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!
They worked well together, once the bickering and jostling was out of the way. Knowing the workings of her mind about as well as she knew his, Korbin was able to support his sister where needed, and together they made up for each others shortcomings. If they weren't on the best of terms at the moment, it didn't show.
With the substantial progress of the walls, Korbin figured it was best to just keep working on the task already undertaken until it was done. Moving along to resume the work on the walls that were left, he became absorbed in the task at hand. It was a pleasant distraction from his own problems, and he quite welcomed the chance to lose himself in the work.
Honestly, he almost looked happy where he was, stacking stones and mixing mortar. It was simple, uncomplicated work.
i would have bled out if you told me you liked the color red
He works on his wall and focuses with everything he has, only to turn and glance toward Chuy’s wall to see how well he had done with the small amount of advice. And honestly? He’s surprised — blonde brows raising as he turns to focus on the wall before him and comparing them. Well… Perhaps he was too distracted. He chews on the inside of his cheek a bit more intently, brows furrowing as he tries to pick up the pace.
He doesn’t really want to get paired, and with his wall not being fully completed, he shoots a quiet glance toward everyone else to see who takes up the task of the door and the overpass, keeping his focus on the wall before him to not get picked for the job.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
They finish their wall and move on to help Loren with his wall, which goes well. She finds that three people working on one wall is unnecessary though, and while Korbin seems to be enjoying the work, she doesn’t mind switching tasks. ”I can start working on the door,” she says, making her way over, figuring one of the other men would come to join her soon enough. They didn’t all need to work on the walls anymore.
Weaver sets to work, beginning to create the space in the wall that could serve as a door. It is tedious but good work, and she doesn’t mind the manual labor. It quiets her mind and leaves a bit of sweat on her brow.
***
Weaver works on the door.
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
Finally, progress is made. I seem to have found my groove, that sweet spot of efficiency and proficiency. The work allows my mind to mull over thoughts, to reflect on the time that I've had in recent weeks, to wonder at what the future might hold. I allow my mind to wander on its various trails of distraction, here and there, maintaining enough focus to get the job done while also deal with whatever curiosities my mind has found recently that it hasn't quite had the time nor capacity to process just yet.
Efficiency peaked, and it would seem I have completed my wall. I grin, pleased with myself, and watch as Glas continues his section while Loren provides instructions for the next step. I follow the woman's steps - Weaver, was it? - and offer my assistance. "I'll help," I supply with a grin, wiping my sweaty brow with the back of my hand, preparing for the next task at hand - doorbuilding, also known as knocking holes into things, before patching them back up in a way that allowed safe and convenient passage.
As Chulane and Weaver went to go work on the door and overpass, Loren nodded. With that, he joined Korbin and Glas in working on the remaining walls. Thankfully, the three of them managed to get the last of the walls completed.
Once again, Chuy proved to be the best builder among them. He not only managed to knock a hole in the wall, he also managed to install the door the Launceleyn had brought and get through a decent portion of the overpass all on his own. Weaver helped, of course, and with her assistance the two of them actually managed to complete the passage in one fell swoop.
Grinning approvingly at the team, Loren gave them all a pleased look. "Excellent job everyone. The last task is to put the roof on this place." He gestured at the planks he'd brought for this very reason. "I can bring in the furniture and everything else."
No post order! They just need to put in the roof and all will be completed
Loren, Korbin, and Glas finished constructing the walls
Chulane and Weaver (mostly Chulane) managed to install the door and build the overpass in one go
light is precious in a world so dark begin at the beginning
tell a story. make some light
It would seem I had found my groove once more. My lean, lanky build might not usually be associated with proficiency in such manually labouristic tasks, but I was good at following orders, recipes, instructions. I had performed surgeries on creatures great and small - I could build a college with the right guidance and support, clearly.
And so the doorway was completed, the archway soon to follow. I'm no artist, I like simple, clean designs, but I was adept at following the guidelines set by Loren to get this structure built how he envisioned it. It was satisfying work, and I let my satisfaction show with an easy smile to those near me, grabbing a quick drink before hearing Loren's next instructions.
A roof to finish the place off - I nod along, the task makes sense enough. I wander towards the planks of wood indicated and begin lining them up, doing my best to explain my intentions to those who also come to assist: "I think of we bundle them up in lots of five planks or so down here, we could lift them up together and create the roof a bit faster."
Ooc: Chu proposes a method to get the planks on the roof as efficiently as possible, and proceeds with said method by getting the planks tied together in bunches of 5 or so.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
Chuy comes over to help her, and he proves to be a rather good builder. Well, that suits her just fine. She lets him take the lead, making small talk and though working, maybe not quite as hard as she ought. ”You do not look particularly familiar,” she says, giving him an appraising look. ”Are you from here?” Though she usually knows when someone was from here, she leaves it as a question rather than an accusation. After all, she did not mind Outlanders quite as much as her brother.
With Chuy’s help, they speed through the door and the walkway. The walls similarly are finished by the rest of the boys, and when they are instructed to put the roof on, Chuy gives a suggestion. Weaver nods, setting to work helping him as he needs. Tying bundles of planks together, or whatever else might be asked of her.
***
Weaver helps Chuy, doing what he suggests.
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
i would have bled out if you told me you liked the color red
Surprisingly, nobody harps on him for choosing to stick to his wall. And with it, his anxiety calms a small amount once he manages to get the wall finished. A smile ghosting across his face at the fact that he’d helped create something else, with no need of a reward in sight. Just… the ability to say that he’d had a hand in it. And he leans back from the wall, green gaze focused on it before turning back toward Loren to hear the comment of the roof.
The walls are complete and the door is made, and Chuy offers a suggestion that makes sense to the young crafter. And he follows Weaver and Chuy’s direction, helping to bundle the planks and tie them up to be brought up higher, bringing over a ladder nearby to place against the outside of the wall for whomever goes up above. He grabs a hammer as well, to help secure the roof from the base.
Glas helps bundle then grabs a ladder to help nail the roof into place underneath as well!
They were making a surprising amount of progress, but it was still consuming more time than Korbin really wanted to spend on one project. Perhaps his spur to be done with this helped him this time, because he worked tirelessly alongside the others until the walls were completed.
That left only the roof. Korbin shifted briefly into his raven form and flew up to the rafters, where he shifted back and helped receive the boards the others hoisted up. It was makeshift, this plank roof, but would keep the snow out until something better could be added; isolation, slate shingles, that sort of thing. Same with the walls, they'd have to be isolated too if the building were to be useable in Deepfrost.
But for once the young raven keot his thoughts to himself and worked on, hammering down planks and helping the others where he was needed.
Chulane might've wanted to bundle up the planks. However, as soon as he tried, they slid in the snow, falling back to the ground. As they did, one of them smacked the newcomer in the shin, hard enough to leave a nasty bruise. Loren, unfortunately, had already shifted to follow Korbin up to the roof.
Thankfully, Weaver's efforts at bundling go much more smoothly. Especially when Glas joined her, they managed to pass up quite a few bundles. Then, as the craftsman joined the healer and the hunter on the roof, it went surprisingly smoothly. Indeed, after Chuy's little mishap at the beginning, they managed to construct well over half the roof.
No post order! The roof is over halfway completed
light is precious in a world so dark begin at the beginning
tell a story. make some light
This was the kind of job where he normally might have regailed the workers with a story, full of misadventures and bawdy insinuation. Or led them in one of the many working songs that would set the pace for the hammer strokes, making the job just a little bit easier. And less tedious.
But he could do neither of those things, and since he wasn't in the mood to entertain only Loren, Korbin kept working with his head down, swept in sullen, sufferig silence.
Ooh, okay. Allitteration might be a way to keep him occupied at least.
Spitefully spiking splendid support for snow some suggests should soon surround supplicants.
Not bad. Needed a little work though...
And so the raven boy toiled on.
-----
Korbin keeps hammering away at the roof, trying for some allitteration to pass the time.
I'm a lady, like whoa I could bring you to your knees
The bundling goes well enough after Chuy gets smacked in the shin. ”You alright?” she asks, simply tossing a bit of healing his way to help with the bruise, though she says nothing about it and it’s not all that obvious it came from her. No, he’ll likely just notice that it doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as it should.
She continues to work, bundling planks and sending them up to the boys on the roof. When the last of the planks makes its way up there, she’ll go join them on the roof if there’s anything left to do, and help with the hammering. If not though, she’s perfectly happy to keep her feet on the ground and watch them finish up.
***
Weaver keeps bundling planks and joins the boys on the roof if they need her; otherwise she just watches them.
i would have bled out if you told me you liked the color red
Glas’ gaze only diverts from the task at hand when Chuy gets that nasty bruise to his leg. After that, it returns on the task and he works hard to try and ensure that the roof is settled in place – that the wind and snows don’t impact it, slanted enough that the snow won’t collect and cause the roof to collapse beneath the pressure of it when Deepfrost hits. And so far, so good. Half of it is up – and he continues to work diligently to try and finish up the work.
Of course, this doesn’t stop his mind from wandering back to the easy banter between Korbin and Weaver, of Loren and the rest of them, sighing quietly to himself as it feels more and more like something is missing. Perhaps that was the worst part about going out to help around Halo and running those errands. And yet, still, a part of him still immensely prefers the idea of staying within the safe confines of the workshop.
It would seem that I have indeed peaked - and now was gloriously plummeting to a new and painful low. Though my idea seems to be adopted readily by the crew of workers, and seems in itself a good idea, my own execution of it? Not so much.
I grunt as the planks refuse to come together in an orderly fashion and instead decide to smack against my lower leg, the pain immediate and radiating as I knew a bruise will develop before the day is out. "Yeah, I'll be right," I mutter in response to Weaver, not unfriendly but just, in pain. I stand to the side to catch my breath and rest my injured limb, testing it every now and then - and find that after a short while it doesn't hurt as much.
With a slight limp to my step I get back to work, choosing to remain on the ground - last thing I need is to be higher off the ground and have a moment of unco-ordination strike again. I focus on passing up any tools and final planks those up higher need, and being ready to assist where needed.
Chuy gets smacked by the planks and unknowingly healed up by Weaver.
He then gets back to work, staying on the ground to assist where he can in passing up the last planks and tools to those on top of the roof.
