The day started in a rather peaceful manner, as I stepped onto the Exchange beach, to find a Panther there, and a female slave bound to an A frame. However, the first thing that happened were sounds from the forest suggesting that a fight was going on nearby, and the Panther rushed off to come to the aid of her band mates who were apparently under attack. I followed suit, with the intent to assess the situation myself, but she didn't trust me and turned around to start the fight that follows below.
I'm posting the actual combat here so that those involved, and possibly others, may learn from it. There were some instructive comments by Ragnar (aka Beast - who was throwing rocks at the other Panthers, being very successful at that) after the fight was suspended, and some more analysis/discussion. I added a few comments and questions of my own in orange, and edited out unrelated action and talk.
I believe we attained a fair and practical agreement at the end, true to the spirit of the Event. IC-wise, it was convenient that we could realistically back out of the fight because we were still very close to the Exchange.
(21:23:07 )
Medicine Deer
Red Savage
Naked Blade Panther Band
Head Scout
is in the forest not far from the exchange point
says to BeastTRC
: ...Add...I also scream my war cry...
(21:23:19 )
KEIRA
Naked Blade Panther Band
TRC
is in the forest not far from the exchange point
says to _The Glass Stiletto_~Kat
: the pain was taking her breath away nut she opened her mouth and yelled as best she could KATEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE UNDER ATTACK then i passed out
(21:23:51 )
Rhodynion
TRC
is on the beach near the fire of the exchange point
says to ALL
: Standing 6'5" 230 lbs, long brown hair with a touch of red, brown eyes, wearing black trousers, a dark brown cloak, a grayish tunic and heavy boots, a 23" gladius sheated on my belt on the right, two quivas on the left, I stepped onto the clearing at the Exchange Point. There was a great bow suspended from my right shoulder and a quiver with ten arrows from my left. There also was a small pouch and a bota attached to my belt at the back.
I cast a quick glance around.....
(21:24:26 )
_The Glass Stiletto_
~Kathryn~
Naked Blade Lair Leader
TRC Panther
is on the beach near the A frame at the exchange point
says to themba~runaway slave~TRC
: *You are forgotten as I turn my attention to the North.*
(21:24:54 )
Beast
TRC
along the inner creek bank in dense ground cover
says to Medicine DeerRed SavageN
: *Watches you approach and take partial cover behind some sand. Seeing your right shoulder may be my best bet for a hit, I hurl the stone with all the force I could muster hoping if it did dtrike sand it would displace it and continue on to its mark. Once again quickly taking up another fist sized stone and drawing it back.*
(21:25:21 )
Rhodynion
TRC
is on the beach near the fire of the exchange point
says to ALL
: ........ and then quickly turned my head at the direction of the unexpected sounds, calling the alarm so close to this place of informal truce
(21:26:02 )
_The Glass Stiletto_
~Kathryn~
Naked Blade Lair Leader
TRC Panther
is on the beach near the A frame at the exchange point
says to RhodynionTRC
: You! *I shift the dagger to to a throwing position in my right hand.* Are you with the people attacking my Panthers at the stream?!?
(21:29:35 )
Rhodynion
TRC
is on the beach near the fire of the exchange point
says to _The Glass Stiletto_~Kat
: At seeing your dagger move, I quickly pivoted on my left foot, advancing my right side and now standing at a nearly 90 degree angle towards you, to make a smaller target, while in the mean time drawing my gladius with my left hand, holding it about waist height. "What?! Who are you? I came to this Exchange in peace........"
(21:31:35 )
_The Glass Stiletto_
[PIC]
~Kathryn~
Naked Blade Lair Leader
TRC Panther
is on the beach near the A frame at the exchange point
says to RhodynionTRC
: Good! Keep it that way. The captives on the AFrames are for sale. *sheathes my dagger* I will be back momentarily. *Does a sidestep dance holding my crotch like I have to pee, circling around you towards the hammock where I left my spear.*
(21:34:38 )
Rhodynion
TRC
is on the beach near the fire of the exchange point
says to _The Glass Stiletto_~Kat
: I looked at your movement greatly surprised, half turning around to keep track of your position, my eyes following you...... "What's going on here?!"
(21:37:15 )
_The Glass Stiletto_
~Kathryn~
Naked Blade Lair Leader
TRC Panther
is on the beach near the fire of the exchange point
says to RhodynionTRC
: *Completes my circle around you to grab up my spear.* When I know, I'll catch you up. *blows a kiss before turning towards the north and heading off towards the mouth of the freshwater stream, running with long strides at about half speed.*
(21:40:13 )
Rhodynion
TRC
is on the beach near the fire of the exchange point
says to _The Glass Stiletto_~Kat
: But I didn't seem to agree to that plan so much, and promptly started to follow you along, my sword still drawn, keeping a distance of some 5 yards. Whether I was on your side or not was unclear, but I definitely wanted to find out for myself what was happening.
(21:40:54 )
_The Glass Stiletto_
~Kathryn~
Naked Blade Lair Leader
TRC Panther
is on the beach near the fire of the exchange point
says to BeastTRC
: 1/4 pasang is about .15 miles, so it will take me about 1/2 a minute to cover the distance to where Medi is. *Wearing knee-high moc boots, but otherwise barely covered by scraps of spotted panther hide sewn into a 2-piece garment, bra-top and bikini pants; I was 5'6" tall and 130 lbs. Wisps of fine, cornsilk-blonde hair hang loose to between my shoulderblades. Sheathed off my left hip is a quiva with a 12" double-edged blade, and on my right thigh is a 7" bladed dagger. Off my right hip is a small waistpouch with a few light supplies, mostly first-aid or binding items. My shortspear has 5' shaft of stout tem wood, 1 1/3" in diameter and a beveled leaf-shaped steel blade of 12", honed to razor sharpness at the edges and tip. the spear is beveled, fatter as well as wider behind the tip, so that there will be a wedge effect on stab wounds, opening them wider as the blade goes deeper. the spearblade is heavy enough, and blunt enough on the flat face to have significant impact as a cudgel. I carry the spear ready to throw or jab, with my right hand beneath it and fingers wrapped around the right, holding the weapon at it’s center of balance over my right shoulder, shaft parallel to the ground.*
(21:43:03 )
_The Glass Stiletto_
~Kathryn~
Naked Blade Lair Leader
TRC Panther
is on the beach near the fire of the exchange point
says to RhodynionTRC
: *Stops and wheels about as I hear you following me.* One more step and I stop believing you are not one of the attackers. Go play with the bound woman, or me and you gonna tangle right here and now.
(21:46:00 )
Rhodynion
TRC
is on the beach near the fire of the exchange point
says to _The Glass Stiletto_~Kat
: "I came here to seek information, but I will find out for myself what it is that is going on. For all I know, your panthers are the ones that are attacking."
(21:48:46 )
_The Glass Stiletto_
~Kathryn~
Naked Blade Lair Leader
TRC Panther
is in the forest not far from the exchange point
says to RhodynionTRC
: *Well you didn't stop running, and I wasn't going to let you get by me, so I jab my spear downwards as you pass, attempting to pass the shaft between your ankles and trip you over it, or slash one of your shins or calfs with the blade as it passes towards the sand.*
Now, I wondered, is "as you pass" not a force post? I indeed didn't post that I stopped running, but even if I didn't, would that imply that I now pass her? It's not very clear how far my speed would have carried me, especialy since we were running at half speed only - and even if it would have brought me close to her, I would still be in control of the direction, so I could just as well run straight into her.
(21:57:10 )
Rhodynion
TRC
is in the forest not far from the exchange point
says to _The Glass Stiletto_~Kat
: I closed the distance between us but did not attempt to actually pass you because after all, I had been following you and there was little point in attempting to lead the way if I didn't know where you were going. Stopping at a mere 2 yards from youI now advanced my left side, holding out my gladius towards you at belly height. My right hand pulled a 12" quiver from my belft, where you could see another one tucked underneath. I stood 6'5" 230 lbs, wearing black trousers, a dark brown cloak, a grayish tunic and heavy boots. A great bow suspended from my back at the righ side could be seen and a quiver of ten arrows at my left side. "Now you stop right here. What is this all about? Who are you?"
Well, I didn't handle that one very well. I could just have agreed to getting very close to her, avoided the downward spear jab simply with an upward jump, and stabbed her with my gladius. She took an awful risk stopping with a man with a drawn gladius close behind, and my guess is that against a more competent fighter than myself, she would have been just about dead right here.
(22:05:34 )
_The Glass Stiletto_
~Kathryn~
Naked Blade Lair Leader
TRC Panther
is in the forest not far from the exchange point
says to RhodynionTRC
: You were only 5 yards away when I stopped and turned, and then you talked, so you were not stopping then, so I don't really see how you can pull up short of me, but even so you are within spear thrust distance andy ou didn't seem to defend the jab at your lower legs, ergo, I must have hit you some where. 1)My spear low from the jab, and my own words to Medi echoing in my ears (When in doubt, attack to kill!) I rip my spear upwards at an angle towards my left, hoping to strike your wrist below your extended sword with my spear shaft 1' behind the blade, with the intetnt to parry your weapon upwards to about the level of your throat, as 2) I bend at the waisty, intending to duck beneath our raised weapons and 3) I leap forward, going to a left foot lead and trying to come down hard on the instep of your leading left foot, with enough weight and force to break some of the little bones there and hobble you.*
I think she's basically assuming that my gladius is in my right hand, otherwise it would make little sense to move her spear to her left when it started at a position that had been aimed for my legs.
(22:17:16 )
Rhodynion
TRC
is in the forest not far from the exchange point
says to _The Glass Stiletto_~Kat
: It was easy for me to stop, especially since you only just started moving, my intent was to follow you rather than to overtake you, and you were only running at half speed anyway. Assuming that the spear movement was indeed aimed at my current position rather than where I would have been when I would have passed you, you may have hit something, but quite possibly that would have been my boots - or at least, it didn't seem to bother me too much for now. (1) As your spear moved upwards towards your left, I pulled my left hand back a bit attempting to hit the spear with my gladius moving downwards, somewhat below its blade, hoping to shear it, (2) hurled the quiva from my right hand at your body originally at belly height, and (3) withdrew my left foot a bit to avoid you stepping on it.
I'm way too slow here, posting after 12 minutes! I suppose that would render most or all of my actions invalid under most systems - not sure about the rules here. This is also when I make the backpost, which will be discussed later. And at this distance, the throw was pretty much useless anyway, as pointed out by Ragnar later. I should have held on to the quiva and stabbed her with it. But it was sort of an obsession.... I had a quiva, and I just had to throw it.
(22:25:19 )
_The Glass Stiletto_
~Kathryn~
Naked Blade Lair Leader
TRC Panther
is in the forest not far from the exchange point
says to RhodynionTRC
: What a mess. *My spear is 1.34" diameter tem wood, and yur sword has as much chance of shearing it with the little bit of force you can muster at that distance with your arm extended as you have of biting through the shaft with yer teeth. So my shaft strikes your gladius upwards as I had intended. Since the quivat throw is a pure backpost, I just ignore that, and now in close to you bent over low on a left foot lead with forward momentum and below your sword, and you are pretty much square up to me now after pulling your left foot back, you just seem really vulnerable to the follup rising knee kick to your groin that I deliver with my right knee, with my left foot really only inches from your left foot already 2)I then squat low to give Meid a good target, and try and 3#circle around your right side to try and get behind you while your sword is still to your left and high.*
I'm not square to her of course. She just tried to stomp my left foot with her left foot, and I only withdrew that foot a bit without moving the rest of my body. So that knee kick just seems like impossible acrobatics.
(22:38:53 )
Rhodynion
TRC
is in the forest not far from the exchange point
says to _The Glass Stiletto_~Kat
: A mess it was indeed (which is why I prefer Prodigy btw). My gladius indeed moved upwards, but I saw my quiva hit as intended (let's check that one with Rags, I don't see why I can't throw that at you). I had indeed withdrawn my left foot, but just by a little bit to avoid you stepping on it, and not adjusted the position of my body, so knee kick was way out of direction. (1) As you squatted low and were now very close, I pulled my left arm back to free my gladius and (2) then attempted to plunge it into your right shoulder which was now conveniently within range. (3) As you tried to move towards my right, I attempted to kick your feet from underneath you with a kick from my right boot
Ouch, 13 minutes! It all got a bit messy here, but basically she's rummaging about my feet and whatever she does can never be as bad as me stabbing downwards with my gladius and likely hitting all sorts of pretty but vulnerable parts of her. I really think Medi needs to hurry here.......[/orange]