[PQ] there's no need to worry

the first cut was the deepest, but it healed up whole

The letter has been sent out and the word has been spread and it’s the very last piece of the puzzle Sunjata needs to accomplish the safe haven that it sounds like so many people are waiting for. He can’t blame them, either, as he gathers the last few things he needs and transports them to King’s End in his dragon form.

There’s only a few more things to finish up, rounding out the rotating fields and forest sectors, creating the fisheries, and establishing a few more of the empty buildings around into being little shops and a clinic. All things that he thinks should be relatively doable given everything he’s got gathered and the minds he’s worked with in order to make it a reality.

And practical experience, of course, Sunjata had been quite the handy man before arriving in Caido, doing odd jobs with the resistance before everything happened.

So he waits for those to arrive alongside the shore where the home of the fishery intends to go, a short sleeved shirt worn that’s already got a bit of dirt dusted on the side of it as if he’s been moving lumber to prepare for their arrival (which, he has).

---

The last step of the PQ for the safe haven! Please just have your characters arrive and we’ll go from there!

the flood

and the next one was a soft touch, but i bled out below

totally sniped from odd ilu

death, you bring death and destruction to all that you touch

Torn between pettiness, spite, contempt, and protecting people, he eventually, and characteristically, succumbed to the latter. Instilling shelter and sanctity had been his responsibility in Halo, but others, drifting in and along the throngs of war, still gave him multitudes of misgivings (especially for those like Kiada). However, in efforts to ensure some vindictiveness remained, he didn’t answer the Flood’s letter. He’d been tempted to put it aside on the desk for days, and then maybe set it ablaze. In the end, Deimos ignored it, figuring it’d let Sunjata stew for a little while.

And when he arrived in the Barrows amidst silence, eagle wings, and talons clutching a bag, shifting as he landed, he afforded the demigod a singular glare from afar, and waited for the inevitable.

DEIMOS

please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere

October, having no wings to speak of, found getting to the Barrows quite the trek from Stormbreak. Luckily, unicorns frequented these lush hills and valleys such that one bolting across the horizon line didn't draw any unwanted attention. Tobi might not have held much animosity towards the abandoned to whom unicorns often bonded, but living in Stormbreak had made her wary of sharing this particular shift with anyone, such that only Finn knew of it.

So rather than trotting up to the ground, the doctor would appear flushed but otherwise entirely human, with a bag of medical supplies slung over her shoulder (you never knew when you'd need them) and a chipper smile. "Hey Sunjata. Nice to see you." Whether or not he'd actually been part of the attack on Stormbreak hadn't been proven, and so she chose to remember him as the man who had played with she and her son when Ever had been very small.

"I don't think we've met. I'm October Hart." She added, turning her attention to Deimos and offering out her hand despite how intimidating the man obviously was.

October

A head emerges from the water nearby - letters are difficult to take to the Underwater City, but Yuna had heard that some aid was needed on the grapevine from the much more paper-friendly Torchline. And so here she is! Like Deimos she has been unable to reply to the letter she's not been able to read, but unlike the Sword she doesn't appear glaring or brooding or mysterious.

No, she just pops up with a wave and a fan of tentacles beneath the current, ready to assist. "I heard that you wanted some help with this... is it a safe haven? Is that the right word for this?"

helpful citizen

the first cut was the deepest, but it healed up whole

If he’s being honest, it truly surprises him when Deimos does show. He’d half expected the man to toss his letter into the fire, but his hope on the fact that it was to help everyone remain safe would potentially get him closer to the finish line. Another little bit of surprise is to find October there – recalling the days when he could wander around Stormbreak, and a particularly excited little black canine puppy that reminded him of the more recent shift of his own he’d found. So a nod is given in greeting to Deimos despite the glare, before he turns to Tobi. “Thanks for coming, October.” He offers with a bright smile, every inch of gratitude in her ability to come by.

And when it comes to the Mer who’s swam so far up the river to help, an equally bright smile is given her way. “Yes, a safe haven. And I could use all the help I can get for one section of this.” Nodding to the river itself, Sunjata flashes the Mer a knowing smile before he goes to greet all of them and the rest of the helpers who have spent a fair amount of time helping him get things in order.

“Alright, so, for starters we’ve got a few things to iron out and fix up. We started on a fishery,” he nods toward the building beside the river, a space intended to be used to salt or pickle or store fish for prolonged periods of time. “But we need to work on creating little sections like dams within the river there to have for a steady rotation.” There are some materials there, plenty of bricks and rocks that a few of the helpers can help the Mer put in to make up those little sections.

“Then we need to finish up a few of the extra buildings to be used as business fronts or homes, maybe both? I have also marked out the spaces where our rotating farming fields will go as well as where our rotating lumber resource will go. We just need to either prep the fields for use so it’s easier when we get to it later and to plant some new trees in the space of the old ones we’ve already cut down for this.” He’d saved as much of the trees here as he could, but they did need to start somewhere. “And… I think that should be it. I’ll let you all take your pick and I’ll fill in wherever’s left.” His hands clap together as he draws to a conclusion, stepping back to grab a few packs full of water he can share with each of the groups that will go out.

---

Round One:

Pick your task and get started! If the Mer would like to do the fishery that’d be awesome ;D She’ll have a group of people (some are attuned with aquatic shifts to help).

We just have working on the Forest Sector, Farmland Sector, and the Buildings left. Sunjata will fill whatever’s left over! Likewise with the Mer, you all will have a group of people to help you out too!

the flood

and the next one was a soft touch, but i bled out below

totally sniped from odd ilu

death, you bring death and destruction to all that you touch

And no thank you for the tall, dark, and petty? Or the mermaid? Noted, Sunjata.

Stacking that in another mental tally of the Flood’s offenses, he turned to the others who’d joined, downright pleasant in comparison. With a small smile, he extended his hand in return towards October. “Deimos Ignatius,” and nodded towards the emerged being in the water.

With that settled, his eyes narrowed again as the demi spoke, listening to the tasks. Intending to avoid farming as much as he could, since he’d been a remarkable disaster at it, he figured he’d utilize the brawn and might instilled in muscles. “I can help with the buildings,” before strolling off towards the business fronts and homes, snagging at materials, lumber, and tools necessary, surveying what portions had yet to be finished.

--

Deimos takes the Buildings!

DEIMOS

"I am Yuna," the Mer greets the gathered group with a wave, smiling between Deimos, Sunjata and October. She listens with interest at the fishery concept, never having heard of one before - in Torchline, of course, most fishing is done on the sea. "How fun," she pipes up, nodding to the Flood. "Alright, I will help to make the dams for the fishery."

Submerging once more, she swims deftly towards the indicated building, surfacing to introduce herself and recruit help from those who are gathered there. To begin, Yuna swims out to demarcate the sections for the dams, not wanting the fish to get cramped or unhappy - that simply wouldn't do. Once that's all settled, she requests the help of some Attuned with aquatic shifts to dig into the riverbed for some foundation posts and stones.

---

Yuna takes the Fishery!

helpful citizen

please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere

(SORRY SORRY, I saw the NPC posted and thought it was still the first round)

Shaking Deimos' hand, October flashes the mer a bright smile. It wasn't often she was able to see one of the merfolk, and to be honest, she was about to suggest that she go with the other woman? girl? la pesca? before realizing that ther was no need. 'I will...take the farmlands." She offers with a ton of confidence. "I don't know much about farming, but organizing and scheduling rotations?" Tobi grins. "That I can most certainly do."

So saying it's with all the reassurance of someone who has had to deal with tired orderlies and pompous doctors that October begins to take charge of the current agricultural situation. She defers to the judgement of those who understand the crops when needed, but otherwise applies the things she's learned in terms of managing a large organization (like a hospital) to the project.

---

Tobi takes the Fields!

October

the first cut was the deepest, but it healed up whole

Everyone gets into their positions, a murmured thank you to Deimos specifically for helping with the buildings (and because he was pretty sure that the least amount of conversation between them was for the better, but he’s often wrong about those kinds of things). But between the group Deimos has and his magic and abilities, they make quick work starting on the buildings. A few splinter off to cover more ground, the beginnings of some empty shops taking shape while some of them harboring homes behind the businesses start to take shape. So far, no issues encountered that can’t be corrected (a piece of wood that bends too far and breaks, etc). Keep up the good work!

The fishery also starts off well with the group that helps the Mer. Yuna will find that her group is more than willing to shift to help out below the water, taking the layout she’s picked and separated out to get the riverbed dug out for the posts and stones, while a few of the others remain up top to start preparing to set the posts. All Yuna needs to do for this time is to designate to the rest of her group where the posts need to be placed and to find a way to secure them.

October taking the fields makes it easier for Sunjata to focus on the forest section. And the group that helps out October definitely has the farming mind to help out her rotation thoughts. New designations are made and the separate farming lands start to undergo and early tilling process to make it easier without magic within to be able to break up the ground to keep that rotation healthy. One of the helpers steps aside with October to start listing out the thoughts on a sheet where she can take stakes to start marking each separate plot.

It’s a similar thing that Sunjata ends up doing with his group, moving beside the section of large old trees in order to dig lines and holes where the transported younger trees and saplings will go, and he gets to work with them to start planting the young trees before the saplings.

---

Round Two!

Things went well this round <3 Deimos keep building the buildings! Yuna, keep working with your group to place the posts and secure them, and October start going around and staking the different plots for each rotation (so they don’t accidentally get repeated)!

the flood

and the next one was a soft touch, but i bled out below

totally sniped from odd ilu

death, you bring death and destruction to all that you touch

The General had always gone for efficiency, and that was no less the case here, narrowed eyes watching others in his group snag at their ladders, tools, and pieces of timber. He might’ve worn the ground away with his constant walking, pacing, and striding, ceasing movement to assist in the ample opportunities for lines to be redirected, for shops to take shape, for buildings to finally become more than bare skeletons. Some nostalgic sense of the years spent in the Hollowed Grounds contorted around in his mind – wondering, in some way, shape, or form, if this had been how they’d all started hundred years before too – simply trying to make it out alive.

Clenching his jaw, because he knew his place, he bowed his head and continued to work, mending broken shards and cracked splinters with Earth incantations, or climbing along the ladders and driving more nails into more timber.

--

Deimos keeps working on the buildings.

DEIMOS

It's all going very well so far, Yuna is pleased to see. Given that she has only recently managed to dig a tunnel with Hadama underwater, she's got more immediate experience than she would otherwise have brought to the table. Swimming between the positions for the posts, she nods her approval, before heading off to find something to secure them with.

As luck should have it, there's a deposit of clay nearby, and so Yuna spends some time collecting it with a few other members of the group, planning to use it to keep the posts sturdy in the riverbed. Once that's done, she surfaces and nods across to where there's a supply of thin, but sturdy rope. "We can probably use that to create the pens, and then secure it better with netting," she suggests.

---

Yuna finds a deposit of clay that they can use to secure the posts into the riverbed. She also suggests using rope and net between the posts to create the 'walls' of the fishery pens.

helpful citizen

please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere

"Okay...so let's make sure that we have this all sorted.." Tobi murmurs to the npc the man aiding her. Setting down a notepad, Tobi quickly sketches out the plots that have been done so far, carefully labelling each with the crops within with arrows to indicate which fields will be rotated and when. "Ah, I thought so." She murmurs, tapping on one of the plots before shooting her counterpart a sideways smile. "We've got this one labelled twice. That means...." It takes only a few moments between them to figure out how to solve this logical issue. Once they do, the pair quickly duplicate the sketch a few times so that they can hand out the drawings to those working on the various fields.

"This way everyone is on the same page. It might seem a bit tedious, but it's better that everyone has access to this information, rather than just keeping it in one place."

---

Tobi does a few logistical drawings, corrects an error, and then hands out diagrams to those managing each field so everyone has access to the plot/planning information.

October

the first cut was the deepest, but it healed up whole

This next round for Deimos doesn’t quite go as smoothly. The buildings go up, yes, and he has no trouble with his own building he’s working on, but one part of his group that has split off to work on another building, faces several difficulties as they try to haul part of the frame up for the second level. Part of the wall falls, hitting the ground and splintering into unusable parts. It isn’t the end of the world and the piece can be remade, it’s simply just time consuming and clean up.

The fishery has no issues like above, but they do encounter a few difficulties of nets getting tied up with one another and taking some time to untie them. The posts, however, go in with the clay Yuna’s found quite easily while two of her helpers continue to try and untangle the netting mess. At the very least, until they get it done, they can start placing the ropes where Yuna chooses.

October’s quick thinking fixes the issue they’ve encountered and with the drawings remade and copied, they ensure one of them is safely tucked away in the main farmhouse to keep it free from weather damage – a master list, as it were. Which allows for them to now take the information they’ve worked together with Tobi to start placing different colored stakes into the corners of the plots for an added visual.

Sunjata’s group doesn’t encounter too many issues, however, some of the saplings are a little worse for wear – spending a bit too long outside of the ground with nutrients. So his group continues to plant the series of varying ages of the trees while he spends a few moments to go around and place some fertilizer with the more struggling saplings, before he uses his magic to douse the rest with some much wanted water.

---

Round 3! (We're almost thereeee!)

Deimos’ building goes fine but his other half of the group encounters some issues.

Yuna’s got tangled nets!

Tobi’s group just needs to go around and mark them with colored stakes to help add to the visual of the rotation.

the flood

and the next one was a soft touch, but i bled out below

totally sniped from odd ilu

death, you bring death and destruction to all that you touch

Sometimes success came in smaller increments – for while his and the workers efforts were afforded on their current building, another was not. The crash echoed in the sound of splintering, fractured, slivered wood, and by the time the rest hastened the arrival towards the distinct noise, there was nothing left to salvage. “That is all right,” he surmised with forged patience, rolling up his sleeves, gazing upward, instilling trajectory, components, and the unfurling of incantations within a moment. “We can try again,” and he nodded to the rest of his current constituents. Nothing hastened or impulsive ever seemed to measure up anyway – it would take time; something they all still had.

While he forged and made timber anew, they regathered their supplies, and eventually, strived to hasten it all back into place.

--

Deimos remakes the portions of the frame, and the workers try again.

DEIMOS