fandomhigh | Rangering!, Friday, Period Five [ 06/05 ].

An astute observer might notice that Minsc was not actually in the platemail that he usually seemed to practically live in. A knowledgeable on might recognize that, in fact, he was in just chainmail, which was ~~a lower armour class bonus~~ just not the same. But someone had taken the liberty to rend his platemail off of him and he hadn't had the chance to get to the Gig to fix it yet.

Not that he was complaining.

Oh, no. Definitely not complaining, which was nice. Last time that happened, it was done by a wyvern, and the results were not quite as nice, but just about as bruising.

Anyway...

"Bad guys!" Minsc started out jubilantly. "We all have them; if you don't think you have them, then you'll probably find out just how wrong you are when you are lying in your bed with a sword sticking out of your chest and wondering, 'how did this get here?' We talked about a ranger's ability to be particularly good at slaying a specific kind of bad guy. My favourite enemy, for example, is the gnoll."

So, of course, now there was a gnoll standing near Minsc in front of the glass. "As I ranger, I have studied these vile and disgusting creatures ad nauseum, literally, for years upon years, so that when they hear the name Minsc, they cower in fear."

He looked at the gnoll.

"I said, they cower in fear!"

The gnoll snarled and cowered.

"Much better. Now because of my research, I know that their sensitive weak spots are here!" He thrust a sword into the gnoll. "And here!" And again. "And here!" He swung his sword high and very neatly decapitated the monster. Neatly until its hyena-like head hit the ground and little spurts of blood went shooting out of the neck, sprinkling Minsc's bald head a little before the body collasped at the knees and the headless corpse fell to his feet. Minsc drove his sword into the back of his fallen enemy, and put a foot up on him in victory, and he chuckled. "Although that last one is most people's weak spot!"

He yanked the sword out, cleaning it off as he talked. "I also know that gnolls typically travel in packs, so it is smart to bring assistance. I know they like melee so I keep so arrows on me in hopes to get a few while they are charging. I can recognize the signs of their recent migrations by seeking out travel patterns, diet hunts, and tracks. I can even pick up their scent from miles away, not that that is hard, because they are smelly, malodorous cretins!"

"These are all the sorts of things a ranger must know about their enemy. To know your enemy is to know how to defeat them! I have asked you to look into enemies and learn about how to defeat them, so share! And, if you like, show up what you've got in encountering them! And then, if you've got some extra time before class ends, take up to sparring or some target practise, and keep those skills honed!"

[[ OCD ~~a'coming~~ has decapitated...your mom. ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The kobolds off to the side had climbed up on a rock to yap away in cheering their friend on; the one battling Eric hopped out of the way of Eric's slash, chattering away. He went to give a taunting nudge of his blade on the boy's until he started circling, ready to see what else the silly human had to throw at him.

The slash led into another strike, Eric pushing forward again with a backhand strike as he turned, using the steps of the drill -- out of order, they still seemed to flow together -- to turn with the kobold as it circled.

Fancy footwork helped the kobold avoid being hit at the moment, tail still swishing behind him excitedly. His sharp little rat eyes were scanning the boy as he moved, trying to find a good...

"Yap-yar!" he said, lunging forward again for the gut.

The footwork was fancy; swordwork, not so much.

Eric was lucky that the kobold wasn't a skilled swordsman, but even luckier that he happened to trip over a rock and fell to the side with an, "Oof," essentially ducking under the kobold's lunge. Whether he wanted to or not.

He kept hold of his sword, though, thinking that Arthur would likely praise him for that -- or, at least, not insult him for it -- and lashed out with it, striking towards the kobold's legs in an untutored strike, forgetting about form as he panicked.

Bouncy thing that it was, the kobold easily moved out of the poorly executed swing and then scurried around quickly toward the back of Eric to thwap him with the broad end of the sword in the back of his kneecaps. Nothing to cut him. Just a little move to annoy him.

Eric took the blow, the pain making his eyes water, but he pushed his way to his feet, blinking away the tears and doing his best to keep sight of the kobold. "Not going to help," he said, shaking his head; he was annoyed, yes, but rather than get angry and sloppy, he used it to focus -- not something he'd ever had to do in a fight, but the general idea was something with which he was familiar. He stepped to the side, the drill and his control coming back to him, and he moved to strike at the kobold, this time with the end of the drill, a slash that level directly at the kobold's neck.

Ooooh, the human was getting focused. The kobold yapped something insulting about his private parts in kobold language while bringing his sword up to block Eric's swipe, and trying to push the blade down.

Considering that the kobold was a decent amount shorter than Eric, it was a very...interesting looking move. Awkward might be a good word for it, but maybe that was the point.

Eric was taller than the kobold, yes, and even stronger, and so he locked the kobold's blade against his own. "God, I hope this works," he said, and then he tried something that really shouldn't, not without years more experience: he twisted his wrist, almost flicking it, to try to fling the kobold's sword away.

Oh, curses! Oh, tragedy! What a move! The kobold would have never seen it coming, with how his weapon did indeed slip from his hand and go flying...

...right into the curl of the long whip of the kobold's tail, which curled around it and swung it right back into the kobold's hand.

He hacked out a sinister laugh, rat-like eyes gleaming at Eric as he shook his sword in his hand.

That? Would be Eric's cue to scramble back, panicking again -- which was, unfortunately, in the direction of the other two kobolds.

One of the other kobolds nudged the other one, and they sniggered in agreement. They snarled particularly fiercely as they leaped off the rock, waving their own swords and creeping in so that they now had Eric surrounded.

Eric swore to himself, but he brought the sword up again, falling into the ready stance, doing his best to hold it as he wondered how the hell he was going to get himself out of this.

And then, on some unspoken count to three, the kobolds all lifted their swords, let out a yip-yap of a call, and then jumped up into the air to ambush poor Eric.

And then with a little pop, all three of them disappeared in thin air.

Eric stayed alert for a moment -- he had that, at least, going for him -- before he relaxed, only barely managing not to drop his sword from his now-numb hand. "I... guess I failed that one?" he said, trying to catch his breath.

Minsc gave Sir Eric a smile. "That one, perhaps," he said. "You have much to learn, but, really, that was not bad at all for a beginning, Sir Eric."

Eric nodded, sheathing his sword. "Thanks," he said. "I... I guess you've noticed that I haven't really had much experience?"

Minsc chuckled a little, not unkindly. "I've been working with fighters my whole life, Sir Eric. I've got a keen eye for them. But when kobolds can tell, too...well. But you did well. You stood your ground, and there's technique somewhere in those moves."

"Thank you, Sir Minsc," Eric replied, blushing just a bit. "Arthur was teaching me a little on Wednesday, I guess it helped. I'll try harder for next week."

Rangering!, Friday, Period Five [ 06/05 ].

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.

Re: Fight your Enemy! -- 06/05.