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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!
She hits the gravel like a felled bird, knees cracking against the gilded stones as her hands scrabble uselessly for purchase. The compass falls from her grasp, spinning once before settling in the dust beside her. Blood is already soaking through the back of her sundress—what’s left of it—painting it a sickly, spreading crimson that glistens as it slides down her spine, clinging in rivulets to her thighs.
New Haven is quiet.
The wind stirs the wildflowers at the town’s edge. Lanterns sway gently on their posts, golden glass catching the sun. Life is so normal here. Peaceful. But Flora is a wound split open in the middle of it, and the peace is a mockery. Her breath catches on the way in, a sharp, wet sound that shears through her ribs. Agony tears through her again with the motion—white-hot, jagged. Claws, her mind whispers faintly, as if she could forget, as if her body isn't a map of new ruin. Her arms tremble beneath her. Her vision swims.
"Help—" the word is broken, more air than sound, and she tries again, louder this time, panic beginning to tremble through the edges of her voice. "Please—someone—"
The gravel bites into her palms. The sun is too warm. The pain is blooming wider, sharper with every second she’s left alone in it. ”I need—" her voice cracks, falters. The gold-flecked road runs quiet beneath her blood.
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
”Please,” Dahlia echoes, her voice sing-song as she appears like Flora’s shadow in pursuit of her physical form, ”someone.”
It’s a smiling, wild eyed creature who follows the pattern of blood around the Doubletake’s crumpled form; Dahlia’s footsteps are slow, her claws dripping blood, crimson flecking her porcelain skin and matting her unruly curls.
”You were warned,” she says, almost apologetically. ”All of you. So many times. I didn’t want to do this.”
Pausing to crouch over Flora - wherever the front of her happens to be, anyway - the Reaper leans in close. ”Actually,” she whispers, ”when it comes to you, I think I’m lying. I’m really enjoying myself.”
And then her claws come down again.
Dahlia uses Void Rush to teleport after Flora and attacks with her claws again.
Magic: Maker's Mark | On a successful physical attack hit, enemies are Marked for 3 turns.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
Magic: Mania (passive) | Dahlia's damage increases by 50% following every successful attack to the same target.
Type: Dark | Rank: Basic
Magic: Void Rush | May teleport to any Marked enemy.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
Magic: Claws | Dahlia's fingertips become curved, elongated claws at will, counting as a Mastered weapon.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
let me put my lips to something
let me wrap my teeth around the world
The second set of claws should have torn through her—but instinct, pain, and terror make a girl fast. Flora throws herself sideways with a ragged scream, agony ripping down her spine as her shoulder hits the gravel, her body folding over itself in a mess of blood and silk and desperation. Dahlia’s claws miss by inches, raking the stones where her ribs had been.
She doesn’t think. She can’t. "Ronin!" she cries, voice hoarse and cracked but strong enough to split the golden hush of New Haven.
She reaches not just with sound but with the intrinsic link she has to the divine. Her soul flares like a beacon, laced with pain and panic and unspoken prayers, dragging her body back just enough to press a trembling hand to her side. It comes away crimson. Her vision swims. She’s cold now, despite the summer sun.
”Okay bitch,” she gasps again, teeth gritted as she tries to crawl backwards, away from Dahlia’s smile, her claws, the nightmare that’s followed her even here. “You get your wish”
Flora channels Ronin!
Channeling (Accepted) : Allows an Accepted the opportunity to channel one of the gods during a time of crisis (2x a season). Can be combined with other accepted channeling to increase power. If combined with another mastered channeling, increases the odds of a Big God answering to 15 %
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
The Knight hears his name in Flora’s voice a split second before the divine wraps around him, summoning him to her side. Having been walking the shallows of the coastline on his way back to the Northaven, the streets of New Haven will at least find him clothed, if not stressed and panicked and entirely on edge. Opalescent scales already speckle his cheeks and throat, and pale draconic wings erupt from his shoulders on his arrival in front of Flora - or where he thinks and hopes his daughter might be.
Blood splatters the ground, the metallic scent of it soaking the air, and before him? The nightmare that’s been haunting all of their dreams for too long. ”Get yourself out of here,” he grates to the Doubletake, even as radiant light blooms in his chest, igniting in a blinding burst that, whilst it won’t damage Dahlia, will hopefully bring some relief to Flora.
”Remi,” Ronin calls, reaching out to the now familiar strand of magic he knows will bring his husband to his side. ”Get Sunjata - we’re doing this now.”
It isn’t the plan - it isn’t even close - but when has anything ever gone the way it ought to?
Ronin arrives, uses his Smite to heal Flora and then his Rescue magic to bring Remi to his side.
Magic: Once More With Feeling (FEAT) | Twice per combat (e.g. KQs, PQ+s, PVP) Ronin may use two actions in one turn.
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
Magic: Smite | A blast of radiant light emanates from Ronin in a 60ft radius. Any allies engulfed by the light are healed, whilst any enemies take damage (Mastered healing/damage). Has a two post cooldown.
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
Magic: Rescue | Ronin can bring a fellow Old God demigod to his side in a time of crisis for three concurrent posts. One use per thread. If the summoned demigod also has mastered this ability, they can remain until the end of the thread.
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
Magic: Foe of the Family | Is able to see the true form of the Family and those who are Friends of the Family. Void damage is super effective.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
Regional Score bonus: +15 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +15 should be included). Residents cannot be cursed at shrines in this region.
but baby i've been here before; i've seen this room and i've walked this floor
The tether yanks hard—Ronin—and Remi doesn’t hesitate.
One moment he’s barefoot on the Northaven’s deck, watching the slow rhythm of water and waiting for the familiar pulse of his husband’s return. The next, the call barrels through him like lightning through a tree, divine and desperate and wrong. Flora’s magic clings to Ronin’s like blood on bandages, and something inside Remi snaps taut.
He’s gone before the echo of the call fades.
The world slams into focus: sun-drenched stones, the acrid stench of blood, and Ronin standing with light blooming from his chest like a sunburst—and then there’s her. Dahlia.
There’s no time to speak, no time to assess. Only instinct and experience.
“Sunjata,” he calls, reaching with his magic before running toward the Reaper. He pauses before he reaches the trail of blood, not needing to follow it to know who it belongs to. His fingers are already curling, the rose from Deimos in his back pocket, and though his heart is thudding wild and high in his throat—FloraFloraFlora—his body is still, steady, his breath controlled.
I have the rose. I’ll grab her, you two try and slash her with it. Remi thinks, even as his eyes flick briefly toward the blood-slick stones and shattered silk that had once been Flora’s dress. Blinking, he sets his weight into his stance, eyes locked on Dahlia’s, his voice cold and soft and crackling with power. ”This is the last time you hurt my family,” he snarls.
Remi channels Sunjata using rescue, and then positions himself all up in Dahlia’s face.
Magic: Rescue | Remi can bring a fellow Old God demigod to his side in a time of crisis for three concurrent posts. One use per thread. If the summoned demigod also has mastered this ability, they can remain until the end of the thread.
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
Regional Score bonus: +15 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +15 should be included). Residents cannot be cursed at shrines in this region.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
but am i too late? or hearts to your spades, if i don't suit you? then what do you want from me?
It’s been nothing but a normal day, mundane in the fact that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. That is — until it’s not.
Until he’s suddenly tugged hard from where he’d been at the shrine, not far from here, none the wiser of whatever’s occurring quite literally in the heart of his region. But the gold crusted stones are familiar, the air, the scent, everything, except for the blood. It’s Remi’s voice that has called him, but he quickly registers Ronin after, the glimpse of Flora in his peripheral - the source for all the blood - and the Flood’s jaw grits tight.
The plan is thought through the Attuned bond, and Sunjata - unfortunately still reeling a bit from getting tugged in - nods and hisses out a curse in Korofi. Ronin, you grab the rose so we’re ready. He sends mentally, surging forward to crowd in alongside Remi, but conjuring water to create a bind around Dahlia’s mouth and nose - fully intending to either make her choke on it or distract her enough for Remi to grab hold and Ronin to slash her while they’re ready.
Sunjata arrives and suggests that Ronin snag the rose to use when they’ve got her, and uses his water magic to try and force water into her nose and mouth to choke her/distract her so Remi can grab her.
Magic: Making Waves | Can create and control water (a full swimming pool amount). Must be within a 60ft radius. Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +1 should be included). Residents cannot be cursed at shrines in this region.
so we're not written in the stars, but i'm okay with that. i'm okay with anything
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
The rage that flashes across Dahlia’s face as her claws swipe wide of Flora’s delicate flesh becomes, possibly to the surprise of those gathered, a sneer of satisfaction as the street fills with demigods. More specifically, those demigods who are considered father figures to the Doubletake. ”Well,” she says breathily, straightening up and cocking her head to the side to see big bad Remi Taliesin squaring up to her, followed promptly by Sunjata, ”I’m so glad you’re all here to see this.”
Water arcs just shy of her face, prompting a soft laugh, and the Reaper even takes the time to blow a kiss to Sunjata before, quite suddenly, she’s gone.
Sike.
Appearing behind them, drawn back to Flora’s side like a magnet, Dahlia plunges her claws down again towards the prone queen.
Dahlia ignores the boys, uses Void Rush to get back to Flora’s side, and goes for her again.
Magic: Maker's Mark | On a successful physical attack hit, enemies are Marked for 3 turns.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
Magic: Void Rush | May teleport to any Marked enemy.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
Magic: Claws | Dahlia's fingertips become curved, elongated claws at will, counting as a Mastered weapon.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
let me put my lips to something
let me wrap my teeth around the world
Relief crashes into her like a wave—dizzying, heady, a blur of gold light and familiar voices.
Ronin’s here.
Then Remi.
Then Sunjata.
Her fingers shake as they twist the ring on her hand, dropping the invisibility at last, though there’s nothing graceful about the way she’s slumped, collapsed and soaked through with blood. She’s crying—though whether from pain or gratitude, it’s impossible to tell. Maybe both, definitely the former. She doesn’t even know what they’re saying, not really. Just that they’re here. Her dads are here and for one impossible second, it feels like the world might be right again.
Until it’s not.
She doesn’t see Dahlia reappear. She doesn’t need to. She feels her. Feels the claws sink into her back again with precision so cruel it feels like it tears through her soul. Her body arches instinctively, mouth parting in a scream so raw it sounds like something being unmade. It rips through the air like shattered glass, ragged and keening, and when she collapses again, it’s with a sob that trembles all the way down her spine.
“She can follow me,” Flora gasps, clutching at the gravel, her voice shaking and splintered. “I don’t know how, but she followed me.” Crawling won’t save her. Nothing will—not when even escape leads back to teeth and blood.
She fumbles blindly for the ring on her other hand—the one that pulses with gentle light—and presses. There’s a surge of warmth that floods her torso, trying to knit broken skin and shredded muscle, but it’s barely enough to staunch the tide. Not enough to undo what’s already been done.
Flora uses her healing ring.
Magic: Foe of the Family | Is able to see the true form of the Family and those who are Friends of the Family. Void damage is super effective.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
Regional Score bonus: +15 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +15 should be included). Residents cannot be cursed at shrines in this region.
Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Mastered
Healing Ring | A golden ring made by the fae, capable of delivering mastered
Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Basic
Lucky you | A ring that when worn grants +3 luck. Must be included in all PQ/PQ+/KQ/DROP posts to be counted. healing via touch.
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
They gather, the three of them, with a plan in place (however rushed it might be) and their combined will to defend their own family - and Dahlia just fucking ignores it.
Barely cognisant of the fact that the Reaper has appeared behind them at @flora’s unguarded back until his daughter’s screams hit the air, Ronin flinches around entirely on instinct. With Remi close enough to touch, it takes very little effort to grab at the rose in his pocket, and he snatches it up and lunges for Dahlia without waiting to see what else she might pull.
Pin her down however you can, he pleads, his mental voice clipped and panicked. Sunjata - she’s going to keep going for Flora. Can you…? He doesn’t want to say it, but he knows the Flood will likely already understand. If Remi is busy trying to keep Dahlia still, he can’t take any damage thrown Flora’s way.
But someone has to.
Ronin grabs the rose from Remi’s pocket and lunges for Dahlia to try and prick her with it! If he fails, he’d like to re-roll pls!
Magic: FEAT | Luck of the Dice | Ronin may re-roll one fail per KQ.
Type: Grey | Rank: Basic
Magic: FEAT | Now You! | When Ronin successfully hits a target, the next ally who posts gains advantage on their attack.
Type: Light | Rank: Basic
Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Mastered
Vi's Roses (rare): A beautiful crimson flower with thorns of deep gold, it is rumoured that these roses are coloured with Vi's lifeblood. When planted, they have the ability to cleanse the area around them.
Magic: Foe of the Family | Is able to see the true form of the Family and those who are Friends of the Family. Void damage is super effective.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
Regional Score bonus: +15 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +15 should be included). Residents cannot be cursed at shrines in this region.
