Completed Daggers and Drugs

[Kelski]

Timestamp: 18th of Winter, 517 AV

Darvin Steval stared down at the sleeping Kelvic. She looked so innocent and young curled up upon herself in the little wardrobe nest she’d made in the cubby that formed an odd shape against the wall of Jaren’s spare room. A stair from somewhere above came down above it, forming a triangle indention the woman had made her own. Whatever had used to hang across the bar that was designed to hold clothing had been removed and a curtain to give her a measure of privacy was hung. Darvin has pulled it back, of course, to reveal the woman wearing one of Jaren’s cast off silk robes and nothing more. She was slumbering. The Kelvic's meager possessions were neatly tucked into a chest beside where she slept. A half-burned down candle was resting on a small metal plate upon the chest indicating that she read sometimes at night. He squatted, reaching out to pick up a strand of her long hair. He studied her features as he ran the length of black and white through his hands. Kelski was flat out beautiful. It was such a shame that beauty was housing a beast.

Darvin snorted. She was no better than a filthy animal according to Jaren; a beautiful deadly animal they could not trust. He knew she was a good jeweler, but he had no idea what thoughts passed through her head. Did she hunger like humans? Did she think like they did? Did she lust? He’d never seen her express much emotion, so he wasn’t quite certain. His experiences with Kelvics were limited to his interaction with this creature. Exotic, forbidden, but here and tempting. Darvin continued to study her and felt himself harden. He cursed the Gods and let his hand trail down to her shoulder, pushing the robe aside. Was it a just another defense mechanism? Be beautiful so no one suspected you were a monster? He wanted a drink suddenly. And he had one on him of course, but now wasn’t the time. He needed the Kelvic’s help. And he was willing to pay for it.

His hand trailed down, pushing the robe aside, so he could feel the soft firm breast her arm didn’t nearly cover. A glimmering ring hung from the nipple he could see. He gently touched the ring, grasping it between his thumb and forefinger, and tugged at it fascinated. Neras had done a fine job, even if the youth had fought the whole way through it. Darvin was old, but not dead, and he could still appreciate a body like the Kelvic before him wore. It was the reason he was here. He wanted to use her body, though not for what his body currently thought it needed after looking at her. He wanted to use her to test his drugs. If something happened to her, it would be far better than one of the recruits falling from a bad batch. He’d have no guilt if a beast died right? He could only test so much on stray street dogs before he needed to move up to something more human. More human… but not. He pushed the robe further open and almost cursed aloud as he followed the line of her naked hip across her upper thigh and caught a glimpse of her ass. She was perfect.

But she’d be better after he got done with her.

He reached out suddenly, roughly, and gave her a shove. His gruff voice was harsh even in his own ears. He knew it was partially disgust over his reaction to her and partially his frustration that she was off limits and shouldn’t be. He wanted to sink himself into her body and ride her hard. But his rank and his respect of Jaren’s ability to lose his temper stopped him. Instead, he’d wake her and collect her for what he had not been forbidden to do.

“Kelski, get up. We’ve got things to do.” He said, rising to his full height. “And put some cursed clothes on. You’re naked and giving the big guy here all kinds of ideas.” He said, giving the front of his pants a much-needed readjustment. The Guardian would wait impatiently for the Kelvic to scramble awake and do as he asked so he could take her back to his rooms.

[Kelski]

Kelski was slow to wake. The kick sped things up a bit, but her mind was still foggy as she scrambled out of her nest and stretched, ducking under Darvin’s next shove to scramble to gather some clothing. He was already headed towards the door to the other chamber as she slipped into the cast-off boys pants, a loose blouse, and grabbed a belt to keep the pants from falling off her slim hips. She gathered up her worn kidskin boots and hopped putting first one on then the other as she scampered to follow him. Hissing unhappily she was at a near run as she tired to thread the belt through the belt loops as she caught up with him in the hall.

“Where are we going?” She asked uncertainly, not sure she needed her cloak. She’d left the thread-bare thing behind and even if it was cold outside, it wouldn’t offer much protection. Darvin turned, glanced over his shoulder, and then shrugged. “My quarters. Then perhaps somewhere with more room.” Kelski’s eyes widened but she said nothing more as she caught up with him and kept pace. Darvin wasn’t Jaren who wanted her pacing a few steps behind him. He could give a shit less where someone walked as long as they came along where he wanted them to go.

Before long they were down another hallway, up another level, and by a big wooden door. Her guard unlocked it and she was let into what looked like a standard Guardian’s room only this one had been outfitted with a Philtering Lab that seemed to be crafted in what used to be an adjacent room. It looked like the wall between two different quarts had been knocked down in an impromptu and most likely drunken remodel. Shelves covered the walls and those held bottles of chemicals and liquor. Various reagents were cooking on burners, all turned down low, and the whole place had something of a spiced chemical smell that Kelski had been relating to Darvin more and more.

He pointed to his bed. “Sit.” Kelski did as he said while he fumbled around and tossed several items onto the almost military style made-up bed.

“You’ll need to learn these first, Kelski. I’m going to teach you how to fight. I’m tired of watching your helpless ass while we are out and about. I’d rather you be a deadly little thing which would make my job easier. The Daggerhands are escalating the situation with Sun’s Birth and so every time we go out, we are at risk. I can’t fight well if I’m always looking over my shoulder to make sure no one’s gutted you.” He put it plainly and simply, breaking it down for what he considered the Kelvics tiny brain.

Kelski nodded. “What’s the catch?” She asked, knowing he did nothing for free or out of the goodness of his heart.

He reached out, stroking her chin thoughtfully. Kelski held absolutely still, her stomach clenching as she suddenly wondered what the price would be. Darvin grinned, shook his head, and stepped back. “I’m a pig, little bird, but not a rutting one. You can keep your clothing on. I just want you to test a few of my creations for me.” He said, gesturing at the philtering lab. “If you’ll do it, I’ll teach you all I can about daggers. It’s not a lot, but it might be enough to keep you alive.” He added, then gestured down at the pile of metal, wood, and leather he’d made beside her.

“We’ll start here, if you are agreeable.” The Guardian said, looking at her expectantly.

Kelski wasn’t sure what to say. Test his creations? Drugs? He’d gave her a few already, with mixed results. But she inherently understood what he was saying. He wanted her to willingly take them, not complain to Jaren, and keep quiet about it. Slowly, very slowly, she nodded. Kelski almost hated herself for agreeing with him, but this was a matter of life and death and a skill she honestly really needed to know.

“I’ll trade one lesson for one test. Lesson first.. so you know I’m legit.” He added, not minding giving her a free one if she declined the drug in the end. It would be her only one at that point, he’d already decided.

Dagger Parts :

He handed her what looked like a long dagger blade from the pile. It had a metal length sticking out from the blade. Quietly, Darvin began naming the parts. “This is a daggers blade. This is its tang. You always want a dagger with a long strong tang designed into it. This is the fuller… its like the ridge going down the center of the blade. This is the handle, pommel, guard, … these are the grips and this is considered the blades edge, and the spear point of the blade. This is how the whole thing fits together. I have three styles here, take a moment to finger them, put them together, see how they work, then look at the sheaths.” He dug out three types of sheaths from the pile as Kelski picked out dagger parts, named them quietly to herself, and began fitting the daggers together like puzzle pieces. All three were slightly different, and all three still came together in a working blade.

They were held together with rivets which had been changed out for smooth screws for what Kelski decided was for teaching purposes. The screws she found at the bottom of the pile and carefully fit the daggers together. The sheaths, or scabbards, were all different as well. And Darvin quietly named the parts as well… “Bolster, planch – which was a wood inner core, sometimes cork – bands, mouth, metal bands, and the leather… each sheath was wrapped in leather or silver… something the Jewel could have done in her own workshop. When Kelski was done looking them over and could name the parts for Darvin to his satisfaction, he nodded, gathered up the pieces, and stowed them in a drawer of a cupboard that held more philtering gear.

“Okay, come with me.” He said, beckoning her to follow.

[Kelski]

Kelski assumed they were going to The Proving Grounds, which she’d heard of from Zukai and a few others just overhearing casual talk, but Darvin avoided even leaving The Barracks. Instead, he took her to an extremely dusty unused room in the basement. Part of the floor was damp and there were obstacles there, broken crates, and some empty wooden boxes stacked against the wall. It looked like someone had fashioned a practice dummy out of burlap and straw as well. Kelski surveyed the room and looked around. The lighting was terrible too. Darvin moved about and lit a couple of lanterns – one on each wall – which helped. There were no windows and the air in the room smelled stale. He left the door open for a bit.

“You’ll know pain here, Kelski, but it will make you stronger.” The older man said, stroking his beard absently as he studied her. She was so small compared to him. In fact, though she was tall for most women, there wasn’t much mass to her. He’d have to change that. He just wasn’t sure how. Running would help for sure. Stamina was important. But how to get her stronger? Manual labor did it for most people, but she was in her workshop more often than not. Heavy lifting wasn’t in the cards. He’d have to give it some thought.

Meanwhile he slipped a wooden dagger out of the back of his pants that had been tucked into the belt and handed it to her. She gripped it and he stepped forward and immediately corrected her grip. “Kelski, there are multiple ways to hold a dagger. We usually break them down depending on what you are using the dagger for. Are you in combat? Are you defending yourself? Are you needing a tactical use?” He said, walking around her suddenly, noting how she stood. “This is a tool, Kelski. Just like anything else in your workshop. But I can teach you to make it a truly devastating weapon. You can’t unmake it into anything but a weapon, little bird. If the blade edge gets dull, you can still stab the tip into flesh and do damage. And if you pierce in the right places, daggers can be fatal. It can, however, be just as dangerous to the person holding it as it is to the person being attacked by it.” He said, stopping in front of her and gesturing down at the dagger in her hand.

“Daggers can be held several ways. The first grip I’m going to show you is the Hammer Grip…. Its also called the Forward Grip. A grip is called ‘forward’ when the blade opposes the little finger. This is the one I’m going to have you use the most. You wrap your fingers around and under the belly of the handle. Your thumb is wrapped around the handle and in contact with your forefinger. When you hold out your hand with the blade in it, the point is angled up when your wrist is locked and squared.” He reached out, extended her arm, locked her wrist, and squeezed her hand tightly around the blade until she was gripping it and her wrist was locked. It was then she could see what he was talking about.

Kelski nodded, shifting, instinctively widening her stance and squaring her shoulders. Darvin nodded, not saying anything but approving.

[Kelski]

“Whats the advantage and disadvantage of this grip, Kelski?” Darvin asked, wanting the woman to think… to start shaping her brain towards combat instead of crafting.

Kelski thought a moment, looking at the blade and noting its relation to the ground, her body, and how she held it. “I can slash pretty far away from my body with this. And if feels comfortrable. It feels… easy.” She said, not sure he was looking for this. “It also feels extended outward, far away, and that seems to me my arm and hand is not as protected. It feels… vulnerable?” She said softly, hesitantly. This was not a subject she was comfortable in.

Darvin nodded. “Good. Your main advantage in the hammer grip is that you have great reach. You can move with the knife that way, so it gives you a finesse. You can slash and cut while keeping your body fairly far away from danger. But you are right… it makes you vulnerable and makes your hand open for injury by the opponent. You must tilt your wrist slightly forward and that’s hard on your joints. Wrists like to be perpendicular to your arm for the strongest contact among the bones. If you lock your wrist, your tipping the blade back, towards you, and you can really stab yourself in the head or chest if someone is fighting you who knows how to say reach out and grab your elbow under your knife slash and yank it towards them.” Darvin demonstrated gently, and Kelski found herself eye to eye with the blade in her hand before she even knew what he was doing. Darvin didn’t hurt her but she immediately understood the lesson. Nodding, the big Guardian stepped away and continued the lesson.

“The next grip I’ll show you is another…. Forward grip. This one is called The Saber.” He reached out and carefully readjusted her fingers on the blade. He made sure her thumb was resting on the spine of the knife, at the quillion. Her other fingers wrapped around the grip while her pointer finger gripped the blade opposite of her thumb below the dagger, not touching. “Now… what do you feel? Advantages and disadvantages?” Darvin asked the Kelvic again.

Kelski studied the grip and as Darvin backed up she took a few trial swings. “My thumb is strong. I can drive harder, deeper, fiercer with a grip like this. It feels like it has similar advantages to the first grip, The Hammer, but… “ Kelski bit her bottom lip and shifted her stance, twisting the dagger to look at her hand. “My fingers aren’t touching each other. Hands aren’t as strong unless you are making a fist. This could be torn out of my grip easier. I feel like I want to close my hand and grip it tighter, but I honestly can’t grip any tighter than I am right now.” She said, and then suddenly took the initiative to switch from the Hammer to the Saber without touching the dagger with her other hand. She switched back, and nodded to herself, realizing she’d have to practice this move… drive forward, switch grips, and continue fighting after a stab where she used her thumb for power.

Darvin laughed. “Good. I liked that. You are thinking.” He said, moving forward, to check her grip again after she’d switched back and forth a few times. “Very good.” He said, nodding to himself.

[Kelski]

“You are correct, Kelski. But its more than that. Daggers can be your own worst enemy. The leverage they can generate against an open palmed grip like this can be deadly to you. Some people play this in design, ordering daggers without straight grips and instead curving the grips to give the hand an advantage. It works, but I’d rather teach you on a universal blade so you aren’t handicapped if special weapons vanish. The best daggers are made exactly for your hands measurements and weighted accordingly. But you can’t always have this. Today… you get wood. When you learn more, you’ll get iron. It’s a progression in learning. And in terms of advantages, this position is great for control and ideal for a long reach. It’s very similar to The Hammer in that aspect. It’s good you are practicing changing your grip mid fight. That’s a more advanced thing I teach, but I won’t stop you from growing used to doing so at this level.” He added, then paced around her once more.

“We can modify The Saber a bit. I want you to move your thumb off the spine of the dagger, and place it against the side of the blade.” He reached out and gently readjusted her thumb so her thumb laid where he wanted it too. He let Kelski feel the dagger in her hand and then waited for her thoughts. “It’s stronger… than the Saber itself. It puts the dagger more forward, easier to slash with, right? It also gives my wrist a stronger position. I can lock my wrist.” She added. Then she really looked at the blade.

“If it gets slick with blood it would be so easy for my thumb to slide off and maybe get cut deeply by the very blade I’m wielding.” She said softly. “I don’t like how close it is to the edge that cuts. If I get hit hard, even if the blade is dry, I could still get cut. So do we use it or not?” Kelski asked, glancing at Darvin.

“We use it. We use all of these until things get so dirty you can’t.. then you use what’s safe, and what will kill the fastest.” He said with an amused rumble. “The good thing about this position is that if you were wielding a regular knife with just one cutting edge, you couldn’t cut on an outward motion. But this dagger and all the ones I will let you use are double edged. That means you can cut on a backhand motion. But its an action that you need to practice… cutting on the way in and cutting on the way out. Luckily your thumb pads aren’t smooth like normal ladies. You have a rough tough thumb from your work.” He said softly, smiling, and standing back to survey her from top to bottom.

“Okay… three stances, Kels. Now, little bird, lets look at a couple more things before I teach you more grips.” He said, moving back and forth in front of her again. “Once you learn your grips, I want you to plant your feet in a balanced stance. There are a lot of stances, but I want you to take a triangle one. You put one foot in front of the other so you have a good balance. The triangle stance gives you a wide range of motion.” He said, grasping her by the non-dagger bearing elbow and toeing her legs further apart and her feet into the right position. “Feel how much more stable you are now?” He asked.

Kelski nodded.

[Kelski]

Darvin wasn’t done. He reached out and tucked her chin down. “Protect your throat. You hold your head to high and proud, which I don’t understand because you are a slave. Owned people shouldn’t be so proud.” He added. “Lead with your dagger….” He said, extending out her arm, in the hammer grip. “This leads and becomes your shield. Put your other hand up, but turn your wrist up and palm facing your body. That way if you get slashed, someone isn’t opening up your wrist and bleeding you out before you even get started in the fight. A cut hand doesn’t take you out of the fight. It just hurts. Also use that hand for a shield for the throat and face. These little street punks will cut your pretty eyes out before you know it. Don’t let them. Your forearm can take a lot of cuts before your face can.” He said, reaching out and grabbing her left arm, bending the elbow and bringing her arm up and palm pointed towards her body so the limb was curled in and almost like she was trying to cover her heart. In a way she was, protecting it from being stabbed by an opponent’s dagger.

Kelski memorized how her body felt being in this stance. She moved around a bit, keeping her limbs loosely in the place Darvin placed them. She stared at the dagger and her free hand, and seemed to be wrapping her mind around the ideas he’d just given her. Darvin knew Kelski well enough to give her some time to process what he was teaching. When she was ready, she nodded and he continued.

“Your left arm will be your shield. Remember that. Try and keep your clothing thick there if you can. Gloves are great if you are out on the street. Your dagger arm is your ‘in between’ protection. But your shield arm must always protect your throat, chest and face. You want to take any wounds on your arm, not on your torso. Remember, that torso contains organs you can’t lose… lungs, your heart, kidneys, liver… anything. Even girly parts.” He added, grinning slightly.

“Now… I want you to not think in terms of how to fight… countering their moves with your own. I want you to treat each dagger fight as a timed event for you to see how quickly you can disarm or disable, even kill, your opponent. I’m serious, Kelski. Don’t drag it out. Be quick. Always aim for the hand that’s holding the weapon to disarm him. If they are holding a dagger in a backwards position, which we haven’t talked about yet, but its where you are holding the blade reverse of the grips I taught you… all his knuckles are exposed. Cut those fingers off. Don’t hesitate. Any vulnerability needs to be exploited. On the streets here, its either you are him. He won’t pull a stab because you are pretty or look unthreatening. If a rival gang wants you dead, you will be dead.” He said firmly, driving home the point. When you have a blade and your enemy doesn’t, odds are he won’t be a threat to you.” Darvin said firmly, standing loosely with one hip cocked sideways as he stroked his beard again.

“Do you understand?” He asked, brow furrowed as he studied the Kelvic. He couldn’t always read her.

Kelski nodded slowly. “I’m just used to having weapons built in, not holding them. I don’t think its that different than how I normally operate… or have operated before… this place. It feels good to hold a dagger in my hand. I’d prefer more though, but one will do. Especially if its sharp and ready to kill.” The Kelvic admitted softly.

Not for the first time, Darvin wondered what type of bird she was. He was more and more deciding against songbird and moving more into the realm of predator. Someday he’d ask her. He just wasn’t quite ready to know.

Continued in: Daggers and Drugs II

[Kelski]

Kelski

Experience

Dagger +5, Observation +5,

Lore

Dagger: Parts of a Dagger, Dagger: Hammer Grip, Dagger: Forward Grip, Dagger: Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Grips, Dagger: Saber Grip, Dagger: Modifying Grips To Suit Situations, Dagger: Balanced Stance, Dagger: Triangle Stance, Dagger: Lead With Dagger In A Dual, Dagger: Using Free Hand For A Shield, Dagger: Protecting Your Throat Neck, and Heart, Dagger: Using Your Forearm For a Shield