Click here for a list of weather descriptions, seasonal festivals, and a real time:site time conversion.
Character of the Season
Once known as the Butcher of Whitebrim, he's now The Butcher of Dygra, stepping forward as the first created demigod of the Ancients. There is no question that Astaroth casts an intimidating silhouette. Tall, domineering and dangerous, if looks could kill you'd be dead already, but to get up close and personal with the Grounds' resident cannibal tells a much different story. Dripping with charm and clad in only the finest attire, Asta is a gentleman monster, as polite as they come and committed to his role as security for the Dusklight and those who have earned his loyalty. Be careful of that smile, though - those teeth are sharp.
Congratulations, Asta!
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!
Her shout rings out from the small stand. It's one of the many temporary ones who have shown up to take advantage of the coming festival, apparently thinking it's okay to sell boring, bland bells for an exorbitant price.
The vendor doesn't appear to agree, narrowing his eyes at Nova's outburst. "They're handmade."
She scoffs, crossing her arms across her spider-stitched white sweater. One of the shapes moves over her shoulder when she lifts her chin. "I can make a better one easily." Putting out a hand, threads of shimmering light coalesce in her palm to create a silver bell etched with stars and studded with colorful gems. It catches the light, sparking almost as bright as the smug shine in her eyes.
I was so cold and lost, nothing seemed to ring true Then I whispered your name, that's when everything changed
Longnight is a lucrative time for the woodcutter. He tries not to consider the horrors of the darkness that stretches out over their land and the way those fears feed his pockets. It's not a favorite truth of his, but it is one he'd be stupid to ignore. He manages it better by shifting the perspective away from the depths of the night and what it hides, to the fuel he instead provides, feeding the light and the warmth that provide the hope and the comfort for people to carry through into the dawn. He is not profiting off disaster, he is facilitating survival.
Tucked away in a lighter coat and his red plaid flannel beneath, Iskra's head turns from his current exchange, drawn by the shouting. The shopkeep passing over coppers into his awaiting palm turns with him, each of them craning their necks towards the stall a few ways down where Nova is arguing about price scales. "What's that stall?" Iskra wonders, hoisting up the bundle of freshly chopped wood and thumping it down on the stall's table. The shopkeep finishes paying him and shrugs. Bells? I think. And other noise-making things. Iskra muses aloud, one hand tugging thoughtfully on his beard.
"I do need a bell, actually," he murmurs, then nods in farewell, reaching down for his sack of wood and lumbering down the stall aisles towards the noisy stand. He has enough time to see Nova create a bell from nothing, its metal gleaming where it sits in her hand. Iskra draws closer, gaze tilting from her to her creation. "Does it sound the same?" he wonders of her, genuinely curious. Being in Deimos' company often enough, creation magic is something he sees routinely, but it's special enough to still snare his attention.
Love came out of the rain, talk about being saved Suddenly I wanna live, more than I ever did
The vendor looks ready to argue while Nova is getting ready to stick her tongue out at him when a voice interrupts them. She turns to take in the flannelled man, an idea for an outfit sparking in her mind. Saving it for later, she raises an eyebrow at the question, confident as she chimes, "Nope!" She leans a little closer, pretending she has a secret to share, even as her voice carries loud enough for the vendor to hear when she says, "It sounds better." Nova lifts the bell between them, dangling it by the rainbow string as she wiggles it.
A bright, crystalline sound rings out, like the sound of diamonds falling or stars streaking across the sky. It's pure and beautiful and perfect in all the ways she'd intended, pride twinkling in her chest as she leans excitedly forward, white star freckles catching the light when she smiles at him. "Do you want me to make you one?" Her eyes flash to the vendor, ready to win this fight with stubbornness alone. The smile she wears is sharply mischievous, already plotting her victory when she blinks innocently back at the man, tone singing as she says, "I won't charge you nearly as much as this guy."
I was so cold and lost, nothing seemed to ring true Then I whispered your name, that's when everything changed
The sound rings out sharp and clear, Iskra's head tilting with the pour of the bright noise. An answering howl from behind Iskra announces Goose's arrival, the dog having chased a blink hare across the hillside until his tongue lolled out. If it should have tired him, the possibility is only brief. The dog is synonymous with stamina, especially this time of the year when the snow and ice that he favors is rampant, eliciting many zoomies.
"Seems Goose agrees with you," Iskra chuckles faintly, glancing back at the hound with a fondness that can never be fully hidden, not even when he's slinging complaints towards the mutt. Her offer to make him one catches him by surprise, brows lifting with the span of it. "You'd just make some for me? I don't normally forget a face, but have we met?" It's no easy task, creation, and so it usually has its limits, he knows.
He shifts the wood haul at his side, wondering if she might want the same sort of payment that many of these vendors have come to appreciate from a woodcutter when the world gets dark and icy.
Love came out of the rain, talk about being saved Suddenly I wanna live, more than I ever did
A howl echoes the chime of her bell, and Nova's greeted by an adorable dog with a dangling tongue. She accepts the praise with beaming smile, ignoring the vendor to crouch in front of the newcomer. "Hi!" Her hand reaches out to pet them, looking up at the man as she does so. The competitive stubbornness that had been there is mixed with confused surprise at his question. "It's just a bell." It's not like making them is hard and she did say she would charge him.
The second question is met with more consideration, head tilting so that blonde curls brush against her shoulders, blue eyes squinting to take in the man. From his brown hair to his flannel shirt, she inspects every aspect of him, vaguely recalling... "Hmmm.... OH!" Nova leaps to her feet, the movement ringing the bell in her hand as she abandons the dog to bring attention to how they might know each other. "We fought that big toad together!!"
I was so cold and lost, nothing seemed to ring true Then I whispered your name, that's when everything changed
The differences between her and most crafters he knows is stark, himself included. She offers up her ability with ease, instead of the guarded protection of those who are often asked to create and rarely ever filled in return, giving and giving to those who would take and take. Maybe it's his tendency for melancholy and pessimism that's done him in, the order slips at the Gilded Market seeming to be never ending, that's at times soured an enjoyable art form into a burdensome skill.
Goose naturally enjoys her attention in full, lavishing the affection for the pets on her cheeks with said lolling tongue. The beast flops over onto his back, rolling into the wet and winter that coats the ground as Nova's attention hops up. "Oh, that's right!" Iskra realizes with a brightening of his features, puzzlement waning to some disbelief. "Didn't get much time for proper introductions that day, I'm afraid." Given that they'd been, you know, trying not to get eaten and he'd soiled the axe that embodies his mother and had to rush home to clean her. "I'm Iskra, and that's Goose," he greets, extending a hand for a shake.
"Well, what is your bell price then?" he wonders, lifting up the sack of wood a bit higher. "I've only got firewood to trade for now. I'm a woodcutter by trade, so brought a shipment down here to do some bartering."
Love came out of the rain, talk about being saved Suddenly I wanna live, more than I ever did
Nova indulges the dog's every desire, grinning wide when he flops sideways into the snow. Her hands follow, scratching and rubbing through his thick fur into all the right places that make him squirm. Only when she pops up with recognition does the petting stop, her eyes brightening to recall the fun adventure they'd shared. She giggles at their obvious lack of introductions, shaking her head. "Nope!'
Her hand snaps out to earnestly take his. "Hi Iskra! Goose! I'm Nova!" The shake is a wiggling mess that continues as she tilts her head, considering what payment he could give in exchange for the bell. "Hmm. I don't think we need wood, but you seem strong enough and we have some boxes to move at the Sunbean!" And since she thinks that's more than a fair trade, Nova readies her magic, asking pointedly in front of the vendor who's lost her business (and Iskra's), "What kind of bell do you want? Silver? Gold? White? Do you want a design?" She perks up, an idea forming as she adds, "I could put a picture of Goose on it!"
I was so cold and lost, nothing seemed to ring true Then I whispered your name, that's when everything changed
Nova is as chipper as the night is (about to be) long. It sits a smile easily onto his features, always drawn into the infectious glee of others and more than happy to see it continue if he can help it. It's why, despite wanting to finish his bartering of wood for goods, he doesn't immediately brush away her offer, even when it'll cost him something infinitely more valuable—time. "Weeelll," he considers, hand combing thoughtfully through his beard. When she says she could put Goose on the bell though, there's no further indication of any other choice being possible. "Yes!" he agrees at once, visibly leaning in with the excitement of it.
"A goose bell would be fantastic." Eyes gleam with the potential, smile beaming with enough megawatt to threaten to induce static into the space between them. "What, and where, is the Sunbean?" he wonders though, realizing he maybe should get a better handle on this price. "Does the Sunbean need wood?" he wonders, very inclined to offload his pile rather than cart it back to Halo.
Love came out of the rain, talk about being saved Suddenly I wanna live, more than I ever did
Extremely satisfied at having thoroughly snared a victim customer(?), Nova feeds off his enthusiasm, a bounce confirming the agreement before the details have been finalized. "Great!" She claps her hands, magic already sparking to life between them.
When she opens her hands again, threads of glittering magic are already taking form, her eyes intensely focused on the task even as she beams over her sister's accomplishments. "The Sunbean is my family's coffee shop down the road! It's really cute and my sister makes the best lattes!" However, lattes and coffees don't usually take wood as an ingredient and she tilts her head as a glittering white shape begins to form in her hands. "I don't think so..." Her eyes brighten, another idea coming to mind as she says, "But I heard a rumor that there's going to be a party for LongNight and we might need some for that!" They'd mentioned something about bonfires, and it couldn't hurt to take the wood just in case.
In a final moment of concentration, her tongue sticks out between her teeth, eyes darting between Goose and the objecting solidifying more with every breath. And when that final breath is released, a shimmering white bell sits perfectly in her hands, an adorable rendition of the dog etched into the surface with vibrant colors that make Nova smile. She thrusts her hands out to Iskra, pride oozing from every pore and golden strand of hair. "There! A Goose bell!"
I was so cold and lost, nothing seemed to ring true Then I whispered your name, that's when everything changed
Her hands already seem to be working the magic and the idea together, throwing it into form like a fresh ball of clay being taken to the wheel. His attention is helplessly drawn to it, a great fan of crafting in all its various forms, able to appreciate the skill needed to accomplish such feats and happy to admire them on display. So many are drawn to the finished product alone, disinterested in the steps to get there, but he enjoys it from start to finish.
"Oh, I see," he says with no lack of brightness, still lifted up by hers and swept into the current of her pride with a rising curiosity. She is vibrant in a way so few don't dare to be, and surely the shopkeeper would say the same in regards to her attitude and maybe choices of word too. "Do you sell hot chocolate too, or just coffee? I could do with something warm about now after trudging through all this snow here, so maybe I can grab a cup after moving the boxes?" Coffee could work too, but if he had his choice, it'd be the hot chocolate.
Happy to find a place to put his wood, Iskra's gaze lifts from her hands to her eyes. "That's perfect! Can't run out of wood at a party or else the whole mood burns out." It seems he's been fortunate to run into her. A custom Goose bell, a hot chocolate (possibly), and one set place to take his firewood haul so the people could benefit and he wouldn't have to cart it back on the skyship home. "I'll place it wherever's best."
All the while she works, and the full shape of it comes to light now, decidedly bell-like. It's the way she creates Goose though that draws an awed and appreciative sound from him, so that as she claims it complete, he's gingerly reaching for it and holding it up to the light with a broad grin. "Nova, this looks amazing!" He can't help but shout it a little, his eagerness rising in a rush. He brings it down for Goose to inspect, who couldn't give two flying fucks and only offers some side eye and the faintest nose twitch before resuming his rolling around. "Well I love it," he mutters to the dog, glancing back towards Nova. "Thank you, really!" He stuffs the bell into one of his jacket pockets, careful not to unduly bend it, and then reaquaints his shoulder with the bag of wood. "Okay then, shall we?"
Love came out of the rain, talk about being saved Suddenly I wanna live, more than I ever did
06-18-2026, 02:26 AM (This post was last modified: 06-20-2026, 10:53 PM by Nova.)
In all chaos there is a cosmos
Threads of colorful light play across the palms of her hands as the bell takes shape from the thoughts in her mind. She giggles at his question, as if it's a silly thought, as if they wouldn't have hot chocolate. "Of course! We sell lots of drinks! Although coffee is definitely my favorite." Her head lifts, a convincing argument in favor of the beverage. Who wouldn't want to copy her after all?
While her magic continues to work, Nova nods her head to accept his proposal. "Okay!" They can figure out the details of where to put the wood when they get there, and she'll let the others figure out what to do with it after, especially if they don't end up needing it for the party.
For now, her attention is on the bell that coalesces in a final flash of white. She releases her tongue from its hold, grinning fondly at the rendition of Goose and his lolling tongue. Although the dog doesn't appear to appreciate the flattering image, Iskra does a great job at bolstering her ego. Nova puffs her chest, relinquishing the bell happily into his possession. "I'm glad you like it!" In fact, the illustration might be some of her best work (besides glitter), and she has an extra hop to her step as she spins around. "Right! This way!" Then she skips ahead, the path as familiar as the glitter pattern on her boots or the freckles on her cheeks.
