The Great Lands of Aquellia (Sponsored)

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

The lands of Aquellia are as varied as the creatures that inhabit them and Geronimo was at the Expo to both show off her fine country and intrigue those who might come by to delve a little deeper into the culture of the griffons. The lands of Aquellia boasted many cleaver types of architecture, fine artistry, and of course warfare. She herself came from a proud lineage of military blood, her father serving as a rather high ranking official in the Royal Aquellian Navy. Geronimo held the rank of Ensign and wore the ensemble to prove it. Light golden armor covered her in breastplate and light plates down her back. All four legs were inclosed with the same fashion of protection. All and all she stood as a proud example of those of her race.

 

She had set up the booth to amaze and entice visitors to stop by. Near the front were miniature versions of griffon wrought buildings, each intricate in design to show the great buildings of Talonopolis. These buildings could be moved around in their setting and might make a younger pony stop to play. There were also ships in the setting, made to look like the flagships of the Navy's force.

 

Further in she had placed examples of the fine art produced by griffonkind including pottery that was back lite to show off the careful and painstaking clay craft that had been etched inside. They were beautiful pieces, especially when lit behind by a candle or two. Alongside the different art forms were maps of the various cities of Aqueilla including Griffonstone, Talonopolis, and Rockwington.

 

Her favorite part of the exhibit was the section on griffon weaponry. She had displayed a few special pieces that were mostly meant for just the purpose they served, to look nice. Gleaming in silver and gold, studded with jewels, three swords and a lance had been hung on the wall alongside a claw woven tapestry depicting one of the famous general's of the griffon nation. Next to these was a basket of wooden swords that were fashioned after those used most often by the griffon warriors. Geronimo wore her service sword proudly ay her side. It was also a fine weapon, but made for protecting oneself and others.

 

Outside the display was an ornate sign:

 

Welcome to Aqueilla, Land of Griffons

 

Practice Griffon style sword play at the top of each hour today!

 

Geronimo hoped that young and old, one and all might enjoy the finer art of sword play as taught to her by her father and carried through the military lines of her family.

[PyroBlaze]

Tehengu still wasn't sure why he had decided to come to this fair, but he was here now.The large griffon sighed to himself as he looked down from the position he was floating in from his wings flapping. He had come from a job search, and hadn't had time to drop his stuff off at home, so he was in his full armor. He had found somewhere to stash his weaponry that would wouldn't take long for him to get to in case of another surprise like the Crystal Faire. He had kept his knife on him though, in it's typical hiding spot.

 

He flew around above the crowd until he spotted a familiar face, that of Geronimo. He smiled to himself before going in for a landing in front of her. He hadn't seen her since that party in Whitescar, and it was nice to see her again.

 

"Hello. Nice seeing you again." He said to her, his eye traveling over her armored form. "I knew you were the military type. I could tell." He added, pausing a bit after that as his gaze returned to her face. "So, you're running the Aquellia booth?"

[Hawkeye12]

Hawkeye never really thought about Aquellia much anymore. Not like it was a bad place or anything, just that Equestria was such an interesting (and admittedly weird) place. He just didn't have the time anymore to go back and visit, especially with all these things like the expo going on. 

 

The expo itself was a lot more impressive than Hawkeye thought, actually. He couldn't remember a time where he had seen so many different creatures in one place. The griffon wandered around, fascinated by it all, wondering where to start. That was, of course, until he found the Aquellian display. 

 

Immediately, he recognized it all. The little buildings resembling the ones in his home of Talonopolis, the ornate pottery, and even the maps. It made him smile, just seeing all of it there.

 

Though what really fascinated him was the weaponry. Hawkeye wasn't born into a military family, but he always liked seeing soldiers pass by when he was growing up. He probably would have gone into swordplay if it wasn't for archery. At least trying it had always seemed like fun, and the sign said he could, so hey, why not?

 

"Swordplay, huh? Sounds like fun. I'd give it a shot," he said, smiling casually to the military griffon standing by the booth. There was also another griffon already there, one completely decked out in armor. He recognized that armor though. "Oh, hey," he said to the other griffon. "Tehengu, right? I think we met in Baltimare," 

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Geronimo was not surprised that her first visitors of the day were griffons. Those of a feather often times tended to flock together. It was also nice to see that both of these were griffons she had an acquaintance with. It would be fun to strike up a bit of conversation and then see where it lead to.

 

"I knew you were the military type. I could tell. So, you're running the Aquellia booth?"

 

She nodded, remembering him from the trip they had taken on the air ship. At that point she had kept fairly quiet about her military background but one of her roles in this booth was to show off the prowess of the force of Aquilla.

 

"What gave it away before?" She eyed him in a friendly manner. "My rippling muscles, my calculating ways?" She flexed her forearm slightly, though she wasn't weak non one would say she had rippling muscles. "Had to be the muscles."  Her eyes shone in the griffon version of a smile and she laughed lightly.

 

Swordplay, huh? Sounds like fun. I'd give it a shot,"

 

Geronimo looked the next griffon over quickly. Both seemed like capable creatures. They seemed to know each other.

 

"Yep, I'll be going over some basics at the top of the hour," She glanced at the big clock that was hung in the center of the expo. "Seems like there's only a few minutes left until it's time." She nodded. "That's right, Tenhengu! I knew it was something like that. Anyway it is good to see you again!" She turned to the other griffon. "I'm Geronimo," She nodded her head in greeting.

 

"So, you both seem to be able to handle yourselves? Have any preferences with weaponry?"

[PyroBlaze]

Well, looks like there would be two griffons he recognized here. Fine by him, the more the merrier. He looked over at Hawkeye as he spoke, nodding at his words about meeting in Baltimare. That little treasure hunt had been an interesting way to spend his time there, but he wasn't complaining.

 

"Yeah, we met there, and yes that's my name." He responded, smiling a bit to him. "Nice to see you again, Hawkeye." With that, he turned to Geronimo as she spoke, chuckling slightly at her questions about what gave it away that she was military.

 

"Just a gut feeling, mostly. Besides, I'd say I've got you beat in the muscle category." He said, chuckling a bit more. "I think being former military helps me pick out those like me." After that, he paused slightly, glancing over at Hawkeye as Geronimo asked if they had any weapon preferences.

 

"Bow and arrows. Though for up close battles, I have more experience with greatswords." He said, leaving Hawkeye to supply his own answer. He knew the other male was a great archer as well, but he didn't really know what the smaller male preferred for melee combat.

[Hawkeye12]

It seemed that Geronimo and Tehengu also knew each other, as the military one began to speak of her...rippling muscles? Sure, why not? Hawkeye chuckled, looking between the two as the armored griffon said he probably beat her in that competition. "Well you never know, it's hard to tell under all that armor," he added jokingly. Hawkeye knew that he was probably the least muscular out of the three, but he didn't mind. Smaller meant faster after all.

 

Geronimo then talked a bit about the swordplay, asking for their choices in weapons. Tehengu mentioned a bow and arrows,which was interesting. He never really thought of him as an archer type. But of course this was close combat, so he also mentioned a greatsword. 

 

"Bow and arrows as well. Namesake and all," he answered, smiling slightly and looking back at the griffon behind the booth. "Though for swords, I don't have as much experience with those, so I'll have to see. Something light, preferably, but somewhat durable." That was the best he could do for an answer to that. This would be an...interesting battle, since close combat was a bit out of his comfort zone. Usually claws would suffice if it ever happened, but he would just have to see how swordplay would go.

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Interesting, two griffons with an affinity for archery. The skill to accurately launch an arrow at a target, or even more amazing a moving object was far beyond Geronimo. She had never been much for long range accuracy, however she did possess a certain skill with the Aquillian long rapier. A weapon made by griffons, for griffons. Light and easy to wield for tactics in flight, along with a longer range than most swords, worked to give this particular weapon an advantage in the claws of a griffon who knew how to use it.

 

Something light, preferably, but somewhat durable.

 

As Hawkeye spoke, Geronimo unsheathed her weapon from her side. She winked at the griffon and held forth the blade, perpendicular in from of her beak. "Something like this perhaps?" She flicked the blade to the side and skillfully sheathed it. "The Aquillian long rapier. Either of you two ever practiced with one? Tenhengu, where did you train?" She wondered if perhaps his background would have schooled him in various types of swords.

 

She glanced at the large clock in the center of the expo. "Looks like it's the top of the hour. You two care to try your claw with the long rapier? Afterwards maybe you can show me some tips with the bow and arrows?"

[PyroBlaze]

Tehengu's gaze went to Hawkeye for a second as he spoke, stating he would prefer something lighter. That did seem like a better choice for him. The large griffon's gaze then went to Geronimo as she showed off the sword with her, a griffon long rapier. He had seen some others using it in the army, and some in his squad as well.

"Yes, I've seen them in use before. I don't have much experience using them, however." He said, looking the female in the eyes. "I'm not sure I'm allowed to say where I trained, even if I'm not working for them anymore. Suffice to say, I was trained in the army." He finished.

As Geronimo mentioned the time and offered to give them a demo with the long rapier in exchange for pointers on archery. He smirked a little at that as he nodded to her.

"Sounds like a good plan to me. I'm used to more weight to my blades, but I'm up to try this out again." He said before looking to Hawkeye for his answer.

[Hawkeye12]

Hawkeye smiled as Geronimo showed off the Aquellian long rapier. He remembered when he was younger, and it wasn't uncommon to see the army griffons with them. "Yeah, something like that. I've seen those before, but I've never handled one of course," he said, glancing at Tehengu for a second, who mentioned he didn't have much experience with the swords either.

 

The griffon's eyes then darted to the clock as Geronimo mentioned it was the top of the hour. She offered the two some practice with the rapiers, and then they could teach her a bit about archery afterwards. He smiled again, looking back at the rapier. "Sounds good to me!"

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

"Alright! Let's get going then!" Geronimo's eyes lit up in a smile as both the griffons affirmed they would like to practice some sword play. She turned and strode over to the area where the practice weapons were kept. Thanks to there being a large amount of talented magical guests at the Expo, certain measures had been taken to make sure each stall had what they needed to properly show off their cultures.

 

"Here you go! Catch!" She made easy tosses of two practice long rapiers, one to Tenhengu and one to Hawkeye. "So, these were enchanted specifically for use in practice here at the Friendship Expo." She kept her own blade at her side and made her way out in front of the stall. A practice area had been set up outside, to make sure anyone passing by would have a chance to watch the fun and join in if they wished. There were four podiums set up and a large red mat underneath.

 

"So, we start from those podiums with the boundaries for any practice matches being the area of the mat." She quickly flapped up to perch on one of the podiums. From here she drew her blade which began to glow faintly blue. After giving them a moment to join her on the podiums she explained. "We going to go through a set of basic positions which won't be dangerous. Then, once we've got the basics down we can spar. The enchantment over the blades will deter them from injuring your opponent. You can basically duel as hard as you want. The blades become mist if the blow would hurt someone, so feel free to go at it as hard as you want!" Geronimo was quite anxious to see the enchantment in action. it would only last as long as they were within the grounds of the Expo.

 

A small crowd began to congregate as she lead them through a set of positions. It was always fun to watch those who knew their way around a blade. "Ok good! So as you may have guessed, the style I was trained in is primary focused on on the wing warriors. Very few of these tactics take place on the ground as it is an art designed for those who can fly! Stretch your wings to their limit, out and back!" The griffoness felt good as she stretched her wings. She was glad to have been asked to run the Aquillian booth.

 

"Now positions one through ten!" From there she lead them through the basics. She could tell they were both capable griffons, it shouldn't take long to get through some basic techniques.

[PyroBlaze]

Tehengu grabbed the sword tossed to him, looking it over a bit before looking back to Geronimo and listening to her words. While he had seen them in action before, and had handled them himself on a couple occasions, he had never received much training with them, so this would be a new experience for both of the males. He looked over at Hawkeye briefly before taking a position on one of the podiums as he continued listening, taking in the positions she showed and trying them out himself. So far it didn't seem that difficult to use, but then again these were just the basics.

[Hawkeye12]

Hawkeye caught his sword that was tossed in his direction. He ran a claw along the flat edge of the blade, smiling slightly to himself. A somewhat real griffon military weapon, huh? Pretty exciting. 

 

After a moment he looked up, his attention turned back to Geronimo as he followed her to the practice area. She then explained how the blades were magically enchanted somehow so they wouldn't hurt anyone. Pony magic worked in weird ways, but it was useful when things didn't backfire, so he went with it. He stretched his wings just as the military griffon was, smiling once more. Aerial battle was always more fun than on the ground.

 

From there Hawkeye began to mimic her as she went through the positions. It was a bit strange, as wielding a sword was a bit out of his comfort zone, but after a while the griffon began to get used to it. He occasionally glanced over at Tehengu, who was getting the hang of it as well. The small crowd forming distracted him a bit as he looked down at it, so he decided to ignore them and focus on the blade instead.