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Character of the Season
Frail in body but dangerously quick of mind, Nikandr is the sort of character who proves that curiosity can be just as perilous as any weapon. A necromancer, inventor, and problem-solver with more ambition than self-preservation, Niki approaches the world like a puzzle box begging to be opened, even when what’s inside has teeth. Blunt, dry-witted, fiercely independent, and carrying a history best left partially buried, he has a knack for making even failure feel fascinating. Whether he’s raising the dead, moving across Caido to King's End, or experiencing a hangover for the first time, Nikandr brings a wonderfully strange spark to Caido, and we can’t wait to see what trouble his brilliant mind wanders into next.
Congratulations, Niki!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
OG Skinning provided by Kaons, with functionality and many custom plugins made by Neowulf!
It'd been a lengthy amount of time since any of them had inspected the trenches; truthfully, Deimos had been bound to so many projects, both war-torn and personal, that those perimeters’ sanctions were an overlooked commodity. Not for this afternoon though – with the sun lazily strolling along the horizon, they’d be able to make quick work of scrutinizing, investigating, and monitoring the situation, making any necessary repairs along the way.
Once everyone had joined, the Sword bowed his head in gratitude, extending the acknowledgments to each. “Thank you for being willing to help today,” before he shifted and turned his head, glancing along the Citadel gates they stood within. “I figured we can travel together and inspect each section of the trench, and fix as we travel.” Starting here, amidst the front portions of barriers and openings, where apertures met steely resolve and determination.
--
This PQ will fulfill the RQ requirement of ensuring the previously dug trench around the perimeter of the Citadel is still in good shape, making any repairs as needed.
Please have your character arrive and start looking at the front gate portion of the trench. Feel free to add any flare, items, magic used, etc. – things will also be determined by dice roll. ;D No post order!
a silent film he'd watched a thousand times before
It seemed these days that Marcus was truly leaning into his deep, Halovian Olson lines. Ready and willing—if not the first to offer—to help. This was no different. Having gathered and stored celestial-touched mushrooms that he hoped would honor the goddess, the young hybrid was ready to step into his next role in this quest.
Meeting Deimos and the others at the appointed time and place, he came with several things that may help, including a few tools, in a sled (despite knowing Deimos would surely supply them with all they needed). He set the rope of the sled down near where he stood and listened to the Warden give their first instructions.
Taking in resolve, pulling himself up to the tasks ahead, Marcus began inspecting. Shifting to wing and feather, the hybrid rose into the sky and began his survey of the trench.
Marcus arrives with a sled of supplies, and shifts into his eagle shift to start his first round of inspection.
I was in my tower weaving nightmares Twisting all my smiles into snarls
Nina arrived without fanfare at the appointed time, tattooed chin held high as she embraced the Longheat sun. Her attire was simple, though even for such strenuous physical labor, she remained adorned with a few key pieces of jewelry: a nose piercing of bone that protruded straight past her nostrils; large earrings made of tiny beads in a tribal pattern of orange, yellow, and teal; a ring on her right middle finger that she never took off. Her hair was tied back in a straight, simple braid, and Ember trailed behind her as always.
Their presence was, perhaps, a surprise, given that she had rarely been seen helping in this way before. She’d been so focused on learning how to be the Keeper of the First Flame in her youth that she’d neglected her community, and she was beginning to see now that that might have been a mistake. People would not trust her to bless their hunts, much less anything else, if they did not know her.
So here she was. Helping.
She nodded regally to Deimos, then watched as Marcus shifted to soar high above. For her part, she turned back to the Warden. ”Is there anything in particular we are looking for?” she wanted to know. ”Or are we just searching for anything out of the ordinary?”
They say what doesn't kill you makes you aware What happens if it becomes who you are?
If I could just lay my head down and rest If there was nothing to fight or protect
Steam billows around as Iskra blows impatiently on the warm cup of coffee he'd snagged on his way here. Through the ribbons of heat, he peers down at the start of the trench, brows taking a wary climb up while his gaze descends. He crouches down to better see, which is of course open invitation for Goose to drive his snout beneath the arm holding coffee. Letting out a startled hiss, Iskra lifts that hand up and away at the first splash, his free hand rubbing across the husky's chest as Goose leans into his legs unhelpfully.
"You think there will be erosion issues from wind and melt?" Iskra wonders, sight line tracing the curve if the past work with suspicion that it won't all be holding up to time and weather. At least is the best season to see it. "Guessing some animal movement and plant growth could have disturbed the rims too." Hopefully they'd not discover some burrow of a creature that made it their home, or the half-decomposed corpse of one that fell in and could not escape. Giving the dog a solid pat, Iskra rises back to full height, sipping thoughtfully on his warm beverage. "At least the snow pack should have also helped, left it stabilized in most regions, I'd wager." He's no geologist though.
Maybe then I could finally be free Maybe death is like falling asleep
Before walking to his own section, Nina’s inquiry was a good one – Deimos too often took for granted the nature of Halovians and presuming they already understood, though Iskra was quick to fill in the blanks. He nodded along in accord and agreement with the woodcutter, supplying his sagacity into the forefront as well. “Typically the weather can alter things – between erosion, frost, thaw, animals, and snow, there is potential for damage. We want it sturdy and solid. You will be able to notice stark differences. If you are not certain, we can help you look too.”
And with that, they could each branch off to a section amidst the gate area. Marcus went high, but from this current distance, he wouldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. If he flew in closer, hovering along, he might’ve been able to uncover something glowing closest to the barrier, a gentle glint of metal embedded into the deeper particles of solidified dirt.
Nina would be able to see crumbling portions close to the wall as well; likely from the variety of hits it had taken in years past with void battles or the weather itself. It could be easily rectified with a little precision with a shovel or a bit more dirt from the sled and supplies the Sword had provided.
Maneuvering along, Iskra ‘s keen sight, and Goose’s nose, would eventually wind over to a usual culprit and suspect – a ningo, deciding to nest and roost into a deeper plunge of the trench. It stared stupidly back at them, dim, daft, and dumb, then settled further into the abyss, pretending neither man nor canine would be able to see them.
Deimos wound around too, taking the farthest corner before the turn towards the western area, shaking his head when he noticed a cache of discarded weaponry, either having fallen off the wall or been left there. Eventually, he’d be able to convey a stern lecture to his soldiers, but for now, he crouched and began working them out of the ditch.
--
What will you do next? If anyone needs supplies, they are stationed nearby on a sled!
I was in my tower weaving nightmares Twisting all my smiles into snarls
Nina lingered long enough to hear the instructions given by Deimos and the man she didn’t recognize. ”I see. We will do our best.” And then she and Ember were off, wandering along the trench with eyes turned down to survey the geography. They went along for a ways without incident, but soon enough stumbled upon a section along the wall that had crumbled away. Nina regarded the spot with an inward sigh, but turned without complaint to retrieve a shovel from the nearby supplies.
First, she tried to return the soil and rocks that had crumbled away to their original spots; then she retrieved more dirt from the supplies provided and filled in where erosion or battle or some such thing had washed away the original walls. It was backbreaking work, but she stayed at it dutifully, and before long, stepped back to admire her efforts. It was a good thing it was Longheat, or this would have been much more difficult, the ground hard enough to break her shovel and her patience.
—-
Nina uses a shovel to fill in the crumbling portions of the trench.
They say what doesn't kill you makes you aware What happens if it becomes who you are?
If I could just lay my head down and rest If there was nothing to fight or protect
As they scatter from their original view of the gates and the section of trench there, Iskra leaves the explanations to Deimos and nods at his assigned area. "We're on it!" he affirms, we being of course, he and Goose. Turning to stalk down his length, peering over the edge every so often as he went, Iskra finished sipping at his coffee by the time they arrived to their area.
Goose immediately dashed in, barking and furious with a disproportionate outrage. Iskra knew that could only mean one thing, as there's little else that could angrily animate his best friend so. "Fucking ningos," he sighs, and Goose seems to echo the sentiments as he tries to chase the idiotic birds out. "Watch out!" Iskra calls down to the mongrel, and in an instant, flicks a ribbon of flame to life. He folds it in on the nest, burning away the built comforts of the birds to further chase them from this most inappropriate roosting site.
Goose chases the ningos out and Iskra burns their nest materials
Fire Manipulation (Abandoned/Hybrid): Can create and control flames. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered | Cost: Action
Maybe then I could finally be free Maybe death is like falling asleep
a silent film he'd watched a thousand times before
The wind caught him cleanly as he tipped into a tighter arc, wings adjusting with the easy precision of instinct rather than thought. He started too high, he figured out, as he drew his eyes across and across and found nothing out of sorts. So, he angled down, letting the cold bite at his feathers as he drew closer to the trenches. His eagle eyes sharpened, cutting through the muted whites and greys until the world resolved into layers: packed snow and churned earth and the trenches.
Something caught his attention and he slowed, hovering a moment in place, wings beating steady as his shadow slid across the ground below. At this distance the glint was unmistakable. Metal. the sun glinted off its surface and caught his attention.
He circled once more, committing the location to memory, then lifted higher with a sharp beat of his wings. Not finding, at that point, anything else that needed his attention first, he went back. Flaring his wings out behind him and thrusting his talons forward, Marcus landed in the snow. As he landed, he was aware of Iskra going for ningos and Nina starting on her portion of the work, but he narrowed his focus in on what he needed to do. He tried to grab at the metal with his talons and pull it out and away, aiding with his beak.
Eagle!Marcus goes to the metal and tries to pull it out.
Off they went to work – diligent and stalwart. Marcus, lowering himself into the trench to decipher the bits of metal, would find it would require an ample amount of strength to reach the edges. As he worked, he ended up tumbling back over himself, but in the end, managed to find a rusty dagger once laden into the earth. What he decided to do with it would be up to him, but thereafter, this portion of the ditch was safe and secure.
Nina would have to put forth quite a bit of effort to get the dirt to obey; Halovian loam tended to be of the hardened, rocky, icy variety despite the height of the season. Eventually though, she’d manage to cultivate the earth back to where it needed to be.
Iskra too, along with Goose, would find themselves successful in their venture. The ningo responded to the dog in kind, screeching out an alarm to brethren who either ignored or were reluctant to heed the call, hastening off towards the stone walls to glower at woodcutter and canine. The nest burnt to a crisp (as it was only a sad pile of sticks), leaving nothing remaining.
Deimos glanced up from his work, noticing the progress, and was content with how things had gone on his portions as well – earthen manipulations and incantations ensuring these parts were sturdy and certain once more, while taking care of the refuse left behind. “Good work. We can head to the eastern side now,” and he gestured with his jawline, waiting for the rest of them to catch up, bringing the items and tools to drag along the sled towards their next destination.
--
Marcus has fallen backwards within the trench but found a rusty dagger for his troubles. Neat! The rest have been successful too. Pick a part of the trench along the eastern wall (you will be working in pairs for this round).
Part A: Oddly soft walls (maybe from direct sunlight) – will need to be banked and taken care of again. Loose footing and could crumble underneath feet if not too careful.
Part B: Filled with odds and ends of past trebuchet work and random arrows, along with a huge pile of snow.
I was in my tower weaving nightmares Twisting all my smiles into snarls
The physical labor demanded by the task at hand was wholly unusual for the Keeper, but she struggled along all the same, forcing her shovel through the hardened earth through determination more so than strength. The ground slowly gave way before her ministrations, and though it took some time, she had eventually coaxed the dirt back into the shape it was meant to hold. Sweaty and tired, Nina crawled from the trench to return to the others, wiping a mud-streaked hand across her forehead as she went.
The eastern side of the trench had its own struggles, and Nina surveyed the area to find a section that needed to be banked and shored up beside a segment that seemed to be filled with various weaponry. Frowning, she considered for but a moment before beginning to gather up debris. "Is there a need to keep the remnants?" she asked Deimos as she began. "Or would burning them be more efficient?"
---
Nina chooses Part B, and suggests burning away the weaponry and snow.
They say what doesn't kill you makes you aware What happens if it becomes who you are?
If I could just lay my head down and rest If there was nothing to fight or protect
Goose happily raced after the flapping ningo until it perched upon the fence. Barking and leaping up where he could ought to keep the ningo there, and had it been slower, Goose would have happily eaten it. Iskra meanwhile cleared out their nests with his flame, watching the sticks and debris crumble to ash with satisfaction. Observing the rest of the trench for a moment to ensure everything else looked clear, he then hauled himself back out of it with a bit of effort, doing his best not to drumble any.
Everyone else also seemed to finish, and onward they went, Iskra popping down with Nina to observe the residual bits and bobs buried in the loam. "Nah, I say we burn this shit," Iskra advises, hands extending palm out towards the trenches grasp of snow and remnants. "You're Nina, right? The Keeper of the flame? Not sure we've properly met, but I've heard of you. I'm Iskra, a woodcutter here. And that's Goose." He offers her a soft smile, and the husky looks on from his place still above them on the main ground. "I assume you do fire magic, so we'll probably need both of us to make headway on the snow. The other bits should go up quick." Otherwise, shoveling the snow out might be faster, as he'd end up turning it to ice, but together it should go from ice to water soon enough. With that in mind, he ignites a stream of fire out before him, avoiding anyone else, and works to burn away the garbage and the snow.
Iskra picks option B and uses fire!
Maybe then I could finally be free Maybe death is like falling asleep
Marcus shook the snow from his feathers as he straightened, shifting back into himself with an exhale that fogged the air. The dagger lay heavy in his hand and he inspected it. It was rusted through, old enough that whatever intent had once guided it had long since leeched into the soil and ice and was lost to whispers of memory. He could probably clean it up nice and give it to Margot as a gift, or even Ravenna. He turned it once, twice, then walked over to the sled and stuck it in there to grab out later. He replaced it in his hands wth a shovel.
At the gesture toward the eastern wall, Marcus nodded and fell into step, hands already tugging his gloves tighter as they went. The others chose fire to deal with the leftover remnants of skirmishes forgotten, and Marcus felt a pull of green tighten across him at the display of their abilities. He wasn't there yet.
But, he went on to work with Deimos in the next section. As they approached the part of the trench the Warden led to, he could feel it through his boots when he stepped down, the earth yielding in a way that made his stomach tighten. "That’s not good,” he muttered, crouching to press his palm against the wall. It sloughed slightly under the pressure, grains of frozen earth sliding loose and threatening to give way entirely. He glanced toward his partner, then back to the trench. "I can try to pack it up with my shovel if you can reinforce it with magic?" He auggested, a brow lifting towards the Warden.
Only waiting long enough for Deimos to agree or to suggest a different course of action, Marcus swiftly got to work thereafter. He worked carefully, methodically, shoring up the softened sections with compacted snow and hauled earth.
Deimos glanced over his shoulder at Nina ’s question, echoing Iskra’s sentiments soon after. “Go ahead and burn them,” had the soldiers meant to keep them, then they should’ve tended to their litter. The Sword would make a point to check in with the Barracks soon after they were done. Iskra ’s fire would soon flare moments later, engulfing the snow and weapons, and layering it back into wet deposits throughout the trench. Of course, this meant the ditch had softened, and they would need to come up with a way to solidify the area once more.
The earth yielding to Marcus and the Warden was not favorable, and Deimos found himself wrinkling his nose as it threatened to buckle beneath him. “Sure,” he conjured in agreement, and while he pulsed his Earthen Magic back into the sod and loam, strengthening, reinforcing, especially directly under their feet, the other hybrid went to utilizing the shovel and shoring up the edges. Tilting his head, Deimos nudged at the components with his foot when they seemed fine and sturdy, encircling the ditch to ensure nothing else caved around them.
Alas, there would be a distraction soon after, for the ningo, hellbent on fury due to Iskra’s earlier actions, began to dive-bomb the the Sword and Olson.
--
Nina and Iskra need to solidify their area, while Marcus and Deimos can deal with the return of the ningo.
Pride surged through him as they worked. His shovel brought up and moored earth mixed with snow and ice, Deimos' magic solidifying it on the fly. He was always impressed watching the warden work with what seemed like an effortless control. Magic use to the older hybrid was like breathing was to Marcus, and he wanted that own control for his own.
At the sound of fluttering wings and idiotic squawks, Marcus jerked his head up, eyes narrowing. White wings cut across the pale sky in a chaotic spiral. He groaned as the ningos began to divebomb them, lifting his arm to guard his face from one of the more fattened birds from landing on him.
The shift rolled through him, his bones lightening, arms splitting to wings, the world sharpening into motion and heat and prey. Snow burst outward where he’d stood as the white-tailed eagle surged upward on a hard downbeat, catching the wind above the trench in a single powerful climb. He flew towards the gathered group of ningos, attempting to threaten them away once more but more than willing to bring their end and add them to the inventory of the sled for use at the butcher.
Marcus shifts into eagle form to either intimidate the ningos away ooooooor kill them.
