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Post by Duma on Jul 7, 2015 15:39:59 GMT -6
Abandoned Monastery, Safe House
Duma had woken up from his nap. The swordsman had brought Euphemious here to the safe house after the events in the trafficker's hideout, in order to rest and recuperate. The kids that they rescued were strewn around the safe house in small clusters. They were told to stay away from the two sleeping giants. Soon these kids would be packed into a wagon and sent back to their home village. Duma rubbed his drowsy eyes. The swordsman wiped his face with a clean wet rag.
He got up greeted his companions and stepped outside. He was unsure where the General was at the moment. But he figured he could get some light exercise in order to wake himself up. He was not looking forward to the trip to Bern. But he knew he needed to go, he needed to find Callie. He needed to bring her home. The swordsman found a quiet spot near the woods. Duma sighed softly and drew his blade. He slowly began swinging his blade. He was doing the difficult swings first to get them out the way. He grasped the sword handle with both his hands then raised the blade over his head then brought it down in a slow motion. He stopped the swing at the mid point of his chest. The swordsman repeated that motion again ten times. Before he did it again ten more times but at a faster speed. Once that was done he shook he head. His body was sore from the uncomfortable sleep. The pain was annoying but tolerable. He then moved on to doing single handed swings.
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Post by Euphemious on Jul 7, 2015 16:16:39 GMT -6
Euphemious had awoken from his sleep a hour or two before the swordmaster did. His joints had felt stiff and caused him to swing his arms around to get some motion in them. It was probably due to him sleeping in his armor, but the there was no way the general was going to take it off. He was still paranoid. He expected for them to be attacked and wanted to be ready at all times. Now however he felt they were more in the clear, but at the moment he was still going to keep the steel. Waking from his slumber Euphemious was greeted with the image of frighten children. It was to be expected. They had been brutalized, kidnapped, and probably in constant fear for there lives. Euphemious in his mass of steel was almost the poster boy for war and violence. Generals were the pinnacle of the infantry. Covered from head to toe in armor and wielding every weapon available on the battlefield. Generals only had one true weakness and that was magic.
"Hey", spoke Euphemious as he looked down at the kids. His booming voice and the echo created by his armor sent a shock-wave of fear into there hearts. There eyes almost teared up as they stared at the large man. Man this is a pain, thought Euphemious to himself as he stopped and undid his chin strap. The general removed the massive helm from his head revealing his face underneath. Hopefully this would make talking to them easier. He needed to see if there was one of his clan's men in the mist of them. "Do any of you know what this symbol is", spoke Euphemious as he pulled a medallion out of his pocket. He showed the symbol to all the young ones hoping that any of them would notice it. He had a idea in his mind what they would look like, but he was not sure if the person who owned it was directly related or even related to him at all. For all he knew it could have been a trinket somebody found.
All the children stared at him quietly. Not a single one of them spoke up or mention anything about it. Looking over them he saw nobody resembling him either. It seemed whoever he was searching for was not here. He could only prey they where at the checkpoint in Bern. "Alright then", spoke Euphemious as he placed the medallion into his pocket again. The general then placed back on his helmet and walked outside. There was no point in hanging out with them. They were scared of him and they could not answer his question. All that was left was for Euphemious to get them home and move to save others. "This turned out to be quite the little vacation", spoke The General as he found a good spot outside. From there he took out the book he picked up from the records and began to search it for clues.
Euphemious read through it for about a hour when he heard the swordmaster walk out the building. This is what he had been waiting for. The General did not immediately follow. Instead he closed his book and made some markers to know where he was at. He wanted to find this person, the one who owned the medallion. If they were a member of his clan then he needed to save them. The Lowlanders need to come back together.
As Euphemious found the swordmaster the man was swinging his blade. Skilled, thought Euphemious as he watched him swing his sword. His form was good even when he speed up. Euphemious wish he could say the same about himself, but he really did not depend on skill when he fought with his blade. Power, that was always his main focus. Though Euphemious did know the basics. Without saying a word Euphemious drew his sword. The family crest of the Lowlander's shinned on the hilt of his blade as he walked in front of the swordmaster and pointed his sword toward him. "Don't mind if I jump in do you", spoke Euphemious as he stared into the man's eyes. He wanted to see just how skilled this man was.
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Post by Duma on Jul 7, 2015 18:22:29 GMT -6
"Ah, Euphemious. Good afternoon. My apologies for the.. uhm.. crude comforts. It was the best we could do on such short notice." The swordsman greeted him. He gave his final swing then took a breath. He glanced over at the general. If he recalled correctly the man actually slept in the armor. That means he was probably very stiff either that or the armor was very comfortable. Or perhaps a mix of both. Duma thought to himself. The swordsman started to stretch lightly. As he began to move around, Duma quietly inspected the armor. The armor itself was of good quality and appeared to have guided the man through many battles. But Duma could also see weaknesses within it, the little chinks here and there his blade could exploit. The gaps between his armor that were needed for the man to move. Perhaps the most important thing was that the man had a sword pointed at him. A sword with an interesting crest.
"Hmm? Very well. After this though.. I'd like for you to tell me a bit about those records you recovered." He rolled his shoulders and neck lightly. Duma got himself into a regular stance. It's been a while since I've faced a General from Bern. If memory serves the Bernese like to favor power in their blows. This match will test my endurance and defenses. Duma wondered if his blade could withstand the blows if it was about to sustain. His katana style sword was starting to show it's signs towards retirement. He would have to find a replacement for it soon. But for now he hoped the sword would hold out against the Bernese man's blows.
"You have the honor of the first swing."
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Post by Euphemious on Jul 10, 2015 10:58:02 GMT -6
So he accepted, thought Euphemious to himself. Good, he thought the man might have denied him. It would make sense considering the hell they went through the other day. However that was a topic for another time. Euphemious was not simply fighting this man to see his skill level. He needed to know a bit about his character. How you move and swing your blade told a lot about you, thought Euphemious could not always gleam insight on a person by the way they fought it always served well to try at lest first. From the way he is dressed and the look of his weapon Duma seemed like a speed fighter, the opposite of Euphemious. The General was more about power and defense. Against speed Defense was the best way to handle it. If you tired over powering them they will just run circles around you till you get tired, but with defense you can stop there blows till you get a idea of there attack patters. At that point you can strike and take the enemy down. In this battle however it would be more important for Euphemious to control the space rather than speed. Close in the gaps and strike swiftly.
After creating his game plan Euphemious prepared himself to move in and attack. Pulling his sword back Euphemious raised his shield up just above his eye slit. The General then suddenly charged forward as he attempted to ram his shield into the swordmaster. It was the first step in his battle plan. Euphemious first needed to figure out the man's tendencies. If he favored rolling to the right or to the left, or if he preferred to simply move back to avoid a charge rather than move to the side. Any bit of information could help. Speed was Euphemious enemy and he was only going to overcome it through control of space and tactics.
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Post by Duma on Jul 11, 2015 19:52:22 GMT -6
Duma prepared himself for the general's attack. He had already pinpointed a few places where his strikes would do some damage. Generals with their large amount of armor made precision strikes difficult. Swords can easily bounce off their armor and leave the man in the suit undamaged. Euphemious raised his shield to cover his front and charged forward. The swordsman did not want to get hit with any of that.
But he knew what Euphemious was trying to do, the general was trying to control the limited space. Duma wasn't going to let him. Rather then jump back into the safety of the trees, Duma charged forward. He rolled to the side and made his way behind the general. Quickly the swordsman got up, switched the grip of his blade so he would be hitting with the blunt edge of his sword. He did not want to hurt Euphemious with his sword, after all they had a job to do later. Last thing Duma wanted to do was accidentally cripple his new hunting partner. Quickly, Duma struck at the area behind Euphemious knee he then jumped back to avoid retaliation. If Euphemious didn't have a large back plate protecting him Duma would have continued the swing upwards. Now That Duma was behind the General, he had a bit more control over the area. The swordsman would have to play his cards right and time his hits carefully. Don't think the same trick will work twice. Now that he knows I can duck in between his charges. He'll be ready for the next one.
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Post by Euphemious on Jul 16, 2015 0:35:55 GMT -6
Euphemious stopped for a moment as he felt the blow at the back of his knee. It was a excellent counter. Duma was no slouch that was for sure. Still the general consoled himself by saying that if he truly used the blade of his weapon that the chainmail would have stopped the sword from causing to much damage, but to tell you the truth Euphemious really did not know. However that was a thought for another time. What really mattered now was gaining back his dignity. The swordmaster had shown himself the better warrior with that last assault. Euphemious needed to show him the true strength of a Bern General. Without saying a word Euphemious turned around and tossed his mighty tower shield to the side. He no longer had a need for the massive wall of steel. This was clearly going to be a battle of skill rather than simply controlling space. Placing his crested sword back in its sheath Euphemious drew his mighty Guan Dao from his back. The blade shined in the sun as the dragon shaped guard gleamed in the light.
"Alright lets take it up a notch", spoke Euphemious as the general suddenly shot forward. The suddenness and speed of his attack was not one of a general lunging forward, but much faster. Euphemious had channeled the natural energy of his body into his legs and pressed forward with blinding speed. [Celerity] Combining his risen agility with the swing of his attack Euphemious twisted his weapon to strike toward his opponent with the flat side of his blade. It would be in poor character for Euphemious to swing his blade full force against a ally. Even more so after the same alley blunted there own attack to avoid injury. Euphemious was always a man of honor.
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Post by Duma on Jul 19, 2015 20:51:00 GMT -6
Duma braced himself for another strike with the sword but instead Euphemious tossed his shield aside and put his sword away. He drew out his lance instead. This was a wise move. Lances had the advantage over swords simply due to their length and range. A good swordsman can block a lance but with consequences. Lances can easily disarm a guarding swordsman, especially if the sword gets caught in the grooves of some of the fancier bladed ones. Lances practically make parrying impossible. Duma sighed softly. He was going to have to pull out every trick in his arsenal to try and beat Euphemious in this friendly competition. But this gave Duma insight on his opponent he was willing to throw away his shield and switch weapons in order to gain better advantage against his opponents. Unlike most other Generals who would simply stick to their shields and maintain the defense.
Then Euphemious did something else that completely caught the swordsman off guard. Euphemious was suddenly fast very fast. Duma wasn't sure how Euphemious managed it, but he had. The general twisted his lance in a manner to strike but to strike with out using the sharp end of his blade. This was a sparring match after all. Duma raised his sword up to block the strike. Euphemious strike was powerful. He could feel the vibrations of the blow travel up his arm to his shoulders. But this gave Duma a chance to strike. He quickly forced the sword up to dislodge it, then pulled it down to free it, then gave a strong strike to the gap in the general's side. This left him open to a counter hit but Duma felt this his was worth it. A bruised side was uncomfortable to move in and hopefully it would pay off in the long run.
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Post by Euphemious on Jul 19, 2015 22:38:07 GMT -6
'He blocked it' thought Euphemious to himself. He was sure that move would have caught him off guard. Euphemious had been working on that skill for quite a long time, but it seemed it was not as effective as he thought it would be. Still that did not dampen the generals parade. Euphemious knew better than to throw all of his chips into one hand. Still it showed great skill on Duma's part to be able to handle something like that. He was no scrub that was for sure. The General however was going to have to straighten up his game if he wanted to win this friendly duel.
As the swordmaster threw the blade of Euphemious weapon off him he moved to strike at the conjunction on the side of Euphemious plat armor. A valiant move. The sides of the armor where the easiest part to pierce however Euphemious knew that and he knew how to defend from it. Euphemious may have thrown away his shield, but he was still a general. As Duma broke away from the blade portion of his Guan Dao Euphemious turned the back end of the weapon toward his opponent. As his blade aimed for his side Euphemious brought the steel rod over to block the blow. He gave up the opportunity to counter his opponent, but the general stopped himself form taking damage. As a general damage reduction was the entire focus of his fighting style.
After blocking the Sword with his lance Euphermious pressed forward a bit to cause the swordmaster to increase the space between them. Following that move Euphemious initiated a sweeping attack toward the swordmasteer feet. 'Lets see how quick he dances' thought Euphemious to himself as he forced his opponent to either jump or retreat. There was a chance that Duma could find some crazy stratgem to work here, but Euphemious kept his mind on the basics.
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Post by Duma on Jul 28, 2015 8:54:56 GMT -6
Euphemious had blocked his strike to the side. The general was well versed in the arts of defense. For this brief moment Duma wished he had some sort of armor slayer or a magic sword. Duma was forced to jump back from Euphemious attack. The general used his lance in a sweeping motion in order to force Duma to either jump or retreat. Duma chose to jump. He avoided the first of the lance blows and imagined that Euphemious was going to do a few more. When the lance swept past his feet Duma rolled to the side. He pulled himself up off the floor and got onto his feet.
He kept moving until he was behind the general again. This time he planted two more strikes to the General's sides. One on each side. He could feel his sword strikes getting weaker as the sword was being pushed to it's final limits. He felt that soon his weapon would break. He jumped back again giving himself even more distance from the general's lance. Duma wondered if Euphemious would pull the same stunt twice. If he had enough energy to charge at him with the same swiftness as before. If he didn't then Duma could safely assume that the General needed more time to recover his endurance. Duma was panting lightly. All of this dodging and running around was starting to take a toll on his body. Duma took a look at his sword, he could see the chinks and cracks in it.
"My weapon will be useless soon. We may need to cut this short."
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Post by Euphemious on Jul 29, 2015 9:59:47 GMT -6
He was fast, but speed would not give him the victory in this duel, thought Euphemious as the swordmaster began to try and move around him. The general already knew where he would strike. There where really only four openings he could aim for. The back of the knees, the sides of the breastplate, and maybe the neck, but he was sure he would not aim there. It would be a strategic flaw to aim for that spot and it was a duel. Knowing that Euphemious simply moved with the swordmaster as much as he could and turned his body once he saw the man moved to strike. All the general had to do was make sure he did not hit the weak points. Still all the little hits on his armor where points gained in Duma's favor. Even thought Euphemious fought valiantly he still had no points in the duel. In a battlefield it may be different, but in this duel Duman had the victory.
"NO that is enough", spoke Euphemious as he lowered his lance and picked up his shield. "This was a test of each others skill, not a true battle. There is no point in me breaking your weapon in a spar. You fought well and used your speed greatly. For a moment there I thought I would have had you when I used my speed boost. Alas you handled that just as well. Truly you deserve the title of a swordmaster", spoke the general as he locked his Towershield onto his back. "Where did you learn to wield the blade. Your skills seems sacaen, but I would not put it past anyone else learning to use a sword in that way. "
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Post by Duma on Jul 29, 2015 21:22:18 GMT -6
Duma breathed a small sigh of relief when Euphemious decided to stop the match. He put the weakened sword away and made a mental note to buy a replacement in the future. The old iron sword had fought it's last match. The general complemented him on his sword craft. Duma had a bit of a faint blush on his cheeks then he ran his hands through his hair. He regained his composure quick enough so Euphemious wouldn't notice.
"I accept and thank you for your complements Euphemious. You are full of surprises. I did not anticipate that sudden burst of speed especially from one with all that armor. That was a new experience." He sat down on the ground in order to regain his energy.
"You fight well. To be honest if I had not blocked and dodged when I did this outcome would have been different. I'm worn out. Perhaps with a bit more time.. you would that hit me with that lance or tackled into me with all that metal. Both options would have been painful... For me." He took a moment to breathe before moving and speaking again.
"To quote an old proverb of a wise woman 'Life is your teacher'." He chuckled softly at that.
"But my first .. person? No, I mean the first person who taught me was my mother. She was a swordmaster herself. The next set of teachers was the guild who raised me. After I started to travel on my own I've trained under several nomadic clans in Sacae. I've also picked up a thing or two from the mercaries of the world." He took another moment to rest. The swordmaster pulled from his pouch a canteen of water. He took a sip then held it up as an offering to Euphemious.
"What of you Euphemious?"
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Post by Euphemious on Jul 30, 2015 18:01:03 GMT -6
"No thank you I have my own", spoke the General as he went into his own back pocket. "Well my training is not as diverse or as grand as yours. I learned how to fight from my father when I was a boy and later from my uncle once my parents died". Euphemious had to sensor a bit of his back story. He was sure that Duma had nothing to do with any politics in Bern, but he was not going to take the risk. He made a promise with his kin to keep his origins a secrete. Telling random strangers was not a part of that plan.
"Mostly I learned standard Bern spear fighting techniques taught by knights. The little trick I used during our fought, you know the one where I speed up, well that one is something I learned myself. Have you ever heard of natural energy. It is a concept understood and practiced by martial artist and the finest warriors. Well I spent a good bit of time honing my body during my personal training back at home. During my training routine I discovered that I can channel this force into my legs and increase my speed. As you saw in the battle it can be a useful trick. However if I use it to much or try to do it again to soon after doing it once I can tire myself very quickly. The technique requires extreme concentration and physical training. Even more so for us men in heavy armor. I have seen other users dash across fields using this trick. I can go only half as long. If I try to extend it I run the risk of my legs giving out, and trust me there is nothing worse than a knight lying face first in the mud. Not only can you not move your legs, but your own armor anchors you down."
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Post by Duma on Jul 31, 2015 8:50:28 GMT -6
"I see. My condolences to your late parents. I know what it's like to lose them." He bowed his head slightly before taking another sip of water. He then put then canteen away.
"Your skill sounds a bit like mine. Over the years I have learned to hone my sword arms to swing. So much so that I am able to do hidden swings that appear like blades of wind. These strikes are silent and almost naked to the human eye. At first I was able to do just one.. but now I can do two. Essentially what it looks like.. is that I can do three attacks with 'one' swing. The consequence for doing that.. fatigue. Lots of it. I hope to one day perfect the art further by limiting the amount of fatigue I feel after each hidden swing." He leaned his head back to the nearby tree.
"I did not reveal it during our duel. Since, it has a tendency to make my arms feel like jelly if I use it against heavily armored individuals. While a general stuck with his face in the mud is sad... At least you could pull yourself up. In my case it would be a swordsman who's arms cannot lift him out of that same mud. Perhaps, one day you will see the skill at work against an enemy. Perhaps even against the trafficker's ringleader." He paused for a moment. He honed his breathing to a degree so that he could better rest himself.
"So.. how did you end up here? I know.. Bern is dealing with plenty of things within it's own country. I'm surprised they could spare a general of your caliber to travel up to Sacae. Just to deal with a handful of slavers."
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Post by Euphemious on Aug 3, 2015 9:29:17 GMT -6
"Bah humbug", spoke Euphemious as he waved his hand toward Duma. "Don't worry about that. They have been dead for so long that it is old news. However what I find to be truly interesting is that skill you talk about. I have heard rumors about such skills and to be truthful I did not believe they existed till the day I unlocked the one I showed you in the field. After that my world was cracked wide open. All the feats of super human abilities I heard through out my life suddenly made sense. Also as a side note a general losing his legs is worse. You may think a swordsmen unable to use his arm is bad, but trust me a general stuck face first in the mud is worse. You can still walk when your arm is tired. A general is going to be stuck there till he dies from the lack of oxygen. The armor is too heavy to pick yourself back up. It is a truly terrifying death. Though I have never heard of a single person dying from it. I myself came close when I first started using the move, but Frank was with me when I was practicing and turned me over and saved my life."
"How did I end up here", asked Euphemious as he looked at his sword swinging friend. "Well that is quite the story. It first started off as a simple errand. I was looking into something for a old women in a village that was looking for help finding her lost daughter. At first we thought the young maiden might have ran away from home or been killed by bandits. Unfortunately the latter happens quite often. However after investigating I discovered that there was a stranger caravan moving through the area at the time. It was the only lead I had so I followed it. I then discovered that everywhere this caravan went that someone else would go missing. At this point I was sure that something was wrong and followed its path. Eventually I caught up with it at the Bern Lycian boarder and there I did battle with the slavers. Me and the sniper, you meet him earlier. After that we found a letter directed toward here so I sent word back where I was going and came here to take care of the problem at its source, or at least I thought I was. After getting here I discovered that it goes even deeper. This is a troublesome development."
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Post by Duma on Aug 5, 2015 14:19:19 GMT -6
"Mm. Slavers are always a troublesome lot. And their connections are very vast and very deep. They span across all of Elibe. They have so much gold and power that they use to bribe the local law. Lords, landowners, sometimes even the clergy, turn a blind eye when they get a cut of the profits." He sighed softly.
"It's a terrible world of greed and corruption. Trafficking is a constant and persistent problem.. And one I believe that we will not be rid of in our lifetime." He shook his head.
"I've been hunting slavers for the last three years. My hate for them has been there since childhood. 'Alm' and 'Celice' over there, had their families and loved ones destroyed by slavers. Now they work to rescue the victims of slavers." Duma slowly got up. He gently cracked his knuckles and some of the bones in his neck.
"I do not think.. we will be finishing with our slaver problem any time soon." He curled his fists.
"But in any case.. I need to at least track down the wagon that was making it's way back to Bern. There's a little girl named Callie that I have to find and return to her mother. So.. it seems we shall be traveling together some more. Come, we should head inside and get some food." He glanced back at the ruins of the church. A small group of the children crowded around the windows no doubt they were busy watching the fight between them. Duma gave them a small smile and a wave. Some of the shyer ones stepped away from the windows a few of them waved back. Duma started to make his way back towards the abandoned building. He held the door open so that Euphemious could come inside.
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