[PQ] [RQ] Flowerfall

There was a lot to be said for Longheat in King's End. The heat was nowhere near as overpowering as it was in Torchline, the Hollowed Grounds, or even Stormbreak. Tal had picked a lovely, clear day for their delivery of flowers around the perimeter of the Barrows, and their only company in the sky at the moment was a few puffy white clouds floating along high above. Tal had arranged for them to meet in the southeast corner of Meadowreach, at the very edge of the Barrows, and the flowers of the season were bright and colorful all around them.

The Peregrine's deck was loaded up with baskets of the already-gathered flowers ready to sprinkle down onto the landscape below, and the ship was looking freshly scrubbed and painted from the work Tal had been lavishing on her after Flowerbirth's storms. "I'm startin' t'think I need t'see about gettin' th'ol' girl some work t'make 'er bigger," he admitted ruefully to his partner and his Archon as he made sure the lids on the baskets were secure. He didn't want their precious cargo getting blown away on accident! "See if I could pray t'get 'er keel lengthened an' room for a second cabin put in." And the magic that let her carry two people strengthened to support three. Unthinkable, three of four years ago, that he'd want more than one person around on the deck of his ship but now...

Well. Hail. Things had changed and in spite of the Void they'd mostly managed to be for the better. At least, now that their little family was whole again.

Of course, it was a lot easier to think like that when he could lean down to rub Sascha's head before he slipped an arm around Alys's waist and leaned into her side, the Longheat sunshine chasing LongNight's lingering shadows deep into hiding in his heart. He grinned at his companions - human and animal alike - as Boreal leaned into Sunjata's hip and rumbled happily for pats of her own from the dragon-man. "I was figurin' we could head west first an' keep th'sun behind us? Skirt north o' Mourn an' break for lunch after we get clear o' th' border with th'Feverlands?"

---

This is an 8 round PQ to place flowers around the Barrows to protect it from the Void.

Round 1:
Finish preparations to get underway and suggest any modifications to the day's route you can come up with!

1. Sunjata
2. Alys
3. Talyson

we keep on doing this again and again
the same old things expecting something different

It’s a rainbow of flowers that Sunjata had collected with Thorn and Colt. And with it, plenty of beauty to add to the otherwise prevalent fog that surrounded the Barrows on most mornings and evenings. The clouds drift peacefully by, and with the last task already set in motion, Sunjata listens while he watches the clouds to Tal’s comment about his skyship. “Never hurts to ask, yeah?” He asks, turning his attention away from the clouds to Tal with a crooked smile, the scar bisecting the muscle in his cheek.

He's very pleased to see Sascha back and in the flesh, and while he was typically wary of bringing Petronella anywhere, the Flood had decided this might be a good time to let her loose. She’s wrapped around his shoulders like a scaley and fuzzy scarf, catching a catnap in the sun. Waking her gently with a few soft pets, the sea panther stretches out, claws poking through his shirt despite not caring much about it, and he simultaneously leans over enough to also offer those same soft pets to Boreal lest he be branded a terrible dragon-man.

Setting Petronella down shortly after, she immediately yawns and stretches out, before aiming a soft little headbutt to Boreal while Sunjata mulls over the plan Tal has. “Sounds good to me. We’ll have lots of options for varying flowers so we don’t have to bunch up all the colors in the same place.” Helping to secure the baskets, Sunjata offers his little addition to their trek.

---

Sunjata suggests varying the colors of the flowers as they go so there isn’t any bunched up colors in one spot versus the others! (Should be easy, they’ve got like a rainbow of flower colors in there ;D)

but by now we know it's never gonna change
i'm not trying to complain, i'm just saying it's a waste

Alys and Sascha were pleased to be in the Barrows on such a lovely Longheat day. Alys leaned happily against her partner's side, her companion sitting at their feet, rumbling happily as Tal offered head rubs. They'd been nearly inseparable in the time since Sascha's return, and though the little bear was perhaps a bit clingier than she had been before her untimely death, Alys rather thought that was understandable. If she'd died and come back from the dead, she'd want to be near her loved ones at all times, too.

She listened to Tal's musings about the Peregrine, a little surprised to hear him speak of upgrading the ship to carry another passenger - but then, if she was taking up that second spot, then she supposed that, in situations like this - or like the incident with Koa in the Greatwood - having room for a third might not be such a bad idea. "If I can help at all, you know where to find me," she offered to her partner with a wink.

Then they all turned their attention to the day's task. Alys nodded along to the suggestions presented, then stood on tiptoe to plant a quick kiss on Tal's cheek before stepping out of his hold. Sascha grumbled good-naturedly and followed along as the seer began to help secure the flowers. "Do we want there to be a pattern, or something more natural and random with the colors?" she asked.

---

Alys loves on Tal asks if they want to have a specific pattern or something more natural with the flower color variance.

The looking glass, so shiny and new
How quickly the glamour fades

Alys

Boreal rumbled happily into the scritches, and set back on her haunches so that the tall dragon-man wouldn't have to bend over as far to reach her head. Pale eyes blinked up at Petronella as the panther stretched and the dragon gave her a croon of greeting. Clearly pleased when the cat decided to come down and join her, the burly companion lowered her head with surprising delicacy to give the sleek sea panther a gentle sniff of greeting in exchange for the little headbutt.

"Depends on who you're askin'." Tal grinned at his Archon ruefully and rubbed one of the places he had stabbed himself for his Ludo quests. Which, thankfully, neither Jata nor Alys knew much about, as far as he could remember. And he didn't really want to enlighten them on such a beautiful day, so he hurriedly turned his head to see what Alys wanted--

Catching her kiss on the lips instead of his cheek on accident but not regretting it as they parted and his grin softened to something utterly besotted for a hot minute.

Then he realized that she had just asked him a question on aesthetic decisions and a brief moment of panic flashed over his face. "Uhhh..." He looked to Sunjata for help with the decision, clear pleading in his eyes for the Archon to make an official ruling. "Varyin' 'em sounds good t'me. What d'y'think about a pattern? An', uh,.. what's your plan, boss? Are y'goin' dragon t'fly with us? Or just poppin' wings t'fly alongside?"

---

Round 2:
Pattern the flowers or nah?

Also, what's Jata's plan for the flying portions of this quest?

we keep on doing this again and again
the same old things expecting something different

Keeping his gaze averted for the moment to watch Petronella’s interaction with Boreal, he relaxes as the sea panther is easily accepted into the throng of companions. He glances up a few seconds later than Tal and Alys’ kiss, only spotting the flicker of panic that’s occurred. Raising a scarred brow, Sunjata snorts. “Let’s keep it more natural so that way there’s not like.. A line they can just sit and wait at.” His nose wrinkles a little with the idea before shrugging his shoulders. “They’re not incredibly smart, but still.” Better than being surrounded if things went very wrong. At least this way they’d experience it by surprise.

As for his plan? “I’ll just have my wings out. Don’t think I need to go full dragon, but if I do I can.” He shrugs, not pressed about it either way as he helps secure another basket and glances back over to Petronella when he reaches over to scritch just behind her curled horns, eliciting a little purred growl of contentedness.

---

Sunjata votes for not patterning the flowers. He’s gonna fly alongside!

but by now we know it's never gonna change
i'm not trying to complain, i'm just saying it's a waste

As Boreal and Petronella greeted one another, Sascha rumbled her own shy greeting before looking up at Alys as though to ask if it was alright to go and say hello. The seer encouraged her on with a smile, and the little ursur padded towards the dragon and sea panther, whuffling and reaching out to boop noses.

Tal's lips met hers, and Alys smiled shyly up at her partner, eyes crinkling with adoration, momentarily forgetting that their Archon was even there (sorry, Sunjata). At the decree that the flowers should be randomized, she sheepishly released Tal and began to arrange baskets in a way that would make scattering the flowers amongst each other easier to do. "Okay, so we're not bunching colors and we're not patterning. We'll just have to keep an eye out for anything that starts to look too uniform as we go."

---

No pattern! Alys arranges baskets to make it easier to not pattern them and also not bunch colors together!

The looking glass, so shiny and new
How quickly the glamour fades

Alys

Sunjata made a good point and Tal wrinkled his nose in agreement and nodded. "Yeah, an' some o' them are smarter so... let's not make it easier on 'em." The Family, obviously, but they'd be able to cross over regardless. Others, though, like the villi, or maybe even some of the unicorns... yeah. Yeah, better not to give them any help. They were clever enough to figure out a line in the sand - er, meadow - if it punched them in the face.

The courier reluctantly let Alys slip away to begin arranging the baskets according to their plan, and then glanced over to the companions and their greetings with a lilt of a smile still lingering on freshly kissed lips. "Alright, kids, everyone aboard who's comin' with us. It's time t'get airborn!" He grabbed the last basket that needed loading up and carried it onto the Peregrine with a toss of his head towards his Archon.

"We'll carry th'baskets so y'can just grab handfuls as y'need," he offered to their winged leader. Boreal led the little pack of companions up the gangplank behind her human, whuffling coaxingly at Petronella to assure the little tide jaguar that she was welcome. Once humans, dragons, bears, and cats were all securely aboard, Tal pulled up the gangplank and headed to the tiller, tugging on rigging and looping ropes around cleats as he passed the sails to begun unfurling them. "Alys, you an' Sunjata can start droppin' flowers as we head up. I'll keep us low so they don't get blown too far off th'border line."

And with that and his hand at the wheel to activate the magic, the Peregrine lifted off!

---

Round 3:

Time to start dropping blossoms around the edge of Meadowreach!

we keep on doing this again and again
the same old things expecting something different

Petronella is more than excited to greet the revived companion as well, a little chirp of greeting from the sea panther’s maw before she reaches forward to boop Sascha on the nose in return. Her tail flicks with delight as she settles in, waiting for the adults to make up their minds on what they were doing, while Sunjata informs Tal and Alys of his plan for the flower junction. “We can bunch some of them up, but I don’t want a whole wall of yellow, y’know?” He admits, once he hears Alys repeat it and realizing it sounded a little contradictory.

Nodding to Tal, though, the harder they make it on them the better off they’ll be. So the Flood flashes a smile toward them as he nods to his companion, telling her she could definitely go and hang out on the Peregrine with her friends, before partially shifting to the feathered wings of his pegasus shift - thinking it made the most sense for the adventure ahead.

Reaching in to snag a couple handfuls of the flowers, the Flood’s wings flare and he lifts, rising off the ground to take to the sky alongside the Peregrine on the other side so that they can vary where the flowers drop across the edge of Meadowreach.

but by now we know it's never gonna change
i'm not trying to complain, i'm just saying it's a waste

With plans in place, Alys and Sascha took up their places aboard the Peregrine. On deck, the little ursur was more confident than she was on the ground; the Peregrine, after all, wasn't very big, and she could usually see at least one of her humans from any vantage point she chose. It was easier for her to feel secure than out in the big, wide world with all its dangers. She rumbled playfully towards Boreal and Petronella, determined to make this a fun outing for companions as their humans worked.

The seer watched this unfold with a smile and a shake of her head, then got to work. As the Peregrine began to move, Sunjata unfurling wings beside it, Alys gathered up a few handfuls of flowers at a time, careful to vary the color in a pattern-that-wasn't-a-pattern as she tossed them. Using her air magic, she gently lay them down in the proper places, trying very hard not to get too caught up in the colors and placements of the varying blooms.

---

Alys starts placing flowers using her air magic.

The looking glass, so shiny and new
How quickly the glamour fades

Alys

Boreal was absolutely delighted to have a new friend to show around the Peregrine. The skyboat wasn't very big - but, then again, neither were the companions. She gave Sascha a little nuzzle as they headed around the deck to sniff various piles of rigging, investigate the hatch to the hold, toured one of Boreal's favorite spots at the bow along the bowsprit and then scampered back to nose around Tal's legs at the tiller to the aft. Tal left the hosting duties to the dragon while he focused on piloting the little craft and keeping it steady for Alys to toss flowers and for Sunjata to grab fresh handfuls from the baskets on the deck.

Flowers began to waft down upon the meadows like a gentle, colorful rain. Sunjata's handfuls fell more haphazardly, caught by playful breezes and scattered across a wider area. Alys's blossoms went down in a more controlled fashion, filling in the gaps between the Archon's petals to create a line that was more of a suggestion than anything precise. Looking back, it seemed like it would have the desired effect - clear enough from above that Frey should be able to anchor the barrier to it, but loose enough up close for any pattern to be difficult to discern.

"I think it's workin'!" Tal encouraged his friends, sounding a little surprised but a lot pleased by what they had already begun to accomplish. "Maybe mix in some more oranges an' pinks?" The hills of Mourn were beginning to rise to their left and Tal angled the Peregrine a little closer to them, trying to catch every inch of Meadowreach in their net. "Sunjata , do we need t'be waterin' these or anythin'?"

---

Round 4:
We're underway and dropping flowers at a good clip! Maybe mix in some more oranges and pinks to vary up the colors a bit? Jata, Tal has a gardening question for you!

we keep on doing this again and again
the same old things expecting something different

Petronella is stoked honestly, to get the little tour of the skyboat. So she trails after Boreal and Sascha, eyes bright and wide as she takes in everything around her, sniffing here and there, tail flicking contently before she noses a basket out of sheer feline curiosity.

Alys’ air magic makes beautiful work of the flowers as they fall - filling in the spots Sunjata’s own fall. The line isn’t one that’s easy to see at first glance, unless you were really searching for it, which is exactly what he wants out of it. Pleased and content to drop a few more of the blooms before rounding back to grab another handful, he hears Tal’s question. Reaching for the oranges and pinks, the Flood nods and shoots Tal and Alys a crooked grin. “Yeah, I was gonna round back!” As if in confirmation, he drops the few orange and pink blooms in his hand, before his wings send him away from the Peregrine, summoning his water magic and going along the line again, letting it fall from him into raindrops, enough big splatters to water the flowers along the way.

---

Sunjata drops a couple orange and pink blooms and waters the flowers they've already dropped!

but by now we know it's never gonna change
i'm not trying to complain, i'm just saying it's a waste

Sascha followed along as Boreal showed Petronella around the Peregrine, rumbling happily as she poked around the little ship that had for so long been her home. Showing a new companion around was something like seeing the ship through new eyes, and the little ursur found herself skittering this way and that, following Boreal but also taking her own detours to show off her favorite places and items aboard the ship.

Alys watched the companions for a moment before going about her task, smiling to herself at their antics. Assured of their safety with herself and Tal - not to mention Sunjata - she shifted her focus to scattering flowers overboard. Her air magic made quick work of directing the flowers this way and that, creating a perfectly arranged (but not too obvious) line that looked natural. At Tal’s instruction, she gathered up a few more orange and pink blooms, varying the colors just a little bit more as they continued on their trek.

—-

Alys helps to spread orange and pink blooms interspersed with the other colors!

The looking glass, so shiny and new
How quickly the glamour fades

Alys

Boreal peered into the basket that Petronella had showed interest in, then pulled her broad head back as Alys reached in to it to collect more flowers. The dragon gave a smoky snort of mischief, then grabbed a mouthful of blossoms and bounded to the rail, rising up on her hind legs so she could fling the flowers over the side in an enthusiastic display of 'helpfulness.'

"Boreal, leave 'em be," Tal called to his companion with exasperated affection. "We still got a long ways t'go!" Though they were nearing the edge of the Feverlands now, and Tal began to turn the Peregrine in a long, slow curve between the hills of the Barrows and the fetid air rising from the nearby swamp. He wrinkled his nose and glanced back to check on Sunjata, but the winged angel demigod had the watering well in hand. Er, magic. Well in magic-hand.

"What sort o' project were y'thinkin' of for King's End after this one's done," he called back to Sunjata. "Think we can get Mourn done afore year's end?" Depending on whether they could get enough void critters, or another rock from the stupid island.

Alys would find that the wind coming from the northwest was growing stronger, fighting her magic as they grew close to the foothills of the Draig. The flowers were getting caught in its grip and flung farther from the lines she had intended, scattering as they reached the edges of her magic.

---

Round 5:
Sunjata's watering is going well, and Tal keeps up the conversation with him
Alys is starting to have trouble with the wind blowing their flowers off course before they reach the ground!

Keep on keeping on as best you can!

we keep on doing this again and again
the same old things expecting something different

Spying Boreal’s playfulness with grabbing the flowers and tossing them overboard, Petronella’s already bounding her way over to try and scout the events at play when Tal’s voice reaches out and the sea panther drops, butt and tail wiggling as she tries to distract the dragon and ursur with a bit of play and a mrrrow as an offer.

Sunjata, meanwhile, trails behind the Peregrine enough to keep conversation and let his water magic rain down upon the flowers that Alys drops - extending out the range to water the grasses surrounding it just to ensure that the water would find the roots eventually. “I can try to get another rock from the island for it. It’s all gonna depend, though. Getting creatures from Stormbreak’s gonna prove to be more difficult now.” He says, flashing a small frown toward Tal with the intention of being able to elaborate more if the courier wanted him to when they weren’t in the air.

---

Sunjata continues watering!

but by now we know it's never gonna change
i'm not trying to complain, i'm just saying it's a waste