Weapon Selection and Care, atn Aeronwy

[Visar Falmaien]

Visar wiped sweat from his brow.  It seemed it had been a long time since he had last worked in the armory, but he welcomed the labor as a fortunate distraction from his other troubles.  And there were some trainees that were due to come into the armory for the first time, so he came early that morning to be "on call" in case they arrived.

 

The good thing was that there was always plenty of work to be done in the armory, even with the full time smiths and their apprentices, and trainee helpers working voluntarily or for punishment.  And yet somehow the place always had to play catch up.  Armor and weapons had to be forged or repaired, and the ones kept in storage kept free of rust.  And that did not even begin to cover the dozens of weapon racks, some left untended for years before they could get to them to salvage what was not damaged from the cold, wet winters which could be murder to unprotected steel.

 

Visar did a bit of everything, helping at the forge to make some new arrowheads, working with the fletchers to replace the hundreds of arrows that had been lost or broken, even whittling new practice swords for the yards, where some were broken on an almost daily basis. 

 

He smiled, examining the fruits of his latest endeavor.  The mail hauberk he had been helping with was finally complete, and would be ready for use soon.  A few minor adjustments might have to be made for fitting.  Visar shook his fellow worker's hand and made leave to look at the shelves again, to find any weapon that was beyond normal repair or maintenance.

 

Visar was inspecting a neglected rack of longbows when out of the corner of his eyes he saw a trainee come in with soft, timid footsteps.  Visar moved to be of help.  Perhaps this was one of the newcomers.

 

"Can I help you?" he asked the young woman.

[Matalina]

Aeronwy had made it to the armory, it was the first thing she was told to do. She hadn't expected the morning work out to be so strenuous, she was exhausted. But the day had barely begun.

 

Aeronwy started for the long bows first, it was her love, and what she knew. She knew she'd be choosing one, she had her own, but they gave them equipment anyway, so she'd take it for now until she could use her own. The armory was large and noisy, but with a smithy in the back that was to be expected.

 

A younger looking man was in the armory. "Can I help you?"

 

Aeronwy smiled. "I'm Aeronwy, I was sent here for Weapon Selection and maintenance lessons. Can you show me to an instructor?" She wasn't sure if he was her instructor, but she didn't want to make any assumptions.

 

Aeronwy

[Visar Falmaien]

"I'm Aeronwy, I was sent here for Weapon Selection and maintenance lessons. Can you show me to an instructor?"

 

Visar smiled and stood, placing the defective bow staves he had spotted already aside to more properly greet the newcomer. Not everyone immediately assumed he was a Warder, especially since he looked a few years younger than he was. True, he was perhaps not as seasoned as some of the older veterens, but he had been here long enough to give them a good fight in the yards.

 

"I am your instructor. Visar Falmaien, Gaidin at your service." he stated, adding the Gaidin just to make it painfully obvious that he expected at least some respect from this trainee, if not copious amounts of deference; he didn't like the latter that much. Made him feel too much like an elitist, and he was certainly not one of those.

 

"Well Aeronwy, normally I might give you a thorough tour of the entire weapons racks and armory, but if you already know what you're looking for you go right ahead and choose your three weapons for training," he said. "Would you like to select a bow, such as one of these? You look like you might know how to tell a good quality long bow from a poor one, and there are certainly a fair share of poorly maintained bow staves in here... That's what I was working on. I'm not much of a bowman myself," he admitted modestly, "but every now and then a well placed arrow in the hands of a marksman can do wonders far beyond the reach of a mere swordsman. These here are staves of seasoned wood, some of which are a tad too old, or the winter has gone and made warps or cracks of them despite the finish. But I think there is another section with newer staves, it's just some of those may not be finished. Either way, old or new, choose wisely."

 

Visar stood back, and let Aeronwy choose her own bow stave from those available, hoping that she did indeed know what she was doing. He would then have her sort through the others and help find defective ones which the damp or cold had affected the wood to the point that the stave would no longer be proper, and the staves would most likely be tossed or whittled down into lathes for practice swords. After that, he'd make sure she knew how to string the bow, unstring it, and store the bowstring safely from the elements to ensure the longest use out of the sinews. She might already have that down though, in which case they would move on.

[Matalina]

OOC: Sorry it's taken so long for me to do this.

 

Aeronwy listened to what her instructor told her. She thought he remember him from the yards, but there were so many faces to learn, so many things to learn she wasn't sure. But he was right, she knew how to choose a bow, her father had instilled the skill in her from the first day they'd gone hunting. Aeronwy went through the bows one by one, putting the ones that were no good for anyone to use aside so they could be repaired or discarded. She kept stock of the ones that she liked the looks of, each one was different, a different curvature here, or a different height there, she'd have to measure them up to see if the fit her well. She knew what she was looking for, but nothing would beat the one she already had sitting in her room, her Dad had made it for her before leaving home.

 

Aeronwy choose a bow that was just about perfect, it was the best one in the lot she could find. Aeronwy smiled. "I think this one will do. It's the best I can find in the lot." She wasn't sure what he wanted her to do next so she waited for further instruction.

[Visar Falmaien]

Visar watched Aeronwy carefully weed out some of the bad bowstaves. He nodded with approval at her final choice. She had a sharp eye, and probably knew as much as he did about archery, if not more. He made sure she had access to a few bowstrings and a quiver of recently fletched arrows that would do.

 

"I think this one will do. It's the best I can find in the lot."

 

"Good choice. Take good care of it." he advised. He made sure she knew how to string and unstring a bow, store the bowstring so that it would not get wet, and select enough decent quality arrows.

 

"Good, I think you've got it down already. Someone taught you well. I've never been much of an archer, so be sure to practice with someone who is more experienced than you if possible. Sometimes, however, you will not be able to use your bow. Either your enemy gets to close to you, or you might run out of arrows. So, I think it's wise you choose a suitable side arm. Some sort of sword, perhaps? Let's have a look."

 

Visar led Aeronwy over to where row upon row of sharpened swords lay. Some racks were in better condition than others; obviously, there was still much work to be done in the armory. Some exposed blades, Visar was shocked to discover, even had traces of rust on them that would have to be removed immediately.

 

"We have just about everything here. Swords for one or two hands. Swords with straight or curved blades, single or double edged. Swords with complex hilt guards or just a simple cross or ring. I'd personally recommend something short enough to go well with the bow, but I can't choose for you. Take a look around and decide for yourself. And if you don't think a sword is the right thing for you, we have some axes and maces of similar length as well if you're interested."

 

Visar sat back and let Aeronwy look around.

[Matalina]

Aeronwy let Visar lead her over to the swords, she also had a short sword sitting by her bed, but she wasn't sure how to choose one. The one in her room had been made for her, with little help from her; her father knew how to have one made that worked for her. Aeronwy hadn't used the sword much and it was probably in bad shape, she knew how to care for it but that was about it. The basics. "I'm not sure how to choose a sword, I've never had to before."

 

Visar spoke to her about conditions of the sword, and the different types in greater length. He told her that the perfect sword would just feel right. It would not bee too heavy or too light. He said that the key to choosing the right sword was to feel like an extension of your arm. As your strength increased your sword might have to change in balance. There was a proper sword for everyone to be the best warrior they could be.

 

Aeronwy started to sort through each of the swords. Two handed swords were out, it would be hard to transition from her bow to a two handed sword with out dropping her bow completely and that would not do for her. So she needed something that would work as he had suggested with a bow. Aeronwy wanted simple and short, those were her criteria in choosing a sword - other than the obvious feel right component. She went through the short sword holding each in her hand, trying to find the right feel. This one was too heavy to hold level for a long period of time, another was light, she set that one aside to access again later.

 

Aeronwy had several sword set asside by the time she'd sorted through all the short swords. It was time to find the right one. She looked each over and held each on in turn. She finally settled on a simple short sword with a cross hilt and a one sided blade with a slight curve. It felt right, but she wasn't exactly sure how that was, she just felt right about the choice. "I think this one will do." Aeronwy put the sword in it's sheath and waited for further instruction, she wasn't going to start waving the sword around with out proper instruction.

[Visar Falmaien]

"I think this one will do."

Visar noted Aeronwy's choice with satisfaction. A simple falchion-type (ooc: that work?) blade. Simple but sturdy and reliable, and a deadly cutter. He also thanked the Light that this trainee had a sense of discipline and did not go wrecking the armory or themselves by swinging their new weapon around haphazardly.

 

"Good. You'll need these." He went around to find a vial of oil, rags, and a pair of whetstones, one course and one fine. He began by showing her how to sharpen the blade, using the fine whetstone since the sword she chose was in decent shape to begin with. Visar cautioned about sharpening the sword too much, as that would wear down the edge faster, and a blade of her type did not need to be razor sharp to cut well. He let her do a little sharpening, and then made sure she applied ample oil to the blade and put it back into the sheath to keep it safe from rusting.

 

"Remember," he concluded, "Never draw your sword unless you mean to use it or check it for cleaning, which you should do every day. Clean and oil before and after use, beware getting it wet, and you should have no problem keeping rust off the blade. You'll learn how to use your new blade in the yards, though remember that this is a sharp sword and should be treated as such: you don't hit your training partner with this, that's what lathes or blunt steel is for."

 

The look she gave him meant she already knew that quite well, so Visar chuckled and added,

"Right. I'm sure you hear that all too often. I'm just trying to make sure our trainees know something out of safety so they do not kill or maim each other out of sheer stupidity; it has happened before. Anyway, you may choose a third weapon or tool in the armory to train with if you wish. Feel free to look around, we have plenty other sections."

 

Visar gestured as an example to a section bristling with all manner of sharp pole-weapons like halberds and pikes, and pointed out cupboards full of smaller sidearms, such as throwing knives and daggers. As well there were plenty of shields of a variety of size or shape, axes, maces and hammers, and a decent selection of ready-made armor, from quilted wool or laminated linen padding, to full suits of plate armor.

[Matalina]

Aeronwy watched carefully with the instructions on the care of the sword. She would have to practice those. Maybe she could come to the armory and practice on those in need of work here. She made the suggestion to her instructor and he gave her an odd smile. Aeronwy was not afraid of a little hard work, she preferred to stay busy anyway, anything to keep her mind working and her body moving.

 

Now it was time to choose a third weapon, Aeronwy wasn't exactly sure what she wanted, she had ranged and she had close quarters. Visar showed her the other various areas of the armory but nothing really struck out at her. She wanted complimentary weapons, something that would round out the rest of her gear.

 

Aeronwy asked Visar about the weapons, and weapon types. He spoke to her of piercing weapons, slashing weapons and bludgeoning weapons. She already had peircing with her arrows, and slashing with the type of sword she choose. The only thing she didn't have was bludgeoning - things like hammers, maces and clubs. Quarterstaves also fell into that category, but Aeronwy already had a long weapon to be stored on her back. It could interfere with drawing her bow, and that would not do in her mind.

 

Aeronwy wandered the bludgeoning weapons looking for something that would catch her eye and then she thought about it, her hands were bludgeoning weapons if she learned how to use them. She turned around and smiled. "I'll use these." She held up both of her fist for inspection. "I want to learn true hand to hand combat." Aeronwy was proud of her decision, though she wasn't sure how well she'd do with her size and frame, but it would be their surprise that she had learned, and that would be her own advantage.

 

OOC: the sword type is fine with me, and Aeronwy just wrote her self lol, she choose her third weapon all by herself hehe no help from me, it just came out - cool!