The Otter

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@HereComesTheSnow

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Fionn grinned. 'Disdain' wasn't something he was unfamiliar with, all things considered; he'd endured enough of it as a mercenary, and then again when he first joined the Iron Roses. It was utterly unsurprising that there were some within the order, originally of noble birth, who had little but contempt for any commoners who were raised to the ranks of knighthood. Showing a few up in the practice yard had done enough to silence their complaints in his direction, at least, though they weren't the caliber of the founding knights.

"Aye, Talderians. There were some, shouting in something other than Old Talderian. I could about pick up what they were saying, if I focused enough, but there wasn't really any opportunity for that." He brought his training blade up, across his shoulder, imaginary Talderian ahead of him. Gilded armour, elaborate plume of rank atop his helm, and a great shield paired with a short, stabbing blade. Reliving the fight, for a moment. "Had to open the one up. Come in hard, really commit so that he'd actually break my strike with his shield. Catch his other arm with my left hand so he can't stab me, hook him around the ankle with my own and bring us both down..."

He shook his head, a disapproving tsk coming out.

"We stabbed each other. His knife in my side, mine in his armpit. No winner." The feder came down again, his eyes narrowing. "He was nothing like going against Florian, though. I at least could've joked around with Cyrus, I think, but Florian...was himself that had to give me the best fight of my life, so he did."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@HereComesTheSnow

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Fionn nodded along as Gerard spoke, the strong similarity between their dreams not lost on him. "Aye? Quite the punch that must have been." It must have been the downtime, he decided after another moment of thought, turning back away from Gerard as he pondered it. The lack of action, not even travelling along the road, just relaxation and ennui outside of the training and building. So soon after the excitement of hunting down Jeremiah and the assassination attempt at the ball.

For two men such as themselves, former mercenaries, such a span of inaction could have strange consequences on the mind. As such thoughts passed through his own, he glanced at Gerard's slow movements, watchful eyes passing from his grip all across his body down to his feet. Especially in regard to the last discussions they'd been having, the similar dreams, the foes they'd been facing, he could not lapse in his own efforts at mentorship.

"Had one like it. Proper dreadful. A lot of fighting...thought it'd end when I first died, a Knight of the Wild Hunt just completely ignored my dagger in his chest and planted his own in my throat. Next thing I knew, though, I was back up, sword in my hand, and ready to fight some northern brute. Had an audience, too."

He paused, thinking back to the dream.

"Fun time, like. I was just after a different dream going into it, though, so that was odd."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@HereComesTheSnow

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Fionn nodded as Nico left, before Gerard's words drew his eyes back. "Not sleeping well?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Gerard had never really struck him as the type to suffer from night terrors or the like. Surprisingly, really, given what all he must have seen in his years as a mercenary; it was a rare man who could take all that in stride. Fionn found it hard to imagine, given the time elapsed and the man's blunt manner, that he had simply been taking for granted that Gerard didn't experience such—no, by now Gerard surely would have mentioned it.

Something new, it had to be.

"Maybe I shouldn't have gone running before the two of you got up for breakfast. Anything been eating at you lately?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@Raineh Daze@Krayzikk@HereComesTheSnow

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Fionn nodded at Lilia as she walked off, rapidly turning back to Nico. "Commenting on lacking her mother's speed and making up for it with magic, and between you and me, I think she either underestimates herself or overestimates most of those any of us might be expected to fight. But that's beside the point. Your weapon isn't much lighter than ours, it's more a matter of the balance—and that balance gives you a lot of opportunities we don't have, even as much as it means you don't have the ones we have. And regardless of the weapon, unless your goal is explicitly to try and take the other person alive, any action you take that isn't meant to immediately end the fight in the safest manner for yourself is an unwise choice, especially if it leaves you open—like you said, you can't defend as easily if you're committing to strike at the hamstrings or the knees, or the legs in general. Now consider Gerard in your position with your sort of blade rather than a longsword—no magical talent, no magical weapon, and now using one that is somewhat disadvantaged in the cut compared to what he actually uses. He's even worse off than before if whoever he's fighting has even thick trousers."

Fionn shook his head, both at how clear what he was pointing out should have been and yet apparently wasn't, as well as the headache that he was starting to experience. Had he forgotten to drink anything that morning before he set out after Lein?

"No attack that is truly directed at the legs, with commitment, is going to be a sound attack with the weapons we use. Either their blade is down low, in which case they're prepared to parry you anyways, or it's up high, in which case you're leaving yourself entirely exposed to a lethal response. An enemy with a broken leg or severed hamstring can make their way back to the healers. You, if they split your skull open, bury their blade in your throat or lung, hew down through your collarbone and ribs into your heart, can't."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@Raineh Daze@Krayzikk@HereComesTheSnow

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"Against an opponent in armour, he'd be doing similar. Looking for exposed areas. Halfswording and using it like a spear for extra control, or outright turning it around and using it like a hammer. Swords like the two of you have, in normal hands, might be easier to beat aside—but you can just as easily evade the beat, come back around, and use the point control afforded by your weapon's inherent balance to seek out armpits, holes in visors, and under-protected necks easier than we can, in some ways, if they don't think to simply push your blade aside with a gauntleted hand."

Fionn narrowed his eyes at Nico. Surely this had to be some sort of trick.

"Beyond that, Lilia's comment towards armoured opponents was about her magic, not purely the blade work."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@HereComesTheSnow

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He looked back up at the dissatisfied noise that Gerard himself made, glancing over at the younger man. "Properly covered, lad. That's the important part to remember. If you're close enough to strike at my leg, even if I'm overextended myself, you're close enough that I can split your skull at the worst, or at best just cripple you in return by striking at your hands and forearms, whether or not I let yours land." He lifted his training blade, lightly jabbing at Gerard's chest for emphasis.

"Sure, you might be cutting from tag down to pflug, but like I said, any strike to my leg should be incidental. A result of me not voiding your cut properly. You always aim for a strike that will end the fight, remove the other person's ability to keep attacking, and keeps you covered at the same time. Aiming so low doesn't do that. That is why I keep telling you it isn't a valid target whenever we're keeping score in our spars."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"I'm an idiot, Fionn. Solid posture."

He'd walked right past it through all that.

@HereComesTheSnow

Fionn MacKerracher

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@Raineh Daze@Krayzikk@HereComesTheSnow

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Fionn simply looked down and sighed.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@Raineh Daze@Psyker Landshark@HereComesTheSnow

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"It's not a comment on your fencing, it's just a recurring discussion I've been having with him."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@Raineh Daze@Psyker Landshark@HereComesTheSnow

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"Nach," he corrected, almost unconsciously. "And not quite. You're not entirely wrong but I don't think she ever lost her own control of the situation, which is the real danger getting stuck in such a situation. What I want to lecture you about is that bit about going for the base, for the legs. How often do you really get a chance to make a properly covered attack at someone's leg? Too easy for them to smack you in the head while you're going for their knee." Or any number of other such attacks taking advantage of how open any significantly low strike could leave the person making it.

"You're bigger than me and you use a bit longer sword. Bind and wind around their defense, don't treat it like you're a low wolf aiming for someone's hamstrings. It's not worth it unless they've clearly overextended their stance and you know for sure you aren't in harm's way attacking their leg, or if the contact is incidental after they failed to entirely void from a cut you were making."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@Raineh Daze@Psyker Landshark@HereComesTheSnow

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Fionn's eyes turned from Lilia to Renar, his face following suit with a growing look of complete incredulity arranging itself upon his features. Certainly, Renar had no way of knowing the run he'd gone on early on, certainly not when he'd made his way out of the castle grounds likely as the other two were just getting dressed. If that specific bit of ignorance were all that needed consideration, the question would appear completely innocent. Reasonable, even.

As long as they'd known each other, though, and as well as Renar had to know how highly Fionn valued his own pursuit of swordsmanship, it was nothing short of bewildering.

"You have to be kidding."