[Aratar Mori'ithil]

Timestamp: 42nd brightening in the Month of Kalendryas, Winter
Era I of the Celestine Mandate, Era XV Post Fractum


Johannes Fritz was one of the most experienced and battle-hardened among the Blades of Carmelya. He was not exactly the highest ranked among them, but he was very respected among the members of the Blades. A large, blond Vagaran who's skill is matched only by his gruffness, he was a Bladesman of almost unparalleled skill among his unit. Thus, when Aratar had heard rumors that he was the man to see on dual longknives after over a brightening of investigation on the Training Fields, Ar sighed, but did what he knew he should.

"Excuse me?" Fritz responded, mildly incredulous.

"I'd like you to train me," Ar replied, smiling pleasantly. He had his mesh armor on today--he'd need to learn how to fight with it on, so why not--and his longknives on his hips. His violet eyes were congenial, and hoping that the man's gruffness didn't mean he had a closed mind so much as was just frustrating to deal with.

Fritz laughed at the request, but before he could say anything, Ar grinned. The military had agreed to it, after all.

"I'm working for the War Ministry...they'll gladly compensate you for your time." This made the warrior think a moment, and he nodded slowly, stroking his chin in thought.

"How much?" Ar shrugged.

"Since it's only basic I imagine it shouldn't take long or too much intricate instruction. I'd say a hundred crowns." He saw no reason to be stingy with the government's money. This clearly peaked the Vagaran's interest, because he had a strange twinkle in his eye.

"Alright, you've won my attention. What with dual longknives were you hoping to focus on?" Ar grinned and shrugged.

"Speed and flexability. I need to be able to attack quick, block quick, dodge quick, and counter quick and I need to be able to do it in pretty much any direction." Fritz chuckled and nodded.

"That'll take a lot of doing. I'm willing to help, of course. You won't learn much of that type of specialty at the basic level of combat, but if you live long enough, and if this war lasts long enough, you might see enough action to become skilled enough to learn such things." Ar nodded. "Come back in a candlemark to this field and we'll get started right away." Aratar nodded and departed, excited at the prospect of learning the vital art of not dying nor cutting himself.



When Ar returned at the requested time, he found four dulled training blades sticking into the ground. They were, probably not overly shockingly, the length of longknives. Fritz bent down and pulled two from the loose silt and tossed them to him.

The first thing you need to know is the basic knifefighting stance. Stance and footwork is very important in weapons skills, but they are especially vital with knife combat. These weapons don't have the staying power or the distance that most weapons see, so the best way to make up for that is with their versatility and their speed, which can only be maximized by good stances and footwork. The weapons themselves don't have much leverage, so you have to create it with momentum and spin to get a good cut in.

"Have a go at this, you might have seen other fighters using this and it's primarily used because of the increased balance you get because your center of gravity is lower to the ground. Let me show you."

Stepping forwards with his left leg, his forward leg was bent at the kneecap so that if he looked straight down, all he could see was the tips of his toes. This right leg which was behind him was perfectly straight and the foot was turned at a slight angle because otherwise it would be a little bit painful to maintain. In between his legs was a gap about 30cm apart. Aratar watched closely, and it took him a few seconds but eventually he got the stance down. The Vagaran chuckled softly.

"Took longer then I'd hoped." He reached out and took the longknives back. "Seems we're not ready for these yet. I want you to be able to fall into that stance naturally and without thought. All brightening I want you to simply practice that. Practice going from regular walking into knife combat stance. Go about your business, and then repeatedly throughout it just fall into the stance. It'll take time at first, but I want it to come as naturally to you as breathing. We'll pick back up at dawn on the morrow, and I want to see you able to fall into that stance in an instant, intimately comfortable with it." Ar nodded, grinning.

"Sure thing." Fritz left, leaving Aratar standing there. For several candlemarks he practiced right there on the field, simply going from a regular stance into the combat stance. Once he felt comfortable enough to be able to do it without it taking longer then several seconds, he left and went about his brightening. Whenever he went to get food, when he went for a walk, when he explored Taralon, when he spoke to various members of the legion, it didn't matter. He received odd looks, but he didn't particularly care. He was improving, and that was what was important to him.

By the time he crashed on his bunk that darkening, it had become second nature to him after such strict, hard practice, just of the stance. Some might have considered it a brightening wasted, but he'd rather spend the brightening learning for it to come instantly and naturally than wind up dead because he wasn't in the right stance with the proper balance.

Come the next brightening, he was on the field bright and early, as was Fritz, with his four training longknives. Fritz nodded, and instantly Ar fell into the stance. It was a very natural movement, and only took a heartbeat to do. Fritz, with his critical eye, nodded again.

"It'll do."