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Character of the Season
Frail in body but dangerously quick of mind, Nikandr is the sort of character who proves that curiosity can be just as perilous as any weapon. A necromancer, inventor, and problem-solver with more ambition than self-preservation, Niki approaches the world like a puzzle box begging to be opened, even when what’s inside has teeth. Blunt, dry-witted, fiercely independent, and carrying a history best left partially buried, he has a knack for making even failure feel fascinating. Whether he’s raising the dead, moving across Caido to King's End, or experiencing a hangover for the first time, Nikandr brings a wonderfully strange spark to Caido, and we can’t wait to see what trouble his brilliant mind wanders into next.
Congratulations, Niki!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
OG Skinning provided by Kaons, with functionality and many custom plugins made by Neowulf!
12-16-2024, 11:36 AM (This post was last modified: 12-16-2024, 12:31 PM by Remi.)
REMI
the alchemist
& my heart ran away with me
"Is that...?"
Heading home with several bags of groceries between them, Remi's steps slow as they meander through the marketplace. Given the time of year, the pair have passed any number of tents and booths offering tarot card reading and future-telling on their trips to and from the market, but it was the name on this particular tent that had the Bastion pausing.
Madam Marin.
"Isn't that the name Jack's triplets are going by?" With everything that had gone on with Flora and the captain, Remi had done his best to learn as little as he could about Jack's offspring. Thanks to recent events however, the Bastion's stance on Jack had been significantly changed, much as he still stubbornly refused to admit it as an initial reaction.
"Should we say hello?" If nothing else, Remi had just brought her father back from the dead.
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"No?" Ronin says automatically, and it's only belated manners that have it phrased as a question as he reluctantly slows his steps from where he'd been intending to breeze past Madam Marin's tent. With his own arms laden with groceries and home all but in sight, it's with a groan that he glances towards the tend and stops altogether. It isn't the captain being their father that he finds an issue, funnily enough - it's the other side of the Marin triplets' parentage that's likely going to cause him problems.
But, like Remi, he's aware that any connections with Jack are likely also connections with Flora these days, and it would be all too easy for things to take a turn, as it were, regardless of how the meeting between the captain and the Bastion had apparently gone. "Gods, alright," he says with a tired smile, giving his husband a good natured elbow to the ribs. "But if I get cursed, this was your idea."
Their little scheme has been much more lucrative than Nova was originally expected. Sure, the state of the world and the threats at every corner made people fear for what may come, but she hadn't expected them to be so gullible. Once the previous victim customer leaves the tent, she sends a giggle towards Vesper, who has taken to (literally) hiding behind the curtain. This is really fun. That last guy fell for. Every. Word. She could have told him the sky was going to fall, and he'd have gone to build a stronger roof on his house, refusing to leave for the next few weeks. Instead, she'd spouted some nonsense about patching up old relationships and healing from loss. Who knew that the guy would break into tears, going on and on about an old feud with a friend? Or that his dog had just died? Nova certainly didn't, but that was one of the benefits of having a telepathic brother arranging the cards and playing shadow charades with her.
Settling back on her pillow, she stretches her arms above her head. It's been a long day, and she feels like it's about time to close up shop. She's been sitting in the same position for hours, listening to people ramble on about their woes while capitalizing on that fragile hope for a better future; and although it's been fun, she'd like to use the growing pile of coins to get something to eat soon. Preferably a sweet treat. She deserves it after all. But something tells her (maybe another sign from Vespy) to stay for one more reading. So with another burst of rainbow energy, Nova puts on her 'Madam Marin' game face and calls out "Next!" to whomever waits outside the tent flap.
12-19-2024, 11:46 AM (This post was last modified: 12-19-2024, 11:46 AM by Remi.)
REMI
the alchemist
& my heart ran away with me
Unable to keep himself from snickering at his husband's grumpy reply, the Bastion tugs the Knight close, pressing an obnoxiously loud kiss against one of his cheeks. "I'm not sure any curse could be worse than the week we've just had." Remi counters, shifting the bags of groceries into one hand in order to slide his arm through Ronin's. "Besides, I think the only curse we're going to get today is not being able to get the glitter from this tent off for about a month." He added, nodding toward the sheen of sparkle that covered Madam Marin's tent.
'Come on, just a quick hello.' Before the Knight could argue further or deepen the frown lines beside the corner of his mouth, Remi ducked inside of the tent, pulling Ronin inside with him.
Blinking a few times to adjust to the dim interior, the Bastion offered Nova a boyish but warm smile. "Nova? I'm Remi, and this is Ronin. We're..." The ones who saved your father? The parents of your dad's girlfriend? The gay demigods who live on the houseboat that floats around the coast?
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Please don't tempt fate by saying that," Ronin groans, his voice a little muffled where Remi is squashing his cheek with a kiss. "Though I'll take glitter as a curse by this point." And if the Bastion plays his cards right, the Knight will be wearing it and nothing else later on this evening. (Whatever Vesper makes of those thoughts, on his head be it for snooping). "Alright, alright." Shifting his groceries to his other arm so he might surrender one to his husband, Ronin follows suit and ducks into the tent alongside him with a flurry of glitter in the air.
Similarly blinking to let his eyes adjust, the bright-eyed daughter of Safrin certainly has the energy to play the part of seer, he thinks, and Ronin lets Remi take care of the introductions until he apparently runs out of words. "...here to have our fortunes told?" he supplies automatically, his mind having put two and two together and come up with your future is filled with not-being-home-yet.
When the curtain parts, she is surprised to hear her name and not 'Madam Marin.' Nova tilts her head curiously at the new victims customers, trying not to let her face register the confusion. Who are these men who seem to know her? Have they met? She could have sworn that she's heard their names before, but she must admit that she doesn't listen unless it's drama related. Perhaps she should be better about that. But then again, maybe not.
Hoping that Vespy might be able to illuminate her gap in knowledge, Nova smiles graciously at Ronin and Remi, her blue eyes sparkling mystically over the starry freckles. "Then you've come to the right place. Please take a seat." She gestures to the pillows across from her table and its crystal ball. When the men sit, they'll find a puff of glitter from the cushions that appears extra 'magical' while the hybrid gives her brother an opportunity to send her some information.
Adjusting her dark robes covered in stars, Nova spots the shadowed magic of her brother flitting across the tent. It subtly rustles the cards on the table before her to reveal the King of Cups and King of Wands above the Queen of Wands. She barely glances at it before replacing them in the deck. They are obviously the kings, together and apparently very powerful in their own rights. The only person who might fit the 'queen' role would be the literal queen of Torchline, which just so happens to be her father's girlfriend, Flora (as she recently found out). Does that make them her dads? As if to confirm her reasoning, a shadow glides over the 'yes' of her Ouija board.
It all seems to click together, and Nova decides to change her opinions of the men. They are involved in drama. Being two demigod fathers of a queen who's just been raised from the dead is a guarantee of interest. Smiling mostly to herself while leaning forward to give them her full attention, she asks Remi and Ronin, "What questions do you have? Might they be about your daughter, Flora, and my father, Jack?"
Pulsing his appreciation through the bond, Remi settles into the chair with a soft sigh. "Err, well...sure. Let's start there. We were the ones who brought them back after..." Eyeing Nova and judging that she was about Flora's age—he remembered having been told as much during their disastrous dinner with Flora and Jack—the Bastion pressed his lips together, caging the words they died behind his teeth. Whatever their relationship with their father, Remi assumed that being reminded that the man had quite literally died was maybe not something they ought to navigate on a first meeting.
"..what I mean is, how are they?"
In the background, whatever details Vesper can fill in, he certainly will. How it was Ronin's magic that revived Flora but Remi's revivify feather which had brought their father, begrudgingly, back. How Remi had recently called the captain for a little chat which had gone surprisingly well given their history. As for Ronin? Vesper hardly wanted to remain in the man's thicket of thoughts for more than just a moment, gleening only enough to write GRUMPY on the ouija board.
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Sinking down with Remi (and biting at the inside of his cheek to hide his smile as their laps are promptly coated in glitter - he imagines they'll also be finding it in their groceries when they get home), the Knight lets his hand slip comfortably into his husband's since their arms are no longer linked, and he glances across the plethora of stars (both embroidered and otherwise) that dot the tend and the mysterious madam before them.
"I thought this was for our fortunes," he quips warmly, raising an eyebrow across to Remi and giving him a quick nudge - he doesn't see the word written by the 'ouija board', but honestly, grumpy could apply to any of the men being discussed, be that himself, Remi, or Jack. "I'd quite like to know whether I can expect any more excitement in my immediate future." (Which, based on timelines, sorry bud).
Watching the men with more than a little interest, Nova notes the way they gravitate towards each other. Even as she listens, she catches the clasped hands and shared smiles with something similar yet different than her sibling bond. Her curiosity is difficult to set aside, but the questions begin to flow along with the vague messages of her secret informant.
After a lot of shadowed figures, tarot cards, and ouija board spelling from Vesper and his magic (How? Don't ask. XD), Nova is able to get the gist of events and the 'moodiness' of the men despite their polite smiles. She gives them her best encouraging smile with a sympathetic tilt of her head, responding first to Remi, "Well, things are much better than they could be. You both have done a great job keeping them alive." Something tells her she should be more concerned about the fact that her father literally died, but Nova can't seem to find the emotion anywhere. Disappointment? Sure. Confusion? That's certainly present. But worry? Relief? Concern? They're but a questionable blip in the kaleidoscope of her bubbly thoughts.
Nova lets the strange familial and societal expectations fade from her mind as she addresses Ronin's own question. 'Excitement' is pretty vague, and she gets the sense that they are rarely without something to spike their heartrates. It doesn't help that whoever killed Flora and Jack is still at large, and this 'Void' nonsense that she's heard rumors of doesn't sound like it's leaving anytime soon. So although she doesn't know about the specifics of their drama (like kidnapping and drowning and traumas, oh my), Nova runs with her own deductions and suspicions. She places her delicate fingers along the glass surface of the crystal ball, humming softly through a focused smile. "Looking at your futures, I can see that there is a lot of motion and color." With her words, a swirling of colors appear within the orb, sparkles and rainbows colliding in sparks of bright chaotic movement. The weakness of her magic and mystery of fortune telling makes it difficult to pin the image with the eyes as the different shades and hues slip past like blurring memories. She shifts the display slightly to infuse a tendril of black, allowing Vesper to join the fun if he wants. Meanwhile, she lets her voice deepen slightly, a shadowed frown marring her cheery features like an ill-fitting black sweater. "However, there is a darkness that lingers."
Offering Ronin a lopsided and apologetic grin for his trouble, the Bastion concedes with a slight dip of his head. "Sorry, you're right." Turning his attention back properly to madam marin, Remi clears his throat and offers her his undivided seaglass gaze. That shadows move and flicker around her fingers and across the table seems par for the course. He isn't to know that there is another demigod just outside of the tent manipulating said shadows; instead, it seems much more likely that Nova is the one in control of them, using them to her advantage even if it was simply for dramatic effect.
"Ah, so...we should start lighting candles?" Only Nova would be spared Remi's mental flush of laughter at this rather obvious joke, and outside, if Vesper had a way of communicating his facepalm to his sister, he would. Instead, the demigod merely manipulated a few of the tiles in front of Nova indicating that he was bored and wanted to go and get lunch.
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
With little more than a warm smile to Remi that forgives all and then some, Ronin likewise sits comfortably to give his attention to the mysterious Madam Marin and her crystal ball, cards and ouija board, all of which apparently have something to communicate. Naturally he's drawn in by the ball more than anything, given the tumbling whorls of colour that dance within it, and he raises his eyebrow to hear her verdict.
"If only candles were enough to keep our troubles at bay," he laments with a somewhat dramatic sigh, giving Remi's hand a squeeze and glancing back to Nova. "To be honest, that's as much par for the course as I expected. You are very astute at fortune telling, Madam." He bobs his head in as much respect for the con-artistry work as he can muster.
And whilst he has no idea what Vesper is communicating, a quick glance into the bag of groceries does confirm one of Ronin's ideas of excitement. "Our ice cream is melting," he informs the Bastion, as if this is the worst tragedy yet to befall them. "Shall we?" And then to Nova, "Thank you for your time."
Although she can't see or feel the facepalm, Nova herself has to grin at the suggestion. Shrugging her shoulders, she waves her hand. "As long as the candles smell good and have plenty of color, I can assure you they will help." If only to brighten their atmosphere and 'grumpy' moods. After all, a little color can't hurt.
Ronin's compliment comes as a surprise, and she grins, letting the magic fade to a light shimmer. "Thank you. I'm sure my mother is proud." Safrin would undoubtedly like the sparkling display. As for her father, he'd be unable to deny their relation after all the lies, however, she didn't know if she'd call that being 'proud.'
Noticing more communication from the 'man behind the curtain,' she has to agree that lunch sounds like a great idea and it seems that all men involved are quite done with the interaction, even going so far as to use 'ice cream' as an excuse that has her eyebrow raising. However, Nova is more than content to play along, smiling and dipping her head respectfully towards the two demigods. "Any time. After all, we'll be seeing much more of each other." Giving the men a mysteriously confident wink, Nova stands and melts into the shadows (probably with some assistance from Vesper and her own magic) to slip out the back of the tent and join her brother without breaking stride. Hooking his arm, she flashes him a bright smile. "So, ice cream?"
