Nuala's first trial: you think you're fit to be an assassin? Prove it!

[Nuala]

Moonless night, perfect night for an assassin. Nuala is looking at the darkness though the slightly opened shutters, trying to spot moving shadows in the street. Half in her daydream, she almost fell off her chair when a loud CHTACK starts resonating near her ears.

Ok... breath, slowly, keep cool, not dead, close eyes, breath, still not dead, open eyes and now investigate.

Nuala open carefully the shutter just to see an arrow stuck into it. On the arrow is tied a message closed with the assassin guild seal. Her mouth a little drier now, she removes arrow and letter from the shutter while peeping a little in the street trying to look for the shadow responsible, but of course, no luck.

Nuala switch on a nearby lamp and start browsing the letter.

The assassin guild have received your demand to change your status from Poisoner to Assassin. Considering your background and your previous work for our guild, we hereby accept to consider testing you to make sure you are fit for this new role.

The test will be on:

Your strength: an assassin should be able to support his own body, walk without stopping and be able to climb any house.

Your capacity of adaptation: You are to invade another country for 3 weeks and make some contacts with the people living here.

You are also asked to play a musical instrument well enough to be able to pass as a musician.

You have 6 weeks.

Another arrow stuck itself in a nearby pot, spreading all the beans it was containing on the floor. Nuala takes the new letter, cursing herself behind her lips, how could she forgot to close up the shutters! She opens the letter, recognising the same cursive and assassin guild seal:

And clean up this room, you want to be an assassin, not a witch.

Nuala's eyes wanders over her room, ok, mayyyyybe she bought and collected a little too many vials and herbs over the year, but it's not that bad, you can still spot the walls, well at least one over there if you look carefully.

Nuala sights a little, no need to be emotional now, let's do a clean start indeed.

Summary:

Fitness:

5 push up in a row [+1 STR +1 STA]

1 pull up [+1 STR]

Go to the indoor rock climbing center at least 3 times [+1 STA +1 DEX]

Walk at least 15km/week end [+1 CON]

Keep on the training even when in holiday [+1 STA +1 DEX +1 STR]

Infiltration:

Finish the study of Kuchler concertino n°12 on violin [+1 CHA +1 WIS]

Learn at least 200 new words in Finnish [+2 WIS]

Have a basic conversation in Finnish [+1 CHA]

Other goals:

Finish the spring cleaning and give all that I don't need/don't use anymore to friends or charity. [+1 WIS]

First challenge: wish me luck!

[theanne]

Good luck!

[klaybae]

Good luck! You have some really cool goals, I can't wait to hear about your progress. What is your current conversational level in Finnish?

[Nuala]

I know how to order a beer in a bar

"olut."

[klaybae]

I know how to order a beer in a bar

"olut."

[sam_acw]

good luck with the Finnish, it's the second toughest European language to learn after Hungarian!!

[Nuala]

At least Finnish is easy to pronounce, I lived in Denmark for 3 month last year, I could read most of Danish but was unable to pronounce nor understand it and I tried really hard!

[Vex]

Yeah, here in Norway we say that the Danes have a potato stuck in their throat. Good luck with the Finnish!

[rix]

Great challenge intro and cool goals - good luck!

[Nuala]

A little Woot today! I managed to make my first real push-up and even 2 in a row (but my form was not that good on the second one), I took me 3 weeks but I did it!

I'm still far away from 5 in a row but still happy

[rix]

W00t, that's great!

You're right, five in a row is still a bit away, but it will be much easier now. You could, for example, do one pushup every two hours or even every hour and you'll build strength in no time! (That's how I got from ten to thirty pushups in three weeks in the last challenge without having sore muscles because I never pushed too hard).

Rock on!

[theanne]

A little Woot today! I managed to make my first real push-up and even 2 in a row (but my form was not that good on the second one), I took me 3 weeks but I did it!

I'm still far away from 5 in a row but still happy

WOO!! This requires celebration! Don't lose momentum - I lost my pushup very quickly because I figured it would stay around without continuing to work on it.

You can't do 5 if you can't do 1! This is awesome!

[Nuala]

Thanks! I keep on training every other day. My max is now 2 and half! Maybe my goal was a little low after all (that sounds like bragging, sorry ^^' ) but there is still the pullup/chinup goal that seems.. way too far away.

Thanks for your support!

I think I will follow your advice Fix and do a set of pushup every hours. I need a break from my computer from times to times anyway and I have to use the fact that I'm all alone in my room at work

[Proxximo]

Congrats on your Woot moment!! Keep up the good work!!! Push through the pain

[Nuala]

It's been one week since the assassin guild trial started. It seemed to Nuala that sometimes someone was looking at her in the shadow, well, obviously the guild was making sure for her to notice she was under surveillance, the sudden flash of light that sometimes happened was obviously a light reflecting on the tip of an arrow. It was here to remind her that her life could be taken easily. Do or die, that was the message.

Not that she needed to be told that! She did train, trying to get her old muscles to work. She even tried to climb up a mansion and.. ended up having vertigo just before reaching the window. Yeah, vertigo for an assassin, how convenient. Well, she still had 5 weeks left, there may be still hope.. right?

OOC:

Fitness:

5 push up in a row [+1 STR +1 STA] Not there yet! But I can manage 3 in a row now!

1 pull up [+1 STR] Far from there, I am able to pull up myself on 2/3 cm at most.

Go to the indoor rock climbing center at least 3 times [+1 STA +1 DEX] Went there this morning! I suck at it but it was fun!

Walk at least 15km/week end [+1 CON] Only 11 km this week end. It's raining.

Keep on the training even when in holiday [+1 STA +1 DEX +1 STR] Not in holiday yet.

Infiltration:

Finish the study of Kuchler concertino n°12 on violin [+1 CHA +1 WIS] Not there yet. I still have the ending to learn and some imprecise shifting to pass.

Learn at least 200 new words in Finnish [+2 WIS] 45 words learned this week according to memrise. Good but barely enough.

Have a basic conversation in Finnish [+1 CHA] Not in Finland yet.

Other goals:

Finish the spring cleaning and give all that I don't need/don't use anymore to friends or charity. [+1 WIS] Well, I gave a coffee set to my violin teacher and got my BF to sort his clothes. Therefore we gave 3 big bags full of clothes. Not enough but still a start.

Climbing was fun! Too bad I have vertigo that stopped me to finish at least one road. I suppose I'll have to do it again and again to cure it. My BF is almost convinced to go there with me too, he was not enthusiastic at all at first. And now he is looking at youtube video about climbing. He IS a nerd too after all ^^. I'm afraid to imagine how sore my arms will be tomorrow >_<

Week 1 done! Let's keep at it \o/

[rix]

Wow, I just love your story - it's funny and witty and generally wonderful!

Also, woot on the push up progress - even if you reach the 5 push ups really soon, you could challenge yourself always further by doing more reps or more difficult one (e.g. try to get your hands slowly closer together as if training for diamond push ups, or lift one leg slightly ...)

Props for the learning progress - 45 words a week is nice! And Finnish is most certainly difficult - it can only be slightly better than Hungarian and I know from experience how nasty (and incredibly beautiful) Hungarian is.

I didn't see the Küchler goal the first time - do you play solo or with a CD or do you have someone to accompany you? The no. 12 sounds really nice, do you have fun playing it? Have you started only when the challenge began or are you at this one for a longer time already?

Good luck, keep going!

[Nuala]

Everyday brings new surprises. Waking up this morning was difficult, Nuala's shoulder were hurting because of all the potential victim's house climbing and it was Monday. She hates Mondays. While she was hurrying preparing for her daily duty, she found herself quite welcomed by a young bird of prey in front of her door.

Ok, is that a guild sign again?

A brief check found another bird of prey in front of her bathroom window. Now, Nuala was convinced she was under close surveillance. Day and night.

Yep, big surprise this morning when I found a little bird of prey in the stairs, obviously a young one who fall off his nest that is in a higher floor. I could only catch him (I know I'm not supposed to, but I wanted to put it in a safer place), put him on my window on the second floor (there are a lot of dogs in the building) I gave him a little water and some chicken meat. The surprise is, there is also his brother staying in front of our bathroom window. If they stay here, they will be safe all the day, good think it will be cloudy too they won't suffer from the sun. Hopefully their mother will see them, she was looking for them when I was leaving (yeah, had to :/) this morning. If they are still here tonight (they probably be, it seems they are too young to fly) I will take them to the vet to check for injuries and then give them to a bird of prey association. It's difficult to identify them they may be Merlin bird or common krestel..

So yeah, I'm a little stressed today

For the concertino, I play solo. I started it just before the challenge but it was mostly sight reading. It's a nice piece, very changing. Sometimes violin looks like flute, sometimes like trumpets. I have a lot of troubles with some bowing and there are a lot of shifting. So unfortunately it's not yet fun to play it, I have to concentrate too much But hopefully it will be!

[edit]After studying all the bird of prey living near Paris, I think there is a 90% chance that the birds are common krestel:

[Nuala]

Just a little update, the two young kestrel left my window yesterday. They were apparently just waiting for the evening to come to try to fly again. Their mother was waiting for them on a nearby building, so I suppose that it's a happy end

[theanne]

Nuala! I am really jealous of the birds who took refuge with you for a bit.

You and I are now on a squad together so I came looking for updates on your progress this week. How are things going?

[Nuala]

Still working at it and even more motivated than before (and incredibly sore too ^^)

For my 6 week challenge:

Fitness:

5 push up in a row [+1 STR +1 STA] 4 in a row now! I will probably be able to do 5 in a row next week

1 pull up [+1 STR] Still far from here. I'm going to the gym and follow the warrior guild advice to train my arms. It will be difficult to do in just 4 weeks but I'll do my best

Go to the indoor rock climbing center at least 3 times [+1 STA +1 DEX] I'm going back there tomorrow, that will make 2 times! Hopefully I will finish a road this time ^^

Walk at least 15km/week end [+1 CON] Well it's not the week end yet. But if the weather is fine it will be easy to do. I love walking and hunting 3DS streetpass

Keep on the training even when in holiday [+1 STA +1 DEX +1 STR] One week before the holidays! I have a complete bodyweight training to do, plus swimming in a lake <3

Infiltration:

Finish the study of Kuchler concertino n°12 on violin [+1 CHA +1 WIS] My teacher had a concert last week, so I couldn't have my lesson. Still I'm starting to have fun playing it and except the tuplet series at the end, I can manage everything else.

Learn at least 200 new words in Finnish [+2 WIS] 53 words learned this week according to memrise. I will probably learn a few more this week end. Meaning I have learned over 100 new words in 2 weeks.

Have a basic conversation in Finnish [+1 CHA] Not in Finland yet. But I start chatting in Finnish with one of my friend. I'm going to see her when I'll be in Finland, so she will train me

Other goals:

Finish the spring cleaning and give all that I don't need/don't use anymore to friends or charity. [+1 WIS] I really need to do that this week-end >_<.

One week guild challenge.

I have started studying the how to walk silently. Tomorrow I will meet some friends, they will be the one who will judge if I'm silent enough

I'm unfortunately not up for the second challenge. Running is difficult for me (I have hurt one of my ankle badly last year and it still hurts a lot when I try to run) so, if running is definitely one of my goal, it will be one where I will really take my time.

[fire.eagle]

Nice progress! For the pull ups, have you tried negatives? I've got the same goal. My path so far has been chin up negatives to chin ups and finally got to the point of being able to do pull up negatives, so it seems to be effective.

And, you play violin? I'm jealous. I love the sound of string instruments; learning to play violin is on my list of things to do eventually.

[Nuala]

Another week passed and some goals were still unreachable. It was not that bad thought, Nuala worked hard this week, mostly on her strength. All her muscles were incredibly sore, some of them were even totally unknown to her! She went castle climbing again with a lowly thief that she knew. Of course, he was more better than her at reaching most of the lowest windows but she did manage to reach (with great difficulties) 3 of them! No vertigo attack helped a lot. Sooooo, if the guild would have a "client" living on the second floor only with enough vine to help her climb up. She would be able to take care of him!

Or at least try.

Taking care of her apartment was another story, so many vials, so many potions, so many scrolls. It is difficult to sort everything and fight the "But it could be useful later!" tendency that brought the chaos at the first place. Still, most of the old scrolls were sorted and ready to be destroyed. It was a good start. As she was looking at the kestrels flying nearby, Nuala hoped the guild would be satisfied with her progress, but she knew that she would have to work even harder from now.

Nothing much to add to my recent summary. Except that I went to do some indoor climbing again with my BF and I managed to finish 3 different yellow roads! Vertigo apparently decided that it was not needed, I was really happy about that ^^ Some of my muscles are really sore, apparently deadlift killed my legs This week, I sure hope being able to finish my first goal: 5 push-ups in a row. I'm working a lot on my pull ups, with some specific machine (bouuh) training at the gym and inverse pull-ups I'm still far from doing one.

@fire.eagle: don't be jealous, I'm an adult beginner so my progress are really slow I started only 3 years ago and my playing is definitely not good yet. Violin is a really difficult instrument I sincerely don't expect to be satisfied with myself until 3 more years. But if you are patient, just try it!

My advice would be: don't buy a violin at first: rent a good one at a luthier. There are a lot of very cheap violin and when we are beginner we don't feel like paying 1500$ for a violin but let's face it, the 200/300$ violin are just unplayable (usually called VSO= violin shaped object). I rented a violin for the first 6 month, at that time I had more knowledge and practice to be able to try and choose my violin. Seriously, I mean it, rent.

My second advice: take a good teacher, yes they are expensive, but you definitely can't learn violin by yourself and I wanted to! At first I thought that taking 5-10 lessons would be enough to give me the basics and then self-teaching, but no. It convinced me to continue paying for lessons.

So yeah, violin is a lot of work, is a really frustrating instrument, it won't forgive you for anything, ever. If you are tired, not in the mood, thinking of something else, expect it to shriek, whine and cry. But sometimes, it just feels right

[rix]

Progress W00t! You are doing great, just keep at it! I still love your stories, they make me smile every time you post something new!

[Nuala]

Thanks a lot! I still think that my written English is lousy unfortunately; it's really frustrating not being able to write exactly what I have on my mind. But a little forum RP is a good training! I can only get better, right

[Nuala]

It shouldn't have been possible, this week was a difficult one for Nuala, she was sick, weak, her throat hurt and her incessant coughing hurt her abs. But somehow, just by watching the two young wood pigeons that were born and raised in front of her window, seeing them training for their first flight kinda motivated her. Of course, it was mostly fun to see, they couldn't fly yet so they were only jumping from branch to branch.

Poor branches... They were often too weak to support a wood pigeon weight, even a young one! So it was not unusual to see one of the young pigeon falling down a few branches (you could almost hear it shouting "F***, F***, f***!" while falling) and then climbing up to the nest with a "That's exactly what I wanted to do" air on its face.

Failing and trying again, it inspired Nuala to try her strength this morning before starting her daily tasks. And she did it, her first series of 5 real push-ups. Maybe not perfect, maybe not deep enough but still, it was her first victory. Mom pigeon would be proud.

OOC:

First goal met! I managed to do my first 5 push-ups in a row. So Woot \o/