[Training Ground] Care for a little spar? (Dimitri)

[Lucas Arias]

Spring 51, 511 AV His knight had been called away on important business and asked him to visit the training ground and practice with the other squires in the meantime, but unfortunately Lucas had absolutely no interest in beating others with a sword and looking ridiculous while he somehow tried to handle his shield. He also didn’t want to become so exhausted that he fell into his bed and slept like a stone – he had planned another display of his great art for tonight, and he needed all his energy for that – but really, the shield was the main reason why he didn’t want to go and practice. He didn’t believe that practice made perfect. He didn’t even think it could help him improve. As far as he was concerned that ugly, much too big shield and he would forever be enemies. Why did knights need shields anyway? Couldn’t he just train with a two handed sword instead? During the course of the day Lucas had eventually made his way to the training ground, but instead of asking the others if he could spar with one of them, the young man lingered on the edge of the training ground, watching his colleagues and occasionally making fun of them when one of them made a mistake. He liked that, making fun of people and joking, although his jokes weren’t always appreciated. His sword was in a sheath at his belt, and his shield was lying on the floor next to him. He’d brought the shield with him and gone to the training ground just in case his knight decided to ask about what he’d done all day. His knight knew him well enough to be aware that it was better to occasionally make sure that he was really following the orders he’d been given. In his hands was a small leather bound book. To a casual observer it would look as if the ginger haired squire were just taking notes about the people sparring in front of him so that he could learn from them, but in truth he was drawing. He was drawing a picture of two of his favourite enemies in the dorm. The boys who looked more like bears, brutal, muscular and hairy, were locked in a passionate embrace. Above the drawing he’d written the words ‚The future king and queen of the Syliran Knights?‘. Of course, being a squire, he knew that the knights didn’t have a king and a queen, but those titles just seemed so fitting. Those boys were much too full of themselves!

[Dimitri]

Dimitri was whistling some random tune that managed to get stuck in his head as he neared the training grounds. He was going to find him a random squire or two to practice with, hopefully a challenging match. He walked with a determined confidence as he carried his massive tower shield effortlessly on his left arm, his sword dangling from his right hip. He wasn't wearing the full plate of the standard knights, but rather the medley of plate, chain, and leather that was commonly used by specialty companies. He had begun preferring the mobility and speed this armor set provided while providing strong protection. He did not wear any form of head guard but felt he didn't need it.

As the fence of the training ground came in sight he saw a tuft of orange red hair sticking out. He'd never been a fan of orange red hair, but he loved the deep reds of the occasional Inarta woman that showed up. But this hair belonged to a man. A squire specifically. A squire that appeared to not be training but working in a note book. Dimitri stopped whistling and slowly began to attempt to sneak up on the man. His armor would chink slightly but wouldn't be heard of the sounds of combat in the training yard. He held his breath as he managed to get right behind the fellow brother in arms, fence between them, and saw he was drawing. He shook his head smiling. He had found his target.

He swung his shield hard against the wooden fence, creating a bone shaking reverberation of noise traveling to the artist. He had hoped to scare him, possibly anger him. Anger always led to more interesting combat. The angered one often went all out but also didn't guard well. "Come with me, let's get some real training done. A knight fights with sword and shield, not pen and paper. Move it boy." Dimitri walked to an open space keeping his ears open to see if he had intrigued him enough to step out into the field. He turned and drew his sword, pointed it at the boy, then shook it in a gesture that clearly said, "Come here." Dimitri crouched low as he prepared for combat, lowering his center of gravity and decreasing the target area of his large frame. He held his shield out in front of him, sword now lowered, pointing to the ground. This was a dulled training sword, so he wouldn't slice up the poor boy. He smiled and winked at the squire, hoping to entice and intimidate.

[Lucas Arias]

Lucas had expected that somebody would ask him what he was doing – that was why he had already formulated that pretty good excuse in his mind – but he had never expected that somebody would sneak up on him. He couldn’t hear the chink of Dimitri’s armor over all the other sounds that his fellow squires made. They were a loud bunch. What he did hear though was the extreme noise that Dimitri’s sword made as it came in contact with the fence. He froze for a moment, but as he turned around he had his features under almost perfect control again. There was only a slight widening of the eyes and the unspoken question: Had Dimitri seen what he’d been drawing? No, he hadn’t, he decided. Otherwise he’d probably fling him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and present him to his knight. His knight would then get angry, and Lucas would behave – for all of two or three days, until he got bored again. But no such thing was happening, and thus Lucas smiled at Dimitri, a radiant smile as, if he had been waiting for him, as if he’d hoped that he’d come and sneak up on him all along. „I was doing some research“, he remarked in a matter of fact tone, and then he quickly tucked his notebook away in case Dimitri wanted to read his research. The redhaired squire was rather relaxed and in a comparatively good mood – until Dimitri made the mistake of calling him ‚boy‘. Of course Lucas was a boy – he was only seventeen - but he absolutely couldn’t stand it when somebody that was his own age called him that! He was a good few inches shorter than Dimitri, but he didn’t look that young! His face turned just as red as his hair for a moment, and then he drew his sword, grabbed his shield and advanced towards Dimitri. He held the shield in front of him to protect his torso, and the sword ... well, he swung his sword so that he’d hopefully hit a part of Dimitri’s body that wasn’t protected by his shield. Dimitri's shield was big, so it wouldn’t be easy, but Lucas was fast, and after Dimitri had insulted him, he was also quite determined!

[Dimitri]

"The only research you need to do involves holding a sword, not a pen."

This he shouted as the fellow squire struck at him with his sword. Dimitri noticed the swing to be a bit sloppy, lazy, and lacking a specific target. The blow looked to be heading toward the sword side of his body. While he could block with his shield, Dimitri was always known for unusual tactics. And he had one in mind for this bout. And the first step, was in fact a step.

He brought his own sword up, the blade parallel to the ground, catching the blade, edge to edge. Normally this would be a bad idea, if his opponent were really strong. It would damage the blades, possibly shattering them. But his opponent was no massive brute, nor a master of the sword, so as the swords met, a clang filled the air. Dimitri kept his sword moving up and to his right, in an attempt to throw his opponents sword in a course away from him, in a large right arc.

This would cause his opponents sword and arm to be crossing his face and rising high. Dimitri took the opportunity to step forward with his left foot and brace his shield against his arm and shoulder. Continuing in a crouched forward position he attempted to tackle his shield into his opponent's now exposed sword side, his own sword coming down to protect against further attack.

[Lucas Arias]

„If you think so“, Lucas replied generously and shrugged his shoulders as Dimitri informed him that the only research he needed to do involved a sword. Dimitri seemed to be a rather typical colleague of his that couldn’t see further than the tip of his blade. He also looked like a typical squire, all tall and muscular and ready for combat. Lucas wasn’t particularly fond of such types. They bored him! What good was life when all you did was beat each other with your weapons? Being a knight was about so much more than that! Although he had to admit, Dimitri was good with his weapon, almost as good as a real knight in fact. The redhead’s eyes darkened as their blades met, and he made a face. He didn’t like this one bit. He’d already lost more spars than he wanted to admit. He didn’t want this to turn into another defeat, so he actually decided to make an effort for a change and attempted to pull his sword away. At the same time he tried to make a step away and raise his shield so that Dimitri’s sword would only come in contact with that if the taller boy decided to make another attack. Whether Lucas‘ efforts would be met with success remained to be seen though. As history proved, things often took unexpected and unwelcome turns when a certain redhaired boy was involved.

[Dimitri]

Dimitri watched the squire raise his shield, as if expecting a sword attack. A good defense against standard tactics. But Dimitri was anything but standard. He saw the sword arm pulling back in and down, the sword side of his body open. He decided to take advantage of this. His feet stopped the charge, spread quickly to displace the momentum. He then punched upwards toward Lucas' armpit with his tower shield. This was a two pronged attack. The top half the shield either prevent Lucas' sword arm from returning to his side, his elbow likely striking the shield edge. If Lucas was fast however, his sword arm would get caught in the blow from the top half of the shield. The bottom half of the tower shield was on a one way streak to the squire's exposed ribs. If it struck, which was highly likely, it could bruise, fracture, or even break some ribs. But Dimitri wasn't done. Now that he was in close range, his long sword gained a few advantages. No matter what happened with the tower shield, Dimitri would pull it back close to his body, and at the same time his sword snapped out to attack. His sword swung from his hip, low, passing beneath the shield Lucas had just raised. His sweeping attack was looking to catch low on Lucas' shield leg, ankle or calf likely. The weight combined with Dimitri's own strength would allow him to lift the leg a bit, in an attempt to throw Lucas off balance.

[Lucas Arias]

Lucas‘ eyes widened as Dimitri punched him with his shield. He definitely hadn’t expected this. The only thing that Lucas did with his shield was to put it between him and his opponent so that the opponent in question couldn’t stick his sword into him. He’d never thought of punching people with it. He was at once annoyed by Dimitri’s move – because it could be the first step towards his defeat – and admired it. In the future he would remember that you could do other things with shields than holding them completely still. Dimitri’s shield prevented Lucas‘ sword arm from returning to his side. It also struck his ribs which caused the redhead to grit his teeth and try to suppress a cry of pain. The fact that his side hurt was enough to distract him for a moment, so that Dimitri could also execute his next move without problems, and soon Lucas was lying on the ground because the older boy had thrown him completely off balance. His side wasn’t the only part of his body that hurt anymore. He pondered whether he should get up again and continue to fight or not – and then he decided not to get up. Instead he closed his eyes. His body seemed to go completely limp, as if Dimitri had hurt him more than it seemed and as if he’d just lost consciousness. He hadn’t however. If Dimitri came closer to take a look at him or help him up, Lucas would grip his wooden sword and try to stick it into the other boy’s belly.

[Chevalier]

Lucas

LORE

• Working Through Pain
• Playing Dead

EXPERIENCE

Skill	XP Earned
Drawing	1
Longsword	3
Shield	1

Dimitri

LORE

• Getting Squires Involved

EXPERIENCE

Skill	XP Earned
Teaching	1
Longsword	2
Shield	1

Storyteller Notes

Secret :

Nothing much to be said here, could have been a fun conclusion to use such underhanded surprise tactics though!