(open) 'cause we find ourselves in the same old mess
Wessex Theskyra
the Wraith
General of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 47 | Height: 5'8'' | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 61 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 61 - Luck: 58 - Int: 2
LOKI - Mythical - Dragon (Energy Blast)
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#1
I write sins, not tragedies
There’s a small upside to the burned buildings - some would laugh at calling it a silver lining, but in a land where the soil has become week, the earth needs all the help it can get. And you know what’s a good fertilizer? Wood ash - after it’s been composted a bit.

So Wessex has been organizing composting piles around the Grounds, trying to help the non-Ascended prepare for planting season; it’s not the most glamorous work, but they need all the help they can get. Wheelbarrow in hands, the Queen goes to open a shed and as she enters, finds a pesky buzzing noise. Bees? Wasps? She quickly finds the source of the sound - there, in the back corner, is a good sized wasp nest.

Unlike Bees, there’s no real use for wasps, so Wessex obviously needs to destroy the nest. But first - something to extinguish a potential fire. So once she has a bucket of water, the Wraith takes careful aim at the wasp nest and attempts to laser the fuck out of them, heating up their nest and tiny angry bodies with her gaze until they start to burn up and get even more angry, with little tiny burning bodies briefly flying around until they drop to the ground.
WESSEX
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
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#2
Samuel

For the first weeks after Longnight, Sam had been busy getting his own shop back to a running state; now that it was recovered from the fire and actually a little better for it, he had turned his attentions out to the Grounds at large, offering help where he could and trying to recover them all from what had been a stressful and destructive event.

He'd also been working on his ideas of a peace coalition, an idea he held close to his heart and kept secret from most, worried that those determined to have war would rip it from him. Possibly unfairly, he had assumed Wessex would be one of them, and had not approached her about it. In fact, other than the portal work in the Climb, he hadn't spoken to the Queen at all; they had a past and he often felt that he was an annoyance to her.

(And unlike most times, when it was his paranoid mind telling him that, Sam believed this one was actually real).

He was walking back from a spot in the ruins where he'd been helping a herb salesman recover some rare stock from cracks in the stone when he too heard the buzzing sound. Sam paused, frowning as he tried to work out what it was; probably bugs, but he'd been in far too much danger in the last year to dismiss anything unknown in Sanctuary. Walking around to the entrance he opened the door to peek in; he did not expect to see Wessex, lasers active, frying wasps.

The door had creaked when he'd moved it, so there really wasn't any pretending he wasn't there and just leaving. Blinking as he watched the wasps fall to the ground, he said quietly: "Well, um. I came to see what the noise was, but it seems you have it handled?"
I was not ready for the road
I was so discontent to wear that heavy load
Wessex Theskyra
the Wraith
General of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 47 | Height: 5'8'' | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 61 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 61 - Luck: 58 - Int: 2
LOKI - Mythical - Dragon (Energy Blast)
Played by: Astor Offline
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Posts: 3,156 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#3
I write sins, not tragedies
She barely remembers to turn off the lasers when she whirls around to see who’s at the door, the lights tracking quickly across the wooden shed, leaving a pair of light scorch marks in their wake before she scrunches her eyes closed. “Oh,fuck, sorry Sam -” Wessex looks away and then pauses to make sure everything’s ‘normal’ before looking back at the bookmaker.

“Wasps are - the fucking worst. Absolutely no use for them. They don’t pollinate, make honey, or do anything useful. They just sting. So she doesn’t feel too bad about destroying the nest. Waving a hand in the air to make sure the few still flying around don’t reach her, she makes a face.

“But yeah, all good.” And if it wasn’t, it would be. Returning to the ash in the wheelbarrow, the Queen attempts to resume her composing efforts, but the front wheel seems to be stuck in some memory mud and it does not want to let go.
WESSEX
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
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#4
Samuel

As he realised the beams of light were coming towards him, Sam ducked and let out an undignified 'wahh-!' sound; thankfully, they stopped short of actually frying his face off, and he stood up, trying to clear his throat and straighten out his shirt as if he had stood there stoically the whole time. "It's um..it's alright."

Not being fond of wasps himself he laughed, the sound a little high-strung and anxious from the near-face burning still, but a laugh nonetheless, one Sam was a little surprised by. It wasn't often he agreed with Wessex on something or that they discussed something so nonchalant and easy. "Absolutely. The Atheneum has Paper Wasps, which aren't even natural-" He wrinkled his nose with clear disgust. "They cause so many problems."

He watched her leave the shed, was about to make some excuse to leave and quietly pardon himself, but then Sam noticed that whatever Wessex was gathering in the wheelbarrow had been heavy enough to get stuck. Against his usual shy, avoidant nature, he went to help. "What are you doing with all this ash?" Sam asked as he went to lift the front of the cart with all his strength, trying to dislodge it and pull it over the mud.
I was not ready for the road
I was so discontent to wear that heavy load
Wessex Theskyra
the Wraith
General of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 47 | Height: 5'8'' | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 61 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 61 - Luck: 58 - Int: 2
LOKI - Mythical - Dragon (Energy Blast)
Played by: Astor Offline
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Posts: 3,156 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#5
I write sins, not tragedies
She wrinkles her nose too, having heard (of course) of Paper Wasps, but never encountered them. The Atheneum isn’t her usual stomping grounds. “I bet.”

Despite their mutual hatred of wasps, it isn’t much to go on, until the wheelbarrow gets stuck and between their two impressive strengths, they wrest it from the grips of the dastardly Memory Mud. Wessex offers him a smile as thanks and when he asks, explains. “It’s good for fields, I think. Have you ever seen the Woodlands after a fire. Outside of a firepit? Little sprigs of green pop up, and not just because the overgrowth is gone, but I think it’s because the ash is useful. So I’m composting it for the farmers first.”

Dumping the ash into the dirt pile, she then scoots around to the other side and picks up a shovel, mixing the dirt and the ash in together. “Got several of these around the Grounds and some families waiting for planting day.” A strand of hair falls into her face and she tucks it back, leaving a smear of dirt along her temple - an unusual, ordinary mess for the normally sharp-edged and clean Queen.

“How did the shop come out? Not too bad, I hope.”
WESSEX
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
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#6
Samuel

Sam frequently, in the last couple of years, found himself surprised at his own strength; this was no exception, and while he did step out of the way of the wheelbarrow, he did then spend a moment stood looking at his hands. He knew the Voice improved their bodies, hid patches and additions within already-there flesh, but it always felt strange that he, with his rather lanky nerd body, could outmatch most people in the town.

"Oh...that's quite nice. The sort of thing you'd write as a metaphor for a new beginning." He commented quietly, unsure if Wessex liked that kind of observation, but it was his immediate thought; how he could illustrate it, green spirals of ink rising from a brown gradient at the bottom of a page.

Seeing what she was doing with the shovel, Sam went to grab another and begin to help automatically, years of cleaning up after disasters making it second nature to pick up and assist. "It's fine...we actually found another wall behind the panelling with nice paper. So all in all, it may have been an improvement." He smiled with a hum, though his face quickly was taken over with a confused frown. "Do you...know why it was the Spark Bird attacked us in the first place? And...did we successfully get rid of the monsters?" A loaded question, maybe, but she was the Queen.
I was not ready for the road
I was so discontent to wear that heavy load
Wessex Theskyra
the Wraith
General of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 47 | Height: 5'8'' | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 61 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 61 - Luck: 58 - Int: 2
LOKI - Mythical - Dragon (Energy Blast)
Played by: Astor Offline
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Posts: 3,156 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#7
I write sins, not tragedies
If Sam is surprised at his strength, Wessex is surprised at her occasional eloquence - and the praise for it. She looks across the pile at him, blinking at first as she takes it in, then letting a smile slowly spread across her face. “If the Monsters are truly gone - and I think they are - then I’d say it’s a new beginning of sorts,” she offers slowly. Even if the Ascended ultimately lose whatever’s coming their way, the Grounds will hopefully be safe during Long Night for years to come.

“Oh? That’s a silver lining.” And perhaps one less resentful person in the long run (nevermind all the other things she’s done to Sam, shhhhh). “I’m glad it wasn’t too bad.”

Another couple of tosses and mixing before she pulls out and leans on the shovel. “Not yet. There are a couple Attuned - Henry and maybe Noah, from Halo - who sound like they might be willing to go to Frey and see what’s up with the Sparkbird.” Sighing needlessly, she looks to the door, out to where the bird might be (you know, somewhere). “It really did all the work for us. If something is wrong, something fixable, we should help it.”
WESSEX
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
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#8
Samuel

"Mmm. Hopefully." There were so many things facing them that it felt hard to celebrate a 'new beginning', but Sam wanted to remain optimistic for the moment. Hearing Wessex did indeed think all the monsters had been defeated was encouraging, though he knew he'd struggle to actually believe it until he saw the peace himself at the next Longnight.

And speaking of those early Ascended, something rose to his mind that had been there often lately; "You know...some time ago, I saw The Prince. Do you...know much about him? I couldn't help then, but I wonder how all this has affected him and if I could help now..." It wasn't in his heart to abandon the poor creature.

Back to work with the shovels, Sam idly wondering in the back of his mind what all the ashes had started as; doors, signs, chairs...they'd rebuild again, the Grounds always did, but it still tugged at his heart to think of all the burnt memories. "You don't...think it could have a bias against the Ascended, if it's connected to the Old Gods?" Maybe he was being paranoid, but Sam felt he could never been too careful nowadays.
I was not ready for the road
I was so discontent to wear that heavy load
Wessex Theskyra
the Wraith
General of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 47 | Height: 5'8'' | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 61 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 61 - Luck: 58 - Int: 2
LOKI - Mythical - Dragon (Energy Blast)
Played by: Astor Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,156 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#9
I write sins, not tragedies
Now there’s a name she’s not heard in a long time (probably because those who would use it to shame the Voice have left), so it does make her listen a little harder to what Sam says. “Don’t know much, other than he was one of the early Ascended. He and the Spire Monster were used as examples of the Voice abandoning her children…” Which, to be fair, if one wasn’t familiar with the Voice’s practicality, one might agree.

Even knowing her practicality regarding her children, it’s difficult for Wessex to think about. Slowly, she continues along that train of thought. “What do you think helping him would look like…?”

Because what if, like dying Grounds and diseased livestock, the best thing they could do for the Prince is end his suffering and thereby end his life? Release his spirit back to their Lady.

A few more good shovefuls of turning and mixing the dirt bring Wessex to what she thinks is a good end and she lays down her tool at the next question. “Well… I guess that really begs the question can they determine which person is which race. Some species obviously can - luxere, our own companions - but even then there are outliers. Like starwhales. You’d think they wouldn’t like Ascended, yet there’s Nate and Pemota. Or dragons. The Dragoons in Stormbreak bond with dragons and use them as fighting partners, but here I am with Loki.”

Frowning, she pauses to mull over it a bit more, crossing her arms over her chest and looking up to a corner of the shed as if it might have the answers.. “I don’t think it’s an Ascended thing. I think we may just have been the only people around this year. We haven’t had the  numbers or a presence like this in three hundred years, so I can’t - I think just Grounders in general are a far more likely target.”
WESSEX
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
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#10
Samuel

Wessex didn't provide him with any new information, but given how hard it had been to pin down the Prince when he'd literally had him in his sights, Sam couldn't begrudge her that. As for what his help would look like? He sighed, pushing a hand through his hair; he wasn't completely naive. The idea of a merciful death had occurred to him as well, but surely, hopefully, there would be another way. "I'd want to take him to the Voice and see if she can help...fix him, I suppose. She can make better Ascended now. Real people. Maybe she could upgrade him. If not...then I guess...it's up to her what happens."

Hopefully he wouldn't have to make any decisions on that front himself; Sam was quite comfortable leaving all of that to their Goddess.

She considered his question about the Sparkbird and Sam waited, thinking in the time it took her to answer that this was the first time he could recall that they'd had a civil, almost pleasant conversation, which was odd, because prior to Longnight he'd been quite angry. He supposed a part of maturing was letting things go. "Hm. I mean, maybe it's less the birds own bias, something more like the Old Gods knowing we were the only ones here and riling it up...but I might just be making up conspiracies. I do tend to do that." With a self deprecating smile, he gently neatened up the remaining ashes with his shovel, nudging them into a lump.
I was not ready for the road
I was so discontent to wear that heavy load
Wessex Theskyra
the Wraith
General of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 47 | Height: 5'8'' | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 61 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 61 - Luck: 58 - Int: 2
LOKI - Mythical - Dragon (Energy Blast)
Played by: Astor Offline
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Posts: 3,156 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#11
I write sins, not tragedies
Hearing Sam expand on what he wants the Voice to do for the Prince has her doubtful, but the idea of helping him, even if it’s with a merciful death (and privately, she doubts very much that their Lady, wonderful as she is, will leave a defective Ascended around). So she hums and purses her lips before offering, “I could easily get him to a shrine. All I’d have to do is touch him. Or maybe the two of us, together, could summon our Lady.”

Whether or not he wants her help hasn’t really occurred to Wessex - she just sees an easier, logical step towards achieving his goal. Shrugging, she places her shovel in the wheelbarrow and gestures for Sam to leave his there.

“It’s always a possibility. I wouldn’t put anything past them these days, what with being on the verge of keeping the Order out. Having us all die in a Grounds-wide fire during LongNight could easily be written off as a complete accident.” And while she has no illusions about the heralds and Old Gods not needing the Order to see what’s going on inside the Grouds, it would make it infinitely harder for their chosen tools.

“Let’s hope for our sake it isn’t a conspiracy. Cause we might need Frey to find out what its problem is.”
WESSEX
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
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#12
Samuel

"Maybe...we'd have to find him first, though, and that's not as easy as it sounds. Though he does have a..scent." Sam said politely, stepping around saying that the Prince had awful, constant gas. "When I last touched him, it seemed to hurt him." Sighing, he looked down at his gloved hand, the leather prosthetic soft and worn - maybe it would be different if it wasn't his skin. "I'm going to speak to the Voice first and see what she thinks I should do, if anything."

There were probably more important things for him to be worrying about, to be fair, with the threat of war looming and people he'd once considered friends joining the Order; maybe that was why he was focusing on this task. It was a distraction, if nothing else.

Putting down the shovel, he tilted his head curiously hearing that Wessex apparently planned to speak to Frey. While he supposed that of all the Gods, they were the one he was the least scared of (after all, they had given the gift of the sensation room), they were still very much an Old God. "Are you...going to speak to them yourself? Do you even know if they'd show up to you? I can't imagine them being very nice. Have...you ever been to an Old God shrine?"
I was not ready for the road
I was so discontent to wear that heavy load
Wessex Theskyra
the Wraith
General of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 47 | Height: 5'8'' | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 61 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 61 - Luck: 58 - Int: 2
LOKI - Mythical - Dragon (Energy Blast)
Played by: Astor Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,156 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#13
I write sins, not tragedies
It would be Sam’s project, not hers, he knows far more about the Prince (that is, anything) than she does, so she nods along and lets him talk it out. “Sure. Let me know if you’d like some help.” And if not, that’s okay with her too. She has no fondness for the creature, even if it is one of their elder siblings.

Moving to take ahold of the wheelbarrow’s arms, the Wraith almost laughs at Sam’s next question. “Me? No. Noah and Henry are interested in talking to Frey and have volunteered to ask on our behalf. I’ve never been to an Old Gods shrine to ask for anything of them - in fact, the Voice came to me at the one in Halo instead.” Chuckling bitterly, she adds, “I would expect to be smited for who I am, and nothing less.”

She leads the way back out and then tilts a head towards Sam’s direction, assuming he’s followed. “Did you ever find out about the door?” she asks casually. “The door that killed Rex and Clem?”
WESSEX
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
MIA - Regular - Ragdoll Cat
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Posts: 3,135 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#14
Samuel

"Mhm. Though...maybe its one of those things I should try do myself. I've been trying to prove myself, I suppose...after last year." Sam was sure he didn't have to clarify was he was speaking about.

Thankfully it seemed that Wessex understood how stupid it would be to approach Frey on her own. "You know, a while ago, I went to a Safrin shrine with Amalia. While...I was away from the Voice; nothing happened, but that's kind of what's amazing - she didn't smite me or really seem too mad. I'm sure Amalia's presence had a lot to do with that, but..." He shrugged, sure that his half-sister would never take him back, so he had no chance of seeing Safrin again. "It would be interesting to actually see if they'd talk to us."

He did follow her, though his footsteps stopped at her question, a sudden pang of worry in his chest. "Um..what about the door, sorry? There's been a lot happening." Sam stalled, unsure if Wessex knew about his part in that.
I was not ready for the road
I was so discontent to wear that heavy load


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