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!
05-18-2022, 11:47 PM (This post was last modified: 05-19-2022, 03:34 PM by Talyson.)
The notice had been tacked to the board in the Palace with surprisingly neat script:
LongNight's coming and the greenhouse needs some trimming. Come and help, and get some fresh fruit and veggies for the dark week while you're at it. I'll start at noon in two days.
Ah, the greenhouse: where the unseasonable warmth felt downright balmy and the green, growing things kept the humidity high. Fruits, vegetables, and herbs grew in profusion within the large glass enclosure but there was evidence of overgrowth and neglect in some areas where the foliage grew rampantly thick and obscuring, blocking the paved paths between beds. Small trees reached towards the clear roof, seeking sunlight and fighting for leafy dominance while bushes of plump berries filled in below, blocking access to the tree trunks. Several of the vegetable patches had lost their placards beneath thickly tangled leaves and runners.
There was the occasional odd rustling from the undergrowth, but it was largely overshadowed by the constant trickle of snowmelt used to feed the watering troughs and little pools used to keep the plants happy and healthy.
Tal was stripped down to his long sleeves with the cuffs rolled up in the entrance of the greenhouse, looking downright scrawny without his parka. He had brought a couple of baskets, some trowels, and some shears along with a couple of longer knives which he pulled out of his bag of holding and laid out in easy reach of anyone who showed up. Then he stood around scowling awkwardly with his hands in his pockets, waiting to see who would come.
Welcome to a Halovian LongNight prep PQ! We all need some fruits and beans and leafy greens to keep away the rickets this time of year, amiright? Looks like the greenhouse has gotten a little out of hand, too! Why not kill two ningo with one stone and neaten the place up while gathering supplies for those LongNight dinners with the family?
05-19-2022, 05:53 PM (This post was last modified: 05-26-2022, 02:09 AM by Sah.)
Sah
When Sah saw the notice, he contemplated if he really wanted to go. He wanted to help and bringing home some fresh veggies for the twins sounded great. But it was something he had zero experience in. And food was precious, so the Outlander was actually worried about fucking it up.
But helping Halo and free food won out against her worries. As such, Sah headed to the greenhouse at the specified time. Seeing Tal already there, he gave a small wave even though internally he screamed with annoyance, "Hey Errand boy. Didn't take you for the gardening type. Did you lose your way on a delivery?"
Returned from his latest designated, dangerous outing, the General had been busy in the bombardments missed – including some notices posted. In all honesty, he didn’t frequent the greenhouse enough; he’d helped in ensuring its success in previous quests from Frey, but setting foot in its midst rarely occurred.
Which meant he’d forgotten how warm the place could get.
Stepping within, he immediately blanched, recalling the tropical climate of the Oerwoud, and quickly peeled away the layers of furs until he was down to his regular tunic, sleeves rolled along his forearms and some manner of complaint beginning to press over his features.
Ignoring Sah and Talyson’s banter, because he was already tired of it, he rolled his eyes, gaze sweeping slightly to the strange rustling somewhere nearby. Arching his brow, wondering if that was something normal or another multitude they were about to discover, the Sword applied his modicum of greeting with his habitual, routine rumble. “What do you need?”
05-20-2022, 12:54 AM (This post was last modified: 05-20-2022, 12:56 AM by Cordelia.)
Cordelia
Idle hands were the Voice's playthings or however the saying went. Hence, why Delia was here. Aside from doing her part to take care of Halo the way she always did, the Attuned just needed something to do, unable to sit still for too long. Despite being in the same place, Noah was often busy, leaving her alone majority of the time. They didn't even fall into bed at the same time anymore.
Approaching the greenhouse, Cordelia offers a smile to the boys, already shrugging out of her coat once she's inside. The air warm and balmy against her skin, a stark contrast to the frigid air outside, feeling almost wet in her lungs as she inhales. "Hello, boys. What are we doing today?" She hums, starting to meander around the outskirts of the greenhouse, fingertips brushing across the plants that were already growing.
'Cause darling, it was good // Never looking down And right there where we stood // Was holy ground
"Some of us actually work for a living," Tal snipped back at Sah, but bit back the rest of what he was going to say as Deimos and Delia walked in. He nodded a much more cordial welcome to them and, figuring they had enough hands on deck, gestured behind him to the overgrowth and general messiness.
"Figure we can harvest what's ready for LongNight, an' trim things back into shape while we're at it," he explained. "The caretaker's a friend of my family, an he's been down sick for awhile, so he asked us to help out."Somehow 'us' had gone from all the Seawrights to just the youngest. "I've got a list from 'im with instructions." He dug a somewhat grubby piece of paper out of his pocket and set it on a broad leaf from some Oerwoud plant so the others could refer back to it as needed.
"So, before we can harvest the fruit trees someone needs to cut the berry bushes back while they're pickin' the ripe ones off 'em. They're all gettin' pretty out of hand, an' they're pretty hardy, so don't be shy." He glanced back towards the vegetable beds with a faint scowl. "Speakin' of out of hand... Looks like some of the veggie rows are starting t'grow together an' get all mixed up. So someone needs to thin out the rows back into line, so we can tell what's what. An' then there's the herb tables." There were some near the front and others scattered throughout the greenhouse among the other plants, in varying light conditions; low, deep 'tables' growing all manner of culinary and medicinal herbs. "The labels are missin'. They should be in there, somewhere, just... overgrown or buried. So we need to harvest as many herbs as we can store to get them under control and find those labels." He had a dubious look on his face as he considered that task. He could barely tell his garlic from his green onions, much less his rosemary from his thyme.
"I'll start clearin' the stuff growing over the paths." He glared at the overgrowth from various shrubs, bushes, and short trees. "So you guys can work your ways back as you go."
This round there are three tasks:
1. Harvest berries and cut back the berry bushes so we can reach the trees later
2. Harvest vegetables and thin the rows back into straight lines so it's easy to tell them apart
3. Collect herbs while looking for the labels on each patch so we don't accidentally poison anyone with the wrong thing!
Were it not for the Sword’s earthen incantations immersed within his soul, he probably would’ve been utterly useless for any of these assignments. Shying away from the notions of labeling the herbs and plants (they’d be wrong – no sense in making more work for anyone), he surveyed the rest of the options. Perhaps it would be best to align himself with the berry bushes; capable of cutting things away without much apprehension. “I will try to sort out the berries,” he mentioned, before making his way to the designated spot.
If he could recall, many of those fruits grew wildly and in haste – which they’d done readily, given the properties now. Snorting at the way they angled, twisted, and turned over one another, he sought to utilize two enchantments at once. Avoiding any thorns, he coaxed an easygoing rush with his air incantations, intending to snatch and pick at any ripe berries, moving them to a gathered location, while utilizing the earth intonations and pressing the plants back into an orderly line.
--
Deimos tries to use his Mastered Air to pick at the ripe berries and Mastered Earth to push the plants back.
Sah rolled his eyes at the remark, falling silent as he listened to the tasks at hand. Deimos seemed inclined towards the berries and as he considered the other two, the Abandoned decided that he did not the responsibility of potentially poisoning people. As such he grabbed some baskets and tools and headed over to the vegetable rows.
Settling in Sah worked to harvest what was ready, placing each type of vegetable into its own basket. As he worked, he thinned out what was needed. It was a bit difficult to tell if the rows were straight, so Sah had to keep standing and looking from different angles.
Cordelia slips between the rows of plants, finding the herb section easily, and a basket nearby for harvesting. With a pair or clippers in hand, the Attuned works on harvesting bundles upon bundles, searching for the labels in the process. Most she easily recognizes. There is rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, lavender, and others. Each one is carefully cut and tied together, placed delicately in the basket to be hung to dry later, but that isn't the only thing she has to do.
The stakes are found, each label moved back to the front to be more easily seen by those walking the rows who weren't able to identify the herbs by sight alone. Her eyes drift towards Deimos and Sah as they work, a soft smile curling on her lips as she watches each of them tend to their own sections.
Cordelia collects herbs and finds labels.
'Cause darling, it was good // Never looking down And right there where we stood // Was holy ground
06-07-2022, 05:15 AM (This post was last modified: 06-07-2022, 04:22 PM by Talyson.)
It wasn't that the foliage was fighting back, necessarily. It didn't move on its own or do anything out of the ordinary for green, thriving branches and vines. But, child of Halo that he was, Tal's experience lay in chopping a tree down at its trunk. Trying to trim living branches was, it turned out, a lot harder than it sounded and the courier found himself whacking down leaves without making much progress on the branches that hung over his head. His temper got the better of him and he tried to grab a branch to hold it still while he whacked it with his axe--
And finally managed to chop through it successfully! --right before the branch fell on his head. "Fucking gods damn stupid fucking trees," he snarled under his breath, rubbing the new bump on his head and stuffing the branch with a great deal of unnecessary violence into his Bag of Holding.
Deimos had greater luck than the rest of them. Two magics at once could be a tricky business, but the General had plenty of practice in his own powers, allowing him to manage the separate tasks simultaneously. Not with any particular flair, but the bushes were soon corralled back into order, and the ripe berries were deposited safely in baskets for distribution before LongNight. The way to the fruit trees was now clear, with apples, pears, plums, oranges, and other fruits filling boughs both high and low. Some were clearly ripe while others weren't; it was up to Deimos to decide how best to proceed with the harvest.
Sah's luck wasn't any better than Tal's, unfortunately. The second vegetable he uprooted seemed a bit light; indeed, it was missing most of its meat. Something had been burrowing beneath the rows and nibbling at the vegetables from beneath. There weren't very many untouched ones worth harvesting, and there would be even less if he didn't find the culprit before it struck again...
Cordelia should have had an easier time of things. And yet... those damn dice fate was not so kind. She could only find half of the labels, and those were badly faded and practically illegible. Here, too, was evidence of sabotage from some intruder who had no business in the greenhouse, though the signs were a bit different; many of the herbs had leaves that had been nipped and torn, and the raised beds in the boxes were scratched up, adding to the disarray. She might have felt the pressure of a pair of beady eyes watching her from beneath a nearby bush before it rustled and they disappeared back into the shadows deeper within the verdant tangle.
Round 2!
Deimos is making good progress and has reached the fruit trees; keep up that harvesting~
Sah and Delia have vermin to hunt!
Tal has hopefully learned an important lesson about where to cut overhanging branches now and can continue his trimming~
It shouldn't have been surprising that there was some kind of vermin hiding away in here. It was the warmest place in Halo with a constant food source. What did surprise her was that it was stupid enough to do so in the first place. Especially when the predators that lived within the walls of the Citadel were just as ruthless as the ones on the waste. Wasting no time to shift into the fur of her fox, the huntress leapt up into the raised beds, paws light as she slipped through the plants, nose twitching in the air. Whatever was hiding inside didn't stand a chance.
Cordelia shifts into a fox and hunts for the prey!
Rarely one to preen over his own abilities, Deimos remained fairly content with the whole lot. Never a farmer or gathered by any trade, for he’d always made his way with the blade, he gave a shrug of his shoulders when everything went in a standard array. With the berries heralded back into some manner of order, the path to the fruit trees was wide and open, ready to be plucked.
Taking another basket, unaware of anyone else’s trials or tribulations with branches or vermin (which was too bad, because slaying things was a prime amusement), he went towards the rows of apples, pears, plums, oranges, and other distinctions, inspecting the fruit for signs of ripeness. If the item wasn’t suitable, he simply left it along the bough, to be harvested on another day. The rest were divided up into separate containers, figuring it’d be easier for Halo citizens to pick and choose what they craved.
--
Deimos snags at the ripe fruit and separates them into containers!
Sah tsked as he pulled up yet another damaged plant. Seems there was a little thief in the garden. Knowing that he can't use his lighting, les he wants to set the whole place on fire, the Abandoned figured he'd try another tactic. Picking plants that looked like they still held their vegetables, he focused his attention on them.
Keeping these plants in sight, he focused his senses on his surroundings and readied his magic. Telekinesis readied, he gets ready to grab the creature as soon as he spots it. Fingers crossed that he could lock onto the creature quick enough, he waited.
~
Sah tries to catch the creature in the act and plans to grab the little guy with his telekinesis.
Telekinesis: Can move large objects.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Having a large branch leave a bump on your skull was a hell of a teaching moment. It forced Tal to slow down and proceed at a more careful and methodical pace, making sure to steady each branch before bringing his axe to bear on them. Slowly but cleanly he began to work his way along the walking paths between the planting beds, trimming the excess growth back and making it easier for everyone to both see and move through the greenhouse.
Cordelia moved on swift paws after the intruder who had made such a mess of the herb beds. A few white feathers stuck to the branches of verdant bushes as she eeled passed them, but the ningo was fat and lazy and Delia was swift and fierce. Being in the shape of the bird's natural predator certainly helped, as did the limited area of the greenhouse. One round was more than enough for her to catch her prey!
Deimos had less luck with the fruits than he'd had with the berries. The Sword had a keen eye (and nose?) but signs of rot weren't always evident until after he'd wrapped his fingers around a particular morsel and felt it squish in the unseasonable warmth and humidity of the greenhouse. The baskets were a good idea, but the difficulty was in finding fruit that was neither overripe nor too small and green to be edible. A few successes found their way into his containers, but it looked as though the ripest fruits were the ones highest up in the trees - out of convenient reach.
Sah waited. And waited. Very patient and very still, was Sah. But the veggie thief was patient, too. Big, dangerous predators were moving around above the earth and it was wary even more than it was hungry. If it was nearby it was wise enough - or afraid enough - to be holding very still while it waited for the furor above-ground to subside.
Round 3! Tal is making progress clearing the paths and Delia has caught her herb-destroyer! What will she do with it now?
Deimos can't easily reach the remaining ripe fruits and Sah's thief remains hidden; at this point they can keep attempting their tasks or they can swap!
With his height, it wasn’t often that the Sword had this particular issue. But staring upwards, gazing at the fruit out of reach, his mind began calculating several options. There were always his Air incantations, capable of snagging and tearing the items from limbs and branches, but no feasible way to tell if they were ripe enough yet – so it could’ve been a wasteful enterprise.
Thereafter, he opted to take the second option conjured – shifting into his eagle form. His massive figure became that of sienna feathers and streamlined precision, soaring upwards, and circling around the trees. Keen eyesight and being able to land on the boughs without being an overbearing thing had its pros too; and he could readily inspect, before snagging at the fruit with his talons, and plucking them towards the baskets.
