Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: hutch@ibeam.intel.com (Steve Hutchison) Subject: [MG] Mock Battles Message-ID: Keywords: beating on one another with pointed sticks References: <93261.203839344LWKC@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU> Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1993 20:48:39 GMT [ADMIN] Lancos is property of Mike Sander. Kardia is property of Liralen Rostykus. Dougl is property of Dennis Brennan. Little Rat is property of The Dreamer. All used by permission, the rest are mine, etc. etc. Lancos walked swiftly down the hallway, to the room marked "Game Room 3: Practice Area". He found the door slightly ajar, and knocked on it, while beginning to enter. 'Raf looked up from where he knelt beside Little Rat and Kev on the woven straw mat. She had Kev in a silly-looking position on the floor, and 'Raf was adjusting her grip on the boy's shirtfront. He motioned the warrior to enter. "Come on in. We're just about finished with the kids' lesson. How about you warm up a bit, and we can start our session in a few minutes." Lancos nodded, and began to do a few basic stretching exercises, and a few practice moves. All the while, he kept one eye focussed on what Little Rat might be learning. She and Kev had moved to sitting on their knees on the floor, hands palm-to-palm, pushing gently back and forth. Suddenly Kev pushed a little harder, and Rat did something hard-to-see with one hand, and Kev ended up throwing himself on his back on the floor, giggling. It didn't look anything like a fighting art, but 'Raf claimed it was. He didn't say anything, trusting the 'kan's tactics, but at the same time wondering precisely what he was leading to. For his part, 'Raf was also watching Lancos' warming up, looking for clues to his style and degree of experience. `Go for it, Erredan. Good stretch, loosen up. Good technique. Not bouncing, anyway. Hm. I'm gonna have to show him a few breakfalls, maybe. He's carrying his center awful high. Probably from wearing armor. Ah.. Warmup kata. Have to get him to take off the armor, see if he lowers his center any without the extra weight pulling down... Not a bad first-form. Second form starting -- seems to know what he's doing... Ah. Leopard style, how interesting. And appropriate. That low block is from Horse though, doesn't really fit well. All the hand-to-hand is kung-fu; pretty old-fashioned, but solid... nice triple combination.' A distant chime sounded, and he spoke up. "All right, Little Rat, Kev, that's enough for now. Do your breathing practice at the edge of the mat, and then go wash up for dinner. Good progress today," He touselled Kev's hair as the boy helped Little Rat up from where he'd thrown her, and they both walked, with exaggerated decorum, to the edge of the straw mat. "Lancos -- I'm ready now if you are." After waving to Little Rat, Lancos gave an abbreviated bow of greeting, which 'Raf returned. "I thought that you had other students?" "I do," 'Raf grinned. "They're in here. They're just running around the lighthouse without going outside -- the room recreates the environment for them and keeps us separated until they're finished. It's all done with lights and mirrors, not to mention some quantum black holes. And silly string theory of spacetime." "I won't pretend to understand that." "That's ok... I don't either." 'Raf grinned crazily, sharp lion's teeth glinting in the light. "I fake it." "Are we going to practice?" "Sure. Your hand-to-hand art is very similar to one on the world where I used to live before I came here. It's a variant on the Tiger forms, called Leopard style by my teachers. Has more overhead strikes, some slightly different hand positions, different foot placement, but in practice there's very little real difference. I'm kind of surprised, having seen you fight with sword; you use a completely different style for weapons." "Surprised, huh? So are most opponents!" he said with a grin that implied he had more than one trick up his sleeve. "Yeah. When do you find time to practice?" "Oh, fairly frequently. It's true there's been little in Generica, especially out of battle, but like I told ar'Elya, I've had other concerns ruling me. Besides, that's why I'm here now." "OK. Were you trained with full contact or with partial, or with non contact? Armor or unarmored or both?"" "I first trained in partial, without any armor. But I eventually worked my way up to full, and learned to work with the armor since." "OK... Let's do full contact, I'll leave the sparring daemon set to protect us. It will make a warning like this -- (BONG) -- if either of us is about to do something that will result in serious injury. The daemon looks a few seconds into the future, so it can spot most big catastrophes before they start." "If you say so. Anything else?" "Yeah, if either of us is out of control, can't stop, it'll activate a defense field. But don't worry, it's harmless." "Ok. Ready?" "Sure. En garde!" 'Raf sank into a deep cat stance, one paw extended in front of him, the other down and forward, as he balanced his weight evenly between his two feet. Lancos shifted into a similar stance, hands forming claws, the two first fingers slightly extended and hooked. The satyrlion began circling sideways, his tail twitching at the tip. Lancos frowned, and adjusted his stance, moving backwards and turning to keep his defensive line ready. He soon spotted a brief opening each time 'Raf shifted his foot, and on the next step, snapped forward with his rear hand into a body strike. 'Raf avoided this, but the snap led to a leap, allowing Lancos to position himself behind 'Raf. The warrior snapped with a backhand piercing claw towards the kidneys, but the tail slapped into his face. Before he could react, except to flinch back from the tail, he found his hand grabbed from out of the air, as the satyrlion rolled backwards and diagonal to the direction of his strike. He did a swiping circular block and his hand was free, but there was a rear-leg claw kick headed for his midsection, which he was forced to defend against by retreating. He smiled, meeting 'Raf's predatory grin. He started circling again, this time clearly also watching the tail. A simultaneous brief set of strikes was initiated, and both blocked them the same way. Lancos' breath was coming faster now, and he wore an alert but slightly tranced expression. 'Raf continued grinning, and began growling -- his tail started to twitch again. Lancos' hands lashed out, but it was a feint for a kick to the solar plexus. 'Raf caught the flying foot, and flipped it up into the air. The arc continued, but Lancos kicked off with his rear foot, turning it into a backflip. He blocked quickly, warding away four fast strikes and coming to guard position again. 'Raf made another fast lashing strike to the face, but it was an obvious feint. Lancos dodged sideways slightly, then felt a faint stinging where razor claws had striped him. "Sorry. Just scratches," 'Raf said, sliding backwards. Lancos shrugged. "Had worse. En garde." He began a flurry of jabs and strikes, which 'Raf variously blocked away or faded back from. This went on for about a minute, with neither combatant really getting the advantage of the other. "Hold," 'Raf said, after a few minutes. Lancos stopped, breathing hard. "Why?" "We're too evenly matched in that style. Besides, your armor is slowing you down, dude, you'll start getting tired too fast. We should vary one of those factors." "Well, it's true I'm a little faster without armor, but I don't foresee a time where I wouldn't have it on, so I should mainly practice with it. So how about you try a different style, and let me get a small drink of water first." Lancos startled back as a canteen filled with water appeared at his feet, with a faint POP! He grinned sheepishly at 'Raf and picked it up, then drank from it deeply. "Sounds good. I'll switch from Tiger to a pure defense style." "Uh, all right." Lancos put the empty canteen down on the mat and it vanished with another faint POP! "Whenever you're ready," 'Raf said, just standing there. Lancos sank into the cat stance again, pausing for a second as 'Raf seemed to be not even watching him. The warrior shot forward suddenly, striking for the unguarded throat, and... missed? His leading hand had been grabbed by 'Raf, who at the same time spun off to the side. Lancos tried to recover; the force of his blow pulled him forward, but the gentle tug against his hand brought him off-guard and off-balance. He felt 'Raf move towards him, somehow keeping him bent slightly forward through the grip on his hand an wrist. He knew an attack should be coming at him, so he reached across his side to block it. He felt the wind from a fist blow past his hand, and a gentle paw on his back just below the shoulder that guided his movement into a stumbling stagger forward. The paw that held his wrist let go, and he quickly regained his balance. 'Raf was standing about five feet away, watching him, his tail tip not even twitching. Lancos launched himself silently into the attack, a strike that would feint to the face and, even if blocked, end up as a stabbing blow to the side of the neck. He tried to use the force of his lunge to add power to his blow, but 'Raf stepped towards him instead of away, and before the blow could be started, the 'kan had caught the striking claw-fist in his paw. He raised it up towards the sky, while his other paw came menacingly towards Lancos' face. As if struck by a wave, the redhaired warrior fell over backwards, the shock of falling absorbed by the paw that held his left fist, guiding him into a sort of sideways roll that dissipated the energy of the fall. "What was THAT?" he demanded. 'Raf was standing, still not in any kind of defensive posture, just balanced and relaxed. Lancos shook his head in surprise. He climbed back to his feet. "Spirit harmony, m'fren. I told you I'd be defending." "You should teach me that sometime." A faint patter of applause came from alongside the mat. While they had been practicing assault-and-throw, the other students had returned from their run. The satyr band, looking sweaty and nearly naked, Kardia in a barely rumpled white gi, slightly flushed from running, and a not terribly exhausted Dougl (who was still visiting his cousin Karl), all were in the same seated-kneeling posture along the edge of the mat. The two children had gone. "Well. Time seems to be flying. Lancos, I promised the good folks that they could help me practice my iron-skin training. Would you like to watch or join in the fun?" "Iron skin?" the warrior asked, with somewhat of a puzzled look. "I've heard rumors, but never saw anything like it actually used. Isn't it a magical technique?" "Oh, sort of. There's several varieties, but the basic idea is to train your ki sensitivity and focus in such a way that when a blow comes in you provide just enough counter to prevent it from hurting you. But it's somewhat magical due to the intensity of focus required, and I had to change the technique anyway. The guy who taught me the basic method was used to humans, not satyr-lion blends." 'Raf gestured to the waiting class. "Come on, folks." They milled around forming a circle around him. Lancos watched from outside the circle, at first. 'Raf was staring into the distance, as if looking at something very far away. Kardia grinned, silently, and snapped a hard fist into 'Raf's ribcage. It landed with a meaty THUD but didn't seem to cause any real damage. Karl and Anna both struck at the same time, solid blows to the stomach and kidneys, but the blows again didn't seem to do anything. Lancos moved closer. The twin black-haired satyrs, nodding to each other, landed blows that should have been punishing, to 'Raf's face, but he didn't flinch and his head wasn't rocked back or deformed as much as the blows would be expected to cause. Dougl, almost shyly, gave a side-thrust-kick to 'Rafs left hip, but fell, the blow acting as if it had been struck against a wall. He got up and nodded to Lancos. "Take a poke at 'im, it's fun!" The redheaded warrior raised an eyebrow at the strange definition of "fun". But, wanting to help out his friend, he shrugged, and the circling crowd made room for him to join them. He struck, hard, wondering aloud whether the wards that 'Raf had established earlier should be turned on. 'Raf grinned and raised his arms, allowing them better access to his sides and ribs. Lancos whipped a strike to the base of the neck, the classic Leopard style piercing deathblow, and pulled his hand back, shaking his fingers in shock. "That was like punching a tree. What are you doing?" Lancos asked. 'Raf made a noise halfway between a purr and a chuckle. "I can show it to (whap snap) you but it isn't really (thud-whak) compatible with the style (whap whappity) you use. I just want to learn how to do it (kick) if I have to, I wouldn't do this (whap whap whap) in a fight be (whap!) cause it slows me down. It takes a while to learn, (swak!) anyway..." Lancos resumed helping with the punches, but decided to use solid fist strikes instead of the more dangerous piercing ones -- it wasn't worth jamming a finger. "I was more interested in the information; I don't think I'd have the need to use it much either." He was going to end it there, before he got the idea to try to distract 'Raf, to see if the break in concentration would loosen the defenses. "After all, we both have more efficient means of defense." he delivered a nerve strike, with no noticeable effect. "Like the spirit harmony you did earlier..." 'Maybe I'll try the chin' he thought to himself, 'Ouch, no glass jaw here.' "Or the golem form Noira gave you..." 'Hmm, nothing; maybe that didn't catch him off-guard...' "Or my medallion..." 'Raf turned his head slightly, in time to see Lancos give a smile, and a punishing blow. The shoulder it hit rocked back a half-inch, but was obviously not damaged. The 'kani only returned the wry grin Lancos held, quickly determining what the ranger had been up to. The assembled group continued to pound at 'Raf for another few minutes, before he interrupted. "Lancos, would you and Dougl please get your swords. I want to see if this really stops edges like it's supposed to." Lancos scowled. "My weapons are magically sharpened, 'Raf, are you sure this is a good idea?" 'Raf took the scimitar, holding it up at eye level, then looked down the length of the curved blade, muttering under his breath. Sparks flickered along the edge for a moment. "This one's ok. Magical traces in the forging, this kind of metal doesn't usually hold up without it... A good, solid blade-sharp to keep the edge, allow you to cut through a lot; a case-harden to prevent it from deforming. Nice blade. No curses, no banespells, some quickening to speed attacks, and make it seem lighter to the wielder." He drew a strange pattern in the air, and the two swords glowed. "Matched set? No, guess not. Lemme see the other one." "Matched? Not any more." Lancos muttered under his breath, as he traded blades with the 'kan. 'Raf seemed to not hear the words, concentrating on the short sword. "Hmm. Same basics. Different person did them, this one has a slightly duller edge, less hardening. Some sung-spells but none of them are banes. Some runes?!? Aha! Throcken's signature. This is new! Oh, well, I'll examine it in detail some other time." He handed the sword back, and looked at Dougl's. "No special enchantments other than durability, the sort of thing you expect in a good student weapon. OK, guys, one at a time, hit me about as hard as you would a practice pell." Dougl shrugged, and slammed the flat of his sword into the satyrlion. "No, use the edge." The young paladin-in-training warily snapped his weapon into a sideways blow. "Better. See, no damage." Lancos tested his sword, slowly sticking the point against the satyrlion's bare skin ... it dented but didn't cut. He jabbed, harder, to no effect. "OK. You still have the safety spell in effect, I presume?" At 'Raf's nod, he whirled and swung hard. 'Raf was knocked backwards by the force of the blow, and a very thin red line showed on his chest where the magic and the forceful strike had penetrated. "Wow, broke skin. Good shot, Lancos." The warrior took out a cloth, to wipe off the blade, and made sure there was no damage to it. "Wow. I hope our enemies never get hold of that!" "No problems there." A chime sounded. "Wups. Time to get ready for dinner. Thanks for the practice, guys. Use the fresher-spell on the towel by the door, Lancos -- I know you just showered a little while ago."