Post by Andy D on Sept 15, 2022 22:24:25 GMT
Written in collaboration with senior barbarian player extraordinaire, Annie/Ghesh
Fort Ettin - Strength Corner
It had been sometime since I Iast joined Kruger in Strength Corner. He told me fellow thicc-boi Varga has been training with him and someone else has been paying him for Giant-speech lessons. I’m pleased to see Kruger is keeping himself busy, when he’s not with me in the City.
I came over to the Fort to use the adamantine bar and the super heavy weights, under the guidance of my iron-bro, and make progress towards peak strength.
Before a recent adventure, I had my usual confidence that I could get stronger. But now, thanks to a lesser book of destiny; I know for a fact that I can get stronger! But, how will I reach the apex of my growth? Now, I am a creative strength-genius; I came up with the heavy squat routine that enables my powerful leg strength to project me into the air and fly(/jump real high) like an eagle. But now with my final strength peak clearly visible - I was stumped how I would reach this final peak. Here I was, at Stength Corner, my longtime Iron-bro Kruger spotting me, as I warmed up with a 2,000lbs squat with ease. Kruger himself can manage 1,000lbs, which is outstanding, since most people can’t do 500lbs. But how was I to climb from the mighty height of carrying 2,000lbs with ease to 2,500lbs?
As me and Kruger were running through old training routines, looking for inspiration, we had a visit from the Dawnlands’ OG Thicc-Boi.
Legendary Barbarian Visits Strength Corner
I had until this point only met Ghesh in passing. I saw him in the city, when; Ivan, Toothy, Varga, Kelne and I; were off on an adventure in the Sunset Spines. As we gathered in the city, excited to be adventuring as a thicc-boi only party (plus honorary thicc-boi Kelne), Ghesh saw us. He turned to us, and said, “this looks like fun.” We had received the blessing of a veteran Dawnland adventurer.
Now the veteran was here in Strength Corner.
Ghesh greeted me and my brother and asked about the adventure in the Sunset Spine. He also asked if he could train with me and Kruger. I said he was more than welcomed!
New comrade Ghesh was impressed with Strength Corner. He wasn’t as focussed on pure strength, like me. But I could tell from his fondness with the heavy clubs and the warm up with them, that he had amazing combat strength.
Ghesh wanted to train my strength routine, then do some sparring, and if I was interested he had an endurance exercise for thicc-bois, which would be a simple yet sinister test of conditioning. I was excited! I said yes.
Training 1: Powerlifting Programme
Ghesh is strong and took to my power routine very well. He was impressed with my strength. Naturally, as a Half-Giant I had a given advantage when it came to lifting. But, if I do say so myself - I am truly an impressive specimen when it comes to raw lifting strength, and was pleased that Ghesh noticed this.
My senior colleague was also impressed with what I had done with Strength Corner, and the focus on heavy clubs. It was a good feeling receiving compliments on my physique and work from a veteran thicc-boi.
Training 2: Sparring with Ghesh
I have a long road of improvements ahead of me…
Before sparring, Ghesh checked how intense we should go. I said yes to his morningstar being set aflame, and that he should use his shield, since it was customary for him. I told him I wanted to experience the full force of a veteran adventurer, because it would be good to experience that here in a safe setting like Fort Ettin first, rather than be totally surprised in the field. Ghesh obliged - and handed me my arse.
Despite being a better athlete and grappler, Ghesh was too slippery for me. I did not have much success in subduing him, which meant I couldn’t hold him down and give him a pummeling with my Dwarven MMA. So, instead, I was trading unarmed strikes with his flaming morningstar. And boy, could he bring his morningstar round for another swing really fast! I am pretty fast with my hands. But, for every three strike combination I attempted to land on Ghesh - some did get past his shield - but four of his own bludgeoning strikes would automatically smash against my; body, head, shoulders and legs; as if I’ve never dodged a weapon attack in my life. Ghesh noted that I was unusually resistant to the flames of his morningstar. I said, yes, I was very fortunate to be! But, to be fair, I also work really hard on my conditioning. Ghesh said we would see about that in the endurance challenge, and winked.
Although, I did land some very good combinations, and my footwork was pretty good. It was still a very one sided fight. Ghesh was pleased with me though. He said he doesn’t get to go full-on very often these days, so what I offered him in sparring was still appreciated. I was pleased to see he did not think it foolish of me to battle armed opponents without a weapon, and again, despite my loss it was interesting to note my better here was more exhausted than I was, as the beaten man. Ghesh fights in such a frenzy it’s overwhelming, but it comes with a trade off cost; faster fatigue. He reminds me of Ivan actually. Both prefer to not just go strong, but go all out. I must ask Ivan if he’s trained with Ghesh. I think he’ll be pleased with the compliment I will pay him - I think Ivan hits harder than Ghesh. This will butter up my thicc-boi friend well, which will be needed when Ghesh hands him his arse regardless - Ghesh, despite draining his fuel reserves fast, has better conditioning than me or Ivan. And even Ivan will have lots of trouble landing consistent strikes against the experienced Ghesh.
We took a break before Ghesh’s endurance challenge. I got to ask Ghesh about Kundar, where he is something of a legend. He was very humble about his exploits, I feel. He is not the boastful sort.
Training 3: Endurance Challenge
It was a simple idea really. We would both go up to the top of Fort Ettin and belly flop to the ground. Then, we would get back up, and do it again, and again. We would keep going until one person had to stop. Once one person stopped; the other wins. Simple. Crude, but a strong test of one’s conditioning.
Mr. Ghesh was very kind to observe that I did really well. But, it was me - despite my focus on strength and conditioning, who had to quit before I lost consciousness on the next belly flop. I did push through my body wanting to quit three times though, thanks to my well-practised battlerage breathing and my Goliath endurance. But, at the same time, Mr. Ghesh hadn’t even broken a sweat whilst the front of my body was as red as a lobster. Mr. Ghesh, looked like he could go twice as long as I could. But, we stopped once I had had enough.
Thicc-Boi Mentorship
I recognised I had a long way to go before I would reach the potential I felt from the lesser book of destiny, and be a solid sparring partner for Mr. Ghesh, which I am glad to see he showed interest in. In fact, he was keen to help me reach my potential. He offered to be my mentor! So now I have a ‘senpai’, if you will. Senpai Ghesh gave me some advice on conditioning, and said he would keep an eye on me, his ‘kohai’.
I am very pleased. In my time here, Sorrel has helped me with my agility. Kruger and my departed bros have helped me with my gains. I myself invented a genius strength routine that has transformed me into a hybrid, super bear-eagle, and now I have a mentor to take me to the next level.
Fort Ettin - Strength Corner
It had been sometime since I Iast joined Kruger in Strength Corner. He told me fellow thicc-boi Varga has been training with him and someone else has been paying him for Giant-speech lessons. I’m pleased to see Kruger is keeping himself busy, when he’s not with me in the City.
I came over to the Fort to use the adamantine bar and the super heavy weights, under the guidance of my iron-bro, and make progress towards peak strength.
Before a recent adventure, I had my usual confidence that I could get stronger. But now, thanks to a lesser book of destiny; I know for a fact that I can get stronger! But, how will I reach the apex of my growth? Now, I am a creative strength-genius; I came up with the heavy squat routine that enables my powerful leg strength to project me into the air and fly(/jump real high) like an eagle. But now with my final strength peak clearly visible - I was stumped how I would reach this final peak. Here I was, at Stength Corner, my longtime Iron-bro Kruger spotting me, as I warmed up with a 2,000lbs squat with ease. Kruger himself can manage 1,000lbs, which is outstanding, since most people can’t do 500lbs. But how was I to climb from the mighty height of carrying 2,000lbs with ease to 2,500lbs?
As me and Kruger were running through old training routines, looking for inspiration, we had a visit from the Dawnlands’ OG Thicc-Boi.
Legendary Barbarian Visits Strength Corner
I had until this point only met Ghesh in passing. I saw him in the city, when; Ivan, Toothy, Varga, Kelne and I; were off on an adventure in the Sunset Spines. As we gathered in the city, excited to be adventuring as a thicc-boi only party (plus honorary thicc-boi Kelne), Ghesh saw us. He turned to us, and said, “this looks like fun.” We had received the blessing of a veteran Dawnland adventurer.
Now the veteran was here in Strength Corner.
Ghesh greeted me and my brother and asked about the adventure in the Sunset Spine. He also asked if he could train with me and Kruger. I said he was more than welcomed!
New comrade Ghesh was impressed with Strength Corner. He wasn’t as focussed on pure strength, like me. But I could tell from his fondness with the heavy clubs and the warm up with them, that he had amazing combat strength.
Ghesh wanted to train my strength routine, then do some sparring, and if I was interested he had an endurance exercise for thicc-bois, which would be a simple yet sinister test of conditioning. I was excited! I said yes.
Training 1: Powerlifting Programme
Ghesh is strong and took to my power routine very well. He was impressed with my strength. Naturally, as a Half-Giant I had a given advantage when it came to lifting. But, if I do say so myself - I am truly an impressive specimen when it comes to raw lifting strength, and was pleased that Ghesh noticed this.
My senior colleague was also impressed with what I had done with Strength Corner, and the focus on heavy clubs. It was a good feeling receiving compliments on my physique and work from a veteran thicc-boi.
Training 2: Sparring with Ghesh
I have a long road of improvements ahead of me…
Before sparring, Ghesh checked how intense we should go. I said yes to his morningstar being set aflame, and that he should use his shield, since it was customary for him. I told him I wanted to experience the full force of a veteran adventurer, because it would be good to experience that here in a safe setting like Fort Ettin first, rather than be totally surprised in the field. Ghesh obliged - and handed me my arse.
Despite being a better athlete and grappler, Ghesh was too slippery for me. I did not have much success in subduing him, which meant I couldn’t hold him down and give him a pummeling with my Dwarven MMA. So, instead, I was trading unarmed strikes with his flaming morningstar. And boy, could he bring his morningstar round for another swing really fast! I am pretty fast with my hands. But, for every three strike combination I attempted to land on Ghesh - some did get past his shield - but four of his own bludgeoning strikes would automatically smash against my; body, head, shoulders and legs; as if I’ve never dodged a weapon attack in my life. Ghesh noted that I was unusually resistant to the flames of his morningstar. I said, yes, I was very fortunate to be! But, to be fair, I also work really hard on my conditioning. Ghesh said we would see about that in the endurance challenge, and winked.
Although, I did land some very good combinations, and my footwork was pretty good. It was still a very one sided fight. Ghesh was pleased with me though. He said he doesn’t get to go full-on very often these days, so what I offered him in sparring was still appreciated. I was pleased to see he did not think it foolish of me to battle armed opponents without a weapon, and again, despite my loss it was interesting to note my better here was more exhausted than I was, as the beaten man. Ghesh fights in such a frenzy it’s overwhelming, but it comes with a trade off cost; faster fatigue. He reminds me of Ivan actually. Both prefer to not just go strong, but go all out. I must ask Ivan if he’s trained with Ghesh. I think he’ll be pleased with the compliment I will pay him - I think Ivan hits harder than Ghesh. This will butter up my thicc-boi friend well, which will be needed when Ghesh hands him his arse regardless - Ghesh, despite draining his fuel reserves fast, has better conditioning than me or Ivan. And even Ivan will have lots of trouble landing consistent strikes against the experienced Ghesh.
We took a break before Ghesh’s endurance challenge. I got to ask Ghesh about Kundar, where he is something of a legend. He was very humble about his exploits, I feel. He is not the boastful sort.
Training 3: Endurance Challenge
It was a simple idea really. We would both go up to the top of Fort Ettin and belly flop to the ground. Then, we would get back up, and do it again, and again. We would keep going until one person had to stop. Once one person stopped; the other wins. Simple. Crude, but a strong test of one’s conditioning.
Mr. Ghesh was very kind to observe that I did really well. But, it was me - despite my focus on strength and conditioning, who had to quit before I lost consciousness on the next belly flop. I did push through my body wanting to quit three times though, thanks to my well-practised battlerage breathing and my Goliath endurance. But, at the same time, Mr. Ghesh hadn’t even broken a sweat whilst the front of my body was as red as a lobster. Mr. Ghesh, looked like he could go twice as long as I could. But, we stopped once I had had enough.
Thicc-Boi Mentorship
I recognised I had a long way to go before I would reach the potential I felt from the lesser book of destiny, and be a solid sparring partner for Mr. Ghesh, which I am glad to see he showed interest in. In fact, he was keen to help me reach my potential. He offered to be my mentor! So now I have a ‘senpai’, if you will. Senpai Ghesh gave me some advice on conditioning, and said he would keep an eye on me, his ‘kohai’.
I am very pleased. In my time here, Sorrel has helped me with my agility. Kruger and my departed bros have helped me with my gains. I myself invented a genius strength routine that has transformed me into a hybrid, super bear-eagle, and now I have a mentor to take me to the next level.