Staves Amidst the Vines

[Lesingnon]

Two staves rested against a tree trunk in the shadow of Rick and Terri's tree house hollow. One for the Steepscrambler, the other for L'aire. The third was in Rick's hand, being expertly spun through a series of warmup exercises. He was dressed in synthetics, warm enough to ward off the chill that lingered in the air yet light enough not to hinder his movements. That last bit was what he really looked for when it came to training like this.

It had taken a little bit to figure out a time that would work for all three of them, but it had hardly been too trying. So he'd set it up...and then shown up early. It wasn't like he'd had far to go, after all.

[Terri Nutkins]

When Rick had mentioned to Terri he was going to do some staff training, Terri sent a text message to Sasha straight away so as to let her know. That was just the type of person she was. Wearing a pair of black training pants and an orange hoody, Terri climbed effortlessly down the side of the tree to the clearing. Her hair was tied back, tucked into her hood and she was wearing her running shoes. Tucked into her waistband was her trusty slingshot and as she crouched to watch Rick warm up, she toyed with the handle of her rapier.

Sure, she had no intention of using either one today but despite being at their hollow, they were still in the Hedge. It paid to be prepared.

[Lesingnon]

As Rick notes the arrival of the two women the staff spun back up to rest across his shoulder, and he makes his way back towards them. He certainly doesn't miss the extra bit of weaponry Terri had on her, which draws an approving grin. Caution in the Hedge was always called for, even here. He had to approve of the clothes they'd worn for it too. Of course, that was hardly surprising. Movement was something they both knew well; Terri with her parkour and athletics, L'aire with her dancing. So of course they'd both dress appropriately for something like this.

"Hey there, welcome. Glad we could get his all set up. And hopefully you won't mind my flailing about while instructing like this for the first time too much."

[Terri Nutkins]

When Sasha joined them, Terri offered the Fairest a grin. "Hey, you looking forward to this? I think it's going to be great!" she asked with obvious enthusiasm. Her eagerness was probably down to the fact it would help build the bonds between the three of them and help Sasha with some skills to protect herself but Terri was also proud of Rick for teaching them. She knew how hard it was for the Elemental side of him to do this kind of thing.

"Don't worry, hunny," she said, offering support. Leaning the rapier against the base of the tree and picking up one of the spare staves, Terri rested it across her shoulders. "I'm sure between the three of us, we can come out of this having learnt something."

[Lesingnon]

"Eh, it was more me being a bit self-deprecating than actually being nervous about it." Which he apparently hadn't quite gotten across. Oh well, it happened. "But anyway," he brought his staff up horizontally in front of him, "We'll start off with the proper way to hold the staff." Simple? Perhaps, but you had to make sure the foundation was sound lest everything built atop it crumbled.

"Imagine there are two lines dividing the staff into three parts of equal length, and grasp it at those lines. The top of one hand should be pointing up towards the sky, and those of the other down towards the ground. Naturally, he demonstrated the grip for them as he spoke. Having the hands flipped in opposite direction makes it easier to move the staff through a wider range of motion, and having them spaced across the staff like that allows you to strike forcefully with any part of the staff. This is the grip you'll find yourselves most often, likely by a large margin."

"Also, of course, if at any time you have questions feel free to ask."

[Terri Nutkins]

Terri bit her lip, annoyed at herself for missing Rick's intention, glancing down to her feet as she took up a comfortable stance.

Had it really been so long that I can misread him?

When he started to demonstrated, Terri pushed the thought away, holding the staff in a similar fashion to Rick. It felt clumsy in her petite hands, not as natural as her rapier; although that too had taken some practice to achieve. She had no doubt that with more practice, the staff would simply be another extension of her seeking perfection in any athletic endeavor.

[Lesingnon]

Rick gave a short, soft, laugh of amusement at the gesture from L'aire. He slid one foot back as he did so, rotated the staff to be held diagonally in front of him, and flexed slightly at the knees to sink into a guard stance. "This'll be your basic guard stance. Dropping the foot back like this narrows your profile, presenting less of a target for your opponent. Flexing the knees and keeping your weight on the balls of your feet keeps you balanced and ready to move, though I doubt I need to tell either of you that."

"And then there's one of the most basic blocks you'll ever use, a simple side-to-side sweep of the staff." His staff snapped up to a vertical position as he spoke, starting at his right side and maintaining that position as he swept it across to his right. "It's how you'll defend against a lot of attacks targeting your center of mass, primarily useful against stabs or horizontal slashes." Obviously catching it on your fingers often lead to bruises, or worse. "And the length of the staff is an advantage here, since someone can't really get above or below your guard for this block. The only tricky part is getting the timing right when you're blocking a stab. Move too soon and you miss it, too late and you won't get it deflected wide of you in time."

He pivoted, squaring up against Terri as he lowered the tip of his staff to line up with her. "Care to try it out?"

I figure that since it'd be more interesting for the purpose of training than just subtracting defense, and because it's a focus on blocking specifically as opposed to dodging as well, we could use contested rolls instead of just applying defense. Dex + Weaponry + Equipment (since that's the roll to just make contact without dealing damage), vs. Dex + Weaponry with a +1 bonus to represent the +1 a quarterstaff gives to defense. Unless there are any objections?