Day 1: Evening

[wizardseason]

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: March 11th - March 18th, 2019 ]

The first day has come to a close, the only things left to do are get some food and get some rest. Fortunately the residents of Bamborough are hosting a party to congratulate the heroes on their first victory, unfortunately it's running for several hours this evening. There's only so much time for sleep. What kind of balance will your hero try to strike?

Unfortunately for everyone, the evil-allured knights will be treated to a rude wake-up surprise when they finally go to sleep. No matter when they finally set their head down to rest, they all wake up at the same time, in the same place. Only the evil-allured knights will have access to this post, click to see if you've been chosen.

The good-allured knights, meanwhile, are free of a visit tonight with the Princess and the Protector. The two of them, however, are due to have a chat. Questions have to be answered, after all! He's dressed in his usual attire:

He's the same height as Luka with dark skin and vivid blue eyes that match the color of the sky. He has wicked winged white eyeliner to accent his eyes and curly black hair with white tips piled on top of his head, it's a wonder how it stays up there. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, he's wearing a pajama robe that looks either blue or silver depending how it's touched or how it moves. Most importantly is that he's got brass knuckles on both his hands, like he's ready to fight. But he's not here to fight, he's here to give a whisper about what comes next.

First Night Event: Bamborough: Everyone invited.

---

The Weather

• Starry Night.
• 64°F / 18°C
• Quite breezy, all the trees are rustling.

---

Prompts:

• Bamborough Party: To celebrate the defeat of the first monster, a full banquet is being held near the beach in Bamborough. Unlimited food, unlimited drinks, and most importantly of all was a small stockpile of blankets, sheets, pillows, and toiletries to offer any knight who might've forgotten something on the way out here. Naturally, every item is sponsored.


• You're all over Social Media!: Videos were successfully taken of all twelve knights and the princess during the first battle, and now the world is abuzz about what happened! What are they saying about your hero? How did they even get this footage? Or worst of all, how bad are they dissing your camera skills for those that recorded themselves?


• A late night walk: The first day is over, the first monster is dead. How's your character holding up? Do they seek out support from a fellow hero? Do they spend it alone? What kind of night are they having now that it's all real?


• A late night meal: Anyone leaving the Bamborough party late enough will be able to spot that a local late night ramen shop is open for business. If your hero hasn't quite eaten enough, they can drop by for a bite. But be warned, a certain sleepy villain is getting a bite to eat herself. Care to share a ramen bar meal with the enemy?

---

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Comments

[roaryrory]

Rory... it's like she just shrinks in front of his eyes, figuratively. She can't quite lift her gaze off the ground, suddenly. "I - I just mean, I don't want to make a fool of myself, on camera, and..." she's struggling to find the words to defend herself. Maybe he's right, it's not really about the cool factor of it. It would be nice to include it, though...

She's not excited to hear he saw her destruction of public property, either. "That's... part of it, too. If I'm an idiot about this, who knows who I'll hurt! I don't want to do that..."

"And um... the leg..." She figures there's no point in lying to him. "It's been better, I guess. I'm managing."

[daddykong]

He just sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. Garrot can't sugarcoat this one bit. "Managing and trying not to look stupid on camera is going to get you killed, Rory." But his posture softens a bit, and he leans back, looking up at the sky. "It only looks fancy when I do it because I've been doing it for like forty years."

The way Garrot sees it, there's a couple things in Rory's way right now: her leg, her uncontrolled bursts of strength, and her focus on appearances. But he's got a cocky little smirk because the wheels started turning. He takes a few steps back, giving Rory quite a bit of space around her. Still smiling.

"You're a farmgirl, right?" It's a rhetorical question, and he's not waiting for an answer to it. "So throw some punches at the air here, and for every punch, name a big tool you use." And then he nods to her, the look in his eyes declaring that she's got his full attention. After all, the main difference between a rake, a spear, a shovel, and a staff is what's on the end. And how you use it, but. Y'know. Plus he'll get to see how garbage her punching form is.

Gotta start somewhere.

[roaryrory]

She lifts her head and nods. Were her eyes just the tiniest bit teared up? Maybe, but she takes a deep breath, purses her mouth, and fixes her posture. She's not going to argue any longer against someone who's clearly the expert, here.

"I can try," she says, decidedly more confident than what she said previously. She takes a wider stance, scrunches up her fists, and starts punching the air.

"Pitchfork! Hoe! Shovel!"

She starts out quieter, but gradually her farmer war cries grow in volume as her determination grows. And with each added decibel, the surge of power flowing to her fists gets stronger. The magic is not visible, but at some point it's easy to tell that while the punches are not proper in form by any means, the latter ones would hurt a lot more.

[daddykong]

Garrot sees that shift in her demeanor and confidence, and how those later punches look powerful. Ouch, would not wanna be caught by one of those! His calmer smile have since shifted into a grin, eyes alight with childlike curiosity. This is so cool! It takes him back to med school when- No, not the time for distractions, focus.

"Good job, Rory!" He sounds a lot less mean than before, and then he squats down into a stance next to her. "Now, I want you to try throwing your punches more like this," (except unlike that little video link) and he breathes out little huffs of air with each punch. "The twisting motion with the fist gets you some extra force, and the exhaling releases tension, makes your punches faster, and you even use less energy."

And then he hops back into a normal posture, watching her form from a couple feet away. "Oh, and no shouting this time, focus on the breathing." And the tweaks to her punching form, too. But Garrot's hoping that they can pinpoint how Rory can get her powers to be predictable.

[roaryrory]

She nods again, with fire in her eyes now that she's gotten pumped up about this practice. Her first one or two punches are slower, just trying to get the movement down, but once she feels more confident about it and puts her attention into the breathing. Notably, now that the punches are silent, the magical force is gone from them - of course, she has inner core strength independent of her Knight power, so still not puny by any means. Just more ordinary and expected of someone with zero training.

[daddykong]

"Okay, good!" He sounds pleased! Is it because Rory's getting into the practice? Or because her punches are normal? Both. Probably both. "So it looks like if you're not using your voice, you're not using your power." But he's not sure, it's just a hunch based off only a little evidence, so... "Probably."

"So let's try some kicks instead, just like this!" Garrot sounds excited, and he demonstrates a simple snap kick before turning to Rory. "Kick with one leg, then go back to standing, then kick with the other." He nods, because this is straightforward, they got this! "No shouting this time, just focus on keeping your balance." And then he looks at the leg she hurt before. Will it be okay?

Better that they figure that out here than in front of a monster.

[roaryrory]

"Right! That would make sense!" Rory says like she just had an epiphany. Now that she thinks about it... whether it was a battle cry, excitement, or the farming tool chant just now, every instance she's felt the magic coursing through her, she had been shouting. She's more confident in her abilities now that she knows the source. And Haizea had said something about training tomorrow morning... It would be good to bring it up then.

But for now, she will concentrate on the physical side of things. Rory has similar worries about her leg on her mind when Garrot tells her to kick, but decides it's not the time for fretting. She takes a deep breath, readies her pose, and then goes for it, deciding to kick with her healthy leg first. So good so far. Next, the bad leg; She clenches her fist tighter in suspense over how it will go. It's... Not as painful as she imagined, but it's slower than the previous kick, and her uncertainty in it definitely played a part. She frowns a little disappointed in herself, knowing she didn't ace it, and looks to Garrot for advice.

[daddykong]

Garrot just watches the kicks, nodding at attempts by both legs. It's obvious which leg is having trouble, but it's the frown and the look in her eyes that really hits him in the feelings.

"Aw, it's fine!" He makes sure to give her a warm, mentorly smile to try and drive that home. "I mean, you hurt your leg, so you can't hold it to the same standard. Doesn't seem fair!" And then he laughs, trying to raise the mood.

"Just... try again and do what you can. Stop if it hurts, okay Rory?" She can do things with the leg, which means she should try to find her limits. Wouldn't be good if she overdid it.