Completed Page to Squire

[Vanessa Lawson]

10th of Summer, 509AV 8th of Bell Earlier The raven haired girl rushed down the stairs of her home, waking up all in her path. She was restraining herself from making to much noise, but she had to get to their room, and fast. She skidded to a halt in front of her parents door, and flung the door into the wall as she opened it. "Mother, Father, it's today right?!" Both her Parents were up and dressed, smiling brightly as she entered the room. Elizabeth, her mother, had her knightly armor on already, and gave the girl an excited nod. Her Father, Marco, had yet to put on his breast plate, but he didn't get the time before the little girl, Vanessa herself drew them into a large hug. "Settle down Vanessa!" Marco laughed patting the head of the birthday girl. Her mother gladly returned the hug, a slight squeeze to her grip as they both gave her a happy birthday. Vanessa smiled and drew back. She had on her best clothing, and the freshly thirteen year old was as excited as a kid in a store full of sweets. "Today's the day! I'm so excited!" She said. Today was the day she would finally become a Squire. She was happy, but that didn't stop her from being nervous either. All the equipment had been delivered, so that wasn't a problem. Then there was her two true concerns. First being her Patron Knight. What are they going to be like? She wondered, then her smile faltered a bit. When she became a squire, she wouldn't be around her family as much. "Cheer up dear, today has to special occasions." Elizabeth said, giving her another small squeeze. She had already told her mother about her concerns, so she mainly knew what was going on. "After all, you can always see us while on patrol or off duty!" Her mother smiled, causing Vanessa to mile as well. Another pat from her father with a nod and they gave her instructions and she left. Present Well, now here she was standing in front of the Training Grounds entrance. All those nervous thoughts were getting to her, but she managed to hold her ground. It was big place, she often got lost here while younger. Alright. I'm to meet my Patron in the east of the Training Ground. And according to this, my Patron is male. She though, reading the piece of parchment in her hands before shoving it into her pocket. She headed of into the Training Grounds. She had decided not to wear her armor, so hopefully there would be not tests involved. As she ended her search she found a single man with dark, dirty blond hair that lightened on it''s way down. He was wearing armor, and he seemed to be waiting for something. That has to be him. She took a step forward, and he turned his gaze to her. "Good day Ser. Uh, would you happen to be Ser Alvin John?" She had manged to sound at least a pinch confident, his gaze never left her, but he nodded. She let out a sigh of relief. At least she had manged to find him smoothly, and hopefully he hadn't been waiting long. "I am Ser Alvin, yes. You must be.. Vanessa, correct?" "Y-yes Ser." She nodded vigorously, her expression brightening. Her Patron seemed okay so far, but she wondered what training with him would be like. Was he harsh? Or was he fully soft? She hoped for the former, otherwise she wouldn't be able to get stronger at all. "Vanessa Lawson Ser."

[Vanessa Lawson]

Vanessa followed the blonde man deeper into the Training Grounds. Apparently he did want to test her skills, plus he seemed disappointed that she hadn't worn the armor given to her. Then again when she thought about it the Armor was required to show status, so he probably thought she was disrespectful or lazy. Now she was actually nervous. She might have just failed on her first impression. Well, at least I have plenty of time to fix it. Vanessa held back a sigh as she they walked deeper into the Grounds in complete silence. The pressure was starting to get to her, plus she was nervous about what her Patron would be like still. He seemed nice, but that could easily change. When they entered another clearing Ser Alvin turned to her and began to speak. "State your weapon of choice." He said simply, but Vanessa felt power radiate from him in waves. After telling the man her choice, she was handed a short sword from a rack full of weapons. Holding out her hands she eagerly studied the blade. She had known all the weapons here were real, but they were also sometimes worn and chipped. This particular short sword had seen many a spar by it's a appearance, but the raven haired girl was fine with whatever she was given. She was about to ask what she was to do when her Patron drew his own sword, something that looked to be a longsword. Although it looked a bit shorter, it was definitely heavier. More importantly however, was Vanessa's thought that Ser Alvin wanted a spar. She'd only ever went against her Father or Mother, she had never gone against anyone else. Now she felt even more nervous, but she couldn't decline. "Show me what you can do, Vanessa." He stated, obviously waiting for her to make a move. As soon as she started going forward, he would already be analyzing her steps and judging her movements. However, the girl didn't intend to disappoint him, so she held the blade's hilt in a firm grip and tested it's weight. She'd often seen her Father do it when wielding anything new. The blade was light, possibly with little wind resistance so it should be fast. Vanessa took up a stance learned from her Father. Spreading her feet apart, she held the blade in both hands just below her waist with the tip pointed skyward. She then proceeded to charge, bring the blade to her side and arching it around to aim at her Patron's chest. The clash of metal signaled she'd been blocked so she jumped back and went to move once again. She swung again, aiming to disarm her Patron. Using the blunt to his hand would loosen his grip, and a second strike in the same place to knock it completely free would've sufficed. However a swift step to the right from Ser Alvin put him out of range. He was to fast, even with that heavy sword her Patron moved like a pro. It was clear he was simply accessing her skill, but only because he wasn't attacking. After a few more attempts, her Patron sheathed his sword. Vanessa resisted the urge to question the blonde man. She wasn't even tired, but the spar was over already? Maybe the man was too soft after all. Great, she'd never get stronger if he always let her off so easily. Was he being soft because she was a girl? "That's enough Vanessa. We're moving on to the next assessment." Ser Alvin stated, relieving her of the borrowed short sword. He was impressed with her style of attack. She had potential with a sword, plus the girl was fast. Her steps were clumsy and weak, but with enough practice the small girl would go far. He put the sword back on the rack and turned back to the newly appointed squire. "I want to see what you can do without a sword. Show me your best."

[Vanessa Lawson]

Vanessa turned visibly pale. She hadn't even thought about a fighting without a weapon, instead she had been practicing with her sword the last few days. It was something that hadn't even crossed her mind. Sweet Sylir, what am I going to do now? She considered just telling him, but that would make her sound like a fool, so she instead decided to go with it. She nodded to her patron, though she obviously looked nervous. She was going to try her best and hopefully get some recognition from her new Patron at the same time. The only question was what could she do? True she'd trained with her Father, but that was mostly sword fighting. He briefly touched unarmed combat, but that was it. Briefly. Now she wished she would've payed more attention. How she managed to tune out multiple lessons was beyond her. Maybe she was just to nervous to actually think. Yes, that had to be it. She was just nervous and wasn't processing her information enough. Hopefully when she began to actually try it would just sort of.. come to her. She was going to have to try something before her Patron got impatient, so she swallowed the lump in her throat and charged the man. She had been taught by her Father not to scream when approaching, but it was taking everything she had not to scream, but for a different reason. She drew her fist back lazily and made a worthless attempt of a punch. Her Patron simply slapped her fist away. She made an attempt to kick him, he blocked with his knee. All her attempts made it impossibly clear she had little to no training in unarmed combat. It made her look pathetic. Vanessa was getting more and more upset with her weak attempts. She tried kicking, elbowing, punching, kneeing, basically anything she could think of. And all of it looked like a child throwing a temper tantrum. She attempted to kick him, but didn't follow through, instead feigning and aiming for her Patron's face. He smirked and knocked her hand away, and the next thing she knew she was on the ground. And her cheek hurt. "That's not right! You didn't say you'd hit back!" "Vanessa, in a fight always expect to come out scathed." He said simply, watching Vanessa with a flat expression. The raven haired girl simply glared and rubbed her cheek. He' had held back, but he'd still punched her square in the face. Which she was none to happy about in the least, but before she could think further her Patron interrupted her thoughts. "You're still a novice. You need vast improvement." Ser Alvin said to her as she stood. So he was a tough teacher after all. She should've known anyone who was assigned to a Patron Knight wouldn't get of easy. After all, they were charged with protecting the people right? Right. She held back a sigh and nodded. "For now we're done here. There are a few places you need to see, after that you'll be free to spend your day as you like, understood?" "Yes Ser."

[Sayana]

Your Grades Have Arrived Vanessa Skills: Skill EXP Socialization +1 Observation +2 Weapon: Broadsword +1 Unarmed Combat +1 Lores: From Page to Squire Patron: Ser Alvin John Broadsword: Basic Stance In every fight expect to get scathed Ser Alvin: Patient yet strict Shield Points: Shield Points Earned Reason +1 Thread with Patron Total: +1 Shield Point Comments : What a nice introductory thread to Vanessa’s life as a squire. I liked how you portrayed the childish nature of a 13 year old and it was interesting seeing the start to Vanessa’s life as squire. Just as a reminder, even though I know you are a squire it is helpful for other graders when seasonal expenses are included in your ledger (marked as ‘0’ due to being a squire). Seasonal expenses are always the first thing I look for before I start a grade. Often squires make a new line saying something like “Winter 514 AV Expenses (squire) - 0” Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request in the grade request thread. However, make sure to keep the link so that the DS can review graded threads with ease. If you have any questions or concerns about your grade please feel free to send me a message. Enjoy.