From Attuned to Ascended to Ancient, Kiada Njovu-Reyes has been reborn several times throughout her short life, but her fighting spirit has never once been diminished. With beauty, grace and a quick wit, Kiada is the whole package wrapped in an infectious smile. Recent endeavours have found her in the heart of the Hollowed Grounds, aiding the region and bettering it for her new Ancient kin, and whatever she does next, we know it's sure to pack a punch.
Congratulations, Kiada!
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!
Unfortunately for Alys, she seemed to have run afoul of Tal's bad luck. She scowled at the mortar as it clumped in unappealing globs, hissed irritably as it refused to smooth into place, and swore under her breath as rocks kept falling out of place. In the end, she prevailed - but only through a measure of stubbornness that had her gritting her teeth and willing everything into place.
With that done, and a dark, stormy look on her face, she listened to the next instructions. She wasn't particularly keen to go up on the roof, so she volunteered for the windows. Replacing them, she thought, should be fairly straightforward. Perhaps her bad luck wouldn't follow her there. She worked slowly but diligently, hoping to avoid any problems by taking her time and paying attention to the smallest detail.
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Alys fixes the window!
Oh, I had a dream that you couldn't hear me screaming Trying to tell you everything but it wouldn't stop you leaving
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Truth be told, Tal had hoped to do the shingling work. It was methodical and detail-oriented work and he was good at it, but he figured he should let his helpers pick first since they were volunteering. When Sah claimed the task the courier did his best to be grateful, but his smile for Alys was a lot wider when she offered to handle the windows. He'd had a fear of them ever since that day in the Adventurer's Guild...
Alys regained her lost luck as she went about replacing the cracked and broken panes. Her recent experience with the windows downstairs certainly helped; she was already familiar with the shape and glazing needed in the upstairs ones, and this time the task went smoothly. The warmth in the upstairs rooms was palpable as it rose from below and became trapped beneath the roof. As fewer and fewer cracks existed for it to escape, it soon became downright cozy as the seer finished sealing the homey little space against the wintry weather.
Sah liked high places, right? And as it turned out, he could be just as meticulous as Tal when it came to this sort of work. One shingle at a time, each overlapping the one before, was neatly hammered into place. This time around there were no unforeseen cracks or surprises and the work went smoothly as the hunter covered the decking and matched the shingles against those on the rest of the roof so he soon had a smooth, unbroken and watertight covering against the rain and snow.
As for Tal, he scowled at the rocks as he ferried them up onto the roof, as if he could intimidate them into behaving. Thankfully Alys had finally managed to beat the mortar into submission earlier, and the courier found that it went on evenly now, even with the cold outside air threatening to thicken it up sooner. Having to rebuild the top of the chimney from scratch was almost easier than trying to fit each missing stone perfectly into just the right hole; he could do whatever fit best in the moment and didn't worry too much about the top row being a little uneven. It gave the place some character, was all!
As they met back inside to wash off, Tal rubbed his nose sheepishly, trying not to let his happy grin get too big. "You guys are life savers. Can't believe I'm really gonna have my own place t'spend LongNight this year." He looked around the empty room, already envisioning it...
But it was missing a few important touches for a LongNight week.
"I've got some credit in town. Let's go pick up some supplies. An' y'can grab some stuff for yourself while we're at it. As, y'know, thanks for all th'help," he finished, ducking his head against the gruff gratitude in his voice.
Last Round! LongNight Supply-Gathering
Purchase, find, make, or somehow obtain for Tal and yourself:
Alys's work with the windows went off without a hitch, and she found herself growing warmer quickly now that the room had been sealed against the cold. She hadn't realized how cold she'd gotten until her toes began to thaw. As the trio met back up in the house - roof, chimney, and windows all fixed - Alys was struck by what a good team the three of them made.
At the suggestion that they venture out into the cold to gather supplies, Alys tried not to frown at her friend. Just when she was getting warm, too! But if he was going to be kind enough to treat them to some LongNight supplies, well, she couldn't be too mad about that. And so she traipsed out into the street with the boys, pulling her coat closer and tucking her hands into warm pockets.
Firewood and lantern oil were easy enough to find: both had been stocked up in preparation for Deepfrost. Warm blankets, though, were harder - not because they were scarce, but because Alys was picky, wanting her blankets to be soft and plush. When she'd finally finished gathering her share of the supplies, she returned to Tal's new place, where she hoped to meet the boys with their own hauls.
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Alys goes shopping!
Oh, I had a dream that you couldn't hear me screaming Trying to tell you everything but it wouldn't stop you leaving
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Sah was pleased with his success and jumped down the last few feet to join the others with a grin. Perhaps it was excessive to do so instead of climbing all the way down, but he was in a good mood. Tal's happiness was obvious to his frenemy and Sah had to restrain the teasing croon that wanted to come out. "No problem."
Shopping wasn't Sah's strongest talent as the courier could attest, but blankets were. The Abandoned gathered firewood from the nearby area and used his magic to make the oil. With that done he headed to the market and meticulously chose his blankets. The softest and most durable were the only ones that were worth getting. Between Boreal and the wolves, only the highest quality would do. And for himself of course.
Firewood was the easiest for all three foragers to obtain, but Tal negotiated a particularly large stock that required him to go to his old home and hitch up one of the dogsleds to transport it all. It was of a good quality, too; seasoned and dry, with low sap content. Lantern oil - good lantern oil, at least - was a little harder to find in quantity this time of year, but Tal and Alys both had trouble finding enough to get by. Luckily Sah wasn't constrained in the same way, and his magically-created oil was plentiful enough to make up the difference and ensure that they would all have a bright LongNight, even without the sun and moon and stars in the sky.
It was blankets where Alys really shone. Though she and Sah both had higher standards than Tal, the seer was able to get a better read on the merchants and to negotiate better trades on Tal's credit, getting more for less.
"Hey, uh... thanks again," the courier said while they divvied up their spoils and separated them out into three piles. "Lemme know if I can return the favor sometime." He flashed both of his helpers a shy grin as Boreal claimed the softest blanket from his stash for herself and carried it proudly to her new corner.
~Fin~
This concludes the PQ! Thank you so much for your help with Tal's new home! :D
