Corvax storms into the warrior's hall looking for a fighter that can train him how to use a weapon. scanning the large open room he finds himself alone, walking over to where the practice weapons are kept corvax start to pickup, hold and swing each one. 'I can't believe it has come to this." he mumbles while swinging a war hammer.
Corvax is distracted by the new Dwarf walking in and clumsily drops the practice war hammer. Turning a little red he tries to play it off but as the dwarf continues to talk Corvax realizes the new comer can see he is inexperienced. Corvax listens to what the dwarf has to say then responds " If you truly know how to teach me to use one of these I would gladly pay you 20 gold.'" " When we are done training I want to be good tho and feel safe wading into battle, Can you do this?"
Taklinn listens to the druid talk and cant believe his ear. The stutters over the first few words, the blurts out a bellow "Ye durned fool, who better ta teach ya to swing a warhammer'n me?! In me clan every dwarf i forged a hammer afore he's ever born! I been swingin' a hammer longer than ye been drawin breath I'd wager!" Once the outburst has past he seems to calm and says "Aye I can teach ye to swing a warhammer lad, and better than most that are here in this dung heap town. I had prospectin I was thinkin' to attend to, but havin' another in this town who could squish some goblin heads may be more important now that I think of it. Seems that I won't get any peace until things stop wanderin inta town and smashin up the place. Tis a fair price ye propose as well, an me purse will be all the heavier for it, even if me ore cart wont." He then grumbles and points a stubby finger at the druid "But dont think its gonna be a walk through a mine, ye'll listen to what I have ta teach ye, and ye better be ready to work. None of this lollygaggin' around like an' elf! If ye're ta learn, you'll do it in proper dwarf fashion! I'll have yer word on it afore ye ever pick up a hammer. Ye may be payin' me, but yer the student, and I be the teacher!" Now if ye agree ta these terms I can teach ye, so what do ye say?"
(OOP just shoot a pm on how many ranks in armed combat you need and it may be next week as I am learning skills as well.)
Corvax reaches into his pocket and pulls out his sweat rag, He wipes some sweat and a little bit of angry dwarf spittle off his face. Corvax takes a moment to think about what he is getting himself into, pauses and says "Agreed." Fishing his hand into another pocket he pulls out the 20 gold pieces and hands them to the dwarf.
Taklinn reaches up and takes the pouch, and after weighing it quickly in oone hand he places the pouch in his sporran. He then looks at Corvax very seriously, and with a brimming rage underneath he says quietly and shakily "Ye never let me hear ya ever raisin' a hammer against a dwarf lad. Dwarven knowledge is a precious commodity and me honor depends upon it. If I ever hear of it, ye'll be in a world o' hurtin', I promise ye that. But ye seem ta me ta be a fair man who also adheres to a moral code, so I'm assumin' ye already knew that."
"Well ye aint gonna learn nothin' standin around, lets begin" With that he picks up a practice weapon and starts showing the rudimentary grips for holding the weapon, as well as simple attack combinations, then instructs the druid to repeat them. He grabs a practice short sword and smacks the druids hands and legs to correct his stance and form. "For every drop o' sweat ye use to perfect yer art, ye save a lifetime o' blood on the battlefield lad!" He continues his lessons and "encouragement" techniques long into the day until the sun has faded, and after both appear to be thouroughly exhausted he excuses his pupil until the next morning.
Corvax is barely able to move his arms and legs as he wanders out onto the front porch of the warriors hall, finds a corner and crumbles into to a heap falling deeply to sleep. Before he escapes into dreamless rest he fights the urge to heal himself but he feels he has not earned the right to feel good, not yet.
Taklinn steps out onto the porch, watching as the druid sleeps restlessly. He pulls a chair out onto the porch and sits there contemplating as he looks up at the night sky. He looks into his sporran and pulls out his pipe and strikes timber to it. The glow of the pipe can show that the dwarf is in deep concentration as he tries to solve the riddles in his mind. After hearing an outburst from the Kevass the previous day, he now understands that what Corvax and Kevass are doing is grieving. Their grief has become so powerful that it has driven them both to take action to destroy; to let their rage out in each their own way. "It a heavy burden ye carry me new friend. Yer wantin to avenge yer friend, but ye may be destroyin yerselves." he says softly to the stars. "I know the feel of all that weight on yer shoulders, but eventually yer back will bend, and ye cant look a soul in the eye since all ye can look at is yer own boots. Aye elf, I know how yer feelin; and if I knew the answers, maybe I could look ye in the eye when I told ye all the answers.".
Taklinn blows out a smoke ring and sighs, wondering how he could have become so akin to a tree hugger. He stands vigil over his new friends' sleep and wonders how he can help his new friend with his loss. He pulls a book out and begins to read by a candle, ignoring the red drawn lines and scribbles written all over the pages. Just as the sun starts to rise he gets up and walks to the library to replace the book back on the shelf he borrowed. He then enters the tavern and orders two breakfasts and takes them back to the warrior's hall and kicks the druid awake "Get up ye lazy, good fer nothin tree lovin elf!" He then places the food next to the waking druid and walks away spouting curses between bites of his own food.
Corvax gets up very slowly " It feels as if my arms and legs were nailed to my body." he says.
Looking at the food Corvax decides that a hour with the training dummy first then food, so he picks up the plate and sets it on a table then starts to wrap his hands with thick cloth. Corvax looks over to Taklinn and says " I'll eat in a little while." then he slowly start to punch at the training dummy.
As the hours turn to days then to weeks Corvax realizes that there are some things that need to be taken care of, so he thanks his new friend / trainer telling him that he needs to depart and will be back to continue to sparr and work out but he needs some time to rest and take care of some business. With that done Corvax heads to the grove.
Taklinn bids farewell to the druid and says "Aye lad sometimes contemplation is just the thing ye need to sort through yer demons. Ye've done well so far and there aint much i can be teachin' ye at this point about fightin with a hammer by yerself anyway that ye cant be practicin without me. I got a bit o' business to attend to as well." With that he watches the druid walk off towards the grove. He then picks up his pack and belongings and heads off out of town with a pick in hand and a gleam in his eye.
Taklinn sees the druid walking into the warriors hall like a man posessed, and diverts his course towards the hall to intercept. Entering the hall he sees the druid swinging a warhammer. "Seems ta me ya mighta figured that wood and stones build a great manor, but a fine house never killed an orc; Ye got a barn ta build or do ye have other thoughts in yer head? All ye shortbeards want a magnificent tower built witout laying the foundations first. I've seen stubble chins hold a hammer with more skill. A dwarf canno' get any work done with all of these distractions, yer town needs defenses and a trained militia; what yer towns been needin' is a dwarf! But ye can't build a tower from the top down lad, so lets get it started from the ground up. If ye wanna be able to use that fer more'n ta drive posts in tha ground, I can show ye, but ye'd better be ready to work; idle hands never forged a thing