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!
we follow our own steps while our shadows keeps watching us
With the snow closing most, though less than in previous years and centuries, Noah knew this would be a well-attended and rich discussion. Several Halovians had already dedicated time to fulfilling the tasks Frey set before them, and now they needed to decide exactly how this weapon would be utilized.
Noah worked with the bakers and the baristas (a new thing to Halo, them having moved here after the attack on Stormbreak) to make sure that the refreshments for his people were ready and up to par. He got himself a rather large mug full of hot chocolate (though, unknown to him, one of the bakers had spruced it up with a shot of whiskey) and set himself at his normal place.
"Welcome everyone. Please get comfortable as we set in to discuss how to use the weapon Frey is helping us with. This defense will be an asset to the Citadel we've never had before." He remembered the cultists that attacked their walls. He remembered the dragon that flew over the palace and grabbed Weaver, taking her to her death. He remembered the dragon that brought the Ascended to attack the people at Morgan's command. This weapon would, hopefully, aid in defending them from such attacks in the future.
All Halo citizens welcome! This is a Mini-Event to discuss and decide the triggering/aiming mechanism for the beam.
the wrong steps would be not to start this exodus.
the ocean does not apologize for its depth and the mountains do not seek forgiveness
In between relic hunting, training soldiers, patrols, and tasks laid out by Frey, there hadn’t been much time to discuss matters with Noah. Busy as they all were, moments had been sparse and few, but he took long strides by the Sentinel, reaching out to pat him on the shoulder as he passed by; promises to talk later.
There were other matters at the heart of today’s event anyway – deliberations to be made over the proportions of the weapon itself – and so he snagged at a nearby mug of hot chocolate with a nod of gratitude towards the barista, before settling down into a nearby chair. Deimos, being who he was, wouldn’t be the one to initiate the conversation, but certainly an avid listener and observer by trade – waiting to hear what the rest of Halo had to say.
Tal was generally uncomfortable indoors. Walls of stone or ice always felt a little precarious and a lot confining. And neither Boreal nor Bell were with him today to help mitigate some of his anxiety as he scowled down at his feet and hunched his shoulders against the weight of the building above them.
He was also uncomfortable in crowds and gatherings of more than a few people he already knew, and so he slunk in towards the back of the gathering with his head ducked and his hands jammed in his pockets. He looked up long enough to meet Deimos's eyes and nod a brief greeting, but he tucked himself back into a corner and waited for the ideas to start circulating, trying to remember what he'd come up with when they'd been outside in the park..
Sah nodded towards those present as he entered the council hall. Grabbing himself his own cup of hot chocolate and a pastry, the advisor sat down and waited for the discussion to begin. He figured he would let the others start things off as the Abandoned was still unsure of his own stance on the matter.
The cannon was going to be a major asset to Halo. But Sah had no idea how to best manage the specifics of its activation. He'd never dealt with a weapon of that scale before. It had the potential to destroy the Citadel as much as it did to aid it. The Outlander truly didn't even know where to begin this discussion. Only that they had to ensure that it couldn't be used against them and that it was still left accessible in a time of need.
the ocean does not apologize for its depth and the mountains do not seek forgiveness
Sometimes, even for Deimos, the silence became too much. Watching as others filed in, and then the discussion of naught, the General leaned back in his chair, biding time. It seemed none of them really wanted to take the first notation – whether by longing to hear another chime in and echo, or pondering over further foundations, the Sword found himself willing and able to take the initial plunge – simply so something could begin. Glancing at Noah, and then flickering his piercing gaze to the other assembled masses, he uttered the rumbling intonations. “What are our thoughts on how to trigger the mechanism?” A button? A switch? “And who should be the ones activating it?”
The courier scowled harder down at the floor as the General broke the silence. A quick, unhappy glance around didn't show anyone else stepping up to speak, so he cleared his throat roughly and barked out his words.
"Keys can be stolen. Or copied." He scuffed the floor with his boot. "An' shifts an' magic can be... stolen, too." By who or what, he didn't feel the need to state aloud, almost superstitious in his silence on the subject. "But maybe, if there's numbers or letters on a block that we push in a code... as long as no one writes it down or says it out loud once we leave, maybe that would keep anyone we don't want from using it?" Alright, maybe not a great idea, but it was the best he had to get the ball rolling.
Sah hummed, ideas beginning to flow. "Perhaps we should make it so that only citizens of Halo can activate it." He nodded at Tal, "I like the idea of a code. We could control who knows it, and by having the citizen restriction, we can further limit who can use it." They needed enough people to be able to defend Halo with the cannon, but they needed to be able to prevent spies or enemies from using it. It was a necessary balance but with a fine line.
"Maybe as for who to tell, perhaps members of the council? And maybe they each tell one other person that they trust?"
the ocean does not apologize for its depth and the mountains do not seek forgiveness
The General listened; a keen aspect to his soul that had existed in multiple lives and pursuits. The courier’s insistence on a cipher was good – he hadn’t thought of that area of machination – figuring they’d be conjuring something with a switch or a mechanism that required only a touch. This held a more furtive ring to it, and Deimos half-wondered if it could be altered at different time frames. “A code would be far more difficult to crack or track as well,” and would take time for those not of Halo citizenship to struggle to solve – as long as they made it complicated enough.
As for who to tell – he didn’t mind Sah’s measures, just wondering how broad the sweep would go. His eyes went to Noah, to see if the Warden had any thoughts about the semblances, before segmenting back to the advisor. “And trust it would go no further?”
He hadn't expected Sah to back up his idea, and the courier just blinked, nodding back at Sah in reflex. When Deimos concurred as well he relaxed a little, rubbing at the back of his neck to hide the flush of pleasure creeping over his skin at the approval he hadn't been expecting.
Sah's follow-up had him chewing his lip, glancing at Deimos's question and then nodding in cautious agreement with the advisor as his hand fell back to his side, tapping a nervous staccato rhythm as he took a deep breath and started talking. "Dunno that we have much choice." He bobbed his head in respect towards Noah - and Deimos - and shrugged. "If the watchtowers work an' we've got time to see trouble comin', sure, havin' a council member fire the cannon is best. But if trouble gets close or comes in waves, fact is: you're our strongest fighters. Makes sense that you--" and this time he reluctantly included Sah in his abrupt, awkward gesture around the room, "--are gonna have your hands full fuckin' 'em up with your own abilities. Havin' a few folks on backup who won't be missed in the fight t'fire it might be a good idea." Just in case enemy reinforcements started showing up - or even just a hungry dragon coming to check out the excitement and cause more chaos.
the ocean does not apologize for its depth and the mountains do not seek forgiveness
Deimos’ suspicious and scrupulous nature, well-honed from days of previous wars and lives immersed in deceit, nefariousness, and furtive semblances, could only concede at the other notions. His hands, and likely many others, would be full in regards to the upcoming skirmishes, and the possibilities of him pushing the trigger were very slim. The probability of another, striving to make their way through the panic, pandemonium, chaos, and bedlam, was very high, and perhaps he should have been far quicker to trust those he’d sworn to protect.
But sometimes it was difficult to remember the world wasn’t always out to get them.
So his eyes turned back to Noah. “What do you think?” A brief summary followed, trying to snag at everyone’s thoughts and opinions. “Can only be controlled by Halo citizens, and the code will only be known by council members and those they trust.”
we follow our own steps while our shadows keeps watching us
It does not take long for the citizens of Halo to come for this meeting. The floor is open for each of them to share their opinions and thoughts, and Noah takes it all in stride. As they lay their plans before him, the Warden takes it in in silence. His face is as glacial as ever -- unreadable, solid, immovable. He does not want this decision to be a decision he makes on his own, but it seems that the people were leaning towards what Noah had already thought of. Finally, as Deimos summed it up, the demi-god stood. Looking out over the crowd gathered in the hall, Noah nodded as he spoke. "It is decided, then. We shall go to Frey with our plans after we've finished the rest of what they've tasked us with. Frey will give us the code, and then it will be given to only a select few."
FIN
the wrong steps would be not to start this exodus.
