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!
02-27-2020, 08:21 PM (This post was last modified: 03-05-2020, 02:27 AM by Jigano.)
After the lesson on Hollowed Grounds’ Flora and Fauna had stirred interest in several attendees, Jigano had sent a letter to Dean Phoebe of the Medical College suggesting a joint venture to the Outskirts to study Tangleweeds and see if their numbing poison could be harvested for use by the doctors, so they would be better prepared for future tragedies.
The goal was simple: to observe the rolling plantimals, take notes of their behavior and reactions, and to collect specimens for the medics to turn into a paste or agent that could be used to help patients in the Infirmary. Members of both Guilds were invited to participate, and a day was chosen and posted to the noticeboard in the Temple near the Infirmary and the Loreseeker’s Guild entrance to entice members to join. A raven with an invitation was sent to Loren , as Halo’s chief healer, as well.
It was a rare, cloudy day in Longheat when Jigano made his way to the appointed meeting place, just past the old Valair property. The heat was still oppressive but the breezes were beginning to tease of an approaching Leafchange around the corner, and the bard was looking forward to cooler days and crisp nights. He wore his old, wide-brimmed gray hat and leaned on a tall walking staff, while over his shoulder was slung a bag containing some useful implements for measuring, his journal, and the magic jar Deimos had made for him.
Isuma was curled around his shoulders, panting and limp in the heat, and he occasionally poured water from a skin into his palm for her to drink as they waited to see who would arrive.
This is a PQ for Loreseekers Guild and Caido Medical College members! There is no limit to how many can join, but the first round will be posted on March 1st as long as there are at least 2 participants, and rounds will update every 48-72 hours.
02-27-2020, 09:55 PM (This post was last modified: 03-05-2020, 08:52 PM by Loren.)
loren
Considering Loren was a member of both the Medical College and the Loreseekers, not showing up would be pretty silly. Besides, he had nothing against either Phoebe or Jigano. In fact, he thought of them both as friends, even if he was a bit shit at friendship. So on the day in question, he'd made the long trip out from the Citadel, through the Portal, and to the Outskirts, Astra in tow.
The healer was dressed in black pants and a black shirt. The pants were tucked into his boots, and he had a knife at his hip and an empty bag on his back. Nodding at Jigano, the Launceleyn reached up to give Isuma a friendly scratch as Astra trotted up to the bard. "Hey. Thanks for the invite." Loren might look a little bit better than the last time the white-haired man had seen the healer, not least because he was actually sober.
Quanil ran up to the meeting place. "Sorry! Sorry, I'm coming! I'm not late am I?"
This was something they'd been wondering about since the lecture. The Tangleweeds, that is, not if they were late. They weren't real sure what they could offer, but they had their staff, their helpful attitude, and general ability to take directions. Better than nothing, right?
They smiled at the provost, always happy to prove themselves of use to their guild.
”Thank you for showing up,” Jigano greeted Loren warmly as Isuma pressed into the scratches with a subdued purr. Human greetings made, she slipped off her companion’s shoulder to flutter down to Astra’s antlers for a chirruped conversation with her friend, happy as always to have a luxere pal to hang out with while the two-leggers did incomprehensible things nearby.
”And no, you aren’t late,” he chuckled as Quanil hurried up, full of energy and enthusiasm as ever. ”In fact, it must be everyone else who’s late.” He grinned ruefully as he looked around at the empty landscape, grain ripening in the fields and the occasional drab tree struggling to make it through the heat. If anyone else was coming, they’d see them moving across the landscape…
But since no one else appeared on the horizon the bard shrugged and turned to those who had responded to his call. ”Let’s walk and talk,” he suggested, leading the way towards the old barrier scar, the grasses growing more stunted and sparser as they neared it. The land was recovering but it was still a slow process, and one that would take years yet to complete. ”I thought we could use staves to poke them from a distance so that they latch onto the wood instead of our arms,” he said with a wry grin to his two friends. ”But do you have any suggestions for how to get the numbing poison they release out of their limbs and into a jar?” Speaking of jars… He focused his magic to create two glass jars with snug-fitting stoppers that he handed to each of them. ”We can either kill them, or try to ‘milk’ the poison from. Which would you prefer? Or can you think of a third option?”
Overhead a circling raven cried out and dove to the east, and Jigano followed it, leading the way over a rise in the landscape. Spread out below was a small, dusty valley and across it were gently rolling a few tumbleweeds, moving with the faint breeze from the Greatwood.
How should the group go about collecting the numbing agent secreted by the Tangleweeds? Preferences? Suggestions? Better make them quick, it looks like you’ve already found a few to try and wrangle!
Quanil was amazed that no one else had showed up for this! What an educational opportunity this would be, and it would help people, too! But, at least they weren't late. There was that. They did take a bit of time to stare at the pretty luxere; it was nice to see one so up close!
And they didn't squee this time.
They really wanted to.
But they didn't.
For now.
They had been thinking about this off and on (when they weren't thinking about the dozens of other things that tended to zoom through their head at high speed on a regular basis), and they made a tentative suggestion.
"What if we wrapped the end of the staves in some sort of absorbent cloth?" they asked. "The Tangleweed latches onto the staff and then the cloth soaks up the poison that's released? And then we can just put the cloth in a jar or something, wring it out later. Wearing gloves. W-would that work?"
They were nervous enough presenting ideas to the provost, but now there was also a stranger around. Hopefully the nice person with the Luxere wouldn't be a yelling sort of person? Quanil could deal with their idea not being a good one; they just didn't want to be yelled at about it.
Giving Jigano a grateful smile, Loren nodded in acknowledgement. As a stranger approached, the healer held out his hand to shake. "Hi there. I don't think we've met, I'm Loren." The words were quiet and polite, the Launceleyn clearly on his best behavior. Astra, momentarily distracted by Isuma, also trotted up to the third member of their group for an introduction. "And that's Astra."
Following the bard, Loren nodding along to the the white haired man's words. Glancing out out at the approaching tangleweeds, the healer shrugged. "I'd prefer not to kill them if at all possible. Let me get them to start numbing something that won't be harmed and then I can try to milk them with telekinesis." Having said that his brow furrowed with concentration. Three squirrels appeared in front of him, and they bounded towards the tangleweeds, hoping to catch their attention.
Loren summons three squirrels to try and have the tangleweeds latch on so they can study how they release the numbing agent. He also suggests using his telekinesis to milk them.
He nodded thoughtfully at Quanil ’s suggestion, giving the young Loreseeker a smile of encouragement. ”I think it’s certainly worth trying!” He used his combined earth and creation magic to create a simple length of linen, then handed both his staff and the newly-minted cloth to Quanil to prepare as they saw fit, so they could put their idea into motion.
Realizing too late that introductions hadn’t been made, he grinned sheepishly at his colleagues and nodded to Loren as the summoner introduced himself. ”Loren is a former member of the Loreseekers who is now the Grand Healer of Halo,” he explained to Quanil. ”Still a friend and ally of the guild, but he has an entire region to help care for now, and with Halo’s dangers it’s a full time job.” He gave his friend a nod of respect along with a grateful smile that the other man had been able to make it out today. ”Loren, this is Quanil. They grew up here in the Grounds, and joined us right after Flowerbirth. They bring enthusiasm and energy to the Hall, and keep things lively.” He winked at the youngest Seeker, who had a question or ten for every situation – just the way the Guild liked it.
Loren’s desire to avoid killing the Tangleweeds was met with a nod of agreement, and they started down the hill towards the rocking bundles of dried, dead-seeming sticks that were ambling across the landscape. The squirrels reached them first, the first of the rodents approaching just as an unlucky gust of wind pushed the tumbleweed out of its path, but it rolled into the second squirrel – and for a moment it seemed like it would roll right over the top of it. The sticks rattled, and as it settled back into place the squirrel was entangled in the center of the twiggy mass, pricked by sharp bark that released a clear fluid to numb and incapacitate the little beast. The third squirrel was luckier, as the bundle of sticks it approached appeared to be just a regular tumbleweed after all, rolling harmlessly over it.
Quanil was braver, (if they chose to get close enough to employ the staff they now carried) and the bundle of sticks that they approached must have been hungry indeed, for at the first poke with staff (or hand) it would lash out its limbs to wrap firmly around whatever it came in contact with, poison seeping onto and into the surface of what it had caught.
The Provost reached out with his earth magic to tug the land around them up into a shallow bowl, one the humans and companions would be able to easily climb out of, but that would hopefully contain the Tangleweed pack they’d found and prevent them from blowing away until the humans had finished their collection.
Loren’s squirrels had 1 success! But what to do now that the squirrel is wrapped up inside the Tangleweed?
Quanil was strongly successful! They have a Tangleweed at the end of their staff if they want one! But that Tangleweed doesn’t seem like it’s going to release the staff or cloth willingly…
03-05-2020, 08:52 PM (This post was last modified: 03-05-2020, 08:52 PM by Loren.)
loren
Nodding at Jigano’s introduction, Loren smiled a bit. Soon enough, though, they had to focus on the task at hand. When one of the squirrels got wrapped up in a tangleweed, his brow furrowed in concentration.
With a mental command, the other two squirrels scurried back to their numbed triplet. Directing them to grip the parts of the trapped squirrel that weren't under the tangleweed, he ordered them to drag it over towards him until he could grab the tangleweed with his telekinesis.
As the earth began to reshape itself, the healer glanced at the bard. Then the Launceleyn waved a hand and ice coated the top of slope, hopefully an extra layer of precaution.
The other two squirrels try to drag the third trapped one over to Loren. He also coats the top of the bowl Jigano created with ice.
Quanil gave a firm but quick handshake. "Oh, pleased to meet you, sir. And very pleased to meet you, Astra." They were always happiest to meet animals. Quanil blushed under the provost's introduction.
They took the cloth to wrap around their staff. "Yeah, I don't want to have to kill them." The cloth fell off on the first wrapping, but Quanil did it a different way to make sure it'd hold better. They eyed the conjured squirrels and even knowing they weren't real animals, still felt a little sorry for them.
The Tangleweeds made them a little nervous, but A Loreseeker Fears Nothing! ...and besides, the provost was here, and he wouldn't let anything happen to them. They had to prove their bravery! The nice thing about a staff was the distance it allowed them.
They winced when the squirrel got captured - it's not real, it's not real - and then approached another bundle of sticks. They poked at it with the cloth-covered end of their staff and jumped when it instantly lashed out and latched on. They glanced around to see if anyone had noticed their reaction, and then watched the Tangleweed instead. They saw the cloth darken as it soaked up poison, then, figuring that was good, set about retrieving their staff.
Or not, because, of course, it hadn't let go. "Oops." The Tangleweed wanted its meal, not to just donate poison and then leave. Quanil's brow furrowed.
Could use another staff to try to free this one, but if it latches onto that one instead, we're stuck just cycling back and forth between one trapped staff and the other. Or it could just latch onto both, and then we're really stuck.
After a moment's consideration, they asked, "Would it be possible to create a wall around the staff, between the Tangleweed and me? I'm thinking that if I pull the staff hard enough and the Tangleweed can't come with the staff because the wall's in the way, maybe it'll let go?"
The first squirrel managed to get a hold of his sibling’s tail safely and began to tug at the trapped beast and the Tangleweed that encompassed it. The second squirrel, alas, was not so lucky. It got a little too close as it reached for a limb to grab, and instead was grabbed in turn! The Tangleweed dragged the second squirrel into its center atop the first, the numbing poison already doing its work.
The added weight and the size of the original Tangleweed made it to heavy and unwieldy for the first squirrel to drag, though it gave a mighty effort.
At least the ice magic went off without a hitch, creating a slippery barrier to keep their test subjects from escaping.
Jigano had been about to prepare his own staff-and-cloth to make his own attempt at milking an angry stickbeast when Quanil interrupted his attempt to gather magic. Their idea seemed like a good one, so the provost nodded thoughtfully. ”We can certainly give it a try,” he agreed with a smile. Moving to stand beside them, he pulled at the earth, twisting his creation magic around it to create a short wall that rose around the staff.
Loren ‘s Squirrel 1 is a real trooper! But even it can’t pull two deadweight siblings and a two-foot tall bundle of sticks.
Quanil has asked and received. What will they do next?
As the tangleweed captured another squirrel and the first squirrel proved unable to drag all that weight, Loren sighed. Glancing at the wall that Jigano had raised, the healer finally shrugged. Then he returned his attention to his squirrels.
Chewing his lip a bit, the Launceleyn finally raised both hands. Water streamed out of both, and he directed it towards the squirrels. Continuing to have the first squirrel drag the other two, he had the latest streams of water try to pull the bundle of squirrels and tangleweed towards him. If, on the off chance, the first squirrel was captured as well, he'd just try to roll the entire thing his way.
Loren adds water magic to try and pull the tangleweed and squirrels towards himself.
"Thank you, sir," they said as the provost provided a wall. Then they planted their feet for best stability, made sure their grip on the staff was as secure as it could be, and jerked the staff back suddenly, pulling hard and hoping the combination of surprise and what could be called their "strength" would suffice in freeing the staff.
They fully expected the Tangleweed would pull back, and they were ready to try to plant a foot against the wall if need be to help themselves, but their hope was that the Tangleweed, having encountered a wall, would give up and relinquish the "meal," leaving only the poison-soaked cloth on the staff.
If it pulls the cloth off, it'll try to digest it. Can it digest the cloth? I mean, I don't see why not, if it's organic material. But maybe it won't want to because there's no blood and organs? Because Quanil's mind always had to wonder about stuff.
Tangleweeds might not have been smart, but they weren’t entirely mindless. Or at least, they could respond to stimulus. Feeling something tugging at its prey, Loren ’s Tangleweed lashed out a branch at the last squirrel standing. The lucky little rodent lost a patch of fur on its tail from a thorn, but it didn’t get pulled into the ‘Weed’s heart with its brethren. The squirrel didn’t have any better luck making headway at dragging its target back to its master, but Loren’s water proved a more successful gambit. Though the Tangleweed caught on a large stone for a moment, the expertly-manipulated streams eventually brought it back towards the summoner with its two captives and one ride-along rodent, depositing the bundle of sticks and squirrels at his feet.
He could have just walked over to it earlier, of course, but where would be the fun in that? Now he still had to figure out a way to free the captive squirrels and harvest the poison.
Quanil might have been able to chase Tangleweeds all day, but their strength wasn’t up to this particular task. The Tangleweed was pulled against the wall, but it just compacted slightly while the young Loreseeker struggled with it. Nor was luck with them in this particular endeavor. Indeed, it had turned quite sour as their attempts to plant a foot and pull resulted in the staff coming free with a sudden release while the cloth remained behind, tangled in the Weed’s thorns.
Jigano had finally found a moment to consider his own approach. He knew he shouldn’t rely on magic as much as he did, but there was no denying that it made things easier. He concentrated to bring his earth and creation magic to bear on his left hand, creating a thick wrapping all around his hand and forearm up to his elbow. It was thick enough to look like a splint, and his fingers were completely hidden within. He headed towards a third, smallish Tangleweed rolling around in their makeshift corral and reached out to poke it with his bandaged limb. The ‘Weed reacted swiftly to slap his arm with a poisoned branch and tried to draw it into its center, but found the morsel larger than it had anticipated and hesitated before getting more entangled with this unexpected feast.
Loren’s water successfully brought the Tangleweed over to himself but still needs to harvest the poison.
Quanil retrieved their staff but lost the cloth with the poison in the process! How to retrieve it?
Jigano poked a Tangleweed of his own, but it’s not sure about whether or not he’s worth eating/poisoning further.
And then Quanil fell backwards onto their ass, staff free... but cloth gone. They groaned - more at the loss of the poison-soaked cloth than out of any pain - and stood back up. "Okay, I guess we find out if the Tangleweed wants to eat cloth..." they muttered.
Not that they were content to leave it at that. They considered the problem.
Most plants - and animals and insects... fish... birds... LIVING THINGS - don't like fire. But even if I could make fire somehow, the Tangleweed will just try to roll away with its cloth-y meal. Won't get far, they thought, looking at the ice-rimmed bowl, but that's still not helpful.
They glanced between Mr. Loren and the provost and approached the Tangleweed, keeping the wall of dirt (and their staff) between themselves and the plant. "Could... could you let the cloth go, please?" they asked quietly. They'd talked to the crops on the farm before, and that had helped them grow tastier (even if everyone else thought they were crazy). "The cloth isn't very tasty now, is it?" If it were some sort of sentient, maybe it would listen?
Out of the corner of their eye, they caught the motion of the provost's Tangleweed lashing out. Turning to find him - well, part of him - entangled caused an immediate burst of, "Are you alright, sir?!"
Yes, of course Quanil is gonna try talking to the plant. And get worried about their Beloved Guild Master.
