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!
Fast forward. Just a little bit, because what are timelines? They’ve hauled the sheets and rods and bits and piece that they’ve found from the Ruins to the Spire. And now they need to play at engineers again, only this time, it seems like much higher stakes. Wessex is really good at fudging shit, pressing all the buttons to see what works - but this gives her pause.
“Okay, so we need to make a lightning rod that can be mounted to the top of the Spire…” Pursing her lips, the General continues thinking aloud. “What do you think? My guess is it needs to be tall enough to stick out, but not so tall as to be flimsy?”
Nikolai is no engineer, but he has read numerous books on the topic, and in multiple languages. As such, he likes to think he has a basic understanding of the concept. As such an idea takes shape as he sorts through their gathered medal.
"What about a cone shape? Having it thicker at the bottom will provide extra support. And if we place spiral along the cone, we can increase the surface area to allow more energy to build up per shot? How does that sound?" It's a vague description from incomplete knowledge but it sounds logical enough in his head. Hopefully it'll work.
It’s a sound idea and she latches on to it with a grin. “Yeah, a thin cone might work well.” And be stable, and still conduct electricity. “I have no idea about the spiral thing, but we can try. I bet the Voice will be able to do her thing with or without it.” Turning to their pile of metal, Wessex hands him a solid rod and then reaches for a thin sheet. Holding it up, the Wraith tries to force it into a skinny cone shape, much like the way one might shape a piece of paper - except not that easily.
“Let’s use that piece something internal?” Unwrapping the sheet of metal again, she gestures for Nikolai to put the rod inside and then help her shape the thing again.
Nikolai nods, "Sounds good." The younger Ascended feels a fluttering of pride that his idea was accepted so easily. Taking the rod from Wessex, he does his best to align it in the center of the metal that the demigod was folding. Keeping one hand on the rod Nikolai reaches over and begins to help curl the metal around into its proper cone shape.
Metal isn't the easiest thing to fold but the sheet is thin, so he hopes it cooperates with them. "Maybe heating it first will help us fold and twist the metal?" Nikolai offers as he forces part of it into place. "Not a ton but maybe just to warm it a little?" Ascended and actual fire weren't' a good combination after all.
Between the two of them, they’re able to hold it all together. Nikolai is right, however, that they need some heat to make it more pliable and maybe even solder it together enough to hold until they can get it to a blacksmith - or a blacksmith can come to them.
“I’ve got an idea,’” Wessex announces, and then asks Loki to come to her. While they’re waiting for the dragon to appear, the General continues. “Loki’s going to help us a bit, but until then, put your hands here and let’s see what these eye lasers can do.” Waiting until Nikolai adjusts so that his hands are out of the way, she directs her lasers to a certain stubborn area until it hopefully softens enough to bend easily.
Loki appears soon after, zipping in and Wessex simply says aloud, “Thanks, Loki. Can you please ask the blacksmith to come with something to solder these bits together?” Luckily, the companion is a good mood, chirps and then flits off again - presumably to find someone who can help.
The blacksmith arrives with Loki in tow. A petite Ascended with more upgrades in their arms and wrists then most have in their bodies. Who needed a workshop when you were the workshop? "I hear you need help with some soldering?" They eye what Wessex and Nikolai have currently before giving a short nod before either can speak. "Yup, I see. For the spire cannon. Hand it over." They reach out a hand as a panel in their wrist opens and a soldering iron unfolds.
Nikolai tilts the metal over so that the blacksmith can reach the seam. "Does this work?" He glances at Wessex to see if she has any better ideas of how they should go about it. The young Ascended has zero experience with metalworking and feels rather out of his depth. As the blacksmith gets to work, Nikolai watches with open wonder and curiosity. learning what he can even though he'll likely never try to forge anything himself.
Flashing the blacksmith a smile, the General nods. “Thanks, Annika.”
Wessex has little metalworking experience, but does know enough to be able to dictate where the seams should be. It’s somewhat obvious, too, so she just nods and lets their sibling do their thing as the apparatus extends far enough to keep their fluid stable, and then… heats up, she assumes, because its pressed to the top first, melting the rod and the sheet together, Then the outer seam of the sheet is soldered, then the inner seam.
“Just one more thing,” Annika offers, and flexes her hand, partially withdrawing the soldering iron and extending something else that looks like it will produce a flame, as well as putting a glove on the other hand. “You’re doing to want a ball or prongs or something at the top.” Looking around at Wessex and Nikolai, she raises a brow, asking them if they have anything of the sort.
Nikolai holds the metal as still as he can while Annika works, not wanting to cause a mistake or injury. Once that part is done, Nikolai shifts his focus to Annika's advice. "A ball or prong? To stabilize and concentrate the energy enough to shoot?" That's his best guess at least.
Before the blacksmith or Wessex even get a chance to reply, Nikolai is sorting through the collected metal. "Aha!" He pulls out a few long and tapered pieces of metal. Each is about as thick as a bō staff. "Does this work? We can probably make a prong out of these." He offers the metal bits over to Annika and Wessex. A prong seems like it'll be more intimidating than a ball anyway. Why not make their defense weapon as intimidating as possible?
While Nikolai’s enthusiasm is admirable, what he gets from the pile of scrap metal isn’t quite what they need, but it can be adjusted. Annika shakes her head initially. “Those are too long,” then pauses to consider the tools at her disposal and then the General. “Well, actually - I think I can cut them down to size if you can heat up the metal.” Wessex readily agrees and sets to using her laser eyes to heat the metal where indicated. Then Annika comes in with a small, whirling sort of saw and cuts through the softened bit, leaving much smaller pieces.
It takes time, but in the end those four bits are also soldered on to the top of the rod and extend upward and outward into a sort of claw-like fashion. It isn’t exactly scary, or the most beautiful thing they’ve created, but it should work.
Nikolai hands the metal scraps over, ducking his head in slight embarrassment at his overzealousness. But at least between Wessex and Annika, they make it work. Even if the others find it 'suitable' Nikolai eyes the metal claw with awe. "I can't wait to see our Lady make this a reality." The young Ascended has no doubt that their goddess will turn this metal object into something worthy of her. Just as she did for the obsidian that became his eyes.
Smiling, Nikolai turns to the others, "Is there something else we need to do? Or is the rest in our Lady's hands?" He wasn't sure what other aspects needed to be completed on their end.
Annika finishes up her work while Wessex quietly waits to one side, watching their sister with a great deal of curiosity. She isn’t always aware of what upgrades her siblings have, so it’s more than a little fascinating to see how she’s adapted her upgrades to suit her profession - er, passion? Anything that allows them to work with fire like this is truly a gift!
When it’s done, she shakes her head. “Nothing left for us to do - thank you so much, Annika. Now it’s up to Bastien and someone else to fasten it on top of the Spire.” Gesturing for him to join her, they take their leave and go to find the Ambassador to deliver the lightning rod.
