Open [Seasonal Event] Diamonds in the Rough

[Tribal]

"They are quite expensive," Trail admitted, "twenty gold will buy you its likeness in arrows," a strange way of saying twenty for twenty, but Trail, after all, was a bit of a strange man, "we shall have to go hunting sometime in the fall, you and I, and work on taking out a few birds."

The man paced to the swinging target and lifted it to set it in motion. When he returned to Lian's side he took up his own bow and latched an arrow to the string before pulling it back. "The trick for catching a moving target is to know where it's going; in this case we have the advantage, we are close enough that our arrows will still hit from this distance traveling in a straight line. We also know that the target will repeatedly swing back and forth; with birds it's another story completely," he grinned and released the arrow, timing the shot almost perfectly.

The arrow hit the outer ring of the target and caused it to swing on the rope, twisted in circles until the rope was wound tightly enough to unravel and swing the other way. Trail stepped forward again to collect his arrow this time and set the swinging target right so that Lian could take his turn at trying to land a shot or two, "go ahead," he encouraged upon his return.

[Lian Windrunner]

Lian nodded thoughtfully when Trail told him that the arrows would cost one gold miza each. It was a steep price indeed compared to normal arrows...but it would be well worth it if they would help Lian improve his aim. Lian decided he would have to buy some. With luck, he could buy fewer than twenty if he chose. That would cut down on the cost somewhat. Then again, twenty arrows really weren't that many. He might well need that many if he were serious about using them for practice. And he was.
"Yes, I'd like that." Lian said with a grin when the other man suggested getting together to go hunting come fall.
Lian turned his attention back to the swinging target when Trail set it into motion. He listened to the man's advice very carefully, trying to commit it to memory. It was similar to something he had heard before. On the surface, it sounded easy. Shoot where the prey is going to be when the arrow gets there, not where it is when you shoot. But knowing where to shoot to hit moving prey, and being able to predict exactly where it would go, and how fast it would move...those were very different things. Lian watched Trail take his shot, and grinned in admiration at the other man's success.
"How do you figure out which way you prey is going to move? Or how fast it will move, for that matter? That's going to determine where the prey will be so you can aim correctly."
Trail collected his arrow, and set the target moving once more. Then he encouraged Lian to give it a try. Lian watched the target for a few ticks, getting a feel for how quickly it moved. When he was ready, he put one of the whistling arrows he was borrowing to his string. He took aim, then paused, and adjusted his aim as the target continued to sway back and forth. He remembered to tilt his bow until the black mark Trail had made earlier was straight. Then he took his shot. The arrow flew true to his aim, but his timing was off, so the target was already moving out of the way as the arrow reached its target. That caused him to miss. Frowning, Lian tried again. This time, his timing was better, and he hit his mark. It wasn't a perfect shot by any means, but it did hit the target. For his first successful shot at a moving target, it wasn't bad. At the very least, it could have been worse. Lian grinned.
"That could have been better...but at least I hit it that time." he said as he went to collect his arrows.

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[Tribal]

“There’s no sure way, my friend,” The Watchman smiled, leaning against one of the posts that held the Diamond Clan’s tent up, “Practice makes perfect; the more you shoot, hunt, and work at it, the better you’ll be and soon it will all come naturally.”

As Lian fired off another few shots, Trail noticed Bayon wave a hand as if to tell him to ‘wrap it up’ before the next group would be along for their lesson. Trail raised a hand to acknowledge the man, but was intent on seeing his work through; unlike Bayon, he could head home after this, though he would probably be kind and help out with the dagger training.

Lian returned with the arrows and Trail set the rest of his collection down, making it twenty. “You can have these,” he offered, “if… you can shoot that back target closer to the centre than me; I think you'll put them to better use than I, but come fall, when we go for that hunt, I expect to see some improvements,” he smiled slowly, daring the man to take him up on his word, “I’m sure I can round up a few others to join us, we could camp away for the night and hunt something that’s a little harder to find than your average deer.”

With that Trail moved to set the target, stilling it to even up the odds. On his return he strung an arrow to his bow and took his aim, fixing his gait before letting the arrow fly. It pinned the target on the third circle from the centre, causing the thing to wobble on the wooden legs he had attached it to before once again stilling. “One shot, one chance to take my arrows from me,” the Watchman laughed.

[Lian Windrunner]

Lian nodded thoughtfully. Practice makes perfect. This was something that he knew very well. It was both encouraging and discouraging at the same time. Encouraging because it meant that he could improve as long as he was willing to put the hard work in to do so. And he was. But some tips or tricks to make judging such things easier...would make things easier. Then again, life itself wasn't easy, and it wasn't supposed to be.

Lian noticed another man gesturing for Trail to speed things along, and was grateful when he didn't seem inclined to do so. Instead, he gave Lian a challenge. If he could place a shot on the back target closer than Trail could, then Trail would give him the whistling arrows he was borrowing to practice with. A challenge indeed. But it was one Lian had some hope of beating. Even in the time he had been practicing today, he had noticed a marked improvement. Was it enough to beat the challenge? He would find out.

"I'd really like that." Lian said with a grin when Trail suggested rounding some people up for an overnight hunt.

Going after something more challenging than a deer sounded interesting. It wasn't something he trusted himself to do on his own at his current skill. But with a group of others? Some of which were going to be more skilled at hunting than he? That sounded like a lot of fun, and Lian was certain that he would be able to learn a great deal from the experience.

Lian turned his attention to the challenge at hand. He watched intently as Trail took his shot. The other man's arrow struck the third circle from the center. Could he do better? Lian wasn't certain, but he was determined to try. He grinned at the laughter in Trail's voice as he seemed to dare Lian to do better.

Lian took his time. He studied the target for several chimes, carefully judging the distance. Then he readied his bow, and put one of the whistling arrows to the string. When he was ready, he took aim, using what he had been taught to tilt the bow until the mark Trail had drawn was straight. He took a final tick to be certain of his aim, then released the arrow. It flew true, and struck home in the second circle from the center. Lian felt a rush of pride and accomplishment as he turned to Trail.

"I did it." he said with a boyish grin..
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[Tribal]

Trail was a man of his word and seemed more than happy to admit defeat at the hands of his student, “A fine shot,” he acknowledge, “as promised,” the man ducked his chin as if to nod to the arrows that now belonged to Lian. “It was a pleasure to work with you, I’m sure our paths will cross again soon. On the eleventh of fall I will be taking a group of hunters out, just a handful and we will gather at the north gate just before the seventh bell; I expect to see you then,” Trail nodded, shook the man’s hand and then moved to help Bayon get ready for the next lesson.

G R A D E S


Lian Windrunner

• Observation: 5
• Logic: 3
• Land Navigation: 1
• Socialisation: 4
• Weapon, Shortbow: 5
• Endurance: 2
• Body Building: 2
• Intelligence: 1
• Planning: 1
• Rhetoric: 3
• Mathematics: 1

Lore

• Logic: Ranged weapons are best when hunting quick moving prey
• Trail Riverstone: A giant of a man
• Wilderness Survival: Using mud as sun protection
• Using moving targets for archery practice
• Intelligence: Eliminating faults until a solution is found
• Archery: Whistling Arrows
• Rhetoric: Asking questions that demand informative answers
• Trail Riverstone: Planning a hunt for fall
• Archery: Shoot in front of a moving target to increase hit rate
• Lian: Life isn't always easy
• Lian: Meeting the challenge

Rewards

20 x Whistling Arrows (at the value of 1 GM each)

Notes

Always a pleasure to write with you, Lian! Enjoy the rewards!