"You have more experience with traps than anyone else I've spoken with here," he said with a chuckle. "Something else we can practice, perhaps when the weather is nicer." How much he could construct on his own and with the lack of magic and specialized tools to help him was yet to be seen, but he might be able to give her some mockups to practice with, and get her thinking about how she would construct traps in stone and darkness so that she could recognize the signs if they came across them in their explorations... Ah, but an activity for another day.
"Key-on," he corrected lightly, tapping the cross guard for emphasis. "But the proper use of those is a more advanced lesson, once you are comfortable with blocking and parrying." He grinned at her accurate recitation of the words and had started to look around for some chalk when she answered an earlier question he had been most curious about. He raised a brow as she started and then stopped again, but at her hesitation he gave her a solemn nod and waited patiently for her to find the right words at her own pace. What she said was both curious and worrisome, and his brow furrowed in thought as he pushed away from the table and roamed the hall until he found the chalk he had been looking for.
"I hope the solution they offer is worth the price you paid," the lorekeeper said gravely. "I only have a few experiences with them myself, but from what I know they can be honorable and honest but also capricious and..." he paused, and the corner of his mouth quirked down into a grim frown. "Even vengeful." He sighed. "Know what you are asking of them and be very specific about it, or the result may be, ah, not what you had intended."
He knelt as he spoke, looking to Maea's height measuringly and then sketching a light chalk diamond on the floor in an open area of the hall. The length of each side was roughly one wide stride for her and he stood up, nodding to the diagram and moving to stand next to it. "The next lesson a student of the blade must learn is footwork," he said, hearing the chiding words of the old cleric of Brigh who had taught him in the echo of his voice. "Before you ever touch a sword with your hand, you must first learn to move your feet!" He demonstrated on an invisible diamond of his own, stepping from his starting position to a 90 degree angle to the left and forward, then returning to his starting place. "Once you're holding a sword it will be hard to remember your feet, so it's important to start training that muscle memory first. There will be times when a straight forward lunge will be your only option, but those will be rare. Far more often you will want to attack - and defend - on an angle. This exercise is to help you learn how to step along that angle and maintain your balance. Stand at the 'bottom' point of your diamond and follow my lead..." he instructed, showing Maea how to stand and how to step, holding her posture and balance when moving forward and backward, and how to shift angles by moving from the bottom to a side point of the diagram and then forward again to the top before retreating down the other side and returning to the start.
"Key-on," he corrected lightly, tapping the cross guard for emphasis. "But the proper use of those is a more advanced lesson, once you are comfortable with blocking and parrying." He grinned at her accurate recitation of the words and had started to look around for some chalk when she answered an earlier question he had been most curious about. He raised a brow as she started and then stopped again, but at her hesitation he gave her a solemn nod and waited patiently for her to find the right words at her own pace. What she said was both curious and worrisome, and his brow furrowed in thought as he pushed away from the table and roamed the hall until he found the chalk he had been looking for.
"I hope the solution they offer is worth the price you paid," the lorekeeper said gravely. "I only have a few experiences with them myself, but from what I know they can be honorable and honest but also capricious and..." he paused, and the corner of his mouth quirked down into a grim frown. "Even vengeful." He sighed. "Know what you are asking of them and be very specific about it, or the result may be, ah, not what you had intended."
He knelt as he spoke, looking to Maea's height measuringly and then sketching a light chalk diamond on the floor in an open area of the hall. The length of each side was roughly one wide stride for her and he stood up, nodding to the diagram and moving to stand next to it. "The next lesson a student of the blade must learn is footwork," he said, hearing the chiding words of the old cleric of Brigh who had taught him in the echo of his voice. "Before you ever touch a sword with your hand, you must first learn to move your feet!" He demonstrated on an invisible diamond of his own, stepping from his starting position to a 90 degree angle to the left and forward, then returning to his starting place. "Once you're holding a sword it will be hard to remember your feet, so it's important to start training that muscle memory first. There will be times when a straight forward lunge will be your only option, but those will be rare. Far more often you will want to attack - and defend - on an angle. This exercise is to help you learn how to step along that angle and maintain your balance. Stand at the 'bottom' point of your diamond and follow my lead..." he instructed, showing Maea how to stand and how to step, holding her posture and balance when moving forward and backward, and how to shift angles by moving from the bottom to a side point of the diagram and then forward again to the top before retreating down the other side and returning to the start.
