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+---- Thread: [PQ] Don't Fear the Reaper (/showthread.php?tid=1914)
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Don't Fear the Reaper - Jigano - 10-05-2019
The day had arrived, the weather cold and the sky low with heavy clouds that promised snow sooner or later. After a late morning’s lingering over kisses and tea Rory had harnessed him up at the farm to the sledge and the supplies they had come up with together for the construction that Jigano had in mind. Then the white horse had trotted off across the snow, hooves crunching in the crisp Deepfrost air as he had made his way over the fields and through the outskirts to the Bone Bridge. The cairn he had built to mark the spot was a lump under the snow, but Jigano recognized it from its position near the end of the bridge, and he shifted back to his human form and slipped out of the harness. Isuma dropped from the sky to land on the sled, watching curiously as he went about his work.
They would be watching, Ludo had said, and though the blight had done much to diminish the bard he had not broken so easily this time. He knew now, beyond any doubt, that he was not alone on Caido. Rory and Amalia, Kiada and Sam, Melita and Caiside, Remi and Ronin, and so many more stood beside him, even when they disagreed with each other’s choices. Then, too, there were the memories of those he had lost: Isla and Edrei on Caido, but his friends and family in Numeria as well. The deaths still hurt, and always would, but they had given him strength alongside the pain of their loss: atonement, improvement, and becoming someone they would be proud of.
The Fae had their places of worship, but Jigano knew that many of them were also protective of their Greatwood, and with good reason after the spread of the blight. If Shrines dedicated to the individual Old Gods closer to home could help keep peace between the races he would have been willing to try it on that alone. And perhaps the places already within the Hollowed Grounds were enough, but as they had discovered more and more of the Voice’s shrines around the land the Oracle had felt a growing unease with her network of power. It might not help in the grand scheme of things to give the Old Gods another anchor here…
But then again, it might. At the very least, it wouldn’t hurt to try.
The snow was light and fluffy beneath the crust, and with the shovel he retrieved from the sled it was easy to clear away a square down to bare earth, marked by the spikes and string he had done his initial measurements with. He cleared some area beyond it as well, laying out wood for a fire to keep them warm before he set the shovel’s tip into the earth to begin digging the post hole while he waited for his friends to arrive.
2.
3. Melita
(With LongNight fast approaching, this PQ will be updating every 48 hours or sooner, if everyone posts in time!)
RE: Don't Fear the Reaper - Melita - 10-05-2019
Once, Melita wouldn’t have had anything to do with gods.
Once, she’d been witness to a false deity laying waste to her home, to her world, to her sovereignty, brandished into dust and doom and dirt, as if it’d been nothing when it’d truly been everything. Once, she’d been only a tiny child suddenly thrust and immersed into the darkness of the Rift, thrown into portals with her sister in her mother’s last sacrifice for her children.
Times changed, efforts extended, curiosity unfolded, and she wondered if all celestial beings were the same. Her experiences with Ludo had altered the streamline of her bestial convictions; the shadows sometimes gentle, sometimes mighty, sometimes a parallel of everything in between – despite warnings, despite rumors, despite well-intentioned misgivings.
And here she was, dedicating herself to building a shrine. Lifetimes and yesteryears ago, she wouldn’t have ever thought to have been here, laden with her bags of offering and any tools they required, staff in hand, quiver on her back, she and Fangorn a bright pair against the highlight of snow. Even with Kiada’s potential involvement, she was here, blistering and searing, an effervescent chord ringing again as the blight’s reign receded, as other pockets of reform began their unraveling over her figure, over her thoughts.
So she inhaled, breathing in the deep chill, and advanced upon the fire, upon the Sage’s existence, striking into the layers of ice and rime, Fangorn bounding, content to have her mostly returned to him. [say]“Hello,”[/say] her warmth prospered over the hollows of the Bone Bridge, with its eerie fog, with its poignant departures, someone who’d waltzed and walked over it before pestilence thrived, undaunted, unafraid, by its enigmatic contortions. [say]“What do you need us to do?”[/say] She smiled and beamed, awaiting the inevitable, eager and fervent to press her efforts into something for Ludo, for all of them, before LongNight wound its destruction and heartache along their paths again.
RE: Don't Fear the Reaper - Kiada - 10-06-2019
She’s been invited to making this shrine, and she’s heard from Jigano that Melita will be there. And for a moment, she often thought that perhaps she’d avoid it all together – but they had worked well during the play that Amalia had put together, and so she approaches with high hopes that perhaps they can simply work together rather than argue over the most trivial of things. While the blight still sits in their systems, it’s worked out most of the way from Kiada’s end, and she hopes that it will add to the ability to work together with the fiery haired girl.
So she approaches, quiet, with Auni in tow as she nears in and stands about as far away from Melita as she can, giving the girl a quiet nod and a small solemn nod to Jigano. She’s not sure if she says anything if Melita will rip into her for simply speaking, and she chooses to remain silent. It’s easier this way, for the time being.
RE: Don't Fear the Reaper - Caiside - 10-06-2019
When he had been asked, Caiside had described his inclusion in Jiganos task as an honour. His opinion hadn’t changed, but he did bemoan the early hour, and the snow as he trudged towards the appointed location. His elk form did make both things slightly more bearable, but a large part of construction required hands, and he wasn’t looking forward to changing.
Caiside was the last to arrive, as usual, and bowed his heavy head to the other two assembled, people he recognized from previous projects he’d helped in. Kiada was more familiar than Melita, but he was glad to see both. He stood silent, waiting for instructions and tasks to be passed out, for the absolute last moment before he had to change.
RE: Don't Fear the Reaper - Jigano - 10-07-2019
Melita was greeted with a smile as Jigano paused to wipe sweat from his brow. He had hoped that summer’s daughter would be able to make it, and his heart lightened to see her effervescent smile and the eagerness in her that had marked her as special before the blight had tainted them both. He set the shovel aside as Isuma bounded over to greet Fangorn in a playful dance, chirruping brightly to see her friend again amid the snow. ”Good morning, Melita,” Jigano called, welcoming her to the fire and joining her there to await the rest of their crew. ”I’ve got just the task for you—“ he started to say with a mischievous grin before Kiada came over the snow and Isuma rubbed up against Fangorn one more time before flying across the distance to greet Auni.
”And good morning to you, Kiada,” he called, glancing between the two women with a brow only slightly raised as he considered the tension in the air. This might be a little tricky, but he thought he could still manage. It meant a little juggling of tasks, but that was alright. His smile turned back to a grin as
”Thank you all for coming today. I’d like to construct a shrine here… well, for reasons we’ve already gone over,” he admitted a touch ruefully. ”Preferably something that will last for a long time, so I’d like to build it out of stone. I’ll need a pair to collect stones from the Ruins or around the Bridge that we can use.” He gestured to the spikes and string that marked the square, and the post hole he’d begun to dig in the frozen earth. ”This is where I’d like to raise it, and you can see the size of it—“ roughly three feet wide by four feet long, ”—and the base should be about four feet high.”
He looked to Kiada with solemn nod. ”If you could search out useful-sized stones and help to load them onto the sled…” He turned his attention to
He turned to the sled, unloading it and grunting as he carried a large sack over to the side of the fire before returning with half a wooden barrel. ”Melita, you’ve got the most experience mixing mortar. The cold will make it a bit of a challenge, but if we do it next to the fire it should stay warm enough to work. The dry ingredients are here, and you can melt snow to mix in to make the slurry.” He went back to his shovel, lifting it and letting it thunk back into the hard ground ruefully. ”I’ll keep digging the foundation down, and the post hole for the core of it,” he added, taking one of the more grueling tasks on himself.
”If no one has any objections, let’s get to work.”
You have your tasks! Any simple tools or items you might want to make things easier are probably loaded into the supplies that were just removed from the sled.
1. Kiada, find stones to use in the construction of the shrine and lead Caiside to them!
2. Caiside, help Kiada load and haul the stones back to the shrine site. A harness is already attached to the sled if you choose to use your elk form
3. Melita, it’s mortar-time again! Good thing you already know how it’s done ;D
2. Caiside, help Kiada load and haul the stones back to the shrine site. A harness is already attached to the sled if you choose to use your elk form
3. Melita, it’s mortar-time again! Good thing you already know how it’s done ;D
PQ will be moving on in 48 hours or sooner
RE: Don't Fear the Reaper - Kiada - 10-07-2019
Kiada does her best to avoid Melita’s gaze should it swing toward her. And with it, she focuses hard on Jigano until Caiside appears. A familiar form that she recalled the day they had been captured – when the exploration into the Greatwood hadn’t quite gone according to plan. And so she uses him and Jigano to steady her, Auni’s tail wiggling in delight as Isuma takes up her usual perch.
When Jigano suggests that he needs a pair, there’s a part of her that wishes he says anything but Melita and Kiada. Perhaps he already knows, can already sense the distrust in one another. And luckily for her, he doesn’t. Instead, it’s her and Caiside, and she looks toward the elk with a smile and a nod. “[say]I can do that.[/say]” She tells Jigano easily, deciding that Caiside can decide if he wants to be harnessed or not.
But she takes time to inspect the hole while he does it, deciding what kind of stones would be most beneficial. And when she has an idea, she looks toward Caiside with a nod of ‘I’m ready to go when you are’ before meandering to where some of these large stones are. She’s lucky to find that there are quite a few in the nearby area, mostly from the ruin’s and the bridge that are useful, and when she finds them, she manages to focus on keeping her fingers warm, unearthing the stones from the frozen earth, popping them into the sled, and continuing on.
RE: Don't Fear the Reaper - Melita - 10-07-2019
There was an age-old ignition, incitement, a kindling of excitement aligning over her features at the promise of a task just for her, mischief managing to crawl its way back along her cheeks, eyes, and mouth, not lost forever, but spent hibernating in the murk of pestilence. Even Kiada’s very existence couldn’t extinguish the notion – though her face took on a rather duplicitous sneer when her eyes rounded upon the Harpy, before raising her chin in an act of aloof defiance and sedition. Caiside earned her well wishes and greetings too, a hearty wave, before instructions were laid out.
Oh, mixing mortar – she’d had a grand time at the height of summer, amidst the Atheneum’s repairs, scattering mortar and cement in her wake. Some locals didn’t take too kindly to her antics, or embraced the exuberant nature, but she chiseled her agreement into a brandished nod, taking her supplies and carrying them over to the fire. She paid no heed or mind to her trembling hands, not yet fully recovered from their desperate acts with the blight, proceeding in the same way she had within the previous bouts. The only trials and tribulations were the cold, as Jigano mentioned, and she couldn’t readily apply everything in a swift, keen time; allowing it all to soften by the embers of the fire, by the stoking flames, by the warmth and heat generated by infernos. Fangorn kept himself tucked close to her, nestled at her knees.
RE: Don't Fear the Reaper - Caiside - 10-08-2019
Caiside stamped his feet in response to the greeting, trilling out a mental [say]Hello![/say] that he wasn’t sure would be delivered. He looks over the work Jigano has done already, thinks about the work that is yet to be done, and stamps his feet, eager to be working on it already.
To his twofold delight, Jigano asks him and Kiada to work together, and gives him a task that keeps him shifted. Even if it will be quiet, Caiside is more familiar with the other attuned than he is the accepted girl, and feels more at ease being able to work with her. As soon as Jigano is done doling out the tasks, he moves closer, giving the bard a chance to attach the harness and sled.
The great antlered head dips again towards Kiada, indicating that he’s ready to follow along behind her, leaving the most of the actual searching up to her. He sticks close, keeping his footing careful, he’s never actually used his form for any kind of labour like this before, and he’s a bit surprised at the actual work it involves, at how each stone really does make all the difference in the load.
RE: Don't Fear the Reaper - Jigano - 10-09-2019
Oh, the tension between the women was palpable, and Jigano was glad that the tasks would not bring them together, at least at first. Hopefully the job at hand could help to keep them focused on something other than whatever feud lay between them – he knew bits and pieces of Melita’s tale, but had no names to with it – and he and Caiside could help to diffuse things so that nothing exploded in the construction of what should be a holy place. He smiled at the elk’s greeting, waving to acknowledge it before he considered the best allotment of tasks for each person’s skills.
Melita was an experienced hand at mixing mortar. She might have been somewhat messy about it, but she had a deft hand at knowing how much of the powders to add to the melted snow as the fire brought it up to temperature and she mixed her thick, sludgy brew like an enchantress at her cauldron. Fangorn would find himself toasting nicely by the flames, though as the snow melted and the mortar began to thicken Melita would find the supply of wood dwindling and the mixture hard to maintain at the right consistency unless she could find more fuel for the fire.
Kiada and
Jigano finished his digging and wiped his brow as the frozen earth finally succumbed to the blade of his shovel. The post he had chosen came from a naturally fresh-fallen log in Ludo’s Woods, a sturdy piece of timber thicker around than his thigh and smoothed with Rory’s woodworking tools before the bard had done his best to carve masks and lanterns into it. It had been a labor of devotion, and he lifted the post – nearly as tall as he was - and tipped it into place with red-faced exertion and the flex of muscles he had gained from helping Rory on the farm.
Watch out, Melita, without more fuel the fire will burn out!
Think fast, Kiada and
**This PQ will move on in 48 hours or when everyone has posted
RE: Don't Fear the Reaper - Melita - 10-09-2019
For a while, the youth was fairly content, hastening her actions, happy to have some amount of purpose other than some feral bloodshed and blighted abyss. She watched the mortar whipped up, splashing and spilling down the sides, a little hum under her breath, Fangorn pressed into her knees, no Kiada nearby. Before long though, the fire had died down; leaving thicker, less malleable sludge, and a sudden shiver running down her spine, despite her furs, despite her clothing. [say]“All right, looks like we need more wood,”[/say] she uttered to the little gourd, no less spirited or frustrated, no exasperation peeling from her voice, rising, eyeing the flames growing smaller and smaller, the embers seething and requiring more kindling, more brush, more things to consume.
Hopefully there’d be something nearby the bone bridge.
They wandered, hastening to pick up a few sticks wayward and haphazardly strewn about on paths and off beaten trails, digging for some smaller logs out of the snow, ignoring the chill sliding down her fingers. Her companion did his best too, grabbing hold of some spare dried nettles and thorns with his massive mouth, and dragging them back to their sanction. For his efforts, he received more than enough pats and scratches along his stem. The youth did her best to avoid the Harpy entirely, concentrating on her task at hand.
When they returned, she settled before the fire, feeding it all the newfound items and lumber, hoping it was effective and she could continue with her prior endeavors.
RE: Don't Fear the Reaper - Caiside - 10-10-2019
The task he shared with Kiada passed in comfortable quiet, Caiside staying shifted and silent, not sure if his thoughts would pass to the other attuned, and unwilling to go through the hassle of being hitched to the sled again. He notices, peripherally, that there is something going on between Melita and Kiada, but it is not his business, not really. He just hopes Jigano has some kind of plan to handle it, if they have to work more closely for the rest of construction.
He isn’t given much time to dwell on the idea though, not when it comes to mind so close to the end of their haul. Just when something goes wrong. He feels more than hears the snap, the sudden uneven weight distribution and the lightening of the sled. Ears swivel back faster than his head does, but Caiside doesn’t need to look to turn. He tries to change the direction of the sled, to prevent any more loss, while at the same time trying to pulls the sled to a less treacherous path. There is little he can do about what’s already fallen, unless Kiada has a solution.
RE: Don't Fear the Reaper - Kiada - 10-12-2019
Well things were going fine, Caiside and her making a fairly good team. At least.. Until the last few moments when they reach their last turn back and the sled begins to shift, the rocks beginning to spill. Caiside does his part in keeping some of the rocks from leaving, and she’s grateful for that small mercy – but now? Now she can see them drifting down toward a chasm where they’d likely be unable to get them back out.
Cursing under her breath, she shifts to her vulture form, swooping down in the hopes of using her large wings to add snow and fallen branches to the gap to try and prevent as many rocks from disappearing from them as she can. If it doesn’t work, it’ll take a bit longer to get everything they’ve missed.
RE: Don't Fear the Reaper - Jigano - 10-12-2019
Melita was able to find wood. Not in abundance, not without going closer to the ruins to scavenge old roofs and doors and furniture, but with Fangorn's help, the little gourd low to the ground and with a fine appreciation for things that could burn like the fire inside him, the pair were able to find enough wood to keep the fire fed and the mortar from freezing solid in the bucket.
Kiada was not so lucky in her attempts to salvage the lost blocks. Snow and twigs small enough to be moved by wings clattered in a haphazard fashion towards the tumbling stones, slowing them slightly but the heavier bricks had too much momentum and weight to be stopped by wood and frozen water. They fell into the darkness of the revealed basement, crashing into more wood below, their landings oddly muffled. Though she couldn't stop their descent, Kiada's bird's-eye view from above might catch sight of a nearby depression that, if one squinted, might almost look like a rootcellar door that might lead to some stairs...**
**(spoiler alert: there are definitely stairs, if Kiada wants to try and retrieve the lost blocks from the basement)
Jigano packed cold earth around the carved heartwood of the shrine and then stood to look at the pile of raw materials that Caiside and Kiada had already delivered before turning to Melita with a smile. "We can start building the base now, I think. Would you like to place the stones, or apply the mortar to hold them together? Lightly should be good enough. The weight of the stone should help hold it in place, and we don't want to cover up the 'bones' of the bridgerock."
The sled might function to get the stones back or not, if it isn't adjusted in some way. Who knows what the dice will decide?
There's a way down into the basement to retrieve the lost stones... or would it be easier to scavenge new ones?
Building in stone or securing with mortar, what sounds like more fun to Melita?
PQ will continue in 48 hours or less! (LongNight's coming, so let's try to get it wrapped up soon!)
RE: Don't Fear the Reaper - Melita - 10-12-2019
Thankfully they managed to garner enough supplies for the fire, and it blissfully sang and crackled beside them once more. Thereafter, once the rest of the mortar was completed, she wiped off her brow, and her glance turned towards Jigano. Caiside and Kiada had delivered some portion of their supplies, and she’d carefully maintained a neutral stance when the Harpy came near, thereafter, her attention was completely focused on the next task at hand.
The honeybee girl considered, tilting her head, not wanting to relinquish her mortar. [say]“I can apply it!”[/say] She also heard his careful emphasis on lightly; as if she would be one to pour all of her efforts into one or two gunky mortar lines (which…she could understand, based on previous experiences where impulse had far more control than actual thought), half-smiled, and when he’d begun to lay down the stones, she swiped a fair, light accord of the mortar along each, just as directed.