Prepare for the #LodanRespawn2024 Existing characters may choose to be displace from/have memories of different timelines, thereby allowing returning members the option to retcon their whole character. These changes are the result of the "Unnatural Fog" plot device that is running between now and the Respawn. The plot is simple: no matter where your character is, that place is shrouded in a thick fog that suspends time, but not thoughts or memories, so even if they're repeating the same day over and over again, they continue to remember, so each time feels like a new day. For those retconning OCs; this is where new versions of themselves have the opportunity to replace the old versions. Official lore and tree updates will be announced asap
Post by Caitlin Cockfoster on Mar 1, 2014 1:37:08 GMT
Caitlin couldn't help but share Danny's enthusiasm, she had always enjoyed the freedom that came with rushing headlong toward a ship and the excitement of drawing blades, even dull practice swords. A good spar was a good spar either way. Granted it would take some time before Danny was up to speed but there was something rewarding about training somebody in the art of combat, it was gratifying for its own sake.
At the end of the pier they mounted the ramp to the docked airship and walked aboard the quarter deck where the officer of the deck saluted Miss Caitlin like she was some kind of naval officer. It wasn't really a formality so much as a strange inside joke on tradition mixed with varying degrees of genuine respect (varying depending on who the deckhand was on duty that day). Some military etiquette could not be avoided or else their ships would be compromised so it was a balancing act really between relaxed seamanship (or sky) and dutiful military bearing.
Inside she sent a deckhand to the first mates quarters to ruse him, then asked that their sparring equipment be brought to the weather deck. Once the rogue was off to do his task Caitlin led Danny to the captains quarters so she could get redressed. She left Danny standing by the series of observation windows while she went toward the wardrobe.
"I wont be a minute, but I do need to put on something decent before we go top side and begin your first lesson."
She sat her glass down next to the decanter and leaned back. This was nice... like falling into a vat of marshmallow fluff. Calm, muffled, the rest of the world blocked out by the closed door to his cabin, and here they were safe inside. Safe from reality, safe from their own complicated lives. Safe from duty. Safe from context. Just. Safe. --Caitlin
Post by Danny Ravensdale on Mar 1, 2014 1:43:57 GMT
Danny turned to Caitlin when she mentioned changing. "Do I need anythin'?" The boy lifted his arms in a shrug, his hands all but nonexistant inside the massive coat. "Or do ya think Ican learn alright with this stuff?" Danny followed Caitling but stopped just outside the door. He turned around so he was facing away from the doorway and pulled his scarf down just far enough so that he could take a deep breath of the air. Danny glanced around and did his absolute best to hide his shaking. He was going to fight... but no. He needed to learn. Running away could only do so much. Besides... he was certain Caitlin wouldn't hurt him... would she?
Post by Caitlin Cockfoster on Mar 7, 2014 7:27:11 GMT
Caitlin gave Danny the fastest once-over with her eyes in all of history. "No way young sir," she replied with a definitive shake of her head. Its was plainly obvious that he would need to shed a few layers before they got started. "You will have to do away with all of that cumbersome stuff. You need to be limber, nimble, exonerated of anything that makes you bulky. If you're going to wear all that, your going to get caught up by someone or on something, and getting pegged to the deck by your clothes is one surefire way to get yourself killed."
She sat her glass down next to the decanter and leaned back. This was nice... like falling into a vat of marshmallow fluff. Calm, muffled, the rest of the world blocked out by the closed door to his cabin, and here they were safe inside. Safe from reality, safe from their own complicated lives. Safe from duty. Safe from context. Just. Safe. --Caitlin
Post by Danny Ravensdale on Mar 8, 2014 23:06:04 GMT
Danny tilted his head as he listened to Caitlin. "Right... so I needa lose some layers." Danny looked around the deck and began pulling his coat off over his head. Up, up, up it went, almost like he was swimming out of it. The shirt he was wearing underneath the coat was pulled up, showing off his smooth stomach up just past his belly button. With the coat finally off, Danny was able to pull his shirt back down. It was mostly black, with a v neck cut at the throat down the just past his collar bboost and short sleeves that didn't even go halfway down his upper arms. White lace was stitched into the ends of his sleeves, and a cream colored wrap was tied around his torso. White lace hemmed the bottom of his shirt, which ended just above his plant's waistline, showing just the tiniest bit of his skin between the two pieces if cloth. With the coat gone, Danny readjusted his hat and set his scarf so that it firmly hid his face without limiting his ventilation. "'ow's this?" Danny turned this way and that, showing off his relatively close fitting shirt.
Post by Caitlin Cockfoster on Mar 9, 2014 1:18:50 GMT
Caitlin pressed her lips together indecisively. "Y'know," she started to say, but then closed her mouth and shook her head. She could tell the kid all day long about the dangers of leaving tails... or, she could show him. Not that there was any reason for the boy to go on hiding his face from her, she'd bumped into him enough times by now to know the telltale article of clothing, it was no longer serving any purpose in cloaking him. But - that could be lesson one. She shrugged her shoulders and merely said "we shall see. Up we go!" she waved her guest out of her quarters and back up the stairs to the weather-deck where there would be plenty of room to spar.
She sat her glass down next to the decanter and leaned back. This was nice... like falling into a vat of marshmallow fluff. Calm, muffled, the rest of the world blocked out by the closed door to his cabin, and here they were safe inside. Safe from reality, safe from their own complicated lives. Safe from duty. Safe from context. Just. Safe. --Caitlin
Post by Danny Ravensdale on Mar 9, 2014 1:34:21 GMT
Danny grinned under his scarf and followed the woman up. He looked around the deck and let out a long, low whistle. "So... whatcha thinkin'? What should I be usin'? I'm thinkin' I'd look good with a big claymore... ya know, somethin' big, an' powerful, an' dangerous..." Danny gave a quiet chuckle before his crossed his arms over his chest. "What're ya gonna use? How are we gonna get started? Do we needa do anythin' else?" Danny's eyes practically sparkled with excitement.
Post by Caitlin Cockfoster on Mar 12, 2014 5:09:02 GMT
She tried not to laugh, she really did, but a minor chuckle escaped anyhow. One of the crew dragged an old square chest toward them in the middle of the open deck. Looking up one would be awed by the enormous Helium balloon as hovered over the Semi-Rigid airship. Helium, rather than the standard Hydrogen for the simple fact that this was no ordinary commercial vessel; this was a pirates war ship, and given the nature of war it was worth investing in the more expensive gas rather than burn the whole dirigible down with the first cannon fired.
It blocked out most of the sunlight but not the warm piney air coming off of the forest and rising to their elevation. Caitlin kicked open the chest and leaned over it, smiling and feeling an old kind of carefree she hadn't in the last year at least. "If you could lift a blade longer than your arms and swing all three kilo's of it without turning yourself around then I'd consider it, but given your size and experience... I think for now it would be best to start of with something a little more... manageable." She reached in and pulled out two practice foils, the nonelectric sort with blunted ends. She kept one for herself and tossed the other to her pupil.
"Lets learn the basics, then we can move on to practicing spars, and once you've got a handle on that, THEN we'll talk about the variety of blades and give you a chance to swing something with some edge to it."
She sat her glass down next to the decanter and leaned back. This was nice... like falling into a vat of marshmallow fluff. Calm, muffled, the rest of the world blocked out by the closed door to his cabin, and here they were safe inside. Safe from reality, safe from their own complicated lives. Safe from duty. Safe from context. Just. Safe. --Caitlin
Post by Danny Ravensdale on Mar 16, 2014 18:57:30 GMT
Danny bobbled the foil in the air before catching it. He grabbed the handle of it and bounced on the tips of his feet. The tip of the sword was wavering all around as he did his best to imitate a swordfighter he had seen once. "So, wha's the first thing? I'ma quick learner, so don' go easy, yeh?" About the only thing Danny had gotten right with his stance was his foot placement and weight distribution. He was holding the sword all wrong, had his body twisted, his wrist was weak and limp, and his free hand was flared out theatrically behind him. It was plain to see the only real swordfighting the boy had ever seen was in street plays.
Post by Caitlin Cockfoster on Sept 12, 2014 5:59:07 GMT
Ooh boy. Yeah, this was going to be the very basics in his first lesson. She dropped her stance in front of him and instead came to stand side by side with Danny. "Here, mirror me exactly," she said as she gripped the foil properly and lunged her legs one foot neatly in front of the other, as if positioned on the same vertical line. "Don't twist your body like that, stay forward, and when you strike, lean into it, don't walk into it." She demonstrated slowly with a general forward strike.
She sat her glass down next to the decanter and leaned back. This was nice... like falling into a vat of marshmallow fluff. Calm, muffled, the rest of the world blocked out by the closed door to his cabin, and here they were safe inside. Safe from reality, safe from their own complicated lives. Safe from duty. Safe from context. Just. Safe. --Caitlin
Post by Danny Ravensdale on Sept 12, 2014 16:16:32 GMT
Danny stepped out of his poor form and watched Caitlin closely. This was something he could use. After as close a scrutinization as he could possibly do, the boy adopted a near mirror of the pose. His foil was less in the position of a fencer or duelist and more along the lines of slicing blade. He looked at his position and adjusted to what Caitlin had first done until he was in the proper stance. Or, well, as proper a stance as possible for someone with no experience. His thrust, however, seemed almost natural. He followed the paces for a long, slow, and fluid thrust. Aside from his form slipping some about halfway through and his front leg planting itself, one could call it impressive. He kept the foil extended as though to follow through and looked at Caitlin. "'ow's tha'?"
Post by Caitlin Cockfoster on Sept 13, 2014 4:19:57 GMT
She examined him closely, and nodded her approval. "Not bad, practicing your form slowly is going to feel harder than just going through the motions, but it is crucial to your development if you want to commit "good form" to muscle memory. You have to go through the stances meticulously slow, feel the burn in your arm as it forces the blade to extend parallel to the deck and not droop. Feel the burn in your thigh as you lunge, and adjust your foot every time you plant it wrong-" she tapped Danny's foot with her own, forcing it to scoot into the right place. "forward lunging toes always pointed at your foe, let the back leg stand perpendicular for balance, but this one always proceeds the blow." She moved opposite of Danny and held up her blade.
"Again, but this time I will show you the counter, and I want you to recoil into your starting position once deflected. Go slowly, deliberately, and make sure your blade and your feet do not slip."
there is a fencing expert at my stunts gym, I definitely should pick up a few more steps from her and add them to the rp for realism
She sat her glass down next to the decanter and leaned back. This was nice... like falling into a vat of marshmallow fluff. Calm, muffled, the rest of the world blocked out by the closed door to his cabin, and here they were safe inside. Safe from reality, safe from their own complicated lives. Safe from duty. Safe from context. Just. Safe. --Caitlin
Post by Danny Ravensdale on Sept 14, 2014 16:04:08 GMT
Danny simply listened quietly and nodded along as Caitlin spoke. This was going better than he'd expected. When she commanded again, Danny simply adopted his stance again, fixed his sword from the slashing grip he kept moving towards and stood in proper form for a moment. He did as CAitlin commanded, performing a long slow forward lunge, which he left extended as he wwanted for her instruction on the counter.
Post by Caitlin Cockfoster on Sept 16, 2014 4:19:37 GMT
Caitlin gave a flick of her wrist, singing her blade against his as she came inside of it and pushed outward in a tight circle. "The key is speed, so forget all those fancy big-arm showy moves you see in stage acts, those increase the distance between your strikes, and slow you down. You want to cut the smallest angle possible every chance you get," she returned to the starting position at the same time Danny did, then nodded and said "again,"
She sat her glass down next to the decanter and leaned back. This was nice... like falling into a vat of marshmallow fluff. Calm, muffled, the rest of the world blocked out by the closed door to his cabin, and here they were safe inside. Safe from reality, safe from their own complicated lives. Safe from duty. Safe from context. Just. Safe. --Caitlin
Post by Danny Ravensdale on Sept 16, 2014 4:29:06 GMT
Still silent, Danny nodded and repeated the motion slowly and precisely. He made sure his form was as perfect as possible, even as his grip shifted once more towards a slashing blade before being corrected. His feet were off the tiniest bit, which he adjusted as soon as he noticed. He was ready for her foil tap this time and returned to his starting stance as soon as he felt his foil shake.
Post by Caitlin Cockfoster on Sept 16, 2014 4:35:43 GMT
"good," and she meant it. Caitlin smiled and lowered her blade for a moment. "Do you feel comfortable switching roles? I'll strike at you and you mimic my parry?"
She sat her glass down next to the decanter and leaned back. This was nice... like falling into a vat of marshmallow fluff. Calm, muffled, the rest of the world blocked out by the closed door to his cabin, and here they were safe inside. Safe from reality, safe from their own complicated lives. Safe from duty. Safe from context. Just. Safe. --Caitlin
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