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!
01-05-2021, 04:34 PM (This post was last modified: 01-12-2021, 12:59 AM by Juniper.)
Juniper looked up at the building she'd selected -- and bartered for -- as the Fae's new embassy and took a deep breath. In truth, she found that the prospect of opening up an embassy didn't intimidate her as much as it might have -- after some of the things she'd done recently (i.e. talking to Wessex), this should be a piece of cake. It was just a lot to plan and do.
She went over her to-do list in her head. The building was a bit old and abandoned, which was part of why she'd been able to secure its use. It had holes in the roof, and the stairs to the second floor were unsafe, so all the furniture intended for the second floor remained on the first. While Juniper didn't intend to totally give up her home in Sidhe Village -- it had been passed down to her by her parents and grandparents -- she did want to create a living space on the second floor here, so that she wouldn't have to travel back and forth all the time.
So: fix the roof, fix the stairs, move furniture into the right places. Then she'd need to make sure people knew about the embassy, so she wanted to make a couple signs for the outside of the building and maybe put up some fliers around the Sea of Branches. (Fliers should go up beyond the Greatwood, too, but that could wait.)
An embassy, specifically designed to bring the Fae and outsiders together: Juniper's grandfather would have been so proud -- and vindicated.
PQ to establish a business for Juniper!
Preferably slots will be filled by characters who are in/around the Greatwood, but it's not unimaginable that someone from somewhere else could show up.
"Sorry I'm late!" Because yeah, he's real late. Good job, Ianto.
The merchant rumbles along the banks in the Wishing Wagon, his coppery hair unruly from sleep, his shirt buttoned up wrong. Once he's close enough to Juniper and the chosen building, he brings the wagon to a halt and hops down, stumbling just once before straightening up and offering her a flamboyant bow.
"Just tell me where you need me and I'll do what I can," he announces, flashing her a golden grin for her trouble. "I'll even do it for free, given the nature of the task. It can never be bad to have others coming to visit us, no?" Perhaps he's the only one who thinks that though. The Greatwood has always been relatively secretive and exclusive to the Fae.
are those real stars that hang in the sky? or are they man-made, a trick of the light?
Felix was supposed to be popping in occasionally to help in the Greatwood, and while he’s slacked off a little, the young attuned does manage to show up for this. And so he trudged through the Greatwood, first as a bear to cover the most ground, before shifting into himself when he can see Juniper and Ianto far in the distance.
There’s a wide boyish grin on his face, nodding first to Ianto — the fox whom he hasn’t seen in some time — before his dual toned gaze slips toward Juniper, clasping his hands together excitedly. “Hello!” He chimes in greeting, shifting his attention toward the items brought. “Here to help wherever you need me.” After the quick scan of the items, his gaze lifts to Juniper again, excitement vibrating through him.
Juniper smiled at the two men, grateful for their help.
"No worries," she told Ianto. "Thanks for coming."
To Felix, she added, "Hello! I'm Juniper. I don't believe we've met?"
She turned back to the building, all business. "Our first goal has to be just getting the building in livable shape. It's not too bad, but the roof and the stairs inside need work. I intended to work on the roof myself, since I can fly."
Ladders were never in much demand among the Fae, due to their wings: "I wasn't able to find a ladder tall enough to reach the roof. But I know you have a bird shift, Ianto, so you could get up there -- or you're free to work on the stairs. Some of the steps need to be replaced."
Though she hadn't been able to grab a ladder, she had scrounged up shingles, hammers, and nails, Juniper took some for herself, then added, "I think we're ready to start -- after this, we'll just be moving furniture, making signs, and handing our fliers. Let me know if you have any questions or need anything."
She flew up to the roof and began to carefully nail new shingles over the holes.
Juniper is working on the roof! Let me know which tasks your characters take, roof or stairs, and I'll roll to see how well we do.
Juniper
"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here
are those real stars that hang in the sky? or are they man-made, a trick of the light?
“Hi Juniper! I’m Felix. My mom and I used to live here.” He says, wondering if the ambassador likely had heard of his mother, had seen their cottage out in the wilds of the Greatwood. His attention flickers to Ianto with a wide and playful grin. “I used to run into Ianto all the time.” He offers by way of explanation – sometimes the boy had quite literally accidentally ran into the fox. But it felt like a lifetime ago, all things considered, even if it weren’t.
But there’s tasks to be done, a building to be fixed up and put into shape. And Felix listens attentively, focused on the tasks that he can’t do until the ones arrive that make him realize that he could work on the ground floor ones. “I’ll take the stairs!” Felix chimes, flashing another grin and darting inside the building to begin pulling out the bad boards for the steps and putting in new ones.
01-12-2021, 08:52 PM (This post was last modified: 01-12-2021, 08:53 PM by Ianto.)
it's not what it looks like
Ianto grins at the sight of Felix, giving the boy a good natured elbow for his trouble and reaching out to muss at his hair (is he taller?) before his attention turns back to Juniper. He nods along with her decisions - Ianto is unsurprisingly a fan of things that don't involve fighting things or danger in general - and the roof sounds like a good shout to him. A good thing, apparently, because Felix is already scarpering away to do the stairs.
"Alright - let's hop to it!" He nods, taking a running start before jumping up and shifting along the way. Where there once was a strapping young merchant (lol) there is now a fluttering cardinal, and he lands upon the roof with a chirp of greeting for Juniper. Once he's found a suitable place to shift back he does so, crouched on the roof and grabbing shingles and nails and a hammer as well.
"Here's hoping I still have my thumbs by the end." He grins.
"It's nice to meet you, Felix," Juniper said. "Thanks again for coming."
Then it was time to get down to work.
Felix did a good job on the stairs, taking out the old, broken steps and replacing them with new planks of wood. Even when it turned out that one of the replacement planks didn't quite fit, he was able to cut and sand it down to size. The new steps stood out a little bit, but with time and use, they'd come to blend in with the others.
Meanwhile, on the roof, Ianto only kept his thumbs by dropping some nails, having to pull his hand out of the way quickly in the instant it became clear that the hammer wasn't aimed quite right. But Juniper rolled at nat 20 managed to catch the falling nails on top of getting her own shingles in place, so soon the roof was without holes, even if some of the patches weren't exactly pretty.
Juniper fluttered down from the roof to check in on Felix. "All right, good job everyone." Tactfully, she didn't mention Ianto's struggles. "Now the big thing is just getting all this furniture upstairs."
Putting away her tools, she started pulling off the sheets she'd used to keep the furniture clean and dry as it waited downstairs. The main items were a bed, nightstand, washbasin, reading chair, and wardrobe. Since all the furniture was of Fae make, it was a bit smaller -- and therefore a little lighter -- than what would typically be found outside the Greatwood, but even so, the bed and wardrobe would definitely take two people to move.
"I'll start with the nightstand," Juniper said, grabbing it. The small table wasn't too heavy; she couldn't fly with it, but she ought to be able to maneuver it up the stairs. "Can you two grab the wardrobe or bed?"
We've got 5 items of furniture to move: bed, wardrobe, nightstand, washbasin, and chair. The bed and wardrobe both take 2 people each to move.
Juniper's getting the nightstand, and she's suggested that the guys start with the bed or wardrobe.
Juniper
"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here
Pretty is for Wishing Wagons - this place needs to be functional, and even if Ianto's help is more of a hindrance (something of a trend when it comes to his attempts to assist the Fae), together he and Juniper manage to get the roof in working order. And he keeps his thumbs, something he's quite pleased about.
Fluttering down after her, he shifts back onto two legs in time to hear their next set of instructions, and it's something Ianto thinks he can't get too wrong. Then again, he's figured that much about everything so far. "I think between us we can handle the bed." The fox flashes a golden grin at the strapping young bear, nodding for him to grab one end of the bed whilst Ianto deals with the other.
are those real stars that hang in the sky? or are they man-made, a trick of the light?
A nod and a grin is offered to Juniper before he’s picking up his task, the young attuned darting toward the stairs to pull out the old and broken pieces of wood, salvaging what he can, and replacing them with new boards. Most of them fit well enough, aside from the one, but Felix was great at working hard and problem solving despite everything else, and it’s that which he does as he saws it down, sands it smooth, and nails it into place.
With that done, the boy’s already broken out in a bit of a sweat, using the back of his hand to wipe it away as Juniper joins him and Ianto on her heels. The mention of furniture and Juniper tackling the nightstand has Felix’s attention flickering toward the fox as the grin is shot to him. “Bed it is!” The young attuned chimes in response, moving to the other end of the bed opposite of Ianto to help lift it and get it upstairs.
Juniper rolled another nat 20 omg easily carried the nightstand up the stairs, then came back down and managed to grab the reading chair and maneuver it up as well, though it was a little more awkward. As the men worked on the bed, she started to arrange the furniture in the upstairs quarters, making sure there would be a clear path to bring in the bed and wardrobe.
Picking up the bed, Ianto and Felix made a good start, but as they reached the top, Felix tripped on the stairs and started to slide down them. Ianto was able to brace the bed, barely, so it didn't fall, but the younger man would definitely have some bruises from that tumble. Juniper paused in her work upstairs and came to see what the noise had been: "Are you all right?"
Seeing Ianto struggling alone with the bed, she steadied the other end, and they managed to drag it into position in the room. Time to go down for the rest of the furniture.
-------------
The nightstand, reading chair, and bed have made it upstairs, though Felix did fall down the stairs!
The wardrobe and washbasin remain -- one person can move the washbasin but the wardrobe will take two.
Juniper
"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here
are those real stars that hang in the sky? or are they man-made, a trick of the light?
Well, things seemed to start fine. And then they start to fall apart. The bed is lifted easily, moved all the way up to the top when he trips over those nice new stairs he’d fixed and created, slipping down them in pure comedic fashion, somehow managing to get turned around on his way down and rolling flat on his back at the bottom with a hiss of pain and laughter. “Ouch.” He rumbles in response to Juniper’s question, before another laugh racks through him. “I’ll be okay, I just… Need a moment.” His hand waves up as he gathers himself together, the sting of pride and the sting of bruises that’ll likely form sometime tonight.
When he finally manages, he stands and glares at the step that had tripped him up, before looking back over at the other two items that still needed to go up. “Hm. Hopefully this goes better.” He murmurs, the bear drifting toward the wardrobe to prepare to lift it and bring it upstairs with help – he isn’t picky with whom helps him.
Felix falls and takes a moment to collect himself LOL then decides to try again with the wardrobe! He’s not picky on who wants to help him, though!
Quite how Ianto manages to brace the bed and stop it from tumbling down the stairs after Felix is beyond the fox, because when his fellow Attuned goes down, he is creased with laughter. Indeed, even when Juniper comes to save him from choking on his own giggles while he's supporting the bedframe, he's still cackling away as they get it into position, wiping tears from his eyes. "Are you sure you can be trusted?" he asks when he hops back downstairs to see the boy trying his luck with the wardrobe.
Of course Ianto comes to help him, directing him to go first this time. "That way, if you fall again maybe I can catch you and the wardrobe with these big strong arms." He flashes a golden grin in Felix's direction, ushering him up the stairs and gripping the wardrobe to haul it along with them.
Ianto helps Felix with the wardrobe and suggests the boy goes first.
Juniper had to laugh at Ianto -- thanks more to his contagious laughter than the quality of the joke itself. She tried to force herself to be professional, to avoid offending Felix, with mixed success. To cover her amusement, she grabbed the washbasin and started to heave it up the stairs ... only for it to slip out of her hands and fall back down, almost cracking. Oops. That was what she got for trying to work while giggly. Better just get out of the way while Felix and Ianto made their move.
They carried the wardrobe up the stairs without a hitch, though Felix did seem to take a bit more of the weight than Ianto this time -- perhaps to prove his capabilities; only he knew. They maneuvered it into place in the room, which was beginning to look like a proper home now.
"Last set of tasks," Juniper said, frowning a bit at the washbasin, which hadn't made it up the stairs. "I wanted to paint a couple signs to put on the outside of the building, letting people know that this is an embassy. I've got some good boards and paint over there. And then someone has to get this washbasin upstairs, since I slipped. That should only take one person, so the other two can work on signs."
Juniper waited for the men to tell her which tasks they preferred; she'd take whichever remained.
--------------
Wardrobe: moved! But Juniper rolled badly and didn't get the washbasin up the stairs. So that still has to be done, and she wants a couple signs made for the embassy. Pick a task!
(Alternately, if someone wants to try to move the washbasin and then make a sign, that'd be fine, but it'll take two separate rolls.)
Juniper
"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here
are those real stars that hang in the sky? or are they man-made, a trick of the light?
“Laugh it up, Ianto.” Felix offers, an attempt to be threatening when he stifles his own snickers at the question. But he picks up his end of the wardrobe, shifted to take the lead as Ianto so eloquently puts it, huffing another laugh before they’re upstairs and got it there without any trouble. Thank goodness. He hears Juniper’s item fall, however, and calls down from above to ask if she was alright.
But he appears soon after, thundering down the stairs much like a bull in a china shop. There’s a nod given to the next instruction, though his bi-toned eyes slip over toward Ianto. “I think you could handle that one.” Mostly because he’d rather not fuck it up again, and also because he wouldn’t mind a chance to sit down and paint some signs.
He then heads over to pick up a sign and start to write on it – quite proud of his handwriting and how it’s come about.
Felix suggests Ianto take the washbasin and he gets started on the signs!
