12-08-2015, 12:01 PM
I am iron and I forge myself
With an almost inevitable war on the horizon, Lagertha is glad that Joscelin is taking the initiative to come and ask for a mock. It makes the Warrior Queen feel better about leading her Army into battle, and she, too, could use a refresher course. Normally, she fights without traits, but the opponents they will face would never dream of being so accommodating. No, on this lovely late fall day, they fight to the best of their abilities - and unfortunately, Lagertha can’t even wield one of her weapons. She both in anticipation to the battle and in response to the chill that has yet to dissipate beneath the sun. It is bright, and could potentially blind one of them if they aren’t careful. This place is familiar. This place is home. Her breath comes in light puffs from her nostrils as she positions herself with the sun at her back, and the boulder a ways away. It wouldn’t do for either of them to go and crack a bone on that thing. Not now.
For the moment, Lagertha stands still, watching Joscelin study her and prepare in turn. Her head is no longer weighed down with horns (horns that might have been useful in this war, but she likes to think that she upgraded), and she finds that her neck and head feel surprisingly light. The Iron lady has seen the cracks in Joscelin’s skin and is aware that the mare can fly without wings, but she’s never seen either of her gifts in action before. And so she looks at this as a way for her to get to know her warriors, to learn their strengths and weaknesses, and to learn how to keep them alive in the not too distant future. Here, she assumes that the lovely Joscelin is not as dainty as she appears. The Khaleesi’s brawn might give her a weight advantage, make her attacks a tad more powerful, but she isn’t going to let herself count on anything. They stand a good distance apart - maybe twenty horse lengths or so - facing each other head on.
When Joscelin drives forward, Lagertha leaps into action too, because there’s no point in giving her an easy target. She doesn’t have the advantage of flight, but her well-muscled, practiced hindquarters are quite powerful on their own, propelling the gray mare into a quick canter. It seems to be no more than a handful of heartbeats before the two Amazonians clash together, though it isn’t from a head-on position. As she runs, Lagertha coats herself in her favorite method of defense - quarter inch plates of iron start to coat the top half (front part) of her legs, her shoulders and hindquarters, her chest, and her barrel. There are naked spaces (large cracks, really) at her joints to allow for movement, creating a rather archaic, if sleek, picture of a medieval war horse. Her lower legs are free of the armor, as is her neck, head, and underbelly. On top of the iron she places a few unevenly spaced out thorns, not of iron, but of plant material so that it wouldn’t hurt as much. ‘No serious injuries’ means cuts and bruises are perfectly acceptable and expected.
A pace before they collide, and as Joscelin’s front legs leave the ground, Lagertha swerves 30 degrees to the left. The iron-clad mare intentionally waited until they were about to hit each other knowing full well that as long as Joscelin’s attack was focused on her protected side, she would be fine. Her sister’s hooves glance off her barrel, right behind her scapula, scraping down the latissimus dorsi muscle and the outer edge of her ribs. She grunts upon impact, because even if the force is absorbed by the iron, there’s still a good deal of ‘oomph’ behind it due to Joscelin’s flying abilities. Were she not wearing armor, there would be a lovely bruise at her shoulder and a shallow abrasion running down her side, but with the thorns, the tables might be turned, giving Joscelin some stinging scrapes instead. In fact, once they pass the point of impact, Lagertha tries to adjust her course to remain as close to her opponent as possible, digging in her back legs to slow her down, giving the thorns an opportunity to do more damage along Joscelin’s right side. It would be like being caught amongst the brambles in the Jungle - infuriating and annoying, and potentially enough to make one lose a bit of focus.
Unfortunately for Lagertha, she neglected to cover all her bases and has indeed left her abdomen open to attack. On the other hand, she’s stayed close to Joscelin and tried to slow down enough so that she doesn’t blow past her. Plus, she’s already digging her back legs in to slow the quick canter, which almost naturally leads to wanting to rear up upon them. So even though she feels her opponent decline to keep on moving forward (that can really only mean one thing) and coil herself in preparation to buck out, she can’t really do anything about it save for hoping that their proximity and practically parallel position allows her to avoid most of the damage and try to time her attack to hit Joscelin when she’s on the way down.
For the most part, Lagertha’s assumption is correct, though she does have to manage a pivot to her right and a bit of a balancing/hopping act to keep herself up in the air (and out of the reach of Joscelin’s hooves) in order to come down at the right time. Her sister misses, and after the mare’s legs fly out, the Khaleesi twists her body to the right, towards Joscelin, and lets her own hooves fall, aiming for the fleshy part of the mare’s hindquarters. It’s an attack that’s fairly easy to dodge, if Joscelin acts quickly enough and scampers out of the way.
Regardless, Lagertha is eager to see what Joscelin throws at her next.
For the moment, Lagertha stands still, watching Joscelin study her and prepare in turn. Her head is no longer weighed down with horns (horns that might have been useful in this war, but she likes to think that she upgraded), and she finds that her neck and head feel surprisingly light. The Iron lady has seen the cracks in Joscelin’s skin and is aware that the mare can fly without wings, but she’s never seen either of her gifts in action before. And so she looks at this as a way for her to get to know her warriors, to learn their strengths and weaknesses, and to learn how to keep them alive in the not too distant future. Here, she assumes that the lovely Joscelin is not as dainty as she appears. The Khaleesi’s brawn might give her a weight advantage, make her attacks a tad more powerful, but she isn’t going to let herself count on anything. They stand a good distance apart - maybe twenty horse lengths or so - facing each other head on.
When Joscelin drives forward, Lagertha leaps into action too, because there’s no point in giving her an easy target. She doesn’t have the advantage of flight, but her well-muscled, practiced hindquarters are quite powerful on their own, propelling the gray mare into a quick canter. It seems to be no more than a handful of heartbeats before the two Amazonians clash together, though it isn’t from a head-on position. As she runs, Lagertha coats herself in her favorite method of defense - quarter inch plates of iron start to coat the top half (front part) of her legs, her shoulders and hindquarters, her chest, and her barrel. There are naked spaces (large cracks, really) at her joints to allow for movement, creating a rather archaic, if sleek, picture of a medieval war horse. Her lower legs are free of the armor, as is her neck, head, and underbelly. On top of the iron she places a few unevenly spaced out thorns, not of iron, but of plant material so that it wouldn’t hurt as much. ‘No serious injuries’ means cuts and bruises are perfectly acceptable and expected.
A pace before they collide, and as Joscelin’s front legs leave the ground, Lagertha swerves 30 degrees to the left. The iron-clad mare intentionally waited until they were about to hit each other knowing full well that as long as Joscelin’s attack was focused on her protected side, she would be fine. Her sister’s hooves glance off her barrel, right behind her scapula, scraping down the latissimus dorsi muscle and the outer edge of her ribs. She grunts upon impact, because even if the force is absorbed by the iron, there’s still a good deal of ‘oomph’ behind it due to Joscelin’s flying abilities. Were she not wearing armor, there would be a lovely bruise at her shoulder and a shallow abrasion running down her side, but with the thorns, the tables might be turned, giving Joscelin some stinging scrapes instead. In fact, once they pass the point of impact, Lagertha tries to adjust her course to remain as close to her opponent as possible, digging in her back legs to slow her down, giving the thorns an opportunity to do more damage along Joscelin’s right side. It would be like being caught amongst the brambles in the Jungle - infuriating and annoying, and potentially enough to make one lose a bit of focus.
Unfortunately for Lagertha, she neglected to cover all her bases and has indeed left her abdomen open to attack. On the other hand, she’s stayed close to Joscelin and tried to slow down enough so that she doesn’t blow past her. Plus, she’s already digging her back legs in to slow the quick canter, which almost naturally leads to wanting to rear up upon them. So even though she feels her opponent decline to keep on moving forward (that can really only mean one thing) and coil herself in preparation to buck out, she can’t really do anything about it save for hoping that their proximity and practically parallel position allows her to avoid most of the damage and try to time her attack to hit Joscelin when she’s on the way down.
For the most part, Lagertha’s assumption is correct, though she does have to manage a pivot to her right and a bit of a balancing/hopping act to keep herself up in the air (and out of the reach of Joscelin’s hooves) in order to come down at the right time. Her sister misses, and after the mare’s legs fly out, the Khaleesi twists her body to the right, towards Joscelin, and lets her own hooves fall, aiming for the fleshy part of the mare’s hindquarters. It’s an attack that’s fairly easy to dodge, if Joscelin acts quickly enough and scampers out of the way.
Regardless, Lagertha is eager to see what Joscelin throws at her next.
Lagertha
warrior queen of the amazons
[I’m hoping I interpreted that correctly - was she actually flying with all her feet off the ground, or was she just giving herself extra lift/propulsion? Let me know and I’ll edit if I’m wrong!]