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!
Cordelia's logic is sound and Sah nods. "Fair point. I'll stick to preparing the cement and helping as needed with the building." The Thunder eyes the tower as it is now, "Maybe I'll add something to spruce it up?" He shrugs, knowing less about decorations then he does building. But he'll give it a shot.
Finding some flicker of his usual humor Sah adds, "And they turn out ugly, we can just add them to the fire as fuel." Then they disperse to complete their respective tasks and the Abandoned is at a loss now that it's actually time to decorate. He mixes cement as he thinks and finally settles on gathering furs and pelts for the tower.
He stacks them on a cart next to their construction site before returning to mixing, "We can use these for decoration and warmth." That way those on watch will at least be somewhat comfortable on their long shifts.
~
Sah goes with helping make cement/stacking bricks as needed. He also gathers pelts and furs for both decor and comfort for the tower.
Time ticks on. Maybe you're bored, maybe you're enjoying the monotony of this task, maybe you have a joke or story you'd like to tell the group?
The warmth of Cordelia's fire has attracted a small gaggle of ningos who trill obnoxiously. As Halovians, you all know what they say about ningos: ningos are precursors to ursurs.
Time marched; intervals of schedules came and went, routines and structures flickered around the cement as well as everything else in Halo. By the hour theirs matched again, Deimos couldn’t help but snort at the décor – not out of spite or malice – but because that was where they all seemed to be at this point.
His eyes narrowed at the ningos though. Half-tempted to slay them immediately, and everyone could have some fresh meat, he only indulged in some compelling – saving the notions of hunting and mauling for another day. They probably didn’t want feathers stuck in wet cement. Within half a moment, he silently demanded the birds leave the area, to saunter and fly and be irritating elsewhere.
--
Deimos tries to compel the ningos away.
Beastmaster | can compel any animal for assistance (6 large, 12 medium, or 20 small)
Beast Speaker | Can speak to rare creatures/companions/regular animals. Requires permission to "speak" on behalf of someone's companion. Regular animals speak in varying levels of coherence.
07-15-2022, 04:53 AM (This post was last modified: 07-15-2022, 04:53 AM by Talyson.)
Tal, unfortunately, was no silver-tongued bard with a catalogue of tales at his string-callused fingertips. He was awkward and moody and impatient and he spent most of his watches scowling at the fire he was tending and not always successfully resisting the urge to swear at the concrete to dry faster.
When he saw what Sah had brought for decorations he just shrugged; his own decorating sense wasn't much different - or better - and if they weren't exciting, well, at least they weren't offensive, either.
The courier wasn't too worried about ursurs cropping up in the middle of the Citadel, but the birds were definitely an annoyance. While he made half-hearted shooing motions towards the nearest, Boreal bounded gleefully towards the little flock while trailing smoke and carnivorous mischief, intent on scattering them like bowling pins and unwittingly giving Deimos's warding an extra incentive. Tal tries to shoo a few ningos away with his hands, but Boreal charges energetically towards the flock to chase them off.
Cordelia didn't have the patience for ningos. Nor did she have the patience for whatever they might bring. Ursurs or otherwise. Growling low in her throat, the Attuned quickly shifts into the form of her fox, using her quick reflexes and light feet to chase after them, jaws snapping inches away from their feathery hindquarters. Fresh meat sounded delightful. Almost nearly as delightful as snapping their little ningo necks. Clearly holding in her emotions like this wasn't going to be good in the long run, but it was better than derailing the entire project.
Chasing after the ningos, Cordelia doesn't hesitate to try and pounce on one, hoping to catch it so they at least had some meat to show for their troubles.
Cordelia shifts into her fox and tries to catch a ningo!
Sah sighs as the ningos appear, already more annoyed than concerned. He could in theory zap them six ways from Sunday with his magic, but that seems excessive. And the potential of damaging their hard work also crosses out that option. All that's left than is good old-fashioned chasing off.
The Abandoned walks over to the nearest ningos and begins to shoo them away with his hands, not unlike what Tal is doing. Sah really wishes he'd brought Lilly along as the wolf would have loved to have her way with the pesky birds. The presence of another predator besides Cordelia's fox form would have likely helped all on its own.
Well, when you've got Beastmaster Deimos, Tal and Sah with their flappy hands, and a fox/dragon combo, you're going to be pretty successful.
But have you been quick enough not to attract the attention of any nearby predators?
..Actually yes, yes you have.
Hours pass, and then a few days. Have you taken this time to learn more about one another? Have you forged new friendships? Laughed and told jokes? Or have you all just sat about staring at fires, eating when you need, and completing various tasks? I bet it's the second one, to be honest.
On the fourth day you have a fairly substantial tower constructed. Three stories high, to go any taller would likely be a mistake, but given how much you've cleared away this gives you a good vantage point from which to see the tundra.
Next to do are affix things like doors and windows and build/secure the stairs and other interior support systems.
07-18-2022, 09:47 PM (This post was last modified: 07-18-2022, 10:05 PM by Deimos.)
DEIMOS
And in your darkest hour,
I hold secrets flame
The General wore a very small smile on his face – proud and dignified – as he glanced up at what they’d all built and honed, and though it wasn’t complete yet, it was something they could at least feel accomplished within. If he were to shift and stretch his wings, land upon the top, the view would be an incredible sight, across walls and tundras.
But instead, as they gathered back into the space, there was more work to be done.
"I can construct the doors and windows," Wood and glass could be rendered decently, efficiently, with Creation and Earth magic combined.
--
Deimos uses his Mastered Earth and Creation to construct wood and glass for the doors/windows.
Earth Manipulation: Can create and control the earth. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Creation: When combined with Mastered Air, Mastered Earth, Mastered Water, and Mastered fire, can create 2 magical items per season (with admin approval). Without mastering the four elements, can create well-made complex machines, and an unlimited number of regular items per thread limited by endurance stat. Small items last their natural lifespan. Medium and large items degrade after a season. Complex machines (a telescope, music box, etc) must be created with the knowledge of the character (i.e., cannot create a machine you don't understand/wouldn't be able to build with relevant tools)
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
It was true. Two people who had recently lost a loved one, a stoic warrior, and a loner courier did not make for the best group of conversationalists.
But eventually the foundations dried, the walls rose, and Tal looked at the nearly-completely tower with some personal satisfaction in spite of the long days of awkward silences.
"I can get to work on the inside framing," he offered once more; he had wood-working skills from building and repairing his own sleds. Which wasn't quite the same as being good at construction, but he knew how to fasten joints and cut lumber to the right length, and he had no problem asking some of the more experienced Halovians who were helping them for advice.
With a saw and lumber in hand Tal got to work, keeping up with the soldiers who were helping as they carried the completed lengths of lumber inside to piece together into the building's wooden skeleton. Tal gets to work cutting lumber, getting the NPCs to help him carry it inside, and joining it together to create the internal frame and support for the Watchtower - including a rough plank floor at the top for their watcher to stand on.
No, they weren't the chatty type and likely wouldn't be for some time. It was unusual, all things considered. Sah and Cordelia usually didn't leave each other alone. All to willing to poke and prod at each other in a teasing manner, but given that they still weren't talking to each other the days were rather dull.
Cordelia looks the tower over, knowing that would soon be here new station and as such, she wanted to make sure that the stairs were sturdy enough to support her. The Shrike heads inside, focusing her efforts on building the stairs off of the framing that Talyson is busy putting into place.
Cordelia builds the stairs!
'Cause darling, it was good // Never looking down And right there where we stood // Was holy ground
The tower is finally starting to come together which is incredibly satisfying. Sah is glad that they've chosen to take their time instead of rushing it. The tower will likely be all the more solid for it. As everyone breaks apart to work once more, Sah approaches Deimos. "I can start putting these in place as you make them." It'll likely make the process more efficient and save them some more time.
Taking the doors and windows as they're crafted, Sah works with NPCs and his telekinesis to put them into place. As each is placed, he'll work with them to properly affix it before moving on to the next piece.
~
Sah works with NPCs to attach the doors and windows as Deimos makes them. He uses his telekinesis to help with it.
Telekinesis: Can move large objects.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Tal felt like flopping to the ground when the day's work was done and letting Boreal drag him home while he took a nap, but they weren't quite done yet. Someone had to clean up the mess they'd made, and that someone... was them.
Yawning behind his scarf he stretched up on his toes and cracked his spine before grabbing a broom and dust cloth and heading in to chase the debris and sawdust out so Sah's decorations could be hung and piled in their final places. He was half-asleep on his feet and his muscles ached, but there was also the relief of the job being done after this one last chore and for once Tal took to it without complaint, leaving the outside of the tower to his friends. Tal grabs a broom and dusting cloth and goes to clean up inside.
The General released another long breath – not a sigh, but something of a relief. Rolling his arms, stretching out the muscles through his shoulders, the weight of the moments no longer resting overwhelmingly on them, he could nod towards his fellows and be content. Satisfied. “Well done,” he uttered to each, clearing out the pathways of dust and debris with his Air incantations, watching them flicker and billow amongst the wind, until that too was dispersed and gone.
Eventually he turned back towards Cordelia, the arch to his brow chiseled amongst the other far more resolute features of his face. “What were you thinking for assignments?” His jaw jutted towards one of the open windows of the tower, where someone would remain and watch. His mind was already lacquered with ideas of recruits he had that would either be eager, or voluntold, but he’d wait for the Warden’s opinion.
--
Deimos dusts with his Mastered Air and asks Cordelia a question.
