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Post by Ringulf on Oct 14, 2011 10:08:13 GMT -5
Axes, Seaxes and Pointy Sticks By Ringulf The sound of the heavy Iron head was very unique as it buried itself in the soft pine of the target. The biting “thwack” was very satisfying and the three that followed it, did not diminish that feeling in the least, at least not for the big half Skandian Ranger that threw them. Ringulf walked to the target to retrieve his axes. Each target, of which there were three, was about the size of a man and the striking surface resembled a square silhouette of a human figure, made of edgewise soft pine planks sandwiched together sideways. As a bit of a jest someone (most likely Crowley) had put a rusty old Skandian helmet on the center one and had used some charcoal from the fire pit, to draw the rough points of a face and beard upon the weathered white pine facing. Ringulf left it in place. When he had prized the axes from the target he turned and faced a group of Rangers, mostly young ones, but there were quite a few apprentices and some old timers as well. Many of the Rangers had seen Ringulf throw his axes with startling effect as they had his Skandian countrymen before and after they had become allies and though they were unmistakably devastating the axe had never really caught on as a true “weapon of choice” in the Ranger’s arsenal. Crowley had asked him to teach this class during the Moot so that the Rangers would be afforded the benefit of learning about the tactics of an old enemy turned ally and also to get a chance to learn something new to add to their lethalness and versatility. He had also intended it to be another stepping stone in the recovery and slow march toward normalcy that was occurring in his big gruff drinking partner. A special project of his for many years, Ringulf had warmed to very few and stayed distant and surly to most after the death of his mentor. During that time of reclusive vagrancy where Ringulf seemed intent on being a itinerant wanderer amongst the Corps, a loner and “problem solver”. Ringulf had become more a Ranger directed mercenary with no fife or mentor, no apprentice or even a horse. He moved from fife to fife shoeing horses and doing general blacksmithing, fletching, woodworking and leatherwork for the Rangers he stayed with. He did chores for them and helped with certain “problems”. Problems that Ringulf seemed very good at fixing. Crowley found that holding the Skandian’s attention and trust could be achieved by some informal comradery and libations, so he gave him that, and found it to be a valuable asset for them both. Crowley now stood in the back of the cluster of the gray and green cloaked mob next to Halt. Halt leaned over toward him to whisper confidentially to the Commandant: “He is doing rather well, who would have thought an apprentice could bring someone like him out of his shell?” Crowley turned his head to look at the wizened old Ranger and gave a mocking snort, “Worked for you didn’t it?” Halt leaned on his tightly strung longbow and then down to were it met the ground. He gave a little chuckle, “Yeah I suppose it did at that!”
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Post by Ringulf on Oct 15, 2011 10:20:06 GMT -5
"Thank you all for coming I hope you enjoyed the demonstration of the way the axes can be used I will get into the finer points of throwing them in a moment. First off, are there any questions that anyone has?"
"Yes Ringulf I have a question.." piped up Gillan respectfully,. "As Rangers, don't we have the best distance weapon on the field of battle already? Our bow is all we need to dispatch all three targets in front of us and go back to long distance shootin, without having to change weapons!"
"Thank you Gillan! That is very true in most cases and we are all agreed that the bow is the Ranger's primary weapon...which is why most of us never learn to handle a sword, heh heh,. But between the Bow and the Seax, or throwing knife you normally carry, there is a bit of a gap. The Skandians used this medium range weapon to offer protection and aggression at the same time within this gap between there spears and their primary weapons as it can be thrown or weilded in the hand. What do you do when an enemy or several enemies are closing rapidly and all you have is a longbow?"
Suddenly their was a rapid fft, fft, fft, Followed immediately by a thud, thud, thud. Three black shafted arrows stood quivering in the center of each target.
"I try not to miss!" said Halt wryly as he lowered his bow.
"So I guess that as long as you shoot well enough, axes are a waste of time, Huh?" reiterated Gillan.
Ringulf chuckled under his breath and an almost evil smile started to form at the edges of his mouth. Then in a flurry of motion, he spun and whipped an axe at the right and left target so quickly they both hit almost simultaneously, each one decimating the black shaft beside it and buried itself in the wood.
Then a third axe flew from his hand with an obvious increase in power and penetrated the old helmet like a can opener, right through the forehead, pinning it so that the brow was pressed tightly to the wood.
It tipped the horns of the helmet forward at a 45 degree angle, almost as if the wearer was a charging bull.
Ringulf came up out of his crouch and looked at the split helm. He looked at the tilted horns, and with a growl he pulled the two slightly larger bearded, ship axes from his belt, one in each hand, and through them both at the same time with great force. They flew through the air end over end, each one lopping off one of the large ox horns close to the spot that it joined the helmet.
"Skandians shouldn't have horns anyway!" he said in a growl. (a long standing contention that his clan had often argued amongst his countrymen)
"Any other questions?"
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Post by Ringulf on Oct 17, 2011 16:35:31 GMT -5
If it were later in the evening, there would have only been the sound of chirping crickets, as it was in the hight of the afternoon one could hear only the light breez as it rustled in the trees and long grass near bye.
Crowly looked over at Halt and with a chuckle turned and started to walk off toward the camp, "Now you done it!" He said so Halt could hear him.
Halt, who was nothing if not practicle had a slight flash of worry pass through his mind at the Commandants remark. Crowly knew Ringulf pretty well, perhaps he had stepped over the line.
"Well if there are no other questions...Mylia and Tory, do you have those axes that Ari gave you last Yuletide? Why don't you each come up and take a target. There is another target open for anyone else who thinks they may want to learn this." Ringulf said over his shoulder as he turned to retrieve his axes.
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Post by Firehead on Oct 18, 2011 12:46:52 GMT -5
"Well if there are no other questions...Mylia and Tory, do you have those axes that Ari gave you last Yuletide? Why don't you each come up and take a target. There is another target open for anyone else who thinks they may want to learn this." Ringulf said over his shoulder as he turned to retrieve his axes.
"Yes, I got mine right here." Mylia said, patting the handle of the axe she held. "You made sure that I packed it back in Marshwood." Stepping up to the throwing line, she turned to look at the others. "The good part of all this is that you guys get the privilege of choosing to learn a new skill. The sad part of it is, if you're his apprentice, you don't get a choice--you have the privilege whether ya want it or not!" she grinned.
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Post by Ringulf on Oct 20, 2011 19:59:31 GMT -5
"The good part of all this is that you guys get the privilege of choosing to learn a new skill. The sad part of it is, if you're his apprentice, you don't get a choice--you have the privilege whether ya want it or not!" she grinned.
Just throw the axe the way I taught you, Miss Smarty Pants, or you will also have the privalage of doing the dinner dishes tonight! Ringulf said with a wicked grin, fully expecting a small pink tungue to flash out in reply from either Mylia, Tory, or more than likely both.
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Post by Brandwyn on Oct 20, 2011 20:17:07 GMT -5
Tory also took her place in front of a target and tried to remember what Ringulf had already taught her so she wouldn't look like quite so much of a fool in front of all these people. She was very glad she had been given some training and time to practice already, but she was far from being as good as Ringulf, Ari or even Mylia.
"The good part of all this is that you guys get the privilege of choosing to learn a new skill. The sad part of it is, if you're his apprentice, you don't get a choice--you have the privilege whether ya want it or not!" she grinned.
Just throw the axe the way I taught you, Miss Smarty Pants, or you will also have the privalage of doing the dinner dishes tonight! Ringulf said with a wicked grin, fully expecting a small pink tungue to flash out in reply from either Mylia, Tory, or more than likely both.
Tory snickered, glad the bantering between the two of them helped ease the tension she felt being the center of attention. She glanced at Mylia, and then turned her focus to the target. If only she could make this first throw a good one, she thought as she ran over all the pointers, took aim, held her breath and let the axe fly. She slowly let her breath out as she followed through on the motion of her arm, knowing the axe was going to hit slightly off center, but the question was, did she have the distance right? If she were off, it would hit with the top or back of the blade, or worse, the handle and not stick to the target. She was still having a great deal of difficulty with the range to target.
The beautifully decorated axe sailed through the air, handle over blade, straight toward the heart of the target and landed with a thud about two inches off the center of the bullseye. Tory silently gave a prayer of thanks as her face broke into a grin to the smattering of applause.
She grinned at Ringulf, "Yep, easy as making a fifteen course dinner for the Baron of Meric without Cook's permission to use his kitchen," she quipped lightly.
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Post by Ringulf on Oct 20, 2011 20:34:35 GMT -5
She grinned at Ringulf, "Yep, easy as making a fifteen course dinner for the Baron of Meric without Cook's permission to use his kitchen," she quipped lightly.
"I don't know about that, Bagette's have two ends, but it is very hard to get them to stick!" Ringulf gave her a smile and a wink, "Good job."
"OK Mylia your turn!" Ringulf instructed.
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Post by Firehead on Oct 26, 2011 13:58:53 GMT -5
"Just throw the axe the way I taught you, Miss Smarty Pants, or you will also have the privalage of doing the dinner dishes tonight! "
"I have that privilige every night!" Mylia retorted, watching as Tory took her first throw. It thudded into the target slightly off center but, Mylia figured, it still would have done quite a bit of damage had the target been an enemy of some kind instead.
"OK Mylia your turn!" Ringulf instructed.
Mylia hualed back and let fly with the axe in one fluid movement, sending the axe winging away handle over head into the target at head hight. "Ha!" She grinned at the sight of a good strike, then straighted as another thought struck her. Turning, she grinned sweetly at her mentor. "If I get ten like that one, will you wash the dishes tomorrow night?"
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Post by Ringulf on Oct 26, 2011 22:12:12 GMT -5
"Well I'll tell you what, why don't we play a game, this game is called Castle Seige and can be played by as many folks as want to participate, You two can start it off but anyone can join in!
In order to win you must throw ten axes at the attacker in front of you. Each time you throw the axe, it must stick fast somewere in the taget. You may not miss or have the axe fall out more than twice.
If you miss, or fail to "bury the hatchet", you are "overrun" and have lost the seige. If however you are able to use all ten shots as described above, you "hold your ground".
The one who sticks more or most accurately will be the overall winner. What do you say?"
(OOG note: this is played by using the combat button on the composition screen just like the tournements we had.)
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Post by Brandwyn on Nov 4, 2011 19:00:14 GMT -5
Tory looked at Ringulf with her head tilted sideways as she tried to follow the instructions of the game. Dustin was in the crowd and she didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of him.
The game sounded like fun but she wasn't clear on one point.
"So we throw all of our ten axes and then the next person throws ten axes, right?" She asked Ringulf, "Or do we take turns alternating until everyone has thrown ten axes?"
She hoped it was the first way because then she could perfect the range to the target and figured she would do fairly well.
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Post by Ringulf on Nov 4, 2011 19:31:29 GMT -5
" We throw all of our ten axes and then the next person throws ten axes, right?" She asked Ringulf, "Or do we take turns alternating until everyone has thrown ten axes?" She hoped it was the first way because then she could perfect the range to the target and figured she would do fairly well. "Yes Tory you all can throw at your own target, you can use one axe ten times or a bunch at once but if you use a bunch don't chew up my axe handles by getting too close together!" Ringulf said. "You can go at your own pace but the real fun is when you get fast enough so that you can stop your assailant quickly, as that is more realistic! In a siege defence, those buggers are comming over the wall one right after the other and they don't usually wait till your ready!" He snickered.
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Post by Brandwyn on Nov 4, 2011 19:46:11 GMT -5
Tory nodded, "Okay. I will just take two of yours then. I sure don't want to have to carve any more axe handles." She rolled her eyes. She liked carving well enough, but she'd had enough of that for the day already. She picked out two axes that felt right in her hand as she swung them. They were nearly identical to her own axe except for the carvings on her handle and she hoped they would fly the same.
She stepped back to her target and tucked one of them in her belt and then hefted the two she had just picked up, swinging them back and forth for a moment to get the feel of them.
Tory stared at the target for a moment, and imagined the enemy soldiers surging toward her. She saw the bear claw pendants with their sparkling red rubies glinting in the sunlight and their faces twisted in glee with a look of madness in their eyes. For a moment she was transported back to Gallica, to the Grizzly camp and the battle where she had taken a crossbow bolt to her thigh. Anger surged up in her and she set her jaw determinedly and suddenly both axes were sailing through the air.
The right one hit slightly before the left. Both landed in the torso of the target, right where they would crash through ribs and puncture both lungs.
She took a breath and the Grizzly's face morphed into Korrin's face in her mind and she threw her own axe striking the target exactly where she intended, right between the legs. If it had been a real man instead of a wooden target, it would be a man no more.
At the applause and someone's shouted comment, "OWWW! Dustin, you better watch it, man! If you ever make her angry you're in trouble!" Tory was brought back to the present and realized that she had just castrated the wooden target. She blushed bright red and very nearly ran away from them all. For a moment she struggled with the urge to run, but finally her stubborn streak won out. She shrugged and at Ringulf's nod, ran out to retrieve her axes.
(Scores 17, 16 and 8 for the first three throws: 41)
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Post by Ringulf on Nov 5, 2011 9:49:33 GMT -5
As Tory troted out to retrieve her axes and survey her handy work, Ringulf had to cross his arms and put one hand up to his face, stroking his beard but primarily trying to hide the growing skicker that was irripressible at this point. "Hey! "Tvier ox!" he called when Tory reached the target, "Remember what I told you about pulling the axes out? You have to place your hand on the target where it is imbedded, then grab hold of the haft and wiggle it out....don't worry, he is dead, he won't feel a thing!" There was a good natured chuckling amongst the rangers, but there were many of them, including Ringulf that were impressed and very proud of the young girl.
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Post by Brandwyn on Nov 6, 2011 11:03:22 GMT -5
"Remember what I told you about pulling the axes out? You have to place your hand on the target where it is imbedded, then grab hold of the haft and wiggle it out....don't worry, he is dead, he won't feel a thing!"
Tory cocked her head at Ringulf wondering why he was bringing up how to remove the axes since that was one of the first things he had taught Mylia and herself. Then she thought maybe it was for the benefit of the class and so she was starting to nod when he finished his instruction and she realized exactly what he was saying. She had just removed the first two axes and turned halfway toward Ringulf as she tucked them into the loops on her belt on each side.
She could tell he was tring to hide a smirk from behind his hand as he stroked his beard and the snickers in the audience didn't go unnoticed, though she chose to ignore them. For a moment she struggled with a clever comeback. Then she abruptly turned back toward the target, grabbed the remaining axe haft and gave a hard yank downward and then a savage pull up and tugged the axe head free of the wooden target. She turned back in time to see a few of the men in the crowd wince and then she smiled sweetly at Ringulf.
"You meanlike that, Ringulf? I am not sure I did that right, perhaps I need some more practice on wiggling shafts out." She lifted her chin, a faint grin on her face as she walked back to the line and her eyes met Dustins. He was sitting with his hand covering his mouth and laughing as his friends pummelled him on the back and butted him in the shoulder. Tory winked at him just before turning back around to take her next three throws.
Facing away from everyone she took a deep breath and willed her hands to stop shaking. She was definately going to have to come up with something to get Ringulf back, but she was rather pleased with herself for not childishly running off into the woods at his horribly embarrassing comment. She knew he was just having fun whereas had she been in Meric and someone had said that, she would have felt very self-concious and angry at them and likely would have done something very bad to them. But she realized this was all part of the close-knit family relationship that the rangers shared and it was not directed to hurt her, but to just have some fun among friends. Still... She felt she owed Ringulf a little prank. Maybe Mylia could help her think of something.
Now she concentrated on throwing the axes again. One at a time this time, but swiftly in succession.
The first one hit square in the chest, but she didn't have enough force behind it and it barely stayed in the target. It would have been a flesh wound, but hardly one that would have stopped her attackers.
The second one she buried deep into his chest, right next to the first one. This definately would have stopped an enemy charging at her. She was so excited that she didn't take enough time on the third throw. It hit the side of the top of the target as if glancing off an enemy's helm and flew off at an angle.
"Drat!" She stomped her foot. "Guess I am out of it already." There was no way that last throw would have stopped an enemy and so her position was now overrun. She pulled her saxe and boot knives and brandished them at Ringulf. "Of course, I am hardly defenseless, even if they are now in too close to throw an axe at them." She winked at him and then flicked both knives at the target, hitting them dead center, one on one side of the two axes and one on the other. The impact of the saxe knife on the target shook her first axe loose and it dropped to the ground with a thud and she just dropped her head, looking at the ground and shook it, chuckling to herself.
She sighed and stepped back, waiting for the others at the line to finish throwing so she could go retrieve her weapons.
(Throws 4, 5, and 6 scores: 9, 17 and 10 = 36 plus first three score of 41: Total score so far: 77)
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Post by Ringulf on Nov 6, 2011 11:50:09 GMT -5
"Of course, I am hardly defenseless, even if they are now in too close to throw an axe at them." She winked at him and then flicked both knives at the target, hitting them dead center, one on one side of the two axes and one on the other. The impact of the saxe knife on the target shook her first axe loose and it dropped to the ground with a thud and she just dropped her head, looking at the ground and shook it, chuckling to herself.
She sighed and stepped back, waiting for the others at the line to finish throwing so she could go retrieve her weapons.
Ringulf laughed and clapped at her last comment and her accuracy with her blades made his chest swell with pride.
"You are a thoroughly dangerous woman! I would be sleeping with one eye open if you were not on my side! As it is I will be able to sleep better with all this fine protection!...but tell me Miss Waterton did you just taunt that guy with your axes so you could get him in close and finish him off Ranger style? I think I am starting to see your more bloodthirsty side!...yup! A thoroughly dangerous woman!...NEXT!
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