aionlogs | Kenoma Team Training

WHO: The Kenoma
WHAT: Training Activities
WHERE: Starts at the Citadel, varies per activity
WHEN: Starting on 6/4
WARNINGS: None yet...?

After a period of relative quiet, the Kenoma will receive a Communion post of utmost importance:

"Good day, everyone. This is Ciel. We may have received a passing grade from the Regent following the events in Venera, but they have sorely underlined how ill-prepared we were for a proper mission on Horos. Emet-Selch, Eustace, and I are in agreement, thus we have organized a series of training and teambuilding exercises. We ask that you all please attend, there will be... prizes."

OVERVIEW

When trainees arrive in the Courtyard after the Communion, a plethora of training activities await them.

The courtyard itself is sectioned off into areas, one for each training activity for the day. The activities vary from one subject to another, and still manage to be related to their tasks as a Kenoma while still leaving room for "fun". Weapons training, tag, survival training, and strength training are all provided. Kenoma is also welcome to spar on their own if they so choose. (This is not included as a specific prompt to avoid too much PVP, but you can add it in a TL if you like.)

Instructions on each activity will be provided to the participant before they begin. For those who can’t participate or choose to show up for moral support or to dodge the activities, water will be provided so that you may gossip around the proverbial "water cooler".

Each of the three trainers are on hand in some capacity or another to provide instructions on that activity or training on a specific skill.

These exercises can be done at any point and do not necessarily have to be done on a training day with the group. Characters can return after the crowd has dispersed to train on their own or with a chosen individual. The equipment will still be there and trainers (or fellow Kenoma) can be brought here at their leisure.

I. WEAPONS TRAINING

Racks of weapons are lined up on the far side of the courtyard. These range from swords to polearms and rather sizable knives to swords and tonfas. Feel free to grab a weapon of your choosing and have a trainer engage you to show you how to use it. Or, if they have experience, other students may also advise you!

The intent is to train on the proper use of several types of weapons and how to wield them effectively. It may also delve into how to most efficiently disable/neutralize/injure someone in a fight, depending on which teacher you wind up with.

II. AGILITY

There is an open part of the field that has been roped off specifically for...tag! Rope bridges, mud pits, chest-high walls of rock, and even a large wall of ice (?!) dot the field to give people plenty of places to hide and run. (If you would like your own obstacle, feel free to comment to ask so we can make sure it’s within reason of what our characters could do.)

Participants will be provided with a waxy paint to put on their hands which will stain whatever person it comes in contact with with a very luminescent purple glitter. (It washes out, of course!) The last person standing will get a prize of…dubious worth.

Now get running!

III. SURVIVAL

There’s two locations for this: the outdoor courtyard closest to the main citadel kitchen, and the kitchen itself.

For the outdoor location, bundles of tree branches and firewood are provided if needed, students are expected to start their own fire and cook wild game with what they foraged.

A - Foraging
Time for a field trip to the mountains and woods outside Achamoth! Students will be taught basic survival skills including: first aid without the use of magic, how to find and create shelter from natural terrain, how to identify and forage for food that is safe to eat, and how to create traps to catch wild game. Yes, you too can experience the joy of floor meat!

All foraged supplies can subsequently be used for Home Ec cooking lessons.

B - Home Ec
For the kitchen, there's a dedicated area where several Aions at once could attempt cooking with utensils and more elaborate ingredients. There are some servants keeping an eye out just in case and could be flagged down for help or assistance if requested/needed, but otherwise, Aions are free to make use of everything available to their own ends. Is this really useful for "training"? Cooking is a science that shapes and nourishes both body and soul, of course, it's important enough to have a part in the curriculum!

IV. STRENGTH

Step up to the starting line with one partner. One person will carry the other across a small section of the course to the finish line at the opposite end. There are a few minor obstacles such as walls and puddles. Nothing that you have to put too much effort into getting around. The person who can see will guide the person carrying them to the finish line using only their voice. Try not to bump into anything.

If you feel *really* ambitious, extra weights will be provided. Or you can forgo the rules and carry two people (or more?). Your choice, really.

V. REFRESHMENTS

For those who are not athletically inclined - or claim not to be athletically inclined - a large chunk of ice with refreshments dotted throughout awaits you on the sidelines. They will take a little effort to free them. Most will be freed with a little pull while others are completely encased in ice and may not be worth the effort.

Feel free to hand out refreshments, gossip about the participants, or scheme to your hearts' content.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ None of that is especially surprising to her. Combat is uncommon where she comes from too. For her part, she's a product of strange ways in a strange place. ]

In that case... I think it'll be okay if you keep on trying to avoid direct combat. I don't think it's productive for anyone to force themselves to fight if they aren't fully committed to it.

[ She's trying to reassure him that fighting isn't always necessary, but realizing that she sounds a bit negative, she continues. ]

Would you like to focus on defensive techniques...?

[If nothing else, he can definitely appreciate the tact.]

Sure.

[That sounds better than anything designed to actually kill anybody. Not that he's fully opposed to the notion if killing becomes necessary, he just...

...Well. It's hardly something he's ever intentionally done.]

It's good that you're not going to insist; I appreciate it. Some of us just aren't really prepared to go out there and engage. I get that that's the point of all this, but still.

[ She's relieved that he agrees with her; she wouldn't have known what to say if he thought it would be a breeze to train up to become a frontline fighter. ]

It may be because I'm a slow learner... but in my experience, it takes a long time to develop the instincts that would allow someone to compete in a fight with a seasoned warrior. On short notice, it's better to focus on survival.

[ She's the one who suggested defensive techniques, but frankly she isn't sure how to teach what she knows in a cerebral way. She struggles briefly with the best course of action. ]

It might be easier if we dive into it. Is it okay if I start attacking you?

[That is the politest request to wreck his shit that he has ever experienced. He does appreciate it, don't get him wrong, but that's... Well, if he can't defend himself he's fairly confident that he'll be fine.]

That's entirely fine. I...don't damage easily, to put it one way.

[There are few other ways to put that, but they all involve an explanation of some sort or another; right now, he seems fairly confident in the accuracy of the statement, even if he shifts his grip on the weapon in slightly awkward anticipation.]

[ She easily takes him at his word. Doesn't like to fight but super hardy? Why not. There are much stranger things in the world.

Now that she has his permission, she sees no reason to hesitate. Her soft body language steels to readiness, and within a blink she's whipping her halberd around to slap him with the flat of its blade. It's a single movement with no immediate follow-up; permission or not, she isn't really trying to bully him (yet). ]

[Oh geez, okay - this is really high up there on the "I don't know what I expected" scale, give someone permission to attack you and they're going to immediately attack you, dumbass. Just the same, he startles briefly, though when he moves it's more on impulse rather than anything he actually remembers thinking to do - the attempt at a block is weird and not at all coordinated in any way that can be considered good, but at the very least he kind of manages one just through...well, sheer desire to not be hit. It helps that the attacking movement is simple, really...]

[ She's pleased to feel the resistance of a solid object, though the messy parry scrapes awkwardly at the air. Her demeanor remains serious, but she does say firmly, ]

Good.

[ After a second to let him collect himself, she follows with a step-in and a pivot of her weapon so that she can strike with its butt at Paul's other side. Whether or not she succeeds, she'll continue with a sequence of attacks slow in transition but sharp in finish, trying to give him a chance to read her body language while demanding that he react decisively to save himself from a parade of smackings.

She'll keep the drill up until he decides to counterattack or otherwise seems in need of a break. ]

[That first one does manage to catch him pretty hard, but that's primarily because he clearly has no idea what to do with it; after a while, though, he does begin to pick up what she's doing - everything is clearly telegraphed, thank god, and for all he's not great at this he's at least managing to keep himself from getting beaten up in any sort of...meaningful way. Not saying that he's not getting hit occasionally, but he mostly just has no idea how to parry certain movements and it's obvious; stuff on his off hand side he's fairly useless with, it tends to cause him to hesitate, but otherwise he's not doing terribly all things considered.

He's noticeably not making any move to attack in return, either, though.]

[ Well, at least he was being honest when he said he could take a little damage. She wasn't planning on babying him either way, but there's an especially consistent sharpness to the crack of her blows as she sees how well he's holding up, all things considered. Once she feels like she has a good idea of his skill level, she finally stops and straightens, her stern expression easing into a more curious look as she tries to gauge him. ]

How do you feel...?

[How is he feeling - the activity itself was surprisingly pretty interesting, he definitely didn't mind it, nor would he mind doing it again; on the other hand- ]

I have to admit I can't see that ending well if you were actually out to kill me, but I'm...surprisingly all right? That went less...horribly than I'd imagined.

[Definitely not lying about being physically resilient. He seems to not be overtly exhausted, breathing a bit hard but otherwise generally okay.]

[ She wasn't, after all, really trying to beat him to a pulp, so it's a good sign that he didn't find it too arduous. She even gets the sense that she might have had to put in some effort if she really intended to pulverize him. ]

You can't learn if you're unconscious.

[ She nods sagely. ]

I think there are some things you'll continue to want a training partner for... and some things you can practice on your own. For instance, there's no substitute for the feeling of being attacked. It's something you should get comfortable with.

[ Maybe he can become someone's training dummy and/or target practice... ]

Alone, you can practice being able to maneuver your weapon from any angle, especially on your offhanded side. And [solemnly,] it never hurts to practice your running.

Kenoma Team Training

OVERVIEW

I. WEAPONS TRAINING

II. AGILITY

III. SURVIVAL

IV. STRENGTH

V. REFRESHMENTS

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject