Amaya Blackstone (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
special_rabbit) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2022-02-16 03:48 am
special_rabbit) wrote in fandomhigh2022-02-16 03:48 am
Entry tags:
Weaponry; Wednesday, Second Period [02/16].
"Morning, everyone," said Amaya, greeting the class with the usual nod on the usual training field in the usual mock kingdom of the danger shop program, with a few racks and tables of this week's weapon and her leather-jacketed teaching partner beside her. And boy was she glad to put her mind on something else that wasn't flowers for a while! "Now, next week's the school trip, and so Detective Diaz and I wanted to focus on a type of weapon that might have been common in the area we'll be going to. And for that, the most obvious and basic weapon that we could focus on would likely be a spear, but, I'm going to be honest with you, there are so many interesting weapon designs that have come out of this vast continent through time that it would almost be a shame to focus on basically just a long stick with a sharp pointy end to it when we could be talking about something like this!"
With that, she held out one of the weapons.
"Or this! Or even look at this! Amazing! So let's talk about some of them before we get around to giving them a swing or a throw for ourselves.
"We're going to start with probably my favorite of the bunch, the mambele, which is an iron blade with a curved back section and rearward spike, sometimes several!" And thus the reason why it was her favorite. "Now, this one can be used in close combat in a variety of ways, such as like a hatchet," she swung in demonstration, "or a dagger," and again, a little differently this time. "But it's more commonly used as a thrown weapon." She made like she was going to throw it, but didn't, because that throw would not exactly have been very impressive! "Now, the whole point of the curve here is so that it really sticks into the victim good, and is more likely to do more damage on its way out as well. Not for the faint of heart! Especially if it's in your heart! Because of their difficult shape, which, as you can see by the ones we have available here, were varied and unique depending on the area they were coming from, they're actually a real pain to forge well, but, because of that, they were also a bit of a status symbol for those who had them.
"Next, we're going to talk about this little guy, the onzil, from Gabon on the western coast of the continent. Resembling a small throwing axe, it had a particularly shaped blade meant to recall the hornbilled birds of the area. There are a lot of sources that suggest that the onzil might not have actually have been used as a functional weapon for battle, and was more of a status symbol, but if that's true, that's a damn shame, because it's a unique design that, in the right hands, could certainly do some impressive damage indeed!
"If you want an interesting throwing knife, though, you probably can't get more interesting than a sengese from the Nigerian and Cameroon areas. Long handles and the curved blade made it easy for warriors to hold several of them in one hand with their shields until they were ready to throw with their other hand. Another unique form of throwing knife i the trumbash, again from the Congo region, with a resemblance to a shorter, wider sickle of sorts, though it, much like an axe, was often used for cutting down trees as well as in battle if needed.
"And, finally, this last one, we're not going to be talking about much, because it was mostly just used for beheadings, and, well, not a whole lot needs to go into teaching you how to use that one, but I did want to include the ngulu, because, I mean, just look at it. As I said, this was an execution weapon, though I'm sure plenty of people could find other uses for it as well, or take that execution to the battlefield if you're feeling a bit spicy! This comes out of the Congo basin, and resembles a similar Egyptian sword called a Khopesh, but it's much more massive and sometimes even consisted of two blades. They aren't used much for their original intention these days, so they've taken on more of a ceremonial role.
"And that's just not even touching on some of the more unique designs for swords, such as the shotel here, or the billao, but if you're interested in learning more about these, I'll be more than happy to off you my thoughts.
"But, with that said, that's quite a handful of interesting new weapons to explore, so I'll hand you over to Detective Diaz now and you'll be on your way to giving them a try yourself."
With that, she held out one of the weapons.
"Or this! Or even look at this! Amazing! So let's talk about some of them before we get around to giving them a swing or a throw for ourselves.
#/media/File:Ngulu_couteau_d'ex%C3%A9cution_Ngombe.jpg){kind=link}
"We're going to start with probably my favorite of the bunch, the mambele, which is an iron blade with a curved back section and rearward spike, sometimes several!" And thus the reason why it was her favorite. "Now, this one can be used in close combat in a variety of ways, such as like a hatchet," she swung in demonstration, "or a dagger," and again, a little differently this time. "But it's more commonly used as a thrown weapon." She made like she was going to throw it, but didn't, because that throw would not exactly have been very impressive! "Now, the whole point of the curve here is so that it really sticks into the victim good, and is more likely to do more damage on its way out as well. Not for the faint of heart! Especially if it's in your heart! Because of their difficult shape, which, as you can see by the ones we have available here, were varied and unique depending on the area they were coming from, they're actually a real pain to forge well, but, because of that, they were also a bit of a status symbol for those who had them.
"Next, we're going to talk about this little guy, the onzil, from Gabon on the western coast of the continent. Resembling a small throwing axe, it had a particularly shaped blade meant to recall the hornbilled birds of the area. There are a lot of sources that suggest that the onzil might not have actually have been used as a functional weapon for battle, and was more of a status symbol, but if that's true, that's a damn shame, because it's a unique design that, in the right hands, could certainly do some impressive damage indeed!
"If you want an interesting throwing knife, though, you probably can't get more interesting than a sengese from the Nigerian and Cameroon areas. Long handles and the curved blade made it easy for warriors to hold several of them in one hand with their shields until they were ready to throw with their other hand. Another unique form of throwing knife i the trumbash, again from the Congo region, with a resemblance to a shorter, wider sickle of sorts, though it, much like an axe, was often used for cutting down trees as well as in battle if needed.
"And, finally, this last one, we're not going to be talking about much, because it was mostly just used for beheadings, and, well, not a whole lot needs to go into teaching you how to use that one, but I did want to include the ngulu, because, I mean, just look at it. As I said, this was an execution weapon, though I'm sure plenty of people could find other uses for it as well, or take that execution to the battlefield if you're feeling a bit spicy! This comes out of the Congo basin, and resembles a similar Egyptian sword called a Khopesh, but it's much more massive and sometimes even consisted of two blades. They aren't used much for their original intention these days, so they've taken on more of a ceremonial role.
"And that's just not even touching on some of the more unique designs for swords, such as the shotel here, or the billao, but if you're interested in learning more about these, I'll be more than happy to off you my thoughts.
"But, with that said, that's quite a handful of interesting new weapons to explore, so I'll hand you over to Detective Diaz now and you'll be on your way to giving them a try yourself."
Sign In - Weaponry, 02/16.
Listen to the Lecture - Weaponry, 02/16.
Class Activity: African Weapons - Weaponry, 02/16.
With that, she took a few moments to offer some recommended throwing techniques for each design (up to and including the ones that weren't designed for throwing at all), and then getting into very specific detailing that really got a lot of use out of that brief stint in medical school about using some of them close-up.
"I'm sure there's other methods, too," she said, "so feel free to experiment a little once oyu've got the hang of the basics. Let's see what kind of damage you guys can do."
Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
You never had to worry about weapons giving you flowers!
OOC - Weaponry, 02/16.
Re: Sign In - Weaponry, 02/16.
Re: Sign In - Weaponry, 02/16.
Re: Class Activity: African Weapons - Weaponry, 02/16.
Re: Class Activity: African Weapons - Weaponry, 02/16.
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
Irene was like the Terminator, except with trying to woo a blacksmith instead of killing some boy in the past.
"Hello, Amaya," she greeted her with a bright, cheerful wave. As though this was normal and Irene hadn't had to track Amaya's teaching schedule, make her way up to the school, figure out which classroom they were in, and wait through half a class period to offer out this wave.
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
And never before had Amaya bemoaned the fact that the danger shop weapons weren't real quite so much before. Which said an awful lot.
The small slot of time not thinking about flowers had been nice, though, and at least she had thinking about not looking too surprised to see Irene at that precise moment.
She wasn't doing a good job of it, though, but after a few rapid blinks, she managed a stout nod. "Irene. If you were looking to audit a class on African throwing weapons, you missed it by just about...oh, the whole period."
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
No line was too obvious for Irene Adler, thank you.
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
"Well, unless this trip turns out very different from the previous ones," she said, "I doubt you'll exactly need it."
A...paaaause.
"So you're planning on coming along, then, are you?"
Oh, boy, what fantastic news....
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
Which was as much of a warning as Amaya would ever get that Irene fully intended to show up at her door some evening on this trip, of course. Perhaps in something stylishly khaki and a pith helmet.
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
"Well," said Amaya, now having to add 'ignoring that arch look of curiousity from her co-teacher' to her list of things to deal with in this moment, "woman of your substantial resources, I'm sure you'll manage."
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
"I'm sure I will," Irene decided airily. "I assume you'll be going? We'll have to plan some sightseeing together!"
Plan, or be surprised when Irene just popped up at your elbow with her lipstick and her probably ridiculous-for-safari-or-whatever shoes, Amaya. These were the choices.
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
Sure, sure, it was the danger shop, so no clean up was really required, but honestly it was kind of fun and it helped kill some time before she could give Amaya shit about this.
But, hey, at least her tastes seemed to finally be improving.
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
...actually, that sounded like something the Hobblepots might be able to help her out with...
"I'm sure," she said, "they'll be plenty of outings planned for the kids to tag along on. Chaperoning, and all that."
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
Radio had conveniently neglected to mention anything about them at all! Irene was fully expecting some sort of retort about disliking Valentine's Day or assurance that Amaya had hated the flowers themselves, or something. That was only to be expected.
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
Especially when a particular glaring omission just so happened to eradicate any potential evidence against this stubborn new realitym
"Flowers?" she asked. A blink of her eye. A tilt of her head. A small splash of red across her cheeks threatening to betray her entirely. "What flowers?"
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
"The pink roses I sent you," Irene replied plainly, doing some blinking of her own and innocently tilting her head to the side. "For Valentine's Day. They were all sorts of shades of pink, just like how your face gets when we chat. There was a note. Did you not get it?"
Oh no, what a shame. Irene would maybe have to send her more flowers to make up for it, if so!
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
Still sticking with that story even though it was confirmed straight to your face that those roses wound up precisely where they were meant to go, eh, Blackstone?
"Personally," Amaya added, shaking her head in clear disappointment, "I blame the moose. I couldn't tell you what they're paying that capreolinae, but what I can tell you is that it's obviously too much!"
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
She still had her guesses. And she knew she was very unlikely to get a straight answer, by now.
"I suppose it's the thought that counts," she added, seemingly unfazed. "So know that I was thinking of you and your pretty blush, and I wanted very much to show you my appreciation. Even if the moose interfered."
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
"Really," she said, instead, dry as a bone in the desert on a hot day, "you shouldn't have."
Re: Talk to the Teachers - Weaponry, 02/16.
But it also didn't quite seem that simple, because Amaya did seem to enjoy her attention. Or, at least, Irene was extremely confident that if she was genuinely out of line, Amaya would have made herself clear in no uncertain terms.
Her favorite people were always such puzzles.
"Oh, no," she replied with an airy wave. "It was no trouble. I love sending gifts to beautiful women. Next time I'll be sure to hand-deliver it, though, so there's no mix-ups."