From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
02-05-2020, 03:27 PM (This post was last modified: 02-05-2020, 04:37 PM by Loren.)
The white sheep of the family
If Loren was going to be Grand Healer, he needed a place to work and the materials to work with. Which meant his first order of business was to get the infirmary in order, since it had been sadly neglected for quite a while now. He’d placed a notice and sent out some notes that he was looking for help with that particular task. That done, he’d gathered up a bunch of cleaning supplies, some tools, some ingredients, and a bunch of other items and brought them over to the infirmary.
Then he stood there, by the doorway patiently, hands clasped behind his back. Although he wasn't sure if anyone else would show up, he was quietly hopeful he wouldn't have to do the work alone. Behind him, the infirmary was clearly a mess: it was dusty, the linens on the beds were old and tattered, the shelves and cabinets for medicines stood nearly empty and were broken in some places, and signs of a group of Ningos having moved in were evident in scattered feathers and small piles of poop.
All in all, he had a hard day's work ahead of him regardless of how much help he got. If anyone did arrive, he’d ask them which task they wanted to handle: cleaning up the mess and replacing the linens, repairing the shelves, or making medicines. He himself would deal with the Ningos.
This PQ has 3 open spots, though more can be opened up if needed! Please post with your character arriving, as well as what task you'd like to handle.
She keeps showing up to things. How strange to have things to show up for, honestly. Life had been so very much the same until recently that maybe she was just being helpful because it gave her something new and different to do. Or maybe she’s showing up because she’s got selfish reasons. The Arcane Academy seemed worth helping because she wanted a magic school to teach her. The infirmary seemed helpful because she knows what life is like without one, without the care that such an establishment could provide. She’d survived the wound on her chest, but barely. Her brother hadn’t survived at all. Besides, healing magic seems high on her list of useful things to acquire, and she might as well start making some contacts.
So here she is. It’s not hard to find the tall man standing in the doorway, and she offers Loren her usual shit-eating grin and a nod of her head in greeting. A mess sits behind him, and her eyes glance over all the cleaning quickly before she replies. ”I’ll clean and change linens,” she says, because honestly cleaning was gratifying work. Her home was far from spotless, certainly, but it wasn’t dirty, and she always liked how quickly one could see the results of the work.
weaver
-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --
Halo is...not what Evie expected. Though her expectations had been low in the first place considering the genie and the cannibal caves were her only real experiences with the place, it seems something new is right around the corner to surprise her. Surely the natural citizens of this place have grown used to the eccentricities of this world, much as she had in the Grounds, but for once she is off-kilter and wrong-footed nearly every day that passes. In typical Evie fashion that means she shoves through it bullheadedly.
Which is how she ends up in the wings of the Palace she hasn't explored before, seeking out the infirmary noted in the bulletin listing. Until she gets in trouble for being nosy she's going to keep sticking it wherever she pleases. As promising as Zariah's offer had been the girl knows she would be better off wary and keeping her wits about her. On the other hand, a familiar face...
"Hello Loren," she greets warmly as she steps up to the door, relieved to have someone she knows in this large, imposing castle. As he turns and she takes stock of what's available, the apothecarist steps forward towards the ingredients he had gathered, simultaneously noting the presence of another dark-haired woman whom she shoots a smile as well. "I can help make some medicines?" He'd come to her once upon a time for such a thing, hopefully he would trust her to make the things he'd be using daily.
Jigano had found the new Grand Healer here once before, making note of what needed to be fixed. He'd volunteered his help then, and though things had changed slightly between them, it didn't change their friendship or his sincere offer of assistance when the time came. Bundled up against the cold, he wasn't nearly as distinctive-looking as he was in the Grounds, and he walked through the halls of the Palace with a brisk pace. He might not know his way around well, but he could find Neron's audience chamber and the new Infirmary, at least.
He wasn't surprised to find others there ahead of them, though he was pleasantly surprised at Evie's presence. He gave the lady a slight bow and a warm smile in greeting, before stripping off his hat, scarf, and overcoat so he had some freedom to work. "Hello, Evie, Loren. And... I don't think we've met?" he asked cautiously of the dark-haired stranger. "I'm Jigano. And Loren, you've seen me repair shelves before," he grinned ruefully for a moment, remembering the preparation of Fiat Lux stalls... before the memory of what came after drained the humor from his eyes. He gave a slight shake of his head and a slight shrug. "But practice makes perfect, as they say?"
Loren’s hopes were answered, and more swiftly than he’d imagined they might be. Nodding as Weaver, Evie, and finally Jigano showed up and announced their task, the healer smiled a bit faintly. ”Ladies, Jigano, thanks for coming. Let me know if you need help with any of your tasks. I'll be dealing with our Ningo problem, hopefully.” With that, he himself retreated to the center of the room.
There, he settled into a cross-legged position. Although it might not look like he was doing actual work, he was taking deep breaths, trying to find his center and the power that resided there. Once he'd found it, he reached out with his mind, and compelled any Ningos he could reach to depart the infirmary.
No post order! Please summarize what your character does to complete their task at the bottom of your next reply.
Jigano grinned and nodded as he saw Loren take a meditative pose, recognizing an Attuned attempt to communicate with or compel animals from his own experiences. "Good luck," he wished him sincerely, hoping he might have some of that luck for himself as he faced the cupboards and shelves with a thoughtful frown.
"Right, let's see what can be done..." He rummaged through the tools Loren had supplied, fetching a hammer and nails first as he approached a shelf that was hanging askew on the wall, one of its supports having cracked at some point so the shelf had fallen to a tilt. Jigano used the claw of the hammer to pull the broken support off the wall and considered it, wondering where he'd find another like it...
And with narrowed eyes he felt the odd discordant strumming in his soul again, the threads of his magic shifting and resettling. A bronze string he'd caught glimpses of before vibrated, shedding sparkles of light in his mind's eye, and the next thing he knew a twin support appeared in his hand beside the first, only this one was whole and unmarked. Bemused, he lifted it up beneath the shelf to measure where the nails needed to be, then picked up the hammer and applied them with the caution of a man who was trying very hard to do something right. He had been practicing, at least, coming a long way from his first project with Deimos in the tunnel. He straightened, fixed, and tidied the shelving first, then turned his attention to the cupboards, repairing what he could normally and using his magic to create hinges or hasps that were missing to put the medicine cabinets back in order as well.
Jigano borrows a hammer and nails from Loren's supplies, then uses his mastered creation magic to make any new supports for the shelves that need them, and to replace the hinges and hasps on the cupboard doors after repairing their shelves.
Others show up as well, the first girl giving her a smile and the second man offering a name. ”Weaver,” she says with a pleasant enough smile, though it’s not her usual mischievous grin, but rather something polite and tame. She offers her name loud enough for both Jigano and the girl who she assumes must be Evie to hear, before turning her attention to Loren who sets them on their tasks. She is relieved and a bit shocked when he takes on the ningo’s, remembering the fiasko that was the Arcane Academy. Somehow Zariah had managed to do no work that Weaver had seen, but at least Loren was willing to help out with something he wanted done. Not that his work looked like work, but whatever, she assumes he’s doing something.
Weaver heads off to start cleaning, tossing her cloak out of the way before she gets started. First, she strips the linens, which were old and useless. As a native Halovian, she was pretty used to finding a use for almost everything, though there was not much the sheets would be good for at this point besides dusting. She tears a few pieces, tossing the rest of the sheets into a corner to be collected and thrown away or burned when she is done.
Finding the cleaning supplies Loren had gathered, she sets to work dusting, using the supplies he’d gathered and the rags from the linens. She starts at the top, climbing on furniture as needed to reach the higher up fixtures, and works down, keeping the rag a little wet so she doesn’t just send dust everywhere. When she’s done dusting, she moves on to the floor, sweeping and mopping and occasionally scrubbing at particularly dirty spots on her hands and knees. Pieces of hair stick to her slightly damp neck as she works, and she is thankful for her customary braid which keeps most of her hair out of her way.
Once she’s satisfied that everything is clean and sparkling, she remakes the beds with the fresh linens Loren had provided. Surprisingly, she knows how to fold a pretty nice hospital corner, and she tucks the sheets in as neatly as one might hope for an infirmary. When she finishes, she goes to collect the old linens, looking over to Loren and waiting for him to look less concentrate-y to ask where he’d like the garbage.
----
Weaver strips the beds, dusts, mops, and then puts new linens on the bed. She’s currently holding the old crappy linens waiting for Loren to not look like he’s concentrating to ask where he wants the trash.
weaver
-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --
Jigano's entrance makes her turn and smile warmly as well, giving a little wave of her fingers from where she's already wrist deep in organizing glass and containers for medicines. Some require some dusting and cleaning, so she grabs a rag and water and sets to do so. No sense in contaminating the medicines before they are even made after all.
From there she wipes down the preparation counter, using her magic to entice away the harder to see dirt that's stuck in the grains of the tabletop and then sweeping the small mound into the dirty rag. With clean hands Evie goes over the plants and tinctures that Loren has compiled, sharp eyes glancing over each one and considering the best uses and combinations for them. A sharp knife and mortar and pestle assembled themselves soon enough, and she began plucking leaves and deftly opening stems to harvest seeds and flesh. Each bottle was summarily labelled in her neat script (though not nearly as neat as Sam's unfortunately) and she stacked them by general use as she waited for the shelves to be repaired by Jigano's hand.
Burn salves for both heat and cold, laceration poultices, fever reducers, mood stabilizers. All were neatly arranged and ingredients listed on the back for any combinations Loren would wish to make.
Evie makes a variety of medicines in jars and containers on a prep board while waiting for the shelves to be repaired to store them.
Loren's compulsion was fairly successful. A trio of Ningos flapped and squawked their way out of the infirmary in a (mostly) orderly fashion. However, given the volume of mess from them, there were more here, so he reached out with his mind once more.
Jigano's creation magic went fine. However, despite his cautious approach to hammering, he apparently didn't know his own strength. As he went to hammer in one of the nails, he swung just a bit to hard and smashed the nice new shelf he'd created.
Evie's efforts with the medicines went smoothly, but there was a whole infirmary to restock so she still had work to do. but Weaver's cleaning went similarly well. As she hovered, Loren glanced at her, then focused on the linens in her hands. "You can take those to the laundry. It's downstairs." He rattled off the directions. "While you're there, can you look for some cloth for bandages?" He'd forgotten that particular supply, but the laundry people should be able to point Weaver in the right direction.
Loren's compulsion is moderately successful at compelling the Ningos to leave
Jigano breaks a shelf by swinging a hammer too hard
Weaver cleans up the whole infirmary
Evie made a bunch of medicines
Most - aside from a mishap - of the shelves had been repaired by Jigano's efforts. Giving him a teasing little smile for the overeager hammering, she begins to stack the medicines she has already made in neat little rows. Arranging them in the same manner as when she had stacked them, awarding her more room to cut and prepare even more.
So back she goes to the herbs and pots, mixing and crushing and hanging a few upside-down with twine to begin drying them for future uses. She stocks up a significant amount of blister cream and protective balms for the cold, as well as wound salves and fever reducing teas and tinctures. Things she personally think will be most direly and commonly needed in Halo compared to the Grounds. It's methodical work, and she falls into the rhythm of it easily.
Evie places what she has made on the shelves that are repaired and continues making medicines!
He grinned sheepishly back at Evie, giving a helpless little shrug. He had tried to warn Loren that carpentry wasn't his best skill, but at least he'd only broken a shelf. That was small enough that he felt confident replacing it with his magic, though he was careful to make the pieces individually, unsure how large he could go before he risked the pieces degrading. He reassembled the shelf with a more careful touch, paying attention to how hard he was wielding the hammer and not letting himself get distracted. Once it was rebuilt he tried again to affix it to the wall, caution guiding him and taking his time to ensure the nails were placed well and in line before he hung the shelf upon them and turned to Evie with a bow, gesturing for her to place her medicines as she saw fit.
"I've been meaning to take a lesson from you, if you'd be willing to teach?" he asked her with a smile. "I'd like to learn how to make some of those medicines, too, for when I'm traveling. Do you think you'd have some time free next week, by chance?" That, and getting to spend time with her again, building up that bridge with his fellow earth/healing magic user and helping each other where they could.
Jigano (tries to?) uses his creation magic to assemble a new shelf and hang it on the wall with the others.
Loren gives her directions and she sets off, following the path he’d set out for her through the palace. It is a beautiful place, though some part of her still finds that she prefers her cozy home with it’s roaring fire and it’s feeling of being lived in. There’s something too pristine and stark about this place, except the dirty and useless linens that trail along the ground where she’s dropped the corners.
It doesn’t take her long to find the laundry, staffed with a few women who come to help her. Weaver explains what she’s doing, giving them the dirty linens which they assure her will be cleaned and turned into rags and other smaller pieces of fabric. True Halovians, she thinks. Waste not, want not, and all that or whatever. ”Do you have clean bandages?” she asks them and as one the women shuffles off with her arms now full of the old bed linens. Another woman shuffles off and comes back with her arms full of rolled bandages, perfectly white and pristine.
Weavers heads back, only getting turned around once as she tries to reserve the directions Loren had given her. She figures it out though, managing to make it back to the infirmary and the others. She finds a cabinet for the bandages and loads them in, then waits to see what else needs to be done.
---
Weaver heads to the laundry and finds some women to help her and comes back with bandages, which she puts into a cabinet for storage.
weaver
-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --
Loren’s efforts would continue to get the Ningos to leave the infirmary. Indeed, as another three headed out in an orderly fashion, he poked and prodded around but didn’t seem to be able to reach anything else. Standing up, he turned to examine the rest of the infirmary.
Unfortunately, this set of medicines wouldn’t come out as well as the last set. Through no fault of Evie’s own, the herbs she used would be a bit too old to have kept their potency, and it would quickly become apparent to her as she worked. At least Jigano’s efforts with his shelves went better the second time around.
The Launceleyn headed over to his fellow healers. Reaching into the supplies he’d brought, he pulled out some neatly labeled packets and some pots, already filled with dirt. ”Sorry. I thought those would still be good.” He placed both pots and packets on the table that Evie was working on, revealing that they were medicinal herbs that Loren had been collecting.
”Maybe you two could get this growing, and I can make the rest of the medicines later?” By that time, Weaver had returned with the bandages. Unfortunately, they weren’t nearly enough in the event of an emergency (and the Launceleyn was nothing if not thorough).
Nodding in thanks, he gathered up some white and clean cloths. ”Weaver, do you mind helping me make the rest of the bandages?” He’d take them over to the other side of the infirmary. If necessary, he’d demonstrate to Weaver how to make bandages. Then he would start working on his own.
No post order!
Loren got rid of all the Ningos!
Unfortunately, the herbs Evie was using had gone bad. Loren asked her and Jigano to set up an indoor herb garden.
Jigano managed to make the shelf this time.
Weaver got some bandages. However, they weren’t quite enough, so Loren asked her for help making more.
At least the shelves were safely up, and Jigano hid a sigh of relief that he hadn't put the hammer through the wall or something else equally disastrously embarassing. He turned to check on his fellow helpers, and as he went over to join Evie he tilted his head attentively at Loren's instructions. He grinned and gave a nod of understanding before turning to the prettier of the two Wordsworth siblings with a nod towards the seed packets. "If you can get those started, I might be able to help with the medicines?" he suggested, willing to defer to Evie's expertise if she disagreed with him.
If she didn't, though, he would pluck a few of the seeds up, rolling them between his fingers as he closed his eyes and concentrated. This wasn't plucking one or two strings of magic but striking a chord across several; not hitting one note but playing a melody of magic to draw together multiple elements: Earth, to grow the seeds to ready harvest, Healing to infuse them with even stronger efficacy than nature alone could have provided, and Creation, to multiply them, mold them and make jars to hold the end result. He would use his magic to make several jars full of salves and tablets based on what seeds Loren had provided; for soothing fevers and stomachaches, soothing burns and frostbite, and the swift-healing of wounds.
Jigano uses a few of the seeds Loren provided to make Healing-magic-infused medicines by combining Healing, Earth, and Creation magic!
