Sataari

[quietblade]

WHO: Taashath + OPEN
WHAT: Catch-all for Wintermarch
WHEN: All through the month
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Come get giant qunari CR!

I. SKYHOLD

Most days were good days for the warrior. He laughed, he smiled and he spent his time among friends and peers. Training, teaching, working for something.

Other days were not as good, when memories came to him and he swore he could almost hear again; the low thunder of the aftermath of an explosion. Those days Taas withdrew from the rest of the soldiers and spent his time on the battlements, looking at the mountains. It reminded him of freedom, to see the high rise of the snowy peaks - yet there was the the drop from the wall and deep into the chasm that settled his stomach even more.

Nothing came without danger, did it?

"Meraad astaarit, meraad itwasit, aban aqun," he says softly. There was nothing to struggle against, even when all he could see were the faces of his antaam.

Taas keeps his back free, his weapon in the barracks and his thoughts stubbornly on the future, but he could probably use a distraction.

II. TAVERN

Some nights Taashath spent in the tavern, having a few drinks and talking to people. He does his best to not get too drunk, but sometimes it was nice to let go and be the guy who had to sleep it off on the floor.

...few people could move him once he was down, after all.

Other nights he enjoys less alcohol and more games, and he's still trying to master Wicked Grace. Diamondback is more his thing, as well as Dead Man's Tricks. It would be nice to get some Qunari games in the tavern, but he doubted any of them were easily found in the south.

Join him for drinking or games?

III. TRAINING RING

The swing of his dragon-tooth mace crushed the target dummy under him, and he makes sure to follow up the weight of the weapon by bracing himself with his legs. Swinging the thing was different from his usual axe, but the destruction was obvious. Standing back, he looks at the broken piece of straw and wood, rolling his shoulders a bit.

He still preferred the axe, but Korrin's present was damn amazing.

"So who wants to spar? I need to work on my speed, and I'm sure I'll be decent training for facing any Red Templar behemoths." Taas grins, leaning a bit on the mace and looking at the people gathered.

IV. SIGN LANGUAGE CLASS

Taashath's sign language class was still going, although it was mostly teaching non-verbal commands to the scouts. The people who came back for more were always welcome, and it was really a blessing for the deaf warrior to have more people around that were able to sign. It meant he didn't always have to guess half the words people said to him, and the most important conversations couldn't be misunderstood.

(...silent ways of flirting was another thing that he was asked a lot, so Taas has to try not to laugh any time he sees it used outside his 'classroom'.)

The door to the semi-broken tower that the soldiers used as a place to nap between shifts during the night was always open when Taas was teaching, and by now he had dragged some old benches and blankets there to make it a little more comfortable.

Comments

[quietblade]

"It sounds like a good training for both of us, then." Taas watches her movements, ready to fight even if she was still talking. You never knew with rogues, after all - and that was part of the fun.

"Come at you when you are ready," the warrior says with a little wink. "...and no blows to the groin, if you please." She was a rogue, after all. Any fighting woman worth their salt knew exactly where to aim, and Taas didn't feel like visiting the healers for that.

He needed to be fast at this. Most of it would have to be defense, if not all. It was a bad match, but out there, not everyone he fought would be a warrior.

[foxsays]

Having left the amulet she shares with Korrin whenever one of them might need it on the nightstand - getting back up on the rooftops of Skyhold again for the first time in what feels like forever and she wants a little advantage in being more difficult to spot - means relying on her skill.

"Oh that is just rude," she tosses back, doing her best to sound offended. "Everyone must know they teach ladies and thieves to aim there first." You have a double-threat on your hands here and you ask her to rule out the main attack? How very dare you. Kidding, kidding, that's for real fights or for men that don't know when 'no' and 'shut up' or 'the lady wants you to leave her alone' mean exactly those things.

While she speaks, she feints right with her left hand raised higher, marked hand glowing away inside the ornate basket-hilt as she moves to try out just how quickly Taas will move.

[quietblade]

He can't hear her offended tone but her reaction says it all, and he's laughing while she speaks. Taas has no problem seeing why Korrin loved this girl. Quick wit, quick tongue and quick fighter.

Then the little rogue is moving and the warrior is on alert at once. His demeanor changes to something more excited as he moves from the feint. He's fast, just fast enough to dodge it but not quick enough to take advantage of the movement.

The maul took too much time to swing for that.

Instead he pulls the weapon to block incoming swipes, falling on the defense. Taas has to work with his bulk and his heavier weapon, but it also means that he is a damn fortress when it comes to withstanding assault.

[foxsays]

When they're done, she'll need to get him to stand the mace up next to her just to see how much (or how little) difference there is in size between her and it. It's a daunting prospect but the things they fight in the field aren't going to care about what she's used to, and they're going to take advantage if she hesitates for even half a heartbeat.

Rapiers are meant for quick, rapid movements, finding weak points and stabbing, slashing if you know what you're doing. If it's against the right sort of thing she can block it but that maul? No. Still, she presses forward, relying on the fact that she's small and fast, striking out again though she's absolutely bracing herself for that maul to come swinging down or out at her.

[quietblade]

Someone as small as her wouldn't have a chance against his strength, but that nimbleness was a problem he had to watch out for.

Taas continues to defend, because she's far too quick for the big weapon right now. It might easily be her size, and able splatter a man underneath it - but damn if it didn't lack some of the more refined cut of an axe. An axe would be a smidge lighter, too, which would have made him quicker.

He needed to get her off balance to have a shot at 'crushing' her, and he attempts do do so with a bellowing roar, pushing the maul against her rapiers as she strikes and trying to force her backwards.

[foxsays]

That does the trick. Startled by how loud Taas is (how much it reminds her of the parts of the battle after getting out of the dungeons) Araceli doesn't move back in time until she's moved. Trying to dig her heels in is perhaps a valiant effort on her part until she can feel them sliding out from under her regardless.

"Joder!" It's quiet, a soft little curse under her breath as she tries to very quickly assess the options.

Maybe sliding out to the side - that's usually the issue, with someone or something big. There's a tipping point.

[quietblade]

Taas pushes hard, aiming to flip her with the mace as he moves it upward - but she's nimble and she slides to the side, making his move useless. It also opens him up for any stabsas he stumbles slightly, so he twists to block.

It's not quite fast enough, and he growls - mostly at himself for being too damn slow. Still, it might seem frightening, even if his eyes were still clear and focused rather than the bestial haze he had fallen into when out of control.

[foxsays]

Knowing just how sharp her rapiers are from plenty of prior experience, the first stab only goes so far as to poke because Araceli isn't exactly interested in drawing blood and Marjani taught her how to control herself too.

It's more intimidating than she'd anticipated, in all honesty. She knows Taas. Not as well as others but she does know him. Knows that he's Korrin's friend, that he's not here to hurt her but all the same this has something to it that most sparring doesn't that sets her heart to pounding, forcing her to tighten her grip on the rapier when she makes to step back to reasssess.

[quietblade]

The poke is noted and Taas has to school his face into the battle frown instead of smiling. Araceli had some impressive control there - enough to not bleed a normal man. The warrior was wearing some vitaar, so he wasn't as armorless as he seemed, but this was a game of skill that he had not played for a while.

As soon as Araceli steps back, Taas gives her little time to reassess - instead going from defense to offense, snarling at her and swinging the maul in a controlled arch. It was carefully measured to miss, but she would most likely feel the whoosh of the heavy weapon.

[foxsays]

The vitaar is something she'll probably ask about after. Korrin doesn't wear it so she's always wanted to know from someone who actually does what it's like and what it does, not wholly convinced about it until now. Very interesting. She can definitely poke with the rapiers where the vitaar is then without drawing blood.

There's not enough time to know how he fights and she loses her balance, not managing to feint this time so she's damn glad that the swing is designed to miss since she freezes for a moment when the maul is swung her way. Time seems to slow just for a moment because yes, Taas is tall and muscular, clearly a seasoned warrior but there's such skill to it that it takes her breath away just for a second. She smiles though, so he can see she's okay as she makes to recover, moving back in an invitation to come at her again.