Duskfall

The Gauthrel Plains reach from the coasts of western Idalos to the very edge of Ne'haer before meeting the forests surrounding Hiladrith. The Fields of Gauthrel can be a dangerous place, one that is home to the most deadliest of creatures. It holds many secrets in the history of the land and may offer rewards to those who choose to journey out into the wild plains. It is best not to wander out alone in these fields. Even caravans have been known to go missing.

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Alistair
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Duskfall

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72nd of Ymiden, Arc 717

Scorpion Strike. He knew this. Quickly and stunningly strike the foe's weapon from beneath or above, using the advantage of surprise and the force of your muscles to disarm them in an incredibly quick maneuver. Shadow Sweep, a fundamental - he knew this too. After dodging, strafing, rolling, voiding or eluding, quickly follow with a turn and sweep for the calves, hamstring or other lower body muscle. If successful, usually followed by a lunge to the center of the back to finish off a foe.

Rapid Swing. He did not know this, though he had seen it. Quickly pull back the spear before flinging it horizontally, and then forward at incredible speeds, often done with a spin or turn of the body. Often lethal - the rapid swing typically goes for the jugular, skull, heart, lungs or intestines. The mage would need to learn this ability as well, if he were to be considered a master of Shadowdancing. Scribbling some notes onto the parchment in his home, he made a mental note to practice Rapid Swing later today.

Snakebite, another ability of his, mastered as well as any other. A quick downward lunge, often done with a jump. Typically a quick and finishing move. Sometimes, this is followed by a throw if the enemy manages to slightly dodge the strike. Snakebite is typically used on foes who have been weakened or who have created an opening. All of the strength of the body goes into this attack, and it usually intends to plunge through the heart.

The Dancing Snakebite, a technique he'd not yet begun to delve into. A more skilled version of snakebite, often beginning with feints, strafes, spins, jumping spins and other dance-like maneuvers. This ability could follow into many other abilities, but the dancing snakebite is a particularly deadly method of executing it: following an evasive maneuver, one will very quickly throw their weight into their spear and near instantly pin the foe to the ground in a lethal lunge.

That was another. Rapid Swing, Dancing Snakebite - two more prongs of Shadowdancing, two he would need to master.

Spinning Parry, he knew this. Twirling the spear rapidly in your hands, either to the sides, front or overhead, block attacks whilst seeking to disarm foes with the motion. He'd learned this by seeing it, and by practicing it amidst his failed Jeger test. The Spinning Parry was a skillful maneuver, yet he'd done well with it thus far.

Shadowfall, he'd yet to learn this, though Keanu used it to nearly kill him on a previous trial. Sweeping or kicking with your legs, send a foe off balance before rapidly following with your spear into a vital organ. The third and final ability he would need to learn.

And last, a technique he knew that his master had invented, Insomnus. It required one to know the vertical cartwheel, using the spear as a pole from which to flip with. After landing, pull the spear from the ground using either your under-arm or both arms, duck your head and swing the spear around you in a three-sixty degree motion. Also known as the Full Moon Strike; ripping through all enemies directly surrounding you.

There laid three abilities he needed to learn: Shadowfall, a rapid execution playing on a failure of balance or any other immobilized state. Rapid swing, an unexpectedly fast strike meant to either kill a foe or eradicate vital muscles. Dancing snakebite, an evasive maneuver followed by a powerful and weighted thrust, and even a follow-up throw if evaded.

More than all of this, though - was his own ability, one he'd been developing conceptually for some trials. Today, he would create it, the Duskfall, and Shadowdancing would be mastered at last.
word count: 636
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Alistair
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Duskfall

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He glided through the first three abilities, the ones he could not consider himself a master of. These were all skills he'd known the basics of, and had seen in practice by Keanu, yet had not been utilized by him in totality. The Rapid Swing was incredibly simple of course - reeling his spear by his side, pointed outward where his back was facing, Alistair prepared his developed arm muscles for a rapid outward swing. With devastating force, the mage swung, the spear whistling through in a nearly perfect one hundred and eighty degree angle. He performed the swing a few times at multiple different angles, heights and levels of commitment, as well as doing so while fluidly voiding.

The Rapid Swing, a simple technique, had been mastered. Now, he moved onto the next technique, the Dancing Snakebite. Out of the three abilities he wished to learn from basic Shadowdancing, this was likely the most difficult of them. The dancing snakebite required fluid voiding - or constant mobile evasion - followed by a flawless, unflinching leap or forward charge. With the body's strength thrown into a devastating lunge of the spear, either gripped chest-level by both arms or raised above the shoulder with one hand, the foe would be pinned down and quickly killed.

Typically, the dancing snakebite was a snakebite - usually a leap followed by a downward lunge - that came after a dodge. With this principle in mind, Alistair practiced by himself, aware that he would likely not be able to fully simulate a dancing snakebite without actually dodging something.

Regardless, he maneuvered around, and after a bout of fluid voiding he leaped into the air and viciously lunged downward with his spear. Imagining himself pinning a foe to the floor, Alistair rolled into the motion to remain mobile, before sweeping behind him as a finishing touch. The move was fairly easy, and the mage quickly realized that the Dancing Snakebite wasn't very different from the regular Snakebite at all, just mobile and acrobatic.

Finally, Shadowfall. Sweeping someone off their feet, or throwing them onto the ground by some other means, one would quickly vertically lunge their spear and stab into a foe's vitals - usually their heart or brain. The technique was incredibly quick, and was contributed to by Alistair's extensive anatomical knowledge. Sweeping with his legs, the mage quickly plunged downward with Shadowsong, rolling his eyes in the process. That ability was far from difficult, and he'd wondered if practicing it would've even been necessary.

With these abilities learned, the mage found himself proud: he fundamentally understood every ability of Shadowdancing, and now had been tasked to make his own. Duskfall, he'd called it, was the final journey in becoming a master of Shadowdancing... though he knew there would be more to learn in the future, and more to create.
word count: 478
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Alistair
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Duskfall

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Duskfall, fundamentally, was an incredibly lethal maneuver that required high mobility, speed and precision. Sweeping with one's legs in tandem with a sweep of the spear, the Shadowdancer - who has lowered to the floor either on one knee or via the 'splits' - throws their enemy off balance with the destruction of their foe's kneecaps or hamstring. Quickly raising from their lowered position, the Shadowdancer slices across the waist level of the foe as they fall or reel back, bringing back the spear to dice their abdomen. Then, with a final lunge, the Shadowdancer either throws or plunges the spear into the heart or brain of the enemy. This ability is meant to annihilate durable or heavily armored opponents, dealing a variety of incredibly damaging blows in a short period of time. Using the opponent's weakness, it is followed with a guaranteed lethal blow in the form of a lunge into one of the two immediately fatal organs.

The move was fast, incredibly fast, and precise. One threw their foe off balance, diced across their body, and then slew them with a decisive strike. It was a master's ability to be certain, and one that Alistair had thought of and mulled over for some trials. The questions he had now were... was this ability practical? Could one not simply perform this same ability in the form of a snakebite, or shadow sweep? The answer was no. This ability combined the concepts of the Shadow Sweep and Shadowfall, generating an incredibly damaging volley of swings and lunges to defeat the most durable of opponents. An enemy like Fridgar, for instance, would not be killed by a mere Shadow Sweep, and would not be knocked down by Shadowfall.

An armored opponent, potentially resisting much of the damage of a swing, would not die to a Sweep. Alistair needed to combine multiples of abilities sloppily, or more wisely, combine multiple ideas into one efficient maneuver. With the mobility he'd accrued with his incredible spear and acrobatics training, he knew that the Duskfall would take only a few seconds at the most, and often less than that. Additionally, with the limp body of the foe being held by the spear plunged through them, it was very possible that the Shadowdancer could use their body as a blocking mechanism for any foes who would attempt to strike them down during the more time consuming maneuver.

His second question was, of course, whether or not this ability was actually possible... and the clear answer was yes. It was little more implausible than a basic shadow sweep, only requiring more precision and skill in its execution. Alistair knew for a fact that he could perform the Duskfall if he attempted it, and with these thoughts in mind, he decided he would do so.

In his home's garden, the mage stood before a tree, focusing on the make-up of the wooden structure and envisioning his execution of this ability. Rolling into what appeared to be almost a crawl, Alistair swept across the lower bark of the tree, before quickly front-flipping using his spear as leverage. Sweeping across the foe's body on multiple sections, Alistair followed up with a lunge into the center of the tree, completing the maneuver in a matter of two seconds. He'd managed to chain all of these abilities together rather flawlessly, realizing that - indeed - this skill borrowed enough from previous methods that it was little challenge for a skilled practitioner of the Spear.

The mage grinned, proud of his progress. Sticking his spear into the grass, he brought his back against the tree and laid relaxedly against it. With this, he was there - a master of Shadowdancing, a master of the spear. All felt well.
word count: 630
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Varthakh
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Duskfall

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Rewards for the two-legs's

Alistair

Story: 5/5
Collaboration: 0/5
Structure: 5/5

Knowledge:
Polearms: Spear - Rapid Swing
Polearms: Spear - Shadowfall
Polearms: Spear - Dancing Snakebite
Polearms: Spear - Duskfall
Acrobatics: Rolling into a crawl
Acrobatics: Front-flipping from a crawl
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Alistair: Shadowdancing Master
Alistair: Spear Master

Loot: None
Injuries: None
Fame: None
Devotion: None
Magic: These points may Not be used for Arcana

Comment: Well, that was fast! Alistair is sure as hell dedicated to that spear, and now he's a shadow dancing master? Sick! Also, just wait until Frid finds out what you did to our tree! ;)
word count: 101
Whenever one finds oneself inclined to bitterness, it is a sign of emotional failure.
-- Bertrand Russell
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