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!
Hadama is still hard at work on his hippocampus...es (hippocampi?), which is probably a good thing, because Fox looks like a complete dumbass with his hands in his lap and his jaw slack, looking the other man up and down as if he might suddenly sprout a crown, or a sign to suggest he's royalty. "King of... what, here?" he repeats, trying and failing to shake away his shock, even when another question is levelled at him.
"Uh..." He shakes his head. "We don't have one. Not any more. They were kings and queens, and then we had an Overseer for a bit... and then an Archon." And none of them had stuck around for very long or had done much to make the grounds seem any better or safer, in his opinion. Not that he'd have been particularly fond of any of them anyway, what with the whole Ascended hullabaloo.
Finally hearing the bafflement in Fox's voice, Hadama looked up to meet the Ancient's eyes and gave a confirming nod. "Yes. With my co-ruler." Kings, both of them. In every sense of the word, if I do say so myself. There was a gleam of amusement hidden behind that serene facade, sparkling from the depths of emerald eyes at the other man's surprise.
He threw the landwalker a line, giving him something to focus on besides the surprise of who he was contentedly making jewelry with. "Hmm. Did the different names make a difference?" A curious question. As far as Hadama knew the Merfolk had only ever had Kings and Queens, though the humans had different traditions.
He went back to work on his obsidian, beginning to carve and file carefully where the eyes would be.
06-09-2023, 05:58 PM (This post was last modified: 06-09-2023, 05:58 PM by Fox.)
"...I see," Fox says softly, despite absolutely not having seen at all, as evidenced by the very conversation. Nevertheless, trying not to think about whether he'd bumped into Hadama's co-ruler in the market or something and not realised, the Ancient turns his focus back to his polished obsidian, getting out his twine and cutting a length of it that would be suitable to tie around his wrist.
He seizes onto the new subject like it's a life raft and he's stuck in a whirlpool, even managing a brief laugh at the Mer's question. "Only to people's egos," he says, starting to thread the first of his obsidian onto the twine. "None of them seemed to make much of a difference to the place. No one has stepped up either, since the war." He can't even blame them.
Indeed Fox might have run into Harper in the market without realizing. Neither King was particularly hung up on ceremony unless they were on Official Business - and then Hadama would pull out the crown and some extra adornments to better look the part. But at the Ancient's seemingly-easy acceptance of the information the Tidebreaker was content to turn his attention back to his jewelry crafting.
"Hmm. Leading is not an easy thing," he agreed, using the sharp tip of the file to carefully carve out the places the rubies would go. "What sort of differences would you like to see made?" Each region had its own priorities and desires, it seemed. The Tidebreaker was curious about what a Grounder would want to improve his land, compared to how Torchers and Halovians thought. His education into human variation was always interesting, if nothing else.
Large fingers dipped into his belt pouch beneath the water and emerged with the small ruby chips he had mined with Sohalia. He fitted them into the places he had carved in the two equine heads and examined the effect with satisfaction while he waited for Fox's answer.
"Especially when you'd be leading a pariah region," Fox murmurs with a wry smile directed down at the bracelet that is slowly forming between his fingers. "It's hard enough getting people to live there, let alone lead the place." Who knows, maybe things will change in the future? He doesn't count on it, though.
As for the differences, the hunter can only roll his shoulders in a shrug. "Just something to shake off the old reputation would be nice. I think most people still believe the Ascended and the Voice are going to creep out of the woodwork at any moment." And he doesn't bother trying to hide the disdain in his voice at the mention of the race or the goddess, either.
Threading the last of the obsidian onto the twine and fastening it carefully around his wrist, Fox seems mildly surprised at his own efforts, nodding internal approval.
Though the Merfolk had no particular animosity towards the Grounds Hadama had spent enough time with humans over the past two years to understand what Fox meant by the region being unpopular. He nodded once, thoughtfully, as he borrowed a scrap of leather to put a polish on his obsidian hippocampus heads with their glinting ruby eyes.
"Mmn. Indeed," he agreed, a faint furrow between his brows as Fox put into words the vague uneasiness that people seemed to have about the distant eastern region. He paused in his finishing touches to look up, considering his horned companion as he heard the note of disdain, however. It was a fairly common reaction, even a year and a half later, but still... "Did you meet the Voice?" A personal question, perhaps even a prying one, but the emotion behind Fox's words seemed to invite further explanation.
Content with his own pieces - all that was needed now was to attach them to the flexible, intertwined ropes of the torc they would adorn, and that waited back in the Underwater City - Hadama slipped them into his pouch and offered the borrowed tools back to Fox with a murmured 'Thank you.'
Murmuring a soft you're welcome and gathering his tools back together, Fox stuffs them into his bag and fastens it shut. He doesn't have time to compliment the hippocampi heads before they're tucked into a pouch, but he has a gut feeling that Hadama knows how good they are. As for the Voice, his expression darkens considerably, and he rolls his shoulders in a gesture that isn't a shrug so much as it's as though he's trying to get rid of something.
"I did - more than once, I'm afraid to say," he mutters. "I used to be an Ascended, before the war. It didn't agree with me though - I wouldn't have considered myself on that side of things, even though I didn't have a pulse to prove my humanity." Clearing his throat awkwardly, he manages a brief smile for Hadama.
"It was good to meet you. Maybe I'll see you at that festival?"
Hadama nodded slowly, hearing the discomfort in Fox's voice and seeing it in his body language and leaving the tale there. It was a strange thought, being able to change one's race, and one he'd rarely considered even though he knew many Attuned. He inclined his head deeply in respect for the travails that Fox had passed through, however, and when he raised his head again his expression was serene as he gave an agreeable nod.
"Indeed. It was good to meet you as well. The moon will be full, so I will be at the festival. I will look forward to seeing you again." Spoken with his usual calm sincerity, the words held a quiet warmth. The mermanta swam a little ways back from the wall of the canal and then dove under, his long tail flicking up into the sunlight in an arc of glittering star-touched water before he slipped away, heading back to his business for the day and content in the work he had done with Fox's inspiration and help.
