[PQ] [RQ] vinum opus dei

I’d be the immediate forgiveness in Eurydice; Imagine being loved by me.

With the unicorns finally settled from King's End and comfortably stabled just outside the Temple, Fox has begun preparations for the next step: actually building the fountain. He'd engaged with a few stonemasons from the Inner Quarter who are more than comfortable working with materials from The Climb, having arranged for a delivery of granite and obsidian, and they are just arriving as Fox enters the Temple himself.

Greeting them quietly and advising where they can set the materials down for the time being, the hunter has also brought with him an entourage of refreshments from the nearby marketplace. The day is thick with low-hanging mist and spitting rain (it isn't screaming just yet, but he isn't holding his breath that it will stay that way), so he feels as though some hot tea and coffee and an abundance of still-warm pastries from one of the Inner Quarter's bakeries will be a welcome addition.

Cradling his own cup of coffee between his hands, when Soren and Charlie have arrived, he'll offer them a polite enough smile and nod around at the main floor with its towering pillars and ample space. "Morning," he says. "I thought this would be the best place to build the fountain, given that you can get to it as soon as you walk inside. It isn't far from the infirmary either. What do you both think?"

---

Welcome to the PQ! This is for the following RQ requirement:

A PQ building the fountain in its designated location.

1. Fox
2. Soren
3. Charlie

Round 1 - Please post your characters arriving, grab some refreshments if you want them, and let's decide where in the Temple the healing fountain should be located!

Fox Sinclair

there's this tune I found that makes me think of you somehow

Mist clung to the Temple’s high arches like breath against glass, and Soren paused just inside the threshold with rain still beading along the shoulders of his coat. The place smelled faintly of stone dust and damp granite, the newly delivered obsidian catching what little gray light filtered through the open doors.

His gaze moved over it all with a slow, measuring sweep as he dragged a hand through rain-darkened hair, expression tightening with the particular irritation of someone who knew he had been maneuvered into a task. For the sake of their new home. For the community. Her words still rang annoyingly clear in his head. Oh, Aithne.

Soren’s eyes flicked to Fox, then to the coffee and pastries, as if weighing whether the food compensated for the inconvenience. He decided at least the coffee was, and had taken a boiling hot mug and finished half of it before the monster hunter started talking.

Still, he stepped further inside, boots echoing across the stone floor. “Convenient enough.”  he said between drinks of the dark coffee, voice edged and dry. His mouth tipped slightly, something between a smirk and resignation. “I suppose if we’re determined to make a spectacle of charity, this is as good a stage as any.” But, that’s what they liked doing here.

---

Soren has only magic and shifts. He says “sure here’s fine”

Soren

and I play it on repeat

charlie

There’s something delightfully theatrical about the way Charlie appears from the shadows of the Temple’s interior, with one hand resting comfortably over the proud curve of her very pregnant belly while the other trails lazily along a pillar as she sashays forward, her tail swaying behind her.

Her smile arrives first, bright and dazzling, the kind that shows entirely too many teeth to be called innocent. Dark lashes flutter in Fox’s direction with affectionate exaggeration, and she tips her head just enough to let that playful glint sparkle in her eyes. "Well, well," Charlie coos warmly, voice lilting with mischief as she gives him a conspiratorial wink. "Haven't seen much of you since your wedding."

She drifts a little closer, fingers absently smoothing over the swell of her stomach like she’s proud of the accessory, which—given the circumstances—she absolutely is. Only then does her attention slide sideways toward Soren, curiosity lighting her expression with bright interest as she takes him in with the open appraisal of someone who has never believed in subtlety. "You're Aithne's brother, aren't you?" Her acolyte had spoken volumes of her twin such that Charlie had no difficulty in picking out the grumpy boy. "Why shouldn’t we make a spectacle of it?" She beams, before her nose wrinkles, expression shifting into thoughtful consideration as she glances around the Temple’s broad stone floor and towering pillars before looking back to Fox again.

"But—" she says lightly, tilting her head, "are you sure it should go inside?" Her gaze flicks toward the obsidian and granite, then up toward the high arches above. "Aren’t fountains more of an outdoor feature?"

---

Charlie thinks it should go outside!

I did a double take, triple take
Take me to naked Twister back at your place

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I’d be the immediate forgiveness in Eurydice; Imagine being loved by me.

"Well aren't you a charmer?" Fox smiles dryly towards Soren, finishing his coffee and glancing back as Charlie appears, eyes immediately widening as they drop to her round and very obviously pregnant belly. "I could say the same," he says through a laugh. "Though it looks as though you have been quite a bit busier than I have. Congratulations."

Turning back to the matter at hand, Fox is just about to proceed under the impression of having the fountain inside the Temple when their resident priestess speaks up. "Well," the hunter says, "I did think that originally, but this is going to be filled with wine. I didn't know if it would get watered down outside, especially on a day like this." He winces out the window at the rain.

"Then again, it's magic healing wine, I guess. And this is your home Charlie, so I'll go with what you think is best. Do you have any ideas in mind for the design of it, while Soren and I set everything up?"

---

Round 2! Fox goes with Charlie's idea since she's the Temple's priestess, and so it's time to get the materials in place.

- Soren, Fox and the stonemasons to help move the granite and obsidian to the courtyard in front of the Temple.
- Charlie to look gorgeous and radiant and think about what design might be most pleasing to Dygra.

Fox Sinclair

there's this tune I found that makes me think of you somehow

His mouth twisted faintly towards Fox, the point of a fang glinting as his lips parted to say something, but instead Charlie’s voice drew his attention. Soren glanced her way over the rim of his mug. The look lasted a heartbeat too long before his gaze slid sharply aside, shoulders tightening almost imperceptibly. His jaw flexed. The roundness of her stomach was unavoidable. Deeply, profoundly uncomfortable. He drank again. Aithne had not told him of Charlie's recent development. His tail flicked behind him.

“No.” he said, tone blunt but not deeply unkind. “Not her brother. It’s deeper than that.” said. A small shrug followed, dismissive on the surface but failing to hide the truth beneath it. There was no amount of shared DNA that could compare to what he and Aithne shared together. Could not hold a candle to how they had left their lives and stood before their radiant and chaotic goddess and dedicated their lives to her. What they had was deeper than any bond of brother or sisterhood. Which was about as close as Soren would come to admitting that Aithne occupied a place no title quite fit, out loud, to anyone. He finished the coffee in a final swallow and set the mug down with a quiet clink. Lingering around conversations about family -- and hovering near an ancient priestess who looked like she might give birth at any moment -- felt like unnecessary torture.

Still slightly begrudging to his entire presence here, Soren still followed Fox to their task. Having no arguement between the two older ancients on where the fountain should go -- for he didn't really have that deep of an opinion on it -- he just prepared his mind for work. He reached into his pocket to grab his gloves, pulling them on. While he didn't need them for warmth yet, looking at what they were about to haul he would want them for grip. Granite blocks and dark slabs of obsidian waited where the masons had unloaded them. Soren flexed his fingers once before stepping toward the nearest piece of granite, crouching to grip the rough edge, waiting for someone else to take the other side before he lifted on their mark, clearly straining.

Soren

and I play it on repeat

charlie

Charlie’s brows lift in delighted approval at Fox ’s reaction, her fingers immediately beginning a soft, rhythmic drumming against the curve of her belly as though she can’t help but show it off. Pride sits on her like perfume—thick, sweet, impossible to ignore—as her smile turns slow and indulgent. "Thank you," she purrs, entirely too pleased, before tipping her chin toward Dygra’s shrine across the hall with a reverent sort of mischief that doesn’t quite behave like reverence at all. "Though really, you should be congratulating her." Her gaze glitters as she glances back, lashes lowering just a touch. "I’m just the very glamorous middleman. This one’s hers a demigod, if you can believe it."

Her hand smooths once more over her stomach, lingering there as though she’s admiring fine craftsmanship, before her attention shifts easily back to the matter at hand. Charlie glances toward the open entrance, rain threading silver lines through the grey beyond, and gives a light, dismissive shrug that rolls through her shoulders like the weather is hardly worth the effort. "It is magic wine," she repeats airily, lips curving with easy certainty. "I doubt a little rain is going to water down something blessed by Dygra."

Her gaze flicks toward Soren then, catching that tension and turning it into something playful without hesitation, her smile sharpening just enough to show she’s enjoying herself. "More than a brother, then," she hums, punctuating it with a bright, knowing wink before letting the moment go as easily as she picked it up.

And just like that, she’s moving, gliding rather than walking, drawn toward the courtyard with a purposeful sort of curiosity. Charlie settles beneath the Temple’s arched entrance where stone meets open air, rain misting just beyond the threshold while she remains perfectly framed by it, one hand resting at her hip, the other still curled protectively over her belly. Her gaze lifts, sweeps, lingers; not on the people, but on the space itself now, as though she’s already pulling something decadent and impossible out of it, something worthy of Dygra’s attention.

---

Charlie thinks the fountain should look like this!

I did a double take, triple take
Take me to naked Twister back at your place

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I’d be the immediate forgiveness in Eurydice; Imagine being loved by me.

"I see," Fox says with a faint raise of his brows, and though his nod towards the shrine is a little stiff (anyone who knows him will know he's tightly wound for an Ancient when it comes to their inherently chaotic nature), it's nevetheless respectful. "I look forward to meeting them when the time comes," he adds, before they are proceeding out into the courtyard with the granite and the obsidian.

While Charlie settles herself beneath the archway, Fox joins Soren in helping to heave the supplies into a position where the masons can work their magic. It's back breaking work that takes no small amount of time (and yes, one of the acolytes does come and offer Charlie a seat before too long), and Fox knows he'll be aching all over by tomorrow.

But their priestess does have a design in mind in the meantime, and its savage complexity is enough to steal the hunter's breath. "That's quite something," he says, vaguely awed by it. The masons are already cooing at Charlie's ambition, though, and with no shortage of disintegration magic, skill and a pinch of brute force, they think they can get it done.

"They need to build it before we can add the finishing touches," Fox says, still mildly bewildered but entirely on board. "Though there are a few things we don't have that we should probably source..."

---

Building is underway with Charlie's glorious design in mind!

- Charlie to source and order a few lengths of chain for the aesthetic finishing touches.
- One person to assist in holding and manoeuvring the blocks of stone while the masons work their magic on it.
- One person to help to move the finished stone pieces into position for the masons to fix them in place.

Fox Sinclair

charlie

Her gaze flicks to Fox, catching that note of awe, and she answers it with a slow, conspiratorial wink that says just wait. There’s no hesitation in her, no second-guessing, only a growing excitement that hums beneath her skin and spills into the way her tail curls tighter, then snaps loose again like it can’t keep up with her thoughts.

Charlie darts! from beneath the archway and out into the rain, the damp air catching in her curls as she disappears into the pulse of the city beyond. There’s no doubt she’ll get what she wants; there never is. Whether it’s charm, persuasion, or the kind of social currency that comes from being exactly who she is, doors open, hands lift, and people find themselves saying yes before they’ve quite realized they’ve agreed.

By the time she returns, she does so like a marshal leading a parade; radiant, flushed with success, and absolutely beaming. Behind her trail a small cluster of helpers burdened with lengths of chain, dark and heavy, their metal clinking together with a satisfying, ominous music. There are additional oddities too—things that look chosen not for practicality but for effect—coiled and carried with care as though they’re about to become something far more interesting than what they are now.

Her grin widens, sharp with anticipation as her gaze drifts toward the rising structure, already imagining how it will twist, drip, gleam; how it will live. "This is going to be so much fun!!"

I did a double take, triple take
Take me to naked Twister back at your place

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

there's this tune I found that makes me think of you somehow

Soren focused. He focused for both Aithne and for Dygra. That was it. But he couldn't say he wasn't interested in the fact that the priestess was carrying a demigod, not just another baby. It just wasn't the time to show his interest in that.

He shifted his grip on the granite, attention narrowing to the weight in his hands and the slick, rain-dark stone beneath his boots. The block dragged heavy at first, but once it was settled into place, Soren peeled off without a word, moving to the next with a pace that suggested he’d decided to simply get this over with. His gloves creaked faintly as he braced his hands against another slab, hauling it into position while one of the masons directed him with short, precise gestures. He adjusted without complaint (barely), nudging it an inch, then another, until the man gave a satisfied nod and set to work.

Soren stepped back just long enough to huff out a sigh before crouching again to help guide a second piece into place. He held the next block steady while the masons worked, fingers tightening against the rough edge as they carved and fused, adjusting only when told, silent and unyielding as the stone itself.

---

Soren did: "- One person to assist in holding and manoeuvring the blocks of stone while the masons work their magic on it."

Soren

and I play it on repeat

I’d be the immediate forgiveness in Eurydice; Imagine being loved by me.

Charlie disappears off into the rain, leaving Soren, Fox and the masons to assemble the fountain itself. And whether or not it's without complaint, Soren does a good job of holding the blocks of granite and obsidian in place; the masons are able to chip and warp and disintegrate them into truly absurd shapes befitting the priestess's wishes. By the time they're finished and the pieces are ready for assembly into a whole, they're wickedly sharp and honestly a hazard to work with - which would undoubtedly garner Dygra's approval.

That's where Fox comes in, and though he's donned a pair of gloves as well, he's damp with rain and has also given his share of blood to the fountain by the time he's helped to guide everything into place. It's starting to look similar to Charlie's vision, but only she will be able to tell for certain if its acceptable as she arrives back at the square.

"Alright," Fox pants, fisting a hand into his lower back as if to work out a knot there. "It's already getting dark, but I think if we keep this up we'll have her finished before it gets too late. I think we can work on some finishing touches."

---

Round 4! Let's bring it all together!

1. One person to use fire magic to help fuse the links of chain into a permanent shape, attaching them to the fountain as per Charlie's design.
2. One person to assist the masons in ensuring the fountain is structurally sound, inspecting it for areas in need of further support or intervention.
3. One person (Charlie lol) to adorn the fountain with oddities for decoration!

Fox Sinclair

there's this tune I found that makes me think of you somehow

Soren barely glanced up when Fox spoke, breathing heavy from the work, a sheen of rain and effort clinging to him. His eyes dragged over the half-formed structure instead and he admired its sharp edges, warped obsidian, and granite forced into unnatural precision. His eyebrow twitched. “Looks like something that’ll bite back.” he muttered, the observation lifting the corner of his mouth and revealing a fang. He was amused with the priestesses design, and he knew Aithne would just squeal when she saw it.

He stepped closer without waiting, boots scraping lightly against stone as he circled part of the structure. One gloved hand pressed briefly against a joined seam, testing it. It didn’t shift, but that didn’t mean it was right. A mason over his shoulder told him just that. His gaze narrowed, tracking the weight distribution, the way certain pieces leaned into others.

Hold that, he was told by one of the masons, already bracing a jutting section of obsidian that sat just slightly off. He adjusted it a fraction—subtle, but enough that the tension eased beneath his hand. Secured. Soren moved again, crouching to inspect the base where granite met the ground. His fingers tapped once, twice, listening more than looking, before he shoved his shoulder lightly into one side. 

---

Soren does: " 2. One person to assist the masons in ensuring the fountain is structurally sound, inspecting it for areas in need of further support or intervention."

Soren

and I play it on repeat

charlie

Charlie doesn’t interrupt the work while things are still being fastened and moulded in place. For once, she lets the chaos build before she adds to it, watching from beneath the archway with a slow, satisfied smile as stone becomes something sharper, stranger, more alive under their hands. Her fingers rest lightly over the curve of her belly, thumb tracing idle patterns as her gaze follows each warped edge, each jagged jut of obsidian, each place where the structure looks less like something made and more like something grown wrong on purpose. By the time Fox straightens and the masons ease back, she’s already decided it’s perfect in all the ways that matter.

When it's her turn, Charlie vanishes from the ground and reappears mid-air beside the towering structure in a flicker of motion that feels more like a spark catching than a step taken. Heat blooms faintly around her as she considers, her tail curling in a slow, delighted loop behind her while a wreath of soft, flickering flame gathers at her shoulders like a halo that’s decided to misbehave.

She works like she was born to this; darting from one impossible angle to another, appearing and reappearing along the structure in quick, precise bursts of movement, each reposition accompanied by a flicker of heat and light that lingers just long enough to leave the impression of something alive dancing around the stone. Chains drape and twist where she wants them, not neatly but intentionally wrong, pulled taut in places and left slack in others as though they’ve slipped their purpose and decided to cling out of spite.

The oddities follow with each piece chosen not for symmetry but for sensation. Something that catches, something that glints, something that suggests movement even when still. She places them with a careful kind of indulgence, stepping back mid-air to admire before darting in again to adjust, refine, exaggerate. Rain hisses faintly where it meets the warmth gathered around her, but she doesn’t seem to notice, too absorbed in the act of turning the fountain into something that feels less like an object and more like an offering.

"Tell me if it looks too restrained," Charlie calls down brightly, grin audible in every word as she flickers into place along the upper curve, one hand braced against the stone while the other secures another length of chain with a decisive, satisfied tug. "I’d hate for it to come across as subtle."

I did a double take, triple take
Take me to naked Twister back at your place

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I’d be the immediate forgiveness in Eurydice; Imagine being loved by me.

"Sure does," Fox agrees with Soren, rolling his shoulders and watching as the other Ancient gets to work with his inspection. He and the masons move slowly but precisely - no matter how chaotic the final fountain may look, it still requires a little logic at its core to stop it all toppling down around them. Wherever they locate instability in the obsidian or unrefined sections of granite, they meld and chip and secure it until things seem solid and yet in defiance of the laws of physics.

That's when Fox steps in with the heavy length of chain, using a nearby sconce to manipulate the fire around his hands to something white-hot. It's slow work, fusing the chain links in place and arranging it around the fountain, and he'll be chilly and aching when it's finished, but even he has to admit when he steps back that it looks mighty impressive.

And it's not even finished yet - Charlie pops in and out of view like something fae and wicked, adding glints and loops and light to their creation as if decorating some absurd Christmas tree. When she calls out, Fox's eyes (and the masons') are wide at the sight of it, and he lets out a soft laugh. "I don't think we need to worry about subtle!" he calls. "It'll catch the eye of anyone walking through the Inner Quarter."

With that they're blessedly done, and not a moment too soon - the steady downpour is starting to drum into something cold and fierce, and the sun has long since set. "Thanks for all your help," he tells them, the masons starting to pack up, some calling their thanks and farewells, others heading into the Temple for blessings by their priestess and her acolytes. "Hopefully it looks just as good with wine flowing from it."

Just as good or sinister as fuck, but Fox doesn't voice that part.

---

AND THAT'S A WRAP! Thanks all! <3

~FIN

Fox Sinclair