation +1, Weapon (Spear) +3, Seduction +1 Lore: Bad Sense of Direction, Having Low Self Esteem, Proper Weapon Care: Spear (Basic) Ledger: -5 GM for the Spear Character: Danyella Experience: Interrogation +1, Weapon (Spear) +2, Teaching +1, Weaponsmithing +1 Lore: Different Types of Polearms (Basic) Additional Note: Great thread guys! PM me with concerns