Sturmrufer
Griffons
New Griffon
"Having fun, are we?"
Posts: 30
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Post by Sturmrufer on Jan 30, 2015 16:31:00 GMT -5
Sturm watched with intrigue. It was interesting to see Klepto work with Selenia, his movements and style different than what the gryphon had expected. "That, was quite something." he remarked after the two were done. "I haven't seen anything like that before. While not honourable, I understand its usefulness." Even though he did not wholly approve of the earth pony's methods, he knew there were those who did not possess his sense of honour. "Since we seem to be done, why don't we get a drink? I hear there's a pub nearby with quite the selection."
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Post by Selenia on Jan 31, 2015 11:38:38 GMT -5
"Your combat style, eh?" Selenia wondered how Klepto's combat tendencies might differ from more traditional or widely practiced methods. No doubt he would be a lot lighter on his hooves than the average soldier, stemming from his lack of armor and the innate requirements of his profession; built off of his strengths and needs and designed to cover the drawbacks. If it got really complex like relying on very individual specifics about the pony, she would probably have to modify the style with practice to make it agree with her, perhaps even train relentlessly. 'Magic-enhanced brawler' sounded cool, and extension of magical power into other places on the body than the horn was something she had looked into. With her finely tuned kinetic magic, she could probably shatter a brick wall, let alone all the bones in somepony's body if she channeled it into her hooves properly. But again, that required time to find books and practice, time that she wasn't sure if she had.
Selenia solidly picked up the sparring sword, its bit had a jaw-shaped groove dug into it from years of serving guards-in-training. it took her a moment to find the best grip, and she nodded to Klepto when she did. Sturm was watching on from the sidelines. He had been overjoyed at all the weapons in the armory. Normally such an arsenal would have been locked away with restricted access, but that was when the building itself had a door that could be locked, or a roof, or walls for that matter. Not like the refugees in the city had any use for swords, axes, or bows at a time like this.
Selenia hunkered down when Klepto gave the word. She could do a countdown. With so little prior experience with swords, she decided to fight defensively. Klepto would probably be commentating with each swing he took, pointing out hoof placement and swinging angles. She expected him to be an airy fighter, hard to hit and even harder hitting. What was it that one hoof-boxer had said? Oh yeah, 'Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.' She reflexively reared back in surprise when he jumped the gun, however. Lunging towards her and slapping her across the face with his sword. It was nonlethal wood, yes, but it still hurt. She dropped her sword and rubbed her forehead as Klepto lectured. "Yeah, I saw. You didn't wait and now I'm 'dead'. You didn't even count down." She shrugged.
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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Jan 31, 2015 16:16:38 GMT -5
"Yeah, I cheated," Klepto spoke. "One of the best ways to win a fight is to cheat. Don't be forced into playing by your opponent's rules. Instead, break his and make up your own. Give yourself the unfair advantage. Catch him off guard and defenseless."
"Cheating by definition is doing somethin' you're not supposed to do, which means most people don't plan for it. People make plans and strategies based off what they think their opponent can do. So when someone does somethin' they're not supposed to, they don't have a plan. Then you've got 'em vulnerable, just like how I had you vulnerable. You weren't expectin' me to jump the gun, and I caught you off guard."
"Before we go off for drinks," Klepto said, picking up his sword and tossing it over to Sturmrufer, "I want to do another activity. You and Sturmrufer are gonna do what we just did. This time, don't pull back the stops. Break the rules. Do what'cha have to to win."
The thief trotted over to the pile of unused practice swords, turning around so he could watch the unicorn and griffon have at it. "Whenver you two are ready. Or not."
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Sturmrufer
Griffons
New Griffon
"Having fun, are we?"
Posts: 30
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Post by Sturmrufer on Feb 2, 2015 16:21:53 GMT -5
Sturm caught the sword in his talons out of instinct. So Klepto wanted to see if Selenia had learned anything, hm? He adjusted his grip on the hilt, it being a slightly different shape than he was used to. After a few practice swings, he decided that while the balance could be better, the glorified stick would be adequate. He crouched into a defensive position, wings flared slightly outwards to keep his balance. "Whenever you wish to start, just do so." He spoke, watching Selenia's movements. He wanted to be ready when she struck. No doubt from what he'd seen of her so far that she would take the lessons to heart.
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Post by Selenia on Feb 7, 2015 10:37:08 GMT -5
Selenia listened as Klepto explained the surprisingly deep intricacies of cheating. Though, in a real fight there weren't really any rules... Would doing something unexpected really count as 'cheating', or just a smart move to catch your opponent off guard and vulnerable as Klepto had said? She chewed the bit of the wooden sword in thought. If there were no rules and no expectations, would anything really count as cheating in a real battle, where it was life-or-death and no holds barred? Not that Selenia cared about honor when it came to survival, would it still be considered dishonorable. She tossed the idea around for a bit in her head before she came to the amazing realization that none of the semantics mattered at all. Expecting the unexpected while also surprising an opponent was just a plain wise mentality for a fight.
She steeled her grip on the sword and sized up Sturm, now clutching Klepto's discarded sword and eyeing her up warily. He was a griffon. A griffon soldier with a sword. What could she expect? Better yet, what was he expecting from her? Swords cut and stabbed, and horns meant magic. She hadn't much experience with blades so it wouldn't be her primary means of attack, her tried and true horn would be her fallback. She nodded to Klepto before looking back at Sturm. A quick shield spell charged up on her horn-the same directed barrier she used against the nightmares. She would hold the form steady and pop it into place if and when Sturm got the upper hoof. It would shatter outward with the reflected energy of his strike, hopefully tossing his sword or at least surprising him enough for her to take a swipe. Until she released it, the spell wouldn't make her horn glow outwardly since she wasn't continually channeling the energy to keep it up. With luck, Sturm wouldn't notice it. If he did, well...
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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Feb 8, 2015 20:01:17 GMT -5
((Had Red do some rolls for the following.))
As Sturmrufer moved in for a strike, Selenia's shield spell created a magic barrier between the two, catching the griffon's wooden blade before it had the chance to hit the unicorn. The energy of Sturmrufer's own attack was reflected back into him, leaving him stunned and wide open for Selenia to counter. It wasn't hard then for Selenia to land a tap of her own on the griffon. Everything had gone as she'd planned.
What she hadn't planned for, however, was for a third-party to be involved. While Selenia and Sturmrufer were occupied with each other, Klepto had picked up one of the unused practice swords for himself. Only a moment after Selenia had begun her counter, the thief had dashed into the fray, smacking Selenia across the face (again) with his sword after she had already taken care of Sturmrufer.
"Okay," the earth pony spoke, still holding the sword in his mouth, "Wah did I do tha' time?"
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Sturmrufer
Griffons
New Griffon
"Having fun, are we?"
Posts: 30
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Post by Sturmrufer on Feb 11, 2015 16:11:34 GMT -5
"Became an unexpected third party?" Sturm offered, fiddling with his practice sword. He had to admit, that shield spell was a nice trick. He'd have to be more aware next time. "Nice move you did there" Sturm confessed. "I certainly wasn't expecting it." He looked at Klepto, "Now, unless we have other business, I'd like to get a drink. Today has been quite exhausting."
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Post by Selenia on Feb 18, 2015 10:50:36 GMT -5
Selenia growled under her breath as she stuck her sword neatly in the ground, rubbing her forehead with a free hoof again. It was annoying, yes, but she had to admit that Klepto was getting his point across. Repetition taught lessons like no other, especially when that repetition was a hard whack across the face. When life or death was on the line, Klepto was preaching to not follow traditional standards of engagement. Be swift and decisive, present and expect the unexpected, and take advantage of any situation to gain the upper hoof. In this case, Klepto had taken advantage of Selenia and Sturm's focus on each other to effectively remove the both of them from the equation. "You chose your time to strike. You let me take out Sturm and then you got me while I was distracted. Let others fight your battles for you, I like it, it's one thing to be familiar with and another thing entirely to see it in action-" she gestured around, "-even if this is a more controlled setting."
She smiled at Sturm's compliment. "Heh, thanks. That thing's saved my life a couple times now. The strength of a full-body shield spell concentrated into a panel probably a fifth or sixth of the area, summoned only when needed. It's much stronger and saves a lot of strength, as you could probably tell, but you can't be as carefree with it." Only when Sturm pointed out how much of the day had passed did Selenia notice the ache in her neck. She had been swinging around that sword for a few hours now under Klepto's direction, and the training was beginning to take its toll.
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