Basic Strategy, Monday, Period 4

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

Class met in the Danger Shop today, which had been set up to look like a dimly lit dungeon, deserted save for a swarm of small, ugly beasts that looked a bit like purple wolves with lizard heads.

"Last week our subject was acknowledging things about ourselves we can't change or forget," Tyrion said without preamble. He was impressed with himself he'd gotten the Danger Shop to work, and it might have shown in his bearing. "This week, we begin a unit on making the best of what you have. You may be strong. You may be clever. You may be lovely to look upon. You may be rich. Unless the gods gave with both hands at your birth, it's unlikely you're all four. It's far more likely you're weak, stupid, ugly or poor -- relatively speaking, of course."

"Your choices are two. You can either concentrate on what you have a gift for and hope it's enough to get you through anything, or you can spend your life trying to master the things you're worst at in hopes of balancing yourself out. All things being equal, and assuming you're being honest with yourself about having tried to improve, I'd say you're usually better off focusing on your skills and making them as good as they can be. A swordsman does not prepare for battle by reading, nor should he, and it makes no more sense for a weakling to spend his days fiddling about with a sword. He might hurt himself."

But -- because this is my class, and I have the right to be perverse sometimes -- today we will start with a single kind of skill, and pretend we're all trying to improve our strength." He pointed to a beast. "Your job is to fight these lovely fellows. They've no ability to speak or reason -- all you can do is find a way to bash your way out of this one. After you've done that, we'll talk some more."

Before he released the class to fight the beasts, he added, "And by the way, Kate Daniels is my assistant now. Bother her if you can't find me."

Comments

SIGN IN [9/05]

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

As if you are strong, clever, handsome and rich.

Re: SIGN IN [9/05]

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

Kenzi

GENERAL CLASS STUFF [9/05]

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

You should focus on what you're good at, but that's not what you're doing today? What sense does that make?

Re: GENERAL CLASS STUFF [9/05]

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

PURPLE LIZARD WOLVES. WHAT. Where the hell was the exit?!

Re: GENERAL CLASS STUFF [9/05]

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

If Bruce was a bit proud that apparently the gods used both hands for him, it didn't show. He was too busy focusing on the monsters.

Yep. He could take them.

Re: GENERAL CLASS STUFF [9/05]

[inaskinnyway.livejournal.com]

Susan fully understood and saw the point of the lecture, but he'd lost her on the activity. While she was curious as to what the wolf lizard things were, she wasn't in any hurry to fight them. It wasn't as if she was ever going to have to fight monsters in her lifetime.

She'd just quietly fade into the background where no one could see her and pull out the book she kept with her. Though to be honest she'd spend most of her time watching the other students in their efforts.

Re: GENERAL CLASS STUFF [9/05]

[hasadestiny]

Given the choice between one of his father's lessons and the lizards, Lex would pick the lizards. At least they would only be trying to kill him.

Re: GENERAL CLASS STUFF [9/05]

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

Listening to what the little teacher said, Caroline couldn't help thinking that what she'd been lacking before (strength, duh) had been totally made up when she became a vampire.

Now to wonder if she was supposed to feel more perfect. She thought it was weird that it wasn't quite true.

Re: GENERAL CLASS STUFF [9/05]

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

Okay, those were... new.

Instead of listening too much to the lecture, Tony was already taking apart his phone for parts. If he couldn't just use the suit to, you know, not die, he'd come up with something else.

Ah, technology on the fly.

Re: GENERAL CLASS STUFF [9/05]

[forhisfriends.livejournal.com]

... There was much staring. Much, much staring. Huge blue-eyed staring.

Simon missed most of what Tyrion said, yes.

Re: GENERAL CLASS STUFF [9/05]

[batwaffles.livejournal.com]

Poor, yes; weak and stupid, she'd been called both, so by about halfway through the lecture there was a defensive look in Stephanie's eyes.

But she thought she understood what Tyrion was getting at. Maybe. There wasn't exactly time to think that all the way through, see, with the lizard-wolf things (although she did approve of the color) to worry about.

Re: GENERAL CLASS STUFF [9/05]

[holy-daughter.livejournal.com]

Lucrezia began reciting a prayer. This was their class? He intended to slaughter them wholesale the second week? She was very quickly taking back every nice thing she had thought about Lord Tyrion.

Re: GENERAL CLASS STUFF [9/05]

[squire-hand.livejournal.com]

James had a particularly strong reaction upon noticing the wolf-lizard chimera. His hand automatically reached for his non-existent sword. A beast combining two of his least-favorite memories, the constructed demon at the hilltop monastery, and the crocodile-sized rock serpent in the cave.

He scanned the room, noting the exits, and kept himself on the good side of any obstacles. This was madness!

STRENGTH EXERCISE [9/05]

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

There are moddable creatures to spar with, and an array of clubs, swords, shields, knives and bows and arrows to choose from. The fights aren't long, and they won't be especially difficult for anyone with fight training. You can't get hurt, but if the beast knocks you down, it counts as a loss for you and the exercise ends.

Re: STRENGTH EXERCISE [9/05]

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah crap why didn't she bring a gun why didn't she have Wesley teach her bow and arrows why didn't she have a blowgun why why--

Uninterrupted by her internal flailing, Kenzi was diving for a shield, a club, and reluctantly leaving the bows and arrows to those who actually knew how to use them. Then watching for an opening. Or, you know, someone else to go down so she could run past them. "Niiiice lizard-doggies. Nice."

They were not amenable to flattery. So whapping about as hard as she could with the club, that was it. And she managed to get past one, then two, then... well, the thing bit her on the leg and she went down. "Damnit."

Re: STRENGTH EXERCISE [9/05]

[notmyownage]

Claudia spent awhile dodging and wishing she had her tesla on her. She was really good at dodging, not so much with, like, hitting. The fight seemed to go on forever, in her mind, and was almost entirely made up of being chased around in circles by the little purple beast. Finally, it seemed to get tired of that tactic and made a lunge at her. She dodged -- and shoved it right into a wall.

Well. That wasn't so bad. . . .

Re: STRENGTH EXERCISE [9/05]

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

Bruce didn't bother with any of the weapons. When he saw one of the beasts charging, he just settled into a low stance. When the beast was close enough and lunging for an attack, Bruce stepped to the side and slipped an arm around its neck as he jumped on its back.

Yes, Bruce was putting an angry creature into a sleeper hold. It wasn't the first or last time he would do this to a monstrous animal, because it often proved effective. After a short time in the hold with Bruce weighing it down, the beast dropped to the ground, unconscious and wheezing.

Re: STRENGTH EXERCISE [9/05]

[hasadestiny]

Now that he was actually supposed to fight them, maaaaaaaybe Lionel would have been the better choice after all.

He picked a sword that mostly closely resembled a rapier, not that he thought what little fencing he'd done would really help, but at least he was halfway familiar with the weight.

He managed to stab a whole one lizard before another knocked him down. Ow.

Re: STRENGTH EXERCISE [9/05]

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

Um, hopefully no one from PETA saw this, but rather than screw up her manicure, Caroline grabbed up a club to defend herself should a monster make the stupid choice of attacking her.

No, she would not be taking the initiative to attack. She wasn't stupid.

Re: STRENGTH EXERCISE [9/05]

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

Sure, he should probably go the smarter route and run like the wind, but when did Tony Stark ever prove to be smart?

Instead, he picked the sword with the most padding in the grip to fight with. Then, wrapped what might have been the guts of his phone tightly around the base of the blade. If anyone asked why he had a strange wire coming out from his shirtsleeve to attach to those parts, he'd just respond with a very enthusiastic lecture on science.

He grinned, sword held carefully with both hands as one of those lizard-wolf thingies charged. The hardware could only handle one go at this, so he just needed to make it count. Once the lizaolf was close enough, he darted out of biting range with a totally manly yell and stabbed down into it's shoulder. Not enough to kill it with the blow, but the so the audience at home can see it, goddamn you cartoons blue surge of energy running down the blade into the monster did the rest of the job.

Eew, burnt fur.

Re: STRENGTH EXERCISE [9/05]

[forhisfriends.livejournal.com]

Simon took a sword and a shield, and drew in a breath, and then did something he'd never done around so many people before: turned invisible. He was completely prepared to explain to people, afterwards, that it didn't hurt as much as it looked when his head moved in a blur right before he vanished.

Once invisible, he waited for any of the creatures to come to him because he didn't want to be the one to start a fight. Eventually though, one of them found him by nudging him, and didn't seem to care about seeing him once it had felt him.

But, he still had the advantage from his power, and the fight was fairly short, if not terribly elegant.

DISCUSSION [9/05]

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

Once the beasts were all dead or disappeared or whatever happened to virtual foes, Tyrion spoke again. "My interest in making you do that was to see how it felt to each of you. Do you think of yourself as strong? If you don't, how do you think your experience was different from that of someone who does?"

He paced a few steps. "I set that up so you had no option but the fight. What would you have done if you could have chosen any reaction?"

Re: DISCUSSION [9/05]

[notmyownage]

Claudia's hand went up. "Run the hell away." Mostly to get her tesla, or something else she actually knew how to use.

What? She wasn't proud. Running away was totally a legit way to deal with things.

TALK TO TYRION [9/05]

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

Find him after class, just in case you haven't heard him speak enough.

TALK TO KATE [9/05]

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

His lovely assistant.

Re: TALK TO KATE [9/05]

[withasword.livejournal.com]

Kate was here, and provided people came to her needing advice on beating up beasties, she was all set to help.

On anything else, she might be less useful.

OOC [9/05]

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday, game!