Solo Get Those Knees Up

[Nahaali]

17 Fall 518

Nahaali became a Benefactor within the Sun's Birth in the spring, since she was never a decent fighter and wanted to run a business instead. But at least as a Dragoon she was kept in shape. Now that she spent most of her time resting in her carriage or sitting and reading fortunes, she was starting to get soft and weaker. She was constantly on edge about possible attacks, and didn't want to be caught off-guard. She needed to make sure she was still able to fight back and take a punch.

She woke up this morning and decided on a plan. She'd go to the Proving Grounds to get some basic training. Since she wasn't a Dragoon anymore she'd have to pay for the lessons, but that wasn't a problem for her. She had a steady income, both from her fortune telling and her remedy-selling on the side. But first, she'd need a breakfast suitable for training. She got out of her carriage, carrying her wash basin, and went to fill it with water from one of the water pumps in Tent City. She washed herself just long enough to rinse off any dirty on her skin and clean out her curly hair, and also washed her day clothes. When she finished, she began to prepare breakfast.

She had a salmon steak seasoned with salt, pepper, and dill. She cooked it on a pan over a small fire, frying some onions around it and squeezing lemon onto all of it for extra flavor. Before long, her immediate area smelled delicious. With all the other breakfasts other Tent City residents cooked, the whole area was a wonderful mixed scent. The salmon was delicious, of course, filling Nahaali up long enough to last until lunch. She cleaned up her area, snuffing out the fire and rinsing the plate, utensils and pan she used before dumping the water out of the wash basin. When everything was packed back into the carriage, she prepared Patch with the bit and bridle and began to head into town.

[Nahaali]

17 Fall 518

The Proving Grounds was in the Sun's Refuge of Sunberth. It was the only place in the city that the Sun's Birth had any control over, and thus was the only place Nahaali knew she was protected. Members were everywhere, even if you couldn't see them. As she drove her carriage into the section of the city, she spotted a couple members she recognized from her days as a Dragoon and they swapped a quick nod.

From where she entered the city, the Proving Grounds was the first major building she came across in the section. She parked the carriage near the entrance, tying Patch to a wooden pole and making sure Woofus stayed in the carriage. If he saw her sparring with someone he could mistake it as an actual fight and attack. When sparring as a Dragoon, that happened far too many times. By now she knew to keep Woofus back. He would watch for potential robbers.

She entered the Proving Grounds, bringing only her coinbag with her. She was stopped at the entrance to be checked for gang allifiations, and when they spotted her Eight-Point Sun tattoo, they welcomed her as the member of the Sun's Birth that she was. She explained she wasn't a Dragoon but a Benefactor, because of all the people in Sunberth she did not want to cheat them out of coin.

She was allowed into the grounds, and it didn't take long for her to find one of the instructors. Captain Eleuia. She recognized her from when she'd train her as a Dragoon, so it wasn't so uncomfortable to approach her. She didn't seem to be working on anyone else at the moment, so she approached her and bowed. "Hello, Captain! I'm not sure if ye remember me, the name's Nahaali. I'm hopin' to get some endurance trainin' today, nothin' with weapons just yet. I plan to expand from there, someday, but for now... just workin' on gettin' my endurance up."

Eleuia smirked slightly. "Yeah, I remember you. You were never really good with training, I'm surprised to see you back here. Once you became a Benefactor I expected to never see you again."

Nahaali chuckled. "Aye, I just want to make sure I can fend for myself, even if it's just runnin' away for now."

"I can do endurance training, that's fine. Since you want something specific like that, and we mostly give strength-based training, you'll need an individual session. How's that?"

"Just fine," Nahaali answered. "Ten gold mizas, yeah?" She took out the coins, handing them over. Eleuia put them in her own coinbag and motioned for Nahaali to follow her.

[Nahaali]

17 Fall 518

They went to the northern arena where one-on-one training usually happened, whether between two students or a student and an instructor. Nahaali looked over those who were here already; a few student-on-student training, and she saw Marshal Iztel overlooking them. She figured because it was early, more people wanted one-on-one training before the masses came for group training.

"Endurance is pretty good to train," Eleuia began explaining. "The easiest thing to do is running. To start, let's have you run around the edge of the arena, as many laps as you can. Don't push yourself too hard, but don't give up so easily." She pointed to one end of the arena. "There's a pump for when you need water. Hydration is most important. Ready to start?"

Nahaali nodded. "Aye, Captain." She took a deep breath, tying her coinbag to her belt. Then, she began to jog. She didn't allow herself to go too fast, but she made sure to not slow down. A nice, even pace. She looked over at the other trainees ocassionally, but for the most part kept her eyes in front of her and focused on herself. When she got near the water pump, she stopped and pumped some water into her hand to drink and splash onto her face. Then she kept going.

[Nahaali]

17 Fall 518

She managed to jog two and a half laps without stopping, and when she did stop she had herself fast-walk the rest of the way to Eleuia. Each lap she had done she took a quick break to have drink of water, and when she was finished Eleuia walked with her to the pump so she could drink more. While she drank she spoke. "Almost three full laps, that's a good start. You still retained some of what you had as a Dragoon, though there's definitely room for improvement. When you're ready we can move on to the next part."

It only took a couple chimes for Nahaali to get her breathing level, and she told Eleuia. "Good. Next step, do more laps around the arena. But this time reach up as high as you can with your knees. Don't focus on speed; focus on keeping your knees up when you run."

So Nahaali started again, lifting her knees high with every step. Whenever Eleuia spotted her knees beginning to drop she'd call out to her to raise them again. By the end of her first lap, taking a drink, she was exhausted. Eleuia handed her a towel to wipe the sweat on her forehead and nodded with a smile. "Good work. We still have a lot of time left for your session. Let's do some more normal jogging, once you've calmed down again."

[Nahaali]

17 Fall 518

That's how Nahaali's bell-long session went. Jogging laps, taking water breaks, doing different techniques to work more on endurance, repeat. By the time Eleuia told her the bell was over, Nahaali's legs were burning. Burning in a good way, though. Eleuia told her, "Today was a good workout. For the beginning, that's all you really need to do. Feel free to come to the grounds to work on your own; you don't necessarily need training for running."

Nahaali nodded, speaking between pants. "Th-Thanks. Th-This... really helped. I'll definitely be comin'... back."

Eleuia nodded with a smirk. "Great. You're excused."

Nahaali walked back to her carriage. When she opened the door to go in, Woofus was right there. He sniffed Nahaali, making sure she was okay, and when he smelled how sweaty she was he let out a huff. Nahaali knelt down and pat his head. "Let's head back to the City, yeah? I need to get cleaned up. Don't want to smell like sweat all day."

[K'irr Darkwater]

Nahaali

Planning - 1XP
Grooming - 1XP
Cooking - 1XP
Cleaning - 1XP
Driving - 1XP
Observation - 2XP
Socialisation - 1XP
Running - 1XP
Endurance - 1XP

☉ Planning: Making a mental itinerary for the day
☉ Grooming: Basic hair, body and garment cleansing
☉ Cooking: Basic frying techniques
☉ Cooking: Making use of vegetables and seasoning
☉ Location: Tent City
☉ Area: Sun's Refuge - Sun's Birth territory
☉ Location: The Proving Grounds
☉ Sun's Birth: Benefactors and members guaranteed protection in gang territory
☉ Eleuia the Strong: Captain and instructor at the Proving Grounds
☉ Iztel the Swift: Marshal and instructor at the Proving Grounds
☉ Running is a good way to improve endurance
☉ The importance of staying hydrated
☉ High-knee exercise to improve endurance
☉ Endurance: Working out until you feel your muscles burn

___________

Please remember to deduct food items used:

Salt: -1cm/oz
Pepper: -30gm/oz
Dill: -3cm/oz
Salmon: -8sm/lb
Lemons: -2gm/lb

Comments

Hey there, please be mindful of your skill use when your PC has zero in a skill (she did some fancy cooking for someone who technically knows nothing in that area) and be careful to match you PC's lifestyle to their living standards (poor in this case). That is very fancy food for someone living in the tent city, paying poor expenses. Please be realistic and don't overplay things.

Also, I know you were rushing to get this done for the competition but I need you to pay a bit more attention to post length as none of these broke the 500 words mark. I'm still awarding you your grades but others may not in the future so please keep this in mind when taking part in future challenges. I couldn't award you what you were going for because you never really showed Nahaali dealing with endurance (or many other skills): there was no straining, no pushing herself past her limits. All you did was tell me and narrate. You need to really show the grader your character partaking in the skill you want to gain points in it.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade.