Author Topic: Chronicles of a Warrior (Read 1061 times)

willhoff · « **on:** September 10, 2009, 05:59:09 pm »

I have decided to put ink to partchment so i can make sense of all the things that go buzz in my head. I hope by doing this I can make sense of them and gain some knowledge of the path or paths which i should take to advance my skills as warrior and a person.

I know that I am a good fighter but I want to be great. I have seen those who weild a weapon as though it is an extension of themselves, Sasha comes to mind. I do envy her skill with a blade and her prowess in battle.

I have started to study the moves of these folks who seem to have mastery of their weapons. The have grace in battle while i have only brawn. I will need to find a trainer worthy of me to show me the ways of those who master their blades. They will have to be someone I respect in battle not just for their skill but their courage and wisdom. Meanwhile i will try to get more educated about this legendary Mastery of steel. I am a slow learner but find myself gaining knowledge albeit slowly.

My goal to achieve mastery of all weapons from Greatsword, to Shield and Bastard sword, to Bow are darn near complete. I have acheived a level of proficeincy in all these forms of combat but yet something is lacking.

It seems to truly Master something you have to focus on that one thing. My heart and soul tell me the Greatsword because it is a feirceome blade in battle that draws fear in the hearts of my enemy. It cuts through most armor and magic better than most blades I have used or seen used. I like the way it feels when i hold it, at first it was heavy but lately i have been able to use its weight to my advantage.

The bastard sword is good especially when used with a shield so that i can deflect incoming blows but it does not feel as good in my hands. I want to do maximum damage to my opponent and only the greatsword can achieve this. In fact, I need to bleed in battle, it draws me closer to my enemy and after my first drop of my blood is spilled i gain a respect for my opponent and my senses in battle are hightened.

willhoff · « **Reply #1 on:** September 26, 2009, 12:00:20 am »

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Sasha in the great forest. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to fight along her side. After some small talk I kinda hinted that i might want her to train me. She said that my blade was much larger and heavier than hers so it may be different. I see her point but skills are skills and I may be able to learn enough from her and and her relationship with her weapon to transfer the knowledge and apply it to my greatsword. She didnt say no so I didnt push it. I learned alot fighting along her side. She is able to get into a defensive stance that helps her to dodge and block incoming attacks while at the same time being able to counterattack. An impressive skill that I watched her do on several occasions. I will try to practise this move later on.

Another possiblilty is this Shiff guy. I dont know much about him but I have seen him weild a mithril greatsword with the same proficiency as Sasha. I may have a chat with him if I run into him. He's a bit elusive and old but you never know.

For now I continue to use mainly my Greatsword in battle, it has almost become my hallmark or namesake if you will. I have named it Vrebel's Valor to inspire me and remind me that courage in battle is rewarded by success.

willhoff · « **Reply #2 on:** October 02, 2009, 02:59:25 am »

I had another encounter with one who has mastered his steel. Fehriel, a ranger who learned to master his two bladed sword and a good friend ageed to show me a few moves. He demonstrated what is called a whirlwind attack. An impressive display of dexterity and finesse I must say. He leaps up and spins with his sword in a full circle. I'm sure it must have taken him alot of practise. The move seems very effective while surrounded by your enemy.

He agreed to help me learn it along with another battle move, were he gets into a defensive stance. I have seen him do this while fighting along side him and it is truly effective in deflecting and dodging incoming attacks. We met near Corax lake. He tought me the stance, called expertise, and showed me how to get in the stance and attack while in the stance. Apparently the trick is to keep your weight on yer back foot so you can lean back and dodge incoming attacks. At the same time you can spring forward and attack your opponent when the complete their swing.

I think I am getting the hang of it. I have tried using this technique in battle but with little success. Now with his demonstration I think if I practice this some more I may very well master it. It works with either shield or my greatsword. As I prefer the greatsword I will train using it. Its a bit different using it with the greatsword as you actually use your weapon to block incoming attacks, whereas with a shield obviouisly you would deflect incoming blows with the shield.

Maybe I'll have two masters then, hmm *thinks*. Yes, If I can gain insight from Sasha and also Fehriel then maybe I can combine the two techniques. Sasha is more experienced that Fehriel but Fehriel uses both hands to weild his sword as I do. This may work well.

willhoff · « **Reply #3 on:** October 07, 2009, 11:16:56 pm »

Success! I have learned how to get into the defensive stance Fehriel was talking about. I have learned to place my weight to my back foot and hold the stance. It affects my swing a little bit but not much. With this stance it seems i can parry and deflect most incoming blows and as I get better most all I think. Fehriel tells me that learning this move along with Whirlwind attack will give me the complete set of battle skills to move on to mastery of my sword.

I still need to get better with my chosen weapon, my greatsword. I use it almost exclusively in battle now. I just upgraded to Mithril. Wow, its a much lighter metal and truly swings like the breeze itself. The edge is sharper and with my improved skills I'm truly forming a relationship with my sword. With my greatsword in hand I feel like my partner is with me and we do battle together. One is not whole without the other.

I am still eager to learn the other skills Fehriel uses. He is able to evade most any kind of incoming attack, even fireballs and boulders. Truly impressive, and will be a worthy addition to my already growing abilities. But I must conscentrate on the skills neccessary for true mastery of my blade before I lean the more delicate details of stealth fighting that Fehriel uses. If i am ever able to someday put all these skills together in some form of cohesive attack I will truly be a formidable adversary for any I come across.

Still looking for a master to train me and I think I like the idea of two masters, Fehriel and Sasha. Although I have yet to have her agree. Maybe when I give her these rods she has asked for I can approach her with my request.

willhoff · « **Reply #4 on:** November 08, 2009, 02:54:28 am »

I have trained again with Fehriel the weapon master. We met in the arena and he tought me how to do the whirlwind attack. I have been trying to do it by myself but could never get all the way around. He told me that I need to train my muscles in the stance before I can perform the full move. Once I get the muscles trained and my body is able to twist freely in that stance it will be easier to do the attack.

He tought me how to get into the stance and then told be to hold it till it burned and then hold it still for five more minutes. Ouch that was difficult. My body is strong but having to remain and hold there was excrusiating. As instructed, before he teaches me the entire move I will practice the crouch and hold technique.

*For the next months each day he practices the crouch and hold technique 100 times a day*

willhoff · « **Reply #5 on:** November 09, 2009, 03:06:40 pm »

*Vrebel continues his private training and the stance that Fehriel taught him. During one of his many training sessions by himself he begins to get bored of holding the same old stance over and over and decides to practise the full move by himself. He completes is successfully but it is awkward at best*

I have done it! But I will need more help from Feh before I can really be effective. I look forward to our next lessons.

willhoff · « **Reply #6 on:** November 13, 2009, 10:46:56 pm »

Horray! I've purchased a house at last. Best thing is my new neigbor is my trainer, Fehriel. I met him outside his house today and he showed me his war room. Quite impressive, he had training dummies and all and lots of room.

It is here were he showed me how to complete the whirlwind attack move. I tried it like he said several times but failed. He told me I needed to meditate and think about the move in slow motion before I tried it again. Me and him sat and meditated together for what seemed like an hour, probably shorter.

After the meditation, I tried the move again and was successful! I have now learned the last of the battle techniques used by the weapon masters. Now Fehriel tells me we need to find my Ki and learn how to control it and funnel it into my weapon. This I look forward to.

willhoff · « **Reply #7 on:** November 14, 2009, 12:51:11 pm »

*Vrebel after seeing the power of the mind in helping him to master the whirlwind attack begins to practice his meditations. He finds a quite corner in his new home and sits down to meditate.

He mentally goes through his new found move over and over again in his head. He consentrates on using his greatsword while performing the move and how best to hold it and swing it.

He also goes over all the prior training he has has had with Fehriel in the past and the various moves he has mastered up to this point trying to incorporate them in various battel situations.

He practices his meditation more and more everyday as he sees the benefit he gets from it in battle and in his wellness of being. He has a new found strength and vigure and it comes from within.

As he pracices his meditations he has also found a deeper relationship with his greatsword. By meditating on how to use his sword in various situations he finds each day that he holds it that it becomes more a part of him and less a piece of metal.*

willhoff · « **Reply #8 on:** November 15, 2009, 04:49:42 pm »

We went out gettin' wood today, me, Fehriel, Abi, Tralek, and Darthi. After we had gotten most of the wood and killed some nasty druids Feh asked me how my whirlwind attack was comin'. I told him I had completed his assignment of 100 whirlwinds in one day. He seemed pleased and then asked me to do twenty whirldwinds in a row right there in front of everyone. I was already pooped from cuttin' wood and fightin' but I did all twenty with me greatsword "Vrebel's Valor* in hand. I was impressed how each time I do it it feels more natural. Sometimes I forget I'm even holdin' me sword.

He's tough but a good trainer.

willhoff · « **Reply #9 on:** November 20, 2009, 08:40:34 am »

Back again at Fehriel's house for another session. This time Fehriel told me how ta meditate and learn to call upon me inner energy otherwise known as Ki. We sat and meditated for a long time. I was told to focus inward on myself and my breathin'. He said that Ki is like a gently flowin' river in your body that can be harnessed by your will. Seemed to make sense ta me a bit.

After a while of meditating I started to feel all tingly inside as I consentrated on tryin' to tap into the energy he called Ki. He said the tingly feeling was a good thing and that it meant I was learning to recognize it.

He then instructed me on the proper fighting stance so that I can maintain my balance while fighting. The trick is to keep your right foot back a bit so you can rock back and forth and use your pelvis or a mid section to thrust with. This position alows ya to harness your Ki and focus it into your weapon as you rock forward and thrust out to attack your opponent.

He demonstrated this motion for me very slowly on one of his many dummies. He then told me to practice this very move two hundred times a day for a month. Sheesh he's gonna kill me before me training ever ends.

*For the next month Vrebel practices the exact same move 200 times a day. Sometimes his hands are so calaced and bloody at the end of the day that he sleeps with them rapped in cloth. The blood and sweat on his hands and the hilt of the sword almost form a glue that makes it hard to tell were to distinguish his hands from the greatswords hilt. His sword and his body gradually become more as one through this training and repitiion. Along with the daily meditations he begins to feel and use his inner found strength more and more in every swing. His greatsword rarely leaves his sight and he feels a need to keep it close at all times.*

willhoff · « **Reply #10 on:** November 20, 2009, 07:14:55 pm »

After some meditation I started back on that dummy. I got in the stance and tried focusin' my inner energy into me swing like Feh taught me. Everything was goin' fine till I felt this surge of power in me swing. Darn dummy got split in half. *shrugs and mummbles to himself* Must be defective er somethin', I really should go have a talk with that merchant in Lor.

Anyways, I got some more dummies and went to work on em'. I still havent got that feelin' I had before I smashed that one in half. Maybe I need to meditate on it some more.

*wanders off to his room and meditates*

willhoff · « **Reply #11 on:** November 22, 2009, 08:20:41 am »

*For the next couple months Vrebel continues to practice on the dummy attempting to focus on harnassing his ki. He meditates more and more each day as he finds it relaxes him. It is helping him to visualize his swings and his stance and his sword all as one motion like breathing. The meditations also help him to get in touch with his inner self and his Ki, allowing him to control its flow.*

*Vrebel lays down by the lake side after finishing a long early morning hunt. He looks at his face in the reflection of the lake and something comes to him*

Thats it I think. This inner strength or Ki, flows from within to my extremeties. It has allowed me to gain power I never knew I had. The sword, the greatsword has to be like my own body before I can focus this new found power into it. That is what I felt a while back when I cut that dummy in two.

*He rolls over on his back and meditates by the lake on this discovery*

willhoff · « **Reply #12 on:** November 23, 2009, 10:27:48 am »

I Met up with my half orgre friend and now teacher, Rottie, in the arena today. I was with him when we were enslaved by the slavers from Arnax. We were forced to fight arena style as gladiators. It was here were he met a fellow gladiator who trained him in the ways of a weapon master.

He may look dumb, but Rottie is wiser than an owl. I asked him to train me to be a weapon master and he agreed sorta. I told him I was already trainin' with Fehriel so he gave me some helpful insights.

He said ta think of it as yer arm got severed and some cleric came by and grew ya a new one. But this time it had a sword attached to it, or it was a sword or somethin' like that. He said your Chi as he calls it, flows from within and should flow to to the very tip of yer sword, just as if it were the tip of yer finger.

He dropped a coin and asked me to pick it up, but with me greatsword. See Rottie weilds a greatsword as well so he's just like me. I thought he was crazy, but after several failed attempts and after thinkin' on it I was able to flip the coin over to check its other side as well as pick it up. I then gave it to the nice hostess in the arena as a tip since she was so hospitable. She didnt like havin' ta take the coin from the tip of me sword but I told her it was part of me trainin' and she looked like she needed the coin.

He told me that I should do everything with my greatsword including eat with it. Use it like it was my arm and my hand all in one. He said once ya do this for a while it will become and feel just as natural to me as if it is part of my body.

Rottie also said I gotta think more in fightin' too and be smart. I gotta try and figure out what my opponenent is gonna do next so I can get their quicker and then use my ki, or Chi to feel my sword to his sweet spot and do maximum damage. He said its not all about power but placement and timing of my hits. Its about releasing my Ki at the perfect moment in battle through my sword and into my opponent.

*For the next couple of months Vrebel does most everything with his greatsword from eating with it all the way to picking things up. He sleeps with it in his bed and showers with it. After numerous cuts and nicks he starts to learn how to use it as his hand and it suttle ways. He has given up handing trues to merchants with it as some merchants reactions were less favorable than the hostess in the arena.*

willhoff · « **Reply #13 on:** November 23, 2009, 04:48:50 pm »

*Fehriel greats Vrebel at his house once more. They move into the dojo and they prepare themselves for their meditation. Once the hour has passed, they move toward the practice dummy*

"Alright Vrebel, show me what you have trained on."

"Pleased of what he has seen he nods*

"You have trained well, now it's time for the next practice. he next Motion is the slashing down. Now instead of a twisting motion of your hips, your back leg will serve to push you forward slightly, and you bring down your sword in a straight line. From the top of the head, in the middle of the eyes, ending to the groing."

*Fehriel shows him the motion in slow motion*

"now it's your turn"

*After looking at Vrebel do, and correcting the flaws in his motion Fehriel tells him to practice that motion 200 times a day, for the next month*

willhoff · « **Reply #14 on:** November 23, 2009, 04:55:29 pm »

*After the training session with Fehriel Vrebel sets about for the next month to practise 200 times a day the new slash down method he learned.*

Wow this is gonna be really fun. I get to feel the top of my opponents head with my hand, um I mean my sword, and cut him strait down, like I'm openin' up a crate er somethin'.

*Before each practise he meditates on his moves and all he has learned bring himself and his sword closer and getting more and more in touch with his Ki*

willhoff · « **Reply #15 on:** November 24, 2009, 02:46:24 pm »

Another Valuable session with Fehriel. As usaul we started the day with a good long meditation at his home. He then made me hit the dummy a bit an show him what I had learned and all. He seemed pleased with my progress and corrected some minor stuff here and there.

He then told me to break down the initial move he showed me, which has three parts: The stance, the pelvic loading and twist, and the final forward thrust. I explained all three parts to his satisfaction.

After that he demonstrated a brand new move. Using the sames stance as before he swung his blade in a sweeping crossways motoin at the dummies kneck just kniking it with the tip of his two bladed sword.

He explained that it is an effective move fer being able ta carry yer Ki to other opponents and not usin' it up on one guy. I attempted the move as instructed and he seemed pleased enough to call it a day. As usual he told me to practice it 200times for the next day.

*After this Vrebel goes and meditates on what he has learned. He then proceeds to practise this new move as instructed two hundred times on the following day*

willhoff · « **Reply #16 on:** November 24, 2009, 03:04:49 pm »

After an excrusiatin' and tirin' trip down and into the rift and back Fehriel said it was the perfect time to meet in the Arena for another lesson. This one seemed special as we were going back to the arena instead of at his home.

He was more quite than usual and we meditated at far opposites of the arena square both of us in our own solitary castles.

The time came when we both sat up. What happened next was quick and I knew what he wanted. He motioned me to go and I summoned my inner Ki and rushed him with my greatsword in what would be our final battle. He rushed too and we met in the middle of the arena our swords clashing.

I tried to knock him down and him me but we were both too disciplined to go down. Everything I had been taught by Feh seemed to come instinctively. My stance, my pelvic swing, my sword seemed like it was had disappeared and become an extension of my self. I felt my inner Ki rushing through my body and I guided it into my sword at just the right moments. I delt blow after blow to Fehriel and he tried to counter doing his best.

In the end it wasnt about who won or who lost this time. I had won, as I had become a master. After the battle Fehriel bowed and quitely called me master. My face turned red with emotion but I controlled my self. I had achieved what I had worked so long and hard for. I felt like huggin' him, almost, but we were both tired and worn out.

I gotta say its an honor to have achieved this level of fightin' and I owe it all ta Feh and to Rottie's wise words. I look forward to what Feh said is just the beggining of my journey as a weapon master. He will stay near and continue to guide me on me path which I am greatful fer. A new day has dawned fer this old warrior and I walk lighter from hence forth.

willhoff · « **Reply #17 on:** November 24, 2009, 04:11:17 pm »

*Fehriel looks at his journal for a while before starting to write*

Here I go again, writing in you, journal of my dreaded past, reminder of broken dreams, pain and frustration.

I write in you not to give news or joy or future plans, but to write down the fact that I have passed on the knowledge of the weapon masters, as Kyle has done to me.

Vrebel was a fine candidate to start with. A good fighter, a good friend. Good heart to go with it. And when he showed interest in some of the things I could do I knew that sooner or later he would come and ask me. And in such he did.

So over the last year, I have been training him. First training his mind, to discover his ki. Then showing him different technics. He trained hard and long for it, and gave me a beating to remember for. I have to remember not to teach people in the future that could send me to my grave in the last test.

I am pleased though to call him a brother, a master.

willhoff · « **Reply #18 on:** December 04, 2009, 06:31:57 pm »

Another day in my walk. I have kept up my meditations as they are a part of my self now. I think that these meditations are really what has changed my way of thinking, its incredible. My ki flows freely into my sword these days and with each day I can feel it grow. My control over this inner energy is getting better the more I practise and meditate.

Feeling tired now, time to rest.

*Vrebel falls to sleep at the base of a hickory tree not too far from castle mask, his greatsword and journal nestled in his lap*

willhoff · « **Reply #19 on:** February 14, 2010, 10:47:02 pm »

Another break through and this time a big one! I woke up one morning and like usual began the day with meditation. After the meditation I started my daily workout and hitting the dummy with my sword. I shattered it in half just like I did way back when. This time I knew it wasnt the dummy. It was my ki, I have found a way to focus my energy into the sword that gives it incredible power. If I swing through properly and his the dummy with just the right timing I can deal out damage I have only experienced once in my life. But now I have mastered the technique and can reproduce it in battle.

I have also watched Tralek in battle and am very intrigued at his new fighting style. He uses stealth and angles to hit the enemy in battle. These angles allow him to strike at the enemies "sweet spot" as he calls it.

I have told Tralek now its time for him to teach me some things *chuckles*. Funny a mage teacnin' me how ta fight. Anyways, he said he'd show me some time.

*Vrebel continues with his day to day training in furtherance of his mastery of his greatsword. He continues to watch Tralek in battle studying his moves and also studying his new found mastery at picking and disabling traps*