Kings Swordmanship

How does one, of the nature that Storm is, manage to wield the sword? To fight with the same level of skill as those that have trained countless years under a school, or a master of the arts? Would you say .. with great ease? Or perhaps great difficulty? Allow me to share with you, the Kings Swordsmanship, a style of fighting that Storm managed to find deep in the ruins of the Frozen Eastern Mountain nearly 170 years ago. A style that he took, and with great dedication learnt, applied and adjusted to fit himself. 

First, let's touch on what the Kings Swordsmanship really is, and why it was hidden deep in the Eastern Mountain Range.
The Kinds Swordsmanship was, and is, nothing more than a type of Swordsmanship that was created purely for ceremonial and entertainment purposes. Yes. It was created to show off, entertain and never be used in a proper fight. Surprised? .. hmm. Thought I was more predictable than that as a writer but oh well, carrying on. We will abbreviate the name down to KS for the ease of this piece, god help the word count otherwise.. KS was indeed created not to be used as a proper style, however, it's important to remember that all styles are crafted from some form of base excluding the longest and oldest which are now classified as the fundamentals or foundations styles. These styles have been around since records began and can be easily traced to their routes in various cultures.
You might be able to see where this is going, if the KS is nothing more than some fancy show pony of a style.. but is built on the foundations and fundamentals that have been around in history forever.. Is it not possible to adapt it to make it useable? A thought that Storm had has he wandered those Frozen lands, and a task he set from himself over many years. But why was it all the way in the Eastern Mountains? Well for that it was also found with many records, and that particular part of the Eastern Mountains was a good location to house these kind of events. The air was pure and clear, allowing contenders to be in peak condition, the water was clear and pure and where the stadium was built in was.. call it what it was a tourist location. So it made sense, and no one expected that they would appear one day.. and the Eastern Mountains would freeze out of existence. 

So, we have the Swordsmanship. We have the idea behind it, we know it has three distinct separate areas of learning which I will get in to shortly. But.. How does a being with hooves, hold on to something like a sword?.. 

By utilising the Soul Sanctum, yes that very same mystical internal energy. And this is another one of Storm's random one in a hundred years genius breakthroughs, you see. As Storm was exploring he found all manner of adaption devices that fit so many different species of creature from big to small that allowed them to hold and use as many weapons as you could. Which is all great for a sport event, but reality is rarely that kind. Even an army has time to outfit and attach this things to their soldiers before a battle.. but what about a lone explorer, and worse still who would even make them anymore?
Enter the Soul Sanctum again, where mages and wizards could use this to greatly expand their mana output and spell creation process. And mighty generals could use it to quell their soldiers hearts and minds. Storm managed to learn a single practical application that would give him the biggest one up that he could ever get in his time alive, by condensing his soul he managed to make these adaption devices.. but in a corporal format that he could engage and remove as he needed. You might be able to see where this is going towards his style of fighting as well, right? It would allow him to freely attack, defend, throw, even manipulate the weapons at his grasp more so than the usual wielder.
It is NOT without it's short falls, this is not a gotcha moment and it never has been. Remember, this is all coming from the soul and it's ability to maintain the sanctum within him. If he was too shaken, too injured or his energy was simply too low then the was now at a complete disadvantage compared to just about everyone out there on the battlefield. He would have no way to equip an adaption device, nor have any way to grip his weapon.. so he needs to be careful. There really is no way to backup from there at all. 

Alrighty! We've set the scene, we have the style, we have the perfect way for Storm to adapt this to his body .. what's next. Right, the weapons themselves!

The style asks for three different types of weapons, these are obviously not carried at all times.. the last style in particular would require a LOT of effort to carry around. So let's get in to them:

• Short Sword
  • During his development of the styles, he realised that all of them played their own way. But the Short Sword was by far the most lethal of all the weapons that they were to use, obviously in entertainment purposes this wouldn't matter in the long term. But for real combat, having one singular weapon that handled the killing blows would make a world of difference.. why? .. Really? Okay if you really don't know. Sharpness, and accuracy. Think about it this way, if you are clashing swords on a near constant basis either in one to one combat or via a group effort eventually the sword you are using will become dull, the point will not be right and there is always a chance for it to become warped or bent from shape. Do you see where this is going now? Correct, but using the Short Sword as the killing weapon, you massively extend the life of it in battle. It also being so short, allowed for far better accuracy against vital points and for debuffing your opponent with well timed stabs, slashes or lunges at muscular locations or even major veins. 

• Long Sword
  • If the Short Sword is the killing weapon, than the Long Sword is the attacking weapon. It's reach, speed and durability make it the perfect tool to go either one to one or manage deflecting defensive blows during larger scale fights. The Sword in question storm picked and designed with great scrutiny over many years to ensure that he had the perfect level of weight to it, why is weight important? Well if a sword is too light, whilst yes it can easily slice through the air when it starts to come in to contact with other swords it'll loose it's durability at an insane level, the heavier and sturdier the metal the better. But you need to have a good middle ground, as the sword should be able to still attack with the intent to kill. Well. Unless you were Storm that is, the Sword can instead be nothing more than a means to the end. So he picked a sturdy and robust Steel sword and had the hilt adjusted to make swinging and slashing the main focus over stabbing and jabbing. This would allow him to produce wonderful glancing defensive moves as well as use heavier slashes to offset his opponents stance and balance.

• Two Handed - Greatsword
  • Quite possibly the most difficult of the three swords that he managed to get his hooves on, and it was an arduous trek to find one that fit him. For a being as large and with such innate raw strength in his muscles if he were to accurately display the power of a Two Handed Greatsword he needed it to be heavy, girthy and able to take a serious beating. First was the style, the sword needed to be long, flexible and easily able to deflect multiple attacks along it's blade but also stand the beating said swords would give it. To do this he picked the style of a long GS, aimed at giving a solid firm edge from start to finish, couple with multiple holding points to adjust his stance, grip and even how much power a blow could or could not have. The allow was Damascus steel with a wrought Iron core. He had a smaller parrying hook built in to the blade, as he was aiming more for deflection than out right attacking and instead increased the size of the hilt. Allowing him slightly extra length on the blade to move his enemies around on, then carrying on from a long enough handle that he could be effective in adjusting his grasp on the weapon as he desired. 

Single Style, Long sword or short sword (Drache
The Single Sword Style, is very lethal at one to one or high manoeuvre combat. Generally air to air, or when moving over distances. When the targets will be in closer confines, the shorter sword can be used, but otherwise this style deploys the long sword as a standard medium. This style solely relies on Storm's agility, flexibility and raw strength. Allowing him to move from location to location in the shortest, most efficient possible means. Either attacking his targets during the motion of transport, or doing so just as they finish moving. 

Twin style, long sword, short sword (Drache
The long sword in this style is never the Primary damage dealer, and is purely used for distraction and defence. The short sword is nearly always used for the offensive with Storm's speciality being ultra close combat. Using his wings, he can wrap an opponent in to place up close, his hind legs being used for instability techniques, or even using his joints to knock the opponent off their defence to get the short sword in and attach lethal points on the body. 

Heavy Style, Great Sword, (Drache

• The hardest and most difficult of all the styles that Storm had to work on. This style has no agility, and very low manoeuvring. Most of the time you stay firmly planted in either one spot, or a small area. You focus on defence and launching large one off counter offences, using the sheer strength and raw power built up from the body to move in a single direction.
• But who said that was the only application you could do with such a style? Ohhh noo, this is Storm and there is no amount of crazy in his mind that would settle for just that. After so many trials, broken bones, torn muscles he managed to create a 'sythe' like style that can take a great sword and move it in a way that will always catch his opponents off guard. The movements are erratic, unpredictable. He uses the sheer weight of the blade to allow it to move around in the air, adjusting it with as minimal movements as he possibly can to create an effect as if it were simply gliding through the air on it's own. It can drag him with it, allowing him to move with minimal ease, and enter his enemies territory with swiftness. He can allow it to be heavy, dropping as if it were a rock, holding itself in to the ground and allowing it to be used as a shield to protect against attacks. With a kick he can bring it back up and move to an onslaught of moves that, if the opponent isn't ready for, would be utterly off balance. 
  • The issue however with this type of fighting is that all the attacks are purely non lethal, and if the enemy even figured this out counter attacks wouldn't be difficult. For example, if there is no real power in to the attacks as Storm is doing. You can easily start to adjust the trajectory of the blade, you can adjust it's weight, it's path or it's momentum. Just a slight push in the right direction and you could instantly close in to Storm whilst he is trying to regain control, thus leaving him entirely vulnerable. 
  • And that's where he learnt a specific type of Hoof Combat which specialised in over coming an opponent with their own strength, the technique is simple enough. The enemy is so predictable in this situation, they would be brimming with utter confidence that they found the weakness and were exploiting it for the ultimate counter attack and so long as Storm maintained his composure and his vision on the enemy he could manipulate a country attack to them that would send them either over himself on the ground or depending on the offensive move inwards to disarm and produce heavy hits against the enemy. A tactic to inflict enough blunt harm, that'll ensure a large amount of debuffing on to them so even if they managed to regain themselves and their weapon they are instantly at a disadvantage due to the either broken bones or heavy bruising. They will also be mentally attacked, as now they aren't sure what to do against him.

Armour,

• Usually, Storm has no armour what so ever. He owns an aging leather jacket, and a pair of saddle bags. Otherwise he is utterly defenceless, at least, externally. True Dragon's are born with the ability to develop thick scales, said scales are able to resist some of the most dangerous of attacks as they grow older with Elder, Ancient, Soul & Emperor Dragon's even having the ability to take on world magic based attacks. From left to right, going up in severity and survivability. So what about Storm? He was only a mere recreation, right? Well not entirely. Whilst he cannot spawn scales, his natural skin is slightly thicker than one would imagine. This cannot stop someone stabbing him with a blade, or maiming him with something heavy and sharp, but attacks like slashes or cuts have a tendency to not be able to break the skin unless correctly hitting it's mark. This gives Storm a chance to brush off glancing blows, blows that could otherwise cripple a normal being as it could hit in to muscles, nerves, etc. Removing the option to use limbs, or even at worse hit arteries that cause a lethal wound.
• For planned battles, either one to one, or through military campaigns Storm does have some armour. He has a loosely made leather set, or, his ceremonial set back with the Dragon Clan that raised him
  • His leather set is completely simple and made purely for light hunting and quick skirmishes, he had it made back in his older hunting and adventuring days and even though he has become quite the.. useless boy he till has it maintained, looked after and still wears it on his not so "legal" one to one delivery missions if things have a chance to get tough, the set is as follows:
    • Words
  • His Ceremonial Battle Armour, made from Mithril and housed at the Dragon Clan that raised him (The tip of a Spear), is lightweight and designed to purely protect his major mobility points. It does very little to protect his vital organs but .. any armour that can do that would make you a slug in battle and in fact decrease all your chances of beating an opponent. As such the set is as follow:
    •  

Movement, using his muscle strength he can maintain himself well bipedal and push, stop, side step with ease. Balance is always difficult, but with experience you can use those large wings for so much more than you believe. Adjusting the edge to be flat, or curved can change ones agility in either the forwards momentum or the retreating one. Adjusting one lower than the other, can increase the speed of a roll significantly. Having both up can plant him to the ground, whilst allowing him and immediate retreat. All down means his ability to make minor movements increases, due to the sheer stability in his stance. 

If you got this far, you'll have noticed an set of names next to each of the styles.. In order to take a style and adapt it to this level you simply cannot continue to call it what it once was. As such, the Drache Still was named, and the styles renamed. It would never become famous.. not so long as Storm became what he is today. And we all know he cant do anything with his life anyway so.. shame.. such a well thought out, executed and perfected style of techniques and experiences are all down the toilet simply because he couldn't dare to do something with his life.
Or is it?.. Is the future, really so bleak for him that this was all in vain?..

There is no honour to this fighting style, this is no happy endings, this entire style is designed to kill. Nothing more, nothing less. The nobility cannot stand it,
No storm has no honour in his fighting, and he desiccated a peaceful art to make it of destruction.