{Day 1, EA} Daily training (Open)

[Dunstan Tullison]

Dunstan walks in front of the Tullison pavillion with Ser Ulbert Hite. Following his daily routine it was time for some martial training.

Two men don't speak a word to each other and in an already well trained pattern both grab their weapons. Dunstan grabs his trusty warhammer and Ser Ulbert his longsword.
Four guards surround them with their backs turned to the two practicing fighters.

Marei is sitting on a table chopping cabbage, she rested her elbows down and put her head in her hands. She loved watching Dunstan practice and had a lovestruck smile on her face.

[Garret Snow]

With the Coldbrook camp in good order, Garret had taken his leave off Ser Jorah and Daveth to wander the other pavilions in the field. He felt like a boy again as he moved through the sea of colored silk, banners and sigils of half a hundred Houses. The clash of steel rang out not far away, and Garret moved to investigate.

Snatching an apple from a nearby table from under the nose of a distracted squire, Garret crunched into the sweet fruit, wiping the juices from his mouth with the back of his sleeve. The source of the ringing of steel seemed to be coming from a young nobleman at practice with an older knight. Guards surrounded the two combatants, giving Garret a long stare as he moved to observe. As he got closer, Garret 's expression darkened as he recognized the sigil worn by the guardsmen.

Red mountains on a blue field. The sigil of House Tullison.

Garret spit at the dirt, glaring intently at the Tullison men. Daveth had warned him that the Tullisons would attend the tourney and Garret had given his word to his father that he would keep the King's Peace. Lord Tomas had promised to send Garret to the Wall if he disobeyed, and Garret had a feeling that it was no ideal threat. Garret did not recognize the wretched killer Ser Theomure among the Tullison men and counted it as a blessing. Black was never Garret's color afterall.

Noticing a young woman chopping at cabbages, Garret realized he was not the only observer of the practice combat. She had a look of awe and adoration on her face as she followed the noble's movements. Chewing at the apple, Garret could not help but give a wicked smile. Perhaps the young Tullison noble could use a little distraction. Sidling up to the young woman, Garret gave a mock cough to gain her attention.

"
Enjoying the show, my lady?"
He asked with a wink.

[Dunstan Tullison]

Dunstan parries the hits Ser Ulbert deals him with difficulty. Never mind the fact Dunstan is his Lord, the big Master-at-Arms spared no one, and Dunstan liked it that way.

Hitting him over the shoulder with the blunt end of the hammer Dunstan yells "
"
Aha!"
.
Ser Ulbert nods in Dunstan's direction to show approval.

Dunstan wipes of the sweat of his forehead with the tunic sleeve and goes to grab some water out of the barrel, casting a look at the environment.

[url=Awareness;
to see or not to see mr.Gareth Snow][/url]: 2d6 7

[Garret Snow]

Marei blushed furiously from the sudden attention and resumed intently chopping her cabbages. "
I...I am, ser. Dunstan....I mean, M'Lord Tullison is most skillful"
She replied in a low, quick voice, barely heard over the sound of her blade slicing through the cabbages.

OOC: [url=Awareness on Marei][/url]: 3d6 10

Garret frowned a bit. The girl seemed sweet guileless, and he recognized a lovestruck maid when he saw one. She had called the young lordling "
Dunstan"
. Dunstan Tullison.

"
And here I thought today would be boring,"
Garret smirked to himself before turning back to Marei, still at work on her cabbages. "
Indeed most skillful. Though it can be hard to tell from so far away. Somethings are better see up close"


Cupping his hands, Garret allowed his voice to slip into the loose drawl so common among the smallfolk and called out to Dunstan, "
Well-struck, m'lord. A well-struck blow, indeed"

[Dunstan Tullison]

Dunstan drinks water hastily so that it flows down his chin. Looking up he sees a stranger talking to him.

"
I thank you friend!"
he shouts back.

[Garret Snow]

Garret took a step in Lord Dunstan's direction, smiling broadly. The guards moved shoulder to shoulder on reflex, resting hands on their swords to block him.

"
That's close enough, boy"
Snarled one of the guardsmen, an older man with a craggy face and a hooked nose. "
His Lordship is practicin' and is not to be disturbed"


Looking up at the man's pockmarked features, Garret struggled to maintain his smile. He was reminded of the guards that served Lord Karstark when Garret was a boy;
they never had much patience for Garret's sense of humor. Glancing past the guards barring his way, Garret nodded towards Lord Dunstan.

"
Of course, of course. No offense, intended to m'lord."
Garret spread his hands, speaking to the guardsman while making sure he was loud enough to be heard by the young Tullison Lord. "
M'lord Tullison, I'm called Garret. You swing that hammer well, m'lord. Always seemed a heavy and clumsy weapon to me..."
Garret left the thought hanging, hoping Lord Dunstan would seize upon it.

[Dunstan Tullison]

Dunstan gives the guards a look, tellling them to calm down.

"
Thank you again! Pleased to meet you Garett, I am Dunstan. War-hammer is heavy but i prefer it to swords because of the sheer force it can deal with a single blow."

[Garret Snow]

Garret nodded at the lord's words as the guards stepped to the side. Garret approached Dunstan casually, hands at his sides. For the first time he was able to get a decent look at the lord of House Tullison. Ser Theomure's own nephew. This was a rare opportunity indeed.

"
M'father was a hedge knight in his day. He liked the Morningstar for that same reason"
Garret kept his voice in the imitation of the common drawl (ooc: should I be rolling a deception for this? Against passive awareness maybe?), "
still...seems to me that a sword has the speed. Strike quick, strike true. But perhaps if one of these fine guards would oblige a tourney sword...perhaps m'lord would oblige me a chance to test my mettle. My father gave me some training with a blade"


Garret smiled invitingly.

[Dunstan Tullison]

"
You wish to train with us? We have tourney swords aplenty, and blunted weapons of all sorts in here. Come join, first you'll spar with Ser Ulbert."
Dunstan says and points in the direction of the stack of tourney swords.

[Garret Snow]

Garret paused for a moment, he had hoped to get a sample of Lord Tullison's combat skill himself in advance of the tourney. Walking over to the tourney swords, Garret selected one that would have a similar balance to the swords he had trained with at Castle Grenward.

"
Good reach, decent balance. Aye, this'll do,"
Garret said to himself, as he turned back towards the Tullison men. "
I'm to fight your man then? I can understand that m'lord would be too tired himself, swinging that great hammer around. Perhaps you need to rest for a while, Lord Dunstan?"


(OOC: Standard intrigue to convince Dunstan to spar with Garret himself, or I could just roll initiative to fight the mini-boss first . Up to you)

[Dunstan Tullison]

"
It's me you want to test your mettle against! Ha, I'll be damned to deny such request!"


Dunstan walks back to the weapon stack, puts down the warhamer and takes his flail.

Guards step in and one of them starts whispering to Dunstan. "
Relax Sam these are all blunted!"
he says showing at the weapons.

[url=Combat initiative][/url]: 3d6 8

"
Come on don't just stand there!"
Dunstan says.

Guards, upon hearing what is about to happen flock around the two men, now there is eight of them there.

[Garret Snow]

Testing the weight of the blade, Garret squared his shoulder and gave Dunstan a nod. Despite the hatred Garret bore Dunstan's uncle, he had to admit that the Lord of Mountain's Reach did not seem such a bad sort.

"
Bad manners to keep a lord waiting,"
Garret quipped.

OOC: [url=Initiative][/url]: 4d6 8 Character with the highest agility goes first, which I believe would be me.

Lord Dunstan was faster with his flail than expected, but Garret managed to move faster still. Launching from his back leg, Garret closed the short distance between them, bringing the practice sword in a horizontal slash.

OOC: [url=Sword attack w/ Longblade Fighter I][/url]: 4d6 15 Longblade Fighter I grants an additional DoS if that beats your Defense. Longsword damage with the Dulled quality is Athletics-1

[Dunstan Tullison]

OOC: If both of our initiatives are at 8 we should roll for a tie braker. Since Dunstan is wearing armor however and I forgot to subtract the penalty than you do go first:)

Weapons i assume get the Dulled quality from BitW??: Dulled: Weapons with the dulled weapon quality do the same damage as a standard weapon, with a -1 penalty (thus a Longsword would do Athletics instead of Athletics + 1). Also, dulled weapons remove the Vicious and the Shattering weapon qualities from the weapon.

So, your damage is: 3 DoS x your athletics minus my 10 AR.

This Garret fellow moves like he is born with this sword! Dunstan thinks to himself.

Coming to his senses and eager to fight a well skilled opponent who gives him no slack Dunstan swirls his flail at his direction. Moving in force and using his formidable strength he manages to land several solid hits.

Dunstan decides to try and maneuver his opponent now, so he is less eager and ready the next time he decides to strike a blow. Pressing forward, the young Lord destabilizes this Garett fellow.

OOC: My damage is 7 per DoS. Flail has athletics +3, -1 for Dulled, plus 1 for Powerfull quality.



Lesser Action: [url=Standard attack vs. Garett][/url]: 4d6 13



Lesser Action: [url=Maneuver vs Garett][/url]: 4d6 16 (this goes against your passive Fighting - which i believe is 16, so you do get -1D on your next attacl)

[Garret Snow]

A cheer went up from the guardsmen as the flail thudded into Garret's ribs. He cursed as red fire lanced up his side, Seven Hells! Shield, Garret. Remember your damn shield!

Backpedaling as Dunstan bulled towards him, Garret managed to move to his side to catch his breath. Each intake of breath felt like a boot pressing on his ribs, but they did not feel broken. He thanked the old gods for that small miracle.

"
You hit like an aurochs, m'lord,"
Garret nodding approvingly, turning to one of the Tullison squires, Garret motioned to shield that rested on the ground. "
Give us the shield, lad."
The squire hesitated for a moment but nodded and hurried forward to pass the shield to Garret. Turning back to his opponent, Garret raised his shield arm and settled into a defensive stance. "
Shall we try that again, Lord Tullison?"


The two combatants circled each other, clashing and moving away. Garret's blunted sword clashed like a hammer ringing against an anvil as it rained on Dunstan's armor, answered by the thunderous impact of Dunstan's flail against Garret's shield. Each time the flail crashed into the shield, Garret felt the force pulsing through his arm. He had to wonder how he would fare if Lord Dunstan was actually trying to crush his skull. Garret couldn't help but smile. It had been too long since he had been tested by a new opponent.

[Dunstan Tullison]

"
Your father taught you well!"
Dunstan said.

"
If you ever find yourself in need for employment, swing by our camp! We are always looking for able lads to fend over the mountain clans up in Mountain's Reach!"


It was a nice practice fight and the guards had no need t worry as both combatants took care not to hurt one another. Dunstan was exalted to meet such a good fighter.

[Garret Snow]

Regarding the young lord, Garret bowed his head at the compliment. "
My thanks, Lord Tullison. You are most kind, and faster with that flail than any man has a right to be"


Raising his sword in a salute, Garret returned the tourney weapon and shield back to the squires. "
Perhaps we will meet each other later in this tourney, Lord Dunstan. A chance to test each other fully would be a sight to be seen, I think."
Offering his hand to Dunstan, Garret smiled. He could not help but like the young Lord, despite his uncle being a perfidious coward. "
But for now, my sore ribs are calling for a cup of wine. My Lord"


Remembering his courtesies, Garret turned to take his leave. He noticed that the surly guardsmen inclining his head in a subtle, and simple display of grudging respect.

[/scene?]

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