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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!
Erebos had been buzzing in anticipation the whole journey over from Halo to Torchline, on the promise of prospective friends. Even as he’d stayed on his father’s back, clutching thunderbird feathers, his energy had been a frenetic, unwinding thing with a chasing grin, hopeful to make new acquaintances. Halo wasn’t always buzzing with a massive means of kids, especially his age, and Idalia was still an infant and therefore not very fun. Orsino had been less impressed with the jaunt over, but he’d ensured the frost fox was in good hands too, so when they landed on sandy soil and into coastal exchanges, his eyes had been wide open with wonder.
So he and ran along the dunes, feet so versed for the snow more than a little confused by the sand, configuring his steps into something more obliging for the speed he wanted, his companion screeching behind him in icy pinnacles. His father wasn’t far behind, a careful and pragmatic eye, but his intentions had been placed upon the identical twin (!) lads nearby. “Hi!” he waved, all enthusiasm and glee, before tripping, nearly falling, then pushing himself back up. Not to be daunted, he gave a toothy grin. “I’m Erebos!”
Calan’s head popped up from behind the dune at the sound of someone coming, his sandy fingers still curled around the little driftwood stick he and Carlo had been using to score a very serious-looking circle around the hermit crab. The creature had already ignored three carefully arranged walls and a shallow trench, which Calan thought reflected poorly on its appreciation for engineering, but the new arrival was much more immediately interesting.
He straightened, brushing his palms over his shorts before his eyes found the boy with the excellent name and then travelled, naturally, to the man some distance behind him. Deimos was enormous. Properly enormous. Taller than either of his dads by enough that Calan had to tip his head back to take in the whole of him, and he briefly wondered whether that made hiding things in the top cupboards impossible for Erebos. Still, being huge didn’t mean anyone had to make a fuss about it. Calan lifted an arm in a broad, official sort of wave. "Not to worry, we’ve got it from here!" he called, with all the confidence of someone who had successfully sent both of his own parents away using nearly those exact words on several occasions. Then, turning back to Erebos with a grin, he jabbed the stick toward the sand at his feet. "Hi. I’m Calan. That’s Carlo."
The crab chose that moment to scuttle directly through one of the carefully drawn barriers and disappear beneath the edge of a dune. Calan watched it go with narrowed eyes, then looked back at Erebos as though the escape had been a planned demonstration. "We were catching that, but it’s probably fine. It knows where we are now." Squinting at the white spikes of Erebos’s companion in the sand behind him, he added, "did you bring a tiny ice monster from Halo?"
Not a second later, an identical dark head with an identical grin pops up beside Calan, still cupping a handful of sand between his fingers that he'd intended to use in some mischief against the (currently escaping) hermit crab. A new kid is much more interesting than their attempt at prison-making, though, and so he dumps the sand and brushes his hands together to get rid of the residue, while his gaze flicks from Erebos to his truly gigantic father.
His eyes widen a fraction, but Calan's official dismissal of the enormous parent prevents him from saying anything too outlandish. "Hi. I'm Carlo. That's Calan," he echoes instead, nearly at the same time as his twin's introduction, which might make it a bit difficult for Erebos to really hear who was who. Which is exactly how he likes it, but that's also not something their fellow kid would know.
And in case Deimos is worried by being shooed by a pair of nine-year-olds, a small, draconic figure can be seen wheeling overhead close by behind them; Ronin and Remi might not always be present in person, but rest assured their companions are more than appropriate spies. Carlo has long forgotten Sugar's presence in lieu of hermit crab business and, now, tiny Halo ice monsters, and he steps up on the dune a bit more as if to see better. "Does it shoot ice or breathe frost? I heard a lot of things in Halo do that."
know the rules well, so you can break them effectively
Eyes wide with equal enthusiasm and bewilderment, his eyes went back and forth from Calan to Carlo, then again, trying to commit his memory to their otherwise identical existences. His dad's loud snort from beyond didn't even deter him - far too focused on the intriguing wakes in front of him. Wondering how anyone knew who was who, or what twin life was like, the variety of questions went from one portion of his mind and right across his teeth. “Do you guys get to do everything together?! Can anyone tell you apart? Or do you make it a mystery?” because gods, that sounded wild and delightful, and his smile took on a dimpled and mischievous outlook on the mere possibilities. He bet they could switch back and forth at school and things like that; which would be an excellent way to get out of horrendous tasks. Then, of course, there was the crab and companion notions of it all. “I can help, if you want!” How, he wasn’t quite sure, as he’d never assisted in snagging at these kinds of creatures, but he was willing to aid in the attempts.
At their curiosity over Orsino however, his grin grew wide and radiant, snatching the little frost fox cub by the forelegs, wrenching him upwards so his furry belly looked oh so tempting to scratch, before hoisting him further into his arms, displaying him proudly as the companion gave an icy shriek. “This is Orsino! He’s my companion – they’re called frost foxes!” Pondering a bit, he tilted his head as the youth begged to be let down, so he plopped him back in the sand and watched the creature go sniffing towards the dunes, ears twitching. “Yeah, they can do all kinds of stuff! If he bites it leaves you numb for a little bit.” Then his gaze went up to Sugar, dazzled by that sight as well. “Is that one yours?”
"We sure do," Calan says immediately, grinning at the way Erebos’s questions tumble over one another. He looks over at Carlo beside him, then lets his eyes move back again with exaggerated consideration, as though he’s suddenly not wholly certain which twin he’s been standing next to this whole time. "Sometimes we can’t even tell each other apart."
It’s said with enough solemnity that it might almost pass for true. "The only one who ever seems to get it right is our nonna, but since she’s a ghost we can’t always ask her because she can only babysit us sometimes and since we aren't babies anymore, it isn't as often." He says it casually, as if having a dead grandmother available for questions about twin identification is perfectly ordinary and only inconvenient in the way of someone being out when you need them.
The offer of help gets a more approving look, particularly given that the crab has already made a mockery of their first attempt at a trap. "You can help," Calan decides, nodding down at the lines they’ve been drawing into the sand. "It’s fast, though, so you have to watch it all the time. We think it’s trying to get back to its secret underground crab headquarters."
Watching Erebos lift Orsino by the forelegs, Calan’s grin falters into a small shiver at the icy sound the frost fox makes. He doesn’t cover his ears, though he very nearly does, and when the creature is set down again he glances over his shoulder at Carlo with his eyebrows raised. "Oooh. Numb." The word comes out low and thoughtful, as though this is an especially important thing to remember for entirely normal reasons.
Squinting up at Sugar as she wheels overhead, Calan gives his head a small shake. "No, she's more like our employee. Mostly she just tells us when it's time for lunch."
"Mmhm," Carlo agrees immediately, adjusting his stance subconsciously so that it exactly mimics his brother's. "So if you want our attention, just call one of our names and we'll probably both come anyway." He does laugh at the reminder of their nonna and her witchy ways, affection flooding his expression; it's always good to have at least one person to see through bullshit, he's learning, if for no other reason than to catch a plan before it goes completely awry. Alas, nonna isn't here today, so whatever becomes of the hermit crab and this new game of theirs is likely to suffer from logic than it otherwise might be.
"I think it is already halfway there," he confesses of the crab and its secret (and probably villainous) headquarters, Carlo crouching to try and see where it has half buried itself in the sand dune. Before he can poke around and potentially get pinched, Orsino becomes the most delightful distraction from crustacean scheming, and despite the creature's shrieking, he straightens back up with immediate approval, raising his eyebrows at Calan in return.
"Does he like Torchline? Or is it too hot for him here?" he wonders; aka, would it be possible to have a frost fox of their own one day? It seems likely given Sugar's presence, Carlo smiling as well at the icy dragon as she shrieks down at them. (It isn't time for lunch, he can tell that much, and she's probably just being sassy). "We tried to get her help with the hermit crab too, but she wasn't interested," he adds.
know the rules well, so you can break them effectively
The Halovian youth was no less confused after the initial responses, but grinned just the same, in awe of the identical twin situation and all the chaos it clamored for. The only thing that granted him further pause as he set Orsino down (and happened to catch his father in the background lighting something on fire), was the aspects of a spectral ancestor. “Wait, you guys have a ghost grandmother? Who can babysit?!” Reiteration might’ve been necessary, because in his mind’s eye he was picturing an intangible thread of a person lecturing and making breakfast. Pondering further, because none of his grandparents were alive (and some not even in this world), he gave a small ‘huh’ under his breath, wondering if that was something he could bother his family about.
Settling himself down in the sand to follow his frost fox (who seemed to have settled into digging in the dunes) and feeling the warmth underneath him, he gloried in the simplicity, hands already itching to maneuver the grains. “Do you think it hears us and probably burrows farther?” His nose wrinkled, trying to construct a pathway that would be easier, but then there were questions about his companion, and his expression lit up once more, a little beacon. “He seems to be okay, but he’ll be happier at home.” As most would be. “But that’s all right. He can adventure too. I think he's looking for the crab.” Or something else in the sand.
As for the dragon, his eyes went up again, searching the horizon for white dragons that weren’t threatening, but a part of a connective force. “Oh. Probably like my dad’s unicorn. She’s a strict babysitter.” Shrugging, as if it didn’t bother him much, because he was far more intrigued by the semblance of flying lizards that didn’t immediately spell death and demise. “Who is she bonded to then?”
