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!
Seeing as last time Loren had tried to make it to the shrine at the Crimson Cataract he'd been halted by a forest fire, he hadn't managed to actually get there. So he set off to pray again, needing guidance that he was pretty sure he wasn't going to get.
He went anyway.
Sadly, the Wildwood chose not to cooperate with him. After aimlessly wandering the woods for what seemed like hours, he found himself deposited on the banks of the Stonesong, in an area he didn't recognize. Groaning, he looked around for anything he recognized. However, Astra bleated and pawed at the bank of the river, drawing his attention.
Frowning, he noticed the source of her distress. The water's flow seemed sluggish. Hesitating for just a moment, he grimaced and began to hike his way upstream. Soon enough he found the explanation: a hillside had collapsed into the river, creating a partial dam. Moving around it, he sighed when he saw the water building up behind it. If it burst unexpectedly, it could cause flooding later down the line.
His examination also revealed the source of the collapse. Tunnels had been dug all over the area. Crouching down, he spotted the culprits. There were vaguely platypus-like creatures merrily digging their way through the dirt with no regard for the damage they were causing on the surface.
Burros. He'd never seen them, but he'd heard them spoken of. Rocking back on his heels, he scrubbed his face, trying to figure out whether or not he should do something or just let nature run its course.
This is a PQ to clear a partial blockage of the Stonesong. It has two open spots, but more can be made available!
1.
2.
look at how a single candle can both
defy and define the darkness
Preliminary wood-gathering was a mundane, dull task, and ordinarily not something he’d start until mid-Leafchange, when the cold began to sink into bones, when the chill recalled, reminded, of what was to come. But living amongst Halo meant flattened tundras and wide-open plains of snow – not the seemingly everlasting heralds of timber. So the Sword figured he could start earning his keep, if he wasn’t permitted to do any council work until his affliction had seeped away, until the illness no longer ran rampant through his figure. Zuriel followed through portals this time, likely to keep a watch on him, as he pulled his cart along the Greatwood, tactfully striving to avoid the Hollowed Grounds altogether (a race of his pulse had started the moment he walked near, and he’d been half-tempted to fly over) and leave the wagon behind.
But familiar pathways, despite the labyrinthine quality of the copses, meant he made it to the Stonesong with several picked up branches, all newly fallen sticks and limbs, set to dry out in the remainder of LongHeat and into Leafchange, hopefully to be of proper use come Deepfrost. His eyes noted the low waterline though, for he’d swam in these depths before, and it had never been so diminished. Curiosity compelled, and he dropped the handle of the cart near a large boulder, certain not to forget its whereabouts, the inquiry insisting upon a march along the banks. The unicorn followed, sniffing, snorting, but otherwise just as uncertain.
On his movements though, picking his way through stones, he noticed another familiar figure, and a deep rumble exuded towards the Firebrand; bizarre, to have met up with him once more within such a short period of time. “We meet again.” As Loren was further up, he’d likely already discovered the cause, and the beast’s eyes narrowed, head tilted as he noted the collapse of the hillside, the bizarre dam. Had the rains been so heavy? Had the ground been so soft? “What did you find?”
Out of sight and out of mind
Make everything alright
So let the sky and sea collide
Just not in our lifetime
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
Like the others, Juniper noted the river's low water level and followed it to its source: if something was wrong, she'd have to notify her people so that they could send someone to fix it. She was surprised to see the two men already there -- and their animal companions, who impressed her -- surprised to recognize them. Landing lightly beside Loren, she said, "If I didn't know better, I'd almost think you a herald of disaster for the Greatwood."
She meant it as a joke, not a condemnation. Nodding at Deimos, she waited for Loren -- whose name she still didn't know -- to answer the Sword's question.
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
"That we do," Loren responded to Deimos. As first the General appeared, and then the Fae who'd helped with the forest fire, all the healer could do was shake his head. "Not just the Greatwood," he quipped, only half-joking. He held out his hand for the woman. "We didn't get properly introduced last time. I'm Loren."
Running his fingers through his hair, he glanced at the blockage. "Some burros undermined a hillside and it slid into the Stonesong is my best guess." Hesitating, he bit his lip. "I'm worried about what happens when the water builds up too much. It might flood downriver."
Glancing at the other two, the Firebrand began to rummage in his pack. He brought out the fruit and honey he'd brought as an offering for Frey. "I figure one of us can bribe the burros to fill in their tunnels and relocate while the other two work on the dam?" He would offer his gifts to whoever wanted to tackle the burros, unless that task fell to him.
Astra trotted forward, hoping to snatch a treat. Laughing, he held them just out of her reach. "Sorry dear, these are for our friends over there." He nodded at the burros and she bleated, nuzzling his side.
No post order! Loren suggested two people work on the dam and one person works on the burros, but up to you!
look at how a single candle can both
defy and define the darkness
Deimos wisely made no comment on the herald of disaster comment; merely arching a brow and struggling to diminish a smirk threatening to flicker over his features. An ill-time for humor, perhaps, but with everything else coursing around them, light moments were hard to come by. He muffled it just the same, maneuvering onward as the snicker was tugged away, and Zuriel followed close behind, before tucking herself at a safer distance.
Burros, collapsing hillsides, and potential flooding were something else to entangle – not the tempestuous plunge of fire and flinthoppers, but ushering in another trial and tribulation. The beast figured he preferred this one – no gods involved, no sicknesses lingering, nothing else to be found but viable solutions. He scrutinized the layout, keen eyes drifting back and forth, not forgetting Juniper in her arrival either, brandishing a nod while he was distracted by other modicums and machinations. “I can try to work on the dam.” Operative word on try, given his own mixed results in success lately. For a man who prided himself on control, precision, might, and power, there’d been a serious lack of refinement in his prowess. He could blame the affliction for now.
Moving upwards, so he stood along the banks closest to portions of the partial dam, he began to slowly utilize his earth incantations, hoping to remove pieces without abrasive motions, lifting them one by one, in minimal proportions.
--
Deimos offers to help with the dam, and tries to use his Mastered Earth magic to slowly and gently remove small pieces of earth at a time.
Out of sight and out of mind
Make everything alright
So let the sky and sea collide
Just not in our lifetime
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
"Is that so?" Juniper raised an eyebrow. "Well, herald of disaster or not, I'm glad to get properly introduced. I'm Juniper."
She shook Loren's hand -- and nodded back at Deimos -- then turned to the task at hand.
"I can work with the burros. I have some experience with the creatures of the Greatwood." Juniper took the food Loren offered and started to cast about for the animals. First, she moved a little ways away from the dam, worried that the men's work on it would scare away the creatures -- though knowing burros, they might well be drawn by their curiosity. Holding out the food towards a tunnel entrance, she called softly, "Here, burro, burro, burro. We've got food if you can do us a couple favors. Wouldn't you rather tunnel somewhere safe and free of collapse?"
----------
Juniper is calling for the burros! Her citizenship ability might help:
Animals know to respect you. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, animals roll with disadvantage against you. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
Snorting at Deimos' attempt to conceal his amusement, Loren smiled at Juniper. "Nice to meet you Juniper. And we'll see how long you'll feel glad to know me." Nodding as the other two chose their tasks, he stepped towards the river. "I'll hold the water back, try to make it easier for you to work," he told the General.
With that, the healer raised his hands. His magic pulsed out and though the water fought against him, he managed to get it to ease up the pressure on the dam as the other man worked on it. It was a good thing that all Deimos attempted was to move small pieces, as small pieces were all he would be able to manage. He'd only clear a little bit of the blockage.
Juniper would suddenly find herself surrounded by curious and excited burros. Entirely correct that her familiarity with creatures of the Greatwood would help, they reached for the food she held. Now that she had their attention, she needed to give them explicit instructions.
No post order!
Deimos was only slightly successful in clearing the dam.
Juniper has the burros attention!
Loren held the water off this round.
look at how a single candle can both
defy and define the darkness
Even if Loren made the Sword’s task easier, Deimos and his own inabilities cast the firmer results. With the Firebrand’s control, the beast at least didn’t have to worry about the rising water or the power behind it, capable of maneuvering the portions of earth, but the increments left a lot to be desired. Withholding a sneer, the monolith gave it another earnest attempt – intending to snag and grab hold with the Mastered contortions again, half-hoping he’d be able to muster more than just sticks and twigs. Otherwise, they’d be here all day.
Zuriel, bored, unimpressed, and vaguely certain her companion wasn’t about to maim himself, turned her attention to Juniper and the burros. Curiosity played a small role in her motions, and she ambled forth towards the Fae, intending to help in some way or another. Perhaps she could chase them (entertaining), implore them (show the smaller beasts she was regal, noble, and something to be listened to), or merely watch – waiting for something else to occur.
--
Deimos tries to move larger pieces of the dam with his Mastered Earth magic.
Zuriel offers to help Juniper.
Out of sight and out of mind
Make everything alright
So let the sky and sea collide
Just not in our lifetime
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
"Hello," Juniper said politely to the burros, handing out a few treats as a reward for the burros' attention. She glanced up as Zuriel approached. "Oh, are you here to help too? Excellent."
Turning back to the burros, Juniper continued, "See how this hillside collapsed and fell into the water? That's not good for your tunnels, and it's not good for the river either. Do you think you could tunnel somewhere else, somewhere drier and less likely to cave in? And if you wanted to help us fill in these existing tunnels and maybe even move some of that earth -- gently -- well, I have more of these."
She shook the little bag of fruit and honey at the burros, smiling at the inquisitive little animals. Loren's offering would only go so far, of course, but Juniper had some dried fruit and nuts in her pack, as well -- she never went too far into the Greatwood without at least a snack. She thought that between them, they could probably bribe the burros into cooperation. Filling in the existing tunnels ought to prevent future cave-ins, she hoped, and maybe the burros could even help shift the existing dam, though she wasn't sure they would be clever enough to do it slowly and not cause a flood.
-------------
Juniper asks the burros to tunnel somewhere else, then offers them some snacks if they help fill in their existing tunnels and move the earth away from the dam! She'll definitely accept Zuriel's help on this, plus she still has that citizenship ability.
Animals know to respect you. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, animals roll with disadvantage against you. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
Loren sent out another pulse of his water magic as the river threatened to overcome his strength. Stepping forward, he pushed back against it, preventing it from coming close to the dam for a little while longer. Thankfully, Deimos seemed to get the hang of shifting the earth from the water. This time, his magic managed to rip large chunks of the blockage and return them to the shore.
Unfortunately, Juniper's luck with the burros might've been beginner's luck. Her persuasion tactics left a little something to be desired. Although half the burros trundled off to begin filling in their tunnels, the other half turned and began to make new tunnels or enlarge existing ones, clearly not intending to relocate.
No post order!
Deimos was extremely successful at cleaning up the blockage!
Juniper only convinced half the burros to relocate and fill in their tunnels. The other half have begun to dig new ones.
Loren held the water off the dam.
look at how a single candle can both
defy and define the darkness
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
Juniper frowned at the burros. OK, she'd gotten some cooperation, but the others ... Well, animals were like that sometimes. Stubborn. But Juniper could be stubborn too.
The first option that occurred to her was to take out her bow and shoot the contrary burros, but she rejected that, afraid it would scare the burros who were helping. She'd rather find a way to convince the remaining burros to help her ... Could she leverage Zuriel's presence? Or perhaps peer pressure the burros?
Pulling the dried fruit and nuts from her bag -- she wanted to save Loren's fruit and honey to reward the burros -- Juniper offered some to Zuriel, winking at the unicorn, then ate a couple pieces herself.
"Wow, this is pretty good, isn't it?" she said conversationally, as if she had forgotten that the burros might be listening. "Not as good as what I have at home, of course, but going all the way home to get it would take so long and make me so tired ... If everyone helped with the tunnels, I guess I could go get my special treats and share them with everybody, but if only some of us help, I think we'll have to stick with this."
------------
Juniper tries to imply that she'll get special treats for all the burros if they all help, trying to get the helpful burros to peer pressure the ones who aren't interested.
As usual: Animals know to respect you. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, animals roll with disadvantage against you. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
Not one to lean too heavily into any victory, small, trivial, and rare as they were, the beast took note of the larger portions maneuvered, hastening them to the shoreline, where they could be divided and conquered later. His eyes went to Loren briefly, understanding any slowness and listlessness on his part was going to make things more difficult for the Firebrand. Another rumble of his vocals ricocheted, intended for the Healer. “Let me know if it becomes too much,” and then he could try and stave the water away on his own. Then he coincided with the earthen incantations again, striving for more, more, more, intending to take further contortions out of the river.
Zuriel tilted her head vaguely at the Fae and burros. If unicorns could shrug, she would’ve, but instead the mare hastened forward, lowering her nose towards the ones who’d opted to not follow Juniper’s advice. An insistence they turn, they hasten, towards the treats instead, rather than make the matters worse. A part of the mare’s mind noted it’d be a singular warning, not unlike her bonded, in that repercussions could follow quickly, if the burros didn’t mind or heed her proclamations. Unicorns always beheld a certain level of pride and arrogance, after all. Why shouldn’t they listen to her?
--
Deimos attempts to use his earth magic again to move more of the blockage.
Zuriel tries to help Juniper, insistent to the rogue burros that they should follow the Fae.
Out of sight and out of mind
Make everything alright
So let the sky and sea collide
Just not in our lifetime
Juniper's performance, with Zuriel's assistance, was enough to get the rest of the burros to get to work on filling in the rest of the tunnels. They were efficient little creatures, if not the smartest. It didn't take them long to undo their hard work. However, when they finished, they crowded around the Fae and demanding treats, already having forgotten they were supposed to leave after the work was complete.
Once again, Deimos managed to clear out a substantial portion of the dam. Loren grinned and called out to the General. "Nice. Almost done." Indeed most of the blockage had been removed.
Sadly, that brief moment of distraction caused the healer's magic to falter. The water slammed into the remaining earth, which appeared to wobble. The dam became unstable, threatening to break. "Shit," he cursed, trying desperately to reinforce his magic.
No post order! The dam has become unstable.
Deimos was successful at clearing part of the blockage.
Juniper convinced the burros to fill in their tunnels, which they did. Now she needs to reconvince them to relocate.
Loren failed at keeping the water off the dam, which became destabilized as the water hit it.
look at how a single candle can both
defy and define the darkness
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
Watching the burros work made Juniper smile. They were so cute! You know, when they weren't causing environmental destruction. Then they finished up and turned to her expectantly.
Well, she had promised them treats. She handed out Loren's fruit and honey as well as most of her own snacks, trying to make sure the burros didn't feel cheated, but weren't completely satisfied, either. After all, she still had to convince them not to make tunnels here in the future. She doubted their memories were long-term enough to remember something like "if you tunnel somewhere else, I'll bring you food every week" -- and besides, that would become quite an obligation in and of itself.
Instead, when she was not-quite-done giving out snacks, she said, "OK, good job, everyone! You've done really well. But while I go get my special extra tasty snacks, I need to know that you won't be digging here anymore, all right? So why don't we all move away from the river? That way, your tunnels won't collapse again, either."
Taking the last of her own fruit and nuts, she started to try to lead the burros away into the woods, vaguely in the direction of Sidhe Village. She wasn't lying, of course -- if the burros followed her, she would go back to the village and find them something extra nice to eat.
---------
Juniper is leaving trying to get the burros to follow her in the direction of Sidhe Village on the promise of extra delicious snacks from home!
As usual: Animals know to respect you. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, animals roll with disadvantage against you. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
