The night was surprisingly restful for Alanna. The bed offered more comfort than she thought it would given that most of the household objects seemed straight from the middle ages. The rest of her evening had been spent with Grainne as Queen Medb apparently decided to begin preparations to assist Alanna. They did have an evening meal together but their interaction with the queen was brief. Grainne seemed to be somewhat more reserved and Alanna was not sure if she would ever get the full story from the leannán sídhe. They were not exactly friends and barely acquaintances yet the druidess hoped the woman would find whatever it was she looked for.
When Alanna awoke she did so of her own accord and from the single window she had in her room it appeared to be just pre-dawn. Even with the extreme activities of the prior day her body seemed well rested. She had none of the muscular aches she expected from her battles. There was also had no indication of wounds on her body from the many she took during said battles. In all she felt quite good which created a bit of cognitive dissonance within herself.
She got up and found a set of durable clothes waiting for her at a chest at the end of the bed. It was a knee length white léine, a hooded brat in her colors, a pair of trousers spackled in county Galway tartan, and finally a pair of calf high brown leather boots. Alanna was not a fan of the color scheme blend of the county and house colors. She was also unfamiliar with the feel of the outfit and while it was interesting. She decided wearing the more formal version once was enough. Instead she rifled through her pack and pulled out a pair of activewear leggings and top, a comfortable sweater and some running shoes with socks.
Once dressed she she moved out of her room and wandered the halls a bit trying to find out where she could acquire a bit of breakfast before she should go to start her training. It did not take long in her wandering to realize that this side of the keep was all guest rooms. It was on the lowest floor and while there was a stairwell at the back end of the guest wing, she did not believe the kitchens would be on the upper floors. So, she moved back toward the entrance and crossed to the opposite hall. As soon as she opened the doors and entered this wing she heard people up and about. It sounded as though they were preforming their morning tasks. She wandered down the hall and found a room with an open door and there was quite a bit more heat entering the hall from this room.
She peered inside and found that it held several anthropomorphic creatures working in what appeared to be a sort of kitchen. There was a large oven on the back wall and that had a baker pulling out a loaf of bread with a large peel. The scent of fresh bread was quite pleasant but it caused her stomach to rumble. There was a fireplace next to the stove where a massive cauldron sat on a tripod over the fire. Another of the kitchen staff was stirring the contents occasionally. There was also some fruit being selected and placed into separate bowls. The ones with the best color and shape were placed in one bowl while everything else was in the other. It was fairly clear to the druidess that the better looking and tasting items were going to the queen, Grainne, and possibly to herself. She decided it would not be polite to interrupt them and ducked back out into the hall.
The staff was busy and she was not one to interrupt their clearly full and busy schedule. So, she decided to run around the inner bailey to warm her body up for the day. She moved back into the entrance hall where she found a pair of door guards standing watch over the doors to the exit. The were a rather large anthropomorphic doglike people with outfits similar to what she had discarded earlier except they wore the colors of The Kingdom of Connacht. They allowed her passage with only strange looks on their faces.
The pre dawn temp was a bit chilly but Alanna knew it would quickly warm up so she removed her sweater and laid it on a nearby barrel. After stretching her various body parts she took off in a run using the inner wall of the bailey as a guide. There was no indication as to the distance so she ran until she felt a decent burn then did several body weight exercises. After nearly 40 minutes she decided it was a decent warm up for the days events and moved back to collect her sweater. She was aware she had started to sweat a bit and that showers and the ease of access for hot baths was not really viable without the appropriate systems. Having this realization she frowned and moved toward a well she saw on the right side of the bailey. She did not have a way to really clean herself but she did use the water to cool her body and wash away a bit of the sweat. She had to admit this was not very pleasant. It was the first time she actually regretted coming here as she missed plumbing and heated water. That was something she would never take for granted again.
Upon re-entering her room she found a nervous Eadan was pacing back and forth in front of her door. Upon seeing Alanna the woman nearly collapsed in visible relief. "My lady where did you go? Why did you leave?" She asked with panic still clear in her intonation. "I woke up and thought I would get a little warm up for my body before I begin training today. I am sure it will be quite strenuous. So, I figured it would be better to be limber." Alanna said with an apologetic smile for the maidservant. Eadan nodded and offered a barely audible sigh. "Did you leave in your underclothes milady? I left out some clothes for you."
Alanna looked down at the active ware she had on and then shrugged. "I guess it would look like that to a culture that is straight out of the 8th century." She decided. "However, Eadan this is pretty normal as an outfit where I come from. I usually only wear something like this for training but quite a few people wear this out and about. Society is a bit different than it was 700 years ago. Also, I have another pair of leggings in my pack feel how comfortable they are and you will understand why I chose the clothes I have." The maidservant did not look as though she approved but nodded her assent.
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"I did take what you wore here yesterday to be laundered. They were quite amazing pieces of fabric. We did wonder how they were made. Most of us are not allowed or cannot get into the overworld. So, we sort of just live as we always have. I guess there would be some changes over the course of 7 centuries." Alanna laughed a bit and nodded. "Oh my dear Eadan you could say that. I wish I could show you the wonders of indoor plumbing and hot water tanks." The maidservant just nodded as she had no idea what to say to that. "Ah well, yes milady would you like to have breakfast before I take you to your trainer?" She asked. With a nod Alanna agreed and the servant excused herself to get the prepared food.
Breakfast was filling if nothing else. There was a surprising lack of flavor to the porridge and even the berries could not overcome the lack of sugar or honey to add. Still, it checked enough boxes that Alanna consumed it all. The goats milk however was quite good as it had a dash of something in it that Alanna found delicious. It had been consumed all to quickly though and Eadan had rushed her to the outer bailey where she would meet her new trainer.
Alanna was a bit surprised to find a familiar young man waiting at the doors to the inner bailey. His intense eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open when he saw what she was wearing. His face immediately turned a deep shade of crimson that was more intense than his auburn locks. Alanna wanted to sigh and say something but she understood there was a bit of a cultural divide and she was the odd one out here. Still she wanted to set expectations and create a solid understanding. So, she smiled sweetly and gave a nod of understanding. "Good morning. I am Alanna. I understand this outfit is a bit revealing for this place but the world above has changed and this is what we use as training clothing. Are you my new trainer? What is your name?"
The young man looked Alanna up and down then shook his head as though he needed to clear it. "I am Sétanta he said after a moment. I will train you to fight with spear, staff and sword. When you display an adequate amount of skill, my trainer will asses you to see if you are worthy of her training. Alanna nodded her understanding. "Lead the way Sétanta she said and the young man nodded and walked toward a fenced in circular area that was only a few meters wide and positioned near the stables.
There two long staves, with wooden spear heads carved into one side, were leaning against the fence and the man collected them and tossed one to Alanna once she made her way into the ring. He once again looked her up and down but this time he was not looking at her body in the same way. "You look quite strong." He said with a hint of approval. "I suppose I should know what you do to figure out where to start. So hit me." Alanna raised an eyebrow at the man and shook her head to indicate the negative. "I need to know how to do this from the beginning." She said. The staff I have been using is quite a bit shorter than this 2 meter pole." Sétanta frowned in irritation but nodded in agreement. Ok, he said. Then we will start with the guard postions.
There were three primary guard positions that Sétanta showed to Alanna. The first was called the high guard and it was where the point of the spear was angled down and slightly toward the enemy while the butt of the pole is held above the head. The feet were spread a bit more than shoulders width apart with one foot being forward and the other back. The distance for the feet positioning varied on the next move in the series but for stationary drills he lined the left foot and hand as forward in each drill. The first guard could hang left or right as well as directly above the head Sétanta had explained. Yet, he encouraged that base guard position be neutral stances.
The second guard position would be a low guard where the position is nearly opposite. The spear point is facing upward and slightly toward the enemy while the butt of the pole hangs lower and toward the left or right side. Foot and hand positioning is similar in this guard to the high guard stance. The final basic guard position is called a vertical guard where the butt of the pole is planted into the ground. The hand and foot position for this guard can be similar to the others depending on whether there is another weapon or shield in hand along with the spear.
He showed her how to deflect and parry from each guard position before practicing thrusting from high and low guard. Given the bit of staff training she had from her daideo she picked up the guard positions fairly quickly. However, when she was practicing the thrusting attacks she felt awkward and she knew she was missing something. "Your just using your arms." Sétanta pointed out. "You have an entire body full of muscles and power just waiting to be put to use." He pulled his own staff into high guard and Alanna could see how his core engaged in each strike. Yet that was the first group that drew her eye based on the man's clothes. She eventually saw how his legs, core, chest, lats, and arms worked in concert to explode forward powerfully from each position.
Once she could understand the body movements the strikes she committed to where much more powerful. Sétanta's eyes widened in surprise from the strength she displayed when her body truly started to understand. So he moved on to slashing type strikes and showed her how to flow from a high guard to a low guard by swiping diagonally down and swapping hand and foot positions to sit in a low guard.
The training was not overly hard for Alanna but she could feel the burn in all of her muscles from her head to her toes. She moved from high to low, then low to high, and all the while threw in several thrusting attacks. She felt so much more prepared with just one day of training with Sétanta then she had after several with her grandfather. Although that was not overly surprising considering the need for weapon mastery had become nearly non-existent in modern society. At least the need to mastery these older weapon types. Alanna was sore but she felt very happy about the lesson's she had received thus far. They trained throughout the day until Eadan collected her to clean up for dinner with the Queen. She left sore, but with a smile that spoke of achievement.