Getting to the point

[Ashfalcon]

Illanova Restrov followed her friend Safaire reluctantly into the Warder Yards. Like most of the other drin -- and some Soldiers, she saw -- she'd come unarmed. This was the introductory class; those who held their own weapons and had experience with them would be training elsewhere. One of the Trainers, a mountain of a man with wide shoulders and a barrel chest, was waiting for them. Unsurprisingly, the sword across his back was a massive greatsword, longer than Illa was tall.

Safaire took a place in the rows of trainees, and swallowed. Illa stepped up beside her, and did her best to discreetly look around at her fellow students. Several looked confident; one or two looked frankly scared.

When they were all arranged, the trainer nodded. "Well done," he acknowledged. "I am Kolvir Anderiam. I will be your trainer for your first introduction to the sword. How many of you expect to use a sword as your primary weapon?"

Roughly one third the class lifted their arms. One of the Soldiers hesitated, then asked: "Trainer? If I intend to use it as a fallback for Saidin...?"

"Excellent question," Trainer Kolvir acknowledged. "If it will be your primary melee weapon, then go ahead and raise your hand."

Two more hands went up, bringing the total to roughly half the class.

"Very good," he continued, and nodded for them to lower their hands. "Now, how many of you expect to use a sword as a secondary or fallback weapon?"

Illa and Safaire both raised their hands, along with the other half of the class.

"Good," the Trainer acknowledged. "To begin with, I need you to understand that neither one is a bad answer. There is no right and wrong in this, only what is needed. Swords make an excellent sidearm, long enough to offer some reach but short enough to be used indoors; and while we here in the Westlands favor certain designs, they come in a variety of configurations oriented to a variety of purposes. For now, we will be working with a variety of blades, and emphasizing the commonalities among them." He gestured. "On the racks over there, we have wooden training weapons, designed as best we can manage to mimic the size, weight, and balance of actual blades. You will note that there are several trainers waiting there; if you have questions about a blade, or about what might best suit you, ask them."

OOC: If anybody wants to begin training in Sword, feel free to hop in. I'm mainly doing this to bring Illa up to speed as a drin but I certainly don't mind company.