\\\\looks like the forum crash ate at least 1 post from this CD thread. :(
Dot stops by Vrebles place to brag up a recent trip she took to The Great Forest with one of the Stargazers. How just the two of them defeated many of the giants in the forest. She asks him when he is going to teach her more moves, skills etc.
He listens intently to her story, chiming in every so often to ask her about various techniques, swings and stances she may or may not have incorporated into her battles. He assures her that he has more moves to intruct her on but that she is close, especially after hearing her story.
*Vrebel leads Dot through his foyer back to his war and training room in the back of his home. There is the familiar pratice dummy shredded and worn from Dot's training sessons. He unsheathes his greatsword, holds his stance and readies his blade.*
"Alright, new move pay attention, I call it the executioner."
*He swings his blade from a shoulder rest postion in a horizontal axis toward the throat of the dummy just barely knicking the juggular area with the tip of his blade. He quickly returns to a fighting stance and performs the same move but this time with a back hand swing connecting the dummy in the same vital area.*
"Its an advanced move but I think your ready. Keep your stance, more weight to your back foot. Start the move in your legs, twisting your hips counterclockwise, slightly shifting your weight to your front leg and fishing by swinging with your arm across toward the throat of the dummy. The idea is to sever the juggular vein in the front of the throat and incapacitatin' your opponent. You dont want to cut too deep as it will affect the return tragectory of your blade. Your aiming above the breast plate and below the helmet of your opponent at an area that is very small but usually unprotected by most armor."
*He waltzes over to another area of the training room that has four practice dummies facing each other in a circle. He positions himself in the middle and performs a whirlwind attack using the "executioner" move and slices each of the four dummies juggular areas.*
"When you can do that you've mastered the move."
*He goes back to Dot and gets behind her and tells her to get her bastard sword out and he walks her through the moves in slow motion*
"Main thing is to be quick and accurate and make sure you return your blade back to position in case you miss. There two types of speed, physical speed which you cant do much about and efficient speed which is the combination of physical speed, technique and timin'. Keep up your trainin' and you can improve on yer technique and timin'."
*He motions to the dummy and gives Dot some space*
"Lets see what you got"
Dot watches the instructions closely... and when prompted to she moves into positon at the target dummy. The ground work already instilled from Vrebel is evident immediatly. Her stance is perfect her swing motion is every bit as perfect... again evidence of all the training she has gone thru thus far. Her slow motion walk thru of the forhand and back hand swing are good. So she moves in on the dummy and attempts to replicate the strike.
Her distance or "touch" if you will is off. With one swipe she barely misses, another is right on and the next she goes too deep affecting her follow thru. Mildy frustrated she curses but does not stop trying. She continues to swing back and forth across the dummies neck. Slowly she gets the range down. Dot never really used a strike of this manor before. She typically would just thrust her blade deep into her target, slash across it not trying for such precision, or simply try and muscle her way thru armor, muscle, bone... whatever was in the way of her blade. However since her training started with Vrebel he has taught her how to use "touch" and not just pure arm strength. Her work prior to this strike is paying off... she seems to be getting "dialed in" now. Had Vrebel started her training with this move... it may have been a complete disaster.
*she awaits Vrebels instruction or critique of her strikes before continuing on to the whirlwind move, or to keep working at the single target*
*Vrebel watches Dot stoically as she attempts the highly advanced move. He's impressed with her stance and swing but does his best not to show it*
"Not bad. I want you to stop tryin' so hard to hit the juggular. Concentrate on your opponent and feel your way through the move. Let your senses take over and trust your instincts. Your body and mind through yer trainin' know the distance you should be to your opponent and placement of the blade. Take a deep breath and try again but this time remember to focus on the tip of the blade as an extension of your finger. Take the shot and focus on the overall presense of your opponent and not his neck. The rest will follow."
*He takes a seat motioning for her to continue as he unloads some sand bags from a wooden box*
Dot listens to Vrebels advice, wiping sweat from her brow. She nods after hearing her instructors advice. Taking a deep breath she stands ready. She recalls for a moment her early training where Vrebel told Dot she had to loot her kills with her blade. How in doing so she had to make her sword work as an extension of her hand. She stands ready and makes a swipe power generated from her hips up thru the torsion of her body the tip of her sword as it swipes across the target dummies neck with a "Thwick" sound. The blade tip slicing less than an inch into the neck leaving her follow thru momentum un affected. The swing arc comes to and end and she turns her hips back generating force up her torso and a return swipe is generated perfectly on level...... "Thwick" the tip perfectly slices the neck again.
"Oh hells yeah!" Dot exclaims loudly but doesnt break her stance and generates another strike and backhand strike. ... *Thwick, Thwick*
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*Vrebel walks over to Dot and offers her a cheers by clicking his greatsword to her bastard sword. He walks over and briefly studies the dummy's neck were she struck her blows nodding in approval. All the little things that Vrebel has made her do since the start had come full circle and she had finally realized her blade as a true extension of her own body.*
"I knew you had it in you Dot. You truly have become one with your blade. Keep that thought always and learn to harness it without thinking. I've got a technique to help with that later but for now we have another matter."
*He indicates toward the four dummies facing each other in a circle. Each one is affectionately named: Molvaren, Cyn Chen, Milara and Rael. He has placed sand bags under the base of the dummies to alter their height.*
"Enter the circle of Hell. Its one thing to be able to perform that move on one opponent but a Weapon Master has a higher calling. With your blade as an extension of yourself and your battle awareness you are unlimited in the number of opponents you can effectively engage. I've placed sandbags under some of the dummies to simulate varying height of your opponents. You've mastered the stance, your technique is right on, and your timin' is perfected. As I have always taught you, be mindful of your surroundings, anicipate the battle in advance and let your blade become you. Do that and everyone around you will seem to be moving in slow motion."
*He pats her affectionately on the shoulder and guestures her toward the circle of hell with a grin*
Dot listens to Vrebels instructions and nods firmly when he finishes
"Let's do this" She says in a firm voice as she twirls her sword.
Dot enters "The Circle of Hell" she finds the center point of the 4 targets and then faces each taking several moments to study the height of each ones neck area or "sweet spot". She takes the proper stance and goes thru a few slow motion moves trying to make a fluid height adjustment between each target. She pauses as she touches each ones neck as if to capturing an image in her mind. After visualizing the entire sequence in her mind she pauses before making the attempt.
Dot exhales and makes her first whirlwind strike attemp. Her first strike is dead on but she looses the correct line before making it to the second target and her stike misses the neck. She takes notice of how far off she was and goes back to her initial stance and tries again. ..... Better but she still hasnt got the height change just right. This goes on for quite some time until she is scoring correct hits on both the first and second target... as she transitions to the third... once again she is slightly off (thought less than she was off from target 1 to target 2). She wipes sweat away and goes right back to her first stance. This continues over several more attempts before she finally is landing proper strikes on the 3rd target. Finally she is scoring clean "sweet spot" hits on the first 3 and she is not off by much on the 4th. She keeps this up for some time until she starts getting dialed in on all 4. Whenever Dot isnt practicing she is thinking about practicing... she finds herself thinking about how to pull off the move nearly all hours of the day. Visualizing what she needs to do in her mind over and over. With each attempt she gets more accurate, the speed of her rotation from target to target increases. Before long the spinning motion in this specific "sweet spot" or neck strike looks the same speed wise as the normal whirlwind strike she used in the past.
(I would guess this has taken her several hours or longer... quite possibly multiple sessions (multible days) of trying before acomplishing this)
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*The week long sessions are grueling and long and difficult for this final move. Vrebel knew it would take time and it was more of a test of determination and dedication than anything else. Dot has devoted every bit of her self to these lessons and its clear she has the physical and mental strength to see it through. Early in the morning her session starts a bit differently at Vrebel's home. As she enters the training room she sees him sitting on a small carpet with candles lit at each corner. His back is to her with his blade laying to his side."
"Glad you could make it." *He says without looking over his shoulder*
"Come take a seat across from me. You've had a hard week and I think its time we introduced you to the final phase."
*Dot dutifully takes her seat across from Vrebel on the carpet with a questioning look on her face. Vrebel has his eyes closed but nods as she sits*
"Don't get any ideas. This is part of yer trainin'. I see yer strugglin' a bit and thats natural. When I was an apprentice I had the same struggles as you maybe more. My master Fehriel taught me how to control my thoughts, my breathing, my blade through this method. Its a form of meditation. I know its seems silly at first but trust me it works and it will become an intigral part of your life from henseforth."
*He intructs her to place her blade to her side and close her eyes, breath slowly and remain as quite as she can. After a long while he speaks with his eyes still shut.*
"Now that were all calm I want you to keep your eyes closed and visualize your blade. I then want you to see it as if it was an extension of your arm. Your moving with your blade, its a part of you, your in your stance, you swing effortlessly and strike your opponents with ease were ever you want to. I want you to walk through the executioner move as if you were really performing it and in this vision you succeed every time."
*He opens his eyes and looks to her*
"Take your time and mentally walk yourself through this move and the things I talked about. You'll know when your ready and I'll be here."
*He stays sitting with her as long as it takes*
Dot walks into the room and is about to sit while smirking at Vrebels comment about not getting ideas... she wanted to blurt out how'd ya know? But she did not.
She sits down in a position similar to his, lays her blade down at her side as he commands. She sits queitly and gently closes her eyes. In her mind several minutes seem to have passed (really only a minute or two at most have passed) and she sees nothing of the visions Vrebel speaks of and she lets out a soft impatient huff of air. She calms her self again but hears something creek in the corner and can't help open one eye and peek.... again she huffs quietly, but goes back to sitting still. After several moments she finally calms down. The room was fairly dark with only a few candles lit in each corner... yet with her eyes closed she can sense a new source of light in the room. Eyes gently closed in her mind she looks down to her side.... her sword is giving off a reddish light (yes it does that anyway but it isnt something that gives off enouth light to see with your eyes closed). She imagines herself taking up her sword and her surroundings change. She is in a back alley of Vehl. In front of her is a man towering over a small child. The child is familiar to Dot... its one of Vehls "street rats". The man is grasping the child by the arm and taking something from them. The man manages to take a loaf of bread from the child, then proceeds to kick the child down into the gutter of the back alley.
HEY!!!! You Son of a Lich!!! (Dot may or may not have yelled out for real at her vision)
The man turns to look at her. He looks her up and down and snarls at her and spits at her feet. In a flash Dot's blade is un sheathed and in her hand. *THWICK* She brings the sweeping "executioner" strike across his neck. For a split second nothing, then his neck errupts in a spray of blood.
Vreble sees Dot flich backwards and reach for her face making a wipeing motion as if she was wiping some unseen liquid from her face
*Vrebel grins as she wipes her face during her meditation*
"Remember keep your thoughts centered to your training and being your bastard sword. Yer gettin distracted by outside influences which is normal at first. Tell yerself that you wont be distracted by outside influences. Imagine your self slicing through the opponents in the circle of hell with ease. You are one with your blade and your blade is one with you. I want you to walk yourself through every step, includin' your stance, your hip twist, your posture, the enemies distance and height, your swing and your return. Invision everything as it was happening in real time. And repeat it over and over in your mind. Do this until it becomes clear to you. Then when your ready go to the circle of hell and execute the move that I know you can do."
*He closes his eyes and then opens them again briefly*
"Oh, by the way. I've adjusted the sandbags on the dummies just so you know."
*He closes his eyes with a smirk and sits until she's ready*
Dot sticks with the meditation program... she is too stuborn to quit on it now. She meditates each day after her training. It seems to be working for her but it's taking a while. A week or so passes and she shows some improvement in her speed & accuracy is this recent excersize. Just as she gets dialed in Vrebel (unknown to her) adjusts the height of a random number of the 4 target dummies. Each time he does this it shows she still isnt visualizing it as much as she is learning from first attempt and adjusting. Another week or so of this goes by and slowly she is starting to get it. Vrebel is adjusting the dummies height more drasticaly from one to the next. Yet she is now scoring good strikes to the neck area on them still. She is less distracted durring meditation.. even when Vrebel sets up things to distract her like flicking pebbles across the room, or people "just happening" to come visit durring her meditation time (when no one visits any time but then... she kinda figures its on purpose). Her movement is less herky jerky in her whirlwind... it becomes more fluid-like day after day. She really does look like she is grasping the meditation..... finally.
//The concept of meditation has been the most foreign thing Vrebel has taught her. Dot has pretty much "muscled" her way thru life to this point. So sitting down, visualizing & thinking things thru before hand has probably taken her longer to learn than perfecting any of the strikes Vrebel has taught her.
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*She is a stubourn one but she persists in her training and the mental walkthroughs or meditations. The first week was the hardest, Dot didnt take as easily to the meditations as she did the physical training. In the end it payed off, Dot confidentally walked into the "Circle of Hell" and took her stance. The look on her face was more focused yet relaxed than Vrebel had ever seen. She moved with grace stricking the first dummie, Lord Rael, across the throat. The arc of her blade moved effortlessly to the next opponent, Cyn Chen, again clean through a perfect cut. Her body contorted and spinned upward finishing off the last two dummies, Milara and Molvaren. Like a cat she landed back on her feet ready for anything. She had done what looked like the impossible only a few weeks prior.*
*Vrebel approached her and gave her a hug and congratulated her, both of them staring at the circle for a moment*
"Congratualations Dot. I think its time we head to the arena in Vehl. I dont want you to hold anything back on me. After I whip your arse I have an expedition I want us to go on to see if your ready. I think the orc fortress near Dalanthar will be a good test."
Even after seeing Vrebel cleave great forest giants in two as if they were made of paper she doesn't back down from the arena challenge.
Bring it on! And I made somethin' special for ya too...*cold chuckle* a new toy for you to use in our duel.
Verbel walks into the Vehl arena.. stomping some swamp goo off his boots at the entrance. Dot is standing, arms folded at the entrance to the ring. She grins watching Vrebel approach. The two exchange pleasantries.
"So I got a present for ya... for our dual." Dot says with a coy grin as she begins to unwrap a great sword. Once the great sword is fully unwrapped Vrebel can see its not only made of wood... but it is broken off and about half the lenght it should be. It is easily the worst looking excuse for a sword he has ever seen. By all rights it should be tossed into the fireplace. He looks it over and chuckles... Dot chuckles back and says... Yeah... this is the only way I figure I stand a chance in a dual... is if you swing this thing. *on the crossguard is inscribed. "Master Vs' New Toy". Vrebel takes it and the two head into the arena. The agree on some basic ground rules... No buffs, no healing till a winner is decided... Dot readies herself with some warmups and Vrebel counts down to three... Dot rushes in.. and in 2 quick strokes from this sorry excuse of a wooden practice sword Dot is on the ground out cold. She comes to and curses... Did I even hit ya? Vrebel smirks.... I think you landed on my foot so technically yes.... "Son off a Lich!" Dot blerts loudly. Dot rests up and they go at it for several more bouts... but Vrebel pulls out a pair of Bastard Swords... yeah.. he is Dual weilding Bastard swords... How Frikin cool is that!? (Dot thinks but doesnt say it aloud)
The first bout Vrebel easily knocks Dot on her backside.... and several times after that. Dot never quits though... Her stance is defensive (Expertise). And she actually gets a few hits in on Vrebel. (the sheer level difference makes the fights no contest but they RP it all as good fights anyway).
Several fights later they stop and discuss Dots current Sword "The Final Say" Is what Dot has named it. It's made of Adamantium and Enhanced with the highest Cold and Silver coatings. Dot mentions having saved up a good amount of Mithril in the hopes of getting a Mithril Bastard Sword made at the completion of her Weapon Master training. Vrebel agrees to make the blade and the two head to Hempsted smithy to make it. Dot watches over Vrebels every move... She too is a Weaponsmith... though she is just now starting to make Adamantium blades. She takes mental notes of the special techniques required for working with Mithril. Vrebel hammers away and produces a true piece of artwork. A georgeous Mithril Bastard Sword.... he hands it over to Dot and she spends minutes looking it over with out even saying a word. She is lost in the craftsmanship of this insturment presented to her. She makes a few simple swings with it... and seems quite pleased with it.
Now to test it out! She says in a bold voice. You got a good place in mind dontcha?
To be continued.....