Solo The Marksman's Eye

[Marcus Braeden]

20th of Fall, 512AV The sun hadn't even managed to show itself on the eastern horizon and yet Marcus Braeden was awake. Just 20 chimes ago he had been peacefully sleeping in the squires chambers. He was abruptly awoken, however, when Ser Noah, his patron knight barged through the door only to awaken not only Marcus but the other squires as well. "Braeden! Oh Mr. Braeden! Time to wake up!" Ser Noah had called out into the dark room. Once his words had completely echoed throughout the room, various muffled voices could be heard from throughout the room. "What the hell?" one whispered, while another let out a simple "Ughhhhh." One even questioned why he had signed up for this. Naturally the other squires needed someone to blame for this abrupt awakening, and blaming Ser Noah, a patron knight, would not look good for the squires. So they turned to Marcus Braeden, who mumbled to himself sarcastically "Why is this guy my patron?" Marcus began dressing himself while his fellow squires called out various insults to him, while they tried to fall asleep once again, although it would not be long until they had to wake for their own training. Once Marcus had managed to gather his gear he followed Ser Noah out the door. "Was that really the best way to go about getting me up?" Marcus said after a loud yawn. "Was it the best way? Nope, not at all. Was it the most entertaining way? Yep, it definitely was" Ser Noah chuckled as he continued walking down the narrow torch lit hallway. "Ok ok, whatever you say Ser. So what is the plan for today? We going to spar? Maybe practice horse riding?" Marcus asked eagerly. "Archery" was the only word that came out of Ser Noah's mouth. Marcus sighed. Archery wasn't his favorite thing, but it beat the hell out of running he guessed. "Well, at least you aren't dragging me to the far corners of the continent this time." Marcus quipped. 'Oh trust me. There are more adventures ahead for you. The Spires was but a taste. I mean you are quite keen for adventure are you not?" Ser Noah spoke with a slight cryptic undertone in this instance, and Marcus questioned what that was about before answering the question. "Ummmm yes, I suppose that is accurate" Marcus said hesitantly. "Well then you need to train so you don't get killed. Now follow" Noah commanded as he quickened his pace. Marcus followed the rest of the journey in silence, probably thinking of some sort of adventure or being a hero. He is a dreamer, almost too much so. I am surprised he still holds such a viewpoint after being captured for that one winter. Why does he believe in the ideal fantasy world of heroes triumphing over evil and happily ever afters? Reality will hit him like a brick one of these days Ser Noah mused within his head.

[Marcus Braeden]

By the time the pair had reached the archery field the sun still had not even peaked over the horizon. Instead there was but a very faint glow to the east, indicating that the sun would begin is ascension soon. But for now, it seemed that it would be archery in the dark. Marcus just hoped he didn't actually shoot at something unintended in the darkness. "Alright Braeden, you know what to do. Start shooting while I judge your technique and make sarcastic remarks!" Ser Noah said with a slight chuckle as he leaned himself upon a wooden post. Marcus turned and faced east where his target stood, waiting for another day of being assaulted by a hail of arrows. Marcus drew his bow and gripped it with his right hand. He let out a single deep breath and took an arrow from his quiver and slowly notched it. He fumbled a few times before he successfully readied his arrow. "Petching arrow" Marcus cursed just loud enough for Ser Noah to here. Ser Noah perked his head up. Incoming sarcasm in 3...2...1 Marcus waited for Ser Noah to respond. "Whats the matter? Can't even ready the damn thing?" Ser Noah stressed his words unnecessarily. "I'll schedule a day where all we do is practice readying an arrow"he laughed to himself. Marcus ignored his patron knight, as he had prepared his arrow while his teacher spoke. Marcus took aim, doing his best to locate the target within the dark environment. The target sat off in the distance, only producing a silhouette for Marcus to go off of. The actual bulls eye was invisible to Marcus, so aiming for the center of the silhouette would be the best Marcus could do. Marcus lined up the arrow with the target and took a deep breath. Finally he released, doing his best to follow through by not making any movements that would change the direction of the arrow. Marcus heard the sound of the arrow impacting something and ran off to find his arrow. He found it, sitting in the hay just behind the target. He frowned and grabbed his arrow, before running back to his original position with a sad look on his face. "What happened, you miss? Darkness not treating you well? Well it only gets worse. Ready another arrow, fire again. Bend your head, line up your pupil with the shaft of the arrow down to the tip, and finally to the target. At least what you can see of it. And finally, release. Now go, fire again" Ser Noah ordered.

[Marcus Braeden]

Marcus readied yet another arrow and took aim. He followed each of his patron's commands. He bent his head and lined up his eye with the shaft of the arrow and followed it down to the arrow head. From that he made sure the tip lined up with where he wanted the arrow to strike the target. Marcus breathed in, and finally, he released the arrow. The arrow sliced through the air and from what Marcus could tell, was going just where he wanted. But the darkness could trick you like that, as the arrow landed on the outer rim of the target rather than toward the center like Marcus had hoped. Ser Noah looked up and out at the target, acknowledging where the arrow had struck. He nodded towards Marcus, noting the improvement. "Alright, fire off the rest of your arrows. Do it as quick as possible, as accurate as possible, and as precise as possible" Ser Noah commanded. Marcus nocked his next arrow with as much haste as he could. With that he followed the previous instructions and fired. This arrow landed at the top of the target. Marcus breathed and readied another. Once again, he lined up everything as needed and fired. This time the arrow landed a few inches closer the center than his previous shots. He fired his other 17 arrows in succession. Once he was out of arrows he approached the target for an assessment of his firing. Two were sticking out of the hay, while the rest were scattered across the target. However none of the arrows would have net him many points in an Archery competition.

[Marcus Braeden]

Again. Marcus ran to the target and plucked each arrow out and collected those that had missed before returning to his shooting position. He placed his arrows back in his quiver and stretched his arm out before giving the exercise another attempt as it had grown sore from the constant firings of arrows. Marcus finished up his stretch and drew a breath from himself. With his breath another arrow was nocked and he aimed, and released. Once the arrow had left the bow, Marcus took a short breath and readied another arrow. For once, the arrow cooperated and he was able to nock it without trouble. Another arrow flew from the bow, and another breath of air flowed through the squire. Marcus had himself in a pattern, focused. For once the bow was his friend, not his enemy. Although the pace was not at all fast compared to more experienced archers, it was constant. Once all 20 arrows had left the quiver, Marcus stopped and took a pause. "About time you started getting the hang of this" Ser Noah smirked as he looked over at the target. "Well, your accuracy still needs work, but we will get to that later." Marcus stood there with a satisfied smile sitting on his face as if he had just made the greatest shot in the world. "Alright boy, wipe that smirk off your face. Yes it's an improvement but your still rather useless with a bow. I would like you to be able to actually hit where your aiming as well. So,don't just stand there, go get your arrows, do it again" Ser Noah ordered

[Marcus Braeden]

Marcus emptied his quiver into the target several more times with only a slight improvement in his accuracy. However Marcus couldn't blame the darkness for his failing accuracy. The training in the dark had trained his eye a fair bit and he could see the target quite clearly. He found the bow to be an awkward weapon was all. It was not nearly as straightforward as a sword, and the slightest of movement could send an arrow into the bull's eye, or into the hay behind it. Marcus ran over and grabbed each arrow from the target and retrieved his arrows. He shot off another volley. Arrows landed among the outer rings of the target and some even flew off into the hay stacks. He could do better. He had done better. Marcus sighed and glanced over at his patron knight. "I know. Learning archery is frustrating isn't it? It may not look like it, but you are getting better. While your arrows are not staying true, your form is constantly improving. If your technique keeps improving, accuracy will follow" Ser Noah stated. For once Marcus didn't feel completely hopeless while using the bow like how Ser Noah usually made him feel. "But really, gods help us if you are ever an archer on the wall" Ser Noah said with a grin. Ahhh there was that sarcasm. Classic Noah.

[Marcus Braeden]

Marcus had been standing in the dark for two bells now, firing volley after volley into the target. He had grown quite accustomed to the dark. It was tough, but he had managed to adjust his eyes and focus in on the target. Hopefully that was Ser Noah's intentions for waking him up in the early hours of the morning to practice archery of all things. But now Marcus had a new challenge to over come, the sun's blinding rays. The sun's rays had finally made their appearance on the eastern horizon, and the great ball of fire slowly began its ascension into the sky. Unfortunately for Marcus, his target was also in the east, meaning when the sun got high enough the suns rays were going to be getting in his eyes. It was yet another thing he would have to overcome. But for now it was not much of a problem, as the sun was still low in the sky and not nearly as bright as it would get. The body of the sun wasn't even completely visible yet. Marcus readied another arrow. He nocked it, pulled back, breathed, and finally released, not moving an inch until the arrow landed somewhere down range. Marcus repeated the motion until his quiver was empty. He quickly bolted down to the target to once his arrows were exhausted to see how he did. There was more light now that the sun was rising that he was hopeful that his accuracy had improved. It had. While there was no bull's eye none of the arrows hit the hay. A few hit the outer rings while the majority landed halfway between the bull's eye and the edge of the target, give or take. Marcus glanced over at Ser Noah who gave a slight head nod and then indicated for Marcus to go again.

[Marcus Braeden]

Damn that sun. Damn it straight into the void Marcus cursed to himself as fired his arrows, or at least tried to. The sun had ascended to the point where it was above the target, meaning it was hitting Marcus directly in the eyes. Looking down range was nearly impossible without being blinded. He found himself quickly squinting and then looking away, and then looking and squinting again before quickly firing off an arrow. Needless to say, his accuracy suffered quite a bit for it. Marcus sent his entire quiver down range and ran over to the target while shielding his eyes. He inspected his aim, and found arrows sticking out from near the center of the target, as well as in the hay. "How's that sun treating you Braeden?" Ser Noah called out to Marcus. "Just fantastic! I cant see a damn thing, and my arrows are going all over the place. I don't suppose you got any advise for this type of thing...firing into the sun and all," Marcus said. "Get used to it. Recognize it tactically, as an object to be used in combat. You force your enemy to face the sun in a battle, and all of a sudden they cant see worth a damn and you just need to poke em with your sword. Same thing with archery. But before you can really use it against someone, I think you gotta realize the hindrance it has on you, and what better way to make you realize that then making you experience it! Now fire off another set and we will call it a day!" Marcus sighed and collected his arrows. He dashed back to his starting spot and looked ahead toward the target, squinted, and fired each arrow.

[Accolade]

Marcus Braeden

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	+ 2 XP
Running	+ 1 XP
Bow	+ 4 XP

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	An early morning rise
•	Adapting to the Dark
•	Sarcasm from a patron knight
•	Using the Sun to One's Advantage

Notes :

Good thread, and not boring at all. I found the patron knight to be very amusing.

The Sylir has spoken

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