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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 Longnight quickly approaching, it's of little surprise that the denizens of Torchline are readying themselves for what's seen as, arguably, the best and longest party of the year. Having spied a few older teens trying to drag a considerable piece of driftwood across the sands while on his morning run, Ronin finds himself, almost by accident, volunteering to help gather more so they can build up the bonfires in preparation for the last sunset of the year.
It's an easy task, at least, especially for someone with a demigod's strength, the Knight opting to let the other volunteers gather their driftwood in piles that he can then heft to the locations of the bonfires. And it certainly helps to keep him warm, Ronin setting down his latest stack of wood to start arranging it ready to be lit when the time comes. Straightening up and wiping the sweat from his brow, he smiles to see a few more volunteers approaching with water and canteens of sweet tea.
Accepting a bottle of water, Ronin plops onto the sand for a break, taking a long sip from it.
This is a state of grace This is the worthwhile fight
”Kieran! Ella! Be careful with that.” Lyra’s voice rings out over the sound of the crashing surf as she watches her two foster children wrestle with a large piece of driftwood. In their preparations for LongNight, the little family had meandered down to the beach to help build the bonfires, but Lyra - with her age and experience - had stuck to gathering wood more suited to her build and strength. Her kids, on the other hand…
When others join in, Lyra smiles and continues her work, always keeping one eye on the kids. In short order, there is a method to the madness: most of them gather the driftwood into piles or point out the larger pieces, while one man in particular maneuvers the heavier bits into place. The work drags on into the morning, and volunteers soon approach with water and tea. Selecting a sweet tea for herself - and watching to make sure the kids got at least some water - she made her way over to the stranger.
”Always an adventure, getting ready for LongNight,” she commented as she sat, a friendly smile on her face. ”We’re lucky you came along. I don’t think all of us together could have moved that one big log.”
Love is a ruthless game Unless you play it good and right
"You can say that again," Ronin says with a chuckle, pouring some water into his hands so he can splash it onto his face and through his hair as the stranger comes to sit beside him. "And I bet you'd have managed it one way or another. Those kids look like they could tackle anything." Grinning towards where Kieran and Ella are continuing to gather driftwood, the Knight ruffles his hand back through his hair and lets out a content sigh.
"I always forget how hot it can still be here, even in Deepfrost," he admits, shading his eyes to peer across the beach as one of the volunteers starts to try to move another, quite considerably sized log. "No rest for the wicked, huh?" Clambering back to his feet and dusting the sand off his pants, he offers another smile to the woman who had come to join him. "I'm Ronin, by the way. Nice to meet you."
This is a state of grace This is the worthwhile fight
The kids continue on their way, shouting back and forth as they wander down the beach - never quite so far that Lyra has to call them back, but far enough that she keeps an eye on them anyway. Their little pile of driftwood grows by the minute, though they’ve yet to find another piece that requires assistance to move.
”Gods, don’t tell them that, or we’ll have them trying to drag a whole tree to the pile,” she jokes, laughing freely. Knowing those two, they really would try such a thing - and she’d be the one who would have to remind them that yes, of course you can do anything you put your minds to, but that doesn’t mean that your body has no limits.
Lyra turns her face into the sun as the stranger splashes water on his, enjoying the way the warmth feels on her tan skin. She’s never been one to complain about the heat of Torchline. She’d take that any day in comparison to the cold that she hears about in other regions. Take Halo, for example. You couldn’t pay her enough to visit the tundra in the dead of winter!
”I’m Lyra,” she says as she rises, draining the last of her tea. ”It’s nice to meet you, Ronin.” Kieran and Ella come bolting down the beach, a long piece of wood held between them. It’s a beautiful plank, and it’s almost a shame to see it put in the bonfire pile. ”Have you been in Torchline long?” she asks as they get back to work. If he forgets about the heat, that implies that perhaps he’s not from here, and Lyra is nothing if not chatty.
Love is a ruthless game Unless you play it good and right
From behind a corner, a bush, a tree, or out of thin air, comes The Magician. Known only by that name, he is swathed in robes that swirl with ever-changing colours and a face hidden behind a theatrical mask. He moves like quicksilver and yet is never in a rush. Why should he be? Luck follows in his footsteps and he carries power in his pockets.
"Give me your hand..." His gloved hand spreads wide your fingers, and as he inspects your palm, you feel...nothing at all. The Magician titters as he reaches into his pocket.
You have encountered The Magician!
The Magician can grant either +4 stats of your choosing, or give basic magic/regular attuned shift/basic item/etc (aka one basic/entry level thing/magic/shift/whatever).
The Magician counts as a Rare Creature for the purposes of levelling, but does not count as a Random Event for levelling or MP. There will be no further admin/re intervention, and The Magician will disappear after this post (he cannot be followed or attacked).
"Hey, a tree would burn for quite a while at least," Ronin points out, grinning, though where they might get said tree on the beach is another matter entirely. Keeping an eye on the two kids as they head off to collect their next treasure - the Knight is a demigod but also a father, after all - he smiles back towards Lyra as she introduces herself. "Mm? Gods, in and out of the region for years now. But my husband and I settled here again a couple years back. We travel a lot, so I guess the seasons can take us off guard."
Or at least him, anyway.
About to head off to assist the volunteer with the new log, Ronin is halted by the sudden appearance of the robed, masked man. Raising an eyebrow towards Lyra as if to ask if she knows him, before offering out his hand (with no shortage of suspicion, shit is weird lately), as nothing in particular happens, the Knight can only blink his bemusement. "Er, thank you?" he says politely.
This is a state of grace This is the worthwhile fight
”Well, welcome back, then,” she said warmly. ”I hope that it’s everything you’re looking for, for both of you.” Having been born and raised here, Lyra was rather biased, but Torchline truly did have a variety of things to suit most tastes, or so it seemed to her.
Gathering driftwood was relaxing, in its way, and Lyra grinned as they worked, content in the moment. It was rare for the woman to have a quiet moment like this, and she intended to enjoy it to the fullest. The kids down the beach abandoned their search for the moment, seemingly content to splash one another in the waves, and Lyra snorted, shaking her head. They might be a mess, but they were her mess. Older teens they might be, close to adulthood, and yet they were still so young. Sometimes it made her feel old, for all she was only thirty-two.
Suddenly, a man appeared from thin air, startling Lyra. She shared a confused look with Ronin, but the hooded figure seemed harmless enough - or, at least, nothing seemed to happen when Ronin offered his hand. Seeing no reason to decline, Lyra held out her own, somehow expecting something to happen, but before she quite knew what to make of the odd encounter, the man had disappeared once more.
Feeling entirely bemused, Lyra exchanged a guarded look with Ronin. ”Well, that was… different.” Strange things happened in Torchline all the time, but this was certainly something she’d never encountered before.
—-
Lyra will take a basic item (details TBD)!
Love is a ruthless game Unless you play it good and right
"Everything we need is here. And given that the last place we lived was the Cordillera, this is much easier for our family and friends to visit us." Grinning, Ronin bends to hoist the large driftwood log up and onto his shoulder as if it weighs next to nothing, clearly not having been too phased by the interruption by the strange man. "Different is one word for it. Yet another reason to stick around Torchline though, right? Things are never boring."
Laughing and hefting the log down by the bonfire it's intended for, Ronin grabs for the axe he'd left buried in the sand and starts to hack it into more manageable pieces to be stacked ready for the lighting, or for surplus firewood. "Will you be out here partying, when Longnight comes?" he asks with a grin. He assumes so, hence the help with the bonfires, but perhaps she's just a good samaritan. She definitely seems that way.
This is a state of grace This is the worthwhile fight
Lyra collects a few smaller sticks, keeping easy pace with Ronin as he carts the larger log down the beach. ”The Cordillera?” she asks, raising a brow, visibly impressed. She’s heard the stories of what lurks there, and of the folk who went visiting only to never return. ”As in, dragons waiting to kill you? That Cordillera?” Ronin and his husband must have been the only ones for miles. Perhaps it was the promise of civilization that had coaxed them back to Torchline’s sunny shores. Lyra knows she would never survive in such imagined solitude.
Ronin begins to hack at the larger log with an axe, and Lyra turns to stack her smaller sticks on the fire. It’s nearly ready, artfully arranged and prepared, and she can see the kids starting their way up the beach to rejoin her. ”I’ll be here,” she confirms with a grin. ”Though less for partying, I think, and more for chaperoning.” She’s never been one to let loose, anyway, so she doesn’t feel she’s missing out. Still, she has to wonder what it would be like to attend LongNight with no one to look after except herself. ”You?”
Love is a ruthless game Unless you play it good and right
"The very same." Ronin chuckles. "We both fought in the war, my husband and I. And afterwards we just... needed some space. The dragons were a nice distraction, if anything." And whilst it was more that their children had facilitated their return to Torchline's shores, Ronin has always been the sociable sort, and the move back into civilisation had been a welcome one by the end.
Falling quiet for a few moments to properly hack the wood into more manageable pieces, when he's done, Ronin starts to stack them beside the bonfire they'd been tending to, so they can act as more fuel when the initial flames begin to die down. "Chaperoning? I have a feeling you might be needed, based on my experience of the Longnight parties here." Grinning and straightening up, he stretches his arms above his head, his back cracking deliciously in the process.
"I'm not sure yet," he confesses. "We live on a houseboat just off the coast, so we'll have a good view whether we're in the thick of it or not. Maybe we'll catch each other again, if I do end up on the beaches."
This is a state of grace This is the worthwhile fight
Lyra listens as Ronin offers a small piece of his story, tucking away the information in case it ever came up again. They are almost finished with the bonfire and its associated wood pile now, and Lyra gets to her feet from where she’d been stacking wood in the sand, dusting off her knees before placing her hands on her hips to survey their work.
”Gods, don’t remind me,” she groaned, eyeing her kids affectionately where they came walking down the beach. ”It’d be different if they weren’t teenagers, but gods only know what kind of trouble they’re going to find.” And there was really only so much she could do to stop them. They were almost of age, and they liked to test the boundaries as much as any teenager did.
As the kids came up beside Lyra, she offered a smile to Ronin. ”Well, it was nice to meet you, Ronin. I hope you do venture out during LongNight. Something tells me I’m going to need backup.” She winked, then shepherded her kids off the beach.
fin
Love is a ruthless game Unless you play it good and right
