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!
Belated, but finally ready (and to her - and all of their credits, life is far from slow and quiet these days), Wessex puts up a request on the Notice Board for assistance in building the Barracks.
They have the stone from the Ruins, already carted to the old Barracks site and quite honestly, laying there for far too long. They have Azrael’s plans both in head and in hand. They have cement and wood for a small side room. It’s a big project.
And though the Grounders may be a bit resistant to the idea of a Barracks (or so she imagines), Wessex is willing to do most of the heavy work to get something new up and running. With the seasons slipping by and the failed events of the Peepholes, the looming what ifs and how far ahead is the other side haunts the General.
This place is crucial. Their training is important to their survival. Hoping that they might understand this, Wessex waits as the sun begins to set (early this time of year, which gives them plenty of time) for any and all assistance to arrive, ready to direct them in the new outline and dimensions of the building.
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This is a PQ to rebuild the Barracks in stone and modify its original design. Stone was acquired by Cameron, Varus, and Wessex in {PQ} sledgehammer fun time. There are three additional slots, or more needed. Please have your character arriving and choosing a side to work on.
1.
2.
3.
No, I’ll be the stone
I’ll be the hunter, a tower that casts the shade
I lie awake and watch it all
Hey, if they'd helped gather the stone for the barracks, Cam figured they might as well see the project through. They showed up early -- though not exactly bright and early, being a baby Ascended who couldn't stand sunlight. In emotional terms, though, Cam was pretty chipper. Being Ascended had really leveled out their mood; they'd never realized just how much of their general malaise came from hunger or exhaustion until they had those factors removed.
"I'm here to help," they told Wessex. "Never built anything before, though, so I might need some instructions."
They turned towards the left side of the future barracks, figuring it made sense to go left to right, just like reading.
As soon as the sun set, Nikolai makes his way over to the construction site. It's a pleasant surprise to see that Wessex and Cam are the ones present thus far. Two of his family members that he actually likes. "Hello. It's good to see you both." The greeting is accompanied by a small smile.
As he eyed the area, it becomes clear that there's a good bit of work to be done. Nikolai is fully in support of the creation of the barracks. He'd recently taken up the bow after all, and having a place to train would be great. The war that continued to loom over their heads only increased his drive to help see the barracks become a reality.
The sun begins to set and Azrael’s a bit late to the event, but they arrive nonetheless – a few more parchments tucked under their arm and their gaze bright as can be as they dip into the space the Barracks would be. Their free hand rises to wave at Wessex in quiet greeting, a chipper and bright fanged smile on their face, one that’s given to Cameron as they step in, and when their gaze lands on Nikolai it’s even brighter. “Hi! Sorry I’m late.” They announce, moving toward where the plans they had worked on were sat, only to drop off the next few parchments of more.
“So where are we starting, Auntie?” They ask, their gaze drifting to Wessex with their hands clasped behind their backs in a very Bastien-esque type of pose, a smile playing on their lips as they wait.
Azrael arrives with a few more fleshed out plans and waits to get started!
shadows dance around the room, i know their names, i carry their blood too
She is both surprised and remarkably pleased at the turnout of the younger Ascended. She has nothing but a grateful smile for each of them as they arrive.
When Cameron says they’ve never built anything, Wessex just chuckles. “Neither have I, not of this size. You know how the rock gathering went… no promises that this will go any better.” And there isn’t, because they’re all kind of flying by the seat of their pants, except for maybe Azrael.
Nikolai had helped with the building of the spikey balls, so he was also well equipped with the fact that Wessex is neither an architect or a builder. Everything ended up working for best, but this might not be the case. “Thanks for coming, Nikolai.”
And then, of course, there’s the real mastermind behind the project, Azrael, who comes flying up with an apology which the Wraith waves away.
“Let’s start with the foundation, yeah? You’ll see the outer lines are clearly marked with the base layers of stone. Let’s each take a wall and add to that for now.” Until they could no longer comfortably add additional stones, in which case they can switch. “There’s several buckets of mortar and we’ve got Ed making more as we speak.” She waves to the local stonemason, who’s been quietly doing some mixing this whole time. They’ll need a lot to make this building sturdy.
"It's fairly simple. Put the stones in as flat and best you can, then fill in with the mortar. Move this shaping thingy -" she's not entirely sure what it's called, but it's more or less a pair of panels that define the thickness of the walls and are on tall stands, which allow them to move up and down. The stands themselves can move side to side. "- along when you've finished a section. When you come back to it, it should be dry enough to build on top of. Any questions... uh, ask me or Az, really. They drew up the plans."
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Alright, you have your assignments! Let's start on the walls.
No, I’ll be the stone
I’ll be the hunter, a tower that casts the shade
I lie awake and watch it all
Their apology is waved off and they flash a brighter fanged smile to that, listening intently for the instructions. The Wraith has a great idea for it, and Azrael steps forward to get started, reaching immediately for the stones with a chipper ‘thank you’ to Ed as they pass by, giving the marked out areas a quick glance to make sure they’re even and straight. Once they are, Azrael begins by sealing the bottom with the mortar, moving to lay the bricks down and swipe the mortar on each side of the brick as well as the bases to keep them glued down.
There’s a bit of a perfectionist within hem, though, with the way they work to make sure the stones line up perfectly, flush against one another – leveling it out to make sure it’s all even. And then it’s mostly just the same old same.
Azrael gets to work laying out the stones and making sure they’re level!
shadows dance around the room, i know their names, i carry their blood too
"Hey, Nikolai. And hi -- you must be Az?" Cam was a bit surprised by the presence of an Ascended they hadn't met yet, especially one so young. And one who called Wessex auntie. Not that they'd thought they'd met all the Ascended, but ... maybe they'd thought they'd met all the Ascended.
Anyway, task at hand: they picked a wall near where Az was working and started laying stones. They couldn't help glancing over at Az every so often, noticing how much care they took with their work. It made Cam slow down and pick their stones carefully, since they didn't want their wall to look like a mess next to Az's.
Nikolai gives a small smile in response to Wessex's words, "Of course." How could he not come to help his family? The young Ascended still wasn't the best at construction either, but he was fully willing to put in the work. Once the instructions were given out, Nikolai gave one last nod towards the others before gathering his supplies.
Choosing a section, he got to work on laying the stones. Nikolai did his best to ensure the stacked layers of stone and mortar were level and even. The last thin he wanted to have to deal with would be uneven layers. Then he'd have to tear the stones out and restart.
Luck is not with either Azrael or Wessex today - perhaps their mortar has been sitting too long, or the stones in their particular areas are and utter hodgepodge and not well suited to laying flat. The two of them struggle with balancing the stones correctly on the long sides of the building and are well behind Cameron and Nikolai (who are on the shorter sides) when they reach a height that they need ladders.
Because this place needs to be bigger than it was before. Certainly over 8 feet tall.
Wessex notices that Cam and Nikolai are chugging along quite well and takes a moment to go and speak with Ed. A quick conversation ensues and he returns shortly with four more people, each carrying a rolling ladder, who receive instructions from him before two of them peel off and head towards the two young Ascended. They introduce themselves and are hopefully able to keep the work moving forward without much of a pause, unless someone needs it.
The General returns to her side of the building with a sigh and carries on as she was, slow and steady.
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Bad rolls for W and Az - keep working on this layer, you'll get there eventually.
Cam and Nikolai, you're doing great. Time to make it higher. You've got an NPC helper with a ladder for this next round.
No, I’ll be the stone
I’ll be the hunter, a tower that casts the shade
I lie awake and watch it all
The introduction from Cam is a welcome one for the young demigod. Azrael flashes a bright fanged smile back in Cam’s way as they start to get to work on the wall, bobbing their head. “I am Az!” They chime, pausing in their work (and perhaps messing it up a fraction in the process) to place a hand to their chest to greet them. “Azrael, really, but lots of people call me Az.”
And with that introduction in place, they return to their work with a bit more frustration. “Oh no.” They hum with a sad sigh, shuffling their hands a bit as they try to get the mortar to work. It doesn’t quite go according to plan and they find it easier to peel off the layers they’d done so far to try again with new mortar and see if that makes a difference.
Azrael tries to get new mortar and tries to redo their layer!
shadows dance around the room, i know their names, i carry their blood too
"Nice to meet you," Cam told Azrael with a smile; then they remembered another important component of introductions. "I'm Cameron, but you can call me Cam."
Then they returned to their work. Now, Cam would never wish failure on their comrades, but they couldn't help getting a little boost of confidence from succeeding where Wessex and Az failed. They'd assumed that if anyone could complete the task well, it would be those two. But, of course, what they really wanted was for everyone to do well.
Taking the ladder from Ed with a murmured "Thanks," Cam carefully set it up and climbed up to keep building.
It's satisfying to see the wall steadily grow, and Nikolai sends Cam a grin when they pause long enough for Ed and the others to join them. Placing his ladder the Ascended climbs up and gets to work. One of the helpers hands him stones and mortar for Nikolai to place. He continues to be as precise as possible with his placement, trying to keep layers of the wall even.
As he goes, Nikolai keeps an eye on the workers down below, doing his best not to drop anything on their heads. With how high up they're reaching, a stone from above would do quite a bit of damage.
At this point it’s just ridiculous how poorly Wessex is doing. It’s clear that whatever skills she might have in other areas, here, the demigod is sorely lacking. Her wall simply will not form correctly. Any time she tries to move the bracers on, the portion behind it’s holding up seems to slowly sink together and then flop over.
Whatever changes Azrael’s made to their technique, it seems to have worked because it isn’t long before they’re ready for their own ladder and NPC helper, with Ed sending a young man about Az’s age over to assist, just like he did with Cameron and Nikolia. Speaking of which, the two of them make decent progress, but they’ve slowed down a bit now that they’re higher up, but do manage to reach the height Wessex and Az had agreed might work best (and they only drop a few stones here and there, but no one’s hurt).
When the General notices that they’re at a good height, she calls over to the them, “Goddamn, you both are good. Do you mind tackling this wall, and I’ll get to moving the heavy stuff in place?” That is, braces needed to start setting a roof in place. With the help of the folks previously assigned to ladders, Wessex starts to maneuver some long and thick logs in through the door, and then setting them up so they can begin to lay the roof.
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W: Rolled a 2 and gives up on her wall, opting to carry the heavy things in to start setting up for the roof.
Cam and Nikolai: Please takeover Wessex’s wall and finish it, you still have one ladder helper
Az: ladder time for you too!
No, I’ll be the stone
I’ll be the hunter, a tower that casts the shade
I lie awake and watch it all
Nikolai flushes slightly at the praise, ducking his head slightly and hiding behind his jacket collar for a second. "Thanks." He glances at their wall, noting that he and Cam had in fact done a great job. It sends a thrill of pride through the younger Ascended. They were making progress to protect their family, and that felt great. And there's no suppressing the smugness that accompanies it.
Climbing down his ladder, Nikolai heads over to Wessex's attempt of a wall. "We'll take it from here." He then begins to repeat his prior work in laying stone and mortar as evenly and efficiently as he can. Nikolai hopes that this wall will cooperate with him and Cam and not refuse to cooperate as it had with Wessex.
