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!
I’m standin' on a tightrope alone I hold my breath a little bit longer
Deliveries came often and when they were timed well, Ellyra would often volunteer to get them on her way in for her shift. Today happened to be one of those days, so when the lioness received the word she got ready and headed for the skyport. Even as winter started to creep in with tiny, delicate fingers, the sun still shone brightly over Stormbreak. Even with the disaster that led to its current state, Ellyra enjoyed being as close to the sun as they were. So she walked with a smile despite the biting, chilled air because the sun still glowed across her face.
Gathering the packages did not take too long, which she appreciated. Greeting a familiar courier and giving the usual small talk about how it wasn't so much work to get the packages and take them to the clinic, and there was no need for him to do it, etcetera etcetera, Ellyra was off. She bounced on her heels as she walked, not a care in the world.
Halfway out the door, but it won't close I'm holdin' out hope for you
The Sword liked to observe everything – eternally a scrutinizing force. From years of battlefield prowess and war-torn assemblages, snagging at casual observations and chaotic circumstances both had aided and provided in assisting in next maneuvers. Machinations were always a stirring nuance in his mind, and even the most normal of moments often spun calculations in accordance with information and precision.
So while he was at Stormbreak’s skyport, waiting for another with detailed notes about the latest void creature dramatics, his eyes flickered over the scene. It had a much broader representation of boats than Halo’s – which made sense, given pragmatics, and a far earlier construction – and his gaze roamed over galleons and sails, seafaring vessels made entirely for the broad expanse of clouds and air. People too, milling about, coming and going with boats depositing them from other trips, or being cast away to someplace else.
Nothing in particular stood out to him, and so he waited a bit longer, taking in the sights and surroundings, standing along the appointed meeting spot. When no such arrival came, he remained the nonchalant Warden, but could feel the wasting of time growing – and with so many things to do back at home, he didn’t want this to be a felled effort, or something misplaced.
Glancing at a younger woman nearby, clearly on the move, his voice rumbled from across a few yards, note with the tracker’s name still in his hand. “Excuse me, would you happen to know the location of Dominic Sands?”
I’m standin' on a tightrope alone I hold my breath a little bit longer
The lioness stopped dead in her tracks as the stranger caught her attention. Sucking her teeth, she let the cogs and wheels turn until the question clicked. "Oh, Dom." Ellyra rocked slightly from toe to heel, eying the man with interest before spinning on her heels. He clutched her packages in one arm across her chest and lifted her hand to cup on her forehead to block the sun. "Uhhhh.." She scanned the shipyard, brows furrowing as she squinted into the bright light, despite it being so late in the year. "I don't see his skyboat, actually." She said, matter of factly.
Turning back to Deimos she tried to look down at his paper. "What were you expecting from him? He could be caught in a storm or something." The lioness said, trying to give a bit of hope to the idea of the missing captain. She swallowed and offered a bright smile towards the stranger, but she wasn't as good an actress as she thought she was, and the worry that glazed her eyes was clear. They had been losing several smaller skyboats to the starfall creatures lately.
Halfway out the door, but it won't close I'm holdin' out hope for you
The prospects of any new information began to swiftly cease, and his brows furrowed. Not in disappointment, though that lingered somewhere in the back of his mind too, but in the way notions seemed to ride along uncertainty. There were hordes of possibilities on why this individual’s skyboat wasn’t there; and since he didn’t know the man well, he could only presume other angles.
Caught in a storm seemed likely; along with varieties of other circumstances, so the Sword nodded, hording the rampant speculations for now. “Said he had some information about void creatures. We were going to meet here.” Cretins Deimos had yet to record any semblances on, and had been hoping to pass along the said details and particulars into journals and records.
Figuring introductions might be worthwhile on that forefront, he placed the paper back into his pocket, and extended his hand in greeting. “Deimos Ignatius. I run the Monster Hunter’s Guild.”
I’m standin' on a tightrope alone I hold my breath a little bit longer
"No shit." Ellyra breathed, eyes widening in pure amazement that she had met two living legends in one week. "You're the Deimos Ignatius." The lioness shook her head some, a scoffing-type laugh littered in disbelief filling the space between them. She straightened some and brushed hair out of her eyes.
"My name is Ellyra. I lived in the Grounds when you all arrived." Outlanders, she meant. "I've known about you for a long time, but I never thought I would actually meet you." Because the man didn't just run the Monster Hunter's Guild -- oh, no, he was so much more. People named their babies after people like him -- people were naming their babies after him, right now. Ellyra knew. She helped deliver them.
"I'm sorry I can't help you like Dom could have. I actually don't have a lot of void knowledge other than stomping on plants on my walk to work." She admitted, trying to balance her packages once more.
Halfway out the door, but it won't close I'm holdin' out hope for you
The Sword always hoped his name wouldn’t be one of recognition – much more inclined to shift about into the background, attention away and off his form. That wasn’t to be the case on this venture, and he fought the urge to wrinkle his nose at her inflection and laugh, and instead maintained the most nonchalant of features.
He hadn’t remembered an Ellyra of the Grounds, but as the timeline of it all brushed forward, he could only nod and grant the slightest of smiles; trying painfully not to yield into immediate self-deprecation. “My apologies for any mess we made,” as they were often told, even though they hadn’t been given any choice in their manner of where they’d all gone. Then barriers had come down, Spires disassembled, and a litany of trials and errors.
As for lack of information, he simply nodded; the notions couldn’t be helped, and perhaps other meetings would have to be rearranged. “That is all right. What sort of plants?”
I’m standin' on a tightrope alone I hold my breath a little bit longer
”Everything was a mess, then. Would have happened with or without the outlanders.” She stated, lifting one of her palms in a dismissive way towards his apology. In her mind, being stuck beneath the barrier for as long as the citizens had been, there was only a matter of time before all of the actions that lead to its destruction happened. In her opinion, it only took Wessex’s birth to start that fire. If not for the outlanders, Ellyra was confident that the Voice would have been able to continue to spread given how Wessex’s heart was for that to happen, as well. Without the outlanders, the brash woman would have probably been able to convince everyone to ascend, and they would have brought down the barrier to spread their ideals worldwide.
”Mostly I stomp on little, purple plants coming up through cracks in the walkways and roads. A lot of them are small, but they come up day after day and there seems to be more of them.” Ellyra said, voice trailing off slightly at the end with a tinge of worry. Never one to master the skill of masking her emotions from her face, her eyes darkened. She set the packages down at her feet, committed now to the conversation at hand. ”Yesterday I saw some of the Mata Mata that were all twisted and purple from the void.” She took in a slightly shaky breath, tucking her hair behind her ears. ”I thought about going to Safrin to see if there was anything I could do.”
Halfway out the door, but it won't close I'm holdin' out hope for you
The statement caused a faint chuckle, and for his gaze to sweep upward, over the tall buildings and the vivid horizons, so his mind wasn’t tempted to ramble elsewhere. Stormbreak was nothing like the Hollowed Grounds, and while it probably had its own distinct, haunting features, here he couldn’t be caught or snagged on all those nuances and wounds. Maybe within a matter of time, it would’ve all sunk – Naturals tired of being behind a barrier, one of the few things they’d known or understood for hundreds of years, the Voice held in check for seemingly eternities. Loyalty would have strayed in one way or another, just as it had in the war. The inevitably curled down his spine, and he gave it no more than a nod, glance returning to the streets of stone.
The notions of the little, purple plants caused his eyes to narrow, immediately thumbling through the journal in his hand, striving to see if that had already been copied down or required a fresh page. “Maybe they require something else to fend them off,” he murmured, jotting them along another segment of parchment, the charcoal steady in his hand. He had heard briefly of the raven-esque beasts from others, but not much else. “Were there any effects with the Mata Mata?”
Mentions of Safrin gave the slightest of smiles over, while his attention was on the paper and notations. “Might be a good start. Do you see her often?” He likely should pay her a visit soon as well, but he’d been opting to give time, and space to heal in all the aftermath of horrendous events.
I’m standin' on a tightrope alone I hold my breath a little bit longer
Ellyra's eyebrows reached for her hairline as she shook her head slightly. "To be honest with you, I didn't get that close. I'm pretty wary about all of it. Smashing plants in the cracks of the pavement is about all I can handle." She admitted. Despite the lioness beneath her skin, there was still a great sense of self-preservation within her. Her mouth tugged in the corners down towards her chin as she thought about it more. "I could just tell they were touched by the void, you know? Even keeping my distance, I felt super uncomfortable around them. Nothing like other animals."
As for Safrin, the woman beamed. "Just once." Ellyra said, and the statement brought a broad and fond smile to her face. "She was wonderful, though. Truly amazing. She came to me in the Celestine. Attuned me and everything!" She praised the herald with a twinkle of admiration in her eyes and a thick layer of honey in her words.
Halfway out the door, but it won't close I'm holdin' out hope for you
Without the new information forthcoming, Deimos was left with only the barest denizen of notes; but it was better than nothing at all. “That is all right,” he assured, writing down other nuances for later purposes; potentially sending one of the other guild members to investigate at a later happenstance. “Their colors seem to be off as well,” distinct from the threshold of the same or similar species.
Safrin sparked another round of conversation though, and he could close the journal with ease, placing it within his bag once more as Ellyra described her encounter. “Congratulations,” he grinned. “I had a similar experience,” though lacking in the Celestine – pulling the fragments of his soul in a different aspect amongst the Hollowed Grounds. “She does grant many opportunities.” As long as someone was willing to take them. “What was your first shift?”
