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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!
Hey so, you know what seems absolutely ominous? A giant crater in the seafloor that 100% looked like it was full of things just waiting to slither out and gobble you up.
As soon as she and the Honeybee had left the Gardens, Flora immediately began to frown. i—h-a-t-e—i-t—h-e-r-e She mouthed as theatrically as she could towards Melita, before trying to give the Basin a wide berth. Pulling out one of her daggers, the queen eyed the darken depths to their left warily, hoping that Melita was of the same opinion as she was that they should hustle right the fuck on through.
Honestly, the whole fucking place looked like a certain area Remi would love.
Ominous, biiiiiig ass crater, probably full of sharks, ghost whales, and some other shit. Melita wrinkled her nose and nodded at Flora’s pantomimed statement. It was too bad neither of them knew sign language. Instead, the Honeybee threw up her middle finger and displayed it towards the gargantuan hole.
However, the bioluminescent stuff was neat. Pointing towards a section of lights, she glided over, intending to inspect without touching (look, she’s learned, okay), but with one of her own knives pulled, in case she needed to make a quick stabbing.
Pay a little more attention to the healing power of incandescent rage
With a grin, Flora triumphantly raised the middle fingers on both hands in swift agreement. Obviously she knew that there were places above ground that were nothing to write home about, but a big scary crater in the sea? Maybe it was where the Mer threw any air-breathers who they wanted to get rid of. She might like them more, if that were the case.
Following Mel's gaze, Flora kicked her flippers in order to drift closer. No doubt her brother would have some interesting fact to say about it or Everest would have some clever use for it, but as far as Flora was concerned, the most she could muster was a thumbs up to Mel.
Suddenly the queen's mouth dropped open, and with the hand not holding one of her daggers, she gestured wildly for Mel before pointing off into the distance. What looked like a bird that had woken up and decided to be a fish, was swimming (flying?) toward the ridge of the Basin, its scales glistening in the light cast by the bioluminescent plants.
Aqueix (uncommon) - The Aqueix appears as a large turquoise bird with scales instead of feathers, and wings that act like fins. The body of the Aqueix is in constant flux between physical form and a liquid state. The Aqueix prefers to reside in rich coral beds or thick kelp forests. Wherever it chooses to create a home, the area is enriched and flourishes with flora and fauna that act as a defensive barrier for the Aqueix.
Ordinarily she’d probably hover the pretty lights like a moth to a flame, but Flora’s wild movements distracted her. Glancing up, and then over to where the queen pointed, she saw another bizarre combination of animal prowess; some kind of underwater bird. Sure, why wouldn’t there be one here?
Eyes widening, and a bit delighted at the image, she angled her hand towards Flora and took two fingers to make a walking motion, and then gestured back to the Aqueix – in case they wanted to follow it? Sure; an impulsive choice, and it was reaaaal close to the edge, but it was very pretty and neat and cool.
Pay a little more attention to the healing power of incandescent rage
Nodding eagerly—it was actually kind of beautiful to see—Flora kicked her flippers gently in an effort to bring her nearer to the bird-fish without scaring it away.
Now, I'm not sure if you recall all those things Flora and Melita thought might previously be hiding away inside of the Basin? No, no, not things like Remi, but things like ghost whales and sharks? Well...
The blackness of the depths suddenly seems to take on a bit of texture, not unlike a haze in the air or a ripple far out in the water. Quickly that patch of texture begins to sway rhythmically, like a pendulum, or...or a tail.
A shark, easily one of the largest Flora had ever seen, propelled itself up from the depths of the Basin, aiming directly for the turquoise bird. Now, the queen was certainly no David Attenborough, but she was fairly certain she knew what was about to go down and wanted absolutely no part of it. Trying to reach for Melita's hand, Flora used the other to make a finger-gun (she didn't know about potentially electricity), before hiking her thumb over her shoulder in a gesture of gtfo.
They took on a childlike, blasé quest to the world, which was all fine and dandy, until it wasn’t.
Melita’s eyes widened into saucers the moment that damned shark made its appearance, and every angle of survival etched and scorched its way through her bones. In an ordinary circumstance, there was no doubt in her mind that she’d yield to arrows or magic, hone in every portion of her frame to perhaps save the little birdfish and themselves. But this was a Honeybee a season away from death, and she didn’t particularly like the thought of another venture there just yet.
Do you need that trauma, Flora? No, probably not.
She didn’t need to be told twice, snagging at the Queen’s hand and hastening with the other. She’d always been a quick, rapid swimmer, and she streamlined her kicks to get them the fuck away and fast.
Pay a little more attention to the healing power of incandescent rage
Nope, no she certainly didn't need it, but thanks for thinking of her, Mel.
Kicking her flippers as hard as she fucking could—and it was probably a blessing that they were under the water so there was no need to bite back on a scream—the pair got the fuck right on out of there as the shark snapped its teeth around the bird-fish with a sound which would have been satisfying had they been out of the water. All Mel and Flora would be treated to was a dull thud.
Apparently using this tactic quite frequently, the shark swam lazily back down into the depths without even noticing the two little appetizers swimming away from it in the direction of the reef. Not that Flora was looking behind her—she was certainly swimming as if they were being followed—but she was fairly confident that 1. they could lose in the shark in the reef and 2. that they could slip up through the Fingers that way.
