Gabriel follows along behind you, sword in hand. He had forgone any other weapon, not even a shield!
You, of course, have Sagaseeker in your hands and your axe on your belt.
"Do I really have to do this?" Gabriel grumbles as you lead him to the sparing field. "It's not Knightly to fight women."
"Nor is it drengskapr to hit them in the first place, yet here you are." You retort as he frowns and eyes your split lip from the corner of his eye. Shame fills his gaze, nid-like but still very much not nid.
"If this will serve as penance for my Sins, then so be it." He swallows and closes his eyes as you come to a stop in the field. As he clasps hands and says a silent prayer, your mind catches on one of his words.
'Sin', that's the word. Perhaps it's something like nid for Christians? Jerasmus will likely know more on the topic.
"Any advice for me?" You whisper near-silently as you take your position on the other side of the field. Your view of him is a little bit blurry around the edges, but nothing too bad.
'Knights are one of the greatest foes any Norseman can hope to face. Fortunately, this is not a Knight, this is a Squire. Their strengths lie in their replenishing supply of power and the vast depths of their continuous combat training, but if you are able to break their Focus, then they are little more than livestock lead to the slaughter. Going for a sprint will result in you meeting the full weight of their power while attrition will lead to a slow and painful death. You must strike a steady balance if you hope to win, press him hard, but don't exhaust yourself doing so.'
You nod, taking Blackhand's words to heart as you ready yourself. Gabriel opens his eyes, unclasps his hands, and draws his sword.
Battle is met.
0~0~0
(Hugr (Tactics): 6, 4, 5, 2, 4, 6, 2) 6 Successes
You stand in a grassy field with a low, sloping hill to one side. A few rocks lay scattered on the ground, good for throwing and striking. A single tree stands atop the hill — a tree you are very familiar with as you spent a lot of your childhood climbing all over it.
Gabriel stands across the field from you, a shirt on his chest, trousers on his legs, and a dull sword held in both hands. His face is a mask of determination and focus. Sparks of power flare behind his eyes despite the power-blocking shackles around his wrists and ankles.
You have no idea what his capabilities are, though he seems a fair bit stronger than you. His Focus is unshaken and his body is pristine.
By your best guess, he's going in with balanced offense and defense. What that means in terms of Christians, you don't know.
You have 4/4 Endurance.
You have no shields.
You have 15 orthstirr held in reserve and you have not tapped frami, virthing, or saemd.
Sagaseeker has 8 more points of orthstirr held in its reservoir.
You can put 18 more points of orthstirr into your combat pool.
You have a combat pool of 11d6 (5 from stats, 6 from equipment)
What do you do?
[ ] (Plan Name)
-[ ] (Dice) Attack
-[ ] (Dice) Defense
-[ ] (Dice) Intercept
-[ ] (Dice) (Trick) (Orthstirr)
-[ ] Tactics Write in
0~0~0
AN: I believe all the math is right, but please feel free to double-check.
Since you haven't had the chance to use Sagaseeker in a fight just yet, you can draw orthstirr from its supply at will. Its supply of orthstirr regenerates at the end of the the battle.
25-minute moratorium.
