Post by Horas on Dec 7, 2008 23:51:00 GMT -5
Lord Samuel Tarly sat on the back of a courser in the Red Keep’s training yard, long after the sun had set. The Grand Council would take place in the next few days, and he was anxious, to say the least. The new Lord of Horn Hill found himself unable to sleep for several nights in a row after arriving in the capital, so he ended up making his way out of Maegor’s Holdfast and into the deserted training yard. Guards could be seen patrolling the keep and city walls with torches, but there was hardly another soul in sight.
He had always been a skilled rider though only a middling jouster, but Samuel had always felt that idleness was not conducive to anxiousness and so he contended himself to practice with the lance since he could not force himself to fall asleep.
He had set up a quintain with a heavy bag of sand on one crossarm, and a shield on the other. He spurred his horse towards it, couching his lance as he was taught when he first had been taught to joust by his father and Ser Gerold Costayne. He struck the shield slightly off-center, and almost dropped his lance from the impact. The sandbag swung around and struck him in the head, knocking him sideways from the saddle. He landed heavily on the ground, but sprang to his feet nimbly and remounted the horse to try again swearing the whole time.
The second time he charged, he came to a similar effect, but retained his seat in the saddle after being slapped by the sandbag. He rode slowly back across the tilt, wondering what he was doing wrong. He shifted his grip on his lance slightly and changed the position into which he couched it, and his lance struck dead center in the shield. He spurred his horse just before the strike, pushing it faster, and the bag swung by missing him completely.
He charged at the quintain for three more hours, and was knocked from his horse half a score or more times. His brown and green tunic was stained from the dirt he had fallen into, though the color did not show up much against the fabric. Samuel was aching all over and covered in sweat, but he considered this a victory. He could already notice differences in his own form that would lead to better success on horseback in the future, and every one of his strikes with the lance as more accurate than the last.
Lord Samuel Tarly improves toward Master Horseman
Lord Samuel Tarly improves to Expert Lance
He had always been a skilled rider though only a middling jouster, but Samuel had always felt that idleness was not conducive to anxiousness and so he contended himself to practice with the lance since he could not force himself to fall asleep.
He had set up a quintain with a heavy bag of sand on one crossarm, and a shield on the other. He spurred his horse towards it, couching his lance as he was taught when he first had been taught to joust by his father and Ser Gerold Costayne. He struck the shield slightly off-center, and almost dropped his lance from the impact. The sandbag swung around and struck him in the head, knocking him sideways from the saddle. He landed heavily on the ground, but sprang to his feet nimbly and remounted the horse to try again swearing the whole time.
The second time he charged, he came to a similar effect, but retained his seat in the saddle after being slapped by the sandbag. He rode slowly back across the tilt, wondering what he was doing wrong. He shifted his grip on his lance slightly and changed the position into which he couched it, and his lance struck dead center in the shield. He spurred his horse just before the strike, pushing it faster, and the bag swung by missing him completely.
He charged at the quintain for three more hours, and was knocked from his horse half a score or more times. His brown and green tunic was stained from the dirt he had fallen into, though the color did not show up much against the fabric. Samuel was aching all over and covered in sweat, but he considered this a victory. He could already notice differences in his own form that would lead to better success on horseback in the future, and every one of his strikes with the lance as more accurate than the last.
Lord Samuel Tarly improves toward Master Horseman
Lord Samuel Tarly improves to Expert Lance