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Character of the Season
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!
06-14-2024, 09:18 PM (This post was last modified: 06-16-2024, 02:36 AM by Talyson.)
He didn't regret taking the detour to help out with the Void Horror that had attacked Torchline's shore...
Except he kind of did. He'd done as much as harm as good by slicing off oozing tentacles, even if in the end he'd helped Flora summon Frey to clean up the mess. That wouldn't have been so bad, except that the Peregrine had been swatted out of the sky by one of those stupid tentacles and she'd taken some serious damage in the process. Not enough to wreck her, thankfully! But it would take some work to get her flying again.
Tal had scrawled a few hasty flyers and put them up around Haulani and the Docks, then returned to take a better surveillance of the damage, muttering to himself as he moved over and around the sad tangle of spars and sails and rigging that lay on its side in the sand.
"Keel is sound, flight magic still works, rudder's on tight... but, man, the rigging's a fuckin' mess..." His scowl was fierce but not despairing, and as a few people came to investigate he looked up and waved them closer. "Right, they dropped th'wood off a few minutes ago. Th'rest should be arrivin' soon, but we can get t'work on the hull first." There was, indeed, a pile of aged teak stacked on the other side of the boat, but there was also a large hole in the hull and most of the rails were cracked or knocked completely loose. "We need t'cut th'boards t'size, sand 'em smooth, an' nail 'em into place flush with th'rest o' th'hull," he instructed. "An' get new rails on her, too. Oh! An' I'm Tal, by the by. Talyson Seawright of Seawright's Courier Service. Thanks for helpin' out! If y'ever need mail carried across Caido, you've got a spot on th'Peregrine once she's up an' flyin' again!"
Boreal soared overhead, giving a lazy waggle of her wings in welcome as she kept watch for any threats that might interrupt the repairs.
This is a PQ to repair the Peregrine after it was damaged in {KQ} but it wasn't alright!
Round 1 is repairing the hull:
1. Cutting the boards to the right size
3. Nailing them into place to fix the hole
4. Rebuilding the railings.
Recognizing the name of the person who had posted the note, Isar was drawn to the wreckage by curiosity as much as need. Having never seen a skyship this up close before, the idea of repairing one was interesting. And they would get paid. That was a driving factor too.
That said, he was not familiar with wood or working it. "Better stay out of your way, yeah? Leave thr sawing to me."
Which was challenge enough, unfamiliar a tool as it was, if straight forward enough to require little thought.
06-14-2024, 10:03 PM (This post was last modified: 06-14-2024, 10:04 PM by Zavien.)
Above all shadows rides the Sun
As he was leaving his chance encounter with Lena at the Rainbow Road shrine, he'd spotted a flyer at the marketplace. Zavien had recognized the name of his friend and immediately rushed to help. Last time he'd seen Talyson, they'd been flying on the Peregrine. How had it gotten so damaged? Worried that his friend might also be hurt, he'd practically ran from the market to the repair sight.
He'd spotted Boreal first, floating above the commotion like a supervisor, giving him hope that Tal was also intact. With his breath coming in deep puffs of air, he green eyes glanced around until he spotted the Accepted directing the workers. It was a full-body release of concern that had him smiling like an idiot as he approached with an enthusiastic wave. When Tal finished his spiel, Zavien said, "Hey! I'm glad to see you're all right!" He couldn't say the same for the ship. Glancing at the damage to the beautiful vessel, he winced slightly at the imagined fight as well as the work to do. Knowing that he should hop in to help the others, he patted Tal on the shoulder. "I expect to hear all about this battle when we're done. In the meantime, we've got a ship to fix." He then proceeded to join a group of men nailing the wood to the hull. The hammer fit perfectly in his hand as he got to work.
Zavien joins the second repair group nailing the boards!
Given the last place that he'd seen Isar and their conversation there, he was one of the last people Tal had expected to pop up in Torchline. Still, only a fool would look a gift-Ancient offering help in the mouth Tal that is so not how that saying goes so the courier offered the man a perplexed look followed by a cautious nod of welcome. "Yeah? Well... thanks, man," he said, accepting Isar's help awkwardly.
He was just turning around when Zavien's greeting drew a grin to Tal's face and he waved back as the Breaker jogged up. "Hey Zav! 's good t'see you, too! It was a hail of a fight." His grin dropped back to a grimace as he waved down the beach where the hulking remains of the Void Horror were waiting for cleanup. "You shoulda seen it. But thanks for helpin' out! I'll leave th'hull crew t'you!" And Zavien was more than skilled enough to accomplish that part of the repair. It took a little finesse, but the handful of others who had showed up to help had experience repairing fishing boats and between his woodworking skills and their advice the hull was soon starting to look airworthy again.
Tal, meanwhile, had gone back to help Isar, showing him how to hold the saw and cut the cleanest line without leaving the wood jagged and torn. It took some effort and several tries for the Ancient to get the motion down and several boards were ruined before progress was made. Tal stuck close at hand after the first few failures to offer advice and stop things from going too far off the rails... which was what he was working on. The railings were finicky work, but they could be mostly assembled in sections off the ship, making it easier. Since Tal kept interrupting his work to help Isar, however, his own progress slowed considerably and he was behind schedule when the other two men finished.
"Okay, I'm gonna keep workin' on these, but can you guys get the sails off 'er an' use th' new canvas t'patch up the torn spots?"
Round 2!
There was a little trouble sawing the wood and getting the railings assembled, but hull crew was on task! Next up is the sails!
1. Get some folks to help pull the sails off the Peregrine and find the tears and rips. Mark them for the fixers!
2. Use the new canvas to stitch sturdy patches into place over the marked areas!
Well, it was a learning opportunity, right? And as it was clear to him that the Seawright knew what he was doing, be was fairly confident that he would walk away from this armed with a budding new set of excellent skills. That of course didn't mean that Isar enjoyed getting splinters or nicking his fingers with the saw.
When an opportunity presented itself to switch job, he enthusiastically threw himself into the simpler task of stripping the rigging and sails off the mast. At least this was self explanatory; and since it was all broken anyway, it didn't matter if he had to ass another few cuts in canvas or rope, as they had to be repaired anyway. Why, he would even be willing to help; unlike wood, Isar knew his way around needle and thread, the way any nomad who cared for his own equipment should.
Glancing at the Void Horror carcass polluting the beach, he wrinkled his nose. The damage didn't surprise him anymore if Tal was facing that thing. In fact, he thought the Captain was lucky to get out with as little damage as he did. Shaking his head, he turned to the next task at hand: sails. The nailing had gone well, but he was less certain about his sewing skills.
Zavien wasn't a formally trained seamstress, but he'd had to do a little repairing of his own gear. Years ago, a few of the older women in his neighborhood had scolded him for having tears in his clothes. They'd pulled him inside to attempt to train his fumbling fingers. As they talked over each other and pointed out his flaws, the chaotic environment hadn't been very conducive to learning. Trying to recall their lessons, he let the Ancient tear at the sails while he pulled out the needle and thread.
06-16-2024, 11:37 PM (This post was last modified: 06-17-2024, 04:52 AM by Talyson.)
Getting the sails off wasn't particularly easy. They'd been wrapped around and impaled by broken spars and tangled with the rigging. At least the Peregrine was a small two-seater and not one of the big ships, however, and had a lot less canvas to wrangle as a result.
The courier kept sawing and hammering away on the rails, assembling the sections that would replace the damaged areas once the ship was righted again. Once the shrouding sails had been pulled off her by the pair of industrious helpers that was exactly what happened as some of the stronger Torchers who had showed up for a dayjob set their shoulders to the newly-repaired hull and got the little boat upright again. He keel scraped the sand as the magic reactivated and she began to float a few inches above the ground. It wasn't much, but it was enough to Tal to scramble aboard and get the rails swapped out as she stayed upright under her own power.
"Hey, you're pretty good at that!" Tal called out in a little surprise. He'd glanced over from his work on the rails to admire Isar's sturdy needlework as the nomad sorted the canvas out and got to work with needle and thread. His stitchwork was tidy and tight and his repairs would barely be visible when the sails were belled out in the wind again.
Zavien was a little less experienced with his needle and it unfortunately showed. Still, though his stitches were less neat they were still sturdy enough to keep the canvas patches in place over the tears. As Tal finished his work he hopped down to come over and pat his friend on the shoulder in commiseration. "Oh, uh, don't worry! Doesn't have t'be perfect, long as it's good enough t'get her flyin' again," he said, in what he hoped was an encouraging tone. He pulled out his own sewing case and settled down between the two men to help finish up the stitching before they handed off the canvas to an older sailor who supervised folding it until they were ready for it again later.
Hopping to his feet, Tal looked over the mess of the rigging morosely. Ropes had been snapped during the crash, but others had needed to be cut in order to free the sails and drag out some of the debris. The broken spars they had hung from were an even sorrier mess and the courier heaved a heavy sigh. "Right... well, she's comin' t'gether," he said, though there was a dubious rise to his voice. "Next up, we need t'splice fresh line into the torn an' cut top an' heel ropes." One of the sailors who'd showed up to help raised a hand in offer to teach anyone who wasn't familiar with the work and Tal looked immediately more relieved to know someone with experience would be leading that crew. "An' I'll lead the carpenters in fixin' th' spars an' yards."
Halfway there! The sails are functional again, but before they can go back on the boat there's still some things to repair.
Round 3
1. Join the Rigging Crew and learn how to splice the thick ropes that control the sails!
tasks include:
- coil the ropes and separate out the usable stretches from those too damaged to use
- unravel the ends of the damaged sections and braid new lengths of replacement rope in to make them stronger!
or
2. Join the Carpentry Crew (again?) to repair the cracked mast and yardarms!
tasks include:
- cleanly cut away the damaged spars
- cut and shape new spars to hang from the mast
Choose a task, and Tal and the NPCs will take what's left!
Feeling more at home with canvas and thread than with wood, Isar accepted the praise with an easy smile. When given the opportunity to learn how to splice rope he accepted with some interest, and was soon engrossed in the task of scanning lengths for damage, then learning how to mend the breaks and cuts he found. Sitting crosslegged in the sand surrounded by coils and stacks of rope, there was a peculiar sort of contentment about him, as if everything he'd ever asked for was right here.
His sewing skills had obviously been lacking more than he thought as he ended the task with bloody pinpricks and bruised pride. Luckily, Tal was right in that the sail just had to be functional. So Zavien wiped his palms clean with an appreciative smile and lifted his head to tackle the next task.
When they broke into the new groups, he was immediately drawn to the less skilled labor of cutting away the damaged spars. It didn't require any finesse or intricate detail, he could just cut away with a controlled level of abandon. It helped that Tal was guiding them.
For a guy without many sellable skills, Isar was picking up quite a few pretty quickly! The sailor leading the splicing crew only had to show the Ancient the trick of unraveling and twisting together the fibers once. After that Isar's quick fingers found the rhythm almost on instinct and the coils of repaired ropes around him began to grew, quickly outpacing the other pair of Torchers who'd pitched in. "Y'ever think o' joinin' a crew?" Tal asked curiously on his way past with an armload of timber, admiring the neat coils. Only the different colors of the rope - the new rope being darker and less weathered - showed where the repairs had been made.
Zavien and Talyson worked on the spars together, and the Breaker had better luck with deconstructing the damaged parts of the ship. Their third helper steadied the damaged yards while Zavien cut them safely away, but it took all three of them working together to unstep the mast and haul the new one into place with a block and tackle. Once it was up Tal was able to get the new yards into place. It was only possible because the Peregrine was so small, but she looked trim and lean once they had finished.
If a little bare.
"We're almost done!" Tal encouraged his helpers, practically beaming as the little skyboat bobbed with renewed steadiness at the ground anchor holding her to the sand. That anchor now seemed a lot more important than it had a little while ago when she'd barely been able to float upright! "All that's left is gettin' 'er dressed again. We need t'string up th'riggin' from scratch now, an' then we can hang her sails an' she'll be fit t'fly!"
Last round!
1. String the repaired ropes through the yardarms and connect them down to the deck belays
2. Hang the fore and aft sails off the new spars and ropes!
3. ???
4. Profit!
It felt nice to just lose himself in the manual labor. Zavien's hands worked as he let his mind wander into a comfortable void. Tal's company made it easier to relax. He knew the Accepted would correct him if he made a mistake. Although it was hard to make a mistake when all he had to do was cut.
Once that was complete, he began grabbing the ropes to assist with tying them to the deck belays. He left the climbing of the yardarms to people who didn't get dizzy at the thought, focusing on copying the deckhands who knew how to make a secure tie. It took a fumbling try or two, but he was a little more confident by the end. Overall, he was tired, excited at the prospect of a cold drink and a comfortable bed.
Looking up when he was spoken to, Isar looked around at the sailors that helped refit the boat. "Not until now," he shrugged. And while it was as good an option as anything else, now was not the time to dwell on employment.
Finishing his work on the ropes, he hung back to watch how the rigging was put in place. When that was done he followed instructions of more experienced workers and put their display of knots and angles to use as they hung the sails. Now that he understood more of its functions, Isar looked at the Peregrin with new appreciation. Perhaps he would try to get his hands on something like this for himself... If his deal with the tall man from the Grounds fell through, he might just enjoy having a home he could move.
Tal was more than happy to scamper up the newly-stepped mast and lean out onto the yard arms to help both Zavien and Isar. Down on the deck below, Zavien was being taught several knots by the old sailor who had showed up to help. With one working high and one working low, the ropes were quickly strung and secured. It was easy to see how complicated the rigging could get on a larger ship, but luckily the Peregrine was small enough that there were relatively few ropes to deal with - but they were all vitally important.
Once the initial standing rigging was in place, Isar could begin hauling up the canvas with the help of the rest of the Torchers. "Well, I'd say you're a natural," Tal grinned down at the dourly serious old man. "If y'ever want a recommendation t'join a ship, I'll put in a good word for ya." A couple of the other helpers chimed in with similar good-natured offers as they pulled on the ropes attached to the sails. Slowly but surely they rose into position and Tal pointed out how the Peregrine's sheets attached to the mast and yardarms as Zavien helped them get the running rigging tied off.
By the time they finished the Peregrine was straining at her anchor. Tal furled the sails and held his breath as he let the anchor rope play out. The little boat rose smoothly into the air until she was at the end of her tether and bobbing to be released. The courier let out a whoop of victory and then dropped the rope ladder, half-scampering and half-sliding down it to rejoin his impromptu crew with a broad grin. "We did it! Thank you, all o' you! Dinner an' drinks are on me t'night, an' there'll be a bonus for gettin' it all done in one day, too," he promised happily.
The Peregrine was up and flying again and tonight they'd celebrate it!
Tomorrow? Tomorrow it was back to work for the busy courier. There were packages to deliver, after all, and his reputation on the line!
Thank you guys so, so much for helping move this along so quick! you really are the best! :D
