PM to join [Kendoka Sasaran] How I long to stab thee.

[Favchean Hronis]

Favchean ended his circling, satisfied that her feet were properly placed though he had to admit to himself he was not sure if the added appendages she sported would affect the center of balance. The arms themselves [b]looked as if they were placed in a symmetrical fashion but he was no anatomy major to be able to tell one hundred percent. He might be able to tell once the forms were practiced. Even as he was finishing his inspection he responded to her inquiry about the Nakivak with a smile and reached over to adjust the arm the supported her stiletto wielding hand just a hair higher then how she held it currently. "The Nakivak is indeed a worthy option, but for me it would be the final option." The dark green Akalak turned so that he faced her from behind, his own legs set in an identical stance as she though he barely paused in his explanation, "Konti Nakivak are high in demand and I would not ask .." He managed to stop himself from referring to other races females as lesser, though he certainly wouldn't have meant it the way it would have sounded. "females of a higher risk race if I did not make at least a reasonable effort to court a Konti mate." It was one of the things that Favchean ever let himself dwell on, the fact that there were many wonderful beautiful non-Konti women such as Rosela here but for an Akalak they were so short lived, and so delicate that to open up to them further then a nice friendship had attached torment to it. "Sewing knife? You aren't perchance the same proprietor of Red Diamond Fashions that my mother loves so?" "The first few times I will guide you, to keep you from sheering off one of your lovely limbs." The jest was only half teasing, and he moved closer still. He moved his thick arms slowly, giving her ample time to move or to protest, if she does not he would have allowed his calloused fingers to slide to the wrists of each dagger wielding arm, his fingers encircling the delicate structure gently. Though if she did protest, he would not push the issue and would step back. Either way he demonstrated with his hands, and at the same time explained with his words. "Poses are forms that you practice. The forms give you a base movement that will allow you, when you reach a higher discipline, add steps to create more intricate defenses or attacks." His arms move up in tandem, if his hands held her wrists then both hers would move up as well, "Tension in the wrists, not too loose not too stiff..looser...that's it remember that." His words are low pitched, almost a hum with the bass quality of his timbre. "That is the first form, it is a very simplistic attack. Simplistic but deadly if you add defensive movements as well. However.." For now he almost sounded a little sheepish, or perhaps embarrassed. "Dagger is not the weapon I gained my Kuvan status with, but unarmed..so I can't really show you much more then the basics." [/b]

OOCSorry for the awkward phrasing of the last part. I wanted to make sure you had a chance to refuse Favchean's physical help but didn't want to leave you a post you could only really work two lines in waiting until the actual dagger work lol

[Rosela]

OOCI was a bit confused… She doesn’t actually have her stiletto here, unless you just meant where she would have had it? I figured it’s pointless anyway, since I’ve got a good bunch of points to go until I can start getting Dual Wielding.

Rosela hadn’t thought of a Nakivak being a ‘final’ option per se, just a more…convenient one. She’d had her fair share of conversations with ones, as they came into her shop for ever-larger clothing and talked quietly about their position. She’d felt like she was observing a strange, foreign custom at the time, despite now living in the city herself. With her neither wanting children, nor ever willing to be in their situation, the Nakivak program in the city was an interesting one but not one she anticipated having more than a casual acquaintance with.

”Higher risk?” For a moment, she didn’t understand what he was talking about and she had the absurd image of a deranged, knife-wielding Konti. It sunk in a moment later, and she blushed at her own confusion. ”…Oh. Well, as a high-risk woman, I thank you for your consideration.” Her attempt to lighten the mood, even combined with an airy smile, had come out unfortunately morbid. Talks of death, and there was no doubting that’s what this was, usually came out that way.

The mention of her shop did the trick, and she blinked in shock that he knew her shop. She had a decent memory for faces, and in the Akalaks’ cases, skin tones, so she was fairly certain he’d never graced her doors. ”I’m afraid you caught me. Who is your mother, I’m sure I’d remember her. Though I’d bet my pinking shears you’ve never been in there; I’d remember a face like that.” She gave him a sly smile, still holding the dagger pose he was imitating.

As he moved closer, Rosela had the impression he was wary of touching her. He moved slowly, as though he were coaxing a small animal that might bolt. One eyebrow slowly rising, she let him adjust her arms into the correct position, listening to the low thrum of his voice. ”I don’t think I’ve got even the basics down, so how about we start from there? So I have this position, the first form? How do I actually attack from here?” She attempted to mime a forward stab with her armed hand, but it came out as more of a slow sawing motion.

[Favchean Hronis]

Favchean nods at her words, and outright gives a chuckle at her sawing motion. "Your not cutting a loaf of bread, dear." He says with a shake of his head. "So eager to attack, but with daggers much like unarmed you must look for your opening." He stops, having to remind himself that she probably wasn't looking to take out a horde of Ziths. "But for today lets just assume you are in a tight spot and need a way out." The green male releases the wrist that did not have his dagger in her hand, but did not remove his large fingers from around the wrist that did. Moving around her so that he faced her, he no longer held her wrist lightly though he didn't squeeze hard. If she were to try and move her arm she would find considerable resistance, but he was not trying to trap or entangle her, just keeping both of them safe for the next step. "Before I show you this, my mother's name is C'hea Hronis, who wishes I frequented your establishment because she worries that leather can't be good all the time." He flashes a smile, "I did not inherit her eye for fashion or clothing. Now, if you slip you will know who to contact." This last is said as a joke, a gentle wink is given just a blinking of one pale blue eye. His grip on her wielding arm almost insured that she would not slip. "If you find yourself in an all out dagger fight, you want to get in and get it done and get out. To get in range of a dagger strike you will have to put yourself at risk." He moved her arm now, carefully but solidly, to press the point against his chest. The point of the dagger was precisely placed to the left of the sternum three ribs up. "There are a few places that will disable a man, you will have to learn these places so that you can easily adjust for height differences. Here, stab here and the blade will slide easily between the ribs through only cartilage hitting no muscle. Its the sweet spot, its more difficult to get right then it may seem." He moves the knife almost imperceptibly up just a centimeter, and then lowers it down two centimeters. "A little up, it hits the bone and is deflected. Could still kill but it would take far more muscle to push it past the bone..and most likely the man survives long enough to do damage. The same thing if its too low. To the right more you miss the heart, to the left you hit the sternum..even more hard to punch through then a rib bone."

OOCYeah I worded it all funkily. I did mean the hand that would have had the Stilleto

[Rosela]

Rosela mock-pouted at his assessment of her stabbing, or more accurately, sawing motion, but it was quick to pass. She allowed him to move her easily, trying to memorize each step. She didn't want to think she'd be in a tight spot, but she supposed it was the most likely of situations in which she'd need to use the dagger.

At his mother's name, she smiled and giggled quietly. "C'hea Hronis, I'll remember that. If she mentions our leather again, you can just let her know all my leather is good quality. I go over all of it myself, so no flaws slip through. Leather is a lot harder to replace panels of in clothing, since the holes from the old stitches stay and..." Realizing she was babbling, she abruptly cut herself off. "Sorry, I get a little too excited about my work sometimes. Anyway, hopefully I don't hurt you too badly, but it's nice to know where to go just in case. I doubt she'll take kindly to me skewering her baby boy though." She attempted to make the jest sound serious, but the smile worked its way out anyway. It would be a terrible way to reconnect with a customer, but at the very least, after they patched Favchean up, they might come by for a replacement shirt.

"I have to put myself at risk?" She tried not to sound whiny, but the idea made her nervous. "I mean, I guess anything where I'm up close is risky, since they might have a dagger too, right?" It suddenly gave her the idea of casual clothing embedded with chainmail, but the idea was quickly dismissed and she refocused on the training at hand. The clothing would be heavy, and it wasn't like street stabbings were common in Riverfall. It might sell in a place a little less scrupulous, but in Riverfall, it'd be a waste of resources.

She nodded and made a mental note at each point Favchean mentioned, seeing a blank man's figure, as on one of her design papers, with a trio of marks for the ribs. Her mouth twitched slightly at 'sweet spot', but forced herself to not pursue that line of thought. Things like that were best left for when she wasn't armed. "How do I know where the ribs are?" She asked in slight confusion, frowning as she attempted to see any outline of ribs underneath the sheath of muscle on his chest. "I don't think I'm strong enough to push past actual bone... So I'd have to hit it at just the right spot, right?"

[Favchean Hronis]

The male raised one brow as she spoke about leathers and panels. He wasn't quite sure what she meant by panels of cloth or leather, though he got the idea of sewing marks, did he not lace leather when working on the hilt of daggers? "Oh I won't argue with you about the quality of your leathers. Mother just has an eye for color and cloths, some of the get ups she has my Father in.." The last is said with a chuckle, though he never once loosened his grip on the wrist of her hand, the hand that still held his dagger against his torso. "Indeed. There is also the chance that they are larger, and can overpower you by sheer strength. Daggers are the most practical self defense tool, but to use them it truly will end up being self defense because of how close you must be to your opponent." Favchean changed his stance, moving slightly back and then to her right, away from her dagger hand though his hand did not release it. If they had stayed in the Kendoka Sasaran he would have retrieved her a wooden dagger to use. For now she must use his to get the feel of a weight. Which means he was not going to give her a chance to accidentally hurt herself, or him. "There are different types of beings in the world. For the most part we all have a similar shape, as far as I can tell. There are some that might be different, perhaps the Charoda and their aquatic bodies, perhaps some I have never heard of. But for the most part humanoids, Akalak's, ...Zith..." the last was said with a distasteful grimace that he did not bother trying to hide, "They all have similar rib cages. So you will simply have to adjust for height, which is again easy to do. Look at the arm, see where my elbow lays?" Favchean dropped his arm that was not guiding hers, exaggeratedly laying it against his side, bent so that the elbow pressed to his side. " The tip of my elbow runs the lowest of my ribs. That gives you a point of reference, just a little up will give you the latitude of the sweet spot, the longitude is always just a little left of where a man's belly button would be if it were that high."

[Rosela]

Favchean seemed to gloss over her sewing talk, so Rosela made a mental note to skip around it in the future. It felt like forever since she’d socialized with someone outside of her shop. Still, she made a note of his mother’s name and some reference to his father’s clothing. If C’hea was buying her husband’s clothing at her store, his looks would certainly not be referred to as ‘get ups’. Rosela would make sure of that.

She bit her lip as she thought of taking on an opponent bigger than herself. It’d be a pretty rare need, to say the least, but she imagined she’d feel quite the confidence boost, walking around town knowing she could defend herself. ”Okay then, I guess I just have to know what I’m going before I’m somewhere it’ll matter.” Resolving to concentrate harder on learning, and not on her instructor, she bit her lip and focused on her stance. Her thighs were starting to ache from standing with her legs bent, and she rocked forward on her toes as she watched Favchean move.

Humming in interest as Favchean demonstrated where his ribs lay, Rosela moved her own bottom right arm to lay against her side. Looking down, she poked herself in the ribs to verify that they indeed did end right there. ”Will you look at that.” She said quietly, somehow having expected her anatomy would be different. ”Then up and…over…” Walking her fingers up, she found the found the edge of her own ribs and smiled when she could push her nail against what would be the ‘sweet spot’. ”There it is! So I just try to hit there first? I guess if I can just grab my opponent’s arm and get in close-“ The three hands on her left side quickly, but gently, grabbed Favchean’s forearm and she stepped closer, keeping the dagger well away from his actual skin. ”And then bam, right?”

[Favchean Hronis]

Favchean grinned he couldn't help the amusement that rose when another person discovered something new, particularly when it come to weapon usage. He was not so towering over Rosela as he was normally when it come to the Konti, and she seemed far more solidly built then the Konti. Which was always a surprise to Favchean that the delicate female race was some how biologically more fitting to carry the large cumbersome Akalak babies. His thoughts were interrupted though when a few of her free hands grip his arm and she demonstrated a rather nice surprise attack. "Just like that indeed." He says, his lips up turning, "I imagine that you would would have many different advantages in getting close enough to a man to execute that move." The gentle flirt was given before he released her wrist, stepping to the side that did not hold the weapon. "Feel free to break the stance. I perhaps should have been teaching more proactive strategies then mere defensive." He didn't add that he was impressed by her aptitude for the subtle almost sneaky approach she had shown in her demonstration. "We will work on stabbing motions, there are several different strikes that will end in the same result, just a different method." Standing once again beside her, Favchean extended his left arm as if he held a dagger. "The first is the rabbit punch, only this time it is with a dagger and not the fist. A quick jab..it is perfect for a quick blitz that would perhaps be useful if you find yourself in a street and the need for a quick wrap up. It is just in and out. If you manage not to shake your hand, not to move the blade in any fashion but forward and back..you will do the damage you need but the wound would be very small indeed."

[Rosela]

Part of Rosela expected her pretend attack to fail, given that she was going up against an actual warrior and not some talentless sand-sucker, as her experience up to that point had been. Her confidence with the blade grew, and she readjusted her grip on it. She’d made him smile as well, and she returned it widely. ”You’ve found my secret then; slip in and take them out before they even know what hit them.” She bounced excitedly on her toes, tongue between her teeth.

At his indication, she straightened her legs and rolled each of her ankles in turn. ”Defense is good too though, right? What was that saying… A good offense is a good defense?” Frowning, she tilted her head. ”Or, I think it’s the other way around?” Huffing, she tossed a free hand carelessly. ”Anyway, you’ve been a wonderful teacher, really.” She squeezed his arm affectionately.

”Rabbit…punch…” She repeated to herself, trying to hold the dagger still and level in front of her. ”In-“ Twisting her torso, she moved the dagger slowly forward without moving her arm much. ”And out.” She twisted it back. It felt awkward, and she was fairly certain she was doing it wrong. Without moving her torso this time, only the arm with the dagger popped out, which was quicker, but didn’t feel like it had the same force as when she used her entire torso. Humming in thought, she repeated he jab and looked over at Favchean for approval or criticism.

[Favchean Hronis]

Pale eyes scrutinized her body, watching as much as he is able to the play of muscle beneath skin. Just so that he would be able to offer better constructive criticism to stance, posture, and technique. Her first try was all wrong, with the torso twist and he winced but it really was an understandable mistake. It was natural to put your body behind a thrust for more impact, but the rabbit thrust was about impact and not force.

Her second was better, and after a few more tries he moved behind her to take her wrist again with one hand, the other he placed on her slip hip on her right side. "A straight thrust, don't move the torso. First of all you will jiggle the dagger and far more blood then necessary will ensue. Secondly anyone with any weapons training will be able to tell that you either punched a man or stabbed him by the motion of your torso." Using the hand that held her wrist he drew back her arm, "This stab is not about maximum damage but precision. So we sacrifice force for well placed stab. Thus the beauty of the rabbit punch. You don't have to worry about stabbing hard if you stab in the right spot." He released her wrist once more and stepped back. He had never given a thought to teaching or training others, but he was finding that he was enjoying it very much so.

"It feels awkward now, but the more you practice the better it will feel." He added this at the end as an afterthought. If he was going to make a habit out of teaching dagger skills he should really remember to add these things in so people don't get discouraged.

[Gossamer]

Character: Rosela
Experience: Socialization +5, Flirting +5, Observation +3, Dagger +4, Planning +1
Lore: The Sasaran Is Busy Midday, Flirting: Deciding what is too much information and what is just enough, Dagger: Proper grip, Dagger: Proper stance, Dagger: Knowing Ones Skill Limit, Dagger: The Vulnerabilities Of Daggers, Planning: Designing Clothing While Training, Weapons Training: Being Prepared Before One Is In An Emergency Situation, Dagger: Vulerable Spots Between Ribs (Aka Sweet Spots), Dagger: Technique Rabbit Punch

Additional Note: I have one thing to say. Rosela is a total flirt. Seems like she was more interested in Favchean. But she did pick up some good pointers and learned some interesting things about Favchean.

Nice thread.

Hows