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!
05-06-2021, 06:09 PM (This post was last modified: 05-16-2021, 05:56 PM by Seren.)
We can be the kings and queens of anything, if we believe.
While she had the chance, somewhere between repairing skyports and frolicking on the beaches, Seren made a point of visiting the lighthouse. It was nostalgia, mostly, and perhaps a touch of homesickness. She missed her mother, and this place had always made her feel closer to Safrin and the sky than anywhere else.
But her wistful memories of windswept heathes and well-traveled paths were rudely cut short as the star-born child of the goddess made it up the path. The monsoon had not been gentle to the shrine, and everywhere she looked, Seren saw signs of damage. Debris littered the ground, old nets and lines hung over shrubs. Even an old boat had been tossed up against the rocks in the fury of the storm, and now decorated the foot of the lighthouse.
"This just won't do!" she exclaimed, and made straight for the boat. It would have to go.
This is a PQ to clean up the area around Safrin's shrine! Pick a task and let's get to work.
- Debris needs to be cleaned up
- Old fishing nets have tangled into shrubs and are dangerous to wildlife
- A boat lays smashed by the foot of the lighthouse and should be removed.
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
Shortly after making it to Torchline between fights, repairs, and lounging on the beach, Maeve felt it important to bring an offering to her new goddess. Even if it was just to let her know that she was still working on the quest and hadn't forgotten the opportunity she was being given. However before the Madame even made it all the way up the path she spotted Seren wrestling with a broken rowboat that laid against the base of the lighthouse. Her steps slow and she arches a brow, "Fuck if this place isn't a mess." Maeve calls over to her with a little wave, spotting the nets tangled in the bushes.
Might as well deal with those first. She pulls the small dagger that Locke gifted her from its small sheath and starts cutting away at the nets first.
Maeve helps start to cut away at the nets!
So come on, give me a taste Of what it's like to be next to you Won't let one drop go to waste
Your metaphorical gin and juice
"Well, this isn't what I expected, coming up here." Ronin lets out a low whistle, ruffling his fingers through his hair as he approaches the Aumakua. He's just come to scout the place out, both because it's Safrin's eye on Torchline and because it's close to where he used to live. Smiling a greeting between Maeve and his daughter, he approaches Seren to deliver a gentle kiss to her dark hair. "It's alright," he says, "Between all of us we should be able to get this done."
With Maeve on the nets and Seren already determinedly going for the boat, Ronin contents himself with general debris collection. Indeed, he calls down his nimbus so he can make haste around the lighthouse, grabbing a sack so he can collect up the debris as he goes.
We can be the kings and queens of anything, if we believe.
"Dad! Maeve! I know, isn't it terrible? I'm glad you are both here to help." Seeing two of her favorite people show up just when she needed them made a potentially boring day seem much more pleasant. Returning her father's affection with a quick hug, Seren smiled cheerfully and headed off to tug at the boat.
Of course, nothing can ever be allowed to stay simple, can it? As they all set to work on cleaning the area, the wind picked up and came whistling in from the ocean. The debris Ronin had started to gather began to tumble and roll about across the ground, turning the simple garbage-collection into something akin to a chicken chase. The progress is quite slow!
The same fickle winds made the nets billow and coil like live things in the shrubs. As Maeve cut loose a part of them, they began to wrap around her, threatening to trap her like a fish!
Seren too ran into difficulties. Having made the boat much lighter to shift it on her own, she unfortunately also made it susceptible to the wind. She yelped as the wreck suddenly flipped over in her hands and slammed into the base of the lighthouse. With a terrible crash it split apart into two pieces, sending wood-splinters and dust flying all about.
"Watch your eyes!" she called in warning to the others, before hurrying to dismiss her magic. Apparently, things were really not going to be effective today.
Well, this went awful!
Ronin has a difficult time gathering the debris as it keeps flying off from out of his hands.
Maeve is being wrapped burrito style by the nets,
and Seren just made things worse by accidentally smashing the wrecked boat in two.
Second time is the charm, maybe? Round 2!
No post order!
Seren
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
It goes down hill so quickly that Maeve honestly doesn't even have a moment to be hopeful about helping. Especially when the wind picks up almost violently, whipping at her hair and the free nets, somehow managing to get them tangled around her. Which wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the sudden splinters that fill the air, heading straight for her eyes and she squeezes her eyes shut against the onslaught of debris and dust. When that passes, Maeve tries to tend to the nets that have wrapped around her like a boa constrictor, seeming to grow tighter no matter which way she wiggles and twists to try and get the dagger between her and the nets.
"Uhm, a little help here!" She calls out to no one in particular as she almost loses her footing with the way she's become twisted up.
Maeve attempts to free herself from the nets!
So come on, give me a taste Of what it's like to be next to you Won't let one drop go to waste
Your metaphorical gin and juice
Whoops, this isn't going to plan. Ronin is laughing, actually, at the way the debris simply refuses to be collected, but as he glances around at his daughter and his friend he realises they are all having a bit of a time of it. With a huffed breath that's half amusement, half irritation, he pauses on his nimbus and turns about.
"Hang on - last thing we we need is some fisherman reeling you in!" He grins at Maeve, and a second Ronin hops off the nimbus to go and help to disentangle her from the net. Meanwhile, he directs the cloud back around the lighthouse to try and grab the trash for a second time. Fingers crossed this one is more successful.
"You doing okay, punkin?" he calls to Seren as he glides by, both impressed but naturally wary of her being hurt whilst manhandling the boat.
Ronin tries to pick up debris again, and his astral projection tries to help Maeve get out of the net!
05-19-2021, 08:38 PM (This post was last modified: 05-20-2021, 06:21 PM by Seren.)
We can be the kings and queens of anything, if we believe.
"Sorry Maeve! My hands are kind of full." Seren struggled to haul one of the broken boat-pieces off the cliffs. It was made a lot more difficult by the wind, even when the timber was not lightened by her gravity pulse. Throwing a quick glance over at her friend, she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. It looked funny, but laughing would not be very nice.
The net had managed to tangle itself rather neatly around the Madame. It took the combined efforts of both her and astral!Ronin to cut it away. That left the nets in a loose pile on the ground, and in the wind they twisted and flopped about, threatening to become ensnared into the shrubbery again.
Real Ronin does quick work of the debris this time, as the fickle wind suddenly turns and wafts a good portion of it right in his path. Deftly done, and Seren was duly impressed with her father. "Yeah, I'm okay dad. Hey, do you think uncle Jata has a cart by their house? Maybe we could borrow it for a bit, to get all this wood down to the beach?"
Throwing a hopeful look at him, Seren made very sure to say borrow, rather than steal. They would return it... eventually.
Some progress has been made! Round 3!
Maeve is freed from the nets, but the wind keeps making things difficult. She needs to be quick to gather them up before her work is undone!
Ronin had some better luck, and was able to clean up the debris. Seren asks him to go steal borrow a cart from Sunjata's house to get all the rubbish down to the beach.
Seren
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
"Why not, Ronin? I'm quite the catch." Maeve still finds it in herself to joke even as a second Ronin appears to help untangle her from the nets. It takes way more effort than it should, but they manage to get her untangled from the nets. Even as they fall back into a pile around her feet, the wind threatens to make them a problem all over again, but she's quick to scoop them up and bunch them into a ball. "Don't worry, guys.. I got it." Maeve huffs, shaking her head as she moves to add the nets to the other pile of debris, making sure that they're weighed down.
"Need some help with that, Seren?" She asks, joining her at the base of the lighthouse to help her move the other half of the boat next.
Maeve gathers the nets, adds them to the pile of debris, and helps Seren with the boat.
So come on, give me a taste Of what it's like to be next to you Won't let one drop go to waste
Your metaphorical gin and juice
"That is not for me to decide," he says with Maeve regarding being a catch, offering her a cheeky grin and a wink for her trouble. Together, he and the Madame manage to free her from the nets, and astral!Ronin gives a decisive and victorious nod.
Meanwhile, the real deal has tracked down the pesky debris, and has his ears open for his daughter's suggestions. "Of course I can!" he calls, tossing her a lazy salute and letting his nimbus whizz away towards the cliffs where the Flood lives. Locating a cart (sorry Jata), Ronin waves away his nimbus and attempts to wrestle the cart back towards the lighthouse where they can make good use of it. Whether the wind will allow that is another matter.
Ronin fetches a cart and tries to wrangle it back to the girls!
We can be the kings and queens of anything, if we believe.
The wind was indeed a fickle thing. Twisting and turning about with no concern for the actions of humans and godlings, it offered resistence to Ronin as he came trundling back with the cart. All he had to contend with was a strong headwind though, and all it did was slow him down slightly.
Meanwhile, Maeve was able to catch the nets - how is that for irony - without a problem. Seren smiled at her when she came over, and nodded gratefully as help was offered. "Yes please! Let's get them on the cart when dad comes back."
The cleanup was moving along quicker than she had feared, wind and all. She waved cheerfully at Ronin as he returned, and helped him get the cart closer to the broken boat pieces. "Want to make a bonfire when we are done hauling all this down to the beach?" She wiggled her eyebrows excitedly at the two of them, eyes glittering at the idea of setting things on fire.
Last round!
Get the boat and wood-rubbish onto the cart and down to the beach!
Seren
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
Waving cheerfully back to his daughter, Ronin indeed wrestles the cart up to where the boat pieces and the other debris have been collected. He uses a couple of rocks to steady the cart lest it roll all over the place while they're loading it up, then proceeds to start the work. "I think that's a fine idea," he says of the bonfire, grinning to Seren as he summons his astral projection a second time to hopefully cut the work in half.
"Although, if we're going to make one, we'll have to make sure it's in a cove or around a rock shelf. The wind will be against us and anything we want to burn." He's been around for long enough to know that much, at least. Still, he presses onward with the work, and will happily take the cart down the beach when it's ready.
Ronin and his astral projection work to fill the cart with the collected rubbish. He's also content to be the one to wheel the thing down to the beach.
Maeve returns her the smile easily, bending to help Seren lift the other half boat towards the rest of he debris pile to load into the cart when Ronin arrives. "A bonfire sounds fun." She hums, nodding at the idea the starchild has suggested before perking up as Ronin appears with the cart. Maeve starts to gather up he debris, bringing a little bit at a time over to the cart and loading it into the back. She pauses to brush her hair from her face, huffing and rolling her shoulders to stretch out the tightness in her shoulders. "This wasn't too bad, huh?" Maeve throws her arms around Seren, giving her a little squeeze as she leans into the hug.
"How about we get this down to the beach?" She arches her brow, giving her a little grin.
Maeve helps put debris in the back of the cart!
So come on, give me a taste Of what it's like to be next to you Won't let one drop go to waste
Your metaphorical gin and juice
We can be the kings and queens of anything, if we believe.
"You can show us how to do it properly," Seren nodded, with all the confidence in the world that her dad could sort them out. A bonfire would be had, come wind or high tide. No pressure, Ronin.
But first there was work to be completed. And this time there were no further mishaps. The gales kept blowing but could not hinder boats and debris from being loaded unto the cart. And with two demi-gods and a Madame to pull the cart, there was no obstacle in the way that could resist their collective charm. Down they trundled along paths and over hills, and upon reaching the beach it could all be gathered up in one merry pile. To be burned, and poked, and all the other things one did with piles of debris.
Taking a final look over her shoulder at the lighthouse before they left, Seren hummed in agreement, and returned Maeve's hug. "I thought it would take all day," she admitted. "I'm glad you both showed up." There had not been any reminiscing or lollygagging on her part, but that was alright. She could visit her mother some other time.
- FIN
With the last of the garbage gathered up and piled on the beach for bonfires, the cleanup of Aumakua is complete!
Thank you so much for helping, guys! <3
Seren
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
