In retrospect, not sure if this is a meme.

Urban began a relationship with a former mercenary. Weland was a sword and board type, and let Urban train with a longsword. It was so big (to the boy), he never could hold it and the shield.

As he joined the smuggler crew and the mercenary, he kept training, drilling on a reckless, offensive form. And as he grew, his blade mostly remained the same size, just a longsword he held with two hands

It wasn't until he joined the Templars that he was given an option between a larger sword or a shield. He was a little... depressed... at the time, and felt he wasn't worth protecting.

Big swords are his weapon of choice, and through his training from both the Mercenary and the Templars he's developed two distinct 'stances'.

Hmmm I should plurk this! I like it. Will do later :3

he ever learned to use a shield properly? [though it's not hard look at it]

He is competent enough to be able to hold a shield correctly, and run a few drills, but in serious combat he will feel more slowed by it than protected.

I got distracted by work (hurray!). Two stances - Command stance he holds his blade behind him while leading with his right foot. He keeps himself between his blade and his opponent.

This is what he uses in most combat where he can still attempt to talk his opponents down. He's not there to kill people, he's there to protect you from his blade.

She didn't. She bites things.

No, truthfully, it took a lot of study and practice in her various animal forms.

How does one study how to bite as an animal? Like for a normal animal, they've got the instincts sort of built in, then practiced through play time as a cub...

You have to study them a lot in order to learn how to shift, for months/years.

I think partly some of the instincts are built into the body-shape, so they're there once you change. And for the mabari, at least, once she could be one, she'd sneak into the packs and train with them.

(which was tricky, because the handlers knew all the dogs and would recognize a strange one, but she managed it a few times)

Learning to fly was much more difficult. She hit trees a few times first.

poor Dar, that couldn't have been pleasant.

Oh man this is a good one! Imenry learned first from her father, desperately wanting to know how to use a sword. She started with the practice one at age 5. When she was older she took formal training.

Lillie didn't really know how to manage her magic at first. But most of her skills were in pretty mundane things anyway. She wasn't setting fires. She learned formally at the knee of a Seer in Rivain when she

about 20. She passed their version of a Harrowing there as well. She also learned spirit healing from the woman.

Declan was around swords as the son of a black smith. He self taught a few things as a teen, but went into formal training before he joined the guard and has improved since then.

Jana learned blades from various members of the thieves guild when she was 15. She learned her Bard skills not long after that from an Antivan woman trained in the skills.

I forgot I never wrote the other half. His alternate stance is brute force dependent, and starts with a high stance with the blade held overhead.

Kore was ruthlessly trained in the art of fighting by her old master. Genikon learned archery from the Dalish (but sneaking is really a skill he took to new levels)

Brennan's been training in the village for years, he knows how to use his bladed staff as a weapon itself and it skilled at battlemagics. He's not so nice a guy on the battlefield

Dwagon Age needs more battle mages :3