[PQ] booty booty booty traps rockin' everywhere

WESSEX after all is said and done you're just a carnivore let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster Booby traps. It’s what Wessex finally decides on, once given the charge to build defenses. Feeling more like a stuffed bear than a real live person, she thinks and thinks and thinks until an idea comes to her, and then she runs with it, using all of her remaining Queen power to commandeer people and supplies. Metal, for the spikes. Sharpened stakes, for when the metal runs out. Rope. Rocks and mortar. Unused woven baskets, anything that could be loaded and hoisted. Fishing line. All of it’s hauled to the forest part of the Outskirts, where the Wraith first walks along the tree line to make sure any spying eyes from the Greatwood can’t see what’s going on. Luckily for them, with the leaves and heavy brush, movement within the Grounds is well hidden - which is exactly what she wants. Posting a notice on the board asking for help, the demigod is waiting when the volunteers arrive, a deadly looking, cobbled rock and metal flying mace propped up as an example. ------------------ This is a PQ to erect defenses for the Grounds against the folks in the Greatwood. Open to as many as want to join. Please post your character arriving. Will move on in 48 hrs. Thanks! 1. Varus 2. Nikolai 3. 4.

i say i'd do it all again, but i hate paying for my sins

A notice board post will most certainly capture his attention when it starts with defenses. And so Varus, ever the helpful, diligent man he likes to think that he is, makes it a point to arrive and help out. He arrives without much flare aside from the glittering metal arm and a bright smile aimed right at Wessex upon his approach.

“Lookin’ fierce, Wes.” He comments with a nod, stepping up to inspect the mace with a curious eye, metal fingers tapping against the spikes of the mace with a quiet clang, before he’s withdrawing to stand by for whatever tasks are suggested, however he can go about making himself useful.

VARUS

Nikolai

We are only haunted by the things we refuse to accept
-Bridgett Devoue

When Nikolai saw the notice, he already knew that he'd be helping. The new Ascended would defend his home in any way that he could. And as he wasn't a great fighter, not yet at least, laying defenses was a great start. Traps were effective if built right, and he was pleased with the idea of adding them to their borders. The mace on display however, had him blinking. That was quite a defense. Were they building that? He hoped there were instructions.

Seeing Wessex and Varus already present, he greeted them. The Queen received a respectful nod and a small smile. "Hello again." Varus got a grudging nod, seemed that Nikolai had been wrong. He had run into 'Cal' again. Nikolai still didn't know why the man had given a false name at first. The Voice had clearly called him 'Varus' which Nikolai assumed was his real name. It just made the young man wary of the other Ascended.

Resilience is born even when we feel like we are dying
-Alex Elle

WESSEX after all is said and done you're just a carnivore let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster Fierce is the goal, so long as it’ll protect them - or at least hinder an advance. Her grin in reply is a bit more feral than their previous encounter, more serious, more sinister. These guys could do a good amount of damage to a Fae, and, well, that’s the point. “Thanks. Here’s hoping they work as well as I hope.” Then Nikolai shows up and Wessex offers them a much kinder expression, one full of gratitude for their help. “Hi Nikolai, thanks for coming.” Saving the explanation for what she’s got planned until more show up, the General waits until it’s obvious that it’ll just be the three of them. So. They’ve got a lot of work to do. “Okay,” the Wraith begins, standing behind the spiked ball. “This is a flying mace. It’s meant to hang in the trees and be triggered by a tripwire. I think we should try to aim to keep them for flyers, both to keep the Grounders safe and because if I were Fae, I’d fly in instead of walk.” Gesturing to the supplies, she continues. “We can make this a couple of ways, but I think it might be best to put rocks in these baskets, stick the metal spikes into them, and then cover it with mortar. It’ll be heavyish, but with enough rope, we should be able to suspend it just fine. Two of us will work on that, assembly-line style, and then one person needs to figure out where would be best to put them.” -------------------- Choose what you'd like to do - start assembling the maces or go on reconnaissance for hanging places. If you choose hanging, Wessex will tell you to look for trees with heavy foliage, limbs to hide it, and about 20 ft. high. W will take whatever's left over. No post order.

Nikolai

We are only haunted by the things we refuse to accept
-Bridgett Devoue

Nikolai listens to the instructions carefully, trying to determine where he'll be most useful. Hanging the maces properly likely takes a decent amount of strength. Strength that the young Ascended is sure that Wessex and Varus have covered. So he'll take reconnaissance having climbed plenty of trees in his youth. "I'll go look for hanging spots." He volunteers before setting out.

Walking along the perimeter, he identifies the trees that are strongest for such weight. There's quite a few honestly, but that's to be expected given where they are. Having identified them, he then chooses the ones that are strategic. The ones that are near open spots perfect for flying, ones were paths converge, etc. He makes sure that they're evenly spaced at the border but with higher concentration at these possible hot spots, coving as much ground as possible. Nikolai then goes about and leaves a small scratch on his chosen trees, to mark them for Wessex and Varus.


Nikolai takes reconnaissance. He marks trees along the border that are hot spots for possibly flyers, path convergences, etc. He's making sure that the hot spots are covered but that there's also an evenly spaced border of maces around the rest of the border.

Resilience is born even when we feel like we are dying
-Alex Elle

i say i'd do it all again, but i hate paying for my sins

“Fingers crossed.” Varus makes a slight show of crossing his metal fingers, flashing a grin to Wessex before Nikolai arrives and receives a bright smile and a nod — oblivious to any distrust the Ascended might have toward him. Truthfully, he’d hoped the boy would’ve forgotten what the Voice had called him, but he supposes he can’t be so picky.

But then Wessex is explaining and Nikolai picks the trees, which leaves him and the demigod to build the bases for the maces which certainly sound up his alley. “You wanna hold them in place and I’ll fill them up with mortar?” He suggests to Wessex before getting to work on just that — mixing the mortar and making sure it’s thin enough to be poured while also thick enough to harden into something solid.

---

Varus works on making the bases!

VARUS

WESSEX after all is said and done you're just a carnivore let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster Welp, fam, at least the three of them can say they put a solid effort in, because luck doesn’t seem to be with them at the moment. Poor Nikolai has the worst of it, rolling a nat one as a couple of playing bear cubs come bounding his way, adding marks to trees that he doesn’t want marked and, well - what might be the worst of it - a Mama Bear shuffling along behind her babies. She eventually smells the young Ascended and she is pissed. Roaring into the forest, Mama Bear breaks into a lope, following the Ascended’s scent. Varus and Wessex are only slightly better off than their younger brother; maybe it’s the expertise between them or the lack of bears, but they manage to get the first basket filled with rocks when the General sticks a metal bar through it and ends up ripping the side of the basket open completely. The rocks come tumbling out and the Wraith looks down on it incredulously. “I guess… I don’t know my own strength sometimes?” she tries to jest, while recollecting the rocks. Turns out its best to carefully poke the metal through, then fill it up with rocks. Varus has some trouble with the mixture. First it’s too thick, then it’s too runny, and then it seems to be just right. Trial and error is the name of the game here, after all, they’re fighters, not builders. -------------------- Nikolai - your only job is to stay safely out of Mama Bear’s way. Varus and Wessex - you’ve got the mortar right and a way to make the bases, keep going and see if it all holds up.

Nikolai

We are only haunted by the things we refuse to accept
-Bridgett Devoue

Nikolai feels equal parts horrified and incredulous. A bear, a mother bear. Really? Seeing the angry mother approaching swiftly, the young Ascended turns around and takes off. Sprinting as hard as he can, he tries to make it back to the safety of where Wessex and Varus are.

"A little help?!?" He calls as he runs for his life. Of all the situations he thought might emerge from today, this wasn't even on his radar. Nikolai honestly is having a hard time processing just how shitty his luck is. The only conciliation is that if the bear eats him, she'll be poisoned. But wait, then her cubs would be alone. Neverminded, that's not a conciliation, it's another reason to not get caught.


Nikolai is questioning his life choices and is sprinting towards Varus and Wessex in the hopes of safety.

Resilience is born even when we feel like we are dying
-Alex Elle

i say i'd do it all again, but i hate paying for my sins

Wessex’s blunder with the metal that sticks right through the basket and opens it up completely does make Varus bark a bit of a laugh, a crookedly fanged grin crossing his face as he works on the mortar while she collects the rocks again. And gods does he struggle to, the consistency being the biggest of his problems – one that grows increasingly more frustrating the longer he keeps fucking it up. And by the end of it, luckily, it’s useable but he imagines they likely have a fuck ton of it.

He moves in to help pour some of the mortar in so that it’ll harden when he hears the edge of a call from Nikolai, brows pinching. “What happened?” Varus calls back in the direction, gesturing for Wessex to hold another metal bar so he can pour the mortar in – just to get that work done before it dries and becomes unusable again after he had struggled in the first place to get it to the right consistency.

---

Varus asked Nikolai what happened (more like yells it back at the kid), and continues to help fill the mortar into the rock and bar baskets Wessex holds together.

VARUS

WESSEX after all is said and done you're just a carnivore let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster Luckily for Nikolai (and his luck turned a bit for the better), Mama Bear only wanted to chase him away from her cubs, she ain’t interested in eating or killing him unless she has to. And she doesn’t have to. So with the Ascended successfully run off, the bears continue on their way. Unfortunately, it does mean that his hard work at marking the trees will need to be revisited. But his screams draw Varus and Wessex’s attention and they both look up in alarm, hands tied for a moment. “You alright?” the General shouts back, following Cal’s question with one of her own. The consistency of the mortar is now just where they want it and as Varus pours it in the basket, it fillsin the many crevices around the rocks and metal and then she puts the lid on and indicates he should pour around that too, to ensure it’s all held together. It’s a nasty looking thing, not at all elegant or pretty, but it’ll do. --------------------------- Well Nikolai, now that you're safe, you can either go back out and try again, or help Wessex and Varus make more flying maces. There's also some tripwires to engineer. Varus, W - just keep doing what you're doing :)

Nikolai

We are only haunted by the things we refuse to accept
-Bridgett Devoue

Stopping his desperate sprint when the coast was clear, Nikolai relaxed. He glanced at the two older Ascended with a grimace. "I interrupted a mother bear. I'll head back out in a second." He explained, glancing behind himself with open wariness. Nikolai really didn't want to deal with that again, but he was never one to quit.

So after a moment to regain his courage, he set out again. His plan was the same as before. Marking trees where there was likely to  high flight traffic, and where paths converged. And again he marked those trees, but this time with more prominent slashes so that they wouldn't be mistaken for the ones left by the bears.  He also keeps an eye out for any other animals.


Nikolai tries again! Same tactic as before but he's leaving more prominent marks that won't be mistaken by the ones left by the bears. Oh, and he's absolutely looking over his shoulder constantly.

Resilience is born even when we feel like we are dying
-Alex Elle

i say i'd do it all again, but i hate paying for my sins

Wessex’s question is aired on the heels of his own – something different yet still enough to figure out what happened to Nikolai in the woods. All the while, he continues to pour the mortar into the bucket that Wessex has so generously held. She pops the lid on and he adds some to the top to keep it sealed just as she indicates.

“Those bears aren’t to be messed with.” He agrees with an air of nostalgia, though the grin that crosses his face as he moves onto the next set with Wessex gives him away, as does the playful wink sent the demigod’s direction. “Neither are these.” He tacks on, gesturing to the weaponry they’re attaching to the buckets as he goes to pour more of the binding in.

---

Varus keeps on filling the buckets with Wessex’s help!

VARUS

WESSEX after all is said and done you're just a carnivore let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster The only one who’s luck holds is Varus, which just makes a long PQ go even slower, sorry guys, as he is able to keep the mortar workable and pours it in and on each piece the General makes, despite her various errors. Seriously, Wessex, it’s like you’ve never made weapons before. Eventually, they have a good number of drying and hardening maces and Wessex calls it quits. “Alright, that should be good for now. Just gotta let ‘em dry and then haul them to the spots Nikolai picked out.” Speaking of Nikolai, the young man has had a bit of a hard time out there again. The bears have moved on, thankfully, but a bird’s shat on him instead. Some splattered on his neck. It’s not a good smell. Maybe it’s time to turn back? Once he returns, he’ll find the other two getting into rope and tripwires. “We want something that won’t be triggered by animals. Initially I wanted to put them in the trees to catch Fae, and any other flyers - like Remi in his manticore shift - but I don’t know how we’d hide the tripwires. On the ground seems like the only option. What do you think?” Asking both of them, Wessex starts to lay out wire and rope for them to measure and cut. -------------------- Not so great on the rolls again :| This round, let's measure and cut tripwire and rope to hang and rig all the maces.

Nikolai

We are only haunted by the things we refuse to accept
-Bridgett Devoue

Nikolai is fed up with the day already. He quickly dunks his head and neck in a nearby stream Scrubbing harsly to clean off everything. Once he's satisfied he goes to help Wessex and Varus out with the wires.

After the luck Nikolai has had today, the Ascended decides he will not be handling anything sharp. Instead, he sets about measuring the wire and rope, pointing out where each cut needs to be made. Hopefully this tactic will speed things along as a cut can be made as soon as it's measured. And at the very least, Nikolai likely won't cut himself. At least, hopefully not.

Nikolai furiously cleans himself in a nearby stream. He then sets about measuring and pointing out where each cut needs to be made in the wire and rope.

Resilience is born even when we feel like we are dying
-Alex Elle