[h1][color=00a651]Baldric I[/color][/h1][hr][right]ꜰᴀʟʟᴏᴡ ʜɪʟʟ, ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪᴠᴇʀʟᴀɴᴅs[/right][hr] Any and all who train with the bow are invited to a special range time experience just outside the walls at Fallow Hill. Targets are set up in a field at varying ranges; twenty-five yards, fifty yards, a hundred, a hundred fifty. Two hundred and three hundred yards. Only a handful of people present are able to hit the three-hundred-yard target. [color=00a651]“Try to replicate your stance, posture, string pull and aim point every time. That is the key to bow accuracy,”[/color] Baldric told his son, Mace. Roughly thirty people were in attendance with bows. Baldric and Royce Deddings laid down the rules so that no one was shooting while people retrieved arrows down range. When it was time to retrieve arrows, Deddings would call a halt. Every man would walk the distance to the targets to secure their arrows and then return to the firing line. Mace nocked an arrow, angling his bow up about twenty degrees trying to hit the two-hundred-yard target. He pulled back on the string, so his right thumb stopped at the right corner of his mouth. He lined up a notch on his bow with the target down range establishing a twenty-degree lift. When he felt he had the weapon lined up properly, he released the string watching the arrow fly down range. Father and son tracked it all the way to where it hit with a thud! Into the ground right in front of the target he was aiming at. “I am lined up properly. Might need to raise the angle a little. I’ll try again.” Mace was more of a swordsman fighting up close and personal. His size gave him a decisive advantage in hand to hand combat; something he excelled in. Practicing this skill was more for his father. The Master-at-arms wanted his son skilled in every weapon, not just a few. From a short distance Robert watched as the group in front of him sent arrows down range. The standard of skill stretched from pretty decent, right down to absolutely terrible. It frustrated the young man because some of those in front of him had been practising for months with little to no improvement. [color=ff4444]“Fenwick! How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t be so rigid! I dread to think of how many blisters your cock has if you hold the bow that hard!”[/color] There were a few chuckles as Robert put down the spotted redhead with his words. In truth he liked the boy and he did show promise, he just liked to keep him in his place. As the group continued to fire their shots Robert strolled across the line. He would occasionally stop to adjust the posture of people while at least one person needed to be shown how to get the best leverage on his string. Using his own bow he showed the short lad the best way to draw the string back. He did it several times until the shorter of the two could mimic the motion almost in unison. [color=ff4444]“The trick is to keep doing it until your body just does it naturally.”[/color] With his tip he patted the boy and moved on. He had soon reached Baldric and his son, both better suited for the front line than bowmen. However, a good soldier was able to fight with any and all weaponry and that was what Baldric drilled into the soldiers of House Landry. Looking at the pair working together Robert just watched on, listening to the sons critique of his own shot. Baldric noticed Robert Rivers. He watched the young man helping the other soldiers with their bow work. Rivers had a reputation across Westeros as one of the best archers on the continent. Baldric stepped back off the line as Mace continued sending arrow shafts down range. [color=00a651]“Mr. Rivers, may I have a word?”[/color] Baldric called the bastard to him. [color=00a651]“Lord Edwyn intends to strike at these raiders who have been plundering our caravans. The bloody wankers are giving our lord a pain in the arse. His son, Lord Ashton has developed a plan involving a ruse to draw the raiders out to attack. Instead of wagons filled with food stores, they will be filled with soldiers. I’ll be in one of the wagons with my son and several others. Ser Edmund will lead a detachment of mounted men-at-arms to reinforce our position once the attack begins. We expect the raiders to withdraw in the direction of their base camp, which we believe is not too far away. I can show you on a map when we get back to the keep. Lord Edwyn would like you to lead an element of roughly fifty Rangers to establish an ambush along the expected route the raiders would be moving along. I want you to pick the best Rangers we have. You should not be alone in the fight for very long as Ser Edmund and I will be chasing them in your direction. The plan is to sandwich the raiders between our heavier force and your lighter more mobile one.”[/color] Baldric paid attention to Robert Rivers’ face to get a clue has to how he felt about the task being assigned him. [color=00a651]“I know you are an outstanding archer. I’ve seen your work. I’d wager a night at the brothel you could knock a tick off a goat at a hundred yards without harming the goat. My concern is, how are you with leading troops? Do you have any experience in this realm? I guess this raid will give me the answers I am looking for. If you need any help in assembling your force, please let me know. Myself and Lord Edwyn will render whatever assistance you may require.”[/color] A grin crossed Robert’s face as Baldric spoke. He was usually a man of few words so whenever he spoke it meant people listened. The fact was that he knew what he was talking about and it provided Robert with some semblance of acceptance that the big man was willing to share his expertise and even offer his help. [color=ff4444]“I do love setting a good trap, so it shouldn’t be an issue to set something up. As for the rangers, leave it to me. I have a good core of twenty that I would bet my life on, the rest I’ll make up with a mixture of experience and new blood.”[/color] Scratching at the small beard on his chin Robert glanced back out over the range, taking his gaze away from Baldric. [color=ff4444]“As for me, Baldy you don’t need to worry. I might not have the experience like yourself but I can get fifty men to fight as hard as even you can. Just don’t expect me to be commanding thousands. That’s a bit too grand for my tastes. Besides, I like to be where the action is.”[/color] Robert stretched his arms out wide and felt the satisfying stretch of his muscles throughout his body. He looked over to Mace and gestured with is head. [color=ff4444]“Are you bringing your boy along? I’d love to see if he is anywhere near the monster on the battlefield that his old man is.”[/color] [color=00a651]“Aye, Mace will be in one of the wagons,”[/color] Baldric responded to the question. [color=00a651]“Knowing the boy’s desire to get killed in battle, he may be one of the first you see chasing the raiders into your ambush.”[/color] Baldric allowed a half smile at the notion. He didn’t like Mace’s reckless behavior. It meant, he had to work harder to be available in case he needed help.