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!
One room down, two to go, and so Jigano moved onto the second room that Loren had indicated needed a fireplace installed. Excavated? Molded? The bard wasn't quite sure what to call what he was doing, but he was glad that his magic could help make the process go faster and more smoothly than trying to tear out a wall and expose the rooms to the outside cold so that fireplaces could be rebuilt into them.
Stripping off a layer as the exertion got to him, the bard was still muffled under several more sweaters as he flexed his fingers and reached for the stone, closing his eyes to better 'feel' for the shape of weaknesses and stressors within, to better shore them up or work along the lines already provided as he used the previous room's experience to guide his magic with a more confident hand. Fire and Earth and Creation, melding into a soaring melody in his heart as he pulled and pushed, shaped and raised, burrowed and crafted the fireplace with its mantle, dampener, and wind baffle.
04-24-2020, 07:46 PM (This post was last modified: 04-24-2020, 07:47 PM by Noah.)
NOAH
I wait and tell myself "life ain't chess,"
As Noah gathered more furs to hang in the corners of the room, he watched to see if any would fall. When they didn't, Noah nodded in triumph. Hanging the furs here proved to be more difficult than it was in his own home, but he chocked it up to the difference in material the buildings were made out of.
Gathering more supplies, Noah set to finish this room the way he had just done. When he was satisfied, he moved on to the next room and repeated. He could feel the tug in the muscles in his back from bending, stretching, and heaving heavy furs. Sweat beaded on his brow, but he pressed on. The outlanders would need the warmth, and Noah would help provide it for them.
The stretch in his back made him think of a new plan. Shifting into reindeer form, Noah moved out to get more supplies. Stepping out from the room, Noah looked around for Korbin. Korbin, He started, stopping before another pile of furs, How is it going? Can you put these furs in my antlers and on my back?
__
Noah finishes the room he was working on and another room. He heads back out to get more supplies in his reindeer form and asks Korbin to help him gather the furs.
Korbin's quick thinking managed to actually get all the feathers gathered into a neat pile this time around. Once the feathers had been herded, he'd be able to actually stuff some of the pillows this time around. Unfortunately, he wouldn't get that far before Noah would interrupt.
It was touch and go with the furs for a while, but the careful work, and the experience with the previous furs, would allow the reindeer to get the job done again. There was still a third room to take care of though.
Also in the second room, Jigano's efforts with the next fireplace would be a bit uncertain at times. However, the bard's stupidly high stats careful touch would get the job done. He too, however, had a third room to contend with.
Outside, Loren had a bit more luck this time around. He managed to complete the first pile entirely, and get most of the second one done as well. However, he still had work to do, and the memory snow might decide to get stubborn again.
Congratulations, everyone succeeded this round! No post order.
Korbin has more pillow cases to stuff
Noah still has more furs to put up in the third and final room
Jigano has a third fireplace to install
Loren has more snow to pile
And round about his home the glory That blushed and bloomed,
Well, better than nothing. Korbin felt his frustration lessen as something went according to plan. He worked quietly and quickly, but made sure to actually do the job properly. Perhaps that was why he was less than finished by the time Noah called to him for help.
He couldn't reply, and didn't feel like shifting just to offer a few words, but the young man stood and went over to help his friend load the furs up. Made sure he wouldn't accidentally break the reindeer's back by stacking up too much... though he couldn't help but playfully drape one of the pelts across the doe-eyed face. Felt only right and proper to spread his misery around a bit.
Once that was done, he returned to his own task. More pillows to stuff, more feathers to shove into cloth and sew up... It was tedious, and Korbin couldn't even pass the time with singing. He settled for working on lyrics instead, on the off chance that his deafness one day would let up.
---
Korbin goes to help Noah, then returns to the boring pillow cases.
Is but a dim-remembered story Of the old time entombed.
Jigano hoped that experience would ease the way on the third one. He had struggled with the first two, his inexperience with the practical vs. the hypothetical and turning what he'd read about into something real adding a level of challenge to the situation that was only heightened by his anxiety over making a mistake that would let the snow and ice in before he could fix it. Still, at least his hard work and all the time he'd put into leveling his stats was paying off. There was only one left, and though he was feeling the strain of using so much magic in short order he thought he could manage one more before he curled up on Noah's pile of furs and stole one of Korbin's pillows for a nap.
But first, room three. Earth and Fire and Creation hummed and sang within his soul, green and crimson and bronze strands twining together as he called on his magic to follow the template laid down by the past two moldings. Power flowed through his fingertips, reaching into the stones to melt and meld and reform them, hopefully finishing the last fireplace and damper with similar results to those that had come before.
Noah was thankful for Korbin's help, until the younger man covered his eyes. He grunted, shaking and tossing his head--as carefully as he could manage to not dislodge the furs entirely--until he had partial sight again. Ya monster. He laughed to the raven, turning to head back to the last room he had to cover.
Shaking the bounty of furs from his back and head, Noah shifted back. He quickly trotted out on two legs to gather more nails and his hammer, before setting to work. He replicated what he did on the last two rooms, using the rest of his strength and determination to make the hides stay nailed up. Should that work, and satisfaction meet him, he would move on to lay the remaining furs on the floors of the trio of rooms. It was not completely covered in some spots, but the walls had been a high priority. The winds of Deepfrost were biting and harsh.
____
Noah finishes the third room as he did with the first two, then spreads out the remaining furs the cover the floors of all three rooms.
After 'helping' Noah, Korbin would return to working with the pillowcases. Once again, after that initial issue with the feathers, the raven's work on them would go smoothly. Indeed, he'd find that he finished the last of them without issue.
Maybe he should've given Noah some actually help, though, because the reindeer's efforts with the furs would fail again. As he went to lay some on the furs, the ones he tried to attach to the walls of the third room would fall down. At least Jigano's efforts in that room would work without any issue, the third and final fireplace would get installed as smoothly as the first two.
Outside, Loren would easily pile the last of the snow, all the fight having gone out of the memory snow by this point. He made his way back inside to see how the others were doing. Nodding approvingly at the work they'd done, he smiled at Noah. "Here, I can take care of the last of these. Thanks, everyone. I really appreciate the help, and I know the Grounders will as well."
With that, the healer went to go hang the last of the furs. If anyone had any questions or concerns, he'd answer them as best he could. However, the rooms, which had been bare and sparse and empty to begin with, now looked positively cozy.
This PQ has now concluded! Feel free to post a final wrap-up!
Satisfaction did not meet him. The furs came crashing down. Noah could hear them sliding down as he worked to cover the floor of the second room. He huffed out a heaving sigh, rolling his head and neck in frustration. Apparently, the effort he had put into the two previous rooms showed. He knew he had worked hard on them, and he might even feel sore in the small of his back in the next coming days, but he could not help but be mad that the third room bested him.
However, Loren was finished with his task, and offered to finish for the man. Normally, his stubbornness would say to push back against Loren and just stay there to finish the task no matter how long it took. It was not really Noah's place to do that here, though, in the palace that Loren lived in. So, he nodded instead, and offered his services still. "It'll go quickly if we finish it up together." He said.
__
Woohoo! Noah is too stubborn to let Loren finish his project for him so Noah is gonna stay to help finish.
And round about his home the glory That blushed and bloomed,
Well, fucking finally. The pillows were done, the feathers mostly spent, all the other tasks accomplished. Korbin fetched a broom and made sure to clean up whatever down he had missed, and then looked around. Noah and Loren were still hanging furs, but aside that nothing appeared out of place.
Without a word, the young man came over to lend the others a hand. Mostly because Noah still lingered, or so Korbin told himself.
But even if asked, he wouldn't say anything else on his sudden deafness, and as soon as the furs were properly in place, Korbin stalked off.
----
Korbin quietly stays to help with the furs as well, then leaves.
Is but a dim-remembered story Of the old time entombed.
The fireplaces were made, but they were empty, barren, cold. At least the bard had learned enough to not light a fire prematurely, but he tilted a tired grin to Loren as he rubbed the sweat from his brow, smudging dirt across his face without realizing it. "It's a good start. I wouldn't leave you or them hanging like this, though. Cold fireplaces won't get too far."
While the others wrestled with furs and feathers, Jigano focused on his earth and creation magic, calling logs to hand for each fireplace, perfectly sized to each and already split. He could only manage the local trees, but pines and hardy firs still made for good fuel as he built the stacks that would be needed to keep them burning through Deepfrost. "These should last through until almost LongNight," he calculated, calling the estimate back to Loren. "Any of them left after that will probably fall apart, if what I've been seeing of my items from last season is any indication."
Once he was sure his people would be warm through most of the cold season to come, however, he would gather Isuma and stumble home, half-drunk from exhaustion and only his dragonshape making the journey to the portal survivable.
As the two native-born Halovians worked on putting up the last of the furs with Loren, he gave them a grateful nod. When Jigano made logs out of nothing, the healer smiled. "Thank you. That's going to be incredibly helpful." Wood was precious, and every little bit would help.
As the bard explained how long the wood would last, the Launceleyn nodded. "We'll make sure we gather the rest." With that, he turned to face the whole group. "Thank you all, truly, for your help. I know this might seem like a waste, but the Grounders will pay us back for this kindness. And I owe you a huge favor." Grinning, he escorted them out of the Palace.
