DAY THREE
The next morning greets you in the clearing where Faiza and Radha had met you two days piror, made all the more smaller by the vast amounts of mounts present. "Mount up!" Radha calls, in turn summoning her own. Where Faiza's was sleek, Radha's mount was large and muscular. This mount was not built for speed, but rather for strength and stamina. Both mount and Radha towered above the group before they turned and lead them into the jungle. Faiza waited until everyone was mounted before following, serving as a sort of rear guard and chattering to those nearby.
The next hour was spent on a rather uneventful ride that served as a tour of the War Island. The students got to see trees, trees, a river, more trees, bushes -- the foliage was quite thick, and anyone who attempted to wander off was quickly herded back to the group by Faiza on her quick steed.
Finally they arrived at a large clearing. There were long, straight barren scars that cut through the grass as if many feet had tread there before. The lines never bisected, and were at least ten feet apart from one another. They were roughly one to two hundred feet in length, and wide enough to accommodate a good amount of traffic.
Nearby, several lengths of wood were thrust into the ground. "I hope you took the time to become familiar with your mounts," Radha began as she approached one of these odd lengths, pulling it straight from the ground. It was a lance. "You will need to convince your mount to run the length of the field on the track, towards..."
She trailed off, considering. Radha whistled, tossing her lance towards Faiza. "Take over for me, will you? I will be right back."
Faiza caught the lance and hefted it, waving it to catch the student's attention. "Alright! I think some of you put the pieces together already, but for those of you who haven't this is a practice field." You don't say. "It's here where we of clan War practice not how to ride, but rather practice mounted combat."
Faiza shifted her grip on the lance, her horse shifting eagerly beneath her. "Y'see, combat is a huge part of our life. I mean, we are the War clan after all. It'd be silly if we didn't know how to fight or defend ourselves wouldn't it? Contrary to popular belief, we don't go looking for a fight. Yes, most of us like to but it doesn't mean that we do it all the time."
She gestured towards the field with the lance. "On this particular field we practice jousting. For those of you who aren't familiar with the concept, jousting is the act of two mounted combatants charging at each other with a lance with the intent to knock the other person off of their mount. For us, this builds up strength in both our arms and legs." Faiza lifted the lance in one arm, "See? When I started training, I had to use two hands to hold this. Now I need just one. I can also do this -" She shifted her legs, removing her feet from the stirrups. Her mount stood still as Faiza lifted herself up, bracing herself on her mount with her knees. "If I was thinking a few days ago, Radha wouldn't have been able to drag me off of my mount. But hey," she grinned, lowering herself back down. "That's what practice is for. You make the stupid mistakes now when there's little risk so you don't make them later."
"But really?" Faiza grinned, reaching forward to pat her mount. "It's more about developing a bond between us and our horses. Y'see, different clansmen have different ideas about them. Some think that our horses are an extension of ourselves, a manifestation of Fear. Others think that our Fear lets us summon them, and call them from elsewhere. Every clansmen's horse is different, too: they compliment us and our strengths. You remember what Radha's looks like? Radha's all about strength and power. Mine? Ability and grace here, baby."
The sleek mare tossed her head and pawed the ground, looking rather pleased with herself as Faiza reached forward to pat her affectionately on the neck. "But see, here's the thing. Because everyone's bond with their horse is a little different, it's important that we practice. Sometimes mounts are like... new comrades? New siblings? You know them, yet at the same time you don't know them." She paused, glancing at them uncertainly. "Do you follow? It's like... strangers too. It's like meeting someone for the first time, and getting to know them. That's why we have exercises like these." Faiza extended an arm to indicate the field. "This exercise, jousting, tests the bond between yourself and your mount. You are effectively telling your mount to run full speed at a target. They're going to trust you to not run into the other person."
Faiza glanced at the field, adding, "Normally, we of War would have two people at opposite ends guide their mounts towards one another. If a mount and rider did not have a strong bond, we would put a fence in to separate the two so that the mount did not have to worry about crashing into another. I do not think any of you is very comfortable with your mounts, so we will not be jousting against one another."
The horsewoman paused, her eyes flicking over them as she grinned. "I don't think some of you are very comfortable on your mounts either. And some of your mounts look as if they'd like to very much take a bite out of you."
Radha re-entered the field, dragging something large and heavy behind her. With practiced ease she swung off of her mount and assembled the sticks, creating a target dummy. She then moved onto the next lane and the next, completing the process until each barren lane had a target at one end.
"All right! With the targets in place, go ahead and grab a lance," Faiza instructed, demonstrating to the students how to hold it first with one hand, then with two. "When you feel ready, please move your mount to the front of the lane. I'd like you to tell it to charge forward, and please try to hit the target. Give it you all!" Faiza then hefted the lance in the air, then spun on her mount and began to charge the target.
The Task
JOUSTING 101
In order to joust, you will need to roll three dice. The type of dice depends on the mount that you rolled yesterday. If you do not have a mount, you will need to do this on foot. But not really; just go look at the quote that says "Mount Determination" below, do what it says, then come back up here and keep reading.
First, let's determine the dice you'll roll:
Turtles and Mountain Goats: 6-sided dice
Wolves and Tarantulas: 8-sided dice
Small dragons: 10-sided dice
Jaguar: 12-sided dice
You will need to roll three dice.
The first dice will determine your movement. Match your result to the "movement" table to determine how fast/far your mount moved.
The second and third dice will determine your charged attack power. As your mount runs towards the target, you will be "charging" your lance with an attack.
Mount Movement
Match the number on your FIRST DICE to this number:
+1
+2
+3
+1
-2.
+2. Subtract -3 from your charged attack total!
+1. Subtract -3 from your charged attack total!
-2.
+0. Subtract -5 from your charged attack total!
+3.
-3. Subtract -5 from your charged attack total!
+0. Subtract -10 from your charged attack total!
Charged Attack
To determine how much attack power you have charged, add the last two dice together and subtract six. This is just like determining battle damage. Aka, just like determining whether you lasso'd your target, or managed to "tame" your mount yesterday. This time, add your totals. If you get 0 or a negative number, subtract from your score.
Let's say I have a tortoise. My first charge attack was a 5 and a 6. 5+6=11-6=5. My charge attack total is now 5.
I roll again. This time, I got a 4 and a 1. 4+1=5-6= -1. 5 + -1 is really 5 -1, which means my charge attack is now 4. Guess my character wasn't paying attention!
Quote:
Mount Bonuses:
Every mount has its own benefits and drawbacks. Please keep these in mind when rolling/completing today's task.
Every mount has its own benefits and drawbacks. Please keep these in mind when rolling/completing today's task.
Tortoise. It is a slow but steady steed that may need a little prodding to get into action. If your character is a herbivore and does NOT eat meat AT ALL it really likes you! All of your charge attacks get a boost of +3 to add on top of what you roll. If you are a carnivore or if your character eats meat then it sulkily carries you around. You do not get a bonus.
Mountain Goat. It is a little temperamental but at least it gets along with everyone. Its impressive rack also doubles as something to rest your lance on and hold it steady! For three times you can choose to subtract four instead of six when determining your damage.
Wolf. The large wolf is vicious and only responds to other carnivore-like creatures (wolves, bears, large cats, foxes). It will also tolerate you if your character eats meat. Because it likes you so much, you can adjust your movement roll by 1 for a total of five times. (ie, I rolled a 4 and can change it to 3 for the better bonus). You can only make one adjustment per roll. If you prefer a vegetarian lifestyle, you do not get this bonus.
Tarantula. This creepy-crawly doesn't mind whoever gets on it. And with eight feet, it is a lot more stable than any of the other mounts! If you land on an option that subtracts from your charged attack, you can choose to ignore it and keep on moving. You can only do this three times.
Small Dragon. The small dragon is still a hatchling and needs to be loved (also it can't fly)! If you are a serpent/dragon based creature, it REALLY loves you and grants you a +3 bonus to your attack! Otherwise and if you are NOT a serpent/dragon-based creature, you can ignore any movement impairing effect three times. (ie, if you roll a 5 or 8 you do not subtract from your movement; just treat it like you rolled a +0).
Jaguar. This haughty creature hates any and all who dare insult its honor by riding on it. However on the flip side, its ferocity and unpredictability grant it a +5 charged attack bonus to any who ride it. Now the only problem is getting it to move forward in the direction you want it to go...
Mount Determination
Don't have a mount for today? Roll a 6-sided dice to determine what you get:
Goat
Wolf
Tarantula
Tortoise
Tortoise
Tortoise
Do this once. This will be your mount for this exercise.
Quote:
With every post, please include this form:
[b][size=16][color=#330000]JOUSTIN'[/color][/size][/b]
*RP text here*
(( OOC:
[b]Student Name:[/b]
[b]Mount:[/b]
[b]Movement Dice:[/b]
[b]Attack Charge Total:[/b]
[b]Position:[/b]
[color=#6666CC][b][ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ][/b][/color] ))
Yes, you can change the color on the form. Whenever you roll your movement, please fill in one of the squares to keep track of your location. You need to fill the bar from left to right, charging. Once you have filled the bar, your character will unleash the attack they "charged" when running down the field onto the target.
You only need to fill the bar and hit the target once. You can do this up to three times, should you wish, but the minimum you must fill up the bar is once.
FUN FACT:
Originally this was going to be a new method of PvPing. These mechanics will make their way over to Amityville soon, so if this perks your interest please keep an eye open for that!
BONUS:
kheleksul has been AMAZING and has provided us with some lines to color! If you'd like to have a visual of what your mount looks like, feel free to color one or have someone color for you! You will need an art program that can create layers in order to color these.
If you are not participating in this class, you may also color one. My only request is that you please do NOT use these anywhere else, as they were made for this event. Thank you!
There are two versions of these lines: one with a pre-made saddle, and one without for those who wish to draw their own saddle. Enjoy!
Jaguar
Mountain Goat
Small Dragon
Tarantula
Tortoise
Wolf
[Edit]
Just changed "positions" to "position," as it was a leftover from the pvp mechanics I copy-pasted. CARRY ON!
