Heavy clubs? Sorrel fails to learn how to smash like Kavel.

Sorrel Tries KCSC Strength Training
Fort Ettin. The day of Faust's funeral. Jointly written by Stephen and Andy

Faust's funeral reminded Sorrel of her first funeral for one of the Fallen at the House. She wasn't sure of the rules and didn't know anyone well enough to take part. She felt compelled to be there. She had said a private farewell to the Tiefling bard but to miss the event would feel a little like betrayal. When you fight beside someone you share a particular bond - love of comrades can cost you your life but it will give you the greatest pride Sorrel had ever known.

As the service ended, however, all that was left was anger. If this Langholm, or whatever it was called, was too powerful for the party that accompanied Faust, she was not ready to meet it in combat. As Kavel loomed suddenly towards her, however, she felt... not comforted exactly, but aware that they fought well together. Better than many from the House. She smiled softly and raised a hand in silent salute.

Kavel was not surprised to see Sorrel in the Hall, paying her respect. It was clear to him that Sorrel understood comradery. Although he suspected that Sorrel’s experience with comradery was more clinical, a little detached, and strictly professional. What did surprise Kavel was that he actually saw Sorrel. What Kavel is to strength, Sorrel is to undetectable.

Kavel had heard accounts of how Mr. Faust, as he called him, died. The spell seemed too powerful. The barbarian’s experience had taught him that he could take the explosive force of a Fireball spell, as if someone had merely flicked a match at him. But could he walk away from a Disintegrate spell? Is it possible to become that strong? Was there a number of reps needed to achieve the physical condition to withstand a Disintegrate spell, and look back at the spellcaster with contempt? The goliath did not know the answer. But, standing in the hall, he could see someone else who understood that they needed to get better.

“Hello comrade Sorrel. Have you seen my corner of the training grounds here? Kavel’s Corner for Strength and Conditioning?”

Sorrel is rarely surprised. Indeed, she spent every Friday for four years of her initial House training specifically ensuring she would never be surprised and could at least cripple if not kill anyone who tried, but the towering barbarian seemed to be reading her mind.

"Comrade Kavel, at your service and your families as ever. I have heard of but never seen your training grounds. And, funnily enough, I was going to ask about them next time I saw you," she scratches her head. "Which is this time, so there we are."

She has to think hard about how to phrase her next question, partly because she's not sure exactly what she wants. "Kavel, I have heard of the Iron Strong Company. Obviously. I am a professional. I think there are some 25 textbooks on your battles in the House library. I've been curious since I met you - I have so many things I would like to know. I'm interested in your technique. You have this rotating blow that I've never seen before. It seems to add surprising force for something with a relatively low torque. And you use angles of attack I've never seen anyone else get away with. But I have been taught... I mean, I specialise in the fleeting blow, strike and vanish, classic guerilla tactics. So I don't know how this would work..."

The Pitch

It was not unusual for Kavel to hear questions about whether his Iron Strong methods would work equally well for those who were not mountain-born.

“Yes. Good points. I cannot help you with your hit-and-run style of combat. Nor your proficiency with the longbow for that matter. These are not my area of specialty. I won’t teach you to use a weapon like the maul. It won’t suit your style. But the Iron Strong Company isn’t composed solely of people with strength... although this is majoritively the case”, Kavel admitted. He wasn’t one to lie.

“Regardless of an ISC’s members preferred fighting style - heavy weapon or light, melee or ranged - all ISC members maintain a strong, conditioned body, and the techniques for doing so are beneficial to all combatants. The Iron Strong usage of heavy clubs will improve your shoulder mobility for your bow. Kettlebells will improve your lunges for your sword thrusts.”

The mountain-born approached the end of his pitch. “You will have to figure out combat specific improvements yourself, but I can make you a better combatant, by making you a better conditioned athlete.”

Kavel wasn’t sure if he had persuaded Sorrel. But, when pitching Iron Strong methods: Step 1 is talking, step 2 is demonstration.
“Come. Follow me. I’ll show you the beginning of Kavel’s Corner, and maybe you have some suggestions that can improve the corner that would work for you? You want equipment for balancing and core stability?...”

“Yes, that sounds excellent,” Sorrel felt surprisingly cheerful. Heavy clubs would be, what, a bit like a mace maybe? And kettlebells… possibly they’d make tea during the breaks and the bells would announce when the pot had boiled. A little light exercise and a catch up over a hot drink. Almost a holiday.

The Warm Up

Kavel led Sorrel out of the Great Hall towards the Training Yard. In the southwestern corner, Cob had allowed Kavel to section off a piece of the yard for his own training needs. Cob allowed this; because the yard was immense, and if Kavel’s ambitions were successful, then it would be good for Fort Ettin too.

But Kavel had not been back to Fort Ettin since he first arrived in Kantas. None of Kavel’s work had been removed, but what was there was the result of one week of work only, and it was shabby to say the least.

What lay before Sorrel was a fenced off corner of the yard, which backed onto the armoury wall. Against the armoury wall was a wooden storage unit housing different sized heavy clubs. Alongside the unit were an assortment of kettlebells.

With a few weeks of woodcarving lessons under his belt, Kavel saw his early efforts at fence making with fresh eyes - his fence was shit. So too was the storage unit. But what about the equipment? The heavy clubs were in fact heavy clubs for fighting. These were not the exercise-specific heavy clubs that Kavel has plans to make himself, as soon as he’s proficient enough at woodcarving. These were discarded fighting clubs that other residents at Fort Ettin had left and Kavel found at the back of the armoury. Fortunately, because some of the clubs were too heavy for fighting; they were perfect for exercise. There were some regular clubs too, and these were perfect for warm-ups and rehabilitation work for shoulders and elbows - but also hitting people with.

Kavel had the clubs weighed and carved the weight onto them. He was also lucky to find a local farmer that wanted to get rid of his old kettlebells. The farmer replaced his old set with a newer, standardised-weight set of bells. So, he was only too glad for Kavel to take away the old inconsistent weights. Those weren’t going to be used for weighing crops anymore.

“Here we are Sorrel.”

The pair stood in the middle of what Cob allowed Kavel to call, “Kavel’s Corner for Strength and Conditioning!” Kavel announced, arms outstretched, as if addressing a crowd of many, as opposed to the one person audience he had.
“… it’s just the beginning, you know”, the goliath continued to say, proud yet also slightly embarrassed at the sight of his fence, “... that fence. You know, I’ve been taking woodcarving lessons in my downtime. I’m sure I could build a better fence now.” To be fair to Kavel, he probably could.

Sorrel’s eyes moved from the fence to the storage unit.

“Oh and I could make a better storage unit… well, when Morgana has taught me more about furniture making. That’s my woodcarving instructor.”
Kavel could not tell if Sorrel was impressed or not. But, he had more to say, so he carried on, “I actually started learning the trade of woodcarving specifically to make exercise-specific heavy clubs. These are known as clubbells, too. Maybe I’ll even get new kettlebells than those ones over there”. Kavel could see Sorrel’s eyes squinting quizzically at the kettlebells. “Oh. I’ll bring some over, and show you how to do swings and cleans!”

Kavel walked over to where the kettlebells lay and brought over a couple suitable for his experience level, the heaviest ones, and some lighter ones for Sorrel, back to where Sorrel was standing in the middle of the ‘Corner’.

For the first time in her life, Sorrel saw what a kettlebell was, as Kavel gently placed them in front of her. Spherical iron balls with a handle on top.
It had been a while since Kavel had introduced anyone to Iron Strong training equipment. He was very pleased.

“Here we go. Look! These are kettlebells. Farmers use them as weights to weigh their crop, but they are great for strength training, too.”

Sorrel looked around at Kavel’s project - sturdy equipment hewn from trees, strange metal balls, a solid wooden fence… weatherproof, ideal for a unit on the move. Simple to set up and clear. Like a House field unit.

She thought about her achievements since arriving in Kantas… a pair of leather boots, some currency, a rented room and some silver tipped arrows. This was an achievement, something real in a complex world.

“Impressive,” she nodded. “You’ve been working hard. I hadn’t realised. But…” she looked in alarm at the vast hunks of solid wood and dark, carved iron. No obstacles. No traps. No speed sand timers. She was not so much out of her depth as completely submerged and flailing.
But then, as the Master said on her third week in the cooler - you stay or you leave. If you stay but resist you are wasting your own life more than anyone else’s.

The First Lesson

“Ok Kavel, show me what to do… just… I’ve not done this kind of training before. Maybe baby steps.” She smiled. “And I’ll show you, in return, how to move like water so the enemy stumbles and drops their guard. Good for the killing blow.”

“Okay. Not a problem.” Kavel said reassuringly to Sorrel. He had no idea if his words reassured her - he was too excited at this point, and he was far from hiding it.

“YEAH!” Kavel flexed and punched the air with joy, “this is going to be the best, Sorrel! Wait and see. I’ll make an Iron Strong member of you in no time!”

Kavel paused, as he became aware of what he said, “... I mean I’ll help you get better at what you do, but with my training methods. Yes, that’s what I meant”.

The 7ft plus barbarian’s teeth were on full display as he grinned at his friend. Kavel squeezed Sorrel’s shoulder and shook it, “I am excited!”
With a combination of professionalism and joy, Kavel began demonstrating how to use kettlebells and clubs to get iron strength gains… but also for how it would benefit Sorrel’s own fighting style.

Sorrel watched Kavel with a mixture of excitement, awe, terror and pain. When he squeezed her shoulder for a second she thought he'd dislocated it. She could see why the Iron Strong Company was not a boast or a threat - just an entirely accurate, almost prosaic description.

As she watched his fluid grace and power, she could see the force his lats applied to upstrokes and the way he seemed to force down his centre of gravity, pivoting from the hip. What had looked like a wild charge when observed from the corner of her eye in combat was actually based in stance, glutes, and quads. His power almost came from the earth itself.

His talk of hands was a huge oversimplification. By the time his hands were moving, the force was already peaking. Whatever he was holding just rode on the explosive power of his largest muscle groups. She could see how her light movements wasted so much potential. She didn't need bicep curls - she needed to understand his biomechanics and apply them to setting her stance and hauling back the bow string or moving forward with her hips as much as her feet.

"I think I get it," she said and reached for one of the wooden clubs, started to swing it, felt it take on a life of its own and suddenly found herself on her back, the club sailing high in the air, hurtling down towards her face until - thock! - Kavel caught it in the way she would grasp a falling leaf. He held out his hand and Sorrel scrambled up, red in the face.

The First Lesson - Repeat

"So, OK, start from scratch," she mumbled, shamefaced. "How do you do the basics? Walk me through it like I'm a child."

Kavel realised something when Sorrel fell. The heavy club she took was, well, heavy. It was too much for someone just getting started. He had seen her use a rapier in battle and remembered that the point of balance in a rapier is much closer to the handle, allowing the sword wielder a greater deal of control over the weapon even as it accelerates. With the weight of the weapon closer to the hand, someone holding a rapier can switch their target quickly. They could start their attack as a slash to the neck, but at the last second switch to a thrust to the face.

Clubs, mauls and axes were different, the point of balance is much closer to the hitting end of the weapon - far from where the wielder grips it. The damage you can do is brutal, but, when the bulk of the weapon's weight is far from your hand; it’s harder to control. When Sorrel picked up the ‘goliath-sized’ club, it was guaranteed to lift her human body off of her human feet. Kavel should have stopped her from trying that club, but he was foolishly curious as to whether Sorrel had hidden strength he just couldn’t see.

“... Hold on Sorrel”. Kavel jogged over to the storage unit and picked up a few lighter clubs, and came back.

“ The club is too heavy. Try this very light club, and then when you have the core movements down with that club, I’ll give you a slightly heavier club to try.” Sorrel seemed happy with this idea.

Ready to move on to the demonstration again, Kavel thought of one last thing, “also, we’ll just do outside circles for a bit. The club will fly away to the side rather than up, if you lose your grip… and double hand grip! Okay then. Watch and listen...”

Kavel talked his way through a slowed down demonstration of outside circle swings. “Push, Swing, Pull, Stop”, he had Sorrel repeat the actions and the words, and then he broke it down for her in more detail making her repeat his words as she performed the steps.
“Shoulders down. Elbows tight. Arms at ninety degrees. Feet planted.
Push - rotate the body until your arms lock out.
Swing - rotate the body the other way, transferring the load to the other side.
Pull - pull your elbows back to ninety degrees. Rotate back to the centre.
Stop.”

Sorrel followed Kavel's instructions carefully. He took his time and moved through each step as if bathed in treacle, everything slow and easy to observe. She began to copy him and thought how useful his teaching would be to her rapier techniques.

Salvatore Fabris, who taught close quarters combat at the House, focussed on the parry and riposte as a single movement at the same tempo. It was a deadly technique for urban combat, almost impossible to counter in a dark alley or low ceilinged room. But in the open field, Sorrel had felt its weakness. Moving the hilt rather than the blade might have kept your thrust on the killing line, and used your opponents lunge against them.

But in the brawl of a Kantas forest, the cut was as important as the thrust. Agrippa's passing step attack - sneered at in the House - was ideal for combat where a longsword and a rapier were performing the same basic task. The mandritto cut, the fendente cut and even the riverso demanded forceful rotation, the very kind Kavel was forcing her protesting muscles through.

She worked hard, aware of her trips and fumbles and feeling that familiar flush of beginners shame that every professional feels when trying something new. She pushed through until her limbs screamed in protest and needed to rest then squatted on the ground and looked up at the goliath, towering over her with his muscles almost rippling in the breeze.

"Kavel, this is incredible," she panted. "I'm discovering muscles I didn't know I had."

She corrected herself. "I mean, I knew I had them. The Dismemberment and Killing Blow lessons were very thorough and I can strip any individual muscle from most humanoid bodies ideally whilst leaving the subject alive if necessary. But I've never felt them work this hard. This is exactly what I need."

She pushed herself to her feet and held out her hand, offering - for the first time in her months in Kantas - the warrior's handshake... the truest mark of respect for a friend or opponent. It was the code of the House to offer it as your final act before death at the hands of a stronger fighter or as a bond between true comrades. "You are a warrior, and I have no finer compliment to pay."

Sorrel’s hand was met by her goliath trainer, as he shook her hand gladly. “This was a good start. Shakey at first, but good. I hope that club training will have a positive impact on your draw speed with your bow and your rapier attacks. Working the muscles differently, it can produce a ‘what the hell’ effect. We can’t quite explain how the improvement was made, but we’ll take the results.”

Kavel stood with both hands on his hips, “you know, it was a great pleasure for me to train with a fellow warrior again. This type of thing. It brings me joy. I am eager to try your more agile methods, but we’ve been absent from the other people for a while now. Maybe when next we are here at the Fort, we can work on expanding the training ground to include your type of training apparatus, and then you can take me through your style. I have the southwestern corner of the yard for ‘Kavel’s Corner for Strength and Conditioning’. But, maybe you could have the southeastern corner for, ‘Sorrel’s Corner for Speed and Agility’. What do you think?”

Sorrel gave a sad smile and took a quick glance around out of habit. "My... um... organisation prefers discretion. They are a continent away but I think for now I should not make it public that I am teaching their methods. You and I make a formidable fighting team but if the House chose to act there are few that could stand against them. This would be between us, for now."

The Aftermath

She considered Kavel gravely for a few minutes. “Comrade Kavel, it has been a pleasure training with you. Duty will soon call for both of us but I would very much like to return to learn more. I wonder... might I also borrow a club? I would like to continue with the exercises. And might I make a tiny suggestion? I have noticed the great power and strength you put into your charges, but I have also noticed that you can sometimes… how can I say this without offending? It would be better as part of a bigger lesson? But you have fallen twice on previous missions - no shame in that. Perhaps, however, I could suggest in return for the training you have given me that you suspend that heavy club, the one I couldn’t lift, from the branches above. Then push it as hard as you can away from you and conduct your exercises within the arc of its swing. Dodging a fast moving weight taught me a lot about centering and balance. It might be useful. It might be fun. It’ll definitely be painful. We call it mastering the fleche, but probably don’t use the word fleche with your other students. If word reaches the House... “ she shivered.

“You are a mysterious person,” Kavel said whilst smiling at Sorrel, “I very much look forward to our next training session, whether it’s you training me or vice versa. And of course, take that club, it’s yours. But I’ll make you a better one when I’m more proficient at woodcarving.” Kavel placed his hand over his heart and imitated Sorrel’s bow to him, “I remain at your service and your families, too.”

“Oh and Sorrel...” Now that they were comrades and training buddies, Kavel wanted to make sure they could meet up outside of adventures, “... I am pretty much always at the Three Headed Dragon. Daring Heights is my favourite place for picking up adventures, and I spend most of my downtime learning woodcarving from Morgana Starbright at her workshop. Or sometimes I do masonry work for the Daring Heights Council. Sometimes I just do it for free, because I like the place. But, now you know where you can find me, if you want to train in Daring Heights or want a drink.”

Sorrel beamed at the goliath. “I will train with you whenever you have the time.” She smiled. "I insist on honouring my deal and I think we can learn from each other.. And I will drink with you Kavel. But if we are really drinking… well, then we will see if the Iron Strong Company can hold the field against the tactics of the House. I have three interests, Kavel - fighting, drinking and women. I’m very good at all of them." She drew herself up, placed her hand over her heart and bowed low. "Until next time, comrade Kavel, I remain at your service and your families."

She turned and melted into the shadow, using a House technique to slip like mist between the motes of light and flecks of dust. Force of habit. If you leave, let no-one know the route you chose.

“I’ve never seen her disappear right in front of me”, Kavel thought, surprised at what had just happened. He then moved to where Sorrel disappeared, with arms outstretched and probing for a human he couldn’t see . Sorrel seemed to have been absorbed into the armoury wall, or the armoury wall’s shadow. Though Kavel understood that this must be magic, he prodded about and traced his hands along the wall as if, maybe Sorrel was still there, or that there was a secret door he didn’t know about. But there was no door, and no trace of Sorrel.
“Ha! No wonder I can never see her. She’s not just fast, she can vanish!”

Kavel tidied up the corner with a smile on his face, looking forward to when he will next see his comrade. But, no doubt, whenever that is, he knows Sorrel will spot him before he sees her.

With the Corner tidied up, Kavel went back into the Great Hall for some food and drink.