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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!
The Grotto is alive with rainsong, streams of it trickling in rivulets through stone to drip down roots and stalactites and off the very edge of the world, or otherwise pattering into the anthill of passageways where less savoury types are known to roam. The going is slow and treacherous as a result, moss-slick and muddy, but the advantage, Jack finds, is that it's more difficult to hear anyone coming.
It's his first time back up in Stormbreak since the whole thing with the fire, and it's a long time coming for the Captain to check on the business dealings he'd made while he was last here. He'd hoped a few would bear fruit, and that certainly seems to be the case judging by the mind of the greedy criminal self-proclaimed treasure hunter trying to break into the cache hidden between a few branches.
Half concealed among roots and hanging vines and a few flowers that seem keen to bloom regardless of the dim light, the blade that appears in Jack's hand is coated with frost, conjured with ice magic and wickedly sharp. Leaving the would-be thief alive is an option, of course, but he hasn't quite decided on what will become of him yet. Right now he's too busy rummaging around in his thoughts to lean one way or the other, and the man is too busy rummaging around in a lockbox to notice.
For quest req:
2. Witness longer range teleportion (either coming or going) whose range extends outside of just one board.
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
Heavy like a landslide That's the way my heart beats now
The wind keeps trying to pull him sideways as he glides beneath Stormbreak, so Remi leaves his wings out, letting them brace against each sharp gust. He’s only down here for a handful of blooms Mateo asked for, but the Grotto is as tangled and strange as ever, roots twisting into shelves and bridges where smugglers like to hide their treasures.
He spots the flowers easily enough—soft, pale things clinging to the shaded side of a thick root—but another sound draws his attention before he can reach them. Metal. A muttered curse. Someone working a lock they have no business touching.
Landing lightly on a ridge of roots, Remi steadies himself against the wind and takes in the hunched figure prying at a lockbox. He doesn’t see anyone else, and he has no authority here, but something in him—probably Ronin’s influence—refuses to ignore it. He clears his throat, loud and deliberate. If the man startles and scurries off, all the better.
Up until the last sunrise I'll be reaching for you
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Jack is just about to ready to slip from his hiding place to teach the little lockpicker a lesson when, lo and behold, a demigod enters the fray. Remi might not know it but his mind packs a fucking punch, instantly recognisable to the Captain, and Jack freezes to let the shadows take him; a boon from the Grey Road he's increasingly grateful to have.
As it happens, the treasure hunter does startle, and he seems ready to defend his stolen wares until he turns to see the winged man on the root ridge nearby. Very much thinking better of that decision, the rudimentary tools he holds clatter to the ground and he holds up his hands in placation, clearly assuming the box is Remi's.
"M-my mistake, sir." He practically wheezes the words out on a voice that sounds like it never truly broke during adolescence. Skittering back, assuming that sticking around will get him nowhere but in more trouble, he opts to disappear back into the root network as quickly as he can. (And he's still straining for the sound of someone following, right up until he leaves Jack's telepathic range).
Sighing and stepping out at last, the Captain tosses the blade of ice to the ground where it sticks up like a shard of melting glass. "Death's favourite saved a life today," he mutters, approaching the lockbox to crouch down. "Sure there's poetry in that somewhere."
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
Heavy like a landslide That's the way my heart beats now
Remi watches the thief scramble off with a slow blink, his frown lingering even after the man disappears into the maze of roots. He gives a small shake of his head and shifts his wings against another gust, ready to get back to the blooms he came for, right up until Jack steps out of the shadows like he owns them.
Of all the people to emerge down here, the smuggler shouldn’t surprise him, yet somehow still does. Remi's gaze flicks to the ice blade lodged in the ground, one brow rising, wondering if he's meant to be intimidated by it.
"Mmm, I'm full of surprises," he mutters, voice low as he folds his wings a touch and nods toward the lockbox the thief abandoned because of his presence. Whether or not Jack was bold or stupid enough to try and make a play for it after having just witnessed Remi push someone off for precisely that was yet to be seen.
"That yours?"
Up until the last sunrise I'll be reaching for you
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Remi Taliesin, intimidated by something? Chance would be a fine thing.
Jack pointedly doesn't look at the Bastion as he runs his fingers over the box as if checking for a hidden seam, scoffing at the other man's question. "Sure as fuck is now," he mutters, before letting the key slip out of his sleeve so he can hold it up towards the demigod as if it will encourage him to stay his smiting hand. "Overdue for pickin' it up," he adds, like the context might also keep Remi's hair trigger temper in check.
Sure enough, the Captain's inspection has yielded a hidden latch which pops open to reveal a keyhole, and he falls silent to focus properly on it for a few moments. Once the key clicks in satisfaction and the box springs open, he flicks a glance over his shoulder towards Remi. "You don't seem the type to hide shit down here," he mutters.
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
Heavy like a landslide That's the way my heart beats now
The key glints, but Remi doesn’t ease. His shoulders stay tight, wings braced against another gust that tries to pull him off the root ridge. Jack bluffing would hardly be a new development, and Remi watches the Captain’s hands with the steady scrutiny of someone who has seen too many cheap tricks, especially where this man was concerned. Only when the key slips into the lock without resistance—turning cleanly, like it always belonged there—does he let out a quiet exhale. Not relief, exactly. Just the acknowledgement that this particular hassle isn’t going to turn into something worse.
"Can’t get anything by you," he says, voice low and dry, one brow lifting in a way that lands somewhere between unimpressed and resigned.
His attention shifts past Jack to the small cluster of blooms clinging to the roots just above and in front of Jack; soft, moon-pale petals Mateo had described with far too much enthusiasm for Remi to ignore. He steps forward, wings rustling as a stronger draft pushes at him, and lets his fingers sharpen into talons. The cuts are clean, practiced; he’s done this sort of harvesting a hundred times in a hundred strange places. Each blossom goes carefully into the padded little bag at his hip, packed so they won’t crush before he gets them home.
Remi nods toward the gnarled twist of roots Jack is half-standing on, a silent explanation for why he’s reached into the captain’s orbit at all. "Do you mind?" he asks, nodding at Jacks' boots and the roots he'd quite like to harvest without having to be on his knees in front of Jack fucking Barclay.
Up until the last sunrise I'll be reaching for you
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Sure as shit can't," Jack agrees, mostly under his breath, and though he's loathe to turn his back on Remi Taliesin even with telepathy, it's probably for the best to hide the obvious distaste in his expression, the way he has to bite back responses to the other man's thoughts with every breath they share down here. And so, slipping the items from the lockbox to an inside pocket of his coat, he's quick to click it shut again and slide it back among root and moss where it can't be easily found a second time.
The approach of the demigod at his back has him stiffening automatically, static crackling across the back of his neck as he straightens up. But the careful snik of too-sharp talons is for the flowers almost over his head, and it's with a huff of something more irritated than relieved that he turns enough to be faced with the other man. "Me? Never," he drawls, though the idea of Remi on his knees in front of him is a satisfying one.
Nevertheless, there's no blonde-haired buffer to stop the Bastion from quietly slitting his throat these days, and so Jack takes a few steps back with a roguish little bow that drips with insincerity. "The weeds are all yours," he tells him.
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
Heavy like a landslide That's the way my heart beats now
Remi watches the Captain the whole time, wings shifting just enough to keep the wind from dragging him sideways. And while Remi is tempted—achingly tempted—to say something sharp about how well Flora is doing now, or how little Torchline mourned Jack’s irish-exit, he swallows the impulse. The last thing he wants is to give the man any reason to drift back into Flora's life with irritation stoked fresh.
When Jack steps back with that insincere little bow, Remi lowers himself to one knee beside the roots. "Much obliged," he murmurs, letting his talons lengthen again to dig out a piece of the plant Mateo can propagate later. The soil is damp and cold against his fingers as he frees the cluster without damaging the stalk of the plant.
Without bothering to stand, Remi glances up at Jack, expression unreadable beneath the faint pull of wind across his curls. There’s no sense in offering a farewell he doesn’t mean; and no reason to offer one at all, given they hadn’t bothered with a greeting. And so, with the roots secure in his pouch, Remi simply lets the air fold around him and he vanishes into nothing.
Remi uses Magic: On my head be it | Can teleport to anyone who could kill him via his passive magic.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered | Cost: Action
Magic: Immortality: Immortal | Will not die from a lethal blow, unless it is from someone who loves him/he loves.
~FIN
Up until the last sunrise I'll be reaching for you
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
