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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!
"It's not that I've been avoiding coming down here." Ronin's voice echoes strangely off of walls that feel like they're creeping closer, inch by inch, the longer they remain in the Crush. "Only that... it's exactly what I've been doing." Offering a sheepish smile over his shoulder at Remi, the Knight has had to dismiss his partially shifted wings the moment they slipped through from the Descent into the tunnels.
The air feels humid enough to chew, Ronin skirting around a large and ominous drop in the ground that disappears into little more than endless black, raising his eyebrows back at his husband as if asking if he's also seeing this. Having been thinking particularly lovey-dovey thoughts until now to act as their torch, the radiant light around him starts to dim as he focuses more on where they are and, more importantly, the things that had happened here.
"Since the place is still so close to Torchline's shores, though, it feels like we should at least have an idea of what's down here, right?" The glance he flicks to Remi almost begs for reassurance - or better yet, for the other man to tell him that this is a silly idea and they can just go home and get dinner and drinks.
Remi’s smirk curves slowly, the kind that pulls at one corner of his mouth before it gathers into something soft and fond, sea-glass eyes narrowing with the sort of knowing that doesn’t rely on the attuned bond between them. He nods anyway, lips pursed as if he’s swallowing a better joke for later. "It is exactly what you have been doing," he agrees, the words emerging on a sigh that holds no judgement at all. "And honestly? I do not blame you. For how often we used to have to think about this place..." His gaze travels up the low tunnel, tracing the looping, burrowed shapes as if some monstrous thing had exhaled them into being. "It has been nice not to think about it for a while."
The wall at his left glistens faintly under Ronin’s softening glow, and Remi reaches to brush his fingertips along it. The stone is damp, pliant in a way that makes his skin crawl, and he withdraws immediately, wrinkling his nose with a boyish grimace.
The moment Ronin’s radiant light falters, Remi turns instinctively toward him. The Crush may be many things—unsettling, vast, full of old ghosts they’d rather not retrace—but it will never be dark so long as Ronin stands beside him. And yet, now that the glow flickers, Remi reaches out without a second thought, weaving his fingers through his husband’s as if anchoring the light itself. "You know," he murmurs, squeezing Ronin’s hand with a warmth that pushes back against the oppressive damp. "This is just like the old days. When the barrier came down and suddenly the world had more corners than we knew what to do with." His smile deepens, both nostalgic and mischievous. "New places to explore. Strange things waiting in the dark. You and me, getting lost in it anyway."
I'll stay here with you Until this dream is gone
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Gods, hasn't it just," Ronin agrees on the heels of a sigh as he manages to tiptoe around to the other side of the not-at-all-horrifying hole in the ground. "Back when we used to have to think about it a lot, I always felt so frustrated that we couldn't contribute." It isn't an admission so much as an acknowledgement that they're very late to the Starfall party. "Even so... I didn't expect it to still feel so heavy down here." Not with the Family gone and the void eradicated.
Remi's fingers brushing against his own are all it takes for Ronin's radiance to kick back up a notch, the Knight glancing over his shoulder with a gentle smile for his husband, gratitude and love thrumming through all the places they touch. "Oh?" He chuckles, tugging the Bastion close enough to plant a kiss on his cheek before they embark once again through the tunnels, hand in hand. "If you're saying you want another weird, alien family to crashland on Caido so you've got more places to explore, my answer is no," he tells him, grinning.
Remi’s nod is slow, thoughtful, the kind that lets Ronin know he hears the weight beneath the words without dragging either of them back into the trenches of what they did or didn’t get to do. "Mm," he murmurs, the corner of his mouth lifting. "And yet it was you pricking Dahlia that brought an end to the whole miserable thing." There’s pride threaded through the statement, quiet but undeniable, as if he’s fitting that truth into Ronin’s pocket for safekeeping lest he forget.
Ronin’s tug pulls him further along the tunnel, feet splashing through shallow patches of condensation where the stone dips. The kiss catches him off-guard in the best way, heat blooming across his cheeks in a faint, boyish flush he pointedly does not address. His fingers tighten briefly around Ronin’s in a silent you’re impossible, never stop, and then he snorts a soft laugh that echoes strangely in the narrowing passage.
"Nothing like that," Remi counters, giving Ronin a half-hearted glare that dissolves into a grin. "Nor do I want to end up in some other world. Once was enough." His shrug is easy, curls brushing his forehead as he glances ahead into the lavender glow of the void-fungi-lit tunnels. "But for as dark and depressing as Starfall is..." He tilts his head toward Ronin, expression open and fond. "It is nice to explore somewhere new with you." His thumb strokes once across the back of Ronin’s hand, steady and warm. "Even if it does feel like we are walking through something's throat right now."
I'll stay here with you Until this dream is gone
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Ah, come now. It could have easily been any one of us," Ronin says, naturally sheepish about taking credit for the whole of anything when it comes to the Family and the rest of that sorry affair. "And besides, without you and Sunjata I'd never have come close enough to try it." He can smile - quietly, resolutely - about the memory of that fight now, absently squeezing Remi's hand as they continue through the tunnels, full of stale air and voidlight as they might be.
The sound of the Bastion's laughter has Ronin lifting their clasped hands so he can press a sweetly affectionate kiss to Remi's fingers, as if to silently tell him how much he relishes the sound even now. (And especially in a place like this). "No? You'd not want to come with me to explore another dozen new worlds? Boring, fine. I'll ask someone else to go on wild Caido-adjacent adventures with me."
And just in case it isn't clear that he's joking, Remi, Ronin tugs his husband closer for another kiss, this one landing directly against his lips. "It's nice to make out with you in all these new places too," he adds, before drawing back enough to glance around at the throat they're apparently walking through. "Should have called it the Gullet instead of the Crush, huh?"
Remi’s eye roll is slow and theatrical. "Oh sure, anyone could have asked Safrin if such a thing were possible," he drawls, voice thick with sarcasm. "Anyone could have just happened to be carrying a rose, and anyone could have had the strength to use it against Dahlia." He gives Ronin a pointed look, sea-glass eyes catching the void-purple glow.
Ronin’s lips brushing the back of his hand draws a flutter of warmth through Remi’s pulse, soft as bird wings and just as impossible to hide. It colours every point of contact between them, subtle but unmistakably affectionate. When Ronin threatens to find someone else for his multiverse escapades, though, Remi snorts and shrugs, the gesture loose and amused. "Best of luck," he says, the grin tugging at his mouth impossible to suppress. "Though I think you will be hard-pressed to find anyone willing to deal with the smell of your feet after a day of walking." He tips his head thoughtfully. "Or someone strong enough to carry around all the sandwiches you insist on keeping with you., but by all means feel free to try."
But mention of making out lights something wicked and boyish behind Remi’s smile, and he moves easily when Ronin tugs him in. He steps into the Knight’s space, chest to chest, tilting his head so their lips hover close without touching again, breath shared and warm in the cool, stale air of the Crush. "That," he murmurs, voice low, "would have been a more apt name for it," Remi agrees, before pressing his lips against Ronin's once more.
I'll stay here with you Until this dream is gone
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Hey you," Ronin says, voice threaded with affection and eyes dancing with mischief, "shut the fuck up." Unable not to laugh, whilst his husband is technically correct (and he even thinks it quietly, in case the other man's ego gets too big), Ronin is still unwilling to give himself too much credit in the fight against the void, especially given that they very much came in clutch at the end, it feels.
Luckily he's soon distracted by defending the smell of his own feet and his sandwich collection, the Knight looking theatrically affronted and pressing his free hand to his chest. "Those sandwiches have saved our lives on more than one occasion," he announces, voice almost echoing off the slick walls, and he turns to further argue his case when, quite suddenly, there's nothing but Remi in his line of sight.
Quite how the other man still manages to make his stomach do somersaults with his proximity is something likely only the gods know, but it's only the kiss that saves Ronin from blurting out something thoroughly uncharming and tongue-tied. Instead, after treating himself to another dose of Remi's lips, the Knight draws back enough to offer him a sheepish grin. "Remi," he complains through a whisper, "not in front of the weird throat tunnel."
Remi’s chuckle is low and smug, the sound rippling through the bond with the same quiet pleasure he feels blooming under his ribs. Ronin’s fluster, his heat, the way his mischief tangles with affection, it all thrums through Remi like a plucked string, and he basks in it openly.
At the mention of sandwiches, Remi nods with grave, sage-like solemnity that is absolutely ruined by the sparkle in his eyes. "Mm-hmm. Exactly. Proof of my point," he says, shrugging with exaggerated ease. "That is why I do not think you'l find anyone else better suited to adventuring with you." Which was to say, that Ronin was stuck with him.
His hand at Ronin’s waist settles warmly, fingers splaying over familiar lines as he draws the Knight in. The kiss he gives isn’t soft so much as suggestive—tongue, lips, breath all implying things that have no place in a damp, void-lit maze—and if Ronin hadn’t pulled away, Remi absolutely would not have stopped. The Knight' swhisper only makes Remi's grin grow sharper and more mischievous. "Oh?" He leans in again, lips brushing Ronin’s without quite closing the distance. "I have never known you to be shy before."
Then his gaze drifts pointedly around them—at the slick, pulsing walls, the narrowing tunnel, the strange lavender light—and he lowers his voice to a horrified whisper. "Or are you worried it will want to join in?"
I'll stay here with you Until this dream is gone
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ronin is dying to point out that Remi is only the one who carries the sandwiches and not the one who makes them, but alas, the man pressed flush against him is very good at both bribery and distraction; combined, it's a recipe that keeps Ronin very happily wrapped around Remi's little finger. "It isn't that I'm shy--" he begins, playfully outraged but far too invested in the heat of their bodies that chases away the chill in the air to do anything about it.
But then Remi mentions the Gullet potentially wanting to join in, and his nose wrinkles in horror. "I wasn't, but I am now," he groans, an arm slipping around Remi's shoulders to clasp him closer, like he might protect them both from any weird, groping parts of the tunnel system. "Nothing like a mental image like that to throw ice water on the libido," he complains, though he still sneaks a kiss to the corner of Remi's mouth (and his cheek, and his temple).
"Do you think Starfall just gets more gross as we keep going? If it does, should we just call it quits here?"
Remi’s laughter breaks out against Ronin’s throat, helpless and warm, the kind that curls his body in just a little closer as if amusement alone might keep the weirdness at bay. "Mmmmm," he manages, voice muffled briefly against the Knight’s skin. If anyone were going to have the sort of luck where an alien tunnel tries to interrupt a makeout session, it would absolutely be the two of them.
At Ronin’s horrified wrinkle of a nose, Remi only grins wider. "Oh?" He arches a brow, letting mischief tug at the corners of his mouth. "I was into the idea." A blatant lie—few things could be more horrifying—but Remi has never been very good at not arguig with his husband.
The fluttering trail of kisses Ronin sneaks across his cheek and temple makes coherent thought a challenge, but Remi does his best to summon something like memory. "I am fairly sure Koa mentioned some sort of watery place farther below," he says, though the words come slow, softened by affection and distraction. "I do not remember if anyone ever actually made it that far, though."
He tilts his head back enough to meet Ronin’s eye, sea-glass bright in the dim lavender glow. One brow lifts, the expression a perfect blend of curiosity and teasing challenge. "Sooo," he murmurs, thumb brushing in a warm arc across Ronin’s spine, "do you want to push forward? Or have you had enough esophagus exploration for one day?"
I'll stay here with you Until this dream is gone
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Yeah I bet you were," Ronin mutters at Remi's deceitful insistence that he'd enjoy the Crush crushing on them mid-makeout. Still, for as horrific a thought as it had been, evidently it isn't enough to stop the two men from orbiting one another like a planet around a star, and Ronin's back arcs automatically into the soft brush of Remi's fingers. "A watery place though, you say?"
Raising his eyebrows and tugging the Bastion closer still, as if worried the tunnels might reach out and grab him if they stray too close to the glistening sides, he gazes down into where his radiance can't reach, a space swallowed up by the dark. "Koa isn't the type to make things seem more awful than they are," he decides. Not when speaking to Remi, anyway. "So maybe it's just a place filled with water."
Ronin huffs out a long sigh that's almost a groan at the end, nosing into the Bastion's curls and inhaling a deep breath of him, like proximity alone will persuade him to keep exploring. "I suppose if we do keep going, we'll have more to report back to Flora," he says slowly.
Remi waggles his eyebrows with exaggerated suggestiveness, the expression so shamelessly over-the-top that it borders on parody, though the way he nods afterward makes it clear he’d double down on the joke if given half a chance.
He follows Ronin’s gaze into the tunnel’s throat-like stretch of darkness, where even the Knight’s radiance gives up and voidlight can’t be bothered to glimmer. After a moment he exhales through his nose, shaking his head lightly. "If the void creatures truly have all died," he murmurs, "then surely it is just a watery place." There’s an optimism there he doesn’t quite trust, but he offers it anyway, knowing that even if something awful lurked below, they could handle it.
Stepping closer—closer still—Remi presses into Ronin with the kind of easy familiarity that once allowed him to inhabit the other man’s body entirely. Now he simply invades his space with purpose, arms slipping around Ronin like he’s anchoring them both in something warm and known amid all the damp and unknown. His eyebrow lifts again, this time with a different shade of suggestion, lower and more coaxing. "We did promise Flora we would patrol more," he reminds him, voice low and velvety in that way he only uses when he’s half teasing, half persuading. "And while Starfall is not under Torchline’s jurisdiction..." His fingers drift slow and steady along Ronin’s back. "I am sure she would appreciate the effort nonetheless." He tilts his head, barely brushing his lips against Ronin’s lower one before pulling back with a grin.
I'll stay here with you Until this dream is gone
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"You say that, but with the same sort of logic this is just a cave system, and it absolutely feels more like the stuff of nightmares," Ronin points out, his pout audible and his arms twining around his husband in return. Absently and affectionately twisting one of Remi's curls around a finger, he already knows they're headed deep into the darkness within just a few more moments, and so he's taking full advantage of, y'know, not, even if it's going to be short-lived.
Sighing deeply and finally gazing down at the other man, Ronin is just in time to receive his half-kiss, the gesture bringing a smile to his lips that he doesn't bother to stifle. "Right, right," he drawls. "And I suppose if we do this now, we don't have to do it again. Alright - let's head to this watery place." They can even make a good show of patrolling the Crush, too, and given that the Knight doesn't actually know how to get where they're going, they can leave little markers along the way to help out future travellers.
Let it never be said that the Taliesins aren't considerate, if not very easily distracted.
