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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!
Should'a seen what I wore I had a cane and a party hat
Tutting and shaking his head, as if the people of Torchline are heathens who don't appreciate art (and as if those who lived in the Silk Houses wouldn't do exactly the same thing), Mateo is about to spend some considerable time lamenting the unfinished quality of the work he and his group are about to produce, when Flora goes and mentions the Rainbow Road. With his blue eyes lighting up and a smile on his face showing off both dimples, it's his turn to kiss his sister's cheek before drawing away with a flourish.
"You are a wise and beautiful queen," he informs her, swanning off with a few of the Torchers who know the area best, as well as a couple of baskets for them to fill with colourful stones and other shiny or interesting finds that might accessorise the fountains.
I was the king of this hologram where there's no such thing as getting out of hand
The majority of the crowd is impressed at Ronin 's ability to handle two of the wagons himself, with a few calling out lewd comments in stage whispers wondering what else they might lend him a hand with with. Honestly, it's a tough life being an unfairly charming and roguishly handsome Knight, but if anyone is up to the task, it's Ronin. As Flora does not have any horses, she dips her head in easy agreement before turning and eyeing the crowd. "You look strong." She purrs, her words directed at a pair of men who might have been brothers. Flora eyes the younger one, or perhaps the one who simply wasn't as muscled, in the hopes that jealousy would take over. It does, and quickly the men are arguing over who gets to pull the remaining cart.
"Alright, this way! Once we get to the first spot, we'll start with the big foundational blocks first." Flora calls before hopping into one of the wagons that Ronin is pulling.
Mateo will find the walk up the beach largely uninteresting in terms of void flora or fauna coming to bother him, but it's probably not the easiest thing to convince a group of creative types to hustle. How he chooses to motivate them (or not), is entirely up to him. Flora had said all of this would take a few days, after all.
Ronin/Flora -- Get the carts to the first fountain and unload!
Mateo - Get to the rainbow road quickly..or, don't.
What a shame, didn't want to be the one that got away
It is a tough job, being the way Ronin is, but someone has to do it, right? Grinning at Flora as she succeeds in convincing two of the other gathered Torchers to get to work, the Knight pauses for long enough to let her hop into one of his wagons before he's marching his way across the beach and towards the first stop.
"This was a good idea to put in just before Longheat," he tells her with a smile over his shoulder. "People will probably appreciate the extra water, and it's easier to do now than it would be in the heat." Whilst it's true that the afternoons can already be pretty tropical in Torchline, it's nothing to the heatwave on the horizon.
Pausing for a break when he notices a few of their group starting to struggle, it's not the fastest walk to their destination, but Ronin would prefer to take his time and do it properly. (Of course). Once they do arrive, the Knight starts on unloading the largest stones to arrange them in a foundation for the new fountain.
Should'a seen what I wore I had a cane and a party hat
It is difficult to convince creative types to hurry themselves anywhere, and even more difficult when you are also very easily distracted. Thus Mateo and his little group meander their way to the Rainbow Road in the true sense of the word. He stops to collect some shells and seaglass and to point out a few rare strains of moss on the rocks. Then someone wants to do a quick sketch of the tide coming in, and another person has started to write a ballad about it.
Only halfway through posing for a life drawing does Mateo remember what they're meant to be here for, and he rallies his group with the promise of drink and whatever stash of drugs he's brought along with him. Not until the end of the day though, of course. Even the botanist knows better than that (for now).
Mateo hustles eventually!
I was the king of this hologram where there's no such thing as getting out of hand
"I'm not sure if you know this, but I'm very smart." Flora trills as she smirks at the back of Ronin's neck, her aqua eyes wide with mischief and laughter. "But in all seriousness, it's one of those things I think we all take for granted, especially being surrounded by so much water, you know?"
Though she was Torchline's queen, Flora was more than happy to let its Knight set the pace of things, and as she too noticed some stragglers, she patted the seats next to her. "He can manage, don't you worry." She said, of Ronin having to endure the extra weight.
Unloading goes fairly easy for Ronin and Flora, especially given everyone is happy to let the Knight doi most of the heavy lifting. It means things go slower, though, but there's plenty of laughter and smiles. "Okay, the Ronins can start setting up the frame if one of you—" She gestures to a few torchers who had earth and water magic. "—can start to dig a hole down to the water table?"
As for Mateo ? Some stones are gathered, but mostly the group is far too unfocused and while they all agree that adorning the fountains with rainbow stones to give it life, none are all that interested in having to carry said stones all the way back.
What a shame, didn't want to be the one that got away
He can manage, especially when Flora assures everyone that he can, and thus Ronin would have pulled the cart full of stone and people all the way across Torchline, suffering, if it meant that he continued to be helpful to them. Luckily it isn't nearly that far for them to go, and soon enough he and his other self are getting to work.
Once the foundations are laid, it's actually easier for him to keep working solo(??), and so as Flora gives her orders, the Knight is more than happy to comply. Whilst he works on the finer details of the frame, in fact, his projection is able to step away for a moment to ensure everyone has water and hasn't overheated with the trek and hard work.
"We definitely take it for granted," he agrees with the Doubletake as he goes. "And you're right, you are very smart. Must have got that from your mother."
Should'a seen what I wore I had a cane and a party hat
Man, and Mateo can absolutely agree with that sort of reluctance. Now that they are up on the Rainbow Road, it's true that the stones are beautiful and there are plenty of baskets to fill. And his hyperfixation locks on that, luckily enough, to the point where, eventually, he thinks he might have a decent number of decorations for the fountains (including the shells and sea glass, of course). Still, now that he's stood among all their gathered treasures, gods but the way back to the beach seems long.
Groaning and squinting out towards the tiny figures he presumes are his sister and father, it's with a sudden strike of laziness genius that Mateo considers, decides, and implements his idea.
"Dad?" he calls - not to Ronin, no - the other one. "Can you help me take this to where Flora is please?"
However Remi decides to do that, exactly, is his call.
Mateo pulls a Mateo, and Channels Remi for help moving the decorative stones down to the first fountain.
Accepted Channeling: Allows an Accepted to channel a herald/demigod/spirit during a time of crisis (2x a season). Can be combined with other accepted channeling to increase power.
Type: Light | Rank: Upgraded
I was the king of this hologram where there's no such thing as getting out of hand
As he's channelled, the Bastion appears dusted softly with flour and powdered sugar, wearing an apron with an octopus on it (and thankfully not only that), and with one hand inside of an oven mitt. Immediately his brows knit together as he glances around, taking in the Rainbow Road and expecting to see some sort of violet monster lurking on its shores. Instead he sees his son gesturing to a number of baskets accompanied by various Torchers who seem anything but in fear for their life.
"Tu... vuoi che io... cosa?" Blinking, it takes the Bastion a moment to realize that Mateo is probably still in the midst of helping his sister and Ronin with Flora's fountain project and while he absolutely approves of his son's ingenuity, all Remi can think of in that moment are the muffins he was just about to pull out from the oven. "Alora, Mateo." He says with a resigned sigh as he reaches for the gathered baskets, offers the botanist an affectionate grin, and teleports to Flora.
"Sorry, can't stay long—muffins!" Remi says as he appears, setting down Mateo's baskets before turning and shifting midstep to fly swiftly back to the Northaven (which hopefully isn't on fire).
There's a rhyme and reason to the wild outdoors
When the heart of this star-crossed voyager beats in time with yours
Code stolen from Queen Sky
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Raising a brow at that comment, Ronin almost never came close to mentioning Hotaru unless it was in hushed tones from another room, Flora can only grin slyly. "And my looks too." She nearly adds makes you wonder why Remi had to be involved at all, before deciding against it. No need to ruin a perfectly nice afternoon, especially when Ronin was already doing the majority of the work anyway.
As Remi appears, covered in white powder and with baskets of stones and sea glass, the queen glances down the beach expecting to see her brother trudging along the sands. Surely if Mateo was in trouble the Bastion would be doing more than talking about muffins (????), and so as he turned and flew away, it was all the queen could do to contain her laughter. "And you married that. Twice, even." She trills despite finding herself all the more jealous of genuine romances these days.
"Well, until Mateo gets here there's no point in starting on the top bits. Why don't you take one of the carts and go down the beach and start a second one and I'll wait for Mateo here?"
Ronin - go down the beach a ways and do the foundations for another fountain!
Mateo - get to Flora and start working on the decorative bits for fountain 1 !
What a shame, didn't want to be the one that got away
"And your looks too," Ronin agrees with a smirk, nodding to Flora. In the next moment, though, who appears but his husband, looking adorable and dishevelled and covered in flour. Raising a hand in a wave - both Ronins do - the Bastion cuts him off before he can properly say hello, and he laughs and nods his understanding. "Good luck!" he calls as he takes off again, watching with a hand shielding his eyes until the shape of Remi has vanished along the coast.
"Three times if I get the chance," he agrees with a stupid smile to the Doubletake, lowering his hand and nodding at her suggestion. "Leave it to me," he says, though the me involved is of course his projection, who has grabbed up one of the carts to pull it away to the next location. The OG Knight, of course, remains with the group so he can continue to work on the upper parts of the fountain once they are appropriately decorated.
Should'a seen what I wore I had a cane and a party hat
"Si," Mateo says brightly, because he doesn't think his question bears any repitition, and he offers Remi a grateful grin that shows his dimples as he collects up the baskets. "Grazie, papa. Ciao!" he calls, waving after him as he disappears, before turning to his gathered group of creatives and gesturing down the beach.
"No need to rush, but there will be plenty of decorating to be done when we get there," he chimes to them. For the botanist's part, as they head from the Rainbow Road back to the spot for fountain 1, he's keeping an eye out for any pretty specimens he might add to the structure when they are done; flowers, colourful sea grasses, that sort of thing.
I was the king of this hologram where there's no such thing as getting out of hand
"Ughhhh." Flora groans as if that had been one of the worst things she'd ever heard. In reality, her Dads' love filled her with the most bittersweet jealousy that had the queen wanting to run back home to bed where she could drown away the sensation with a glass of wine and the cloud-like comfort of her blankets and pillows.
Helping to organize the remaining cart and Torchers, Flora began to sort the various stones into different colour groups to hopefully make things easier for her brother once he made his way down the coast.
"Good thing that's all you caught him in the middle of." Flora calls out to Mateo with a laugh, gesturing to the rocks Remi had delivered. "He left saying something about muffins?" Shrugging, she takes a step back and glances between the pair. "Alright, what do you want for this first one?"
Ronin's projection will admittedly find things slower going without OG Ronin there to help, so one more round to build the foundations!
Team Taliesin will take their orders this round from Mateo!
What a shame, didn't want to be the one that got away
Slower going is no trouble for Ronin or his projection - it's still faster, presumably, than waiting for the entire group to move onto the next fountain, and so he works quietly and diligently to get things set up for their arrival. And after spending a few quiet moments in contemplation (he's in two places at once, after all), the OG Knight turns his attention back to the baskets of colourful stones and the approaching figures down the beach.
"He's given up on knitting," he says of Remi, once his two children are within earshot. "Baking is the new hobby. You probably channelled him just as he was getting something out of the oven." And he'll see later, he supposes, whether or not the houseboat has survived his absence. In the meantime, having been helping to sort the stones with Flora, he awaits direction from Mateo on the decoration.
Should'a seen what I wore I had a cane and a party hat
Waving in a wide arc to his father and sister as he arrives, at last, with his team of creatives, Mateo smooches Flora on the cheek in thanks for her pre-sorting their decorations into more than appropriate groupings. "Perfetto," he purrs to her, before observing the foundations so far and the work that has been done by the Abandoned to dig deep towards the water table. "For this one I think we should celebrate the Mer," he announces.
Gesturing to baskets of green and blue and gold coloured stones, he suggests to a couple of the artists-turned-friends that they incorporate swimming fish and a Mer pouring water from a vase, or some other such tranquil image. They have to warm up to the more lewd stuff, right? (And, y'know, maybe the Mer will be a she and she'll have her tits out).
I was the king of this hologram where there's no such thing as getting out of hand
