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!
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
Melita hadn’t missed out on monsoon season – it’d driven and battered its way through the ocean, along the sea, twisting and turning until the Ark had seemed insignificant out on the waves, small, little, nothing in the great melee. They’d survived – but there were haunting conjectures to the little adventure.
It seemed to resonate here too, along the coast, where debris rested, collected from bombardments, settling in on the tides until the currents brought them in, and there they were, stuck in the sand. She noted portions of wood and docks, as if pulled away from its settlements the anchors gone, and fled down further – along with nets, lines of fishing wire that would likely harm some local flora and fauna, and an array of other things.
And though the sun threatened to beat down, the morning should’ve been early enough to get a move on. She might not have been native to this region, but she loved and cared for it just the same. There was no sense in leaving the refuse here. So, she’d posted notes along the boards, then hustled down to the beach, Fangorn at her ankles, immediately grabbing hold of a large piece of wood, and hauling it over to start a pile.
--
Open PQ to clean up debris from the monsoon season!
1.
2.
3.
PQ will move on when the slots are all filled! Thank you!
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
i never thought i'd see the day i'd see you as somebody i could hate
It almost feels like it never ends. Cleaning up after LongNight. Cleaning up after the monsoons. Cleaning up after Longheats parties. Maybe it didn’t end. Maybe he was a fool for imagining and wishing it so. At the very least, he gets a fair amount of time to figure out what else needs to be done. And that’s when he notices the flyer on the notice board. And now that he knows a face to go along with it, he happily makes his way to the beach.
“Aye, Melly!” He calls out in greeting, waving a hand, tacking on a small nickname out of sheer amusement. “Guess I only see ya when we’re cleanin’ shit off the beaches, huh?” Flashing her an easy grin, he spreads his arms out as if to say he’s there to do whatever it is she wishes.
And it seems like they’re there to pick up the mess on the beach. And so he starts as well, making a pile for salvageable parts, another for those that are lost – like the fishing nets that managed to make it to shore.
i guess that's just the price i pay for the blood red flags that i walked past every day
Considering that Arialla still spent a good bit of her time beachcombing, finding shells and other trinkets to trade, the trashed beach was quite a blow. She'd taken part in beach cleanups at home -- though the storms there were never this bad -- but hesitated to attempt such a monumental task alone ... so, of course, Melita's notice seemed like a godsend.
Arialla showed up bright and early, carrying a few bags that she thought might be useful for smaller debris, once they had the big pieces moved out of the way -- though maybe that was getting ahead of herself. She put her bags down near one of Milo's piles as she greeted the others: "Hello, Melita; it's good to see you again." To Milo: "I don't think I know you, but I'm glad to meet you. My name is Arialla."
Pleasantries complete, Arialla started grabbing debris for the two piles, finding a thick plank off of some destroyed building or ship the first object to come to hand.
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
Greetings and exchanges from voices she’d heard before – familiar and lilting – like favored songs, and she hastened a wave to both individuals. “Seems so,” and she wrinkled her nose at the indication that this, cleaning, was the only pathway as of late. A low whisper was extended though, at a thought, brows furrowing slightly as Arialla approached. “Have you heard anything about the sicknesses lately?” Maybe he had more information.
Then there was the young woman from the rainbow pools, and her smile brightened, Fangorn grumbling and growling in recognition. “I hope everything went well for you. Did you get to talk to Safrin again?” Was now a good time as any, when the world was crumbling once more?
Thereafter, they all seemed to settle into a foundation, a routine. It wasn’t a difficult talk, per se, but necessary after heavy rains and ridiculous winds. “We’ll get just make a pile of things to burn or get rid of. And if you see anything salvageable, we’ll make a separate one.”
Milo, starting right away, would find more than just debris. For his efforts, the futile essence bore deep into his skin, some jagged nail puncturing, piercing, along his palm. Had it been caught from some other object? Most likely – but it didn’t matter now, when the blood began to pour.
Arialla and Melita found far more success. The other Accepted would grab her debris, and discover one plank could likely come in handy for someone else, while the other was well past the point of rotting, nearly crumbling in her hands. There was also something glinting nearby – shining, a glimmering, beacon. What could it be?
The honeybee youth came out swinging, snagging a pair of decrepit boards, and hastening them quickly to the refuse pile.
--
Great rolls, except for you Milo. :/
Arialla has found something shiny nearby!
Keep digging through!
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
i never thought i'd see the day i'd see you as somebody i could hate
Melita’s question catches him slightly off guard, and he offers her a slightly goofy grin. “Som’a’the dock workers are sick, but that’s ‘bout it.” He offers, bronze shoulders rising and falling in a small shrug. But with Arialla approaching, he offers the other woman a wide smile of greeting, a small wave. “Nice ‘ta meet ya Arialla. I’m Milo.” Flashing her another wide grin, he continues to reach and grab for debris, hoping to make the best of the situation at hand.
And of course, things don’t quite go according to plan. He grabs something and it bites back, a nail piercing into his palm, and he hisses quietly under his breath – immediately lifting the wound to his lips to try and staunch the bleeding and keep from simply getting his blood on everything. So he reaches for his shirt next, tearing off a small piece at the bottom of it, able to use this and tie it around his palm so it would at least absorb the blood.
And then he’s reaching back in again, far more carefully this time, trying to continue grabbing boards and metals he finds within the water’s edge and along the beaches.
Milo wraps his hand with a makeshift bandage and continues to grab debris!
i guess that's just the price i pay for the blood red flags that i walked past every day
09-11-2020, 12:28 AM (This post was last modified: 09-11-2020, 12:29 AM by Arialla.)
Arialla
"Not yet, no," Arialla answered Melita, her smile a bit strained. She'd been putting off talking to Safrin again, actually. Nominally, she was waiting to find a good offering; in truth, she was a bit nervous about the whole prospect -- she felt like she needed a better idea of what she wanted before bothering the goddess with another vague cry for help. So she'd somehow let a whole season slide by without returning to Safrin's shrine, as she'd said she would do after LongNight, and that had added another anxiety to the pile: now she feared Safrin would be angry that she'd waited so long.
"Are you all right, Milo?" Arialla asked, spotting blood. He seemed to have it handled, but she stood ready to help if he needed it -- her role as the priestess of a healer god had given her a bit of experience treating small wounds.
When she saw something shiny in the debris, however, Arialla got a bit distracted. It could just be a piece of rubbish glass or metal, she knew, but no harm in finding out -- she picked her way carefully through the debris to investigate the object.
----------
Arialla's going to check out that shiny thing! She's also willing to take a look at Milo's injury if he wants her to.
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
Her brows furrowed momentarily, just some dock workers getting sick; that could’ve been anything, or something else altogether, notched and knotted amongst the rest of the broken brethren. “Did they have anything like a fever? Or seem delusional?” How far had it spread? And had anyone found any other information?
But then Milo was bleeding, something caught along the debris, chafing at skin, and she dropped her items off into the pile, collecting the bandages she always carried in her bag, and tossing them to him. Arialla seemed more than willing to help too, and he should’ve been right as rain in no time.
That Arialla hadn’t gone to Safrin yet surprised the youth, but perhaps time simply hadn’t been on her side. “When you’re ready then,” and she smiled, a little light, a little airy. “Maybe you’ll find something here to bring to her.” Something admirable, something beautiful, something the goddess would enjoy.
As they all wove around together, back towards their shifting and moving, dragging pieces of refuse and wreckage along the shore, Milo would once again find himself plagued. As he dug into the boards, one fell, and if it weren’t an inanimate object it would seem almost deliberate, a blistering blow towards his hand. Perhaps he needed more bandages.
Melita, humming under her breath, had no issues in grabbing hold of another piece; some long-lost scaffolding, and eyeing some of the wood, decided most of it was still fairly useful. Not too dried out. Not too damaged. It could be used for something else – and the valuable portions were placed into the pile designated for recycling.
Arialla had far more fortune than Milo too – opting not for the trash and refuse, but the shining thing. As she dug further, she’d find a handle outlined in gold, the rest buried in the sand, some eaten away by the salt, but the rest already looking beautiful and ornate, neat details etched in ivory, sketchings of mermaid tails at the hilt. Would she keep digging?
--
Sorry for the delay!
Milo rolled badly once again, and now has more injuries on his hand.
Arialla has found a golden handle! The rest of it is buried!
Melita found some wood to be refurbished!
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
i never thought i'd see the day i'd see you as somebody i could hate
“Yeah… All’ve that.” He rumbles, raising a brow to her momentarily before things start crashing down around him. He manages to wrap his hand, flashing an easy grin to Arialla at her concern. “It’s a’ight. I’m okay. Thanks.” At least for the time being. He’s tied his shirt around his wound when Melita tosses the bandages, and he stuffs them into a pocket just in case someone else needed them next.
But as per usual, it’s him that stumbles into more trouble. He digs into the rummage, pulling out a board when another falls and stabs and smacks into his hand – another hiss slipping from him as he pries the board up to pull his hand back to inspect it – already vibrant purple. He’s sure he’ll have some decent bruising with it.
Sighing, he pulls the bandages out, wincing as he moves to wrap it around, and trying to be even more careful to dismantle the pile from the top down so it won’t fall on him again.
Milo uses the bandages to wrap his hand and carefully tries to dismantle the pile from the top down so his hand doesn't get squished again!
i guess that's just the price i pay for the blood red flags that i walked past every day
Arialla nodded at Milo's response, but she did add, "Don't forget to clean it later."
She doubted that nail had been particularly sanitary, and she'd hate for Milo's wound to get infected.
"Maybe I will," Arialla replied, to Melita. "That would be nice."
It would remove at least one worry that Arialla had about returning to Safrin. The others, however ...
And maybe she had found something worthy of Safrin, or that she could trade for a good offering. Arialla hesitated over the handle. Technically she'd come here to clean the beach, not dig up buried treasure, and she wasn't really helping the others by continuing this quest. But how could she just leave something so beautiful in the dirt? She compromised, calling, "I've found something interesting," to let the others know she hadn't just abandoned their quest as she continued to dig. She'd be willing to share what she found with Milo and Melita, if they asked.
----------
Arialla's going to try to dig up whatever she's found!
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
All of that just meant it’d spread further, widening, branching out like a storm, and she hid her apprehension in her skin, where her fingers subtley shook while she grabbed hold of debris. The rest was meant simply for distraction, snagging at broken bits and pieces, chucking them into the refuse pile; nothing of worth amounting to them now.
Poor, poor Milo. His luck continued to never actually surface, remain, or exist, and though he took a far wiser approach, the inanimate objects seemed to take great umbrage at his presence. While he managed to clench at one, there was another further down that had decided to become entangled, and with the movement, the motion, it was jarred. And sent flying.
Straight for the man’s arm.
Melita winced from afar, a nose wrinkling. “Do…do you want to do something else?”
Arialla’s distraction would pay off for her though – the wild youth watching from nearby, curiosity piqued. Her further digging would reveal a mirror, the same ornate detailing etched along the sides, mermaid tails and then inclinations of shells embedded, gilded, into the sanction. The glass, however, would be cracked right through the middle. What would she do with it?
--
Milo cannot pick up a piece of wood without injuring himelf.
Melita finds nothing of worth and keeps piling away.
Arialla has found a very nice mirror, but the glass is cracked!
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
09-23-2020, 05:13 AM (This post was last modified: 09-25-2020, 03:32 AM by Milo.)
MILO
i never thought i'd see the day i'd see you as somebody i could hate
His luck is still shit, he finds, as he goes to grab another one and watches in baffled surprise as it causes another domino affect and collides with his arm. He could be angry, he could be frustrated, but with this shit luck there’s nothing else he can do but to laugh – pulling out another bandage and stepping away from the pile for good. “For th’ ever fuckin’ love’a Frey.” He murmurs in disbelief, head shaking though he manages to wrap the bandage around his arm.
“Yeh, prolly should, ah?” He casts a glance toward Melita with a shrug, moving to avoid all the boards and instead moves over to Arialla, leaning over the woman’s shoulder to spy for what she took. “Aye, didja find somethin’ from the Mer’s maybe?” He asks, catching a glint of gold before Milo looks around for anything else of interest.
Milo abandons the boards and goes to see what Arialla found (and hopefully doesn’t hurt himself this time)
i guess that's just the price i pay for the blood red flags that i walked past every day
In answer to Milo's question, Arialla held up the mirror, turning it in her hand so that he -- and Melita, if she liked -- could get a good look at it. "Maybe -- it would make sense for it to come from them, wouldn't it? I wonder if I can get the glass fixed ..."
It might make a good offering for Safrin, if she could, but Arialla wasn't about to give the goddess something broken. If repairs weren't feasible, she could always trade it for something more useful. Either way, Arialla didn't really intend to keep it, but she also didn't suggest that she share her find with Milo or Melita. The idea of doing so was at the back of her mind -- they had come out to this beach together, after all -- but she'd rather not, so she didn't suggest it.
"I'll put it aside for now," Arialla said, sliding the mirror into one of the bags she'd brought and putting it on the sand near the "might be salvageable" pile. "We still have work to do."
With that, she decided to go back to moving debris, picking up a long piece of wood.
--------
With the mirror found, Arialla's going to return to the main task of sorting and moving debris!
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
Distracted by the shiny filaments Arialla managed to find, Melita sauntered over to inspect, a few more pieces of wood in her arms. “That still looks lovely. If you find some glass here, I bet it can be replaced.” Everything else seemed to be in a fine, working condition, including the pearlescent shades and hues measured into the gold. “Safrin would enjoy that.” A sunshine smile to flicker and follow, before her eyes went to Milo; not certain if he should be anywhere near dangerous things. “Do you want to try and sort through the salvageable things? We don’t have too much left.” Her eyes went to the rest of the shoreline, where a few more objects were scattered, only a few still shifting themselves onto the sand. “I’m sure you can figure out which are truly valuable.” She winked, and then carried on, dropping off the wood into the designated pile.
Arialla would find her long piece of wood rotten and broken in the middle, and not worth the thought of replenishing anything. Into the debris pile it should’ve gone; so they could hasten a little bit further, and soon be done.
--
One more round to go!
Maybe some glass can be found for Arialla’s mirror?
Arialla and Melita continue to build their piles. Milo is free to inspect the salvageable pile for things that can be refurbished and recycled.
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
i never thought i'd see the day i'd see you as somebody i could hate
As Arialla questions about the glass, Milo listens as Melita mentions that there might be glass around here. A small nod is given to both women as he moves to go through the salvage pile to do as Melita instructed. “If ya don’t find glass here, ‘m sure someone in Haulani wouldn’t mind helpin’ ya out.” He offers to Arialla, flashing an easy grin her way before he’s carefully trying to dig through the salvage pile.
He tries to avoid anything that might snap back at him, especially his arm and hand – with how bandaged and painful they are – and he focuses on making a new pile of the valuables. He does have an eye for what would fetch something here in Torchline, and internally he’s amused and both glad that she’d noticed enough to comment on it.
Milo starts making a valuable pile!
i guess that's just the price i pay for the blood red flags that i walked past every day
