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DRAGONMOUNT

A WHEEL OF TIME COMMUNITY

Combat Training {Attn. Arienna}


Asfaloth

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  After six months of sleeping on the ground while away from the Stedding Burrich nearly missed awakening to start his day when he'd planned.  Even the months he'd lived on the estate he'd inherited from his father, and subsequently passed on to his brother, he'd had to go without a bed for the simple reason that there were none large enough to hold his frame.  Fortunately for him the abandoned Stedding that the kin had claimed as home so long ago had come complete with several Ogier-sized beds which Wall had included in the inn's furnishings.  The comfort provided bu such a luxury as a mattress large enough for him to move as much as he desired, softer than down and yet firm enough to put his mind at ease rather than worry he'd break it was something he'd been sure to thank Wall for repeatedly.  And such comfort was certainly more than his body was prepared to fight all on its own.

  So it was that he was awoken an hour before dawn to the feel of wet sandpaper on his face and the distinctly unique smell of Storm Hunter's breath.  "That's enough Brother, I'm awake!"  Burrich sat up and scratched the top of Storm's head.  "Thank you for waking me, it would not be a good day to oversleep."  No, it certainly would not.  Upon his return he'd thrown himself fully back into his role as a Guardian of the Stedding.  His days were spent training with the Rangers and the other Guardians and he served sentry duty on a rotational basis around the Stedding.  And now, in addition to those duties, he'd been asked to train one of the new Wanderers to defend herself.

  Burrich felt sure that Storm Hunter had something to do with that.  The great gray wolf was determined to force him out of his shell, at least with members of their new pack.  And he certainly wouldn't put it past him to enlist Owen or one of the other senior members of the kin into helping him accomplish said goal.  In fact, the smug look on his face told Burrich his guess was right on the money.

  Despite the unseasonably cold weather he dressed simply in breeches and vest, though truth be told it was no ordinary vest.  Sewn into the back of it were specially designed clips with which he secured his double-bladed battle-axe over his left shoulder and a quiver of arrows over his right.  Burrich then buckled on his belt, holding an axe at each hip, and paused as he reached for his longbow.  Remembering then the broken pieces he'd left behind on his return journey he removed the quiver from his back.  He sighed as he realized the futility of wearing it until he could make a bow that would hold up to his strength.  Throwing on a thick hooded cloak, his only concession to the cold weather, he walked--barefoot as usual--out the back door and down to the lake, looking forward to a brisk and refreshing swim.

  But this was not to be, as he arrived at the lake to find it had frozen over.  Joining Storm in laughing at his oversight he realized he'd gotten up earlier than necessary as he wouldn't be able to swim and he'd be doing his own daily workout beside Arienna.

  With nothing else to do to pass the time he walked around to the front of the inn and entered the common room.  Burrich sidled up to the bar and waited for his student.  He'd had a message delivered to her the night before requesting she meet him here before dawn.  He only hoped she was punctual so he wouldn't have to wait long.

  When she came down the stairs he ordered two servings of Wall's Special Training Breakfast to be brought to their table.  Catching Arienna's eye he motioned with his head to a table and met her there with a pitcher of water and two large mugs.

  "Good morning, Arienna, I trust you had a good night's rest?  You'll certainly need it, we have a long day ahead of us."

  They chatted for a few minutes until breakfast arrived and he laughed at her reaction to the sight.  He rushed to assure her that it was no trick at her expense and that no insult was meant by his laughter.  "I apologize, Arienna, I've gotten so used to this meal I'd forgotten how it looks at first sight.  This is one of the innkeep Wall's special creations.  Despite how disgusting it looks it tastes absolutely delicious."

  Chuckling to himself he continued, "Even if it tasted as bad as it looked though, it'd still be worth eating.  It has everything you need to get you through a day of hard training but is light enough that you can walk right out the door and run without it weighing you down.

  "Now, while we're eating, why don't you tell me a little about yourself.  What was your life like before the Howling?  Most important right now, I'd like to know if you've had any prior training before we get started."

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Arienna woke before dawn just like she had always woken before dawn. As a servant, she had been used to getting up early to ensure that everything would be prepared for Lord Maric by the time he would have awakened, and just like with everything there were preparations that needed to be made for that purpose. After she had washed her face and hands and gotten dressed, she looked at the note again, remembering from the day before where the common room was located. Once there, she noticed her would-be-Mentor, and went over to the table he indicated.

 

It was fortunate that Burrich had picked this time of day to meet: There were not that many Wolfkin around at this time, and by extension that meant there wasn't a lot of chance her temper could get dragged out. Still, she had to raise an eyebrow at the... something that had arrived on her plate. Sure, it wasn't like she was used to fish eggs and wine of good vintage, but this looked worse than anything she had seen in her life! Light, she half suspected it would twitch if she poked her fork into it.

 

Burrich apologised to her for it though, and given that he was eating the same took away some of her unease about the looks. A tentative bite told her that it was indeed better than it looked, though that certainly wasn't a feat to achieve. There were a couple of herbs that would probably improve the overall taste a little by allowing several specifics to stand out a little bit better, maybe some slices of potato and carrot at the sides for decoration...

 

- "Actually, i haven't had any training, though i know the basics: Pointy end bad, aim at head and swing. Not much beyond that, but i suppose it counts."

 

With her thoughts still on counter engineering the recepy, he had answered absently, though her mind had registered that he had asked about her past and withheld that little tidbit of information about her. She had been doing that for far too long to slip up, and it would take more than a shared breakfast before dawn to make her spill her secrets now.

 

 

Arienna

Proverbial early bird.

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  She was still reluctiant to reveal anything about herself despite Burrich's several attempts to get her to open up.  Burrich himself still felt much too awkward, and so most of the meal was spent in an awkward silence.

  When they had finished he led the way from the inn to the armory loctaed behind the Ranger barracks.  He opened the great doors to reveal a room full of swords, knives, bows, and other weapons of every conceivable size and shape.

  "Well, Arienna, take a look around.  Choose whatever weapon suits you and I will teach you to use it.  While I can't promise to make you an expert, as I've no idea what your potential might be, I can promise to teach you to defend yourself against most common thieves and provide you the tools to go as far as you are able."

 

OOC: I know its a short post but I realized that even though we both know she needs training in unarmed combat, Burrich doesn't.

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Arienna spent the rest of the meal in silence, something that suited her fine. If anyone was going to pry it would be her, and there was no way she would slip up before she found out just how much of a threat -- if any -- these people were posing. Nevertheless, she felt more at ease than the days before, slowly starting to get used to her new abilities as well as the idea that everyone else around her had them as well. And as long as they respected her mental privacy, she could keep her temper in check in turn.

 

After the meal, Burrich took her to an armory of some kind, and as she overlooked the assorted weapons she instantly compared it to Maric's armory and guards, and what the best tactic would be if the manor came under attack. Factoring the wolves in it would be a hard fight, but she felt they would be able to hold out until the town watch would arrive. Putting down a lance she had been inspecting, she decided that getting a bit of additional training in wouldn't hurt.

 

- "Is unarmed combat a possibility? I'm not that much into weapons myself."

 

 

Arienna

Going for Monk levels

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  Burrich watched Arienna as she surveyed the various weapons in the room, handling several to see if any of them suited her.  Finally she put down a lance she was inspecting and turned to give him her answer.  "Is unarmed combat a possibility?  I'm not that much into weapons myself."

  "Of course it is," Burrich assured her.  Then he turned and headed toward the lake, motioning for her to follow as he continued.  "I had planned to start your training by teaching you the proper care of your chosen weapon, and I see no reason to alter that plan.  Physical fitness, stamina, and endurance are important for all of the kin, but become especially vital for one like yourself that chooses to make her own body a weapon.

  "Before I will teach you to use the natural weapons you've been given I want to ensure that you know how to care for them so you won't injure yourself in training.  I will lead you today through the same routine I use every morning and then I expect you to do it yourself first thing upon waking each day.  We'll begin by stretching, this will improve your overall flexibility as well as help to prevent injury."

  He led her through various stretches, being sure to target every major muscle group.  he used to time while the stretched to further explain what they would be doing.  "This workout is elegant in its simplicity for there are only five exercises yet these five will work every major muscle group in your body between them, as well as improve your balance, stamina, and endurance.  And if you ever get bored with these, I know plenty more that you can add in but even then you'll want to continue these five as the core of your workout.  Once we begin I do not want to stop so I will walk you through the entire routine and demonstrate two of the five now before we start.

  "This first one is a modified version of push-ups."  Burrich stood with his feet just past shoulder-width apart, then put his hands on the ground so that his body resembled an inverted 'V'.  He then slowly brought his head down toward his arms in one fluid motion, pushing through so that his body now arced.  He then slowly reversed the move, ending back in the v-position.

  Standing back up he continued his instructions.  "Trust me when I say that those are harder than they look so don't feel bad if you can only do a few at a time, but push yourself to do more each day.  Follow these Push-Throughs as I call them with squats, doing as many as you can as fast as you can.  After the squats go down into a handstand.  I can help you with this one until you get the hang of it if needed.  Try to hold yourself as long as you can, eventually you'll be able to do hand-stand push-ups or even walk on your hands.  Once back on your feet the next exercise is jumping jacks, we'll go fast and see how many you can do in a minute.

  The fifth is called V-ups and I'll demonstrate these as well."  Burrich laid flat on his back with arms stretched out on the ground over his head.  Then, keeping his arms and legs straight, he simultaneously lifted his legs and upper body, bending at the waist and touching his fingers to his toes.  He lowered himself back down but kept his feet off the ground and did the whole thing again.  After a quick five to demonstrate he stood back up.  "Again, with these, do as many as you can and push yourself to do more each time.

  "Now, when you're ready we'll begin running.  It's twelve miles around the lake.  We'll be running three then doing all five exercises.  Then one mile and another set.  Then two miles, two miles, one mile, and three miles with workout routines between and ending right back here with stretches again.  We'll start whenever you're ready."

 

 

OOC: If the descriptions weren't good enough I'm sure you can look up the V-ups and the Push-Throughs which are actually called Divebombers in the real world to get better descriptions and maybe even pictures.

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Arienna listened to the start of the lesson, recognizing some of it from a set of basic exercises she was used to doing in the morning when waking up. Though those were more similar to stretching rather than warming up for more intensive training, she at least knew the basic gist of what Burrich would be trying to teach her. People sometimes underestimated how hard it was to walk up a flight of stairs keeping a tray of cups perfectly still without spilling a drop, or failed to recognise the amount of muscle control it required as well as built up over the course of several years.

 

Still, if she was going to stand here all day she wasn't going to get anywhere. Placing her feet next to each other, she bent down and touched the tip of her right foot with her left hand, then her left foot with her right hand, getting up to a standing position each time. After that, she'd place her foot high up against a nearby wall, and lean in to touch her knee with her head, then repeated it for her other leg. When she had done that a couple of times, she placed her left arm and hand flap against the wall, turning her body as far as she could while not taking her arm off the wall. This, too, was repeated for her other arm as well. Lastly, she placed one foot in front of the other a couple of feet apart, and leaned down on one leg while keeping the other strangth, yet keeping the sole of her foot flat against the ground. After repeating that with her other leg as well, she could feel that her leg muscles, lower back and arms and shoulders were sufficiently warmed up to take the additioinal strain that they would be put through today.

 

- "Those are the exercises i do every morning. They loosen the muscles, focusing less on strength and more on agility, but they get the job done. We'd est start running now, the less time wasted the better."

 

She waited on Burrich for a second, wanting him in the lead given that she didn't know the way around the lake. The last time she started running in a forest had caused her a small memory lapse she still couldn't quite get over, and as a result she was somewhat wary of going all out on the laps, opting to stay away from thick foilage.

 

 

Arienna

Ready

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  When Arienna informed him that she was ready Burrich started running.  With his long legs he set a ground-eating pace and soon realized that if the young Wanderer continued like that she'd never finish the day's workout.  He slowed a touch and adressed her, "Arienna, I don't mind taking the lead, but I don't know what pace you're capable of running and actually finishing the course.  So, I want you to talk to me.  Tell me about yourself, or about the Howling you experienced, or describing your surroundings, you can even talk about how much you hate me for making you do this, but just keep talking.  Run as fast as you can while talking and I'll know the pace is right."

  While he would enjoy getting to know her and hoped she would tell of her past he spoke truth when he said it didn't matter what she said.  The point was to get her talking, to regulate their speed.  They followed a trail well-worn by years of use, sometimes running along a beach and at others through the forest.  They stopped running at the distances he'd told her they would, all five stops being in large grassy clearing kept clean of rocks and roots.

  An hour and a half and twelve miles later found them right back where they'd started stretching out the kinks in their muscles.  Looking at the girl with him Burrich guessed she'd never done a workout quite that strenuous and knew that she needed to rest and was not yet ready for the next part of the lesson.  "Ok, start you day this way every morning and in a week's time you'll be ready for the next lesson."

 

OOC: Go through the workout from your perspective, or at least hit a few of the highlights ;) then make mention of the rest of the week's workouts.  Remember that Burrich does this every morning so she may or may not see him depending on when she does it.  End your post one week (ten days in WoT) later at the end of your workout--Burrich will have been with you for that one and I'll move us forward in my next post.

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  • 2 weeks later...

OOC: Sorry for the delay...

 

IC:

 

The workout was quite a change fgrom what she had been used to, not because of the intensity but because it used other muscles than she had been used to. After a bit of an uneasy start -- servants were not allowed to run through the mansion after all -- she eventually found a pace she felt comfortable with, and started talking. It didn't take much effort to hear she was still keeping things back however, and if Burrich would have asked around about it would notice she had been giving all the Wolfkin the same treatment.

 

- "I am Arienna. I was fleeing from some men that were pursuing me, and ended up with someone you call a Tracker, called Erik. What the Howling felt like i can't quite remember, but at the end of it Erik was bruised, battered and had a broken jaw, and i had a sore throat and knuckles, so i assume we fought. We reached this place a few days later, and i found out i could talk to wolves. I closed myself off to them as soon as i realized how, and so it has been ever since."

 

All the information she gave was what she considered compromised, and in all the time she had spent with the Wolfkin she had yet to spend a single word speaking of her life prior to her three hour blackout, save that she had worked for a Lord Maric in Mindea. Aside from that, any attempts to drag more out of her might as well have been aimed at a rock. Oh, she'd keep talking, subtly dancing around the question and changing topics every time, but if the matter was pressed she simply refused to acknowledge the question.

 

Still, she kept up the training, not falling behind until she felt she'd almost collapse, and it was a small success when by the end of day five she was able to finish the exercises without stopping. At the end of day seven, she had gotten to the point where she didn't slow down momentarily to catch her breath again, and started adding an additional lap. On the tenth day, when -- much as she expected -- Burrich was running with her again, her body had gotten used to running one lap more than Burrich had wanted her to, which meant she still had some breath left at the end of the laps. She waited, listening to what would be the next part of training.

 

 

Arienna

Going the extra mile

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  • 1 year later...
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