Heavy Hands, Soft Step (Raven, Open)

by **Andresciel** on November 2nd, 2011, 4:22 am

The Mage Knight turned towards the Inarta that appeared before glancing at Xalet "I know a bit not taught by the Knighthood. Most that I created on my own through practice and trial. But most of it requires the art of Reimancy and the blessing of the winds." Andre chuckled, shaking his head "And you are a warrior not a mage, my friend." He placed hand to the Akalak's shoulder.

He thought for a moment, his eyes sparkling as he looked up to Xalet "Maybe I can help you with your forms and grapples?" He asked, looking up at the taller male with his clear blue eyes. His eyes shifted then from blue to green in a moments breath as he thought "Yes that sounds good, I shall help you perfect it." He glances at the newcomer and speaks slowly in common.

"Hardly a welcome when I wander this place for hours aimlessly, my friend." He chuckles as he nods "But greetings to you as well. I am Ser Andresciel, Mage Knight of Syliras."

by **Xalet** on November 2nd, 2011, 2:34 pm

"You are correct." Xalet responded in agreeance. The last thing Xalet used in combat was any for of magery. His connection with Priskil was used sparingly, only when he most deperately needed it, but even then there was no mainpulation of his Djed. That supernatural ability was made possibly simply by having access to a small sliver of deific power granted to him by the luminous Lady herself. The rest of Xalet's combat arts were simple and straight forward. When he used his unarmed techniques, he wielded them in conjunction with his sword and shield, thus many of his attacks involved his elbows, his knees, and his feet. Strength, stamina, and flexiblity was important.

"Grapples, I do not use them often. Let us see your technique." Xalet replied with a steady voice, stretching his arms and preparing his body for the upcoming exhibition of maneuvers. Just as he was getting fully prepared another individual appeared. Xalet relaxed his arms, whch he had been pulling across his chest in order to flex the muscles and tendons in his arm and shoulder.

Watching the newest Human arrive, Xalet watched him for a moment, moving past his heat signiture in order to focus upon his more physical characteristics, especially when he mentioned that they might know one another. It took a moment, but like a shock the information arrived in Xalet's brain, reminding him of their previous meeting, "You do. We met once here in the forest before. I was with another squire, we were training in wilderness survival techniques." Xalet sought to remind Jonathon. In the squire's case, large purple Akalak's were much more rare than the typical Human.

by **Jonathon DuFraine** on November 2nd, 2011, 10:30 pm

Jonathon watched the two of them. It seemed like they were preparing for a training bout of some kind; they talked of grapples and such. Interesting. And the knight was a wizard, too! Jonathon knew his father practiced some minor magics, but they never talked about it. "You wander for so long among these woods? Ah, but I suppose they pose no danger to a Mage Knight such as yourself." Jonathon inclined his head in a gesture of respect. "I am Jonathon DuFraine, a hunter and a resident of these woods. Although I generally don't come out this close to the city."

Jonathon looked more closely at the Akalak. "Oh, yes... Xalet, right? Hello again." He smiled briefly, but it held little emotion and was soon dropped. He looked between the two knights. "So, you two are about to start a training session, correct? Do you mind if I watch? I am untrained in fighting without a weapon, but it would be most interesting, and possibly enlightening."

Jonathon could think of several moments in his life where even a small amount of knowledge about unarmed combat would have come in handy. "Unless... I am not aware, are commoners not allowed to learn the Syliran Knight's fighting style? I'm sure it must be formidable... the Knights have a reputation for strength."

by **Andresciel** on November 3rd, 2011, 2:11 am

The Mage chuckled at the mans words and the slight surprise in his eyes, as he nods. "It is a good place to meditate on Yahal, Jonathon." The Male stated as he glances at Xalet "Last I checked, Commoners are allowed to learn our arts of protection."

He shrugged briefly before he shot at the Akalak like a bolt of lightning, his gauntlets revealed from under his cloak as he shot a palm thrust towards the stomach of the larger male, with the force needed to make a normal man double over. He charmed a bit of his Reimancy into the strike, calling for the wind to speed his strike and add damage if it connected. "En Garde" He called.

by **Xalet** on November 4th, 2011, 6:07 pm

Xalet agreed readily enough. The Syliran Martial arts weren't something so well kept like the Windoak, speaking or displaying them was no more uncommon than any other well known art. Realistically Xalet would prefer commoners to have some basic means to defend themselves, if nothing else than to stay alive until the Knights could arrive should they be a target for assault, theft, or other person crimes. Each Knight wielded the basic art slightly differently as they gained further training and experience in it, it was only natural to personalize it in order to take advantage of a persons greatest advantages, such as speed or strength.

Speed was not something Xalet had much of, given his heavy armor and overall large size. Being large had several distinct advantages, including often presenting the largest available target to an opponent. All that platemail meant that Xalet was never going to be doing acrobatic flips and twists about the battlefield, and so his Patron concentrated on the most obvious ways to enhance Xalet's unarmed fighting potential. She focused on enhancing his strength and stamina with weight training and conditioning, and taught him to utilize his significant reach, each arm typically offering six to eight inches in reach over a six foot tall Human.

Keeping focused on that strength would be important, because in the beginning Xalet could quickly tell he wasn't going to be able to match Andresciel's speed. Xalet's right leg slid backward slightly as he tried to get his elbows in to protect his mid section. Skill and technique wise, Xalet had been progressing well enough in the field of unarmed martial arts, however he did not have any magic to aid his progress. The blow struck his armor, sliding his heavy frame back a step. If the squire wasn't so used to getting hit, and didn't wear the full platemail of a squire he probably would have lost the strength in his knees from that.

Countering the best way he knew how, Xalet immediately moved to break down Andresciel's stance in order to slow or freeze his footwork. Keep him toe to toe, that was the plan. The right foot that slid back came forward with a hard low round kick aimed at the knee and thigh of Andresciel while his left hand reached forward trying to gain a grip onto the Knights outermost layer of clothing and armor.

by **Jonathon DuFraine** on November 5th, 2011, 6:43 am

Jonathon nodded, and leaned against a tree, watching the two begin the sparring session. He was attentive; while he didn't know much of hand-to-hand combat, what little he could pick up from the spar could possibly help. Although, frankly, he was more interested in watching two grown men beat each other up then in learning something.

It looked like Xalet had just thrown some kind of counter to the Mage-Knight's initial attack. It looked like two attacks at the same time, too; Xalet must know what he was doing. This should prove interesting.

ooc :

by **Andresciel** on November 5th, 2011, 6:55 am

Andre smiled as the Squire did what most of the larger opponents always did. Try to disable his speed. He dashed back a few quick steps, using the wind to keep his balance as he focused, spreading his legs "Xalet. Just because you are slow in body, do not be slow in mind. I am used to fighting larger foes, stronger enemies. You have to think ahead." Andre stated, trying to teach the large Squire about combat with a smaller, faster opponent.

Andre could only hope Xalet would learn, as he moved to the left in a feint, hoping and desiring the male to understand. As he did so, he side-stepped to the right to throw a low sweep of his right leg at Xalet's remaining leg, seeking to throw the male off balance, even as he dropped to maintain his own. "You must out think smaller opponents, not take speed against strength."

by **Raven Nightfoot** on November 6th, 2011, 11:50 am

Raven stood up walking closer to the Xalet as they were beginning to start their training session. Unfortunately they were interrupted as a man appeared, he was clearly a knight standing around six feet, with shining blonde hair and deep sapphire eyes. It seemed that the man, who introduced himself as Andresciel also wished to participate in the training session. "Well aren't I lucky, two handsome noble men rushing to my aid." she said both teasingly and flirtatiously.
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Once again they were interrupted as yet another man entered the clearing, Raven had no idea who this man could be but had little concern about her safety. She was afterall with a knight and an akalak squire. There was a small exchange of words which Raven paid little attention to and then suddenly Andresciel dashed toward Xalet and a fight had begun. This was especially surprising to Raven as she hadn't been concentrating on the conversation. She took a few steps back out of instinct not wanting to be caught in the crossfire.
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Unfortunately the Bronze Woods had a plan of its own as Raven's heel was caught by a root and she fell softly to the ground on her but. Nothing worth concern, she decided it as good a place as any to observe the fight. She watched them intently trying to make sense of every movement they made, in order to improve her own skill.

by **Xalet** on November 7th, 2011, 4:17 am

That was one of Xalet's largest weaknesses. Even his own other half taunted him often about his inability to think more than a single move ahead. Typically Xalet was so focused on technique and defending against incoming counterattacks that in a real life situation involving the split seconds where combat developed, he didn't have the space to think about 'what came next'. He had his strength and his weight, which undoubtedly provided some advantages for him, especially when trying to stay on his feet. Very rarely did he have an opponent try to grapple or throw him, and charges or tackling maneuvers to pull his legs out from under him didn't end well often. But Andre was the first person to use both Reimancy and unarmed combat simultaneously.

"Easier said than done." was all Xalet could think to himself as the Knight made his comments. The Akalak took the strike to his remaining leg fairly well, he spent a lot of time taking hits that were designed to break his balance and, with a quick replacement of his stance he seemed not much worse for wear. Again though, his armor was acting as the crutch that kept him from losing otherwise one sidedly. "How would you do that?" he asked Andresciel before flicking out a back-fist up high at the Knights face.

That high shot was followed with a bend in Xalet's knees and a lower jab to what would be the abdominal area of Andresciel. Were combinations a way to think ahead? Regardless of the result, he noticed Raven watching intently off to the side, to which he relaxed his stance slightly and mentioned to the Mage Knight ahead of him, "Perhaps you could show Raven how to think ahead, using me as an example." he decided. If Raven could get an idea of how to counter typically utilized attacks, then maybe she could practice them in concert with one of those now present.

by **Andresciel** on November 7th, 2011, 8:16 pm

Andre's body would dance back from the high shot, as he nods. "By using what I was gifted." He stated to the males question as he stepped to the side of the low, stomach blow. His eyes danced for a moment as a thought rolled through his head.

Teach them both how to think ahead. Not an impossible task, but still a task.. Andre thought to himself, relaxing his stance as he looked at Xalet "Very well. Lets teach her to think ahead of an opponent. I am going to use Reimancy, but only to even the field." He looks up at the large Akalak, "You are slightly bigger then me Xalet. And I don't wanna get blood on the pretty lady." He gestures at Raven who stood nearby.

He nods for a moment, going back into thought Yahal cleanse my mind and let me see straight His mind muttered before he brought his eyes upon Xalet. "High attacks are usually followed by low. To keep you off balance. Low followed by high. Never fall into a routine in combat."