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!
The full moon shone down upon Torchline and the eponymous fires danced along the coast, lighting up the evening so that it was nearly as bright as day. The last fires of sunset were still fading far to the west, chased with violet cracks across the darkening sky as Hadama stood beneath the silvery rays of the moon, leaning on his trident as he surveyed the Torchers and friends who had gathered at his call for aid.
Flora was the first person he had discussed the project with, and it went without saying that she had been invited.
He had written to Noah as well, the Forsaken one whose strength and reliability Hadama had come to count on over the seasons.
And then there was a man known more by rumor than personal meeting, but his skills with building had come to the Tidebreaker's attention, and he had requested Talyson's aid with the task ahead, since the mermanta had little knowledge of landwalker constructions.
For they had gathered tonight to rebuild the shops and homes of the Port. Though plenty of ramshackle tents and shacks had sprung up in the wake of Starfall, they were crude and temporary structures, unlikely to survive the storms of Leafchange. Hadama had spread the word that those who wished to claim prime real estate and get free help with rebuilding should show up tonight, and a number of Torchers were already gathered while more trickled in, greedy or curious or simply eager to return to the way things had been.
This is a PQ+ to rebuild the shops and homes of Kaiholo Port that were destroyed in Starfall. Please post your character arriving and we'll get underway! This PQ+ will be updated every 2-3 days, and needs to be completed before March 25th.
With Hadama’s letter reaching him, Noah didn’t waste much time getting to Torchline. His compass brought him to the heart of the port city, and his magic helped him work his way to where the merking said they would meet. He greeted his friend with a firm handshake, pleased to see him standing on two legs and emerald eyes face to face with glaciers.
Dressed lightly but wisely for the night construction. Noah was ready for work. He greeted the others as he came and they trickled in, giving a broad grin towards Talyson who he hadn’t seen since he left Halo. Once everyone was greeted, Noah waited for their first set of instructions.
Work in construction and rebuilding was quite different than the work he had been doing lately in Torchline, which mostly involved the killing and demise of void-touched creatures and plants. Thus, he didn’t need any weaponry today, so anything that didn’t fit in his pocket or on his person (bow and arrow, quiver, spear, cloak, etc.) was left home in Halo.
Tal wasn't sure how he felt about his growing reputation as a construction worker, but he'd brought a delivery of building materials in the Peregrine's small hold for the project, and he wasn't about to turn down an invitation from a king. He'd spent the day running local deliveries and then unloaded the crates of tools from Stormbreak into a wheelbarrow that he could push down to the Docks, stacking them off to the side with Boreal's 'help.'
He nodded a cautious greeting to the King, who he'd heard was a Mer, but sure looked human to the courier, even if he was a little webby around the ears and fingers. Noah's presence was met with a more relieved grin, and he ambled over to loiter next to his older, taller friend. When he spotted her, he gave a tentative wave to Flora, too.
Tal's armor and main weapon were, luckily, lightweight and easy to carry around, and his Bag of Holding had his personal woodworking tools and plenty of dragon treats for the companion who had flown down to the nearby shore to splash in the waves, hunting fish with questionable success.
Tal brings himself, his companion, everything on his profile, and his woodworking tools in his Bag of Holding. Also dragon treats!
Flora didn't necessarily care for the amount of muscle she was having to build thanks to all of the construction projects she was included in or leading. Having always been lean with just enough tone, now Flora had gained proper muscling, and gods if that wasn't a constant reminder of just how fucked Torchline was lately, she couldn't think of what was.
Well, maybe the constant debris and chaos around, but never mind.
Dressed rather plainly for the job ahead, Flora waved a many-ringed hand towards Hadama. "Nice legs." She called with a bright grin, before waggling her eyebrows at Talyson only to let her gaze land upon Noah. "Didn't expect to see any Halovians out of Halo." She murmured, knowing that while the frosty western land wasn't as hard done by Starfall as Torchline was, that they certainly had their own rebuilding to do. "Thanks for coming."
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
"I thought we should match," he rumbled innocently in response to Flora's teasing, offering his co-ruler a deep inclination of his head in welcome. Emerald eyes twinkled with mischief behind his professional expression of outward dignity before he turned to greet their other helpers.
Hadama met Noah with the stoic serenity that was the expression he showed his subjects, but the corners of his eyes crinkled warmly as he gripped his friend's hand in webbed fingers. "Thank you," he murmured quietly, before turning to the next Halovian to arrive, nodding regally to the scruffy courier.
The debris had largely been picked up and sorted during the rebuilding of the skyport and the docks themselves. There was plenty of leftover recycled material to work with, and there were the fresh supplies of timber and nails that Talyson and other ships had brought.
More people gathered around them, NPCs townsfolk and merchants and opportunists alike. Once they had a good crowd Hadama stepped up onto a large box and raised his voice to be heard by all. "First we will mark out where the new buildings will go," he decreed. "I will hand out blue flags. Use them to show where you intend to build." He nodded to Noah, Flora, and Talyson. "They will mark out streets and ensure buildings are not too close together." An important task. Torchline was not like Stormbreak, with straight lines and strict building codes. But the organic, sometimes chaotic nature of its city planning could still be directed into more useful foundations. Streets wide enough for wagons to carry goods from the ships at dock into the city, for instance. And buildings with enough space between them to reduce fire risk in case one should catch flame during a party.
Before the rebuilding begins, mark out the streets with plenty of room for wagons and carts, and don't let enthusiastic townsfolk stake out foundations that are dangerously close together!
1. Mark where the streets will go, so no one tries to build in the middle of them. You can use red flags or some other indicator.
2. Negotiate with the townsfolk who are staking their claims to prevent them from building too close together.
Talyson sidled up next to Noah and the demigod greeted him with a familiar ease.
Halo had been hit, still not as bad as Torchline, and because of that their efforts were able to be accomplished swiftly. There was still work to be done, but unlike Torchline there were not as many people out of house and home in Halo — and those that were had refuge in the palace thanks to the effort of himself, Sah, and Deimos. So, Noah smiled curtly towards Flora when she made her comment, and dipped his head in a gentle nod, ”Where my help is needed, I go.” As he learned from his god.
Hadama got up then and explained what was to do be done. Noah listened with crossed arms, and when the merking was done with his speech, he started his work. Gathering red flags, Noah began working with a few merchants to flag out where the roads would go.
Noah takes some merchants and helps flag out roads!
02-28-2024, 06:55 PM (This post was last modified: 02-28-2024, 06:56 PM by Talyson.)
Marking things out in advance, huh? Well, that didn't sound too hard. What could go wrong? Tal grinned at Flora and grabbed a handful of red flags from the King with an awkward bob of his head that might have been an attempt at a bow. Looking between Flora and Noah, he waffled for a bit before Boreal solved the problem by stealing one of his flags and trotting off across the sand towards the skyport. Tal followed with a hollered "Hey! Get back here! Where are y'goin' with that-- Oh!"
The companion dropped the flag at the front of the skyport and began to scratch herself vigorously. Tal wrinkled his nose as he retrieved the flag and nodded to some of the ship captains and crew who had congregated in the same area. "Y'better not've picked up any sandfleas," he warned her, before turning his attention to the other women and men, listening to their discussion about how much space they would need to move their goods from the port to the town and vice versa.
Inspired, Tal managed to rope some of them into helping him lay out a broad path from the skyport towards Haulani, so no one would try to build their shops in the way of the shortest route between the two.
Tal takes some sailors and flags out a road from the port towards Haulani.
Waggling her eyebrows playfully toward Hadama, Flora folds her arms comfortably over her chest as the MerKing began to outline his approach to this task. Watching as Tal and Noah took off with their red flags (insert joke here), the girl just shrugged before meandering in their wake to speak with the merchants and various townsfolk trying to stake their own individual claims.
Two such were nearly about to come to blows as they argued over where a certain dividing line ought to be between their properties. "Baaaaabes." The Doubletook soothed, swanning over with her aqua eyes sparkling. "Y'gotta think out of the box. Instead of only thinking this way—" Here she paused to point where they were trying to force their businesses to expand outwards. "—why not think that way." So saying she pointed behind them, suggesting with a raise of her eyebrows that instead of making wider buildings, their problems could be solved by simply making longer ones.
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
With the Halovians on road duty, Hadama joined Flora in merchant-wrangling. He walked sedately through the ramshackle area, nodding to people who were hard at work marking the roads and the footprints of the new buildings to come. When he came across two people who were starting to shout insults over a few feet of currently empty sand he stepped between them, using his imposing bulk to discourage an escalation. He listened solemnly to each side of the argument and then, like Flora, suggested an alternative: build up, rather than out. A second story loft would not be difficult to build in to each new shop since they were building from scratch, and it would provide more space for their stock and storage than the paltry feet of ground floor they were trying to claim.
The fact that it was going to mean more work tonight may not have been a popular decision, but the long term benefits were enough for them to grumblingly agree and restake their claims.
Noah and Talyson didn't run into any problems. Though they occasionally had to shift an overzealous flagger's blue markers out of the road plans, most of the sailors and merchants gathered understood the benefits of clear roads, both for moving their own goods and for increasing foot traffic to the area so more potential customers could see their wares. They were able to work quickly and efficiently, and soon lines of red ran between and alongside the canals, like a map of the veins and arteries of Torchline.
Flora's advice was excellent, and those she bestowed it on muttered to themselves as they took new measurements and saw that the numbers worked even better than the originals. She left pairs of mollified new neighbors in her wake as she swanned around the Port with charm and aplomb.
But she and Hadama couldn't be everywhere all the time, and while they had headed in opposite directions to solve problems, one had arisen right in the middle. Three merchants, all trying to claim the same piece of prime real estate, had gone from arguing to shouting to throwing punches, and as their friends ran to help out a fight broke out! It was already starting to spread as Torchline's community spirit kicked in and decades of bar room brawl training came to the fore, and if it wasn't stopped soon the construction plans would grind to a complete halt!
A fight has broken out between people staking claims to the same location, and it's starting to spread! Quick, find a way to stop it before it gets any bigger - and try not to hurt the participants too much in the process. You still need them to help build things tonight!
Tal wasn't particularly imposing, and he didn't have the political or religious cachet - or raw charisma - that the others had. He didn't have showy magic to get anyone's attention with, or a silver tongue to talk people out of fighting. In short, he was about as useful as tits on a bull in this situation, and he scowled fiercely when he realized it.
But it didn't stop him from wading into the fray and doing his best anyways.
"Hey! Someone's gonna take your spot!" he yelled, grabbing one man's shoulder and pulling him away from the spreading brawl. "I think I saw someone movin' in on your square!" he warned another woman as he shouldered past, moving through the crowd and trying to convince people to get back to their own chosen locations before they became the next victims of real estate theft!
Tal moves through the crowd and blatantly lies tells people to get back to their own spots before someone else takes them!
It didn’t take long for the people of Torchline to begin their arguement. That was the problem with projects like this — they involved people. Each person had their own agenda and their own desires for their spaces and their time. It was always easy to fight for what you wanted — an individual heart was far more precious than a community heart. At least, that was the Forsaken’s experience in other parts of the world. Halo was different than that, generally.
Still, it was no surprise to the demigod when his role shifted from placed flags to diffusing a fight. On the other side of the fight, Noah had no clue what Talyson was doing. Noah, knowing his strengths, summoned is spirit stag. The great, glowing, sunlit stag trotted around the brawl, throwing its massive head, before dissipating into the wind. Hopefully, that grabbed their attention. The Forsaken then stepped up on a barrel.
”Citizens, in uncertain times like these, unity is our greatest strength. As we face the unknown, let us remember that we are stronger together. By setting aside our differences and working as one, we can navigate through challenges and emerge stronger as a community.” If the people stopped and paid him attention, then he would continue. ”STate your claim, and your leaders will decide.” Noah would then motion towards @Hadam and Flora.
Noah uses his spirit stag to get the people’s attention and then gives a speech.
Regional Score bonus: +3 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +3 should be included)
"Oh for Frey's sake." It didn't take long for the sound of yells to give way to the slap and skin, and though it was by no means an uncommon sound in Torchline, it was still one that had the Doubletake rolling her eyes and heaving out her breath.
Trotting toward the sound, she glanced appreciatively toward Noah as he tried to soothe the trio. Trying a different tactic to the one the Foresaken was using—this was Torchline after all—Flora placed her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly that she might catch the attention of those currently trying to assert might makes right ideals in the middle of the street.
"So help me, I will call Ronin down here and he will put you all in the same get-along shirt he used to put me and my brothers in when we were little." She yelled once she thought she had their attention. "And I won't serve a single one of you at the bar. Y'know, once it's rebuilt." Flora adds with a tilt of her head.
"Speaking of, there's still free lots down by where the Hanged Man is going to be and if I were you, those are the spots I'd be after."
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
Talyson's bluffs weren't particularly effective, but he struck at the innate competitiveness of a couple of people on the edges of the fray. They peeled off to jog back to their flags, determined to protect them from any claim jumpers taking advantage of the chaos. Competitive self-interest kept them there, rubber-necking to see the outcome of the spreading brawl.
Though it was brought to a sudden pause by Noah's stag, the magical beast made of sunlight a far nobler sight than was usual in these lands. Significantly more people paused in their squabbling to eye it in wonder or confusion, and the demigod took his opportunity. It was a fine speech and some people nodded along, relaxing their fists and drifting back to work. But there was an undercurrent of muttering from others who were less convinced.
Before the malcontents could start swinging again, Flora's piercing whistle cut through the murmurs. Her initial threat drew a laugh from some people who mistakenly thought the get-along shirt was a joke, but the threat of losing out on the Hanged Man's future service scattered everyone but the original trio. One of those combatants, upon hearing that there was open real estate by Torchline's premier bar, abandoned the argument to pack up and head in the direction Flora pointed with shameless haste.
The other two were still glaring at each other, refusing to back down until Hadama arrived. He nodded at Noah in gratitude and then turned his attention on the pair, calmly inexorable as he strode into the center of the disputed space and looked around it. "Work out a way to share it," he commanded, unamused at their antics, "or it will be claimed for public land." A small park or place to rest, perhaps. Or a non-magical fountain for watering draft animals pulling loads to and from the wharves. The protests of the two men withered under the King's steady gaze and they reluctantly began re-measuring to find a way to make it work.
Hadama looked around at the forest of flags that had sprouted up from the sand like strange mushrooms beneath the bright, full moon. A vivid enough imagination could begin to sculpt the buildings that would soon arise from these humble beginnings, but there was still quite a bit of work to do before the dream could become reality.
"We can begin reinforcing the bridge to Haulani," he decided. It would be easier to move building materials from the mainland to the port that way, if larger carts could be used across the simple, narrow bridge that had been hurriedly thrown up after the tidal wave had receded. "And broaden it."
Grab a few NPCs to help out and pick a task:
1. Direct traffic and supplies trying to use the bridge so work on the Port shops can continue
2. Replace the planks on the bridge with broader ones.
3. Replace the flimsy rope 'railings' with sturdy wooden ones
Hadama will go swimming and lead some merfolk to sink stone pilings to widen and reinforce the wooden ones from below.
Luckily the brawl was broken up before it turned real ugly, and Tal breathed a sigh of relief as everyone broke up to head back to their own claims. But then the King had another task for them, and the courier groaned under his breath.
Oh... yay. They were working over water now, huh? And not some calm pond or river bound by banks that he at least had a prayer of reaching if he got into trouble. Nope, this was a bridge over ocean and while Tal's swimming was solidly passable these days, he wasn't entirely sure it was enough to challenge a whole ass sea.
Scratch that. He was entirely sure that it wasn't!
What he really wanted to do was direct traffic, but he'd been called in on this shindig because of his woodworking skills and he stared glumly at the project from the safety of the shore, arms crossed. The proto-brawl had made it pretty clear that while Torchers might listen to Noah or Flora, they sure as hail weren't going to listen to him. That left the main planks of the bridge and the railing, and after some more hesitating and deep thought he headed for the wood pile to start grabbing the lengths he'd need.
"I'll work on th'railings," he announced, figuring that he could at least assemble them in sections on dry, safe land until the planks were swapped out and stable enough for him to affix the new railings to with brackets.
Tal works on replacing the railings!
