The Grey Tower

Plumes of white mist appeared in front of the Gaidin's face as he trudged through the snowy ground. Rav vaguely regretted choosing his fancloak instead of the thick fur lined cloak that Kaia had purchased for him. He tugged the thin material over his shoulders, but it was a futile gesture. The cold seeped into his bones, and even for a northerner, he wasn't used to freezing conditions this severe. He picked up his pace towards the Armory, both to hasten the journey and to work heat into his muscles.

The thick wooden doors slammed shut behind the shaggy-haired Shienaran. He rubbed ungloved hands together as he stalked into the depths of the long hall. Weapon and armour racks stretched from end to end, interspersed with tables and benches for performing maintenance. The sword-breaker on his left hip came out of its sheath and clattered on a tabletop as his numb fingers dropped it clumsily. He stifled a curse and dropped onto the bench, clutching his hands together. Peace, the south has no cause for being this cold.

Only once feeling had returned to all of his extremities did Ravak realise that he wasn't alone in the Armory. Someone moved around the swords. Listening for a moment, he hear the hush of slippered feet. Someone from the Tower? They were more than welcomed in the Armoury, but it was unusual. With great reluctance he pushed himself up from the bench, and meandered towards the swords.

"Accepted?" Rav gave a slight nod to the Cairhienin peering at the various armaments. "Just having a gander, or are you looking for something in particular?"

Rav took back the book with a bemused smirk. He'd forgotten all about the book, and had to glance at the spine to recall its subject matter. He didn't even question why he bought a book on weaponsmithing, nor the reasons behind giving it to Avyra. He remembered the more personal reasons behind that day.

Rav rubbed at the side of his nose, which had gone a tad red from the cold outdoors. "Well, you can learn from books, if you like. It's as dry as sawdust unless you're really into it, and even I draw the line at some of the worst ones." He cast a curious glance over Avyra and the sword rack. "Maybe something more practical would be pragmatic. Let's see."

The Gaidin moved past Avyra to a rack three along from the one the Cairheinin had been inspecting. The Armoury held a whole host of training blades, which looked more or less identical to the casual observer. Rav half extracted a few blades before finally pulling one free. Giving it a couple of quick swings, he offered it to Avyra pommel-first.

"Try this one. It's a tad lighter than average, built more for speed than power. Speed is a far deadly weapon than strength." He smiled a touch coldly, like one of his huskies sizing up prey. "I've liberated some Trollocs of their mistaken beliefs over that fact."

"Now, if you want to learn, I can certainly teach you. Do you wanna try in the cold, or shall we find a training room indoors?"

The Gaidin Captain made a brief gesture to Avyra to wait as he collected his swords from the table. The steel blades vanished into their leather sheathes. There was no need for the flashiness of Folding the Fan, not that Ravak was confident he could with fingers so cold. He returned to the Accepted, took a bundle of wooden lathes for himself, then gestured once more to follow.

"To answer your question: the same as everyone else. We'll start with the fundamentals, then work up from there. You won't become a Blademaster in a day, but even knowing the absolute basics gives you a fighting chance."

Unsurprisingly the weather had not improved in the few moments spent in the relative warmth. If not for the hourly bells, Ravak would have suspected it was comfortably into the evening instead of mid-afternoon. The sky was dark with almost unbroken cloud cover, and a shadow had fallen over the entirety of Hama Valon. Fortunately just a shadow, he thought wryly. The entrance to the Warder Hall was shut, and it took a little effort to tug open one of the large doors leading into the foyer. A wave of hot air poured out from inside, and Rav bathed in the relative warmth as he waited for Avyra to step indoors.

The foyer was a world apart from the Armoury. Wood dominated instead of stone, and two roaring fireplaces heated the hall from either end. The seats and benches near them were all occupied as people dried wet clothing and regathered some of the strength the wintery weather had sapped away. Rav gave the scene only a moment's pause before he strode towards the staircase. His boots made wet impressions on the Flame and Fang mosaic that dominated the centre of the floor.

Once up on the first floor, Rav took a right turn past his old office before listening in at a door on the left. After a few moments, he turned the handle, peered inside, then looked back to Avyra. Rav beckoned with a nod. "Come on in."

The classroom was a facsimile of other training classrooms. A soft square mat covered the floor, aside from a slim wooden border along the walls. That was were the weapon racks sat, with a variety of different practice weapons. Most of the wooden swords were thicker bundles in imitation of long- or greatswords; it had been prudent to pick up the thinner set of lathes Avyra held. The Warder moved his blade through a few forms, mostly to ensure his muscles were all working but also to feel out the nuances of the weapon in his hands. Even with just a bundle of sticks for defence, his movements seemed dangerous if not deadly.

"Alright, basics. What do you know already about swords or fighting with them? Or even fighting with any sort of mêlée weapon? I dunno if you've been through Dax's class on fighting unarmed, but anything at all can inform habits, good or bad."

"No no, that won't be needed." There was no need to voice his thoughts that an unarmed spar was likely to go badly for all involved. He felt much happier with a weapon in hand at any rate. "All that's important about unarmed is the footwork. I haven't tried to wield every type of weapon, but whether it's a sword or a bow, or just your fists, there's similarities in how you position yourself. And that's the first step when it comes to fighting. Watch."

Ravak found that he was nearly standing correctly as it was, with his left foot pointing forward and his back foot pointing out to the right. There was a gap of about two feet between his heels, centring his balance beneath his torso.

"When you're fighting, this is how you wish to stand. Feet spread out so that your weight is distributed. And your feet are at an angle with one another. That's so that you don't go tumbling to the ground if someone comes at you from either the side or the front. You're grounded, and hard to move."

The Gaidin Captain then proceeded to step backwards. His back foot led, moving back by about a foot and a half, then he kicked off with his front boot. "When you move, lead with the closest foot. You want to spread your weight out, not group it up, otherwise you lose that advantage of being grounded." He then proceeded to move forward, leading with his left foot pointing towards Avyra, then bringing his right foot back towards his body.

"Now you have a go. Just worry about your footwork, and then we'll get onto the good stuff. But this is a fundamental, so you want to have it down first."

Ravak watched with a teacher's eye, focusing on the specifics of the instructions he had given whilst being aware of any other general issues that may arise later. It was all second nature even if he did less training with students nowadays.

"That's fine," Rav nodded. "You're light on your feet, so you can move fast. Just don't forget about how you stand. You can't hide behind speed alone." Through his shirt, he reflexively touched one of the circular scars from where he'd been hit by an arrow.

He moved a small distance away from Avyra, outside of his reach with the training blade. He angled himself so his movements were clearly visible.

"Let's get onto using our swords, shall we? Now, I'm going to start with a few basic strikes. It's not going to seem as fancy as what you see out in the Yards most days, but again this is about building up from fundamentals."

Rav raised his Tower-forged longsword high above his head, then brought it swiftly down until the tip of the blade was at eye level. He went through it slowly for the first two demonstrations. "This is the Strike of Wrath as it is called in Shienar. It has two goals. The first is to intercept a thrust or a cut coming towards you. The second is that it threatens your opponent. When your sword stops, you want it pointed at their face. Your sword is going to want to come down further, towards their chest, but you've got to stop that. You are targeting their face, not their body, yeah?" The Gaidin demonstrated for the third time against an imaginary opponent. "Now you try. High above you, then come down and stop at their head. Keep the sword centred as you attack, as that will keep your blade clearly pointed at your opponent."