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!
11-29-2023, 05:25 AM (This post was last modified: 12-01-2023, 11:54 PM by Edmund.)
Edmund had sent the letters and a rough map of where to meet to his guild. Included were instructions to bring any extra help that they wished. It all led to him at the current moment standing at the edge of the crash site and waiting for his guildmates and allies to arrive. His first impression of the impact is a mix of wonder and concern. Whatever did this had been massive.
He's brought every manner of supplies that he thinks they can possibly use. Paper and ink, tools of measurement, shovels, vials to take samples, and more are piled at the edge of the site. It's possibly overkill but Edmund hardly cares. His guild will have what they need and that's all that matters. As Edmund waits, Splat circles overhead eagerly, scouring for a snack as usual.
Help arrives and Edmund greets all with a grin, "Welcome! We need to get a better handle on the situation and report to King Hadama. To start, let's take some measurements of the impact site. Report as you go so someone can jot the numbers down on paper. I'm going to have to write a report on this when we're done." Depending on their success, it'd either be a short report or a stressfully long one.
~
PQ to investigate the crash site. (Can also count as an 'assist a guild' req).
1. Edmund
2. Flora
3. Soleil
4. Sohalia
No post order. Edmund will take whatever is left.
1. Measure the diameter of the crash site.
2. Measure how far from the point of impact the damage spreads to the nearby area.
3. Measure how deep the crash site is.
4. Write down the measurements for later reference.
Why was Flora all the way out here in King's End? Was it to visit her mother? To tell Harper in person that she forgave him and that they were besties? To stir up trouble? To be in this thread as a leveling req? Why not all of the above? Also, if she wanted to co-lead with Hadama it was probably worth actually seeing the crash site herself since old fish legs couldn't do that so easily.
"Heyyyyoo." She called, waving a disinterested hand towards Edmund and instead looking down into the crash site. Reaching for the pen and paper, Flora held it above her head and gave it an obvious waggle so that those around her could see that she had it. "I'll write. I'm shit at measurements when they aren't my own."
So saying the girl stood an appropriate distance away looking Very Official while doing very little.
Soleil has technically already seen the impact site, but it had been more of a cursory 'woah that's creepy' with Noe. As an actual part of the Adventurers Guild (and still lingering in the Grounds as she was) it only makes sense to meet up with Edmund when the call goes out.
Flora is an unfamiliar face, but physically the closest as she treks up to the lip of the crash site. And cute, too she realizes. Leaning over the edge of the crater with hands on her hips, she beams down at Edmund. "Are we collecting any cute passerby now?" It seems 90% of the Guild is comprised of unfairly beautiful people at this rate. Winking at Flora, she ambles over to the collection of tools and snags a measuring wheel (which I definitely didn't have to Google) because it seems infinitely easier than figuring out how to measure the depth of the impact.
Setting the instrument to zero, she immediately heads straight back toward the treeline - or what remains of it - and only momentarily laments the chance for conversation as she goes about measuring the extent of the damage.
- - -
Soleil measures the extent of the damage outside the immediate impact zone!
Don't have a threshold for patience, I distaste all stagnancy
Since Soh was in the area anyway visiting Jata, it seemed only reasonable that she would stop to help her guild. She arrived with a bag at her side that held her mapping tools and Tarak on her shoulder, giving Edmund a smile and a wave. Flora she greeted with an affectionate, one-armed hug, and Soleil with a grin. For once, she was surrounded by people who were approximately her own age, all of whom she considered friends. This was going to be fun!
"I'll measure the depth!" she said, releasing Flora and making her way carefully into the crater, where she began to measure the shadow of the crater's rim and the angle of the light from the sun, using geometry to begin calculating the crater's depth.
------
Soh arrives and begins to measure the depth of the crater!
12-02-2023, 12:25 AM (This post was last modified: 12-02-2023, 12:26 AM by Edmund.)
"Good to see you again, Flora." Her presence is a surprise, but a welcome one, nonetheless. He doesn't know the woman well and frankly is slightly intimidated by her. But help is help and the Accepted excels at her chosen task. She has little trouble recording the information that the others (less successfully) worked to acquire.
Soleil's comment has Edmund flushing red, "Hi Soleil. We are not." But if Flora wished to join the guild, he wouldn't turn her down. However Soleil seems a bit too distracted by the woman's presence. Distracted enough that she loses her grip on her wheel, and it falls. She'll need to restart her measurement.
Sohalia's smile is returned as she gets to work. The Luminary excels in her calculations, showing off her intelligence in spades. Her measurement is correct and is quickly reported to Flora.
Edmund has worse luck than anyone and ends up breaking the handle off of the measuring wheel that he was using to measure the diameter. Marking where he last broke it and the current number, he'll have to grab another wheel and continue his task.
"Good work everyone. Let's get the last of those measurements. Sohalia, if you want to start collecting samples from the impact area, that'd be amazing."
~
Round 2. Dice are mean. No post order.
1. Edmund needs to finish measuring the diameter.
2. Soleil needs to remeasure the extent of the damage.
3. Flora needs to write down their measurements.
4. Sohalia can start collecting either soil or fauna samples from the area around the impact.
There was something remarkably satisfying about taking measurements, especially those of a somewhat complicated nature that she wouldn't normally perform, and being able to call them out to Flora for recording. Perhaps it was because the depth was only one measurement rather than having to walk around for the diameter or extent of the damage, but she finished quickly, and clambered her way out of the crater to listen for Edmund's next instructions.
Collecting samples sounded simple enough, and Sohalia chirped back, "Sure!" with a smile. She contemplated for a moment, then decided to focus on soil samples. If she got a few from outside and inside the crater, the different samples could be compared for differences. So she set about doing exactly that, finding various vials and containers to place her samples in and gathering them carefully, trying to touch the samples as little as possible to avoid contamination.
Glancing over her shoulder at Soleil as she passes, the smile that parts Flora's lips is as immediate as it is mischievous. Raising an eyebrow and cocking her head slightly, the Doubletake shrugs. "Well you can definitely try." She says encouragingly, before finding herself suddenly encircled by Sohalia 's arm. Stretching her own around the Luminary's waist, Flora tugs her close. "Hey you." She purrs happily, before letting the Heart go so that she might start her task.
Chuckling at both Edmund and Soleil's wayward efforts, Flora writes down Soh's measurements while waiting for the Adventurers to get their shit together. "That's some grip you've got." She teases Edmund, as if it had been his strength which caused the wheel to break.
Edmund's response garners a faint, trailing, "Boooooo!" as Soleil fumbles the measuring wheel the second Flora smiles at her (smooth moves, Lovi). Sohalia's arrival is met with a strained smile that Sol hopes is easily passed off as distraction as she sets the wheel to rights, now quite conflicted about the young woman after Noe's well-rehearsed diatribe against the Heart.
Considering how she's already halfway there, Soleil decides to start at the outside line of where the damage is and start measuring inward instead. There's not much conversation going on, which allows Soleil apt time to resort to her constant resting state of humming quietly as she walks, bobbing her head slightly to the clicks of the wheel as it records the distance - hopefully succeeding this time as she makes it back to Flora's side to give her the measurement.
- - -
Soleil decides to measure from the exterior inward this time, and if she succeeds she gives the measurement to Flora.
Don't have a threshold for patience, I distaste all stagnancy
12-12-2023, 03:08 AM (This post was last modified: 12-12-2023, 03:09 AM by Edmund.)
Edmund scoffs at Soleil and Flora, but the curl of his lip reveals his amusement. Sohalia gets a brief smile for her enthusiasm as she gets to work. Things certainly go better this time. Edmund and Soleil are able to get their measurements completed and correctly reported to Flora. Sohalia's samples are successfully collected and will be of great help for Edmund's report.
Being back on track is a relief and Edmund quickly lays out the next part of their quest. "We're going to need to get a few more samples. One more set of the soil, and two sets of fauna samples should suffice. It would also be beneficial if someone checked to see if there's anything wrong with the animals within and around the impact." The Ancient grimaces, "There have been changes...in animals lately around Caido. If you see anything abnormally colored or acting strangely, shout."
~
Round 3! No post order. Edmund will take what's left.
1. 2 to take samples of the fauna around the crash site.
2. 1 to get another set of soil samples.
3. 1 to check to see if there are any differences in the fauna in and around the crash site. (Worms, bugs, etc.)
12-12-2023, 08:15 PM (This post was last modified: 12-12-2023, 08:15 PM by Flora.)
flora
Winking at Soleil as she gave over her measurements, as they moved on to the next activity, Flora tried to link an arm with Sohalia to drag her friend away. "Come on, let's go find some animals or whatever." She purred, tugging at the Luminary if only so that they could gossip while they worked.
Given they both liked the same boy, the topic wasn't going to get any easier or less awkward if they just ignored it, so Flora decided just to nip it in the bud right from the start.
"SoooOoOOoOO have you seen you know who?" She whispered under her breath as she glanced around to try and find some sort of animal worth taking a sample of. Not seeing much, Florareached down to grab a bit of fur (and it might have come from a jacket, who knew), to stuff into her pocket.
Flora tries to make Sohalia come with her to do 1!
When the next activities were announced, Soh jumped as Flora linked arms with her, not having expected her friend to shepherd her away from the others. Still, she wasn't unhappy about this turn of events. She adored Flora, and even if they did like the same boy - and, who knows, maybe it had just been sex for Flora, like she said, even if deep down Soh suspected that something wasn't quite right - that was no reason to avoid one of her dearest friends. Not when they'd promised not to let anything come between them.
Besides, Soh was more than happy to search for fauna samples, and she searched with Flora eagerly. If they found something, she wondered if she'd have time to sketch it in her journal before returning to Edmund and the others. But at the mention of Koa, she blinked. "I ran into him recently. I think we're kind of friends again?" she whispered back hopefully. "At least, I don't think he's angry with me anymore, so that's got to count for something, right?" She saw some insects scurrying along the ground and wrinkled her nose. Was that the kind of fauna that they needed samples of, or were they looking for something more substantial.
Grinning widely at Flora's wink, pleased with her success despite her initial fumbling, Soleil leaves the two blondes to their weird fauna-hunting and instead trades out her equipment for Sohalia's. Deciding to venture to the exact opposite location she'd seen the Luminary testing, Soleil marches along the perimeter of the crash site until the entire crater stands between herself and the others before she kneels down and begins brushing away the topmost layer of loose debris.
With the soil revealed, Soleil begins taking samples at different depths, filling the vials and marking them in neat handwriting. Whatever Edmund decides to do with them is his business, Soleil is just here to stuff dirt in glass.
- - -
Soleil takes soil samples!
Don't have a threshold for patience, I distaste all stagnancy
Sample collecting goes smoothly enough. Flora drops her fur but is able to relocate it quickly. The bugs that Sohalia finds work well as a sample and seem happy to crawl into a vial that Edmund brings over. It's probably because of the food he's placed in the bottom, but the little animals seem content. The Ancient jots down observations between the bugs and another sample he takes closer to the center of the impact. Soleil doesn't run into any issues in collecting her samples and her labels are easy to read.
"Fantastic work, everyone. We just need to pack everything up." Edmund glances at a steep dip in the impact site, "It might also be wise to mark that area off. I'm sure others are intending to come investigate and we don't want anyone to fall."
~
Last round!! No post order. Edmund will take what's left.
1. 2 to package up the samples.
2. 2 to mark the ledge on the site so no one falls.
'Awww!' The brightness in Flora's voice hid the way her heart cramp to hear Sohalia say so. "He'll get over it. It isn't like he's never made a mistake in his life, y'know?" He'd run from her bed after taking her virginity, and if Flora could forgive him for that, he could absolutely forgive Sohalia for being a little fast and loose with her feelings. Besides, as long as Flora kept telling herself that it had only been sex between them, it was fine.
It would all be fine.
Shrugging a touch at the bugs as if to answer the question Soh hadn't actually asked, Flora turned her head over her shoulder and glanced back toward the crater. "Honestly, other than the big hole in the ground...everything here looks normal." Which was the weirdest part.
"C'mon. Lets go wrap these up and then maybe we can get lunch."
Flora will wrap (and hopefully make Soh do it with her as well lol)
