• Solo • A Not So Smooth Start

Warning: Foul language

The capital city of the of Rynmere, here is seated the only King in Idalos.
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Yanahalqah
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Race: Yludih
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A Not So Smooth Start

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Ymiden 71 Arc 717
Iron Hand Training Grounds
Yana sized up her new subordinates with a pensive look on her face. This was a critical moment, the critical moment. The trial, that inevitable one. That one she’d preferred that would never come. Indeed; it was the trial. D-trial even. It was time to meet her new squad, the people she would command. The five individuals in front of her, four new knights and one slightly older one. Every single one of them did not look too happy to be here. Only one scowled at her, the others had kept their expressions under control. Yana could tell their displeasure by the thin line ´that was their mouths. Their lips were pressed tightly in disapproval. Yana remembered what Captain Jacobs had said. ”They won’t like it, and they won’t like you.” Well, that at least seemed to be a quite true. Yana wasn’t sure what the Hand had been through while she was in Viden, but she was quite certain rumors had been circulating right after she’d left, and when she’d returned.

The suns shone warmly on her new black leather armor, tailored to fit her. Her padded tunic of her squire trials she had returned to the Hand. As a Steward, she was supposed to wear a helmet during patrols, as the code described that she needed to be in full armor. Unfortunately, the Hand did not provided helmets for some reason, and Yana had needed to buy one of her own. She did not have it with her at the moment; they were not going to be patrolling today, nor would she be leading. This was merely a trial for acquainting with the others. Something she simply could not see ending well.

“All right then,” Yana broke the tense silence, her words meant to psych herself up a little. She was not looking forward to this at all, but it was best to just get it over with. “I am Saeri LaChasse, your Steward for the time being. I was promoted a couple seasons ago, but I have only recently returned for duty. This trial I would like to for us to get acquainted. To that end I will have you introduce yourselves. Any questions?”

A Knight with brown hair and blue eyes raised his hand, no smile on his face, nor in his eyes. It was a far cry from his usual demeanor.

“Yes, Ser Gudhelth?”

“How many times did you have to fuck the King to be promoted?” he bit. His tone was scathing and full of anger and venom. His eyes were hard. It was evident that he did not enjoy being placed under Yana’s care. A couple seasons ago that would have been exactly what he wanted though. The Yludih scowled visibly at the remark, her expression starting to mimic the one of her subordinates.

“I mean, no one gets promoted from squire to Steward in one go.”
“Ser Gudhelth, that is enough.”
He continued unabated. “And coincidentally you were just promoted after having been in a private room with the King at the Ball--”
“I would advise you to watch what you say. You are crossing a line.” Her voice was cold as ice, as was her glare. However, Yana felt quite calm, really. This was not a matter of being offended, this was a matter of insubordination and undisciplined behavior. In order for this whole Steward deal to work, Yana needed to be respected. Right now, she was not.

Despite her warning, Hannes Gudhelth waved her words away with a swat of his hand, as it they were annoying mosquitos. “It’s really obvious, you know,” he fake-laughed, “hence my question. How hard did you have to ta--”

“Hannes Gudhelth!” Yana thundered, raising her voice for the first time in ages. She put all authority she could muster behind her words. She squared her shoulders and planted her feet firm on the ground, doing her best to intimidate. Her face retained its scowl, and now the corners of her mouth pointed downwards. “Firstly, I would remind you of your rank and of mine. Your attitude is unbecoming of a Knight of the Hand. By not heeding my warnings twice, you have effectively earned yourself three strikes. That will be one hundred push-ups.”

He crossed his arms defiantly. “If you think that I--”

“I can increase them if you want. By which I mean, if you continue your disobedience.”

He snorted. “Make me.” The others did not do anything. They simply stood there, some looking rather pleased with these developments. Well, if they agreed with him, then drastic measures were in order.

“Make you? Are you challenging me?”

“You bet.” He sounded way too smug, so full of himself. Did he really believe Yana was still on the same level she had been as a squire? Did it not cross his mind that maybe she had trained to better fit her role? Apparently not. Well then, he would learn the hard way.

“I could just have you be demoted to squire, have you be disciplined. I could have you suspended. But very well. If you wish to receive physical punishment, so be it. I will teach you discipline myself.”
word count: 884
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Yanahalqah
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A Not So Smooth Start

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Beating Hannes was a whole lot easier than Yana had expected. It wasn’t that she was better with a sword than he was, or that she knew more techniques than him. Instead it was how she chose to use the skills she had. Yana had a tactical mind that analyzed her opponent, made plans and found openings. It exploited the opponent in any way she could. She purposefully left herself open when performing certain movements, repeating it enough so Hannes would notice his chance. Then she countered when he went for it. Unfortunately, it did not work out, and after that attempt the Knight was wary. He wouldn’t fall for such tricks again. It mattered not though. Instead, Yana made use of his wariness to shift his focus. She would start to try and punch him when he was close enough, grab hold of him if she could, etc just to make sure he would be on the lookout for those things.

As soon as she felt she had succeeded in this, she had stomped him hard on the shin, which he –too focused on Yana’s arms—had not seen coming. Her Yludih weight and density made for a terrifying impact, which had been more than enough to break his bones, should she have been aiming for that. In this case though, it would only bruise, and hurt enough to impair his movements. From that point on he had lost all chances of victory. Yana was a whole lot more agile than him now, and could dance around him easily. She combined her swordplay with the occasional punch or grab from her free hand, and with the kicks aimed at his lower body. If he anticipated one, she would follow it up with an attack from another category, stringing up a whole series of different attacks that would eventually hit. He could not dodge and block them all.

In the end, Hannes was on the floor with Yana straddling him, beating his face bloody with her fists. She felt no happiness of pleasure from the act, but neither did she feel guilty or bad about it. If he decided to speak to her, his superior, as if she was some sort of whore, well, then he needed to be punished for it, else it would elicit similar behavior from the others. Which, in turn, would show the Lord Commander she was not fit to lead, and she’d be demoted. This hadn’t been the plan, but hey, now it had come to this, she would roll with it. When she got up from Hannes’ body, the man was still conscious, and his face was already starting to swell.

“Get up, Ser Gudhelth, you have push-ups to do.”

The man groaned something incomprehensible, and Yana shrugged at him. “If you can’t do them today, you will do them tomorrow. The interest rate of push-ups is one-hundred percent per trial. Tomorrow you will be doing two-hundred. Well then, off to the infirmary you go.”

He groaned again, sounding defiant still. Yana snorted. “I can do what I damn well please. All the higher-ups want are results. You are my bitch now. I own your sorry ass. You can either do as I say, or you can quit the Hand. Your choice.”

A moan, and a gasp for air, he slowly rolled onto his side to try and get up. Yana cocked her head slightly. “Report me to the Captain? You mean you will go whine? By all means, go ahead. I am sure they will absolutely sympathize.” The sarcasm dripped from her words. “They will tell you to stop sobbing like a baby, to put on your big boy pants, and act like a fucking knight!” She gave him another glare. “No one cares about you. No one cares about me. All of us are unimportant and insignificant. Expendable and replaceable. They do not give a flying hoot about your feelings, or my methods. They want to see results. Caught criminals, written reports, closed cases. That is all that matters.”

Her words seemed to convince him and the others, it seemed, as Hannes rejoined the line where the others stood, and none of them were smiling anymore. “Good. Now.” Her eye swept over the five knights in front of her. “I was planning on being nice. However. Since none of you apparently were planning on showing me any respect, and one of you openly decided to challenge my authority, and go as far as throwing insults, that plan is no longer valid. I warned you that you were crossing a line, and this is where your actions have gotten you. I will not tolerate undisciplined behavior, disobedience, and a lack of manners. You will do as I say, or you will face the consequences. I am holding the reigns, and they are held tight. However, if you behave yourselves, follow my orders, and show some of the core values your squire days should have instilled in you, you will find me to be sensible and reasonable. That said, you will need to earn my respect first, because right now you are nothing but a bunch of brats to me. Am I clear?”

They mumbled something, a cacophony of voices where no words could be discerned.

“Am. I. Clear.” She practically hissed, unspoken threats hiding in her voice.

“Yes Ma’am!” they replied, more or less in unison.

“Good. Now. You are going to be a team from now on. To improve your sense of team spirit, you will share the basic punishments. One of you is tardy? All of you do exercises. One of you talks back to me. All of you do exercises. Understand?” She paused, her subordinates shouted an affirmative reply. “Right. As I was saying before all this, I will have you introduce yourselves. But first, you can all go do the one hundred push-ups Ser Gudhelth has earned you.”

They groaned, because of course they did.

“Did I hear someone ask for more?”
“No Ma’am!” one of the Knights said, quickly getting in position. The others followed suit. Even Hannes.

“All right. One hundred push-ups each. I will count. If one of you –it does not matter who—does not complete them today –and I do not care about the why—you will all do them again the next trial. I will be lenient though. You will be doing twenty push-ups, then you can rest for ten trills, then another twenty push-ups. Another rest period. Et cetera.”

There were no complaints about that, at least.

“Ready, set, begin. One… Two… I am keeping count here, Ms.” Yana poked the woman against the shoulder with the tip of her boot. “You will follow the tempo I set. From the top. One… Two… Three… Fou—Lower! I want to see perfect push-ups, not some half-baked fuckery! Is this a game to you? No? Then give me perfect push-ups! Lower! Stop sticking your butt out. Keep your body level. Yes. That is it. Hold that position. Remember it. THAT is what I want to see. Again, from the top. One…”
word count: 1207
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Alistair
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A Not So Smooth Start

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Yanahalqah


Knowledge
Discipline: Enforcing it with punishments
Leadership: Ruling with an Iron Fist
Leadership: Putting subordinates back in place
Leadership: Acting the part
Leadership: continued disobedience will undermine authority
Unarmed combat: Kicking the shin to impair movement

Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A
Fame: +4 Victory in Single Combat
Devotion: N/A

Points: 10

Comments: If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please let me know.
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