Name: Glie-av Orien
Loosely translated from Lorien as Taloned-Wing Form, Glie-av Orien is a form of fighting developed by the Avriel specifically for unarmed and armed combat while on the wing. The roots of it's practice began as early as the creation of the Avriel, and reflects as much of a chaotic, cruel, and uncivilized nature as the race that it sprang from.
It began as a few naturally selected maneuvers and techniques for hunting that the earliest avriel handed down to their young, from these young down to their young, and so on. Only the effective maneuvers were disseminated in this way, those that were of little use or too convoluted to be useful weren’t continued. The beings that produced useless maneuvers were quickly culled by the brutality of an avriel’s day to day life.
As a form that arose from hunting practices of the earliest winged beings, emphasis is still placed on the ability of the avriel to intimidate and harass its opponent, or ‘prey’. As such, ostentatious movements and costume-work are still given precedence as long as they don’t interfere with skillful implementation of grapples, strikes, and movements. The avriel will often make himself appear as threatening as possible. This is an inherited from the earliest days of Glie-av Orien when prey were undisciplined and reacted to sudden shows of aggression from above. Eventually, Glie-av Orien was incorporated into ritualistic duels to defend the pride of the challenger, Pride-Duels or Flum-Niathie.
The Wing Valance is essentially light mail shielding on the limbs of their wings, with feather-shaped slats of light metal. It is not only defensive, but allows them to use their wings as formidable bludgeons in a pinch; as well as sharpening the leading edge on the outermost "feathers", for use as slashing weapons.
Many avriel wear these as part of a strength training regimen for their wings, and this is only a bonus to many of the moves inherent in aerial dueling. But most do not actually practice the combat art of Glie-av-Orien, or are so enraged over what prompted the duel that the thought of pausing for any reason is stricken from their minds.
Complimentary Skills:
Flying: Obviously the most important supplementary skill, and one that all avriel possess in some form or another. The conditioning inherent in training flight also helps with the application of certain wing-buffeting techniques.
Strength: The strength of one's grip, and ability to carry someone much heavier than oneself is essential to this. Strength trickles down to every aspect of Glie-av Orien, from grappling to wing-strength.
Acrobatics: This is of the aerial variety, where unexpected twists and spins, combined with above-average wing strength, can result in odd mid-air counter-weight applications the will free up limbs for strikes that have not been guarded against.
Running: WIth this skill, an avriel can catch more air to take flight faster and thus joining the fight, as well as learn the most effective uses of speed in tandem with their martial art.
Discipline: Charging anyone while on the wing can be taxing on the nerves, thus it's good to maintain calm and courage in the face of possibly getting batted out of the sky when rushing somebody.
Intimidation: A skill that the Avriel are reknown for. Gliie-av Orien wouldn't be a martial art without the art of intimidation. This skill is used not only to scare opponents and unsettle them, but also to goad them into attacking. The insults are ofttimes thrown with expert timing, to the point where a master can anticipate the timing of his insults and unsettle an opponent before closing in to grapple with them.
Novice: 0-25
Here, the novice is taught some rudimentary grapples, both on the wing and on the ground. Emphasis is placed on the use of legs in both grappling and striking maneuvers. While the hands are almost always held in reserve, for defense of the wings. At the lowest level, practitioners are taught to make themselves appear as fearsome as possible, to engage in physical conditioning and flight skills. Lesser emphasis is placed on accuracy or power of techniques.
Competent: 26-75
At the level of Competency, a martial artist is taught to not only grapple with their opponents, but find ways of exploiting openings from the grapples they learned of previous levels with either weapons or pushes. Grappling is still a cornerstone of the art at this level of competency, and has become much more effective as a result. Most avriel practicing this martial art are well-capable of grabbing an unarmed target and dropping them off about fifteen meters from the ground with their legs or arms, given sufficient strength conditioning and flight skill.
It is also at this level that the warrior is introduced to the use of both scare-tactics, feints and incorporating taunts in order to put opponents off balance.
Expert: 76-150
At this level the expert has achieved fluency with both striking and grappling, as well as beginning to learn how to take on multiple opponents using various twists and turns of their body while fighting mid-air. They benefit greatly from support from other warriors on the wing, but are far past the point where they are capable of fighting independently of group formations. Their usage of weapons in combination with unarmed techniques has turned them into a deadly whirlwind of winged fury.
Master: 151-250
Among the most feared of Avriel warriors duelists have reached mastery of this martial art. They have earned the fear and hatred of their enemies. Their mastery of the grappling arts, in tandem with unbalancing pushes and fearful tactics have garnered them rulership over almost every one-on-one combat situation with less skilled enemies and even equals. The fluency of their maneuvers is unparalleled, combined arms of weapons, pushes, grapples, and winged movements marry themselves to the warrior’s every motion.
Confusion, fear, and inspiration become weapons in the hand of the master of Glie-av Orien.
Credit: Kalortah
