john_tree [18:10] <Aurelia> "Your heart trembles."

john_tree [18:12] <Arlie_B> "What?--"

john_tree [18:12] <Aurelia> "Fear."

john_tree [18:12] <Arlie_B> "It's nothing, Sue's just hard to read."

john_tree [18:13] * Aurelia tilts her head, and says nothing further.

john_tree [18:14] <Arlie_B> "Alright, we were finishing up footwork last week. Now we're going to talk about wrist-work."

john_tree [18:14] * Aurelia nods.

john_tree [18:14] <Arlie_B> what is Aurelia's sword like?

john_tree [18:15] <Arlie_B> heavy? Rapier?

john_tree [18:15] <Aurelia> I imagine she uses a practice sword for this, whatever is available.

john_tree [18:15] <Arlie_B> ok

john_tree [18:15] <Arlie_B> "Today we're practicing with these:"

john_tree [18:16] <Arlie_B> He pulls out two thin pieces of wood.

john_tree [18:16] * Aurelia accepts one wordlessly.

john_tree [18:16] <Aurelia> Grimdancer is a cutlass, so she prolly uses as close to that as can be had.

john_tree [18:17] <Aurelia> Usually, I mean.

john_tree [18:18] <Arlie_B> "There's two main styles of swordplay, poking and slashing. Slashing is slower and it requires more strength to be effective. Poking requires agility and finesse. Today we're going to learn about the latter. You're not as strong, so these tips might serve you better. Knowing how it works will give you a better idea of how to defend against it."

john_tree [18:19] <Arlie_B> he starts teaching.

john_tree [18:19] * Aurelia nods again, and attemts to learn.

john_tree [18:19] <Arlie_B> (let me know if any of this is inaccurate)

john_tree [18:20] <Arlie_B> towards the end of the lesson, he picks up a heavier practice sword and has you defend with the twig.

john_tree [18:20] <Aurelia> ( I have no idea ^_^ )

john_tree [18:22] * Aurelia attempts to do so, likely less than successfully if you're not holding back.

john_tree [18:22] <Arlie_B> (I read this somewhere.) "You won't be able to stop this sword with that twig. Your goal is to poke me before I can strike in a vital organ while stepping out of the way."

john_tree [18:22] <Arlie_B> he holds back, does the same attack over and over again until she gets it.

john_tree [18:23] * Aurelia isn't terrible, and is a bit athletic, so is likely able to after a few tries get the hang of sidestepping and poking.

john_tree [18:26] <Arlie_B> After she can defend against 5 different types of attacks. "Alright, you got me. What do you want for breakfast?" "Next time we practice, I want a description of the advantages and disadvantages of each style of swordplay."