IC-Scene: Some Healthy Competition

Theo could hear the rangers from the assembly room. Since neither Caranthir nor Iskar seemed to have awoken yet, he thought he could discuss the details of the missions with them later.

He watched the crowd quarrel for a while, then spoke:

“We Silvermists abdicate our ability to ride and use heavy armor so that we can focus only on our archery practice. Thus, on foot, our marksmanship is matched in Pendor only by the Noldor. All our strategies are based on the assumption that we are on foot.”

“Now you, Clarion knights, have many skills we do not possess. You are competent riders, and you can hold your own against cavalry and infantry alike. Your horses are faster than the Pendorian average, while we rely only on the agility of our feet.”

“Archery isn’t something we can measure by a simple competition. We are masters of forests, cities and mountains, but in open fields it is your bows that rule. We are all masters in our own environments.”

“But so are our enemies. Therefore, the Silvermist tactics will usually be targeted at changing their environment, so that it turns against them and make them preys, instead of masters. We use trees, rocks and rivers, as well as sun, rain, mist and darkness to neutralize their abilities. What we must keep in mind is that we must never allow our enemies to change OUR environments. Always be in the place where you are the best at, and we will be in our own place. I hope you have learned something today.”

Having finished his breakfast in his room Iskar went out to the courtyard as to investigate the reason for the cheers and loud voices so early in the morning. He arrived just in time to witness Theo's little speech. With a smile Iskar noted that it was - as usual - well thought through and just to the core of how their order fought. "Yet pride is seldom quieted by reason", he thought and approached the group in the yard.

Heh, if you listen to one of Theo's lectures each day, you will all be master tacticians in a month's time, he said laughing.
But as I see you are all boasting of your abilities, why, let's see you back your words up with deeds. Henceforth there will be a tourney every six month. Only members of our order will be allowed to join and they will prove their abilities in riding, melee combat and archery. But not everyone for himself, because that would bring out nothing new. There will be teams of two, consisting of one knight of the Clarion Call and a Silvermist ranger each.
The teams have six month time for preparation during which the knight will help the ranger improve his skills in mounted and melee combat while the ranger will teach the knight true marksmanship. In the tourney they both will take part in every discipline and their achievements will be added up. The team with the highest total merit will be considered winners of the tourney. The preparation has to take place in your spare time, but the prizes will be valuable silvered plate armours or especially fine weapons.

"Keep fighting against each other and you *will* hear my lectures every day", Theo said.

He came closer to Iskar and spoke only for him to hear:

"Yes, I have no patience for trivialities like pride and sense of superiority in anything, much less in my own order. The world is burning and it's soon going to burn even more. I just want to teach the kids enough to survive through the storm. If they found the time to quarrel, it means they aren't training hard enough."

"By the way, perhaps you can also make it so that the winners of our competition be the ones we send to the Pendorian games. I mean, if the king indeed makes them happen. Telling them that they will have the chance to punch a Gauntlet in the face might give them extra motivation."

Walking in and overhearing the conversation in the courtyard, shakes his head.

Fighting over something so trivial as who is better so early in the morning. Do you want me to give you drills to do in the morning so you have something better to do now? If not, then shut up.

But Iskar and Theo couldn't have summed up about this issue any better, but for you simple-minded folks out there, I will say it in simple terms. Neither the knight or ranger is better than the other. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

"We still have a couple of hours until the preparations for the parade are done. I suppose a friendly match would do no harm. Since I spent the last weeks just sitting in Poinsbruk's library, I feel I am getting a little rusty. I could get some sweat."

Theo picks up three practice swords and throws one to the knight.

"Here, blow your steam on me, then. The new brothers might not know me: I am Theo Venator, Silvermist's worst archer and best blade. It is a pleasure to meet you. Now, I have two swords, so it is only fair that I fight two of you at the same time. Let one silvermist and one clarion knight come together against me."

Theo's purpose was to impress and entertain the knights with his moves. "Sometimes", he thought, "pride is only quieted by a demonstration of superior power". But then he gave up trying to justify it to himself. "What the hell, I just want to fight!"

The knight is surprised by the sudden move, but still catches the sword with ease. He looks around, unsure for a moment, scanning the faces and posture of the knights present, before a smile appears on his face.

“All right,” he says humorously, moving towards Theo while testing the weight of his weapon through a few practice swings. He chooses the tallest Silvermist Ranger present to assist him in this little sparring exercise. The ranger does not seem terribly thrilled about fighting against Theo, maybe because he knew about his skills with the sword or maybe simply because he was a superior, but he steps forward nevertheless and gets himself a large wooden sword.

The two mean position themselves around Theo, while the rest of the men present back away to form a circle around the combatants. When all is in place, the knight of the Clarion Call charges, but he has not informed his ally about any plans. Apparently he wants to take on Theo by himself. He opens the fight with a powerful horizontal cut, using the momentum of his charge.

Theo crosses his swords in the form of an "X" and turns it to the side*, easily parrying the knight's swing. He quickly steps forward, closes the range and hits his chin with his elbow.

OOC: this is probably my last post for the week. I'll be back in 7 days. Someone please control my character and don't let him do anything stupid.


*. Like this guy here, but horizontally and with longer swords:

Theo smiled. He always puts himself in situations where losing is not possible. Now, he knew that he would either win the fight and prove his might, or he would lose it, but prove to both orders that they need to learn how to fight together. "To win either way", he thought, that's what strategy is all about.

"I thank you both for the nice practice, knight and ranger. Now I can say I'm definitely awake! But even here there is something we can learn from.
When facing a superior opponent, it is often the best option to work together, like you did to defeat me. You all see how, even in a rushed improvisation like this one, a Clarion knight and a Silvermist can overcome an extremely difficult fight. Now reflect on how much more we can achieve if we constantly practice this kind of teamwork and combine our order's tactics in the field! Let us then join our swords and, while other orders lose their time quarreling among themselves, we grow strong in our unity.
There are other important lessons here, but these I will leave to yourselves to find out."

Having said that, Theo went back to his chamber and began gathering his equipment for the duke's parade.


Theo: Thanks Azlanek, it was a nice one.