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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!
With her outfit safe from the boggy ground that's now solidified under her feet, Nova is free to actually skip through the foliage while focusing on the odd events around the hoppity creature. The man - 'Iskra' apparently? - is trying to barbecue the thing (would it taste good?) while Colt and Kai manage to call on the spirits to blind the frog.
She's already preparing to join in on the attack before it's whipping its tongue out again, catching Colt in the leg and giving the fight a more personal feel. "Hey! That's my friend!"
Clapping her hands together, Nova steps to the side to get a better angle away from the others and slashes her hand through the air, sending a brutally sharp arc of air barreling towards its head.
Nova stays just close enough to attack (30ft) Sir Anthony HOPkins from the side and uses her air magic to slice at his head, trying to sever the tongue while making sure not to hit any friendlies.
Air manipulation (Abandoned/Hybrid): Can create and control the air. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Basic
Lucky Buckle | A well-crafted belt buckle that, when worn, grants +3 luck. Must be included in all PQ/PQ+/KQ/DROP posts to be counted.
Regional Score bonus: +17 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +17 should be included). Residents cannot be cursed at shrines in this region.
She can’t even properly admire the handiwork of the spirits they called, or exhale with relief at making it free of the muddy grasp, because the tongue has returned. Opposite of her thinking, the blind scum spawn strikes her true. The needle teeth puncture deep and foul, and as it rips away her jeans, a strangled sound of agony goes with them. The pain is immediate and lingering, and though she’s certain she doesn’t want torn skin exposed to this bog, she’s also knows without a doubt that she has to move.
Setting her teeth against each other with such force a molar might crack, Colt limps towards the base of the tree she’d been grabbing onto, setting it between her and the frog’s mouth. It's not enough though, so after a brief lean against it, she continues further on, headed a bit more towards Iskra and a new island there. Wary as she is of the bog, Nova's prior work seems to have firmed it up enough to hobble across it to another tangled trunk of a tree to shelter against. Fucking hell, why had she come here?
Breathing through her nose as the injury throbs, she sets her back to the tree and braces on her good leg, pulling her bow around to her front. She sucks in a slow, steadying breath before reaching back for a quiver-sharpened arrow. Twisting on her good leg she aims from around the side of the tree, loosing her arrow towards one of the bloody eye-pits, figuring that’s a great entry way into its brain. She leans back fully behind the tree.
Colt moves to a further island, fires an arrow sharpened in her quiver towards one of the frog’s eyes, and hides behind a tree.
The Pencil Sharpener | An earthen quiver that sharpens any arrow placed inside.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic | Cost: Action
Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc.
Colt
Just lookin' for a brand new way to get lost
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
”Alright!” Kaisel cheers as the spirits descend and consume the frog’s eyes, leaving behind what looks like squashed grapes. The smile that had fit onto his face quickly falls away as the tongue unfurls like a whip, Colt’s cry the crack of it hitting before it pulls back. ”Oh shit,” he breathes, eyes wide. ”Are you okay!?” he calls out to her, the bandages in his pack something he could give her, but he’d rather focus on the frog before rushed field first aid if they can.
”HEY UGLY!” he screams at the giant beast, hoping to draw some of the attention away from the rancher as he pops out from behind his tree. ”This was meant for Rupert, but you’ll do,” he grunts as he throws the Leviathan Chakram from his hand like a wicked frisbee towards the frog’s face, aiming similar as Nova. He runs then, leaping to another island, closer to the frog, still eying back towards Colt while his hands wait for the return of the weapon.
Kaisel throws his Leviathan Chakram at the frog and jumps to another island.
Leviathan Chakram | An unbreakable chakram created from the scale of a leviathan by the Voice. With razor-sharp edges, this discus will always return to the hand of whoever throws it, and will always do so without injuring the hands of the thrower.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Upgraded | Cost: Action
Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc.
Wanted me to fail out of spite, I didn't All bark but they don't bite, they timid
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Wearing a watery blue, faded and stretched-out sparkling hair tie on his left wrist
First of all, Sir Anthony HOPkins is a toad and not a frog - Kaisel you literally listed the differences - so thank you to all who got it correct. (Special thanks to Nova for using his given name). None of this, of course, means he has any less of a bad time. As it happens, having 0/2 eyes when you're trying to complete basic functions, i.e. eating strangers and telling people to git outta ma swamp, makes things quite difficult.
Iskra sizzles the toad's hide further, causing it to flinch deeper into the half frozen muck and intensifying the putrid stench in the air. Nova is similarly successful, though the creature's mouth is wisely closed at present, and so it's rather impossible to get at its tongue. Nevertheless, the slicing air magic lashes across its warty head and face.
Colt bites off a bit more than she can chew, alas - aiming specifically for its gaping eye sockets is a small part of a big target, and her arrow goes wide. Luckily, Kaisel is right there to follow it up with a wheeling slice from his chakram.
Sir Anthony's tongue lances out again, seemingly at random, and though it whips towards Kaisel, it misses. By a sliver.
Having had quite enough of this assault, he begins to try and burrow himself into the mud.
Remember to include a summary at the bottom of your post with all action taken. If weapons/upgrades/abilities/items/shifts/etc are used, please include their desc. from your profile at the bottom of your post as well.
REMEMBER: KQs are rewarding but dangerous. They may cause death and/or permanent changes to your characters.
He’d never expected success to be so foul. His nose wrinkles again at the putrid odor that rises, and any prior thoughts about snacking on frog toad legs when this is all done have long since left him. He does have his eyes set on said legs though, as the beast has begun to use them to try and skrungle back into the swamp.
”Stop it from burrowing!” Iskra calls out to them, though mostly to Nova who’s ground-hardening could be their only good solution here. Since his fire seems to be making it shrink back, Iskra reaches behind his back for Ampere. He’d run over and begin hacking at the leg if he wasn’t worried about getting hardened into the mud too, so instea dhe opts to fling his mother greataxe at the left hind leg of the frog, hoping a lightning-strike laceration would hinder its digging.
Iskra throws Ampere at the toda’s left hind leg to keep it from digging.
Ampere | A greataxe decorated with engravings depicting feathers and lightning bolts. Produces lightning where its blade strikes.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic | Cost: Action
Regional Score bonus: +13 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc.
Swinging my axe, instead of sleeping Swinging my axe, my splinters are bleeding Swinging my axe, these cuts are too deep and I feel like I’m freezing
Her air slices across the toad's head, and Nova lets out a little "Whoop!" of victory, throwing her hand up. The movement sends her frog dress flaring and her eyes glittering, but the battle isnt over yet, and its suddenly going after Kai. Now, after everything that's happened with her sister, Nova's not opposed to the Dragoon getting eaten (she can already imagine putting on her sympathy face for Caly), but the toad seems incapable of succeeding, so she'll just have to finish it off.
Iskra's voice calls, and Nova's already hopping to it. Similar to earlier, she gives a few twists of her hands, directing the water and dirt beneath into something hard. But this time, she adds a little fun, skewering the elements up into the bottom of the warty creature to stab through its underbelly.
Nova freezes the ground and tries to make it stab up into Sir Anthony HOPkins using a combination of water and earth magic!
Water manipulation (Abandoned/Hybrid): Can create and control water. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
Earth Manipulation (Abandoned/Hybrid): Can manipulate the earth. Must be within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent.
Type: Grey | Rank: Upgraded
Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Basic
Lucky Buckle | A well-crafted belt buckle that, when worn, grants +3 luck. Must be included in all PQ/PQ+/KQ/DROP posts to be counted.
Regional Score bonus: +17 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +17 should be included). Residents cannot be cursed at shrines in this region.
She doesn’t want to call back to Kaisel and give away her new position. She isn’t sure how well FROG FUCKERs can hear, but she bets Kaisel knows, and with all his intentional shouting it seems like making more noise than necessary would earn her another bite. Instead she lifts a hand to his glance and gives him a thumbs up. It hurts, like a bitch, but she’d make do for now. They all needed to focus on unaliving it.
Her breath catches in her throat as the tongue sweeps out again, and she isn’t certain how it didn’t completely wrap around Kaisel and yank him into its gluttonous mouth. Iskra’s cry comes not long after watching the warty testicle try and squat deeper into the mud, glancing around the edge of her tree.
Lasso it and keep it from running away you said?
Maybe the eye had been too small and her shakes too big before, but this time, when she reaches for an arrow and fires it from her bow, she aims for one of its legs. Payback, bitch.
Colt fires an arrow sharpened in her quiver towards one of the frog’s legs.
The Pencil Sharpener | An earthen quiver that sharpens any arrow placed inside.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic | Cost: Action
Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc.
Colt
Just lookin' for a brand new way to get lost
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
Probably not moving, while he waited for his chakram to return and watch Colt flash him a thumbs up, is the only thing that saved him. He feels the brush of wind as the tongue zips past. He puckers so intently his balls have all but vanished inside him. ”Fuck, that was close!” he exhales as soon as he’s clear of the appendage, then he makes a break for it, running again and jumping for another island.
He flings his chakram as he goes, targeting the legs like the others, because other than this he doesn’t have many other options on him. He could maybe get up close, climb onto the toad (OBVIOUSLY IT’S A TOAD, YOU CAN TELL BECAUSE—), grab onto one of its warts and ride it into the murk, punching it the whole time. He could do that. However, Koa’s voice seems to rise somewhere in his thoughts, like a future lecture he can already hear coming.
Instead he decides to keep moving, and keep taking slices where he can.
Kaisel throws his Leviathan Chakram at the toad’s legs and keeps moving.
Leviathan Chakram | An unbreakable chakram created from the scale of a leviathan by the Voice. With razor-sharp edges, this discus will always return to the hand of whoever throws it, and will always do so without injuring the hands of the thrower.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Upgraded | Cost: Action
Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc.
Wanted me to fail out of spite, I didn't All bark but they don't bite, they timid
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Wearing a watery blue, faded and stretched-out sparkling hair tie on his left wrist
Not even escape appears to satisfy the group that has come to savagely ruin its fun; axes, spears of ice, arrows and chakrams (oh my!) all combine to prevent Sir Anthony HOPkins from making his muddy getaway. Iskra's axe goes wide, alas, and lands in a particularly wet patch of swamp where it begins to slowly sink into the ooze.
His companions are there to back him up, though - Nova, Colt and Kaisel are all successful in their attempts, and the creature writhes and flinches in the muck, trying to angle itself away from an environment that is suddenly trying to stab at it. So, you know. Logically, it does what toads do best.
It jumps.
There's no aim involved, and its trajectory is entirely random, but via luck or fate, Nova ends up being right in its desired landing patch. The toad, while causing no damage to the rather hardy hybrid, nevertheless lands right atop her with a wet squelch and enough weight to drive the breath from her lungs.
Iskra's Ampere has landed in the mud and is sinking into the bog! He better fetch it if he doesn't want to lose it.
Nova has taken no damage, but Sir Anthony HOPkins has landed on her.
Remember to include a summary at the bottom of your post with all action taken. If weapons/upgrades/abilities/items/shifts/etc are used, please include their desc. from your profile at the bottom of your post as well.
REMEMBER: KQs are rewarding but dangerous. They may cause death and/or permanent changes to your characters.
Muttering under his breath about women and gods and axes, Iskra runs after the wide swing of Ampere before he loses sight of where she settled in the mud. He keeps a wary eye on the giant toad as he goes, but honestly he’s way more worried about losing his axe than the monster, sensibility about his own life a bit out the window when his mother is sinking into the swamp of sadness like Artax. Maybe he’s not nearly over his grief as much as he thought, just transferred the idea of his mom into this axe, and fuck if he could keep her from dying this time, he would.
If he had the ability to create any of his elements he could wink one over to Sir HOPkins, but alas all his magic starters are in his pockets and need his hands, and those are currently fishing around in mire as he tries to yank Ampere free of it.
Iskra is useless and runs to pull Ampere from the mud.
Regional Score bonus: +13 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc.
Swinging my axe, instead of sleeping Swinging my axe, my splinters are bleeding Swinging my axe, these cuts are too deep and I feel like I’m freezing
Very pleased with how things are going, Nova hums and skips through the bog. Her ice lances up just as all the others manage to land hits upon the hoppy creature, and she thinks maybe they've just about succeeded in their task. After all, how much damage can a blind toad do? Right? Wrong.
If Nova thought mud on her clothes was gross, she's absolutely appalled to have an entire TOAD on her.
She lets out a small shriek as it blindly leaps towards her, but she's not quick enough to avoid the smothering, slimy, warty, nastiness that is the toad's underbelly. Nova's just able to move her head enough to the side not to suffocate, and so everyone can hear her, "EW EW EW EW EEEEWWWWW!!!!!!" Like she might flick a speck of dirt from her clothes, her magic shoves against the disgusting beast. Not bothering to soften the blow, the air coils and attempts to launch the toad like a catapult into the stratosphere and off her.
Nova uses her air magic to launch Sir Anthony HOPkins off of her and into the unknown surrounding trees.
Air manipulation (Abandoned/Hybrid): Can create and control the air. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Basic
Lucky Buckle | A well-crafted belt buckle that, when worn, grants +3 luck. Must be included in all PQ/PQ+/KQ/DROP posts to be counted.
Regional Score bonus: +17 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +17 should be included). Residents cannot be cursed at shrines in this region.
There’s no enjoyment in her success when the beast still lives. Worse still, when it moves and endangers others. They kept it from burrowing, but didn’t seem to incapacitate the legs nearly enough to keep it from leaping up and over the icy spikes Nova created, landing clear atop her. Colt gasps at the sight, certain she’s just witnessed the girl’s demise.
Ah, no, she should have known better. The Marins have continually proven to be tough as nails.
Still, Nova is in a predicament. ”NOVA!?” Colt yells over to her, but the resounding screams of disgust that come back reassure Colt that she can breathe, and the wind that stirs around her indicates she can and will continue to fight. Instead of offering to help her, Colt realizes perhaps the best thing she can do is just keep murderizing the frog. Should Nova fail to unstick herself now, might be easier to get her free from the dead body than the dangerously live one, and given how much battering the frog has taken, it seems that should come sooner than later. Under my dead body will it be then?
Reaching back into her quiver for another sharpened arrow, Colt nocks it and aims for the frog's face. She looses it with a steadying exhale, hoping anywhere it lands on the monstrous, walking wart, it will be enough to deter it from living any longer.
Colt fires an arrow sharpened in her quiver towards the frog's face.
The Pencil Sharpener | An earthen quiver that sharpens any arrow placed inside.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic | Cost: Action
Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc.
Colt
Just lookin' for a brand new way to get lost
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
Sir HOPkins jumps well enough though to pancake on Nova, to which Kaisel’s eyes nearly widen out of his head. ”OH MY GOD, ARE YOU OKAY!?” Ah shit, Caly would definitely never talk to him again if he let her sister get steamrolled by a giant toad, and Vesper would probably just kill him on the spot.
So Kaisel’s path changes up to head towards her, trying to stay clear of the murk as he runs over. Nova i fine enough to sputter out a response, and kick up her magic, which is a relief. Leviathan Chakram in hand, Kaisel keeps a hold of it and slashes it up towards the toad’s body near where it’s trapped Nova, hoping to make it squirm away enough from the assault that she can wriggle free.
Kaisel runs towards Nova and slashes at the toad with his Leviathan Chakram near where it’s trapped her to get it to lift up enough that Nova can get free.
Leviathan Chakram | An unbreakable chakram created from the scale of a leviathan by the Voice. With razor-sharp edges, this discus will always return to the hand of whoever throws it, and will always do so without injuring the hands of the thrower.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Upgraded | Cost: Action
Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc.
Wanted me to fail out of spite, I didn't All bark but they don't bite, they timid
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Wearing a watery blue, faded and stretched-out sparkling hair tie on his left wrist
Iskra goes to play in the mud, leaving the other three unexpected heroes of the day to contend with Sir Anthony HOPkins and his very unusual perch - not that he's aware of what he's done or who he's trying to crush, given that he's been mercilessly blinded. Colt nocks an arrow and Kaisel rushes in, prepared with his chakram, but ultimately, all that's needed is Nova's complete disgust to dislodge the toad from sitting squat atop her.
Air magic rushes directly beneath the slimy creature, slamming into the already considerably weakened, pierced, burnt and lacerated body. And so whilst the intention might have been to yeet Sir Anthony off into the sky a la Team Rocket, he only gets perhaps a few feet before the hybrid's magic completely obliterates him.
He expires, yes.
And he pops.
An explosive shower of putrid, acidic slime hits the group at high speed, stinging and burning and sizzling at clothes (not that you'll want them any more, what with the smell). Not only that, though - plip plopping down onto the swampy ground, in the aftermath, you'll see what look to be tiny... little... toadlets.
Wee Sir Anthonies, each small enough to fit into your palm (for now), each armed with a tongue tipped with itty bitty teeth, all disappear into the swampy undergrowth.
Circle of life, or something.
Congratulations on completing the KQ! All participants may use this KQ for levelling/MP purposes.
