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!
Lisbeth arrived on site with a crew of workers behind her. The men and women all had tools, and a wagon filled with lumber and supplies. She'd volunteered to lead the crew as her first test to see if she might one day be officer material. Her commanding officer would never put someone so green in charge of a squad that was heading into combat, but he had decided to give her a chance with the safe task of leading the repair crew.
A call has gone out for volunteers from Stormbreak to help with the effort of preparing the Skyport for the war. Lisbeth hoped some experienced people would show up. As for her, her job was somewhat complex. The repair crew had a foreman who would direct the actual labor--Lisbeth had no experience in construction itself. Instead, Lisbeth needed to analyze the defenses, determine what repairs needed to be done, and coordinate with the foremen to assign tasks for his crew. She worried about being able to handle all of that herself. There were several areas that needed repairs, and it would be difficult to manage all of it on her own.
While she was waiting to meet with the volunteers, she did a quick one over of the area. Someone would need to examine the ballistae and catapults for any needed repairs. The ammunition stocks would need to be checked and replenished. And the docks themselves would need to be examined for structural weaknesses.
---
This is a PQ for preparing the Skyport for the coming war. Each volunteer will be given command of one of the repair teams, so you don't necessarily need to know construction yourself, as long as you can organize the workers.
The tasks to be completed are:
Check the ballistae and catapults for needed repairs, and organize the repairs as needed.
Check the docks for needed repairs, and organize the repairs as necessary.
Check the ammunition stockpiles, and as needed oversee the production of new ballista bolts and catapult ammo.
What Lisbeth might have been hoping for and what she got were two drastically different things. Hopefully, she wouldn't judge this particular book by its cover, though, as help was in exceedingly short supply these days.
Everest, now vaguely a teenager (time was funny, when Frey aged you up after all), stood with his notebook tightly clutched between his hands and a thoughtful look on his young face. Though the boy was young, he'd spent an entire season in Halo, more or less isolated from everyone. During that time he'd learned all he could about skyports and skyships and was already well on his way to learning how to pilot one all on his own. Such was one of the few benefits of being singularly focused in the way he was; Ever learned very quickly.
Not one to boldly make introductions on his own, instead, the boy glanced at Mateo for reassurance and guidance. He was best suited to look after the docks, but of course he could never come out and say that.
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
"Hallo!" Mateo chimes, the picture (not) of reassurance and guidance as his attention whipcracks from whatever interesting mosses are growing between the cliffs to the tasks at hand. "Gods, there's a lot to do here, huh." As teenagers, they are certainly better than actual children in some cases, but worse in a lot of others. And there's nothing that can help Mateo's attention span either way.
"Ooh, do we get to work with a lot of these other people?" he asks, and then - almost as if he can read his best friend's tells like the back of his hand, "I bet you'd be good at the dock stuff, Ever. I can probably work on ammunition." He's always wanted to see how that sort of stuff is made. Maybe he can take some of the ammo home to test and see if he can dip it in poison or something.
Lisbeth looked over the two volunteers. She looked around to see if anyone else was showing up, then looked back at the two kids. She sighed.
"All right, troops," she said, holding her head up high. Her father had taught her discipline from a young age. When she was as old as these two, she knew how to follow orders, and how to be responsible and productive. And her sergeant had taught her plenty about whipping lazy people into shape.
"Our orders are to get this skyport ready for the war. There's a lot to be done, so no slacking off. Each of you will get an assignment, and be given command of a repair crew."
The foreman of the repair crew gave her a look, his jaw hanging open. She ignored him.
Overhearing one boy mention possible tasks for them, she decided to roll with it. "You," she said, pointing to Everest. "Take your crew and perform an inspection of the skydocks. Report any signs of needed repairs, and organize your crew based on priority of the tasks to be completed."
She turned to Mateo. "Your orders are to inventory the ammunition stockpiles and see what needs to be replenished. We have lumber and metal for crafting new ballista bolts, and materials for crafting incendiary ammunition for the catapults. Check what we have, see what can be repaired, and have your crew begin crafting replacements as needed." She handed him the list her commanding officer had given her, listing the required quantities of each ammunition type.
She looked at the two boys, both seeming too young and innocent for this kind of work. With a small sigh, she leaned in close to them and whispered, "The crews know their work. Just tell them what needs to be repaired and they can handle the technical stuff."
She stepped back, holding her head up high. "Dismissed!"
She then headed to check on the ballistae and catapults herself, bringing one of the work crews with her. The remaining two crews waited for their orders, wearing expressions that ranged from dubious to outright mortified.
---
Inspect your assigned area and make a list of what repairs/replacements are needed, then the work can begin!
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
The woman speaks and Mateo has been brought up well enough (by the Collegium more than his parents, oops) to fall silent and listen to what she has to say. Smiling to Everest as if to tell him that he should be fine with his task - it's supposed to be reassuring but really it's just excitable - he nods as Lisbeth leans down to speak to them.
"Alright," he says, accepting the list and turning to the crew he's been assigned. "Okay, let's go!" he says, striding off only to be gently redirected by one of them to go the right way.
From there, at least, it seems like it ought to be easy. Mateo checks the inventory against his list and marks down the discrepancies, before approaching his crew with the information. "It looks like we need a little of everything to replenish the ammunition. Where shall we start?"
Doubtfully, Ever looked to Mateo. At least he would have an easy time of things here, given who his father was. Ever's own father was perhaps known well-enough in Stormbreak, but he doubted if that would give him any clout with his crew; not that Ever wanted clout to begin with.
Swallowing hard, he opens his notebook and writes down what Lisbeth had instructed, before walking with his head down towards the docks. Giving orders was not something the young boy was remotely capable of, any more than he could maintain eye contact with strangers. So it was that he merely shuffled past the crew assigned to him and began to make his own notes.
That said, what Ever was capable of, was meticulously following instructions. The boy stomped on every plank of wood on the dock, shoved every bit of railing to check its structural integrity, and inspected (nearly) every nail, hook, and fastener that held the whole thing together. By the time his inspection was done he had a comprehensive list of items which required attention, though he left it up to his crew to determine the order of priority. Were it up to him, Ever would have them do everything all at once; everything was a priority in his mind.
Ever completes his inspection but leaves it up to the crew what the order of priority ought to be.
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
Lisbeth Looked over the weaponry with a less-than-expert eye. Construction wasn't really her thing, but she could at least make out any obvious issues.
"It looks like these struts need to be replaced," she told the crew leader, indicating a few wooden beams that were starting to rot through. "And the bowstring on both of the ballistae need to be completely replaced. They're starting to fray." She didn't know siege weapons, but she did know bows, and a fraying string would be an absolute disaster, whether it was the hair-thin string of a bow or the thick rope that fired the ballista bolts.
While the repairs begin, the workers set about their duties on each crew's tasks, but not without issue. Mutters begin to spread among the workers:
"Can't believe we're working for kids."
"This is ridiculous, I could be that kid's father."
"How is Stormbreak supposed to win the war if this is the best they have?"
And so on.
The grumbling continues until it seems like it might boil over and cause problems. Something will have to be done.
---
Each one of us will need to find a way to settle the concerns of the work crews! They don't like working for teenagers. Maybe they need a pep talk, or some good old fashioned discipline. Everyone is responsible for their own crew!
Ever's eyes widen, and though he was passive to a fault and would fold faster than a tower of cards in a hurricane, but when it came to showing his work and explaining his reasoning, Ever was an expert.
"Well, if you see here..." Carefully, and with his eyes always turned down and his voice somewhat unsteady, the boy showed the workers just where the faults were and why he thought they needed addressing. Did his explanations come with incredibly lengthy reasoning? Yes. Was Everest able to answer all of their questions about tensile strength, relative weight capacities, and complex structures? Well, actually, yes. Being a bookworm rarely proved useful in Ever's short life, but if he hadn't convinced the crew by the merits of his arguments, perhaps they'd comply if only to get him to shut up.
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
It seems that Mateo's (entirely reasonable, he thinks) requests are going unheard by his little crew of workers. And call him incredibly privileged lucky, but this is one of the first times this has ever happened to him. And he doesn't particularly like it, as it happens. While some kids who have parents for demigods might want to go out and make their own name for themselves (Flora), Mateo is quite happy to ride on his fathers' coattails.
"Well," he says to his group of unhappy not-team players, "if this is a problem, my dad is the Commander of the Storm. I suppose we could go and ask him to step in, but he is very busy. I imagine he will wonder why you aren't able to complete this list when even I could."
The workers' eyes started to glaze over a bit as Everest spent perhaps too much time explaining things. By the time he was done, the workers were ready to get back to business just to make him shut up. They got back to work on the dock, following his instructions. While some muttering did continue, Everest could hear a few of the workers mentioning that, to their surprise, the kid actually seemed to know what he was talking about.
Mateo's crew, on the other hand, immediately begin to fidget nervously at the name of the kid's dad. They exchange glances with each other.
"Do you think he's really...?"
"Gotta be...how else could a kid like that get posted to a job like this? His dad must have gotten him the job..."
Swallowing nervously, the workers get back to business.
As for Lisbeth, she goes full drill sergeant on her crew. "No grumbling!" she yells. "You're on military contract, and you will conduct yourselves with military discipline and obey orders. If anyone steps out of line, I'll have no choice but to report them to the captain of the skywatch!"
The workers hop to it, while Lisbeth does her best to hide her cold sweat. She's never been in command of anyone before. She simply mimicked her commanding officer as best she could.
The construction continues without further complaint from the workers. But soon another issue arises: there's not enough wood! A sufficient supply of wood is needed to repair the siege weapons, replace damaged planks on the docks, and construct the shafts of the ballista bolts. But due to some mix up, there's only enough supplies on hand to do two of the three tasks. What is to be done?
Lisbeth calls the other two over to see what suggestions they have on how to solve this issue.
---
We need more wood! (twss). Since this is affecting all three crews we need to work together to come up with a solution.
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
That's more like it! Mateo is feeling very good about himself for getting the workers to comply (even though it's absolutely all on the reputation of his father), and things are going quite well, he thinks, up until it appears that they've run out of wood. Hearing Lisbeth's voice, the boy excuses himself from his crew to go and see what all the fuss is about, his brows furrowing to hear that they're in need of more lumber.
"Do we know where the nearest suppliers are?" he wonders. "Or are there extra supplies out at the Dragon's Nest?" That seems like the most logical place to start, but obviously Mateo has no idea if they have traded to get that lumber. And if they haven't, he has no idea what they might offer for it.
10-20-2022, 07:08 PM (This post was last modified: 10-24-2022, 06:26 PM by Everest.)
Everest
Everest shows no signs of being pleased or displeased with the relative success of his task, nor does he seem to notice that his crew is complying only insofar as it would shut him up. That the work was being done more or less correctly is all that mattered to the young boy.
As for lumber?
“There are some left over building materials near where the Tower was being worked on, too. But I’m not sure if it’s lumber.” Ever suggests with a small shrug, assuming Mateo would know better given that it had been Ronin who’d been doing some of the restorations. “How much do we need?” He wonders, looking to Lisbeth. “We could always hire someone from the Silk Houses or ask around the Plaza depending on how much it is.”
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
Lisbeth scratched her head. It seemed there were quite a few options.
"A full wagon load will do, I think," she said. "But I wasn't authorized with any extra funding. So those extra supplies by the Tower or the Dragon's Nest are probably the best bet. Take a couple of crew members each and a couple of the empty wagons."
She took off her badge, marking her as a soldier of Stormbreak, and handed it to Everest. "Take a few guys to the Tower and salvage whatever you can. If anyone gives you a hard time, show them this. Should shut people up easily enough."
She looked to Mateo. "You head to the Dragon's Nest and gather whatever you can from there. I figure you don't need a badge if you can just drop your father's name."
"While we're waiting, I'll check with the ship captains here. Maybe one of them has some supplies in their skyship cargo holds."
She stood at attention and told the boys, "Dismissed!"
---
Head to your assigned locations and gather whatever supplies you can locate, then report back with the results.
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
Mateo doesn't have a soldier's bone in his body, and so the salute he gives Lisbeth in return is sloppy at best, but he absolutely gets the gist of what she's saying. "I can do that!" he trills, nodding to Ever and heading off once more to find some willing victims crew members. Together, they grab one of the empty wagons and trundle off to the Dragon's Nest, where he hopes he might be able to find the supplies they need.
A quick word to one of the soldiers he recognises and he succeeds in finding some leftover lumber from a recent attempt at repairing and upgrading a few of the training areas. Directing his crew to load it up, Mateo is sitting with the lumber in the wagon as they roll back to the Falling, where he waves at Lisbeth. "Will this work?" he calls.
