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!
07-22-2022, 07:59 PM (This post was last modified: 07-23-2022, 02:04 AM by Maeve.)
I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see
Preparing for the war wasn't something that was on the top of anyone's list even though it absolutely was on the top of everyone's list. Most just didn't bother to think about it. Maeve, however, had no other choice. "Alright, we're going to be storing supplies at the Halenani. We're making baskets. They will all include first aide items, candles, matches, rations, blankets, and the like." Maeve begins, passing out a list to each person who was there. They all contained a few items that they'd need to get.
List one
- Candles
- Matches
- Oil for lanterns
List two
- Rations
- Blankets
- Hard candies
List three
- Bandages
- Iodine tablets
- Burn salve
"We'll gather the supplies then put together the baskets before storing them here for when they're needed." She offers them each a smile and a nod before waving them off. "Meet back here when you're done!"
Since he was helping Flora out, it only felt right to also help Maeve. Hadama took the coming War more seriously than many other merfolk, and seeing how the humans prepared might, he hoped, give him ideas for how to help his fellows in the Underwater City. So it was that the manta broke the surface of the canal and shifted to the half-man who was familiar to Maeve as he nodded a greeting and waited for the others to arrive so they could begin.
After considering the three lists, he chose List one with his usual un-mer-like penchant for fire. There was little that seemed to be necessary to say, so with another nod for Maeve he headed off down the canal towards the market, careful to hold his paper out of the water.
The first item were candles; he'd learned about them at the Festival of Lights, and he swam for a ways until he found a shop close enough to the water for him to deal with. Instead of goods he bartered his service to collect several large deepsea fish for the candlemaker in exchange for the delivery of a large quantity of her candles to the Halenani within the hour.
Hadama takes List One and bargains with a candlemaker, trading a promise of fish for a large delivery of candles to the Haulani.
When his Mummy had said that she needed to go start war preparations and that he should behave himself while she was gone, Edmund had a feeling this wasn't what she meant. But he'd already made the decision to help in any way he can. And as for war prep goes, Edmund imagines helping gather supplies is one of the few things his Mum might feel comfortable with him doing.
As such, the child stealthily follows his Mum and once she calls out the instructions, he scurries forward to grab list three. "Hi, Mummy! I'll go get bandages from the general store!"
Tightening his grip on his backpack partially filled with snacks but still with ample space for supplies, Edmund turns on his heel and with a wave takes off before his Mum can get a word in.
"Sorry Mummy! I'll be right back!" He calls over his shoulder as he goes to hopefully get the bandages in exchange for one of the snacks in his bag.
~
Emund comes in to swipe list three. He's off to the general store to trade some snacks for bandages.
I never realized how beautiful Fires burn under the stars
07-23-2022, 02:03 AM (This post was last modified: 07-23-2022, 02:04 AM by Maeve.)
I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see
Maeve doesn’t even have a chance to react before her son is rushing off with his list in hand. Sighing heavily, Maeve shakes her head, a faint smile curling on her lips as she sets off to complete her own task. Thankfully it isn’t hard for her to find a merchant willing to part with rations for the Queen. After all, they’d be stupid not to help her in this regard.
The same goes for Edmund. All of the citizens of Torchline know exactly who he is. It’s clear in the way he speaks and his features. To deny the little prince anything spelled trouble for whenever chose to do so. From his mother and the dragon companion that followed after him at his bonded’s command. He’s able to easily gather plenty of bandages for the baskets. All different kinds too.
Hadama doesn’t run into any issues, either. Easily making a trade with a merchant. Candles in exchange for some harder to catch fish. She offers to even have them delivered to the Halenani in the next hour so he doesn’t have to worry about transporting them himself.
It's a relief when the general store gives Edmund the bandages without a fuss. "Thank you so much!" He happily packs teh bandages away in his bag and pulls out the list to look at the next item.
Edmund has to try a few times to read the next item on the list. He had no idea what 'iodine tablets' are but given that the rest of the list is medicine related, he knows just where to go. The small child makes his way to the Lunarium Apothecary and upon arrival quickly rings the bell.
As he waits, Edmund places another snack on the counter as offering, "Aunt Ray! May I please trade a snack for some io..iod..iodide tablets? I'm picking some up for Mummy." He doubts his Aunt will deny him the supplies. If anything, it'll likely be a delay while she ensures his safety over the supplies if it's anything stronger than a painkiller. At least, that what Edmund hopes.
~
Edmund goes to the Lunarium Apothecary to ask his Aunt Ray for the iodine tablets. He's again offering a snack as payment.
I never realized how beautiful Fires burn under the stars
The things by which humans started fire when they didn’t have magic.
Hadama considered the item for awhile before moving through the canals once more, swimming slowly as he sought out a place where such things would be made.
He had to stop and ask a few people before he finally found a place towards the outskirts; a warehouse rather than a shop. Many shops sold matchsticks in small quantities, but in order to buy in bulk he needed to go to the place where they were made. It took more time before he could catch the attention of one of the employees and convince them to fetch their boss; a Mr. Augustus Crow, who was puffing fiercely on a pipe as he stood over the canal and listened to Hadama’s request.
”Matches, for war supplies. At the Queen’s request,” he rumbled. ”Delivered to the Halenani. As much as you can spare.” In exchange he removed a handful of large pieces of wave-smoothed amber from his pouch that would have any jeweler in town drooling over. Hadama offers amber pieces in exchange for matches from Mr. Crow’s warehouse.
I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see
It's almost like the odds are incredibly in your favor today! Probably because rolling is silly when you're on an errand for the queen.
Edmund goes the one place he knows first aid supplies are sure to be and his Aunt Ray is more than happy to help. The Attuned smiles brightly, laughing as he places the snacks on the counter, "Iodine tablets, huh? I'm sure I have some of those. You know, they're used for purifying water." The herbalist easily provides him the information as she collects a few bottles for the boy. Each one has almost one hundred of the little tablets in them. "Just tell your mom to drop one of these into a large pitcher of water. Let it dissolve and it'll be safe to drink!" She waits for him to put them in his bag before leaning against the counter, arms folded lightly, "Anything else on that list I can help you with?"
Hadama struggles with finding an appropriate vendor at first, but as soon as he mentions Maeve's name and his intentions, the worker is more than willing to help. "They'll be over shortly." He responds, taking the offered amber without a moment of hesitation, tucking them into his pocket.
Blankets weren't a difficult thing to source. However sourcing a great number of them was a bit more of a challenge. Maeve has to stop at multiple stalls and vendors, gathering up a a handful here and there as she went, ensuring there would be enough to have at least one in each basket. Thankfully there were plenty of extras at the Halenani they could use too.
Round 3!
Final item on the list and then return to the Halenani!
The last item was the easiest for the merman. He traveled swiftly through the canals this time, sure of his destination. Through the city and out towards the port and the beaches where the fisherfolk sorted their catches. The merfolk, too, had a use for oil, though not for lighting lanterns. Still, the harvesting of the fatty, oily livers of fish and whales and seals was not so different between land and sea. Once he found the fishers it was only a short distance to the dockside facilities where fish - and their byproducts - were processed.
"Oil in small casks," he told the woman who squatted down beside the canal to look him over in a way that was decidedly unsettling, as if considering how much oil could be pressed from a manta ray. "For the Queen." He could not have afforded the price of so much oil on his own, but his services were of more interest than his material goods. With the colder-than-usual Flowerbirth the fish schools had changed their patterns, and he bartered a day of guiding her business associates - captains of fishing boats who sold their catches to her - to the current locations of cod and pollock that he had noted in more southern waters.
It was likely to be an unpleasant day all around, and his stoic expression was more distant than usual as he swam slowly back to the Halenani to see how the others had fared.
Hadama finds a fish oil maker near the harbor and barters a day of guiding fishing boats to large schools of fish in exchange for a number of small casks of oil.
Edmund smiles as his Aunt Ray comes through for him. "Thak you Aunt Ray! I'll be sure to tell Mummy." The child happily takes the tablets and after wrapping them up in some extra paper, carefully tucks them away in his backpack. He perks up once more at the offer for further aid.
"Yes please! I need some burn saves too." Emund hands over his list happily, "I already have the bandages." Saves is close enough to this 'salve' word, right? He thinks so at least. As he waits for the herbalist, Edmund begins to brainstorm more ways to further help his Mummy and Torchline. Maybe he could collect fabrics? Those were always useful.
~
Edmund asks Ray for burn salve.
I never realized how beautiful Fires burn under the stars
I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see
Let's start with the boys first, shall we?
Edmund gets everything he needs without any issue. His Aunt Ray happily handing over the burn salve to go along with the tablets. "This gets applied to a burn three times a day and it'll help it heal nicely." Ray explains before sending him off to rejoin the others back along the waters edge at the Halenani.
Hadama has the same luck and while he has to give up his time, the whole ordeal will hopefully be fairly painless, if not a bit unpleasant, in exchange for important supplies.
The hard candies are easily gathered on Maeve's side and she even goes so far as to get a few different flavors to put in the baskets, wanting them to have options. Heading back to gather with the others. Various crates are being stacked around them, holding the necessary supplies they've collected along the way. "Alright, I have some baskets here... Let's separate the smaller items into them and prepare what we can."
08-07-2022, 05:17 AM (This post was last modified: 08-07-2022, 05:17 AM by Hadama.)
Hadama considered the baskets that Maeve had collected, and all the supplies that had been gathered by hook, crook, or bribe. There was a limit to what he could easily reach, but he took the matches and candles and began to pack them into the baskets that were nearest to the canal's edge. He worked steadily and quietly, and when he had finished distributing his own supplies as best he could he went back to repeat the process with the healing items that the child had brought. Last but not least, he set the rations and hard candies into the canal-baskets, arranging each carefully so that items could be found and pulled out with minimal hassle.
"I will leave the rest to you," he said quietly, inclining his head to the humans. The rest of the baskets that were further from the canal's edge were beyond the stretch of his arms.
Hadama fills the baskets closest to the canal with the small supplies and medical items.
Edmund watches Hadama fill his backet for a moment. Both to see how to do so, and out of childish curiosity. As he reaches for his own basket, he sends a wide smile at the mer, "Your tail is so pretty." He's never met a mer before, but he's heard stories. Still the man is awe inspiring for the child.
Focusing on his basket, Edmund gathers a bit of everything and neatly arranges them together. Once he's filled his basket, he grabs a ribbon and ties a little bow on the handle. It comes out a little crooked, but it brightens up the otherwise serious basket. "Done!"
~
Edmund fills his basket with a bit of everything and adds a little bow.
I never realized how beautiful Fires burn under the stars
I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see
The first three baskets took the longest to put together. Mostly because Maeve kept pausing to help Edmund occasionally, ensuring that he has every bit of supplies they gathered inside, but not bothering to straighten up the bow. It gave it character. They continue on like that, putting together the baskets as Maeve hums quietly, "Down by the bay... where the watermelons rot... if you go home... just don't get caught..." She pauses after each line, waiting for Edmund to echo her the way he always does when they sing this particular song while they work.
It's only a couple of hours before they finish up the baskets and Maeve sits back on her heels, smiling at the cluster of them lined up, "Perfect. This will definitely come in handy. Thanks for all the help."
