Challenge to Lamina Manira

[Fenris Olfwood]

The fact of the matter was she was already committed to attacking beside her. To reiterate the timing once again, he struck with his pommel and she jerked her arm to thrust at him at close range, while he was already turning to step around her to begin with so her pivot would have to follow his movement justifying his initiative in avoiding her attack. However his reckoning was off with his ability too grab her shoulder and she was pivoting to face him. At the worst he might suffer a glancing blow to his leg, but by the time she faced him his blade had already recovered to realign. Getting irked he brought his hand aside to knock her sword arm away or keep it from continuing in its motion towards him if she adjusted into a cut. He stepped back keeping his blade in front of him as a threat to her and buying distance between them till 10 feet separated them. It was time to end this for better or for worse.

He adopted a stance he had yet to show her yet, raising his blade in front of him and tilting it towards the ground at a slant, while also lowering his body and leading with his left leg as both knees bent. His right arm at his right side bent to defend with the bracer or lash out for the grapple. He would wait a moment before closing in, unless she closed in first or pursued in which case something totally different would happen.

[ForgottenWarrior]

spectators demand moar awesome
match is too close using short-range swords.

SPECTATORS DEMAND A SWITCH-UP IN WEAPONRY!

remember: in the coliseum matches, the spectator is always right! :D

DO IT. DO IT NAO

(Ok. Don't mind me. I'm just watching.)

[Sara Whitley]

The arena had spoken. Nondescript men in plain tunic outfits ran out to both fighters. For Lamina, her mortuary sword, a slightly longer weapon with crossguard instead of basket hilt, replaced the schiavona.
She awaited her opponent's equipment transition, glaring. The crowd cheered the idea, kept on the edge of their seats as the odds and conditions were shaken up, like dice in a cup, before their eyes.

[Fenris Olfwood]

Fenris sighed and forsook the langes-messer for its big brother the Grosse-Messer just as she took a slightly longer version of her weapon for herself. The blade despite its shape was actually double edged, it had a cross-guard and unlike a typical grosse-messer its hilt was more conventional as was the pommel. It was about 4 feet from pommel to tip as well. As Fenris took it in his left hand he seemed slightly more comfortable with it as he whipped it about testing the balance which was upon the middle of the blade, and it narrowed at the tip allowing it to retain a deadly thrusting potential.

He placed his right hand just above the pommel a small gap of space separating his hands. And he raised the blade level with his hips slanting upward aligning its tip with Laminas chest at an angle with his arms half extended. He waited for her to gain her stance and lead with his left leg both knees bending. He essentially closed in at a steady pace threatening to place the tip of his blade at her chest, though it remained stationary the entire time, a threat rather than an attack.

[Sara Whitley]

Lamina stepped into a common stance of hers, with the left foot forward, her arm pointing her sword diagonally upward at a defensive angle toward her opponent. Her left arm bent slightly, waiting but not quite in chamber.
The crowd hushed, eager to see what was to happen in the next couple seconds. Fenris was advancing on Lamina cautiously, though with his sword clearly at play. Lamina tensed at the last moment, as if contemplating her next step, raising her sword at an angle that should allow the tip of Fenris approaching Grosse-Messer to run along the right ricasso just near the crossguard of her sword. Her sword positioned itself just before he arrived within striking range, so that the stance, while a defense, remained fluid and passive enough to allow for an adaptive strategy.

[Fenris Olfwood]

Her defense was well placed, she was forcing him to react, but he had control over his blade. She wanted him to adapt in such a way he would give her an advantage, but this was a two way street. Fatigue would probably set in for both of them soon, this needed to end quickly yet he was conserving his strength with his passive aggressive approach.

His blade tilted to his right aligning the edge towards her now but also in front of him, his wrists crossing in the motion intending to threaten to put the blades upper edge against her throat from the inside of her swords guard in a steady motion that could change in an instant as his right leg shifted forward a bit.

[Sara Whitley]

A calculated start to the longsword duel resulted in both swords skyward in an epic lock that the brought the crowd from its silence. Lamina's sword angle had caught the Messer's approach, and now it was her turn to act. The crowd now understood that the poking for openings and feeling for strategies was over; the actual fight was to ensue. Just as Fenris began to twist his arms, tilting the tip of his sword inward at her within her own defense, she shoved it aside just before its center of percussion passed her ricasso, ensuring the timing and leverage necessary to bring the points of both blades out to the side at an upward angle, locked together and glinting in the sun. The crowd cheered and Lamina tensed, anticipating one of several counterattacks she envisioned might come her way.

[Fenris Olfwood]

His blade was caught and sent up, his right legs movement had been a bit of a ploy hence why the movement was very minimal, as such when his blade was struck and their blades bound his left leg moved instead, the movement of her sword caused his own to tilt to his left instead, which caused his wrists to un-wind. He used this to his advantage as he stepped left causing his blade to lower and align its edge with his forte against her middle and the cross-guard against her edge. This would also see his blade align its tip against her chest and with his body and arms forward movement push her blade back with his cross-guard and deliver a short jabbing thrust that would not fully penetrate if it struck impeded slightly by its padding but if it struck it was clearly a potential deathblow. A variation of the "cross-wise" cut. It was worth noting that contact would remain very close if not absolute between the blades during the maneuver and it would see him more towards her right side with his forward movement simultaneous with his attack.

[Sara Whitley]

Lamina's intent was to keep her forte against the opponent's sword. This is what she strived to continue, She twists clockwise slightly to slide the forte of her sword along the foible of the opponent's, a natural usage of leverage in warding away Fenris' winding tip. She seizes the moment of Fenris' step and steps back, away from him as he lands his foot, forcing a short disengagement by pulling sword from sword, fighter from fighter, but a pace's width.

[Fenris Olfwood]

Knew her disengagement might suddenly give way to a counter attack, but perhaps she may have already noticed the marked difference in confidence through which Fenris wielded a two handed sword, and perhaps she might agree that his competence with the weapon was already turning out to be markedly different from his handling of its smaller variant.

He needed to be mindful with the speed she could deliver her thrust, though her heavier and broader blade probably lacked the speed a rapier did, he would not make that assumption just yet though. His hand remained steady as she deftly avoided the winding motion, leaving him a position akin to "ox" but then doing something a bit more strange and lowering the blade completely towards the ground yet held above his head as he entered into a slightly crouched stance akin to a "cross" with his wrists crossing and the blade in front of him upside down.

He circled around her left, his eyes focused and predatory slightly widened as if he was receiving some sustained epiphany. He did not grab her bait, instead he circled slowly to her right keeping his blade held before him with its flat towards her. Those steady movements capable of quickly becoming swift and deadly as he goaded her in turn, but also sought a weakness in her defense that he could exploit without suffering a losing reprisal.

[Sara Whitley]

Fenris had lasted to a point most hadn't before. He was beginning to be able to read Lamina's fighting style and defensive patterns. In this first pass, Lamina played primarily on guard, and she figured perhaps her opponent had, as well.
As Fenris started circling around to her right flank, her body followed, pivoting in place. The mortuary sword was far sturdier than her previous weapon and certainly longer in length. With her left hand on guard but hovering idly above the mouth of her empty scabbard at her left hip, her arm swung that sword in a decent blow to Fenris legs, wherever there may be a gap in armor. While the cross stance covered this area, the power of Lamina's blow against the foible of a stationary sword was sure result in a really hard hit or adjustment on the receiving end.

[Fenris Olfwood]

Fenris stepped back past her swords reach and considered committing to a high cutting attack but thought better of it as the commitment might leave him open to a greater one from her. Instead he contented himself to align his tip forward after his evasion and make a quick fleeting jab at her chest, though his higher thrust might still give him the range advantage, it would be done with his step backward as she leaned in for her low strike though his own move would lack power.

His steady blade-work prodding and waiting, seeking to dissect and deconstruct her bit by bit, threatening her while endeavoring to keep himself safe, as he harassed her with small movements designed to reveal weakness. A patient and passive aggressive approach that was akin to the ways of a wolf cautiously harassing and testing till he found a way past her defense, and then moving in for the kill.

[Sara Whitley]

So far, Lamina had been very confident in her displays of defense, with one move flowing to another. This was a flow she maintained like a dance, reading in hindsight both her opponent and her own succession of movements. Fenris stepped back and then rose his sword, causing Lamina to miss, the long red ribbon tied to her otherwise bare arm cinematically trailing the arc of her sword. This was an arc she put forth much effort to halt, and a graceful success bespoke astounding union between the young girl and her blade. Emerald eyes narrowed in what was now only focus, though his simplistic step and thrust met an equally simple defense. As the tip of the Messer thrust at her, she struck the tip aside with her left forearm bracer, twisting slightly left at the waist, adding speed to her bracer, which struck Fenris' thrusting sword hard at its foible's left flat. The resulting shock could be easily felt, and the Messer's angle easily deviated.

[Fenris Olfwood]

(Edit: Due to to misunderstanding between players.)

His blade was caught by her outer bracer, the weak jabbing thrust transitioned and tilted his wrists unwinding with the momentum of her defense as he turned towards his right whipping his blade with the force of her bracers defense towards her right side for a horizontal cut level with her upper ribs as she twisted slightly to her own left, stepping back as he finished his turn with the ending of his follow up, so he would be moving away from her flank.

[Sara Whitley]

When Lamina swung her sword in its horizontal arc, Fenris had since then stepped back during a lifting of his sword into a thrust attack, to which Lamina responded with a strike against the rising sword's flat with her left arm. Fenris twirled his sword in a downwards, counter-clockwise motion, angling the edge of his sword to her right side. Lamina had stopped her sword's swing when he initiated motion. Lamina's response was a quick step back and left, moving in the opposite direction of Fenris' step and away from his sword. Her own sword returned with haste, moving between her and Fenris' sword in its return to its stance, though with both combatants having shoved off away from each other, both would most likely not contact at all.

[Fenris Olfwood]

Fenris almost sighed at the exchange. Despite his superior comfort with his larger blade neither of them could still gain a decisive edge, he took solace in the fact he had at least avoided a reprisal from her just as she had from him. His attack ended with his blade pointing in front of him held over his right shoulder. He knew what her moves would be, he knew how to defend, he had to figure out how to exploit them now. He closed in again extending his blade as his arms extended in turn lowering in front of him held level with his hips in the first stance he had taken in their engagement.

Once again closing in and threatening to make contact with his blades tip against her chest, moving steadily so as to be able to change and adapt his position and stance as needed.

[Sara Whitley]

While Fenris did not actually sigh, she could sense his growing feeling of unrest.. Was Fenris getting bored, or frustrated? While Lamina knew it was one or the other, figuring that out didn't matter; it was time to find an endgame to this ongoing display of cautious swordplay, and to whatever was beginning to feel. Her narrowed eyes met his in what happened to be the first serious lock of gaze since their initiation.

"Are you having fun?" Her words are spoken seriously with a dark undertone, a foreshadow of the worst. It was as if in reaction to his 'almost sigh' feeling that her eyes peered, almost in pity, at her ill-fated opponent.
Whether or not he responded before reaching her mattered little to her. As he made what was presumed to be the final step in his cautious advance, she burst into action, stepping very swiftly and suddenly the right. An accompanying right and forward lean would bring her small body past the left flat of Fenris' advancing sword, which was sure to readjust but only following the explosive response he had coaxed from her.
Quite unlike the dui tempo of the Baroque, Lamina's fencing style was highly kinetic and aggressive. In simultaneous motion, her sword smoothly extended and, aided by her forward lean, its deadly tip plunged towards the opponent's right thigh. It was a feather thrust, one that'd quickly be retracted at arm's extension or at first blood, consistent with mortuary sword's relative finesse amongst longer blades. Its hilt, instead of retracting staight back in, would be drawn out to her right side by a contraction of her deltoid, her elbow bending to a shallow, obtuse angle. The whole response had been orchestrated with such speed and coordination, that he was to be left with very little "wiggle-room."

[Fenris Olfwood]

It was restlessness, perhaps anxiousness and eagerness. His only response to her inquiry was a dark smile and a narrowing of his gaze sensing her intent. Her speed would have proved his undoing had he committed himself but he was anything but committed, and this allowed him to move as she did, given warning by her sudden break in her composure, utilizing empathy just as much as rationality in his perceptions. She moved with blurring speed and yet he moved as if with some knowing purpose. He turned to his right and shifted his right foot behind him simultaneously tilting his blade to his left so that the edge would tilt and rise up to her throat in the same moment as her thrust so that even if she retracted she would not be able to follow up or counter before the strike made contact, and it happened in tandem with her move to begin with, coming from the direction of her rightward movement from his left. It was a somewhat risky move, and it would still allow her blade graze or perhaps get a mediocre bite at his right legs outer side but his movement would bring him off line of a full contact. Regardless his own blade would merely nip the surface of her neck drawing the barest trace of blood and it came from an angle that made it unlikely her off hand would be able to react from as it came from the opposite side of its positioning.

In short he steps off line to his left and raises his blade up at her throat from her far right side, suffering a bit of damage in the process to ensure his own success as it happens in tandem with her move.

[Sara Whitley]

So, Fenris had bent his sword's angle to adjust itself into a counterattack that threatened the forward right angle of Lamina's neck. The girl's response was a simple one. With her forward and right diagonal lean, it took but the twitch of her opponent's wrists to bring her left forearm forward in a quick snap-like motion, shooting from its idleness into a forearm block just before the front of her body. Due to the angle of her contortion coupled with the angle of Fenris' sword, the bracer would suffice in holding off any sharpness for the brief moment the mortuary sword secured the opponent's demise.
Lamina had orchestrated the punishment from the start. After intendeding to swing the sword to the outside after her initial thrust, the sword would follow through in its motion. This arc, for all intents and purposes, dragged a horizontal cut directly crossing both of Fenris' legs as it followed the direction of his stepping perfectly, from a not so negligable range. Her lean helped pull the sword in the direction it needed to go, all coming together in a very harmonious stroke.

[Fenris Olfwood]

Lamina's overconfidence would be her undoing. The -Speed- she used to lunge would imply great -momentum-, since her attack missed this momentum would force her forward, it was not something she could simply stop, while Fenris' movement to his left moved him closer to her as a consequence of her movement. The result was she would probably be just at the start of arms length of him by the time her lunge finished making a full committed swing at his legs a little tricky at best, her retraction was noted but at best she could continue into a draw-cut, but it would not win her the match.

Her calculations were also off with her defense, though Fenris had to acknowledge her reflexes and coordination were prodigious to be able to react so keenly while she was in such a quick and committed movement, regardless even assuming she could react in such a way in time; the angle of her bracers defense in front of her throat would not be viable as the contortion of her body would see her turned slightly away from him, and her left arm would have to cross -over- her right arm, while his blade was rising in its tilt from a low angle. The blade would simply slip under or around her defending arm as it imposed itself, her defense not being viable due to the angle of her arm in relation to that of his blade, while her opposing lean would expose her neck from a more sideways angle which would only further complicate her defense, and compliment his offense, and her momentum continuing and the angle with which his blade was coming from would essentially ensure her movement into it. She was caught, and he would move further forward so even if her blade could continue its strike his own movement would bring him to a positioning that would minimize its danger by bringing him into arms length, while his draw-cut was capable of acting at such a distance as was its nature. If she persisted he could simply use friction to convince her otherwise, though he hoped it would not come to that.

(In summary: She lunged with great speed and momentum, and mostly missed meaning that momentum would carry her further forward with nothing to stop it. His movement to her right meant he would be moving toward her even as she was moving forward herself. This would put them at arms length contesting her follow-up attacks viability, while her left arm crossing over her right to be placed in front of her would not be a viable defense due to the angle of his blades movement which would see it either slip under or around her defensive arm and place itself at her throat/side of her neck from the angle she had been stepping into. Since her defense would not work it stood to reason his attack succeeded and she was now at the mercy of his draw-cut.)