Training Thread - Kedakai

[Forte]

"We will have to watch this one closely..." Murmured Dathkai Balor'ai as he watched his younger brother perform one of the many dances of Khaine against a Witch Elf neophyte. Talented though she was, the neophyte could not for all her speed and grace bring a blade close to the Balor'ai assassin's flesh. In a whirling flourish the hag found herself bereft of her left ritual dagger and in the surprise of the sudden disarming attack, Dathkai's brother advanced in and drove his blade home through the neophyte's shoulder and twisted it as he hurled her aside in the same move, removing her from the combat dance in defeat, "It is a shame that the Temple claimed him so early. He would have been a great hidden asset to our house." Dathkai looked to his father as he spoke. As the first son of the family, Dathkai was next in line to be the leader of House Balor'ai and the ambitious noble was already planning for his ascent despite his father's long life expectancy.

"Yes. It certainly is a shame." Dathkai's father responded, his eyes narrowing as Kedakai licked the blood from his right blade and turned to honor the statue of the Bloody Handed God that adorned the sandy fighting pit of the Temple of Khaine that they visited to bear witness to their kin's fighting prowess. "But we will discuss this later in places where we are not so disadvantaged..." Scolded the Balor'ai patriarch Kel'rathis as he brought a faux look of excitement to his face when Kedakai looked in their direction to honor his house before returning to the fray against a new opponent. "Watch him indeed..."

Kedakai shifted his footing lightly as he snapped his mind back to the task at hand. He'd let it wander for the first time in months and he mentally berated himself for the tacky mistake of a novice. He had to keep his predator instincts sharp for the hunt and his body tensed for the kill at all times, lest he be caught unawares. And here in the watery sphincter of the realms, being caught unaware was to die painfully in the belly of a monster or at the hands of brutal natives. Flicking his eyes to where he'd thought he saw movement, the Assassin gripped his swords in readiness as the trio of merchants moved out from the cave mouth that he crouched over. He'd been hired to put them to the sword for a small amount of coin but honestly the Balor'ai murderer cared little for the payment. What he did was a labor of love in the name of Khaine.

Tensing his lower legs, Kedakai catapulted himself up into the air lightly into a position to land amongst them-- bringing his boots heel first down on top of one of the human privateer's head causing him to crumple to the ground. Shouts went up from the fallen man's companion but before the second of them could respond to the surprise of being attacked here where they thought none could track them he was slain, clearly a novice for he did not have his blade drawn unlike his two friends. The last of the merchants skipped backwards and then lunged forward with his dueling epee prompting a swiveling dance-like dodge from Kedakai as the druchii moved foward and allowed his two ritual swords to drink deep of the fighter's gut. Quick, clean, but above all else efficient. These had not been fellow fighters or warriors, they had been former nobles that fancied themselves pirates and now they had paid for their idiocy with their blood. Not that Kedakai himself cared for their antics, after all they were only humans.

Stat Advances
+2 Ws
+1 Ag

[FlyingPinkPony]

You evil, evil man. Approved and updated.

[Forte]

A clash of blades rang out across the sandy Ring of Blood as Kedakai braced himself against the blow he had just intercepted with his ritual swords, barely folding the power of the strike at bay. He had been put against a trainee of the dread Executioners of Har Ganeth, their mutual home, for the sport of their respective overseers. While the older elves gambled their gold but more importantly their pride and prestige on the battle, the two youthful swordsmen barely saw the individuals watching their combat. Kedakai's rival was of a heavier build then his own having been trained to wear heavy armor and swing with the power of his full-bladed Draich sword to break his opponent's defenses. Pushing back against the pressure of the Draich against his own blades, Kedakai slipped backwards and took a knee for a moment to give off the sense that he was attempting to catch his breath to draw his opponent in and caught in the moment of his perceived victory the apprentice Executioner moved forward to claim his kill, sword at the side.

Sensing his prey nearing, Kedakai lashed out and pounced at the Executioner, thinking his ploy to have been a perfect success. He had not considered the possibility that his opponent would be ready for such a ploy, despite how simple of a trick it had been. Narrowly ducked underneath the sweeping strike that answered his lunge, the Assassin devotee fell foward into the sand and rolled slightly-- bringing his legs in close to his chest during the roll and kicking up at the Executioner's armored head with both of his feet in a crippling spring-kick. With a sickening crack his right heel connected with the Executioner's chin and catapulted him into the air several inchs, illiciting a howl from the excited on-lookers who saw the blood sport of Har Ganeth to be the greatest shows in all the realms. Stumbling backwards from the stunning kick, the other Khainite glared venom at Kedakai for the quick thinking attack but that gaze of hatred turned from malice to panic rapidly as he realized he was no longer holding his massive fullblade any longer. Hefting the sword into his own hands instead of his relinquished ritual swords, Kedakai smiled wickedly at his unarmed opponent. He did not know why he had chosen to grasp the hilt of the Draich sword instead of his lighter blades but something in his heart had willed him to do so and now that he had wrapped his nimble fingers around the leather wrapping of the ancient and deadly sword, the Assassin realized he had never before felt so completed on the combat field as he did now...

Strike. Return. Stance. Strike. Return. Stance. The deadly rhythm of the training regime that Kedakai put himself through seemed to be endless, a simple rotation of a wicked stroke with the Draich followed by a return to the ready with the blade and the combat stance. He had been something of an anomaly in Har Ganeth, known as the Assassin whom wielded the sword of an Executioner. While historically the deadly Draich blades had only been wielded by those whom the Executioner Lords deemed worth enough to join their ranks, when Kedakai had bested one of their own in something that had intended to be a wargame between the Executioner ranks and the Temple of Khaine there had been none that were willing to deny the young Assassin his spoils of victory. It was unusual but in the end they were all devotees of Khaine and the Temple had rallied to protect the youngling when the Executioners had come calling for blood (and their sword).

Strike. Return. Stance. Strike. Return. Stance. Absent-mindedly as he worked about the spiraling and slashing works of his personal training kata, Kedakai thought about whether or not he would ever return to Naggaroth to teach his fighting style once he perfected it. It was a fusion of the Dance of Khaine and the strike concepts of the Executioners, gleaned from long nights spent sneaking around their compounds and watching them fight. A combination of the two most deadly forms of combat available to the Dark Elves short of Dark Magic; a culmination of the killing arts dedicated to their God. It was not perfect however and far from what he desired from it. He needed to be flawless in his killing technique and devastating in his assaults if he were to obtain his goal of avenging the pride of his people on the Witch King and his court. Strike. Return. Stance. He wondered too if he would come against Har Ganeth and it's Executioners-- what they would think of his bastard child of a fighting style. With a grin, he decided that he did not ultimately care. If the Executioners, or even the Temple of Khaine, opposed him he would bleed them dry in the name of their mutual god just as he would any other that stood in his way.

Stat Advances
+3 Ag

[FlyingPinkPony]

Updated. Nice post.

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