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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!
"That's a really good idea," Isla quips to the volunteer that had suggested breaking the rock down further to use it as gravel. "It makes sense for us to try and make the most of anything we find out here." And that way they're not disturbing the area more than they have to. (Not that one can really avoid some disturbance when building a whole town). Letting a couple of the volunteers go to grind the rock to gravelly pieces, she turns back to the remainder with a bright smile as the ground is flattened out and workable once more.
"Hopefully there won't be too many other setbacks like that one for this bit of work," she says, proceeding to plot out the area for the house now that the slab of stone isn't in the way, and proceeding onwards to the other areas they need to create; spaces for more houses, for some business, areas that need to remain clear for plazas or fountains or other beauty spots.
Isla continues plotting, and sends a couple of her volunteers to break up the rock into gravel!
sooner or later, we all have to wake and try forgetting everything
// i came from a broken home, so look at all my broken bones count me in, but count me out, i know what this is about //
Sunjata and his help maneuver the log off toward a hillside in the distance, one that’s certainly out of the way of any plotting (and who knows, maybe can remain as some kind of walking trail to ensure that the mouseshrooms don’t get bothered again?) when he finally sets it down in the little nook at the base of the hill.
Flashing a crooked but easy smile to Lena, the flood shakes his head. “No, not by our hands at least.” Nature was a whole different breed, though, and one that Sunjata can’t speak for. What he can say is that he won’t be moving it again. Which means that Lena should be able to place the mouseshrooms whom are happily nibbling on the treats into the log they had just left.
Isla, on the other hand, receives a grin from the volunteer with the idea for gravel, and he’s more than willing to go and break up the rocks into smaller pieces while the rest of them can finish flattening the ground and plotting another section out.
Then, as the sun rises higher in the sky and the heat grows, Sunjata suggests a quick break for water and snacks and shade, large draconic wings unfurling to spread and cast a large shadow for any that request it. “Now, I think we do some more plotting to spread it out a bit and start digging for the foundations?” And with Lena’s help, ensuring that whatever they did wouldn’t be too damaging to the wildlife around.
Snack/water break and then moving on to one to plot and others to start digging foundations!
No post order <333
the flood
// i'm the next, so get in line just let me have my fucking time //
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
That was all the answer Lena needed. Surely, things could happen and occur within nature, as they often did, that they had no control over. The most important thing to the Caretaker was that the mouseshrooms could be settled within their home – and whatever happened thereafter was a cycle and circle of life.
Nodding, she smiled, turning and heading back towards the log. Once arriving, she placed them down beside their recent, and newfound all over again, home, laden with the remains of the treats tucked inside. There you are. Safe and sound. She’d leave, giving them ample opportunity to resettle themselves, before heading back to the group.
Of which there were breaks involved, and though she didn’t feel as though she’d exerted herself much, she welcomed the opportunity. Snagging at some available water and snacks, she listened to the next set of plans. Glancing around and nodding at the assessment, she chimed in. “I can help with whatever you need.”
--
Lena puts the mouseshrooms back in the log.
(Beastmaster) can compel any sentient animals not marked with a ☆ for assistance (6 large, 12 medium, 20 small)
Can speak to rare creatures/companions/regular animals
Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +1 should be included)
Having stopped by to see the progress of the gravel-making en route to break time, Isla has just settled herself down with some water and a snack when she spots Lena, raising a hand to welcome her back into the fold. "It looks as though you have been busy!" She grins, and with blink hares and mouseshrooms safely relocated, it's a job very well done. Dusting her hands off and rising back to her feet, Isla peers out across what they've plotted so far.
"I don't mind digging some of the foundations if you'd like to take over the plots?" she suggests, pointing out where she and her group have stopped and gesturing further into the town where Lena could pick things up. "It's mostly houses, so the plots are about the same size," she explains. In the meantime, she can utilise a molten tiger's paws to do some good digging.
Isla volunteers to start digging foundations!
sooner or later, we all have to wake and try forgetting everything
// i came from a broken home, so look at all my broken bones count me in, but count me out, i know what this is about //
The mouseshrooms are quite content in their little log as they reorient themselves with where they are — and as a once Attuned, Sunjata is equally as happy that Lena’s here to help ensure that it isn’t going to destroy the little creature’s lives with benefitting their own. So the break is taken, water and shade offered, snacks devoured, and Sunjata looks between the two women and the volunteers as decisions are made.
Digging was more up Sunjata’s alley, too, and so he hangs back as more volunteers step up to help Lena plot the rest of the houses. “Perfect. Let’s get started, then.” Flashing a knowing look to Isla, the Flood hangs back with her to help dig out the foundations with his own partial shift, replacing hands with claws of his dragon shift, wings still spread wide for the shade it can offer. The volunteers work easily alongside all of them as each house’s foundation is dug out, going down the line.
Lena and her group find plotting to go very smoothly, until it seems they’ve gone a distance. Before a space that looks perfectly flat and perfect for a section for stores and shops and a little break from the houses comes into view, a perfect option for larger shells of buildings that could accompany apartments above them for any shop keeps that might want to stay close to their businesses.
Isla and Sunjata keep digging!
Lena, do you want to round back and keep plotting houses or start plotting out sections for varying businesses?
No post order <33
the flood
// i'm the next, so get in line just let me have my fucking time //
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
“Looks like all of us have been,” she nodded and smiled at Isla, intending to give proper credit where it was due. “I can try,” was granted and given without the note of hesitation, even if she was strangely discomforted by something entirely new. That would be changing swiftly.
But onwards they went and ventured, and this time towards land development. Now here she felt out of her element. While nature, animals, mending, tending, and healing were all in her repertoire, building was not, but the workers rallied as she studied over the Isla’s plots from before. There seemed to be a routine to the applied plans, and when that became clear, Lena relaxed, beginning to rally amidst her peers.
Then there were some decisions to be made – pausing momentarily to contemplate the situation. The plotting for the homes wouldn’t alter, but the business section would to some degree. Turning to her fellow compatriots, she grinned. “Let’s start with the businesses, hm? Then we could go back to the others.”
--
Lena starts plotting out sections for businesses.
Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +1 should be included)
More than happy to give Lena the non-manual labour job, Isla nods back at Sunjata and promptly replaces her sundress with large paws and golden fur. Having no partial shift beneath her skin, the tiger shakes herself out briefly before padding over after the Flood, bumping against him affectionately before they get to work. She chooses the space just beside him to start digging, ensuring she doesn't interrupt the plot lines they've already made and pausing when there's enough dirt for their volunteers to load up and cart away.
It might be slow going, but it certainly is going, and as someone who isn't bothered by the heat of the day, Isla is able to work dilligently and without a break regardless of the sun beaming overhead. Only once she's dug out the foundation around the perimeter of her plot does she work on the middle, soon enough covered in dirt and with small puddles of gold collecting around her as she sits back for a break.
// i came from a broken home, so look at all my broken bones count me in, but count me out, i know what this is about //
Success lingers in their groupings as the day wanes on, Lena perhaps might consider taking up a part time passion project not unlike her sister’s when it came to laying out the houses and the businesses. Creating such a perfect plot that there’s room for alleys and maybe even a covered courtyard should the little town be more expanded on. And once her volunteers and her have succeeded in that, they flank the businesses with more plots for homes.
Accepting the playful and affectionate nudge from Isla, Sunjata shoots her a crooked grin and a scritch between her molten stripes for the trouble before his hands are partially shifting to that of his dragon shift, working alongside the feline to carve out the earth while the volunteers work alongside them. One remains hung back, still working on the gravel, but the others have either picked other houses around them to dig the foundation of or helped to haul the dirt away whenever needed. And before they know it (with breaks included!) there’s plenty of space for the beams to start being lifted into it and the foundation of stone and mortar to be laid.
"Once this is done, it'll need to set. So we can prolly eat and relax and come back in the morning if you don't wanna camp out here for the night to start building." Sunjata offers once everyone's in earshot - he intends on staying, at the very least. Not worried in the slightest of sleeping under the stars (even if they hated him).
Choose to continue (or start!) digging, or help lay out the foundation beams and the rock with the mortar! It’ll be the last little bit before a night’s rest and pick up in the morning, so feel free to mention that if you want <3
No post order!
the flood
// i'm the next, so get in line just let me have my fucking time //
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Truth be told, the Caretaker would never have thought to follow in Sera’s footsteps; her mind hadn’t been for engineering, plotting layouts (other than perhaps additions to a garden), or cultivating businesses. But there she was, amidst the rest of the townsfolk, contributing to the potential wealth and considerations of King’s End. Relieved when it was completed, they maneuvered on, and they set about laying out the foundational beams.
And with her aching, sore muscles screaming at her, realizing she probably needed to work out a bit more.
Thereafter, she listened to the next set of directions, discerning, especially as the sun was setting, that this would be a much lengthier project. “I’ll come back in the morning,” she offered with a quick smile, after some scavenging of food, of course. She had other duties to attend to at the Celestine, and then she’d likely collapse in her cot – but ready to go for the next day.
--
Lena and the workers set out of the foundation beams and rocks/mortar!
Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +1 should be included)
Shaking herself off after her rest, Isla listens to Sunjata's further instructions and plods over to continue her work digging. With her muscles already warmed up and her tiger shift in full swing, she's likely more use keeping going as is than changing to another task. Once she's managed to clear out space for beams and mortar of a few other plots, it's with very muddy paws that she finally calls it a day.
Then and only then does she shift back into herself, stretching sore arms above her head and brushing off her sundress. "I don't mind camping out here," she agrees with the Flood, smiling and moving away to start helping with that as well - setting up a cookfire, tending to any minor wounds or ailments the volunteers had obtained throughout the day, rolling out bedrolls and so on.
Isla keeps digging until it's time to stop for the night, and then helps to make camp, cook and tend to any injuries people have sustained!
// i came from a broken home, so look at all my broken bones count me in, but count me out, i know what this is about //
The foundation is laid and the beams within them start to create the frame of the houses, dotting up the flattened space they’ve created with the help of their volunteers. It’s slow going work, but there’s no issues or difficulties that anyone runs into aside from soreness and muddy hands and shovels. And when night comes and the time to break is here, a wave offered to Lena as she departs and an easy evening of Isla helping to set up their makeshift space to sleep for the night while Sunjata returns with a food from a hunt.
Sleep really seems to take the edge off as the birds start chirping in the morning and the clean up is surprisingly easy – their bones are still tired but with the sight of what’s left, it all seems to be coming together, and it sparks some renewed strength. With a bit of coffee warmed up, and tea for those that prefer, Sunjata cradles the little mug he’d brought as he regards everyone with a crooked smile. “Morning. Day two should get a big bulk of things done. We’re gonna need to start putting up the walls into the frames we made. I think all of us can handle that task so we can get started on floors as soon as possible?” So saying, the Flood finishes his coffee and gets started hauling wood over along with stone.
Alright! Everyone and their volunteer groups, start putting up walls! The foundations we laid out earlier include the basic framing so everyone’ll know where the windows and doors should go!
No post order <3
the flood
// i'm the next, so get in line just let me have my fucking time //
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Isla sleeps surprisingly easy out beneath the stars, even if she does so curled up as close to the campfire as she might get. When morning comes, it finds her in fresh clothes and with a cup of sweet tea in her hands, her hair bound back out of her face in a braid. "That sounds like a good idea," she agrees with Sunjata, finishing her cup and setting it down on an upturned crate they've been using as a table.
Having already had breakfast, she rallies a few volunteers who have been equally early risers and beckons them over to the supplies they'll need to erect walls. "We'll start from this direction," she says. "Perhaps someone else can start from the other side, and we can meet in the middle?" It's as good an idea as any, she assumes, and promptly takes her group over to begin their work.
Isla takes a group of volunteers to begin putting up walls at one side of the settlement!
I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it When you hit me, hit me hard
With an amiable farewell, Lena attended to her duties at the Celestine for the evening, then the following morning. An early riser regardless, she’d simply allocated a few more hours for tending to the animals, before heading back to King’s End, prompt and efficient. Though she did head straight for the coffee and pastries.
Bright-eyed and eager, and perhaps content with how things had gone the previous day, she nodded along with the other workers and Isla. “We’ll get it done.” She too polished off her cup, snagged her readied volunteers, and began making her way over to the foundations laid out previously. Opposite from Isla’s area, as not to overrun and interfere, she hummed under her breath, and began assisting with moving the beams. “These should do nicely,” she offered out to the others, hoping her strength would hold out for the day.
--
Lena and her workers start setting up the wall framing.
Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +1 should be included)
// i came from a broken home, so look at all my broken bones count me in, but count me out, i know what this is about //
Finishing his cup of coffee and snagging a snack before they part ways, he’s pleased to see just how eager everyone seemed to be regardless of all the hard work. And as it stands, Isla finds her volunteers quite willing to do whatever she says (whether some of them remember her from her time here in King’s End, its hard to say), but they easily break and begin to split, piling up wall after wall and ensuring the marks for the windows are available and visible to be built.
Lena fares much the same, and her volunteers are also just as willing to help, perhaps moved by the ability of the Caretaker to take care of the blink hares and the mouseshrooms that had been relocated. The beams are moved easily and the inner walls framing goes up without a hitch, on and on until Lena’s group reaches the shop buildings.
Sunjata has chosen to start with the shops, his crew and himself working to set the walls up and the inner framing, trying to keep them versatile so that any number of shops might be able to move into the start of the town.
And before they all know it, they can start take a lunch break and begin building stairs for the homes as well as putting in the windows.
Next up! Pick between making stairs or putting in windows!
No post order <3
the flood
// i'm the next, so get in line just let me have my fucking time //
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
