Solo Ravok: The Journey Continues (Part 5)

[Maria Talwa]

18, Summer, 517

While watching the guards having at it with wooden weapons, Maria noted there was a considerable difference in skill level. Some of them were quite good, while others seemed to need directions to figure out which way the sword point should face. The next match that Maria watched was mildly amusing as one of the guards was trying a little too hard and easily defeated for his effort. Then things got interesting when Hogar pointed to another man, then Maria. While not expecting to take part in the match, she didn't have any objection. Her opponent was a fresh faced young man with short red hair that looked as though he might be in his late teens, barely.

Although well built he seemed more nervous than anything else. Wearing only trousers and boots the young man look a wooden longsword, while Maria took a pair of short swords. With a rather cavalier expression, Maria walked into the middle of the semicircle, held both swords underhand style, and sized up her opponent. The guard was holding the sword in front of him with both hands in a basic stance and took a deep breath.

“Are you serious?” Maria said.

“Of course I am,” the guard said.

“Not you,” Maria said, looking to Hogar. “Does he even know the pointed end is suppose to go into the enemy?”

“Hey, I'm a guard just like you,” the guard said. That statement seemed to trip something in Maria, and slowly turning her head in his direction, a single brow was raised visibly.

“Just... like... me?” Maria said. Dropping into a combat stance with one arm forward, and the other behind her, Maria rotated her head, then locked eyes with the young man, and charged. Attacking with immense speed and aggression the young man was taken aback by the onslaught, and tried to protect himself. After three strikes were blocked, Maria slammed the side of a sword into his stomach, then the back as the guard started to double over, and knocked him onto the ground.

“You are nothing like me!” Maria said.

“Geez lady, no need to get so worked up, this is just practice,” the guard said.

“And a good thing it is, otherwise you'd be dead right now,” Maria said, pointing the sword under the guard's chin as he started to rise. Now getting upset over this, the guard slapped the sword away, and Maria spun in a complete circle, connected the broadside of the other with his head. The young man way laid out on the ground after that, unconscious from the third blow.

“Never disregard your opponent, even in practice,” Maria said.

“Sage words for one so young,” Hogar said, stepping forward. “What say you to a rematch?” Rather than say anything, Maria walked over to the weapon rack, took the slightly oversized staff obviously meant for Hogar, and tossed it to the man.

“Let us see how the match goes when there aren't any rocks to trip over, shall we?” Hogar said.

“Let's shall,” Maria said.

Word Count: 507

[Maria Talwa]

As before Maria was the first to attack, coming at Hogar with a barrage of strikes, switching between underhand used for close range, and overhand for reach. Unlike the young man she knocked out earlier, Hogar had a lot more experience, and blocked or deflected the initial onslaught. Answering back the larger man spun the staff around and came at Maria with a number of attack of his own. Instead of blocking, Maria largely relied on her speed to duck, dodge, and weave out of the way. The other guards also seemed quite interested to see their captain face off against a sell sword.

As Hogar came in with another swing, she ducked under the attack and came up with uppercut swing, only to have him lean back out of the way. After that the two circled one another, taking a quick breather. Hogar was the one to attack first this time, and spun the staff fast enough that Maria had to back away, and try to anticipate his attacks. After she blocked five strikes, Hogar connected with the shin, then slammed the butt end of the staff into her sternum. To the sound of an audible 'doof' Maria was laid out on her back with a fair bit of chest pain to go along with it.

“Come on now, you're better than this,” Hogar said. “Where's that fighting spirit you showed back in Riverfall?”

“You sure you wanna go there old man?” Maria said.

“You're not the only one who likes a good fight little girl,” Hogar said. “Gimme your best shot.” Standing up, Maria took a deep breath, letting the anger flow through her once again. No longer trying to contain it, the fire within began to burn brightly and the other people around Maria faded from her mind. Now the only thing that mattered was the man in front of her. This time she wasn't playing, and from the look in Hogar's eyes, neither was he. Lips curled back into a snarl revealing solid white teeth, then Maria let loose with battle cry and surged forward.

Using the full measure of her strength, Maria struck without restraint and the normal clacking of wood against wood turned into a more resounding crack. Over and over she hammered at Hogar, then coming in with three heavy overhead attacks, he blocked, only to have the third blow break the staff in two.

“That's more like it,” Hogar said. Instead of discarding the weapon, he held the two pieces like short swords of his own, then mounted the offensive as well. What had started as a simple sparring match was now an all out slug-fest that saw the weapons only rule go out the proverbial window. The two punched, kicked, headbutted and more, and by the time they parted once more, both were bloody and bruised. Weapons smashed against each other with such force that Maria's own short swords were beginning to crack under the strain put upon them, and she began to grin.

“You know how to put up a good fight, I like that,” Maria said.

“And you're a few shades of crazy,” Hogar said.

“Life's more interesting that way,” Maria said.

Word Count: 533

[Maria Talwa]

For the first time in quite a while, Maria was finding her opponent to be a challenge, and this fight was quite fun for her. For Hogar, a man almost as wide as he was tall, the battle seemed to be taking its toll. He was sweating and breathing harder than she was. Although winded from the strain of the fighting, Maria wasn't as physically pressed as him.

“What's the matter big man, age finally catching up with you?” Maria said.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Hogar said. They engaged once again with a heavy round of weapon strikes matching blow for blow, then as Maria brought a sword up to block a strike, it cracked and broke. Hogar's attack smashed into the side of her face, resulting in a momentary daze. Not about to give up, Maria's vision cleared just enough to for to swing, but not enough to see the incoming attack. Hogar's fist impacted with Maria's stomach hard enough to pick her up off the ground. Tumbling back she came to a stop and tried to get up, but was unable to do so. Overcome with a fit of coughing and wheezing, Maria found herself hard pressed just to breath. The blow the solar plexus had winded her and effectively ended the fight.

“I may be getting old,” Hogar said, leaning down over top of Maria. “But I still have what it takes to whip a little smart ass.” Still trying to catch her breath, Maria responded by raising a hand and giving a one finger salute. To that Hogar chuckled, walked to the other side of the semicircle and took a seat. It didn't take long for Maria to sit up as this wasn't the first time the wind had been knocked out of her, but it would be a few more minutes before there would be any walking around. The matches between the guards continued, but after the all out brawl between Hogar and Maria, they seemed tame by comparison.

“I never had a chance, did I?” Maria looked over to see the young man with red hair she'd fought prior to Hogar. The first instinct to come to mind was scathing sarcasm, but in looking at him, she could see more curiosity than anything.

“Just keep practicing,” Maria said. “Everyone has to start somewhere.”

“My name's Ren by the way, you're Maria right?” Ren said.

“Yeah,” Maria said.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?” Ren said. “I've never seen anyone go toe to toe with Hogar before.”

“The streets and back alleys of Sunberth,” Maria said. “Born and raised.”

“Ouch, is that place really as rough as people say it is?” Ren said.

“And then some, but I still love it,” Maria said.

“Why? I've heard it's a city without laws,” Ren said. “Why would anyone want to live in a place like that?”

“First off, it's not lawless. In order to have a city that functions there has to be some form of order,” Maria said. “In Sunberth it just happens to be the person with the most brains, money, and bodies under his or her banner.” Ren stopped talking after that, then seemed to think about what she'd said. It was obvious to see he was trying to process information that in itself seemed alien in nature. It didn't come as a surprise to Maria, as he wasn't the first outsider to think Sunberth was a place of complete chaos and anarchy. There were some opinions about Sunberth so ludicrous that it made Maria laugh upon hearing them.

Word Count: 596

[Maria Talwa]

“Why would you want to live like that?” Ren said. “In a city run by gangs, what's the appeal?” The young man actually surprised Maria, in that he seemed to be genuinely curious, rather than coming to this little conversation with preconceived ideas and notions. An open mind was a rare thing and she didn't mind talking with a person who didn't immediately show bias toward something.

“Because, like other cities, you learn who to respect, and whose toes not to step on,” Maria said. “You learn when to stand up, and when to pay up, but beyond that you're free to do damn near anything you want.”

“Anything, really?” Ren said.

“Yes really,” Maria said. “A man tried to rape me when I was eleven. I used my sword to separate him from his manhood, watched him bleed to death, and no one even questioned me about it afterward. It's true that Sunberth is a dangerous place, but it also has more freedom than any other city I know of.”

“Wow,” Ren said, pausing to think about that. “You don't very seem mad about losing.”

“Why would I be?” Maria said. “I fought to the best of my ability, so did Hogar, and he proved to be the better warrior. There's no shame in losing to a superior opponent.” The conversation died down after that, and Maria began to relax. As was often the case, she was feeling the calm after the storm. Expending that much rage and anger in a fight was a taxing experience, and now her old friend was resting to regain its strength for another day. All that anger she carried around inside never truly died, it only slept at times, and right now, Maria just felt like she was here.

It was also at times like this that Maria would reflect on her life, and think about her past. Looking over everything that had come to pass, and wondering what the future held. For twenty some odd years Maria had left a trail of bodies in her wake and had so much blood on her hands. There were many lives she'd claimed in that time, some deserving of death, others not. Where others might feel guilty about something like that, Maria didn't. She simply was who she was, and never once tried to make excuses for or justify that. Nor did she ever try to pretend she was a 'good' person. In thinking about it, Maria didn't consider herself good or evil, she was just Maria.

With that same line of thought she almost laughed at such simple concepts... good and evil. People were so complex and trying to apply a simple label in any sort of fashion would have been almost impossible. No one looked at the world the same way, and while one might view a person as a butcher, another might see them as a hero. Good and evil to her was nothing more than a concept, a point of view, an opinion that was different for each and every individual.

Word Count: 510

[Shaqira]

G R A D E

xp

Observation +3
Weapon, Shortsword +4
Dual-wield +1
Intimidation +1
Rhetoric +2
Stamina +2
Acrobatics +1
Brawling +1
Socialization +1
Philosophy +1

lores

Intimidation: Mocking an opponent
Dual-wield: Combat-ready stance
Short-sword: Winding an opponent with the broad-side
Hogar: Wields the staff
Short-sword: Underhand grip for close fighting, overhand grip for reach
Dodging an opponent’s attacks
Short-sword: Uppercut swing
The staff packs a winding blow
Brawling: Punching, kicking, head-butting
Hogar: A fierce fighter
Maria: Fiercely competitive
Short-sword: Blocking an opponent's strike
Sunberth: Reputed for anarchism & lawlessness
Sunberth: Order is upheld by a hierarchy of gangs
Sunberth: The city of freedom
There’s no shame in losing to a superior opponent
'Good' & 'Evil' are relative to individuals


penalties

Maria will sport bruising & swelling to her chest & face, as well as a heavy, dull ache to her limbs for 5 days without, or 3 days with, rest and/or healing.

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