#spear combat

[ancientstuff]

It's truly astonishing how much we can learn when we get good, deep looks into the way things are made.

[puddingface1902]

Spear Combat Female Sprite

Hi, I just uploaded a showcase video of Spear Combat female Sprite.

[serpentface]

Janeys about to win his first ever duel to the death, mostly by virtue of being a less shitty swordsman than his opponent.

DUELING IN IMPERIAL WARDIN

Dueling is partially legal in Imperial Wardin, with official duels overseen and regulated by authority figures, and unoffical duels regulated largely by social contract. This form of combat allows disputes, accusations, acts of vengeance, and slights of honor to be settled outside of court or pure interpersonal violence. Ritualized aspects of the practice act as a sort of self-regulation, allowing scores to be settled while dissuading the developments of outright feuds.

No one is materially compelled to accept a challenge to a duel, but refusing can be a tricky maneuver. In many cases, this will be taken as cowardice and a stain on the challenged party's honor and masculinity, and may add significant fuel to the challenger's accusations. The circumstances where it is socially 'safe' to refuse are when the challenger is VASTLY physically outmatched, or is of markedly lower status or otherwise seen as a social inferior (being lower class, a eunuch/woman/akoshos, an infamously dishonored party, a sex worker, etc), though even this can be risky depending on the circumstances.

Women and akoshos cannot be challenged in duels, nor can they Legally be challengers (with a very specific exception for Odonii priestesses, who have men's legal rights), though they can indirectly do so via a male relation acting as their proxy in combat. The alternative is not Entirely unheard of, but very rare, and rarer still that a male opponent will accept. The concept is, however, a motif in heroic folktales wherein a young woman disguises herself as a man and enters into a duel to avenge the murder of her brother or another family member. In most variants, this is cast as a heroic as an act of extreme familial piety, with her masculinization being an entirely temporary means of doing so (which is immediately abandoned post-duel).

Once the challenge is accepted, both parties will negotiate terms through a proxy (by convention, this is a blood relative or other legal kin). This decides the time and location of the match, as well as its stakes. The majority of duels are Not to the death, rather to a lesser end- first blood, incapacitation, submission, etc. In fully legal duels, this agreement is submitted to a local authority and its terms become legally enforceable. Even in 'off the books' duels, the terms will generally be enforced by overwhelming social contract. There is effectively no backing out once the formal agreements have been made. One party not showing up at the agreed time and place effectively concedes a victorious social high ground to their opponent, but without the matter being 'settled' (encouraging further escalation).

Legally, duels must either be fought on private property or outside of city limits (as wearing a weapon in any of the capital cities is illegal for most civilians). You can find semi-legal underground dueling sites in most of the cities, though this tends to be associated with the petty, dirty squabblings of commoners and most nobility will opt to fight in the countryside.

Duels are typically overseen by a neutral third party, with legal duels being specifically officiated by a socially protected individual (usually a priest) who directs the ritual elements of the proceedings and observes and records its outcome. The arena is measured out in a circle approximately twelve paces wide, and marked with stakes and a binding of sanctified amenchil rope wound left to right. This form of binding is broadly used in cultural practice to delineate and spiritually protect sacred spaces (wound right to left in these contexts). Its reversed use in duels provides a regulatory psychological function- the arena becomes a segregated liminal space, and the rest of the world is symbolically bound with a protective barrier, keeping the violence of the dispute confined to this space and time.

Additionally, both combatants (and their familial proxies) swear a binding oath (before a holy relic in priest-officiated duels) - swearing to obey pre-negotiated terms and rules, and declaring that the victor shall be recognized as the righteous party and that the outcome of the duel wholly resolves the dispute. Being bound to such an oath might not settle things on an emotional level, but HEAVILY disincentivizes a duel starting or worsening family feuds- even in fatal duels, the defeated party's family has no justification to demand a blood price or avenge their slain kin, or otherwise commit direct reprisals over the dispute (and would be breaking a solemn oath before God, which will have consequences).

Both parties prepare themselves to fight. Exact traditions vary across the region, but duels are near-ubiquitously fought unarmored with a single blade (sometimes, but not always, replaced by staffs or blunted swords for non-fatal fights). In the south of the region (as depicted here), it's traditional to fight topless with one's cloak clasped around their hips and hair bound into a topknot (the gull feather here is not a dueling norm, but it's lucky).

Both combatants enter the ring and stand at opposing sides, and the dual begins at the overseer's signal. The challenging party is not permitted to make the first attack, and instead must dodge or block their opponent's first swing before they can begin to retaliate. The duel will then proceed to its pre-negotiated ending.

There are additional compacts that direct the fighting. Fleeing from the arena is an automatic loss (and an EXTREME stain on one's honor and masculinity). If the combat spills out past the boundaries, it must be halted and the arena entirely moved and re-bound before restarting. Surrender is possible even in fatal fights, and it is generally taboo to kill an opponent who has verbally declared defeat (as they have lost the duel in doing so, and the matter is thus settled- proceeding further is murder). These rules will be enforced by the authority in legally overseen fights, and are largely (though not universally) enforced by social convention in illegal duels.

Upon resolution, the winner extracts a verbal affirmation of their victory from the loser (if they survived), or from the loser's familial proxy (if they didn't). In some traditions, they are specifically permitted to cut the loser's hair (which is a humiliating and somewhat emasculating act, only adolescent boys (and mourners) wear their hair short in most of the Wardi cultural sphere). A winner who feels the loser fought/died valiantly or is otherwise highly respectable may abstain, as a means of protecting their opponent's dignity. The resolution of the fight ostensibly concludes the dispute, with the winning party justified as righteous in their cause, and gaining social capital and Masc Points in their victory.

[room-surprise]

Absolutely GORGEOUS art of Kabru! Go check the artist out on Twitter (and if they've posted this art to Tumblr let me know so I can delete this!)

[what-aboutno]

It's crazy that in early maze days cOwen mentions he doesn't know first aid and he doesn't know how to fish. Like how did you survive as a soldier if you can't use the resources around you??

Also cOwen apperently not knowing hand to hand combat is insane. All his memories after the reunion show him fighting close up, and most of his kills later are close up too. I guess you could say that he remembers this stuff later on but it's still really funny to think about.

[fabforgottennobility]

THIS

IS SPARTA

[we-are-knight]

My friends,

It has begun. ⚜️

[senseearly]

Okay i know that u dont technically need a staff/wand to cast magic (but for marcilles case staffs seem to offer better casting/directionality) but imagine mithrun with a staff... A staff that he can use to whack monsters/people with... Spear teleportation user mithrun...

[warlocks-and-phoenixes]

New headcanon!

I realized we’ve had 3 separate instances in mcd s1 where a shadow knight shoots an unsuspecting person in the back (Sasha > Joh, Zenix > Garroth, Vylad > Brendan; intended Zenix) so I decided to give it a lore reason.

In battle or hunting, Shad was primarily an archer, and so the Shadow Lord rather prefers the idea of an army of archer-assassins. Vylad uses a bow because it’s the first form of combat non-knight SKs are drilled in, and religious imagery/legends mostly depict shadow knights as terrifying, demonic archers.

Plenty of their ranks still prefer whatever weapons they wish; Gene is most effective with a sword, but the shadow army’s archer corps is the most skilled, feared, and known, across the Matron faith.

[molagboop]

High-echelon Mawkin suit modules can be pretty wild, and the Energy conversion module in Raven Beak's suit is no exception.

When exposed to an active current or energy field, the module accounts for the level of charged particles in the local atmosphere and converts the detected matter to power. Most substantial forms of power and radiation are compatible with its function, and it's calibrated to work more efficiently when exposed to substantially powerful forms of plasmic matter.

The conversion module is similar to (but should not be confused with) the thermal charge module, which charges the power suit in extreme heat. That technology is also implemented in the protective exosuits found in Cataris' lava zone. The Mawkin use thermal energy to power a number of their facilities: that they'd implement it in their more mobile works is only natural.

Back to the subject at hand, the conversion module's practicality is twofold: to keep Raven Beak's suit sufficiently charged and to maintain his vigor in battle. His particular biometric modifications are such that his suit, combined with his level of physical fitness, can theoretically keep him fighting without fear of exhaustion in perpetuity.

Raven Beak's juiced up version of lightning armor is the inverse of this module: it absorbs charged particles for the purpose of coalescing into a projected wave. The use of lightning armor in this manner negates the function of the conversion module for restorative purposes. Additionally, lightning armor works best against oncoming projectiles, while the reactive conversion module is at its peak when the suit is exposed to ambient radiation or concentrated, consistent flows of power.

Suffice to say, Raven Beak is probably the only person who could stick a fork in an electrical socket and have it do the exact opposite of killing him.

[likeapriceless-wine]

OOC

One thing I fucking adore in pjo is the unique weapons and tools, like Clarisse's electric spear and Luke's winged shoes and shit like that SO here's C.J's

He has this ring that he probably found snooping around in the big house attic that turns into a guitar. I haven't worked out exactly how you get it to change from the ring to the guitar BUT when its in guitar form it has an extra tuning knob that turns it back into the ring

And he has the guitar pick on a necklace

For good measure I have reference photos I found on pinterest for both it's forms and the guitar pick necklace lmao

Edit: Just to clarify he can channel his dionysus kid insanity powers through music. He's not going around beating people with a guitar

[malwarechips]

i love her ok

[toadslug]

A TON of my WoF OCs use weapons like swords and spears, and I've gotten people who question the practicality of that. "How would they use a sword on all fours??" WELL, I present to you:

Why don't they substitute their wings for their arms? It'd probably allow more stability than rearing up on the hind legs to make a move. This pose might look a little awkward...? But I think this is plausible. (I'm not a dragon, though, so what do I know.)

And if that's not good enough for you... Rule of Cool.

[fore-seer]

society if subaki was a good unit

[xitty]

New Akatsuki profiles:

Everyone +1 kg

Keito: Hobby: writing, collecting glasses Specialty: shamisen

Kuro: Hobby: sewing, costume design Specialty: karate

Souma: Hobby: cooking, tea ceremony, incense ceremony Specialty: martial arts* *arts with weapons for samurai and soldiers

[shining-gem34]

"Teach me that move!" - traincarsandstars (bailu to dan heng <3)

Sparring/Training || Accepted @traincarsandstars

Dan Heng can't help smile at her enthusiasm. Bailu eagerness to learn both Cloudhymn magic is a humbling experience.

At first, he was worried he would be an inadequate teacher for her. All of his knowledge of Cloudhymn magic are fragmented bits of memories. If Dan Heng can describe the sensation, it's like a barrier between them with only whispers of words echoing in his ear.

While Dan Heng still had his reservations about his heritage, he cannot deny Bailu request to be her teacher.

Thankfully, today lesson only required two things: a spacious area to move in and a pair of practice spears (one adult-size and one child-size).

Never mind the details how Bailu convinced him to train her in using a spear.

"...That's how I usually fight in combat." Dan Heng informs her after another demonstration of his spear-play against a training dummy.

"I don't think I'm qualified enough to teach you Cloudlancer arts. But, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, I can help you with the basics, Bailu." A twirl of his spear, he shifts into a stance and holds his spear. Steel-blue eyes looks at Bailu with a small smile, "Well then, can you try to follow what I do?"