[Okomo Villa] Striking at Mountains (Arros Angerforge)

[Emeric]

Timestamp: 70th of Summer, 511AV Participants: Emeric, Arros Angerforge Purpose: Weapon Training The city had just resumed from its noon slumber when Emeric found himself about the Okomo Villa. He had been frequenting the place occasionally for some time, being fascinated with the sacred animals which were so key to the running of Lhavit – and the incredible care they were met with. As he approached the Okomo were crowded at the far edge of the large courtyard they were allowed to graze upon. The great skyglass that forged the city glinted with midday sunlight, and the breeze was entirely still. All in all, a perfect day – however, the Okomo were agitated. The Okomo’s caretaker was delicately tracing a brush across the horns of one the great beasts, and looking scornfully towards the back of the building. A small alley snaked through the main buildings, and from the alley a great boom came. Once again the Okomo shuffled closer to the edge of their compound, and the caretaker – Khana, he recalled – glared in the direction of the sound. Curiosity bit at Emeric and he found himself on autopilot, passing through the open ground toward the slender alley and through to the other side. When he emerged he was struck by a unique site, a man of great breadth and smaller stature – literally shaking with rage and breathing heavily through his mouth and nose. He was bare, from the waist up – which allowed Emeric to see the rippling muscles that adorned his body, and his eyes were drawn to the man’s left arm. The veins popping out from the dense limb in a poignant crimson. In one hand he held a hammer, though not a warhammer, Emeric noted. In fact it seemed unique in that it held the attributes of a normal work hammer, like carpenter or blacksmith may use but with the size of the warhammer’s that he’d often seen men carry into battle. His right hand, came up and pounded on the wall – more mountainside than wall, but cut in patterns and painted with brown and green hues. “There are more productive ways to expel anger.” He said, just loud enough to carry over the huffing and puffing of the man in front of him. “I’m sure the Shinya would appreciate the chance to spar with you. I too, Isurian.”

[Arros Angerforge]

Arros was angry, always angry, anything seemed to set him off into a fuelled rampage of destruction, it had always been that way for him. His gift or curse, what ever way you look at it, had both its disadvantages and advantages, it made him into a fearless warrior that could ignore pain and fight against unbeatable odds, it also however, made him socially recessive and could cause him to flip off at any given moment if someone spoke ill of him, his race or anything that he felt he had a connection with. The reason he was in Lhavit in the first place was due to him destroying a large portion of the Bizarre in Alvadas while in a furious temper and having to go on the run from several gangs that tried to catch him for justice or bounty. The reason he was standing there, in an alley of the Okomo Villa, smashing the grey mountain wall however, was because of way the people of Lhavit had looked at him when he arrived a few days ago, curious and cautious, nervous and alarmed at the site of a muscle-bound, cold-looking Isur wielding a large, hefty hammer. Arros couldn't get the thought of being an exile out of his head. "They all think I am a freak.. a monster!!" Arros screamed in his mind while pounding the grey rock, sending tremors outward from his location, deep in the alleyway. "They hide in fear because of my very appearance!!" his temper flared to incomprehensible levels. He gave off a grunt of fury every time the hammer hit the stone. "They dont understand!! The rage.. the rage never dies!!!!" with a massive crash of his hammer against the rock, a huge shudder shook the ground, the buildings swayed as if the rock underneath them had given way. Arros was so furious that he started to breathe heavily out his nostrils and mouth, his very body started to shake as anger consumed his very soul. Arros didn't hear the stranger that had approached him from behind, he was far to preoccupied with punishing the inanimate object that was before him. Arros then heard words, words that couldn't be recognized as friend or foe. Arros turned around and saw a man that looked like he was over 6", he had fairly tanned skin, a closely trimmed beard and hair that was medium in length. Was this stranger here to stop him from hitting the stone wall or was he here, just curious about the shudders he possibly felt across the ground. The mans true intentions were revealed, when he said "I’m sure the Shinya would appreciate the chance to spar with you. I too, Isurian." Arros only caught a small part of the sentence, due to the loud breathing he was emitting. "You want to spar, human!?!" his deep voice brash with rage. "Lets spar then!?!" Arros roared as he charged forward with murderous intent. Upon closing in on the man, Arros lifted up his hand with the hammer tightly clutched between his fingers and brought it down with thunderous power, aiming towards the humans head. This man should of left Arros to his own devices, his curiosity would pay and pay dearly.

[Emeric]

The anger surrounding the man seemed to bleed into his surroundings, where usually there would have been the odd curious Okomo venturing to the back of the building, or a group of birds intent on making a nest in the mountain side the whole area was clear but for Emeric and the muscled man before him. The thick black hair atop his head even seemed to quiver as he turned on Emeric. The hammer was gripped tighter as the man made eye contact, sliding his fingers into position to strike at Emeric he huffed with fury. Emeric knew very little of the Isur, of their ways and customs or even in how they interacted with each other and outsiders. Though wary to attribute one mans attributes to an entire race, he couldn’t help but wonder if the entire race was fuelled by anger - or if he was an outsider among them. And then he charged. Like the Okomo outside, when caught during mating season - Emeric felt like he had interrupted something, and the man wanted him gone. Or perhaps he was just agreeing, in his own peculiar way, at Emeric’s suggestion of anger management. The hammer rose into the air, an extension of the mans broad arms and level with Emeric’s head. He knew he had almost a foot on the man in front of him, but he also knew if he was struck by this man it could well knock him out cold. The ground shook as the man pounded towards Emeric, growling like a rabid beast and wielding his hammer with ferocity. As he closed in Emeric saw the arm begin to rotate, and tense up, the hammer came crashing towards his face and he leapt back in his best imitation of a jaguar. The hammer swung through empty air and the Isurian staggered, realisation possibly dropping through his mind that in terms of reach they were severely outmatched. Emeric knew he had to stay away, the Isurian knew he had to get in close. Emeric’s hand went to the sword across his back, unhooking the sheath from its harness and wielding the sword with the sheath still upon it. As much as the man would hurt him if he made contact, Emeric knew that an open blade when sparring could be extremely dangerous - and he didn’t, yet, mean this man any ill will. He settled into his most familiar stance for fighting, settling back onto the balls of his feet, ready to defend himself or dart out of the way of the hulking man before him.

[Arros Angerforge]

This fight, that happened abruptly out of Arros's rage, could well of been the thing that was needed to make him calm down. Fighting was the only thing that his anger could be applied to, crafting and social activities were out of the question when he is in a state such as this. His rage made him fearless and defiant, even against unbeatable odds, it allowed him to perform feats, thought otherwise impossible, the fury of Arros was in itself, his salvation and unfortunately his destruction. The missed blow of Arros was evaded beautifully as the man quickly jumped out the way. The force of the swing that Arros threw was tremendously powerful and while strong enough to crush skull and rock alike, this made it very difficult to stop in mid-swing, the momentum that travelled up the hilt to the hammer face caused Arros to stagger forward and hit the nearby building hard, while not at all hurtful due to his tough, dense skin and bones, it made the embers of anger flare in his eyes as it provided another annoyance in his life. Arros knew that that this man who was considerably taller than him, had a far further reach, he would have to get in close and take the advantage of his reach away from him to be able to do any damage, it wasn't going to be easy and although Arros probably had the strength out of the two, this man had the speed and he would undoubtedly exploit it to his full potential. The area that they were in was quite small and closed, this made creating distance between them so much harder, if it was going to be environmentally unbiased, the warrior would need to migrate to a more open playing field and try not to trip over anything that was scattered all over the alleyway. Arros noticed that his rival, took his weapon in his hands with the sheath still on it, Arros's dense skin would easily protect him from the light cuts that it could inflict if bare, however if enough force was put into the blow, his flesh would be as helpless as any normal skinned person. Arros looked at his weapon, it seemed to be a falchion, while not used for thrusting or stabbing, this sword was one of the best, if not, the best for slashing and chopping, It could decapitate heads, left, right and center, and with it being crafted in a way that the top portion of the blade was larger than the rest, it allowed more force into every blow thrown, making its job a little bit easier. Arros was thankful that his blade was still sheathed. Arros saw the man settle into his fighting stance, obviously from his experience with a blade. Charging forward again with another almighty roar that boomed outward, Arros threw a blow and another in quick succession aiming for his rivals arms, an arm with crushed bones was no use in a fight and could prove the deciding factor to victory. From the look of his stance, it could be seen he had experience but would he be able to deal with the unpredictable moves and unorthodox techniques that was present with the rage fuelled Isurian?

[Emeric]

There was a comfort in settling into the stance, though primarily not for attacking or defending, it allowed him to move quickly in most any direction - and with the hulking man before him, he knew he’d have to evade him as much as possible. Emeric fleetingly thought that the man was genuinely out to kill him, but tucked the nagging thought away and focused on the Isurian. Perhaps he could tire him out, or in his anger force the man to make a mistake. Emeric was unsure, and considering his lack of duelling practice he suddenly felt a welling of nerves - which he had to shut away as much as he could as the pair stalked in a circle around each other. Emeric noted how the Isurian found a moment of clarity to watch and examine Emeric, figuring the best way to crush him with the great hammer. The ground shook once again as the man began to charge, raising his hammer menacingly and snarling with anger he closed in on Emeric. Before Emeric could react, however, his eyes were drawn over the top of the Isurian to the narrow alley he had entered through, to see the great shaggy head of a curious Okomo emerge and watch the short man presumably crush Emeric like a twig. Emeric shuffled backwards slightly once again and found himself with his back against the mountainside wall, his legs shaking uncomfortably at the impending Isurian. As the Isurian tensed his arm and made to strike, Emeric did the only thing he could think of - and stepped in towards the Isurian, inside the reach of his great hammer and felt the great arms crush around him. The man swung again on autopilot as Emeric shuffled towards the other broad arm, their heads mere inches away – Emeric could feel the man’s angry huffs on his chest as he realised what had happened. Before waiting for him to react Emeric ducked as low as he could manage and slipped beneath the unencumbered arm, swinging the flat of the blade at the Isurian’s legs as he passed into open ground. He spun around as he rose to face the back of the Isurian, always moving away in the other direction and feeling his landing foot slip over a rock he hadn’t noticed. Emeric staggered backwards and flung a hand out behind him to try and catch himself he fell. His hand, instead met with something warm and furry - the curious Okomo snorting with displeasure and baa-ing at the tall man. Emeric's sword rising between he and the Isur, and glancing at the disgruntled Okomo who was stamping on the ground and matching the heavy breaths of the Isurian.

[Arros Angerforge]

Arros saw the man backup against the wall, that was the dangers of fighting in a place that was not suited to your physical stature or your fighting technique, an Isur for example would find it very hard to close the gap between them if they fought in a field or an wide-open arena, on the other hand, they could potentially be devastating in the surroundings of a cities back alleyways or the closed compounds of a building or castle, picking the enviroment that played to your attributes is as much important as the weapon that you would carry into the conflict, the enviroment in itself is a weapon that would benefit those that could use it. The mans next move, however was a suprise. Shuffling towards the furious Isur, almost touching, the blow that Arros threw had been unexpectedly thwarted as the hammer that had been directed towards his arms was in this rare instance, too far out. His arms contacted against his rivals own and while still strong enough to hurt due to the dense, hard bones and skin of the Isur, it wouldn't compare to the damage done, if the hammer face had connected. Arros then saw the man avoid the other blow that came straight after, the man managed to duck right down almost coming to Arros's knees, he then slipped under the Isur's arm and swung the flat of the blade against Arros's legs, this clever move with the force applied, caused Arros to fall onto his backside, the heavy body thumped on the dirt covered ground with a shudder, a mild pain shot up his back as he sat there. The anger raged within. Grunting his way back to his feet, he was getting more and more angry, this human was going out his way to deliberately make him more furious, possibly trying to make him throw a mistake or two. Arros turned around with a serious, unpleasant and raging look on his hard featured face, he gazed with fury at the large Okomo that the man had stood against. The horns that were situated on either side of its head, were twisted, blunt and shining, its coat looked soft and clean, its most obvious feature however was its eyes, bright blue and irritated. This creature that was the mount for the Shinya, was agitated, its feet started to drag across the ground as its own emotional anger started to flare up, the worst part of it however, they were both stuck in a narrow alleyway with a large beast that looked like it soon would charge. This could spell disaster. Blowing hard out of its nostrils, the annoyed Okomo gave a quick grunt and then started to charge, it crashed into Arros with a thud, a growl of pain shot out into the air as the Okomo drove Arros off his feet and into the mountain-like wall. Dust sprayed out into alley causing temporary blindness to everything that was present there. As the dust cleared Arros quickly rose to his feet, blood started to drip down the side of his head as he lept up. The already furious Isur just got a little bit angrier. With a gigantic roar that thundered across the whole Okomo Villa, Arros smashed his hammer into the beasts side. the Okomo that had been previously agitated, gave a bark of pain and ran back to the direction of whence it came, possibly hitting the man on its way out. Remarkably the Isurian's dense body managed to protect him from much of the damage that otherwise would have crushed a normal man. Arros started to briskly walk back toward his adversary with his large, intimidating hammer in his tight grip, almost bubbling at the mouth with unimaginable fury.

[Emeric]

The animal looked up with the intelligence they were renowned for, and the anger they were not. Emeric wondered if the Isur’s angry demeanour was infectious, casting his eyes back to the incredibly muscled man rising again from the floor – shaking dust as he rose. With a spare moment to breath Emeric felt the pain on his left arm from where the Isur’s arm had struck his own, figuring a bruise was already developing. The Isur’s second swing had brushed over the top of Emeric’s head, but he knew that he was mere inches away from being scalped by the deathly hammer. No more stupid moves, Emeric thought. Though the huffing of the Okomo behind him made him wheel around in a sudden panic, he caught the scraping of its hooves on the ground and knew he needed to get out of the way so he leapt to the side and crashed against the thick wall of the Okomo villa. Emeric rose once again to see the Okomo crashing into the Isur and pinning him against the mountainside. Emeric was fairly sure this was very strange behaviour for the Okomo, but was unsure how to deal with the animal which had interrupted their spontaneous sparring session. He didn’t wish to cause it any harm, mainly for the fact that the Shinya were unlikely to look kindly on such actions. The Isur had no such qualms, swinging his hammer with great force against the animal and dropping to the ground with a roar. Emeric pinned himself flat against the building as the Okomo raced by – knocking him firmly against the wall and forcing the breath from his lungs. Emeric rose again, clutching his sword, and spreading his legs as a wave of dizziness washed over him. He rocked on his feet as the feeling passed, and shook his head to regain some of the focus he needed. The stomping on the ground was the first indication that the Isurian had resumed his attack, and Emeric decided to go on the offensive – trying to end the conflict before the Isur caused anymore conflict with the Okomo nearby. With some clear space between them he made note of the spaces surrounding the pair of them, trying to figure out a clear path of attack. He examined the Isur and saw he was remarkably well off considering the impact with which he had been struck – until, that is, Emeric chanced to look upon his face and saw the blood seeping from a nasty looking wound upon the black haired head. If it were Emeric with such a wound, he knew that dizziness and nausea wouldn’t be far away. Some men were known to faint, though Emeric doubted the Isur would, and some lost so much blood the colour ran from their face and they collapsed anyway. The Isur, however, seemed to be utterly unaffected by the gash on his head. “Isur, that wound looks bad.” Emeric called, “I will lay down my sword if you wish to seek a doctor.” The Isur just charged onwards, closing within a few steps of Emeric and tightening his grip on the hammer menacingly. Emeric shifted his weight as if to dart to the man’s left and span to his right, swinging the blade backwards as he went to try and take the back of the Isur’s knee and bring him to the ground again. From the great height difference Emeric noted that the wound didn’t look as bad as he first worried, though it still seemed to be spilling an awful lot of blood. He cast his eyes around, looking to see if anything left in the narrow alley would serve to staunch the bleeding and noting some paint flecked rags. As he completed his circling of the man, now standing at the mans left he cracked the back of his blade on the inside of the Isurian’s thick elbow, hoping to make him drop the hammer – but darting back immediately in case he didn’t.

[Arros Angerforge]

Arros was still fuming at the recent incident with the Okomo smashing him up again the mountainside. The beast was heavy and robust as it took Arros of his feet, it also displayed a common anger that was seen often within himself. Arros couldn't dwell on it though, he had a human foe to fight, a human foe to show that its not wise to interrupted an Isur from his activities, especially an angry Isur. Ignoring the mans offer of momentarily stopping the fight so that Arros could sort the wound that nestled on top of the right portion of his head, he paced toward him. Seeing the man evade him once more, he felt the cold steel of the blade on the back of his knee, it chilled Arros's dense skin as it came into contact, however Arros had anticipated the move due to the last one that sent him off his feet, so he tensed the muscle in his leg to make it firm and hard, the move of the human had been thwarted as the steel rebounded back. Arros felt the warmness of his blood slowly carve its path down the side of its head, the scent of it lingered in the air, giving a irony taste to the breeze that shot up and down the narrow alley way, this was very strange as his blood never smelt like it before and he wasn't one for drinking vast quantities of beer so there was a mystery behind the weird taste that lingered there. Arros again noticed the man circling him with grace and speed, he then again felt the familiar sensation of steel against his bare skin again, this time however it was on the inside of his elbow, this move was not anticipated. Arros felt the blow thump against his dense skin, the sudden attack gave a shudder to his arm causing him to loosen his grip upon his hammer. The hammer fell from his grip and gave a thump to the ground as it landed on its hammer head. This human was fighting in a way that didn't endanger Arros's life but it was very annoying, every move the human made complimented his fast, in and out fight style, something that Arros wasn't use to, even though they were in a narrow alley way with not much room, the human amazed Arros by the sheer moveability and evading skills that he could pull off. Slowly picking up his hammer that rested on the ground, Arros turned around, not hastily but slowly with a menacing aura. "Human.." he said in a lower but still angry tone, his deep voice emphasised his anger. "I hope you can catch!!!" he roar with a triumphant defiance. As soon as he said catch, he cocked back his arm and used all of the might and strength he could muster and threw the hammer and lightning speed that even surprised himself. This move was risky, the sheer pressure of the impact of the hammer if connected would brutally hurt and shatter bone and rock alike, if it hit the head, the opponent's skull would be crushed and smashed, if it missed however Arros would be weaponless and the only option would be to quickly follow up with some unarmed attacks. The alley was narrow, so the hammer throw was pretty accurate, if this hammer throw hit, the human would be in trouble, if it missed however, Arros would be in trouble, it was a 50/50 gamble.