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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!
To inspections and evaluations they went. Sah floated and flew along the outside portions, near the front, where the titan had inevitably fell into the bastions of concrete, lumber, and elements. His sharp avian eyes would be able to detect portions and pieces threatening to collapse on one another, and clear cracks running along the upper parts; leaning in from where the titan had collapsed upon its layers. These sections would need to be replaced – but by and large, the bottom portions held sturdy and fast, and would mean a lot less work in that regard.
As Rhiannon made her way along the inside, she’d notice similar aspects as Sah – parts that were leaning in from the top, but otherwise steadfast near the ground. Portions of wood appeared snapped off and broken, sticking out from the top, and some stone displaced, also requiring new sets.
The gates, as Elizabeth would notice, held that remarkably bent aspect and angles. Large, massive bodies colliding into its aspect had dented and warped certain pieces, but it was likely nothing that couldn’t be altered with a little concentration by someone with Creation incantations, or ability to smash things in a different direction.
Deimos too, from the top of the wall as he inspected, would find the broken and chipped portions of stone and concrete, shaking his head, somewhat impressed. That had been the purpose of the protective legions, and they’d done their job spectacularly. Already beginning to toss off the mauled bits of stone, once they’d all shared their knowledge and noticings, he began rumbling orders again. “We can start on the walls, then work towards the gates. Two of us should start dismantling the broken and weakened parts, while the others begin mixing the concrete. It will take some time with the cold.” Unless someone used their fire magic well…
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Pick a job! You’ll have NPC workers/soldiers and tools to assist in whichever you choose!
- One more to help Deimos dismantle the broken parts of the wall
- Two to help mix concrete
All things considered, the gates looked much better than she would have expected. A few dents and warps here and there would be an easy fix for the powerful Hybrids amongst them. She'd happily sit back and point them out to the brave soul. But for now, the damage she observed could wait until the larger sections were complete.
Elizabeth joined the others to look over the walls as she listened to the next list of jobs to be done. Not one for the more strength-based labors, she quickly volunteered for the other option. "I'll help mix the concrete." She rolled up her sleeves a little to keep them out of the mixture as she began combining the ingredients. With any luck, she wouldn't end up like Amhran.
Rhiannon wandered inside the walls, making note of the places where wood and stone had been displaced. When they had all regrouped and shared their findings, she considered potential jobs. Elizabeth chose to mix concrete, and Rhi leapt at the chance to join her - anything to avoid the impending lecture that she knew would come were she and Deimos alone.
She rolled up her own sleeves and got to work helping Elizabeth. Inside the Citadel, the weather was milder than what was found out on the tundra, and she had grown warm inside the walls. Still, she didn’t dare to remove any layers, knowing that she’d probably be in and out as they worked to repair the damage from the titan.
It was somehow better than Sah had expected. He'd been worried that they'd need to fully replace the section of the wall that the Titan had been leaning on. Only having to repair part of it was fantastic and a testament of how invaluable the efforts they'd made to enforce the wall and gate had been.
Returning to human form, Sah joined Deimos in dismantling the broken parts while the two women mixed concrete. Many of the broken sections were beyond his physical reach but the younger hybrid was confident in the dexterity of his magic. Using his telekinesis, he began to separate and remove the irreparable sections of the wall.
~
Sah uses telekinesis to dismantle the broken parts.
Between the hybrid pair, the work was easygoing; in fact, might’ve even been amusing, had it not been their own wall smashed and torn apart. Sah ‘s telekinesis easily maneuvered portions and pieces away, until his section looked peeled and ready – if not a bit empty and forlorn. All would come in due time.
Deimos, on the other hand, had been chucking the pieces, and perhaps either underestimating his own strength or not paying attention, had securely landed the rubble well beyond their landing point. He glanced sheepishly down below, making a slight grimace to the soldier he made eye contact with down by the pyre, and continued to work resolutely this time.
Perhaps Elizabeth shouldn’t have brought back the recollection of Amhran, stuck within the mortar, as it may have distracted her from her work. She’d find herself tripping on something and nearly submerged in the mortar, had it not been for another one of the workers pulling her back by the jacket.
Rhiannon, however, seemed to have a knack for the mixture, and before long, all of the capabilities emerged into the foundational necessities.
Coming down from the walls, the Sword inspected, nodding at the next round of directions. “Good. We can start forming the pieces.” One of the workers began to demonstrate, using the concrete mixture, plywood, and lumber, and from there, they could start building the wall back up, bit by bit.
Sah watched Deimos throw a chunk of wall at a soldier and chose not to comment, instead taking extra care on where he was placing his own debris. The pieces were surprisingly light, possible due to how damaged they were. It was no wonder that a few had gone further than intended.
Joining the others, the Wild Thunder watched carefully as the worker demonstrated how to create bricks. Sah couldn't recall ever having made one before and it was a surprisingly complicated process. After he made his first attempt, the hybrid asked the worker to check his work before he created more and then adjusted his process for the other bricks.
Rhiannon raised a brow at Deimos’s misjudged aim, but said nothing as she worked to mix the cement. At least she fared better than Elizabeth, who might have tripped and fallen into the mixture if not for a worker who was quick enough to grab her. Offering the other woman a quick appraisal to make sure she was alright, Rhiannon kept at her work, stirring and mixing until such a time when it was ready to be put to use.
Now it was time to create concrete bricks, and Rhi joined in the process, hoping that she did as well making bricks as she did making the cement. It was, as Sah found, a complicated process - certainly more so than Rhi had been expecting - and it took all of her concentration as she attempted to perfect her bricks. Shoddy workmanship would do no one any favors, and she was determined that hers not be the weakest link.
Diving headfirst into a vat of wet concrete was not how Elizabeth envisioned her day going, and luckily, the quick reflexes of a nearby helper saved her from that unfortunate fate. She let out a loud exhale and an uneasy laugh. "That was a close one. Thank you." Her smile was full of genuine gratitude and relief, happy to remain concrete-free for the time being.
Elizabeth managed to continue the process without any more incidents, perhaps due to her own careful movements, then turned to the brick making process. As everyone else was discovering, it wasn't easy. She absolutely made a few mistakes, her bricks coming out lopsided and vaguely resembling the intended shape. Glancing around at the others, she tried to take notes from their processes, doing her best to replicate their work.
Making concrete bricks was far more complicated than any of them had likely imagined – and Deimos found himself content with the knowledge of armaments and machinations rather than conforming to certain blocks. While some managed the difficulty better than others, Rhiannon ’s tended to either crumble or make the strangest of shapes, and needed to be redone frequently. But between all of them, and the more capable workers, they eventually had a surplus of the pieces necessary for the rest of the reconstruction process. “Okay, we can put these in, layer by layer,” the Sword noted – glancing back at the sun getting lower and lower in the sky.
The experienced individuals demonstrated again, climbing upon the ladders to fit the bricks in just so, showing how precision mattered and counted on scales like these.
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Watch the workers, then start helping put the bricks in!
Rhiannon’s luck was naturally due to run out, and so it was with a resigned sort of embarrassment that she watched as her bricks crumbled under her ministrations. The ones that didn’t fall apart came out lumpy and misshapen, but she persevered. Although her efforts were largely in vain, between the four of them and the other workers, they soon had enough to patch the wall.
The soldier watched the demonstration carefully, making note of potential pitfalls in an effort to avoid them. Once she was fairly confident in the technique, she began to start helping to put the bricks in place. Precision was of the utmost importance, and so she tried desperately to take her time, placing each brick carefully into place.
After carefully observing the others, Elizabeth started to get some modicum of competency with brick building. Their combined efforts proved adequate in meeting the quota, a stack of bricks slowly forming, ready to reinforce the walls. She had to take a break halfway through just to catch her breath, but she felt satisfied with their achievement in the end. A warm smile was sent to the others for their hard work.
With the bricks ready for placement, she cracked her fingers and assessed the area where they'd be working. Elizabeth immediately started working on the lower sections, securing the spots within her reach, however, as they worked their way up, she would occasionally rely on her magic. The telekinesis was proving extremely useful in all situations, especially wall building.
Elizabeth helps place bricks with her hands and telekinesis!
The bricks soon came together and Sah added their recipe to his mental armory of arts and crafts. He wasn't sure if there would ever be a time when crafting them with magic would be more sustainable, but at least now he had the means. Observing the workers closely, the Wild Thunder followed their example and began to carefully place the bricks. After every few, he'd check in with the closest worker for any necessary adjustments.
Once Sah felt more comfortable, he was able keep working steadily, only having to check in when he got stuck or was uncertain about a specific brick's placement.
Either by magic or the value of hard work and effort, the bricks came together. It took ample amounts of time, however, and before long the sun began hanging just over the horizon – and so workers began to light torches and lanterns nearby, so that they could persist and finish up on their pieces.
With the pyre still roaring in the foreground, they only had some portions remaining. “Good work. We need two of you to inspect and make sure everything looks right.” Nothing out of place. Nothing threatening to lean over. Quality craftmanship. They could take several of the soldiers with them, positioned to carefully construe and evaluate straightness and assurance. His eyes glanced over to the rest – the bent entryway, essentially. “Then someone else can come assist me with the gate,” whether they wanted to help beat it into submission, or alleviate most of the strenuous notions with accompanying creation or earth incantations.
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Two to inspect the newly-refurbished walls, and one more to help Deimos bend the gates back properly! No post order!
The sun was setting and Sah was pleased to see that the work didn't slow down. Using his fire magic, the hybrid helped the workers light the torches until their section of the wall had ample visibility. When the last brick was placed, he grinned, nodding at the workers beside him who seemed just as pleased.
When Deimos laid out the next tasks, Sah made his way over to the Sword. "I can help you with the gate." Between his earth magic and telekinesis, he could assist in bending the mass back into its proper shape. The Wild Thunder was also physically strong enough to keep portions in place while Deimos manipulated those around it. Together, they should be able to fix it without too much trouble.
~
Sah helps Deimos with telekinesis, earth magic, and manually.
