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Post by cerdigon on Aug 21, 2017 21:09:02 GMT
Recimir Aulus the Chosen-of-Eshar (Monarch) vs Daimyo Ikegami Sayoko (Monarch)
In days of old, champions had fought on the battlefield to decide the fates of nations. In the new age of gunpowder, a duel like this between monarchs, was unheard of. Some would call it brave. Others reckless. Regardless, Recimir Aulus the Chosen-of-Eshar and Daimyo Ikegami Sayoko found themselves staring out across each other. On opposite sides of the field, the Ikegami and Esharan Armies had deployed in battle formation. Great masses of infantry, the ugly mouths of cannons, and preening horses as if on parade. But only one foe might potentially die on this field today. Determined to stop the Ikegami invasion, the Holy Union had wheeled its army around for a confrontation with the Ikegami and met them on the border of Datnee Province. Determined to spare lives and not fight a pitched battle, the monarchs had decided to face one other on the field of combat in a personal duel. Legatus Corinn Aqard would serve as Aulus second while on the opposite side Ikegami Yukimura would serve as Sayoko's. Each Captain inspected the others weapons and when satisfied retreated to their respective sides. Soon the sound of steel escaped scabbards, the roar of their soldiers becoming a deafening cry, leaving the fate of the East in the hands of two powerful warriors. '' BEGIN! '' |
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Kho
Landed Knight
Posts: 140
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Post by Kho on Aug 21, 2017 23:06:41 GMT
 For Homeland, for Victory, for Honour
And above all - for the Thrill of the Duel!
Aulus hefted his meticulously crafted dwarven longsword and took a step towards his opponent. When true warriors met, the greatest greeting was the hammering of sword against sword. When one wished to know truthfully whether one's friend was worthy, there was no better way to test their mettle than by a trial of fire - a clash that pushed them both to the edge their power and strength. He had certainly not expected his first meeting with Daimyo Ikegami Sayoko to be on the field - he had not expected ever to do so. But the gods worked in mysterious ways, and the gods were ultimately wise. He had cut men down in the midst of battle with the sword he now held - Heart, he had named it. He did not know why. He could have dubbed it 'Rage of the Gods', he could have called it 'Wrath of Eshar'. He could have called it 'the Union Blade', or a thousand such other names. But Heart was the only one that fit. And so, with Heart in his hands, he stepped forth.
Adorned in the half-plate armour of the King's Guard, he was quite the sight. The armour was wrought in the forges of Datnee, hammered again and again by Haiho dwarves, made and remade after each battle until they had achieved the desired purpose. The armour could not resist gunfire at point-blank range, but at anything more than twenty-five metres it was more likely than not that a single shot could not get through. A regiment could hardly get more than a volley in before the King's Guard had thundered down upon them. In the beginning, the increased protectiveness had come at the cost of increased weight, but Aulus had insisted that the dwarves continue their experimenting and assign their best metalsmiths to the task. It had not happened overnight, but with each passing year the quality had increased until a satisfactory armour had been produced for Eshara's finest demi-lancers. And this war would undoubtedly see them tested against the full fury of the Orclands. Today, however, it was against the blade of Ikegami Sayoko that his armour - and his sword - would be tested.
Sword raised high, he began to slowly circle towards his opponent. He was not young for a human - at sixty-one, many would call him old. But it would only be a fool who would dismiss the Recimir's skill and ability purely based on his age - his strength was the envy of younger men, and he put down wrestlers and swordsmen on a near-weekly basis. Haiurwulf had drilled the importance of many things into him, but the importance of martial prowess had been beaten into him over many long and torturous years. He only looked forward to seeing what it all amounted to before the skill of an Ikegami warrior - none other than Ikegami Sayoko herself. A small smile crept over the old man's face and, with a sudden dash forward, the dance of blades had begun. |
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Post by ravigen on Aug 22, 2017 3:10:39 GMT
Ikegami Sayoko watched as the Recimir circled her, she'd donned her own armor and now with the fateful duel here she eyed her opponent cautiously, matching his every move. If she won then the Union forces would withdraw from the field and allow her onwards to take the blockhouses, if he won then she would retreat back into her own lands and likely have to wait till fall or winter to prepare another offensive.
Certainly she could use the time to train more troops, have heavy cannons brought up to take the blockhouses but winter would be the Sacrye's advantage and she could not afford to lose. She had made a promise to the Firetooth. Not even that, she was a warrior, an Ikegami warrior. The Ikegami did not make promises, speaking and doing were the same thing, she said she would aid the Firetooth and that was all there was to it, no going back.
So when she drew her katana from its scabbard, it was with the resolve and courage of one who would not yield. The weapon was oh so familiar to her, it had been her first weapon and she had maintained it for well over a century and a half now, keeping it sharp, practicing with it every day. It was no longer merely a weapon, it was now an extension of her being. She remembered, so many years ago, practicing her bladework and excitedly showing off to her father her skills.
Naozumi had called her adept but slow, he had shown her in a practice match, he hadn't even drawn his weapon, just with the scabbard he'd managed to utterly defeat her. The memory still caused lingering shame and humiliation run through her, but it also taught her something. Her Father, and her mother too for a time, had hammered an important lesson into her ever since that day.
People thought the Ikegami's skill at martial combat came just from their intense training and skill, they assumed the Ikegami trained a critical eye to analyzing their opponent's style and stance to spot weaknesses. Carefully timed movements and blows that battered away their enemies guard and left them open. In short they thought the Ikegami fought like them, just more intense.
They couldn't be more wrong, her father had taught her the real secret.
Ikegami didn't 'think' about what they did not wield a sword, shoot a bow, ride a horse or fire a gun. That was wasteful and would only serve to make you uncoordinated and sloppy. When all conscious thoughts stilled and one's mind was empty, then the true warrior emerged. Her father had a saying for it, that she could remember even now.
'This is it, but if you fixate on it, then it isn't anymore. In swordplay, the beginning and the end are the same' When she was a beginner, she had been clumsy, unknowing of even the simplest complexities of swordsmanship. As she got more experienced she learned forms and points of attack, where to strike and when to block, but all it had done was caused her mind to linger, thinking of swordsmanship was making her a poorer swordsman.
But then, as she got older, and practiced incessantly, she began to be like she was in the beginning, acting as if she knew nothing, but in reality she had begun to learn to let her mind still. She already knew how to fight and fight well, all she had to do was let her conscious thoughts slip away and let her true, normal mind do the work.
So when her hands gripped the familiar leather, every knot and bump a favored friend, and she raised her sword to face Aulus, she did not think of how he was guarding, what stance he was using, where he might strike and when. Instead, she quieted her mind, cleared her thoughts and let her body do the work.
So when Aulus launched his first strike, she did not need to think about blocking, or moving at all. She thought of nothing and instead let her normal mind act as it knew to. She would defeat the Recimir quickly, without seriously harming him, march on the Sacrye and do her best to bring this war to a quick end.
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Post by zurajai on Aug 23, 2017 7:02:48 GMT
It was on a blustery day standing atop a particularly cold and dry mesa that the two armies met. The moment was likely to remembered by history as both the most surprising and surreal moments ever to have graced the Northern continent. Two modern armies marching in lockstep with factory-made uniforms, mass-produced muskets, and bright colors dyed by as many hands as there were soldiers on the field. It would be the first time in the era that two modern, professional armies met in the open field. Yet, like something out of a storybook, it was two figures of legend that marched out from the front ranks and not the numerous fighting ranks of hardened soldiers. The two met in the center of the field with weapons drawn far away from the battle lines and with armor glimmering. What a child might think, now, to see these two fairy tale heroes poised to do battle as if out of song.
Aulus, Chosen of Eshar, looked pristine. His plate, forged by the finest craftsmen the Union had to offer, reflected light as if the very sun was daunted by its awesome visage. He looked the part of what they said about him, at least in that moment, with every single inch of his form radiating his epic demeanor. Opposed to him, seeming his polar opposite in many ways, came the uniquely feminine figure of Ikegami Sayoko. The Daimyo was a woman but looked entirely the part of a idyllic warrior completely devoid of any corporeal qualities. As if stepping from the pages of a story book to do battle with the avatar of the divine Ikegami Sayoko poised herself to do battle; the sight was described by an onlooker as the most fascinating portrayal of two most alien ideals so incongruously similar as to almost be confused as one another. Despite their differences in weapons, in armor, in race and in gender the two looked in that moment to be carved from the very same monolithic shard of myth.
The duel began with a clash of blades, katana and longsword striking together with an epic clang of steel. This was, of course, a formality; a show by either side that their conviction still held even when blades were drawn and show was all for naught. Aulus took on a high-guard stance almost immediately with his right leg poised squarely behind his left with a well-practiced weight distribution to steady himself safely in case of a quick response. Taut muscles held the meticulously crafted piece of steel above his head with ease, not a single twitch revealing any weakness in his arms. He paced, like a lion, slowly stepping off to his right with perfect footwork to keep his balance centered. If there were judges on the field one might have added two extra points simply for such a show. Across from him was the equal yet opposite mirror of himself. Sayoko was shorter, providing the reach advantage to the Recimir, but despite being the man's elder was clearly the faster of the pair. Her katana, short and heavy compared to the longsword, was thrust forward and pointed directly at her opponent's throat. The single edged, curved blade benefited considerably from the Daimyo's elven speed, its slightly shorter blade and longer hilt suddenly a boon in her nimble hands. There was a flash, like lightning, as the rays of the sun bounced discordantly from both blades as they whipped forward.
Aulus reeled back, his defense proving to be just barely enough to stop Sayoko's barrage of attacks. Though he had trained with many elves in his time and bested just as many, the Recimir had to admit that Sayoko's skills were considerable. Adjusting swiftly with the practiced eye of a master guiding his path, he moved into a defensive guard with his weapon taking up a low, horizontal position. They clashed again, Sayoko dancing forward with her blade cutting the very air in twain with her precision and grace. The Chosen of Eshar was knocked back, rocks skittering off themselves or rolling softly through the short grass. Every move she made he carefully defended against but more and more he found himself struggling to find a path out of the defensive. A masterful stroke sent her katana wide and a second follow through blow forced the Daimyo to relent. Aulus saw his chance and stormed forward, unleashing a hail of strikes and counter strikes that consistently kept Sayoko on her back foot. He refused to relent but remained cautious, every beat of his heart sounding like a warning signal in his head to remind him to watch carefully.
There!
He saw it! In the middle of one of his strikes, a tight swing from his right shoulder that arced into a stab, he noticed something. An old wound, perhaps, had left her hobbled ever so slightly. Though he would not admit himself a grin, not yet at least, a sense of satisfaction came upon him. He had her tell and he could make use of that. A weak swing, slightly too wide, saw his guard knocked aside and brought her inward, forcing her weight from her back foot onto her front as she transitioned into an offensive stance. It was then that he revealed his feint, turning his blow around in masterful hands to repeat the very same pair of strikes he had first discovered the weakness with. There was a gentle crunch as pebbles gave way beneath his forward foot and he began to slip, his eyes going wide with surprise. As his blow had dove forward she had matched it in movement, a viper in motion striking its prey. He had been duped and realized it the very moment it had occurred. She had, in a moment of brilliance, noticed the poor ground for which he had advanced to in his aggressive attack and had taken advantage of it with perfect timing. His strike was deflected, knocked aside by the base of Sayoko's blade, and with but a gentle forward movement of her right foot into his left and a second swing striking the pommel of her katana to his back Aulus fell to the floor.
Before he had even struck the ground in its entirety the Recimir had turned, longsword thrust up to meet her. However, despite his speed and tenacity, he knew that he had lost. She was above them then with the tip of her katana pressing gingerly against the open space found where his helmet and gorget met. The two remained unmoving, one blade pressed to throat while the other remained just barely from its enemy's side. The seconds passed and Aulus gave a hearty chuckle before gently setting his sword to the floor in a yield. Sayoko rose and offered a hand, pulling him from the ground with only the slightest nicks on his armor to show for his fall. The duel had been hard fought and expertly won, victory attained fittingly on the edge of a sword.
SUMMARY
-- Daimyo Ikegami Sayoko has bested Recimir Aulus the Chosen-of-Eshar in the duel.
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