[Greenleaf] Let's Get Down to Business

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Almund is a thriving township with a dark side. With houses made from the wooden bodies of decommissioned ships, there are many opportunities here, coupled with many dangers.

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Amaris
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[Greenleaf] Let's Get Down to Business

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There was only so much one could learn from a book, Amaris has decided. While the books they had chosen were well enough for describing what the different forms of weapons were and what they might be best suited for, it did not tell the hybrid everything that they needed to even truly use a weapon. They could hardly use the knife for preparing food the right way. And while that could also double as a weapon, they had a better chance of hurting themselves. So, they’d avoided experimentation without guidance with that in mind.

And this was how they found themselves peering into the Greenleaf training yard. They had prepared for the event of standing out (they were over seven feet tall, after all) as they watched for the activity of the troops. They fidgeted a moment with their sleeves, then their hair, which they’d braided haphazardly to keep it out of the way. It was now simply a matter of them getting a form of courage to speak with someone about teaching them. This should have been easy, considering their plights on the Immortals’ Tongue and the Ice Caves of Ishallr. Both nerve-wracking experiences that left them with a continuing condition of nightmares and sometimes waking woes, they could not seem to compare to the idea of approaching someone to give the hybrid a lesson in a weapon.

But then again, which weapon did they want to learn? They started a rudimentary lesson with a crossbow, but had since not picked one up. Maybe they could continue that. A sword, perhaps? Maybe they could learn to trust themselves with a blade. Not likely, but one had to keep an open mind.
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Sephira
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[Greenleaf] Let's Get Down to Business

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The GreenLeaf Garrison training yard was a sight to behold when things were in full swing. Members of the Land Troops trained with every manner of weapon in this area. At least a dozen shallow sand lined sparring pits were laid out in neat rows that were accompanied by several tables and weapons racks that held an array of wooden practice weapons.

That morning Sephira found herself running drills with a small ground of Land Troops as they practiced running an obstacle course near the back of the yard. The cold air of Cylus was actually a boon to her as it kept her and the others from overheating as they dashed over hurdles and leapt over trenches. Practice was ended rather quickly and they were directed to work on their skills on their own. The mage departed from the group, her breathing a bit labored from the physical activity.

With snow crunching underfoot she walked to the other side of the training yard where there was an open sparring ring. Before Sephira could take a moment to choose an appropriate wooden practice weapon she turned to see an extremely tall woman watching from the edge of the training grounds. The woman had been looking a little expectantly at the practice weapons, like she was hoping to try her hand at one.

It was a little irregular for a civilian to be seen near an Elements training post but the Land Troops were more welcoming to outsiders than perhaps the Flame Troops would have been. Sephira herself was still doing her initial time in each branch of the Elements, so as she was technically a member of the Land Troops to-trial, and she had no issue in helping the curious woman out.

Warily striding toward the extremely tall female, Sephira gestured toward the sparring ring. “Are you looking for some practice?” She asked with easiness to her voice and posture.

The mage rested her hand on the hilt of her sheathed saber as she waited for a response.

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Amaris
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[Greenleaf] Let's Get Down to Business

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Intent on coming to some form of decision with furrowed brows, they were far too lost in thought to notice the woman approaching them. The downfalls of reading up on a subject that required a more physical teaching was that one knew much, but not truly. Taken from the spell of thought, they looked down at the woman that had come forward.

“Oh, uh - yes.” Blinking, they considered their next words. “If it’s not too much trouble. I would not want to hold you from anything you needed to be done.” At this, they wrung their hands, brows furrowing once more. “I’m not...so sure on what I ought to be practicing, though.”

They had only ever trained very little (emphasis on very little) and thus could not be fully trusted in making an objective decision on what would be best to learn for someone of their stature. Perhaps it would have been a good idea to consult their father before anything else. Too late for that now.
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Sephira
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[Greenleaf] Let's Get Down to Business

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“No trouble at all.” Sephira replied evenly as she gestured toward the nearest sparring ring. “I have need of a partner anyway."

The woman was incredibly tall, dwarfing the mage by a fair distance. At least might provide a new challenge to the Element.

The mage turned and moved toward the racks of wooden practice weapons arrayed off to the side of the ring. All of the weapons were nicked and worn from use but all of them were quite sturdy. Sephira took a moment to unclasp the sword belt at her waist, the silver washed buckle jangling lightly against her sheathed saber as she removed the gleaming weapon. It was of great importance to practice with wooden or padded weapons to ensure people were not killed or badly injured during practice.

After setting aside her belt and saber onto a nearby stone bench, Sephira turned to a nearby weapon’s rack. An assortment of wooden daggers, short swords, longswords, axes, shields, spears and staves were laid out. The woman carefully inspected each of the swords, seeking to locate one with a similar size and weight to her own saber. Eventually Sephira settled on a one-handed sword with a faint curve. It was not in any way a perfect replication of Wyvern, but it would do.

Looking to the woman she faintly waved her free hand toward the rack when it was mentioned that the women did not know what weapon to start with.

“If I were you, I would choose something with some reach, you’re height is an advantage that you should utilize. A longsword, spear or stave might work well for you, but personal preference always comes first. Perhaps you should try handling some of them and see what you prefer?” Sephira had adoped the tone of a teacher; her words were measured and mild. She didn’t mind helping a civilian learn to better protect themselves.

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Amaris
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[Greenleaf] Let's Get Down to Business

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Amaris was quite certain they would not make an adequate partner for the woman. Certainly, it would be as though they were sparring with a sandbag, really. But, they nodded and followed after the woman as she lead them. The weapons racks were intimidating, to say the least. They were lost in taking in the varying sizes and shapes of each blade when she spoke again.

Something with reach. Amaris could recognize some of the weapons from the poor diagrams in the books they’d read beforehand. “Maybe it would be best if I tried a few,” they responded, slightly overwhelmed by the options. They could not say they would be best with a longsword, but a spear or stave might work. Identifying a spear, which they presumed to be among the easier to discern, they turned to their impromptu teacher.

“How do we proceed?” There was a eagerness to their tone, mingling with hesitance. A glint of determination to match in their eyes. Finally, they would learn a thing or two to protect themselves. There would be no repeat of the Ice Caves, if all went well.
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Sephira
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[Greenleaf] Let's Get Down to Business

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Sephira motioned toward the center of the sand lined sparring ring with a rough gesture of her free hand, before taking up a position opposite of the woman. It was then that the mage noted a young man, with curly blonde locks and deep blue eyes making his way toward them, this was no normal Land Element as he was assisted by use of a cane. Curtis Fletcher was well known around the Garrison, he worked as the Administrator so he was in charge of keeping the place in good order and setting up training for the Land Troops. The lad moved slowly across the grounds, it was obvious that his left leg was crippled from some incident in the past and he had been relegated to a desk job because of that handicap. Even so, a warm smile played across his lips as he moved toward the pair of women.

“Taking in strays I see.” He called to Sephira as he came to stand at the edge of the ring. He held up his hands passively, leaning on his cane heavily to keep his balance.

“She was just looking for a bit of help in learning to defend herself.” Sephira countered, looking a little warily at the young man, somewhat concerned that she had broken some Element’s rule in allowing a civilian to practice on their grounds.

“It’s quite alright.” Curtis responded with a smile before glancing to Amaris with a nod. “You are welcome here Miss....? He waited for her to provide her name before continuing. “If you ever want any help learning some self-defense in the future, just let me know and I’ll find you a trainer. My desk is in the lobby of the Garrison’s lodge, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding me there.” With that Curtis took a seat on a nearby bench so he could continue to watch the pair in their match.

“If you don’t mind I’d just like to watch, please continue.”
Sephira gave the young crippled man an appreciative nod before turning her attention back to Amaris.

“Before you make your first attack, you need to begin in the correct stance to best defend against a strike. So choose a starting position you believe would work best against a shorter blade like mind. I’m not very familiar with spears but from what I’ve seen you should start in a wide stance with the spearhead pointed upwards to make blocking easier.”

Sephira herself took up a simple lower guard with her wooden blade grasped in her right hand and pointed down and out at a roughly forty-five degree angle. It was the simplest stance she knew, making it easy to defend her sword arm and parry away incoming strikes.

After waiting for Amaris to ready herself she would slowly and obviously step forward with a slow strike toward the larger woman’s left leg, a diagonal strike that could be blocked by the spear with some ease.

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Amaris should be able to come to this location in the future to seek training through Curtis.
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Amaris
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[Greenleaf] Let's Get Down to Business

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- common / murnasian

Amaris followed once more to where the woman indicated they go. It was not long after that they acquired their first spectator, and if they were nervous before, they were absolutely shaking with stage fright. Not only was this something they were entirely unused to and probably not cut out for, they would be appraised by this man - even if he did it silently.

“Amaris.” They returned the smile in kind, shortly before he confirmed that he would, in fact, be watching. They weren’t very good while being watched; with most things, anyways. The other woman didn’t seem too put off by this, and they thought better of voicing their own discomfort. They just had to ignore him and focus. They...might be able to do that. Possibly. Maybe.

The first step to doing that was to refocus on the woman as she gave instruction. The right stance - apparently something good against defense and wide? - didn’t come all too easily. They assumed that it wouldn’t, but the first stance they tried seemed off. They were taking this wideness quite literally, legs a little more than shoulder width apart. Did they need to lower themselves? Space their hands out? A general discomfort with not knowing settled over them. By the end of this, they would be bruised and sore, they were sure.

Amaris took a deep breath, moving on to a second try. They lowered themselves slightly, tip of the spear pointed down and angled. It was long enough that the remainder of the mock weapon tucked neatly under their arm, hands placed a few inches apart towards the middle of the spear. Once they were sure they were ready, they looked towards their instructor and nodded.
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Sephira
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[Greenleaf] Let's Get Down to Business

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The mage examined Amaris’s stance carefully. It was a well-reasoned approach with a shoulder length stance, wide enough to maintain her balance. Her spear pointed down at an angle with a strong two handed grasp. A talented spear-man could easily launch a lancing upward attack that could take an enemy soldier by surprise. She could use it similar to a lever, applying force on her back hand to force the point upwards and toward Sephira.

“Good. Let’s give it a try then.” The woman said as she nodded with satisfaction at Amaris’s current stance. Curtis gave a soft cheer from the sidelines of the sparring ring. It was a common sight to see the lad watching the soldiers practice. Sephira sometimes wondered if he missed serving in the more traditional role of an Element, rather from behind a desk at the garrison.

The Element shifted her footing slightly before tightening the grip on her practice sword. Stepping forward she made a slow and obvious diagonal attack that swept up from the ground and toward Amaris’s midsection. If it landed the blow would be glancing and feel like nothing more than a light punch. Sephira was taking care not to put a terrible amount of force behind the attack; she had no interest in bruising her sparring partner more than she had too.

If this was actual combat then Sephira would have approached the bout far differently. Her use of Rupturing was no secret among the Elements but she tried to reserve her abilities for moments when she really needed them. Even if most of the Elements knew who she was, Sephira was loath to see the wary look in their eyes when they saw her practicing her magic. Mages across Scalvoris were treated with a healthy amount of wariness and she was no exception. Here in the middle of the Land Troops training yard was no place to go ripping a hole in reality. Even in the private gymnasium of Redwood Redoubt, she felt the eyes of the other Flame Elements upon her. Sephira made every effort to appear as nothing more than a mundane soldier to-trial. Additionally it would be best for her partner if she kept her moves simple and measured until Amaris began to get a feel for the flow of real combat.
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Amaris
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[Greenleaf] Let's Get Down to Business

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- common / murnasian

Amaris preened at the praise. So they were doing something right. This alleviated some fear of doing wrong, but this still left the actual combat portion. Their lapse in concentration soon made it hard to return their focus, Curtis’ cheering on the side enough of a distraction. They glanced away to where the man was seated, and returned their gaze in time to see Sephira’s practice sword swinging their way.

Perhaps it was that their mind was not so used to working with more than their hands. The weight between them came as a surprise - almost - as they lifted them in what was meant to be a shielding manner. Instead, the shaft of the spear rose at an odd angle, though it was very nearly dropped. They fumbled for it, but not in time to miss the light smack of wood against their skin from Sephira’s swing.

They rubbed absently at the spot wood had struck flesh, lips pursed. They would take whatever criticism Sephira had to offer, repeating in their head when given. It was quite obvious that their teacher was holding back, and for that they were grateful. The mixed blood would readily say that they feared seeing what their opponent could really do if they took this sparring seriously. And something told them that Curtis likely knew of this, as did the other Elements training.

Getting back into their stance, they took a deep breath before nodding. “Ready.”
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Sephira
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[Greenleaf] Let's Get Down to Business

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“It’s alright.” Sephira said gently as she flourished the wooden training sword before returning into a guard stance. She chose a high guard, her sword arm retracted back over her shoulder, with the blade angled towards Amaris.

“Discipline is just as important as learning how to block a strike; it can be all too easy to become distracted during combat.” The Element shifted her footing to take a wider stance.

“Try and mind your surroundings while still focusing on your opponent. It takes practice and patience but that awareness can keep you alive.” Sephira herself often relied on her peripheral vision to remain aware of her surroundings. This was all the more important for a Rupturer as having the lay of the land allowed her to Blink almost instinctually to her destination. It required a great deal of focus but it was necessary to ensure that she could use her magic safely.

“This time you will attack me.” Sephira declared. “Use the length of your spear to put me at a disadvantage. “ Her voice was firm but assuring. The mage was not the world’s best teacher, but she was trying her best to keep Amaris at ease.

Amaris had both their height and the length of the spear to their advantage. If this was a real combat scenario it would take the Element either the use of her Rupturing on a great deal of agility and speed to close the distance between them. Although in close quarters a weapon like a spear could be a hindrance. This was partially why Sephira preferred the light saber she wielded. It was a flexible weapon, working well in an open field and in cramped areas.
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Want to finish this round of posting, then we can do one more to close this?
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