[ We join Our Heroes as they sit around their campfire the afternoon after their first battles. It's been a hard day, what with all the fighting and all, and they're probably a little tired. But it's too early to sleep, just yet.] [ Unless you're like Napper, and need something to while away the time between killing sprees. ] [ The camp is on alert, since the enemy encampment is still almost in sight across the fields. Everyone has different oppinions about when the next attack will come. ] [ Session... START! ] * Ethan shakes his head. "Setting up their camp this close... just poor tactics. I'm disappoi- well, no, I'm glad they're not that competant." * Ada sits, looking around. She's considerably more awake now, thanks. * Sei yawns. "I'm just glad that there haven't been any serious injuries." * Nebrinel stretches, and looks at the slightly smaller and less complex bow than hers in her lap in annoyance. "What kind of injury is serious to you? Death?" She picks it up and eyes it. Dismemberment is pretty serious. * Fyril sits somewhat off to the side, looking inordinately pleased. Sparkly eyes, and all. He's just looking off into the distance just now. Pretty much anything that can be described as 'gaping', 'sucking', or 'oozing', too. * Ada looks over at Fyril, noticing him for what may be the first time. "What have you been up to?" * Fyril looks back, grinning. "Nothing important. Just helping out around the camp." * Ada raises an eyebrow. "At least you had fun." Death, major dismemberment, sucking chest wounds...anything else is pretty easy to handle. Poison's no fun. * Fyril nods brightly, then hops up quickly and moves over next to Nebrinel, sitting down off to the side of her. "Is that one mine?" * Ethan eyes Fyril, and grins. "That's your bow. Made it myself." * Fyril blinks, and looks up at Ethan. "You made it?" * Nebrinel nods slightly, and says, handing it to him, "Yeah, but don't let that stop you. It looks just fine. It'll do well for a first bow." Yup. Nebrinel coulda done it, but she was working on hers, and it was important to get it to you ASAP. * Ethan nods at Nebby. "One does not grow up in a military city without learning how to make and repair weapons." * Fyril cocks his head, and takes it, handling it gently. Then he smiles at Ethan. "Thanks!" He moves it around in his hands. * Nebrinel waves her hand, and says with a slight smirk, "Serviceably, at least." She turns to Fyril. "Sadly, we don't have the space for target practice, but we can at least work on aim and stance." Just remember... point the arrow *away* from you. And me. Please. * Ada snickers. * Fyril rolls his eyes at Ethan. "It'd be bad manners to shoot you with the bow you made. And I'll be better than that, anyway." Good, good. Just making sure... friendly fire's never fun. * Fyril blinks. "How is it friendly, then? People who shoot you usually aren't friends." * Ada giggles at that. * Nebrinel chuckles, produces an arrow and hands it to Fyril. "It's more a term." * Fyril takes the arrow, and turns it over a couple of times before resting it in his lap with the bow. "Didn't you say no target practice?" * Nebrinel says, with a slight smile, "Nobody can aim without an arrow in their hands." * Fyril blinks, then nods. "Right." He looks down at his lap, then up somewhere near Nebrinel's face. "Should we do this here? Is it safe?" * Nebrinel shrugs. "It's safe if you can keep your grip. Don't worry, I'll keep it from hitting anything." * Ethan hrms. Are there any of the shields from the shield-wielding sissy charge laying around? * Fyril nods, then lays the bow and arrow aside on the ground and smoothly presses himself up. Then he reaches back down for the bow and arrow. * Nebrinel stands and unslings her bow. It really is big, a little bigger than her. "Before we start, I want you to see it from the outside." * Ada stretches and leans back more comfortably, watching Fyril and Nebrinel. * Sei leans back, too. * Fyril puts on a learning face and holds his bow off to the side. He widens his eyes slightly at Nebrinel's bow, and focuses on it. ( GM-san? Shields? ) ( No shields here. ) ( You're in a group of light infantry, which means no shields. ^_~ And all the ones from the morning's ruckas have been cleared away already. ) ( Ah, okie. ) * Ethan lays back then, watching Fyril/Nebby and munching on a carrot. * Nebrinel chuckles faintly. "It's designed to use my strength a little better." She produces another arrow, and nocks it, and says, "Key point. Watch how I'm holding the string, where the arrow's pointing... everything that I'm doing. She lifts the bow and pulls the arrow back slowly, until her hand is nearly touching her cheek. * Fyril flicks his eyes up and down the bow, at her stance, trying to take it all in. He does try to look actually at her as little as possible, though. * Nebrinel exhales noisily, and slowly lets the bow go back to normal without firing, which is obviously a lot of effort. "You're supposed to shoot the damn things." She puts the arrow down and puts her bow back on her back. * Nebrinel shakes her head. "So, Fyril, ready to try it?" * Ethan mmms as he swollows a bite of a sandwich. "One of the trainers back in Urik always used to say to think of the arrows as if you're shooting them from your eyes..." * Fyril looks down at his bow, nods slowly, then moves it up into position. He gets into a fair approximation of Neb's stance, and nocks the arrow somewhat unsteadily. [ At that moment, you spot Corporal Bedan heading your way. She seems confused, as though she can't decide weather to burst out laughing or go into a rage. ] * Ada glances up at the corporal. * Nebrinel chuckles, and moves over near Fyril very quickly. "Eyes, cheek... some people go for certain teeth. But you have to find a point that makes your aiming consistent." She looks at Fyril's stance. * Sei peers up. * Ethan sits up and gives a quick salute. * Fyril blinks when he sees the corporal, and nearly loses control of the bow before steadying himself. [ The Corporal reaches your tent. Rasha and Aelbur, who were sitting out there with you a moment ago, are suddenly nowhere to be found. ] * Nebrinel 's hand flies up, but stops short. "Careful... try to take aim at something soft, like a tent. Or the ground. Or me." She grins faintly. "And if your hands hurt, warn me..." she trails off. She isn't looking at the Corporal. [ She looks around at the lot of you, then says, in her best Soldier Voice, "Fyril!" ] * Fyril flicks his eyes around for targets, and turns a bit to point it at the door to Ethan's tent. Then he starts when she speaks and loses hold of his aim, twitching the bow upwards, and the arrow. * Ethan grins bemusedly. * Fyril blinks, looks at his bow minus arrow, then looks around frantically. [ Fyril's grip is lost on the bowstring, which sends the arrow flying over Ethan's tent, and sailing, sailing... into the latrines area, from which someone begins to curse with a great deal of energy. ] * Ada facepalms. ... That's friendly fire. Your first lesson is complete now. * Sei stands up. "I have a feeling I'd better go check on that." * Nebrinel chuckles faintly. "Try to get the arrow back, if you can. Making arrows is a pain in the butt." * Sei hurries off towards the cursing. "Sounds like it." * Fyril blushes a bit, brings the bow down to his side, and looks at the corporal sheepishly. "Um... sorry. Just trying to learn." [ Bedan facepalms, too, sighing. "Fyril. I am to escort you to the captain's tent. Which I'd be doing anyway, really, after that." ] * Nebrinel turns to the Corporal as well, with a slight frown on her face. * Fyril nods ashamedly, then turns to Nebrinel. "Um... could you try getting the arrow back, then?" * Nebrinel says, "If Sei can, he will. Otherwise, I'll just have to make another." She flicks her eyes towards the captain's tent, and then back to Fyril, sticking out her hand. "I'll hold the bow for you. Go ahead." Eh, don't worry too much, Fyril. First time I fired a catapault, my aim was a bit off, and I accidentally hit a mime troupe coming down the road. ( The eeriest part was, they didn't scream. ) * Ada eyes Ethan. * Ethan reaches into his pack, and pulls out a small medal. "Got a medal for it, though." *grin* * Ada rolls her eyes. "Go, Fyril." * Fyril turns the bow quickly over to Nebrinel, making sure not to touch her as he does so. "Well, that is worse. Sort of." He walks over to the corporal. * Nebrinel takes the bow, and says, with not much humor in her voice. "He had me firing at a house. Figured I couldn't miss it." [ The corporal nods to Fyril and leads him off towards the Captain's tent. ] * Fyril heads off behind her. * Nebrinel exhales upwards in a huff and sits down with the bow. * Nebrinel pulls the bow with no appreciable effort, sights as if she had a arrow on it, and lets it go with a frown. * Ethan hmms. "Not sure if the fact she was looking for Fyril before that little mishap is a good thing or a bad thing." Given the look on her face, it could be anything. Could just be another assignment. * Nebrinel says idly, "I'd put money on good, if it mattered." * Ethan nods. "Wonder what the people in the other camp're doin' right now? ... probably eating puppies. Puppy-eating bastards..." *shakes fist; munches cookie* * Nebrinel draws the bow again, lets it down again, and shakes her head, saying in a very unamused voice, "I seriously doubt that." * Sei walks back towards the group, carrying an arrow. ... well, yes. But it helps get you in the right frame of mind for battle if you think of your opponents doing something really mean. Like stealing candy from babies. * Sei hands Nebby the arrow and sits (or, rather, thuds) down. * Nebrinel rolls her eyes. "Guess that explains why elves are so good at hating humans." She takes the arrow. "Thanks. Where did it end up?" Never got that. I mean, who could hate people as cute and cuddly as us humans? *biggrin* Sure. Just...try not to do it again. It certainly got his attention. * Nebrinel says, "Next time I'll be a little more vigilant. I didn't expect him to lose the arrow that badly." * Sei nods. * Ada snerks at Ethan's comment. * Nebrinel opens her mouth, and closes it, leaning forward on her hands. "I'd respond, but I'm really not in the mood. Ask Sei, he could probably give a more scholarly answer." Either that or jealosy of our ability to grow goatees. Both humans and elves have this tendency to begrudge others for being different...and when there's a big difference, such as species, between two groups...well. * Ada says, dryly, "That doesn't stop us from being cute and cuddly, though." * Sei smiles. "Well, no." * Ethan shrugs. "I dunno. Only elves I have a problem with are the ones who've been trying to add new holes to my body." * Sei nods. A person isn't a group as a whole, Ethan. And we already know you're not normal. * Nebrinel is still leaning on her hands. She looks a little distracted. * Ethan deadpans. "Me? Not normal? Whatever gave you that idea?" * Ada shrugs, smiling now. "Just a hunch." * Nebrinel smiles a little at that. I'm abnormal. Oh the tragedy. Oh the humanity, even. *smirk* * Nebrinel hrms softly, and rubs her hands together, muttering to herself. * Ada lightly thwaps Ethan upside the head. Oh the ow. * Nebrinel comments, "Not enough damage. He has a hard head." Yes, he does. I need a thick skull. Keeps me from being knocked silly. You're already silly, Ethan. ... hmm. Knocked sillier, then. Or knocked unsilly. One of the two. * Fyril walks back over towards the fire, looking thoughtful and blushing a bit. Welcome back. 'ey Fyril. Meeting go well? * Ada looks up at Fyril. * Nebrinel looks up as well. * Fyril blinks, and nods happily. "Pretty well. They didn't even yell at me about the arrow thing." * Nebrinel gestures with the previously mentioned arrow. "Well, with Sei around, no real damage done." * Fyril looks over to Sei and runs a hand over the top of the spikes in his hair, smiling sheepishly. "It wasn't too hard, was it?" Though I imagine being attacked on the latrine did... scare the crap out of the guy. Nah. He was...significantly unhappy, however. ... * Ethan whistles. o/~ * Ada smacks Ethan upside the head again. Hard. Ow. * Nebrinel smiles faintly. "Better." I try. * Fyril rolls his eyes at Ethan, then looks back to Sei. "Well, thanks anyway. Who was it?" His name's Thack, from a couple of groups over. * Fyril nods, somewhat relievedly. "No one I know, then." He hesitates. "He look like he want revenge, or anything?" I don't think so. ... I could make a pun here, but I'm too afraid Ada will decide that fireballs work better than thwaps. *grin* * Ada blinks and goes with an innocent look. "Who, me?" * Nebrinel says dryly, "They do." My point exactly. * Fyril looks even more relieved now, and heads back to where he was sitting before, near Nebrinel. "Maybe that's enough training with that for the day." Could've been worse. Coulda hit Xivilai. * Nebrinel frowns very slightly, then hands Fyril the bow. "You might be right. Here's the bow back." * Fyril looks over at Ethan. "I don't think I could hit her on my best day ever." He blinks down at the bow, then takes it gingerly and lays it next to him. Might be better with an actual target, something to concentrate on. A big rock, circular piece of wood... Advancing enemy hordes could work, too. * Fyril looks down at the bow, and nods. "Yeah. It's easier to train with a goal." He looks around for anything likely looking. (Preferably not an advancing enemy horde, though. =P) There's a problem with hordes. They usually try to kill you. Minor setback. * Fyril looks unsettledly over to Ada. "That's only minor?" Well, yes. But it's damn good motivation to get the aim right, ne? * Ada snickers. Fair enough. * Fyril looks back down at the bow. "I'd rather pick a target that won't kill me if I miss it." Who said the advancing hordes would kill you? I'd be standing between you'n them, after all. * Nebrinel leans forward onto her hands again. "I'm just saddened there's no real way to set up a target." (Yu said so! ;_;) (Wah!) * Fyril looks towards the tents. "We could paint one on one of those. Just make sure there's no one in there first." * Ethan hmms. "Find me some wood and I might be able to cobble something together." ( That's right. I did. Unless you wanna make a target out of dirt, you're screwed. ;P ) ( Hey, are the Big Dirt Ramparts still up? ) ( They're sorta trampled, but yeah, they're still there. * Ethan hmms. "For now... you could stick some rocks in the dirt hill over there in a circle, make a crude target. * Nebrinel says, "Maybe." She makes a fire appear briefly in her hand, and then crushes it. * Fyril looks off towards the hill, and twitches his hand over the bow. He looks over to Nebrinel sidewise. "It'd be training of some sort." He blushes a bit. "And I wouldn't accidentally shoot anyone. Probably." Arrows would be pretty easy to retrieve, too. * Nebrinel chuckles. "We'll just hope the captain doesn't walk up again. You want to continue, then?" * Fyril looks down at the bow again. "Not really, but I probably should." He shrugs. "If not that, then some other training." * Nebrinel says, "Magic would almost be safer." She grins at that. ... actually, if any of you see a spare sword laying around, I'd like to try something. * Ada blinks. "What's that?" * Ethan strokes his goatee. "Just somethin' I've been running through my head. Blade on Pantryfiller is damn sharp... saw that with the big golem thing and when it sliced that whetstone in half. Been wondering if I could use it to chop an enemies' sword in half." * Nebrinel opens her mouth, and then shuts it. "I had a backup sword I was about to offer, but it's nowhere as stable as a real sword." s'no biggie. Worst comes to worst, I'll try it out in combat. * Nebrinel shrugs, and reaches down to the opening of her chest wrap. And _pulls out a sword_. It does indeed not look like the best made sword. She peers at it. "Amazing. It still works." * Sei blinks. * Fyril blinks a few times at that, then stares at Nebrinel's face unflinchingly. "How'd you do that?" * Nebrinel grins faintly. "Trade secret." ( Nebby has Breasts of Holding? o_O ) (o/~) ... that's a neat trick. (Eek.) * Ada stares at Nebrinel for a moment, then shakes her head. I thought so. Did you need someone to hold it? Preferably, yeah. Hold it out from your body... actually, let's step away from people before we do this. * Fyril blinks again, looks off to the side, and pouts. * Nebrinel chuckles, and pats Fyril's shoulder lightly. "I told you you'd have to figure that one out yourself, remember?" She stands and walks off a direction a little. * Ethan follows, glaive leaning on one shoulder. * Fyril turns and watches them go off, and shrugs. And still pouts a bit. * Ada watches Nebrinel and Ethan. "Something wrong, Fyril?" * Nebrinel stops, and holds the sword out towards Ethan. "Do you just want me to hold it still, then?" She smirks. "Most people aren't going to hold the weapon still." * Ethan sets up in a spot far enough away that he won't hit anyone on the backswing. "Just hold it in a normal stance. Right now, I'm just trying to see if this'll work. I'll worry about aim later." * Fyril turns to look at Ada. "She had me try to figure out was on there, and I couldn't." He shrugs. "Thinking about that's bothersome." * Nebrinel nods, and holds it out in the classic 'Elven Full Forward' Pose. Don't worry about it. Those kinds of things don't come to you overnight. * Fyril shifts a bit, and flexes his hand over the bow. "Nothing does." * Ethan gets into his normal stance, pauses for a moment, then slashes down diagonally about 2/3 of the way down Nebby's sword. * Ada glances at Fyril, then goes back to watching. "You learn fast enough, though. Particularly for an elf... There's nothing to be ashamed of." * Fyril grins happily, and looks over towards the swordplay. "Yeah. I'm a quick study. Always have been. If they're interesting subjects, anyway." Then I suppose the trick is to make them interesting. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Ethan (2d6-3) and gets 1. 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Ethan (2d6-4) and gets 2. ( The second was opposed, but you still beat it. The sword breaks, which means Ethan lives up to his family name. ) Yeah. But some things are better than others, by nature. * Nebrinel barely manages to hold the sword through the hit and watches the shards bounce off of a shield in front of her face. "Ah well. Won't miss it very much." She drops the hilt and shakes her hand. ... cool. * Ethan hmms. "Could come in handy if we have to take someone alive." Thanks, Nebrinel. * Nebrinel shrugs, and says matter-of-factly. "Could just disarm them. It was nothing." She picks up the largest pieces and starts walking back to the group. Disarming works, but most warriors train to hold onto their weapons. Can't train to keep your weapon from breaking. * Nebrinel shoves the pieces almost into her chest, and they're gone once again. "Good point." She arrives back at the group and sits down again. * Ethan sits down as well. "Test mostly successful. I was hoping I'd be able to slice clean through the blade, like I did with the golem's leg, but that works too." Can't argue with what works, right? * Sei nods. Yup. s'no substitute for just poking an enemy with the blade, but it might come in handy. * Nebrinel hrms to herself, and scoops up a little ground, peering at it. * Fyril looks over the whole group quickly, then lets his gaze rest on Nebrinel. "Want to go try setting up an archery target?" * Nebrinel drops the ground to the ground, and nods. "We can do that. Lead the way." * Fyril hops up, scoops up the bow, and heads off towards the dirt shields. * Nebrinel stands, says, "We'll be back. Hopefully with all the arrows we left with." She grins faintly, and walks after Fyril. * Ada chuckles. "Good luck." * Ethan lays his glaive across his lap. "For a weapon that started off as a food maker, Pantryfiller's got some nifty moves." * Sei nods. [ Session end! ]