For the good of Tania[Merio]

[Audric Tania]

It had already been a trying day. Marquess Luisella Tania rested upon the ornate throne within Castle Tania, fingers caressing the sides of her temples as she leaned forwards trying to organize her thoughts. The table in the room to her left was littered with documents she had to keep note of. Tania was a small land, but growing. Ever since the territory had taken in Merio D. Calderon as it's new Knight Commander, Tania had seen a large growth in most aspects. Their number of knights had increased, and the quality of their training had taken a turn for the better as Merio personally over-saw it. Their borders not only stopped shrinking, but became more secure and had grown outwards. The bandits that had plagued their country had been routed. More would eventually come, as the brigand threat was one all of Lycia would perpetually face indefinitely; yet it was no longer a current threat. This had generated a ripple like effect. A chain of events cascading into a bountiful past five years for Tania.

With brigands no longer roaming the country side trade within all the villages in Tania became reconnected. The economy of the territory boomed like never before. Commerce allowed goods trading hands to promote a boosted spirits for the people. Finances previously unavailable allowed towns to grow in development. More guards to be added and increase security so villagers felt safer. Higher moral came from this, and when people felt better their lives flourished just as Tania's health did. As Tania's borders expanded to reclaim land lost to the other territories they had taken a few new towns even into their fold.

It had all been from a single man. One man had literally helped save an entire Lycian Territory. However it also brought with it a massive excess of matters Luisella needed to tend to. Her husband helped where he could, at times tending matters in her absence and standing by as a fast adviser. It was not however, safe to last. Protecting their newly expanded borders was the heaviest matter upon her shoulders. She did not have the number of soldiers and knights to keep them protected. If she took from the village guards to reinforce these borders, it could inspire brigands to crop up and it would prove disastrous. After speaking to both her husband and Merio on the matter she had come to three potential outcomes.

If she left the borders unguarded at locations they would inevitably be taken by other territories once again. A constant push and pull tug of war battle would ensue over those places, and with such little military power compared to the other territories every life taken from them was disastrous. The first option. Stability within to sacrifice external security.

If she took the village guards from the different towns to supplement the border patrols and watch she could most likely make them appear fortified enough that other territories would not attempt to, due to brokering a full act of war. However this left the towns within those borders defenseless. None to keep the people safe or enforce the law. This option was unwise, for if they crumbled from within their borders being safe meant little. The second option. Stability externally to sacrifice internal security.

After having been forced to chose between these two options, Merio and her husband had approached with a third option. That Merio could depart to recruit others to bolster their forces. While the Marquess was hesitant to sent her most stalwart defender, and Knight-Captain to places outside of their borders it was the safest option. It could even deter other territories once they learned Tania was openly bolstering it's strength. The potential to solidify bonds with other Lycian territories also added to this prospect.

This was the third option. The one she had chosen, and the one that helped deal with another rising issue. Her son, Audric.


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Sitting in the same room for the past...two...hours( ? ) had been so boring. Two...had it been two hours? He hoped so. It meant he was almost done. He didn't think he could bare suffering any more history for the day. The red haired boy sat in the chair with a single elbow propped on his wooden desk, a musty old tome infront of him with it's worn pages parted and open to a point near the end. After a few moments he turned the page with blatant disinterest. Unfocused eyes scanned the pages as he focused not on what he read or even bothered to retain it but instead on that of his next lesson. Combat. While it cheered him up greatly to know he would be getting to receive lessons again from Merio, he felt as if the lessons before it simply dragged on. Made the day feel endless. He knew what he needed from history. He did not need to know what some ancient white haired bishop in Etruria had decided four hundred years ago or some such rubbish. Etrurian politics did not help him learn how to better Tanian conditions. Learning how to defend his people, and learning better of their problems directly? That would.

When the aged black haired historian tapped the wooden pointer upon his desk Audric looked up. The man spoke with a slightly raspy tone as he looked at the young lord. "Now, young sir, if you believe you are adequately sated in your studious pursuits for today the time has come that you may move to your next lesson. I believe Ser Merio will be expecting you in the castles training ground. Remember to study what you've read for your next lesson!"

He had to raise his voice as he spoke, for Audric's excitement had caused him to snap the book closed and quickly depart. His heart raced a bit as he got himself fired up. In their training he had never actually landed a blow with the training lance on Merio. That would change. Today he'd score a hit! It was a mental conversation he went through each session sadly, telling himself he would only to find his blows easily parried or turned aside. While he had been trained prior to Merio's arrival in Tania, the young lord hadn't received as disciplined and thorough instruction quite like Merio's.

When he arrived onto the training ground, having stopped first to put on the semi-plated iron training armor he felt anticipation rise through the skies. His steps were fast and his strides long as he moved to grab one of the wooden training spears from the rack on the wall; gripping and testing the weight as he stepped out of the overhanging wooden building that housed the armor and weapons for training. He moved towards the circled plot of dirt that had a wooden fence erected around it and served as one of the three training rings. However instead of using the door, he placed one hand on the wooden post between fence boards and vaulted himself over. In full armor it would have been impossible, but with simple strapped pieces he was able to manage it as he had multiple times prior. The weight of the armor upon him and the padded cloth beneath felt appropriate. He started to stretch out his arms and twist to loosen up his back before taking to spinning the wooden spear around. He had arrived before Ser Merio, again. Audric's eagerness to learn in combat, now that was a beast unto it's own right.

[Merio D. Calderon]

Merio never thought such small things would have such a large impact. Nor did he ever believe he himself would be the one to bring about this change. If there is but one man who knew how to fight, he could teach another. Then there were two, then those two each teach one, then there was four. It grows and grows until the numbers are downright astounding, it made sense in concept. Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach them to fish and keep them fed for life. Never did he think he would be the fisherman of this tale. At the time all it was is a single city with farmers holding pitchforks and crudely forged blades fighting off bandits who preyed upon their weakness. It wasn't any grand gesture, nor was it nothing someone else couldn't have done, but he taught those men how to hold those blades. How to defend against attacks, how to prepare for battle and for war. Things he learned as a child in training, things these men should have known already. They didn't, and now they did. One act that caused a tidalwave of change, both for him and this new territory he called his home. Knight-Commander, not bad for a kid from Caelin was it?

As people's confidence in the soldiers grew, so did people's eagerness to join. With new recruits came Merio learning how to better teach, he picked up the skill quickly out of necessity, and he could only hope he learned the skill well. With more soldiers, they were able to do more then simply defend against the constant bandit raids. They began to do more then defend, they struck back. They say that it is when a beast is cornered they become the most ferocious, if that was true then perhaps that could explain the fierceness that the cornered Tania fought back with. They tore into the bandits, biting deeply and ripping them apart. Perhaps it was a sort of revenge for all they had killed, for having cornering them so, for the fear they once filled into the hearts of those who lived there. Whatever the reason they had won, they pushed and fought tooth and nail, they reclaimed the areas once completely under bandit control. They secured the roads and reconnected with towns that had once been cut off almost entirely, and as they did more soldiers joined.

It grew, grew and grew, Merio was just a soldier like all the rest at the time. However people looked to him, trusted his judgement, sought his council. Even the Marquis, madame Tania, sought him out. She knighted him in the name of Tania, and offered him the job of leading these soldiers. There was no objections, no one dared to speak against it, and that was how he became Knight-Commander of Tania.

Since then there had been many campaigns against the bandits, Tania has grown and developed as a nation. Still small, still weak, but now capable of defending itself. From bandits at the least, but when it came to neighboring territories things were still sketchy. He voiced his opinions to the Marquis on this, but he had not known her decision on the matter. He stood in the courtyard with eyes shut, his rapier at his hip but a wooden blunted lance in his hand. He thought upon this, upon everything. He saw many different futures afore them, and he had hoped that the one they see would be one of success. To be crushed, snuffed out like the final candle in the keep at night, never being more then a fluke of success, they had been trying to catch lightning in a bottle.

His thoughts were interrupted by the approach of his lord. Lord Audric was his name, Merio had only met him a few years prior but the young man certainly knew how to make an impression. A good one or not may depend on who you are. Excitable, Merio had been teaching the man the way of combat at his mother's behest. He trained the boy like he trained his soldiers, but he was still respectful of the man and his position. After all, Merio was a knight was he not? To do any less would be a disgrace. Audric had received training before his arrival, but like that of the soldiers of Tania it was poor, this was a community of farmers and peasants, none knew how to properly fight. Even their lord was clueless. Merio had been fortunate indeed, that he received such training himself, Caelin was small like Tania but far more militaristic.

He could sense the young lord's presence, he did little to hide it, so Merio opened his eyes as he turned to the man. Placing a arm across the midsection of the training armor he bore, he bowed to the man as was deserving of his station. "Milord Tania, it is a pleasure to see you're so eager for your lesson, but I daresay you are several minutes early." A common thing, Audric was a man with fire in his blood and battle in his heart, it reminded him of Kelvin in a way. He was never late for his lessons, perhaps outside the first few when he was too busy being bitter over the loss of his former tutor. Lord Tania spun the lance he had been given with energy and eagerness that was a weapon of it's own, Merio however remained calm. He had seen this dozens of times before, and daresay he will see it a dozen times to come.

Merio trained the young lord in his free time, when he was not training or leading the soldiers. Truth was he barely had time for his self anymore these days, to relax or read a book as he would do long ago. Still he enjoyed the work, he enjoyed having tasks to complete, he enjoyed allowing his mind to examine a problem and come up with a dozen solutions. Merio shifted his stance, from the soldierlike position with his lance upon the ground in one hand, to one that was ready for battle. The tip of his weapon low to ground as he held the weapon with both hands.

He had yet to strike Merio completely, but many times the young lord had come close. He remembered one time in specific, when Audric had attempted to strike him while he spoke his pleasantries hoping to catch him off guard, and almost he had. Ever since however Merio had been far more willing to keep his words short and to ready himself more eagerly. It was like when he sparred with his brother years ago, Audric made the same mistakes of passion. Time and time again, he would move without thought and whilst it can catch a man off guard it was also just as likely leave them open. There were reasons why people were taught certain maneuvers, and certain actions, because they worked. If you lashed out randomly, chances were you were only going to injure yourself with carelessness. Passion was not bad, and it was not to be stifled, he lost just as often as he won against his brother's passion. But passion needs to be tempered with technique and experience, or it's simply a liability.

"Whenever you are ready milord."

[Audric Tania]

The sight of Merio let the realization sink in further. It was a thrill that he longed for. To throw himself at the knight commander with the intent to finally land a blow, and to test himself to his fullest. In a way he partially felt like it wasn't as much of an enjoyment for the Knight-Commander, because he wasn't testing himself against a foe that could handle his best. For Audric, that was part of the greatest thrill. That each time he sparred against the Knight, he was improving himself. He was getting stronger. Every time they fought he could feel himself improving. Just the thought of it seemed to make his blood turn to flame. The lordling gripped his spear tightly and extended his arms to take his standard poise. Though the armor hid it, and he looked perfectly still, he was tightening and clenching every muscle in his body briefly to stretch and loosen himself further; while also partly out of anticipation.

Breathing in and out slowly, he tried to control his quickening heart rate. He remembered Merio expressly telling him he got too fired up in combat. That was something he needed to work on, especially if it was a weakness. Obviously, he was lucky it was just a training match. He knew in combat he wouldn't get such practical brief breaks before combat. Against a normal opponent however he also knew he /normally/ had some form of size advantage. Be it muscle mass or height, and with the actual armor he had stored away that his father and mother had seen fit to have made for him he looked more so. Trained knights though, like Merio? That wouldn't work, so he knew he couldn't bank on that and quickly dismissed the thought. His legs spread as he let the wooden spear extend infront of him before he started to strafe slowly to the right. His eyes fixed on the Knight Commander.

Sticking to his form training, he waited a few moments as he circled...before inhaling sharply. As he inhaled he lunged forwards, closing the gap swiftly as he spun his spear. He let the bottom, the butt of the spear angle so he could try to sweep out the knight's left leg. However instead of attempting to carry out a full leg sweep, he kept it to a nudging motion more akin to kicking his leg up to throw off his stance before he transitioned with his right hand grabbing and pivoting the spear to then run the wooden "tip" of it to lock against Merio's training weapon if possible. Audric tried to capitalize on his speed while he had the stamina to keep it up. Unlike Merio who had a life time of training, Audric was practically half his age and had only received about seven years of formal training. He didn't have the knight's stamina, or endurance. He knew he'd have to make the best use of it while he could, before he tired out or worse; got so absorbed into the fight he began to act reckless.