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

[ For a moment Gen does look like he's about to scrabble for the sword and go right into round 2, his gaze hot with a low-burn of anger as he breathes in huffs.

But, perhaps surprisingly, he balks the moment he catches sight of the bleeding cuts on Barnaby's hands. His shoulders stiffen as he recoils a fraction, his breaths catching as he swallows hard, and Gen needs a moment to tears his gaze away from the bright crimson of that blood. ]

... forget it.

[ Dirt grits underfoot as he slowly starts easing himself back onto his feet, though he's still a little doubled over; fuck, he just knows he's gonna find a clean bootsole-shaped bruise on his stomach tonight. ]

[Barnaby keeps his distance while Gen recovers. He doesn't notice what Gen is balking at, at least at first, but when he realises where his gaze is pointed, he balls his hands into fists to hide his injuries.]

Will you be all right? [He didn't use his powers and deliberately didn't strike him as hard as he could have, but any internal injury to the abdomen could potentially be serious if left unchecked.] I'm sorry I didn't keep my word not to fight back. I wasn't trying to trick you.

[ As thanks for his kind consideration, Barnaby is repaid with a brief stare, then an eyeroll and an indignant huff. (Which rather loses its efficacy because he's still quite out of breath, but he refuses to acknowledge that.) ]

Not like Eustace hasn't done worse.

[ Or at least, Eustace choked him out during their first round at sparring, which definitely feels harder to stomach than a kick to the gut.

Gen stifles a low groan as he stretches out the sore spot, but befitting a scrappy teenager, he's already showing signs of a remarkably quick recovery. It's just that he unconsciously avoids looking at where the sword lies on the ground. ]

M'fine. Just not used to handling swords.

Whatever Eustace did, it's still counterproductive to train only to get injured.

[And while he's heard those like Emet-Selch are capable of healing others, he doesn't exactly want to encourage a risk-taking mindset when learning to fight without taking injuries should be part of the process, too. A healer won't always be there to pick them up if a situation goes south.

Still, he won't push the topic any further, particularly when it was his own fault for not picking up sooner on Gen's discomfort with blades. Instead, he simply moves to retrieve the sword from the ground, examining it. He'll have to get it cleaned up before someone else uses it.]

Next time you can show me your hand-to-hand skills.

[ There's a brief pause before Gen gives him a look like he's said something stupid. Which he kind of has. ]

We're training for a war with the Pleroma aren't we. Like, a life-or-death battle. And you're making this much of a fuss about a kick to the stomach?

[ Mentally, Gen slots Barnaby on his list of preferred sparring partners above Amos (more restraint) but below Eustace (too fussy). And besides, he can handle a kick to the gut just find. Though he stifles a grunt as he prods at the spot, gauging how much it hurts, he's already getting his breath back, and he can straighten up properly once more. ]

-- and s'not like hand-to-hand'll always be the answer. [ He looks calmly enough at Barnaby retrieving the sword, though notably, he doesn't move from where he's standing, shoulders slightly squared. ] Figured I should get used to some other things, just in case.

[ Too bad he can't quite keep the sliver of discomfort and tension out of his voice when he addresses the subject. ]

It's not fuss. We should be honing our skills together, not seriously attacking one another with intention to harm. [And he's not going to budge on the subject. Even back home, fighting criminals resulted in life-or-death situations, but to put themselves in similar peril in training with that as a justification would be absurd.]

And it would be wise to try a range of weapons, yes. You'll find something that suits you better than blades.

[He's trying to skirt around the subject without directly addressing it, because he's sure that won't do him any favours at this juncture.]

( apropos of nothing, the two gain a visitor on their little training session.

makoto had just been arriving to do some weapons training of his own — he has characteristically poor luck in timing, as arriving at the time that he does puts him just within range of sensing the injuries that sprung up between gen and barnaby. he feels the compulsion arise like the beginnings of a wave from the edge of his consciousness; as it approaches rapidly, gaining size and strength as it does so, he begins to grit his teeth. why now? why them?

it is possible to resist the urge that the curse gives him to go to them, but it's been a while since it's activated. it sometimes feel like the longer it rests, the more power it gains. he basically had no option but to walk up to them, his expression a picture of wrath and obvious conflict. he'd been fighting the urge to walk over here every step of the way, and it shows in a deep furrow between his brows. he speaks in a low, venomous tone: )

Couldn't you two simply avoid injuring each other.

( he doesn't even need to look at them to sense their injuries; bruises, minor contusions. he feels them tangentially, like the phantom pain relived from a memory. his head bows in anger and something vaguely akin to shame as two ghostly feathered wings sprout from his shoulderblades. they spread, and then they fold; an extremely keen eye might be able to pick out a glow which originates from makoto's back and then spreads out throughout the feathers — and, in time with that slow rhythm... healing. at a snail's pace, causing lacerations to itch as they knit and bruises to ache faintly as they mend. )

[ It speaks to how unsettled he'd been that Gen -- normally the type to maintain at least some awareness of his surroundings -- gives a small start when Makoto speaks up, only then becoming awareness of his presence. ]

What's it to you?

[ And while later on he'll certainly be puzzled to find the bruise at his stomach is a little less vivid than it should be, given how expertly-delivered Barnaby's kick had been ... for the moment he barely feels the fading pain in his midriff, thoroughly distracted by the sight of those ghostly wings sprouting from Makoto's back. They're different, right? From Makoto's usual demon wings?

It takes him another moment to remember Makoto had confessed to his involvement in that whole stupid mess with the Innocent-aligned monster popping up after Estinien's death -- had gotten himself blasted in the face with something for his troubles, if memory serves correct. Vaguely, he remember Makoto had confessed to not being injured, so. Figures some other mark's been left on him. ]

... you really are a freak, aren't you. [ His nose wrinkles as he throws out that snide remark. And he inadvertently ends up helping Makoto when he looks to Barnaby and declares, ] I'm done here.

[ He offers no further comment or explanation before simply turning heel and leaving. His mood's already been fouled by how that whole round with Barnaby had ended up going -- a sour reminder of how he's still struggling to deal with some of his old scars -- and like hell he's going to endure Makoto's obnoxious presence on top of that. ]

Kenoma Team Training

OVERVIEW

I. WEAPONS TRAINING

II. AGILITY

III. SURVIVAL

IV. STRENGTH

V. REFRESHMENTS

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i'm so sorry for how late this is