Working out the kinks(Attn: Arutha & Open)

[Blade]

OOC: Technically this is for Arutha's character, but anyone else that needs basic archery training can have their character wander on by and Rurak will teach everyone as a group.

 

Rurak woke to the strangest feeling. He felt like he was home...and yet, at the same time he felt like he was in a completely new environment. Wary and his senses on high alert. Rurak opened his eyes to darkness. Just the act of opening his eyes seemed to dispel the last grogginess and Rurak realized where he was. He was sleeping in a barracks for the band of the red hand. Wow, today was his first day back. He was an officer again! Light, he had forgotten about the soldiers life style. Always early up...oh kiss a flaming goat, he had to get down to the archery range to train the newest enlistee to the band of the red hand. He had promised Arutha that he'd be there. Rurak quickly stomped into his boots, grabbed his longbow and quiver and headed out the front of the barracks. Some other soldiers were already going about their business, the rest just ignored the commotion of soldiers coming and going, too used to it to let it bother their sleep.

 

The Range was quiet...most archers prefered a lot better light to train in, rather than the gray dawn that Rurak was now in, but he believed it was the situations that weren't always the greatest where you found the limits to your skill and learned to surpass them. The main reason that Rurak was using the time this time though was that he needed to get some good solid practice in before Arutha showed up for his training. It wasn't that his skills had detiorated...you always had use for a bow out there, even if it was just for hunting, but there were a lot different ways to use a bow, and military made things different. Because of the cold, Rurak took special care with his bow. On cold mornings the special qualities of the yew that made the two rivers longbow so powerful, if used without warming the bow up, the bow could possibly shatter in the users hands. Rurak flexed the limbs, working them slowly for a good 5-10 minutes before extending them to get his string on. After that it was pounding away at targets. Close range wasn't too hard and his groupings were tight out to 100 yards. After that they started to spread incrementally, but still, at out to 300 yards he could still keep it tight to the red ring that marked the center, if not necessarily always in it. Time passed quickly and before Rurak knew it, an hour had past, his body was sweating and offsetting the chilly morning air, and the sun was up enough to see that the camp was really beginning to come alive. Retrieving his last grouping of arrows, Rurak set his bow and quiver down next to the line and watched some of the other soldiers that were coming to take their practice. Technically Rurak was here to train Arutha, but he would take anyone that wanted to learn.

[Aruthaofcrydee]

Arutha woke early that morning with a groan and got out of bed to stretch his aching shoulders.  He knew he should not have stayed up so long with those three girls.  It was for a good cause though.  Teaching was such a rewarding practice.  His shoulder was sore. He made so many throws.  He had shown them the effects on performance that the flame and void had on a person.  It was easy to tell the difference in his results between his attempts while in the void and out of it.  Perhaps the void would help him with his bow training with Rurak this morning. He had never been a good archer.  He was halfway decent on his best day.  But he knew that he would need some long range capabilities if he was to be an effective scout.  So he resigned himself to dressing, throwing his tunic over his head and buckling his cloak on his shoulders.  It was chilly that morning and though bow practice would certainly warm his muscles but for now he wanted the warmth of his cloak.  He stepped into his boots and made his way out of the barracks and down the dirt road to the range. 

 

The morning was pretty busy with soldiers rushing around attending to their duties.  The (leader of the scouts) had told him the day he had signed up with the Band that the scouts would take him on but only after he was proficient at using a bow.  So he had gone straight to his friend and asked him to help him learn.  He had seen Rurak in action while on their journey to The Citadel.  He had taken out a deer from 300 yards.  It was very impressive and Arutha hoped to learn a lot from his new companion.

 

When he reached the range he could see Rurak returning from a target with a fist full of arrows and his bow across his back.  He watched the archer place his bow down and straighten to watch the traffic in the still early morning.  When he turned Arutha cheerily said, "Good morning Sergeant Rurak! Scout Recruit Arutha al'Cartair reporting to training as ordered sir!" Arutha was excited to begin his training.

 

[Jehaine]

Saira made her way through the Citadel after an early breakfast and her usual laps. That flame and void stuff she had gotten the hang of yesterdy was still fresh in her mind, and she tried to wrap herself in it as much as she could in order to master it more quickly. The way she remembered her father going on about it against her older brothers, it was certainly an important thing in battle, and that meant she'd need to get it under control before she'd be in her first battle.

 

"Good morning Sergeant Rurak! Scout Recruit Arutha al'Cartair reporting to training as ordered sir!"

 

The cheerful voice of Arutha managed to pull her attention away from her thoughts, and she noticed the man standing a bit further off, near an older person with the look of an officer about him. The bow was hard to miss, and she figured trying her hand at archery would be a good thing to do. Being from Kandor, her first choice of weaponry was of course the dual sword style, but she didn't yet believe she had the skill to fight a drawn-out battle with them, which meant she'd need something to take out opponents before they'd get to her. Like a bow.

 

- "Excuse me, sir. Recruit Saira Fujimura requesting permission to join this class?"

 

She looked at Rurak, awaiting his reply. Though the chances were pretty decent that she'd be allowed to join -- the only other student she saw being Arutha -- she knew she lacked the strength to properly pull back a bow. The only time she tried, the bow had wavered so much she had trouble keeping her arrows inside the practise range. Nervously eyeing the monstrous bow Rurak carried, she just hoped she would be more successful this time around.

 

 

Saira

Couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a bow

[Tigara]

Heather woke up in her usual, cheery mood. She washed, braided her hair, put on her uniform, and wandered off to find some food. The best food was always earlier in the morning, so it had become habit. The kitchen had some wonderful fried eggs and sausages, so she ate heartily. Belly full, she wandered off to find Saira. She had grown fond of that kind, shy girl as of late.

 

She spotted Saira near the archery range. A smile hit her face and she nearly skipped over to greet her friend. "Hi Saira! Did you get the hang of that flame thing we did last night? I seem to have forgotten how to do it after sleeping on it." The next thing she heard was...

 

"Excuse me, sir. Recruit Saira Fujimura requesting permission to join this class?"

 

It was then she noticed that there were other people there, including that nice man she met at the fire last night. It appeared to be an archery class. "Oh, an archery class! Sounds grand! I'll run and grab my bow." With that, she dashed off to get her personal bow, braid flailing behind her. She returned in a matter of minutes with her bow. "Archer recruit Heather al'Morris, reporting for class!"

 

Heather al'Morris

Comes on strong

[Blade]

Well things had definitely not turned out the way Rurak had expected. It started off normal enough, with Arutha showing up on time for his archery training appointment. "Good morning Sergeant Rurak! Scout Recruit Arutha al'Cartair reporting to training as ordered sir!" Arutha said. "At ease Recruit, and drop the Sergeant. You'll find that most aren't so formal here around the band, except for special occasions Now.." Suddenly he was interrupted by a female voice. "Excuse me, sir. Recruit Saira Fujimura requesting permission to join this class?" Turning, he found what seemed to be a Kandori woman standing at attention. "Well I..." Rurak started to say, but was soon interrupted again by another woman. "Hi Saira! Did you get the hang of that flame thing we did last night? I seem to have forgotten how to do it after sleeping on it." Suddenly she seemed to realize where she was. "Oh, an archery class! Sounds grand! I'll run and grab my bow." Blinking at the sudden turn of events...Rurak decided he would wait for the Recruit to come back before responding. They only waited for a couple of minutes before she returned."Archer recruit Heather al'Morris, reporting for class!"

 

"All right, well I wasn't expecting to be training so many at the same time, but might as well train a group, it won't be too much more of a strech. Now...first things first, it looks like Heather here is the only other person besides me who has a bow on them. Now, first thing we're gonna do is take a little trip over to find you a bow. Arutha, you're a country boy, I'm sure you've used a bow before, go pick one out that suits you, it'll come out of your first pay. now Saira was it? I'm not sure if you've ever handled a bow before, have you? "No not really sir." Nodding to himself Rurak responded "Don't worry about the sir, saira, I'm pretty relaxed on titles unless it's a formal occasion. Now, to pick out a bow for you, find one that fits your strength range. What I want you to do is find one that pushes your strength, but also, you need to be able to hold it steady for at least a count of 3 without your hands shaking. Your strength will change as you use the bow every day so continue to move up on your bow's pull weight over time until you've peaked."

 

Eying Saira's frame, Rurak turned to the rack of bows and handed a promising looking bow to Saira. "Here try this one on for size." Saira drew back the bow and it seemed to fit just fine, her hands holding for about a count of 5 or 6 before wavering...then she made an important mistake...she released the string. "Light Saira what are you doing?! Never do that again!" Rurak realize he had just shouted at the recruit and tried to calm himself down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to burst out on you like that, it's just that is probably one of the absolute worst things you can do for a bow. Never ever fire a bow without an arrow on it. With the arrow on it, the bow transfers its energy to the arrow, but without an arrow on it, the energy goes into the limbs, which can damage the bow." Taking the bow out of Saira's hands, Rurak unstrung the bow eyed the bow frame over, looking for cracks to the wood. After that he restrung the bow, knocked an arrow out of the quiver that went with the bow and fired one down the range. "It looks like this bow is fine. It fits you well, so use it for now, just make sure to take care of it."

"It seems I should go into some basic bowcare before we get started on the actual training. I apologize for those who already know these things, but it's important. First off of course, never dryfire a bow. That's what we call wait Saira just did. Second, never leave your bow strung when you're not using it unless you're planning to use it again soon. Also, never have your bow strung out in the rain. The rain will kill the spring on the string of your bow, making it useless. You can coat your strings with a thin layer of beeswax which will allow you to use it for short periods of time in rain, but don't make it a regular habit. Another thing you'll want to do is put a coating on the outside of your bow to keep it from getting warped, or damaged in any other way. Now, one final thing. This only applies to one particlar type of bow." Rurak walked back over and hefted his bow. "This is a longbow. I don't expect any of you to be able to use it. Very few can that haven't used it since they were a small boy. Should you however someday become strong enough to use a two rivers longbow, this bow has some special traits about it. The secret ingredient to this bow is a wood called yew, and it is very temperamental. It is also what gives the bow it's strength. In extreme weather conditions, such as cold like this morning, you'll want to warm your bow up first before you fire it. If you don't do this, your bow could snap in your hands when you pull it back. To warm it up, slowly work the limbs like this" Rurak demonstrated. His bow had gone cold from him lecturing for so long so it needed to be warmed up anyway.

 

"All right, any questions? If not, let's get you firing at these targets so I can figure out what to do with you guys next."

 

OOC: sorry about the lecture guys, had to get that part out of the way. Just post your character's thoughts on the lecture, then have them fire a few rounds at the range.

[Aruthaofcrydee]

  Arutha enjoyed the lesson on bow care from Rurak.  Sure his father had taught him all the same things and being raised on the farm all the children were taught to use a longbow, but having Rurak go over it all again in this setting made Arutha feel accepted.  He was not the only recruit learning from his friend and he took that as another sign of belonging. 

  When Rurak's lecture was through he had instructed them to choose a bow that suited them and take a few shots downrange.  Arutha went over to the rack and selected a nice longbow for himself.  It was not quite as large as Rurak's but it definitely had some range to it.  Arutha tested the strength of the bow against his own, drawing the string back to his ear.  He was able to hold it to the count of six before his hand began to quiver slightly.  He eased the tension off the string and let it come to rest at his wrist before letting go.  Arutha picked an arrow out of the quiver he had picked from the rack and examined it. No cracks, nice fletchings he thought, Not warped, should fly well. Arutha, satisfied with his selection, notched the arrow onto the bowstring and walked up to the line.  He selected a target that could be no more than fifty yards out, raised his bow, drew back and sighted in on his target.  Taking deep breaths to settle himself in Arutha took one last breath, held it, and let the arrow fly.  He maintained his stance evn after he had let go of the arrow, never letting his aze move away from the target.  His aim was true and the arrow hit the target with a loud thunk.  The arrow had hit thee target favorably well, just a two inches from the outside of the red ring that marked the center.  Truly satisfied with his shot Arutha stepped back from the line and turned to his classmates, "Well? Whose next?" 

[Jehaine]

Saira winced as she was berated for what was apparently called 'dryfiring' the bow she had been given. Even though she hadn't done it on purpose -- the string had slipped from her finger -- she still remained quiet throughout the lecture, listening to the ways a bow should be treated. She made a mental note to ask about what was used to coat the bow itself with to make the wood more resistant to rain and water, but that would have to wait until after the first round of shots.

 

Arutha stepped up first. From the way he did it, she could tell he had fired a bow before, a thought that was reinforced by the arrow almost hitting the center of the target. Well, time to see how she did. She took a deep breath, steadied the bow and drew back an arrow. Ready.. steady... *snap*

 

- "Ow! Dammit!"

 

The back of the arrow had slipped from the bowstring, resulting in another painful finger to nurse. Blowing on her fingers, she listened while Rurak showed her how to nock an arrow properly before giving it another attempt. Taking exra care that it was nocked correctly this time, she took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself to fire an arrow again. Ready.. Steady... No, a little more to the left.. Whoops, too much...

 

The arrow was released, and, surprisingly enough, was heading directly for the target. Unfortunately for her, gravity decided to spoil the fun and pull the arrow down into the ground somewhere halfway between her and the target. With a deep sigh, Saira took a few steps back again to let Heather take her turn, having had enough disappointment to deal with for the next, oh, five minutes.

 

 

Saira

Why no, i never held a bow before. How'd you guess?

[Blade]

Rurak watched the first two take their places. Arutha performed as expected...showing some insight that Rurak made a mental note of. Saira however...well, it was his own fault. He should have realized that she probably had never really used the bow before. After she failed to knock the arrow properly, Rurak stepped forward and showed her how to hold the bow and fire it. At least she fired it in a straight line, though it fell far short of the target. Stepping forward before Heather had a chance to shoot, Rurak decided to impart some advice so that Heather could learn from them, and also perhaps to help Saira out. He felt bad for having chewed her out, and now especially for being shown up here on the range. He probably should have taught them first before practice since Saira didn't know the first thing about bows. Oh well, water under the bridge I guess.

"All right, so far so good. Saira, don't worry about it, I understand that you've never used a bow before...now I'm here to give you some tips. First off...determining distance to a target. The first skill you're going to have to learn is to judge the distance to your target. This isn't something that can be taught...From now on, I want you to mentally make judgements as to how far away targets are in your head, then go and figure it out for yourself. This one's given for you...The target is 100 yards away. The reason your shot fell short was for a couple of reasons Saira...one of them being that you had your sight set low. I imagine that you probably put your arrow directly on the bullseye, is that correct?" Rurak merely waited for a nod from her before continuing. "The thing is, that you actually need to adjust your aim higher the further out the shot goes. The shot will remain flat for the first about 30 to 40 yards, but after that it's going to drop. You need to adjust your aim by raising your bow about a quarter inch for every 20 yards out the target is. That target is 50 yards out, so you'd set your bow directly on the bullseye, then raise it a quarter inch."

 

"Your other problem was how far back you drew the string, it didn't have enough power. You need to draw the string all the way back to your cheek. Also, a little tip for all of you...this a principle of focus...bring your hand all the way back so that your hand can rest behind your jawbone, then set the tip of the nose to your string as you sight down the arrow...This will help improve your accuracy. I also want to call attention to something Arutha did that was good. If you noticed his breathing pattern, he took a breath and then held it and THEN fired. This is very important as your breathing shifts your body and can shift your arrow off target, so make sure to hold your breath before firing to minimize movement. There will be more tips in a moment but let's see how Heather does with what I've imparted so far."

[Tigara]

Heather watched closely at Arutha shot his arrows. He wasn't a bad shot, about the average farmboy from where she was from. Saira, on the other hand, was severely...lacking in the skill department. After the lecture was over, she picked up her bow and went to the shooting point. "I was the best girl archer back home. Better than some of the boys, even. I can make this shot easy." She knocked her arrow, pulled it back, took careful aim, then released. Her arrow soared through the air, went over the target and dug itself into a tree trunk. She blinked uncertainly, looked to her left, then to her right. "Blood and ashes! The Light burn that bloody wind! The flaming updraft threw my shot off! Let me try again."

 

She settled back into stance, shoulders square with the target, she knocked, pulled, and took even more careful aim, then released. A thud reached her ears and she whooped in delight as it hit just outside of the center dot. She shot again, this time hitting a few centimeters lower than her previous shot, then her fourth actually hitting in the center. Her smile could be compared to a cat with a gallon of cream. "And that, kiddos, is how you shoot a bow." she said with a wink and a giggle.

 

 

Heather al'Morris

Expressive

[Blade]

Standing back and watching Heather, Rurak couldn't help but smile. She was confident...perhaps overconfident, but he liked that. She was a good shot and looked like she had been shooting a while. Not too surprising since she was an archer. However, despite her confidence, Rurak could see a few things that could use improving. Maybe he'd have a little fun as well, show the recruits how it's done. Stepping forward, Rurak spoke up

 

"All right, that was pretty good shooting there Heather...except for that first shot. I was watching from the side and I noticed why that shot went so high. There is a common tendency when shooting to pull up on the bow after firing...sometimes this happens just as you are releasing your arrow and it causes you to pull your arrow up and over the target. There isn't a trick to correct this, you just need to be constantly aware of it. Another point to take in is about your stance. Once your bow is drawn you do not move your arms. Period. All movement of the body to aim your shot is to be done by the waist. If your target moves so that you can't rotate to hit them then you replant your feet, but never move the arms. You'll never be able to shoot accurately if you move your arms around to make a shot. Here, I'll demonstrate the correct way to shoot and you can watch and take notice over the different points I've just outlined."

 

Stepping up to the line Rurak planted three arrows in the ground and nocked a fourth. drawing it back to his cheek. Sighting down on the target, Rurak focused in on it, excluding everything else from his mind. It was just him and the arrow. Taking a deep breath, Rurak held it, then loosed the arrow. It landed right next to the one Heather had shot into the center. Loosing two more, he surrounded Heather's arrow, then taking the fourth and final arrow, Rurak held it for an extra second or two, making sure he had the aim right, then loosed, shafting the arrow.

"With practice and keeping all the basics I've just taught to you, eventually you'll be able to make shots like that at much further distances than the 50 yards that you see in front of you. Now, I want you to all go through and take shots at your target til you can group them within the middle ring at 100 yards, then we'll move on to the next phase. If you keep in mind what I've taught you it shouldn't be too difficult to hit that target at 100."

[Jehaine]

Saira made a deep sigh, trying to soak up all the information she had heard so far. Judging by the other two students, she didn't doubt who was the weakest member of the class, her main concern being lagging down the others too much just trying to get one arrow in a target a hundred feet away, let alone a group of them.

 

She stepped up, taking a deep breath to calm herself. Right. She nocked the... owait, not like that... almost... Yes, got it! Pulling back the bowstring, she glanced at where the target was before making sure her hands were in the right positions and the bow didn't waver. Well, didn't waver too much anyway. Remembering what Rurak had said about raising her aim and all that, she pulled her bow up a bit before releasing.

 

Unfortunately, she hadn't quite been holding the arrow straight, and as a result it flew up into the treebranches. A shrill cry was heard, and after a second of rustling a bird fell down, skewered by the arrow sticking out of it. Muttering something that would probably remain best unheard, she worked on nocking another arrow, pulling it back for another shot. There were quite a few arrows here on the practise range, she'd get it right eventually. She would!

 

 

Saira

Mentally facepalming

[Blade]

OOC: all right, no one's posted on this in a while so I'm gonna have my character pull Saira aside while you guys keep shooting and finish her training, then whenever you guys show up I can finish yours as well.

 

IC: Light, things were shaping up to seem like he might have to take things a different route than usual this time around in the training. Stepping forward, Rurak put a hand on Saira's shoulder. "You're doing great for a beginner, but since it's clear that you haven't used a bow before I'd like to take you aside and train you one on one for now, I'll be back to finish up these two's training in a bit, they'll be able to take care of themselves for the time being."

 

Walking further up the range where he could train Saira off on his own, Rurak stepped in closer to Saira so as not to be overheard by others nearby. "Look Saira, I don't want you to feel embarassed by anything that's been going on so far. Those other two have had a lifetime around a bow. I'd be willing to put money on it that Arutha over there has spent a considerable amount of time hunting woods similar to these, and heather is already an archer, she was probably just looking for some minute refinements on her archery skills, so there's nothing to be worried about. Now, try it all again, just knock the arrow for me and draw it back, this time I want to work on your form a little bit." Stepping over to a nearby set of bows, Rurak selected one with about 15 pounds less on the draw. "Now, I want you to use this bow so that you can hold the arrow on the string longer so that I can help correct your stance and firing." Watching as she knocked the arrow, Rurak stepped in close to adjust her body positioning. It was a slightly awkward position to be in, truth be told, but they were training and it never really entered into Rurak's mind. He put one foot behind hers and spread her stance so that it was level with her shoulders. "You've gotta keep it about here to maintain balance and accuracy."

Watching as she sighted down the arrow, Rurak could see that her aim wasn't quite on and that she was trying to adjust with the arms. Reaching out, Rurak locked her elbows to keep her from shortening the arms then put his hands on her shoulders and gently guided her body around and up until the arrow was about where it should be to hit the target. "That's how you should be moving your body when you shoot, and if I don't mistake things, you should be able to hit a pretty good shot on that target now, as long as you follow those tips. remember, breathe and hold, and don't pull up on the bow." Stepping back, Rurak expected to see a lot of improvement just in the next few shots.

[Jehaine]

Though a bit hesitant, Saira nodded as Rurak explained to her what she needed to do. She knew she was no Birgitte from the beginning, bt it had been somewhat disheartening to see how well the others were shooting. Still, it did made her feel a bit better to hear that the both of them had already learned how to use a bow earlier, and were quite a bit more experienced than her in its use. Listening to the advice, and shifting her stance as best as she could to incorporate everything she was being told, she held the pose for a while as she tried to get used to it.

 

"That's how you should be moving your body when you shoot, and if I don't mistake things, you should be able to hit a pretty good shot on that target now, as long as you follow those tips. remember, breathe and hold, and don't pull up on the bow."

 

Looking at Rurak for a second, she nodded at him before focusing her attention back on the target she was supposed to hit. Nocking the arrow, she took several deep breaths before holding it in as she aimed... and released. The arrow flew good, the angle was correct... but just didn't make it to the target as she hadn't pulled the string back far enough. Seeing the results, she nocked another arrow, drew and released the same way as she was told, only this time drawing the string back further to send more power to the arrow. She released... and watched the arrow sail over the target, missing by a good twenty feet again. More arrows followed, but unless you counted a couple of near-misses she had only clipped the target once or twice at best. From what Rurak could tell, her pose and angle were actually good, but the main issue was that she would need to figure out how far back she should draw the string.

 

 

Saira

Umm... Like this?

[Blade]

Okay, this was definitely going to take some re-thinking. So far he had not really had too much trouble in his training programs. Of course, he had never really run into anyone that had literally no background in archery.

 

"All right, do you remember what I said earlier about where to draw the string to? Bring it all the way back so that your hand is behind your jaw, that way you always know how to adjust your shooting. Got it? Okay, now the next step is to figure out how far away the target is. This target is a little further out than the last one. See those flags along the side of the target? Those are distance markers. Each flag represents 10 yards, making this target 70 yards out. Now, the arrow will stay flat for 40 yards right? So now that you've got the draw right...just raise the bow a quarter inch for every 20 yards past 40, so that means raising the bow 2 1/4 inches right? Now try the shot..."

 

Standing back, Rurak could definitely see improvement. "All right, from now on whenever I see you I'm gonna pick something out and have you tell me how far away the target is and how much to raise your bow to hit it, all right? Now, I want you to keep practicing on this target until you can get all of your arrows into the middle yellow ring."

 

OOC: Just go ahead and roleplay the practice until you get the grouping right. If you want, you can roleplay for Rurak giving you more instruction, then we'll move onto the next section.

[Jehaine]

The number crunching was easy, growing up as the daughter of a trader ensured there was a certain reputation to uphold in the family when it came to math. Raising the bow around half an inch, Saira drew the string all the way back to her jaw before taking a slow, controlled breath.. then another...  and holding her third while releasing the arrow.

 

A solid thunk was heard, and she suppressed the urge to cheer as she watched the arrow sink into the target for once. There had been nothing wrong with her aim, and with the knowledge of how far the string needed to be pulled back there was not much standing in the way of her arrow hitting its mark. Sure, the shot had veered slightly off due to other factors like wind which she didn't quite know how to compensate for, but the end result was definitely an improvement over her past oh... twenty attempts.

 

Rurak gave her some more advice, this time about how to factor in wind speed and direction, mentioning that that would be a part of archery that would only come with experience. This time however, he did tell her how much to compensate for it and in what direction, and the second arrow started creeping more towards the center ring as a result, now only half an inch away from the yellow circle. The third and forth were closer still, but after trying to pull her bowstring back to shoot the last arrow she sighed, shooting Rurak an apologetic look.

 

- "Umm... Can i take a break now? My arm is starting to get sore and i can't really pull the string back all the way any more."

 

She held her arm to the side of her body, waiting for the strength to flow back into the limb again. For all the training she had been doing she wasn't used to moving her arm like this, focusing her strength on her fingers to keep from releasing the arrow too early. Still, with three out of four arrows hitting the target, two even in the yellow ring Rurak had told her to hit, she believed there would be little to complain about.

 

 

Saira

Taking a break

[Blade]

Rurak grinned broadly at Saira's progress. It was dramatically improved. "Yes, take a break, let yourself rest. That was much better Saira, you're getting it! Working with the bow is a tiring process and you're going to have to build up your endurance. Eventually you'll come to a point where you're stronger than the bow." Rurak patted the longbow in his hands affectionately. "This two rivers longbow here is the strongest bow in the world, yet it too has its limits, and after having trained with these bows for nigh on 20 years I've become stronger these can be. You'll get there to, just keep at it."

"Now, just sit back and rest while I talk you through what we're going to do for this next part. You now know the basics of individual archery. However, when it comes to battle, group archery is a completely different idea. Most of the time, you're not picking out targets, you're just aiming for the mass of troops. To use that is called Clout archery. Come, follow me." Picking up his bow and quiver, Rurak walked to a new section of the range where all the targets were lying flat on the ground. "in Clout archery, the goal is to fire high and have your targets come in high over top the soldiers. If they adjust their shields high, other archers can try and shoot flat across the field. Now, by firing high the arrows are going to be much more greatly affected by wind, but since you're firing in a group that won't matter as much. Honestly, I learned this simply by trial and error, which is pretty much what you'll have to do here. Remember though the basic principles and use those to keep the arrow near where you want it. Here, let me give a demonstration and maybe you'll be able to see something in my style that will help you."

 

Stepping up to the line, Rurak gauged the distance to the first target. 200 yards. A Challenging shot for accuracy at that distance, but he wasn't trying to hit a bullseye, just keep it close to or on the target. Raising his bow high and pointing it toward the sky, Rurak fired the arrow. It landed far of the target. Adjusting his aim a little higher to bring the arrow in closer, Rurak fired another arrow. The wind caught it and blew it right. Keeping his shot where it was at, his next one landed on the target on the near side. Continuing on with the exercise, Rurak managed to ring the target within about 10 yards, more falling on the target than not. "Now you try it." Judging from past experience, this might not take a while, but Rurak noticed that once she learned something, she kept it, even if she wasn't able to use it right away. Hopefully Saira had learned something from his demonstration that would help.

[Jehaine]

Saira watched Rurak as he explained the principles of Clout Archery to her, following the arrows he had shot as the wind caught hold of them and placed them in the approximate area of the target. It looked like an odd way to fire given the amount of time she had spent getting the angle for a flat shot right, but she could understand the need for it to negate enemy shields. You couldn't really shoot a bow with someone swinging a sword at you.

 

Moving up to where Rurak stood, she made an approximation of just how far she would have to raise her bow. He had held it about at this angle... Nock... Release... She watched the arrow sail up, the wind starting to influence it far more than it had for a flat shot. While the arrow would have indeed landed in the same area as Rurak's arrows, the one factor that changed this was the difference of bows. The lieutenant was using a Two Rivers bow, whereas her bow was much smaller, and therefore its arrows would be equally slower as well. The arrow came back down, and it was only due to her keeping an eye on the arrow that she was able to jump back in time to avoid it.

 

- "...Okay, maybe a little less high up..."

 

She took another shot, at a much lower angle this time. Though the arrow landed near the target, the path of the arrow hadn't taken it as far up as Rurak's examples had, yet it was clear that she understood the basic principles. The only thing she would need was a little more strength to use a slightly larger bow.

 

 

Saira

Yup, still learning.