Flashback Training in Discomfort

[Samuel Longwell]

Training in Discomfort Date: 27th Summer, Year 499 Location: Training Grounds Samuel Thoughts Others The training grounds were busy, the scorching midday heat had passeD and a variety of squires and knights were honing their skills. Samuel stood opposite a training dummy, standing in an aggressive stance, ready to begin his training. His right foot was half a step behind his left, his shield protecting most of his body and his blade's tip pointing forward. He still stood still for several ticks, focusing on keeping his weapons in the correct position, then flew into action. Stepping forward he slashed diagonally with his longsword. As soon as the blade struck, he stepped back. Without even thinking about it Samuel had returned to a defensive position. Samuel frowned slightly, such instincts made his attacks disjointed. It was all very well being able to fight defensively, but the young squire had been told that sometimes he would need to be more aggressive. Samuel decided that it would be a good idea to improve his ability to chain multiple strikes together. “When I next attack I will try and keep up the momentum.” he decided, “I need to try and flow from one strike to another.” Samuel readied himself anew, settling back into the aggressive stance he had begun in. He planned out how he wished to attack, thinking about the transitions between each of the moves he wished to use. Taking a deep breath, he began. He lunged forwards, left foot forwards, swinging his shield in an arc with his weight behind it. The shield made solid contact with the dummy, the metal ringing loudly as the squire stepped back. He quickly followed the move by stepping forward half a pace with his right foot, bringing his blade across in a horizontal slash. The strength of the blow chipped the wood, and Samuel winced as his arm absorbed the vibrations of the strike. Pulling the blade back, Samuel attempted to copy a move that had been used on him. He lashed out with his foot, aiming for where the dummy's knees would be. When Samuel had first seen it used, his opponent's kick had made contact with the side of his knee. Thrown completely off balance, Samuel had been powerless to resist as the knight knocked him to the ground. Samuel's attempt to copy was feeble at best. His foot barely brushed the dummy, with the kick unbalancing himself significantly. He managed to regain his footing then, finishing his planned chain, struck again with his shield. Samuel stepped back into his starting position, a small grin on his face due to the improved fluidity he had just exhibited.

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others Samuel began to sidestep around the dummy, holding his shield as if he expected to be attacked. He kept his breathing steady and continued to move to his left. The repetitive rotation soon started to make the squire dizzy but he continued to move, pushing his body to its limits. Samuel's patron loved to make the young squire train in strange situations and Samuel had recently started to take to the idea with a passion. He knew that he there wouldn't always be perfect conditions when he was required to fight. His patron had stressed the fact that he needed to be able to fight at any time. Tired, dizzy or injured, his opponents would try and take advantage of any weakness. Samuel suddenly stopped. He staggered slightly, feeling slightly nauseous. Trying to ignore the dizziness, Samuel swung with his sword. He grimaced as the blade missed, he had completely misjudged his strike. The tall squire set his feet as securely as he could under the circumstances, then attempted a shield bash. It was more successful than his slash, but the impact ruined his mostly solid footing. Samuel regained some balance and continued to strike the dummy with both sword and shield for several more chimes. Once the dizziness had passed, Samuel placed his weapons to one side and decided to practise something else. Unarmed combat was not something that Samuel relished. Although strong, he had neither the speed or technique that many of his peers had. He was determined to make some progress and so approached the dummy with his fists up. He punched tentatively, his gauntlet striking the wood with very little force. Samuel's face creased and he tried again. Putting more weight behind it he pulled back his fist and struck the wood as hard as he could. Samuel gasped as pain shot up his wrist. Although much of the force from the blow had dissipated into his gauntlet, some had not. He shook his wrist, gritting his teeth against the pain. The discomfort died down after a few chimes, but Samuel decided to avoid punching with his right arm for now. He jabbed at the dummy a few times with his left hand, trying to strike hard without injuring himself. Each blow made a satisfying sound, heavy and loud.

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others Dissatisfied with how his attempt at a kick had turned out earlier, Samuel readied himself to try again. He positioned himself so that he was standing at a distance from which he could reach the dummy with a kick. The young squire fixed his feet and prepared himself to strike with his foot, wishing to avoid unbalancing himself like before. He took a short step forward and lashed out with a kick. His armoured leg struck the dummy with a decent amount of force, but as he tried to follow the move with another kick he slipped and fell onto his backside. The boy frowned, a choice curse word flitting into his mind. Samuel pulled himself to his feet, brushing the dirt off his armour with a small sigh. He didn't let his failure put him off though, the next few chimes were filled with the sound of metal striking wood as he worked on improving his ability to kick. Samuel trained until he was out of breath, then stepped away from the training dummy and sat on the ground for a rest. As he got his breath back he thought about what else he wanted to do while he was at the training grounds. “Perhaps I should practise my archery a little” he said to himself, “I'll just finish up here then head over to the butts.” Samuel stood back up and grabbed his weapons, deciding to try the combo he had muddled his way through earlier. The first two strikes proceeded as before. Shield bash, sidestep, then slash. Both his weapons struck the dummy with a satisfying thump. He again attempted the kick, foot aiming for where he imagined his opponent's knees would be. His boot made firm contact with the dummy, and he finished by slamming his shield into it. Samuel stepped away from the dummy and let out a small shout of glee. He'd done it. It seemed his hard work was paying off. Samuel thought that the combo had seemed rather graceful, so he turned towards the archery targets with the grin of someone proud of themselves.

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others The area around the targets were fairly busy, but there were a few butts free so Samuel had no trouble finding a place to shoot. He grabbed a bow and quiver of arrows from the weapons rack, placing his other weapons aside so they didn't get in the way. Samuel placed his feet shoulders width apart, side on to the target. Keeping his breathing calm he focused on where he wished the arrow to strike. Nocking his arrow, the tall squire pulled on the drawstring. Once Samuel reached full draw he paused, feeling the strain across his back and shoulders, then released the arrow. The arrow jumped from the bow eagerly, arcing towards the target at great speed. The arrow buried itself in the target. Samuel shrugged, the shot was nothing to be proud of. He simply nocked another arrow and continued to send arrows towards the target. Samuel quickly grew bored of the monotonous training. He had lost track of how many times he had come to the training grounds to practise archery, but he felt very little progress was being made. He let his eyes wander over those nearby, then spotted something that interested him. A knight was showing some squires how to throw daggers, the blades were all striking close to the centre of the target. “I'd like to give that a go” thought Samuel. Samuel walked over to the knight and introduced himself, explaining that he'd like to join in. The knight smiled and passed Samuel a handful of daggers. “Just give it a go,” the knight told Samuel, “let's see how it goes.” Samuel nodded, slightly nervous. Samuel took a dagger in his right hand, and threw it as hard as he could towards the target. He winced as the blade flew over the top of the target and landed behind it. He quickly grabbed another blade, wishing to redeem himself in the eyes of the knight watching. On this attempt he took his time, aiming lower. This time the dagger struck the target on the left edge. The knight put his hand on Samuel's shoulder. “Right,” he said, “I guess we have a fair amount to work on.”

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others “You need to focus on your form when you throw the dagger.” the knight explained, “At the moment you're all over the place. Watch how I do it.” The knight picked up one of Samuel's daggers and slowly moved through the correct form for throwing a dagger. Samuel watched carefully, trying to absorb the information so that he could replicate what the knight was showing him. “He doesn't draw his arm anywhere near as far back as I was,” noticed Samuel, “that's something I can easily improve on.” Once the knight had finished explaining the correct form, Samuel nodded and got ready to throw another blade. He stood in a relaxed pose, dagger held in his right hand. He took his time as he prepared himself, concious of the knights eyes on him. Lifting his arm up, he flung the blade forward, where it struck the target fairly near the centre. Samuel smiled and, wanting to capitalise on his good luck, quickly grabbed another dagger and sent it flying forwards. His haste cost him accuracy, his throw completely missing. “Just keep practising, you'll get there.” the knight said, clapping the squire on the shoulder and moving to help another squire. Samuel looked at the final dagger in his hand, readying himself for another throw. This attempt struck the target, but again near the edge. Samuel shrugged, he had learnt a fair amount in the brief time he'd spent watching the knight but he supposed he had better get back to practising his shortbow. Picking up his bow he tried something he had been attempting recently. Taking an arrow from his quiver, he nocked and fired it in one smooth motion. The shot wasn't particularly accurate but that wasn't his intention. The voice of his patron echoed in his mind. “The point of this exercise is to increase your rate of fire.” Samuel recited to himself as he continued to send arrows towards the target. He continued to fire arrows at a good speed, with little accuracy. Just over half the arrows were striking the target but Samuel put it out of his mind, focusing on speed above all else. He could feel his shoulder muscles starting to burn from the repetitive movement but he pushed through the pain as best he could until he had to stop. Firing his last arrow he dropped his bow and inspected his fingers. He could feel blisters starting to raise, a mark of a good training session. “That's enough for now.” Samuel decided and got ready to leave the training grounds.

[Ball]

Samuel Longwell

Weapon(Longsword) +2
Weapon(Shield) +1
Unarmed Combat +2
Endurance +1
Weapon(Shortbow) +1
Weapon(Dagger) +2

Lores
Longsword Technique: Diagonal Forward Slash
Longsword Technique: Horizontal Forward Slash
Shield Technique: Shield Bash
Unarmed Combat Technique: Side Kick to the Knee to Disable Opponent
Unarmed Combat Technique: Jabs
Shortbow Technique: Proper Footing
Shortbow Training Technique: Speed Firing
Dagger Technique: Throwing Overhand
Dagger Technique: Do not overextend when pulling back to throw

Shield Points:
+2 Training – Melee
+1 Training – Range
+1 Training – Enduring Pain and Continuing past breaking point\


Note: I am assuming Shortbow due to your Character Sheet. Please be sure to remember to state what kind of weapon more clearly next time as Bow doesn't say much.

If I have missed something please let me know via PM. I would suggest going with more detail to gain more points.