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Post by Admin on Jan 18, 2024 4:17:57 GMT
[OOC: She was really good, just like her father, but not as monomaniacal as he was about fighting and killing people. But that was long ago, and there has been plenty of water under the bridge - sorry, under the fallen tree trunk, since then.]
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2024 13:07:26 GMT
Jacob starts to cross the log, his eyes sweeping from his feet to hers, first checking the log for where the bark may have come loose from the excessive rain, not to mention any deliberately set traps, and then to his cousin's feet and how her stance shifts to receive him - is she expecting to flit out of the way of a hurled knife or receive a charge?
"I expect our dear departed Uncle might have something to say about seeking a sparring partner in the middle of a torrential downpour. On the other hand, he might appreciate the unorthodox approach, unless, of course, you have somewhere nearby where we might dry our clothes and tend to one another's wounds more affectionately in the aftermath?" He lets his eyes slide up her form to her face for a reaction - Witty retorts were expected, flirting might be a surprise.
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Post by Admin on Jan 19, 2024 2:15:22 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/52xnPHV/kailessa~png Kailessa jumps onto the log as Jacob starts across. She slips on the slimy bark and then gracefully regains her balance, not losing her smile the whole time. She sees him cautiously crossing. "You are expecting a snare? Some trick? You wound me, cousin, but know that is the only wound I'll receive this day. En grade!"She raises her sword in a fencer's stance. "Father would approve of training on difficult terrain. I think he lost that arm only to make the mundane fights more interesting.
"Love play, is it? You prefer wrestling more than swords these days, huh? We shall see about that. Either way, you'll have difficulty walking through Arden tomorrow!"
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2024 13:26:33 GMT
"En Garde? Kailessa, we're both slipping on this log and I...aiyee!" Jacob's fussing is interrupted when his foot shoots backwards and his hands fly out as if he's barely able to keep his balance. It's a bravura performance, because it hides the quick flash of one of his daggers hurling like a dart at the thigh of her back leg in her stance. He slides back another step and has a dagger in both hands.
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Post by Admin on Jan 22, 2024 7:05:21 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/52xnPHV/kailessa~png [OOC: You put some points into those knives. Might not want to kill her with one of them accidentally. She'll lob a curse and then Benedict will come after you!] She sweeps her leg aside, and the knife buries itself in the wood a few steps behind her. She's not smiling anymore. "Not very honourable trick to pull when we're just having a bit of fun."She stands her ground with her sword raised to bat away any other knives Jacob might throw.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2024 13:30:49 GMT
Jacob arches an eyebrow and takes another step forward, "Fun, is it? First, it was 'None shall pass' and my lovely cousin pointing a sword at my unarmed self, and now it's 'fun'? You wanted to find out what I had learned in my travels - certainly in the last few weeks I have learned to take it very seriously when people I thought were family and friends brandish weapons."
...and another step forward. "Kai, our home is under attack. I promise you that nothing would make me giddier than to spar with you in the pouring rain all afternoon, as if the rain itself wasn't part of the attack. But there are armies posted at the borders and the number of dead family members is rapidly catching to that of the living. If you wish to give me a scar to remind me to mind my manners in the presence of a lady, best get on with it. Otherwise, I think both you and I have more important things to do."
It was a gambit, but Jacob didn't have a sword on him to try and fence with steel and words simultaneously. He kept his hood pulled low and watched her hands, waiting for her to make her move. If he could get past the initial strike, which would come after the initial feint, he'd tackle them both off of this stupid log back onto Kailessa's side of the swollen river. Or he might get beheaded - one of those. He controlled his breathing and waited, almost at the point of her sword.
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Post by Admin on Jan 24, 2024 5:15:13 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/52xnPHV/kailessa~png There is a pause for a moment. Then two. "Spoilsport," she say sheathing her sword. "I'd know if there are any dangers and armies ready to invade."She leaps down from the log and straightens out her clothes from fighting style to walking.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2024 14:00:42 GMT
"I'll thank you to observe my official title of 'Enemy of Fun,' as bequeathed to me by our late King." Jacob retrieves his dagger from the tree it had buried itself to the hilt. With a quick flourish, the dagger twirls through his fingers and is gone.
He then turns back to Kailessa, stepping closer to her and raising a hand to catch her cheek, "Believe me, nothing would make me happier than tussling with you - in whatever fashion - all afternoon. But we need to find an enemy to skewer first. I promise you this - on the first sunny day you and I are in the same shadow, I'll duel you until one of us cries out our maternal grandmother's name..."
"...you should be aware - I don't know my maternal grandmother's name." With a wink, he invites her to walk with him as he starts advancing on Amber once more.
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Post by Admin on Jan 28, 2024 7:19:54 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/52xnPHV/kailessa~png Fast as lightning, she grabs Jacob's wrist when he touches her face. "You'll be lucky to live so long, cousin. There is a storm coming, so best to take your pleasures while you're still able."As he leaves her, she calls out: "Take care in Arden for there are bandits about. Good King Rinaldo seems derelict in his duty!"
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2024 15:44:28 GMT
"Hold out hope. We're not dead..."
"...yet." he says more to himself as he returns to marching through the rain. Just how bad has it gotten?
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Post by Admin on Feb 6, 2024 5:32:27 GMT
Jacob continues through Arden. He doesn't encounter any brigands, so either he has been lucky, or Kailessa has been misinformed. Close to Kolvir, he passes places he is sure were wooded before, but now the trees have been removed to create a training ground. He can see from the layout that someone was drilling the rangers in assaulting a fortified elevated position, like a castle or a similar walled structure. A pair of Rinaldo's pennants hang listless and waterlogged, their poles canting in the soft mud.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2024 23:36:48 GMT
Jacob pauses his waterlogged march the site of the training ground. Julian would be losing his mind if knew what people were doing to his beloved woods. He peers at the banners and the set-up for a moment, intending to turn and carry on, but something itches at the back of his mind and just wouldn't let go.
With a sigh, he turns and walks onto the grounds, taking a closer look at the drill and processes undertaken here. The ceaseless rain would be wiping out some evidence, but also creating some new facts of its own as he examined the mud and tracks throughout the field. He pulls down one of Rinaldo's banners as a keepsake, in case he needs evidence to back up what he learns.
((OOC: I'm hoping Jacob's experience as a tactician and spy can tell him more about what sort of training was going on here, where these rangers came from, and where they left to. Is this "elevated position" a wall they're trying to assault...or the road up Mount Kolvir?))
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Post by Admin on Feb 11, 2024 0:48:09 GMT
There is enough of it left for Jacob to get an idea of the training. It doesn't look like any portion of Kolvir that he recalls. Maybe similar to the hill in the heart of Arden where Julian's fortress (or hunting lodge, as he calls it) is. A steep hill with a wall at the top. The dirt and rock have been contoured from the natural shape into something more specific, so this wasn't general training but part of a plan to capture a certain place. It could be almost anywhere in Shadow if not in Arden. The tracks show that the trainees were lightly armoured soldiers, like the Rangers or skirmishers. A few trails lead to this place and tracks are heading to and from. It doesn't appear that the force marched off all together when the training was completed.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2024 1:56:59 GMT
Jacob processes what the ground is telling him - he needs to no more about the nature of how Julian disappeared and this Rinaldo took up watching over Arden, but that wasn't going to be told here. Time to move.
He turns back toward Kolvir in the distance and sets off at a jog. Several hours running...in the rain...should be fine.
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Post by Admin on Feb 11, 2024 3:12:20 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/M8wygVr/amber~png Jogging across the undulating land, he sees, from a hilltop clearing, a large area of clearcut in Garnath. He smells smoke when the breeze is from that direction. Further on, he crosses the long viaduct above the marshy low bottom land near Kolvir and into the higher and drier place when a proper road leads up the mountainside and through the city gates. The city is mostly as he remembers, aside from the soggy gardens and rivulets of rainwater running down to the port. An area has been partially rebuilt. The streets are quieter than in the good old days, but there are enough people about that he overhears rumours about the castle gates being barred and a civil war among factions of the Church of the Unicorn.
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