The way of the warrior

[Darkus Tornado]

The way of the warrior

Written by Shamur Reatur

*Shamur takes his favoured place just near city of Hurm....And takes his Writing gear out of the pack*

*He sits on a rock by the pond where the waterfall makes it´s evercontinuing sound of nature´s power*

*he starts to chew the end of the pen trying figure out where to start* "muttering something about all the things he should remember while writing his story...*

First i remember...I was in some little town called Hlint...A remercable town that is..Full of travellers,exploreres,heroes and just wanderers...Well i didnt know anybody and my stomach was crowling really bad and of course i did have no money..Great...

The town of Hlnt is remercable cos there was so much work for broke people like myself...

The first job i had  was some tax collector wanted her papers back...She did tell that those were stolen by some rat-thing and it has a hideout in sewers... well i though this is easy task.. just go down the sewers and take some papers back...
Oh well,, it wasent that easy..Those rats were fearless cratures with big teeth..So i find it was better for me to get back up and try to find a different way of dealing this problem...

So i met couple of young adventurers..A mighty warrior named Sanu..Oh he was some sort of barbarian from some tribe...well he proved to be a very powerful warrior and the other was Naugur..a Druid of some kind..First i thought of him that he was somesort of treehugger i guess,,,A stange fellow with some magic from the nature and always speaking with animals...Yeah as stange as it sounds he did speak with animals and animals did understand him...Very stange indeed....

Well anyhow with assistance of both Sanu and Naugur i... Well we did manage to retrieve the missing tax papers to Florah..Oh was she happy... Then Naugur said that Talon, the towns quartermaster was hiring young adventures to retrieves some goblin ears to him for a price...Sounded like a job for us...It took some time to get the ears but finally we did get enough ears to Talon...

I did travel much with Sanu and Naugur those days and we became friends..Very good friends i could say...

[Darkus Tornado]

Me ,sanu and Naugur were in hlint and we met this dwarf named Ronus and he had some trobles with goblins that trobled his wagon routes to west. He offered us a fair price of retrieving the goblin leaders head to him... So we were very excited about going after the goblins.. We started to travel to west and very soon Naugur spotted a cave entrance very near were we killed our first goblins... I could feel my hands sweating when we entered the cave. Cave wall´s and sealing shined some odd red light and in no time we encountered first patrol of goblins..The fight didnt last very long, cos me and Sanu worked very well together in battlefield and of course help with Naugur it was even easier. We pressed forward and discovered soon that the cave was full of salt...*smiles slightly* In that time i didnt have a clue about how much i would use that salt in my craftings. *laughs a bit*

Well anyhow we did find a stairs leading deeper into that cave. I do remember Naugur said that it would be wise to rest before going deeper, so we tried to find a safe spot for us or if i remember correct it was Naugur who needed the rest, so me and Sanu
standed on guard while Naugur rested...

After the rest, we pressed onward, deeper into the cave and there we were ambushed by group of goblins. That was tough battle, i did go face to face with goblin who did wield an axe. It was very evenly battle, but i was better with my fighting skills than a stupid goblin so i did finally beat it to ground and at that time Sanu and Naugur had slayed the other goblins...It was a good battle i must admit, and i was surely in need some Naugur´s healing´s...

We found some mineral´s as we continued our searches for the leader of this goblin tribe. And after walking those narrow corridors Sanu spotted a large group of goblins just ahead of us. There was at least 7 goblins, some armed with bows and others did use some sort of blade and of coure there was one with an axe, the toughest one. We did go around a corner to make a battle strategy. Me and Sanu charged against the axe wielder while Naugur called his companion a big wolf that was * tries to remember but cant remember the wolves name* to aid us... So me And Sanu charged against the axe goblin while Naugur made his wolf to attack the others. Axe wielder didnt have any chance against us both, so very quickly we could assist Naugur and his wolf againts the rest of goblins...Fight was over quickly and our wounds were minimal...Good job we congratulated our selfes and morale was very good at that point.....

We continued our journey deeper into the cave and an another ambush took place just as we reached to the third floor. Me and Sanu get hitted by many arrows but our courage did push us forward againts the ambushers. We were heavily injured as we entered melee with those goblins, but we were so lucky that Naugur did have that pet...Or should i say a companion like that Wolf.
The wolf was very fearless and it charged against the goblins while Naugur concentrated to heal us.. We did manage to pull through from that tight situation. Oh was we in need of rest....

After the rest we noticed that there was many copper veins...

We determinedly continued our mission. we encountered some goblins but those were no real thread to us... We slayed those quickly...

But after one doorway, we did saw the leader and many goblins with him. we slowly backed down a bit and started to think strategy how to kill the chief.. Strategy was this*smiles a bit* Me,Sanu and Naugurs wolf gona go against the leader while Naugur
tries to keep the rest busy. **shakes his head a bit and still smiles*

So we charged against the leader, well only me and Sanu cos Naugurs wolf wanted to eat one goblin for breakfast and never did attack the leader.... We killed the leader quite easily but Naugur and wolf looked like they could use a help, so we charged against the rest of goblins. That fight did last some time but after the sound of battle ended there we were all covered in blood, but everybody was still standing... Sanu did chop off the leaders head and the return to surfase could start...Well we first needed some rest....

The way back to sunlight was very easy, we did go against some goblins but it was like their backbone was cracked before the battle even begans...

We delivered the head to Ronus and he gave us some nice boots to wear for a price retrieving the head *looks at his backpack and
saw the same boots and smiles a bit*




 







 

[Darkus Tornado]

There was lot´s of work to do for adventurers like us. Ragrian the bard had lost a family naclace and offered a reward retrieving it. Of course we were up for the task and succesfully returned the neclace to it´s rightful owner.

Ereg the grave digger wanted us to descent to the crypts and find some strange essence to him. A cleric would have been useful in there. Lot´s of skeletons and other living things crawl down there. But we did find the essence for Erag.

And in crafthouse we found that Johan needed some pelt´s to be delivered to him. Me and Sanu were fine by that idea, but Naugur really didnt like the idea we going to hunt animals just becouse some talorer needed the pelts. But somehow me and sanu did manage to persuade him to come with us. it was something like Me and Sanu would do all the hunting and skinning and then we put Naugurs pelt in large sack and handed to him, so he didnt know excactly what was inside. I think he was just fooling himself*laughs for a moment just remembering the whole thing*

And in that same crafthall was some postman in need of help, delivering couple of posts all over the mistone was not so big deal to us and we managed to deliver all posts in just three days. Is that fast or what....

[Darkus Tornado]

Day´s have gone by, i have kind settlet to Hlint a it´s inmate´s. I have met some new faces and made some new frinds too.
Sometimes Hlint is so busy, like it was a big city and you cant even hear your own thoughts. And sometimes it´s so quiet and pieceful...

At that time i started to train only my battleskills with rapier. I throw all my good copper dart´s away and concetrated only to
fight rightway with rapier.

First i started to practice my movement in middle of battle. To be able to move so that my enemy´s wont be able to hit me so easily. I found out that big muscles got nothing to do with this way of fighting.
I bild a obstaclecourse near lake palden and beging my practices. First without my chainshirt and gear. it was still very hard.
But i kept training as much as i could. And when i was done by the day´s trining i took nice little swim in the lake and afterthat i made a fire where i cooked my meal and warmed my wet underwear´s.

So that how i began my training.

[Darkus Tornado]

At some point i came interested of tailoring. Not much first, Was just gonna try to make some bandages and that way maybe save some money..*Laughs a bit..Yeah right*. I started to practice tailoring with cotton first, trying to sew some clothes together and slowly moved to produce some animal hides. Bit by bit i became better tailorer, but was not able to make bandages yet...

My training is slowly starting to show some progress.. I can easily manage the obsticlecource without my chainshirt on, But still need to practice with my armour on and then with my gear on top of it...Hard work.

But the best way to improve my skills is defenedly in battlefield. There you really notice did you do good or didnt you. I´t always good to practice, but in battlefield you mostly do everything by reflex. So experience is all what madders...

I haven´t seen Sanu or Naugur lately, wander if they are left for some crazy adventure without me....

[Darkus Tornado]

Havent seen Naugur or Sanu at all... Wander where they have left..Or is something happened to them...Maybe they have returned to their tribes....Questions with no answers....

I have travelled alone now for a while..Seem to be fine by me. Dont have to watch anybodys back and can fully concentrade to my fights. The improvment of my skills to wear my rapier has shown some effect now. The way that i use it is very different than most of warriors..It´s not all about strenght and force of blow, but to be able to strike swiftly and with accuracy so that your enemys dont have the time to hit back... But still there is much for me to learn about wielding my rapier the way how it´s done by masters, like Harmalin, my teacher....

My tailoring skill really start show much improvement. Maybe i should start practicing making those always needed bandages now...

That obstaclecourse in lake palden is not much a challenge for me anymore, and i have notice the improvement on my movement during the battle. The ogres in Haven mines are really good practice to me..Those narrow corridors gives me the upperhand against them... Ogres hit hard so it´s very important that i keep my movement all the time. If i stop i feel it in my bones when a greatsword crushes my ribs... I still prefer fighting one ogre at the time, much safer that way....

[Darkus Tornado]

These past weeks...Or months i have been practicing harder than ever my fighting tecniques with rapier, but still something is missing. I feel like i could be ready to take the next step towards my goal, but something is definetely missing... What it is? I do not know... It´s not that i havent been practicing hard enough...I just dont feel like me and my rapier have any connection between us...It´s not reqular weapon in my hands but it´s not special one either...I wish Harmalin could be here to teach or tell me what it is that i´m missing...I feel empty inside, but must continue towards my goal... Practice...Never give up!!!

[Darkus Tornado]

My tailor skills seems to improve in leaps in weeks. I just remember starting to practice with cotton making simple cloths out of it, and now i´m making leather armors and weapons with ease. Those cougar bags are my favourites, cos i have use for those. Can carry more weight in pounds just putting everything in those bags. And i have started to make healing bandages now...But i think it´s waste of time.... It takes lot´s of time to make large amount of bandages and those do not cost that much in temples,
so i have little by little give up the whole idea producting bandages myself...

My progress in training has not proceed the way i wanted... I have made progress in other areas of combat and fighting skills, but that connection between me and my rapier is still missing..Actually it´s totally a mystery to me. As i held the blade in my hand. measuring it´s weight and balance... It obeys my hands every move, thrusting and cutting the enemys flesh and innerorgans the way i want, but still the total respect and devotion is not there between us...Frustrating...

[Darkus Tornado]

As i sat in a rock and gazeing into waterfall near Hurm, wondering what more i need to do or learn about coming a master of blade. I hold my rapier made from iron in my right arm. I twist my arm to see both sides of blade i realize that i dont know anything about this blade what i called my own... Who has made it??? What materials he or she has used besides iron???  
*i shaked my head* I do not know...

That day i desided to make my own rapier from iron... A rapier that fits perfectly to my arm..that it becomes a extension to my arm, so that it is one with me and i´m one with it...

[Darkus Tornado]

I began to practice making blades, first out of copper what i mined near Hlint at cave that is invested by goblins. First i only made daggers out of those copper nuggets. I quickly moved to use bronze instead of copper. Bronze can be made mixing both copper and tin nuggets and try to smelt those together. Not so easy what it sounds at first... After making three dozens of bronze daggers and dozen of bronze rapiers i desided to start using iron as material... Mining iron got two beneficts. First i get that
good battle practice, fighting against those ogres that stands on my way to get iron nuggets. And second is that i get the iron nuggets  what are very good material to practice weaponcrafting... So i started to bring up iron nuggets from Haven mines. I must have brought about two hundred nuggets in just one week... But working with iron is not that easy specially making rapiers is very challenging... Well at least to me it is...

[Darkus Tornado]

After making succesfully four dozens iron daggers i think it´s time to make the next step and start practicing making iron rapiers. Rapiers requires more ingots than daggers so i hope Haven doesnt run out of iron... First the mold must for the blade must be exceptinal. If the basics are not right i couldn´t ever make the blade that i need and wanted...


Now after a month of practicing i have succesfully made a two dozen iron rapiers, but of course these are just practice pieces...

Mining iron has been the breakthrough at my studies to become a master of blade i think... I have had the much required battle practices with fighting against those ogres who guard the iron veins. And of course with iron that i succesfully have mined gave me the opportunity to practice making blades from it and that how i have learned more about what kind of blade i so much need.

Now i can make the right blade for me. It needs to be extencion to my right arm. The balance between the blade and hilt must be right. The hilt must made right that it fits my hand the way that it becomes part of my right arm...


After carefully preparations and with right materials and determination i finally made the rapier just right for me. I know every inch of this blade in and out, hilt is perfectly balanced for my arm, and blade is so sharp that i could shave my beard with it. It is truely a master piece and i have made it.