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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!
Despite their current hunting prowess, and a series of times where they’d shared the bounty of desecration, demise, or the art of striving not to be massacred down in the Starfall’s doldrums, Deimos was momentarily surprised when he turned. Expecting to see the spider bearing down on him, and thus having to implement some other clever scheme, he saw the hydra heads maneuvering in unison, biting down on the arachnid before it could reach him.
Uncertain what to do with that, he kept it to himself for the moment, and leapt ahead, snagging and tearing at the remains of the shrieking, incensed creature. While one of its legs aimed to smack him, the hellhound sent flames ricocheting from his paws, with enough stark reality of the infernal pain to render the beast ultimately deceased.
Backing away from the smoldering remains, he snorted, shaking his head. Thank you.
i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons
Between the multitude of heads offering detrimental bites and Deimos’ claws and flame, the crystal spider ends up being nothing more than burnt and shredded pieces, crystalline and mauled. But the hydra withdraws anyway from its inspection, turning two of the three heads back toward Deimos when he hears the gratitude. You’re welcome. He offers easily before the thought occurs to him to ask.
Stepping around the remains of the spider so that they might soldier on, the Flood glances at Deimos from one of the hydra heads. Random question, but have you seen Ru around? It’s tentatively asked, the attuned bond loosening some of the anxiety blurred in the Flood’s chest. I think she might have gotten really into one of her projects but she hasn’t been home for a while and I’m not sure where she is, exactly. Comes the quieter explanation, bordering on a sigh, wondering belatedly if he’d waited too long to start panicking about it.
SUNJATA
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.
Leaving one last press of his paw upon the smoldering remains, he ensured they’d become nothing more than ash in a matter of moments. Watching initially, he stepped around the flames, figuring he’d persist and continue on through the forest, hunting down the next round of spiders; striding away from the open grove and back into the woods proper. Eerie and enigmatic all over again, his ears flicked back and forth, intending to catch the next and nearest sound, but it only happened to be Sunjata, presenting an alarming inquiry.
He ceased movement immediately, body rigid and still. He took a long breath and strived to steer around that sudden influx of dread and apprehension, stifling, smothering, until his eyes narrowed and he turned his head back towards the hydra. I have not seen her since early summer. When he’d brought Erebos over, so they could catch up on multitudes, and they'd only been back and forth a bit since then. Deimos had figured she was busy. There could be a litany of reasons, at least, that’s what he was beginning to tell himself – Ru had done these sorts of things before. She is good at disappearing, he admitted, jaw clenching, the canines working themselves against fellow enamel. The unspoken, unsaid sentiments, of her potentially being more than lost, didn’t make it past his steeling thoughts. I can help scout for her, if you want. He knew some of the areas she’d frequent, but certainly not all.
i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons
Ignoring the carcass of the glassy spider, the hydra steps around it – one head focused on Deimos as he asks his question while the others survey the rest of the environment for anything out of place (or more arachnids). He stills the second the main head sees the Sword still, and he doesn’t have to hide the dread through the attuned bond for Sunjata to offer his own with the answer. It’s apprehension and quiet upset, even as the head nods to the follow up question.
Yeah, I know.. Too good, where he couldn’t find her at the best of times. His jaw works slightly, sighing through multiple sets of noses. I just don’t know where she could’ve gone. I’ve looked everywhere in King’s End. Maybe if there’s places here you could check out, I’d appreciate it. If you have time. He doesn’t want to impose, but it’s clear he’s worried. I thought she would’ve come back after LongNight.
SUNJATA
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.
Part of the problem with Ru was that if she didn’t want to be found, then one would have to partake in a grand amount of fortune. And while this boded well for her in the interim, save for certain aspects he didn’t want to name, it left others lost in the enigmatic quagmire, either having to wait it out or go on a searching spree, with all the potential for nothing as the outcome. He listened though, striving, with great difficulty, to not jump to conclusions; his mind warping to the sea of possibilities and the Valkyrie’s own behavioral patterns; preferring machinations over the fault lines. Was she working on anything in particular? It wasn’t without the realm of potential for her to simply vacate and contend with her dilemmas, goals, or ambitions alone; but given her relationships nowadays, one might hope she would’ve left some portion of a clue behind.
Churning over more fragments, his eyes narrowed, staring out along the expanse of the hollowed forest and eerie timber, but the focus was solely on Hotaru’s current debacle. I can. Thinking of the spa, and several other haunts lingering in the Halovian threshold. Have you talked to Flora? Deimos wouldn’t put it past mother and daughter collaborating – or, at least, sharing some manner of secrets.
i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons
It was exactly the problem, he realizes – even if he doesn’t want to admit it to himself yet. If she didn’t want to be found, she wouldn’t be. Trails left behind were often ones that yielded dead ends, and it wasn’t the first time he’d scouted nearly all of Caido for her only to come up empty. Some new business, I think. She was trying to decide between a pastry shop and maybe another springs. He murmurs through the bond, the sensation of a quiet sigh dropping between them.
He hesitates when Deimos asks if he’s talked to Flora yet – because that had been a rifle of drama of its own. As far as he knew, Flora forgave her for the kidnapping, but the stress and worry that went into Hotaru for reaching out to her daughter to start those conversations had been full of anxiety and fear. Not yet. I wanted to check in with you first. Because if it weren’t Flora and weren’t Deimos that knew, nobody did. I can let you know if she knows, though. When I do talk to her.
SUNJATA
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.
A new business, likely in King’s End, didn’t yield much of anything to Deimos. She could’ve researched through other regions’ shops and routes, but he couldn’t picture her sticking to one place for too long. She was noticeable, purposefully so most of the time, but calculated; he wouldn’t begrudge her the notions of donning a disguise and sneaking off into nothingness simply because she could. If there were embittered circumstances, he might’ve heard from her first – if he were to judge based on prior meetings and rage – but given how Sunjata was talking now, he suspected that wasn’t the case.
And maybe there was no motive at all – and she’d scarcely noticed the fault lines and fallouts.
He sighed, ears twitching again, taking in all the sounds from above, hearing the distant movement of something else, and striving to focus on one or the other. Please do. His jaw clenched slightly, easing another long breath, a heaved sigh. In the meantime, I can look around. In the usual haunts; in the interims of Halo she’d always presided within, floating along like she owned the world. In spots where they’d re-established themselves, in the wakes of so many crumbled formations. I need to go take care of this other spider, but then I can start. Rearrange schedules and interims, flicker about and traverse.
i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons
He would have heard from her if it had been any other venture – she was usually good about it. But the current status of everything – notably how long it has been, is precisely the thing that’s got Sunjata concerned. Not that he didn’t thinks he could handle herself, he knows that she can. But the protective part of him feels compelled to at least be there or try to help her should she need it.
Only problem was that he didn’t know where to start. Do you want help with it? He asks, looking around for the potential other spider. He’s already here anyway, it wouldn’t likely be that much more trouble to help Deimos with the last one and then go back to his searching and informing people. But if Deimos thought he could manage it on his own, he’d go and see what news Flora might have.
SUNJATA
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.
He could feel that age-old tension rankling over his spine again; those pursuits of duty, predilection, and family – chiseled to fight for all of them and only having so much time for all. Were he not the Warden of Halo, were he not so grounded into the foundation of preserving an entire region again and again and again, he could have easily bounded off into a sojourn for Ru. In days before families and livelihoods, it’d been them, marked and scarred and holding one another up against the rise and fall of the world around them. To not be able to do the same thing now drove a bout of frustration into his ribcage; but the reality of their lives and worlds had changed, and with it, the tangible threads of what could be done then and now.
She had plenty of people in her corner at present – and they’d do what they could for a woman who may not want to be found.
Before Deimos could answer, with an outright assurance that it would be fine, Sunjata needed to start hunting down he Valkyrie again, the cretin made itself known – funneling quickly down on a silken line from the canopies. May not matter, he snorted, maneuvering his jawline in a long jut upwards so the Flood would see the arachnid. Send it my way again?
i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons
It was frustrating, and heart wrenching to be honest. It was a lot for Sunjata to deal with as of late and it’s been such a challenge alongside his plans for the Flowerbirth festival. It was always easier when he had her to bounce the ideas off of – but for now? He’s left aimless, trying to pinpoint where exactly all of the things he needs to do are. All of them on a standstill until he can try and find some amount of a trail left behind.
Looking over at Deimos with the question, Sunjata spots the crystalline spider as it descends down the string of silk – heading for his nose again. The one head of the hydra grows a little cross eyed while the other lifts above it to bat at the spiderweb where it’s coming from, aiming to fling the poor thing down toward Deimos’ awaiting paws.
SUNJATA
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.
Deimos knew Hotaru enough to trust she’d likely be fine, but there were always those little inklings behind one’s spine. Of the things that could occur. Of what had happened in the past. Of what both Valkyrie and the rest of the world were capable of. If the Family were still around he might’ve shifted blame there, but given where they were now, with peace and repose, he couldn’t quite fathom what she would’ve delved so far into without leaving a path or note behind.
For now though, he could press that weight into the back of his mind.
The massive spider careened at the flicker and touch of the hydra’s nose; a nearly inaudible shriek piercing from its movements. It was sent flopping downward, and much like its brethren, was suddenly bombarded by the spiral of fire erupting from the hellhound’s paws. Deimos felt further galvanized by the need to finish the mission, and begin another trek – the flames scorching as he placed vehemence and malice behind it, leaving room for Sunjata to do the same.
i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons
Perhaps the crystal spider was exactly what Sunjata needed right this second – now that he’s got confirmation that Deimos doesn’t even know where she is. It gives him the opportunity to get some of his own little aggression out toward the beast, all three heads craning down to watch as the fire scorches it once it plops to the ground.
With the opening offered, all three heads descend on the arachnid with sharp draconic teeth aiming down for its legs to pull and pry them away lest it try to escape, trying to avoid Deimos’ fire in the process. He isn’t looking to get burned, even if he could at least heal himself from it.
SUNJATA
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 ferocity between lunging contortions and dodging precautions leant a certain level of spite and cold, harsh barbarity Deimos hadn’t felt in quite some time – letting it ruthlessly reign over the spider was a welcome proportion to the world at large. He took half a moment to breathe, to steel over and reforge anew, while Sunjata descended upon the spider with teeth and multiple heads; prying away legs as the creature screeched for its life.
Or perhaps the moment of aggression within it too – he didn’t much care. Watching as one of the eight was peeled away, another reared up to strike the Flood with its pernicious depths; and the hellhound leapt, searing, scalding, burning those portions to a crisp. All the while, the cretin shrieked, an ear-piercing, shrill noise that caused the Sword’s ears to flatten and his wrath to persist and pursue.
i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons
The hydra’s heads move swiftly, dodging the arachnid’s attempts to lash out with its crystalline legs and fangs, seeking out the means to poison him. In the space it takes him to avoid the hit, Deimos moves swiftly – pouncing upon the creature with fire burning from his paws, searing and charring the creature as more sharp sounds escape the beast.
Sunjata’s heads shake slightly to rid himself of the piercing sound before he’s taking the opportunity to lung back down when Deimos backs off, all three of his heads bearing down on it to try and snatch the creature’s head and thorax in each maw to try and tear it completely apart – appearing all the more like two dogs playing tug of war.
SUNJATA
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.
