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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!
04-01-2026, 07:01 PM (This post was last modified: 04-01-2026, 07:02 PM by Colt.)
COLT
I roll the dice and I hold my breath I'll give you all that I have left So hold me now before my luck runs out I think you're close but I have my doubts
Dawnlight is just starting to color the horizon light, looking for all the world like the sky’s eye is slowly cracking open after a night’s sleep, reluctant and groggy. Colt would happily let the sun sleep another five minutes or so, knowing full well that once it climbs, they’ll be well and fully slowed, if not completely stopped, to hunker down and ride it out. She’s packed tents behind her saddle just for that reason.
The upside is that now they might better see what the fuck they’re doing, because even with map in hand, Colt is having a time finding the meeting place she’d arranged. All the deathly pools look the same to her, although the locals have names for the most notable, and if she squints just right, she can kinda make out the shapes they describe them with, but it feels like trying to pass a Rorschach test.
”Should be just ahead,” Colt says with an unconvincing confidence as she tilts in her saddle to look over at Hotaru and Noah. Her voice is faintly muffled by the bandana she’s drawn up over her nose, as much a shield against sand flurries as it is a meager barrier to filter out the horrendous smell here. She’s been directed this way to help firm up dream cacti trade lines, following the bait Flora had left her, stinky as it is, but this natural deterrant keeps wanderers away from the cultivation of the drugs that the planters depend upon for their livelihood, however crooked a one it might be.
Assist some locals harvest Dream Cacti for trade - Have engaged 5 times with the region
You've got me in this trance And I need your hand to win If I have to leave this up to chance You're a gamble and I'm all in
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
In a coat of gold or of red, a lion still has claws And mine are long and sharp, my lord
It seems Colt is becoming a heightened presence in her life, a curious one that keeps Hotaru intrigued and - for better or worse - somewhat invested. Flora's friendship with the woman only cements that budding curiosity, leading to the Valkyrie's presence in the rotten wasteland this particular morning.
Admittedly, the Dream Cacti themselves are part of the draw of today's mission. Well, it will likely be a few days depending on travel, but Hotaru has come prepared for that. The prospect of hallucinogenic plants is not unfamiliar to her given her aunt had been known as The Poisoner more than her given name, and drugs - when used with a delicate hand and the right timing - are rather well aligned with Frey's tenants of indulgence and pleasure. Although she doesn't know what the tug in her gut means in regards to these plants, Hotaru is not the type to ignore that sort of instinct. And, given she had told Noah of her hopes to piece together the demigod, womanly, and maternal parts of herself...it was an easy letter to write, okay?
Even if she does wince a bit when Colt looks back at them, her wavering confidence apparent. Sorry Noah - not the best location for a friend meetup.
The humorous regret is a whisp in the Attuned bond for him to latch onto, though she is already calling back to Colt from where her mount follows naturally behind. "They'll likely be between the pools, not closer to their edges. They store drinking water, so any runoff would be detrimental." Far from the tallest of the group, and trailing behind Colt as she is, it's up to their vivacious leader to find out if her educated guess holds any water. Hah. Glancing over to Noah, she gestures the hand that had been resting on the pommel of her saddle to catch his attention. "We can also fly to scout ahead a bit if needed, depending on which of us has better eyes in this lighting." If neither of them do, they'll surely stumble across the plants in the next hour regardless.
as long and sharp as yours
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
Crooked souls trying to stay up straight Dry eyes in the pouring rain
It hadn’t been that long since Noah had been to the desert, but Hak Etme settled into him all the same—dry heat, sharp light, and that quiet, insistent sense that the place was watching more than it should. He had come at Hotaru’s request, ready to help with whatever she needed. Seeing her with Colt gave him brief pause, but it passed quickly once they explained the task at hand.
The last time he had been here, at the pools specifically, he hadn’t been alone either. Phoebe had been with him then, harvesting a dream cactus as well. They had been careful—at least, as careful as anyone could be with plants like these—but he still remembered the exact moment it went wrong. A single misstep, a spine breaking skin, and the toxin taking hold. Her mind had turned inward, folding in on itself, and when she looked at him, it hadn’t been Noah she saw. It had been her brother, long dead, and somehow standing in front of her again. At the time, it had unsettled him. Now, it felt like something from another lifetime entirely.
Noah exhaled slowly, and glanced between Hotaru and Colt, making sure they understood what they were dealing with, offering what knowledge he could if they did not. "I can go up." he said at last, and without waiting long for objection, he shifted. Feathers and muscle replaced flesh in a practiced motion, and his griffin form took to the air, wings beating strong as he lifted upward.
I roll the dice and I hold my breath I'll give you all that I have left So hold me now before my luck runs out I think you're close but I have my doubts
”Good point,” Colt offers back to Hotaru as she traces a finger back across her map. ”Although we’re meeting up with the locals in a set spot, and they’re going to show us a bigger grove. One they want help planting and harvesting. Intentionally hidden.” The pools here are like a treasure map to be specifically followed, and she means to, once she can decipher one circle from the other.
”Have you used dream cacti much before?” she wonders of Hotaru, and Noah. She herself hasn’t, or doesn’t think she has, still not fully sure what Mateo had given her in Stormbreak.
As Noah offers to fly up, his body rippling out into a gryphon’s shape of hide and feather, Colt turns back to squint and make out his form. Her mount shies a little at the sudden change in presence and smell, a gryphon decidedly predatory, but a few jingles of her spur against the horse’s side and a pressure from the reins has the head dropping and focus returning back to her. ”They’re between the pool that looks like a diamond and the one that looks like a dog laying down!” she calls up to him before he fully sails away.
You've got me in this trance And I need your hand to win If I have to leave this up to chance You're a gamble and I'm all in
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
The shift settled cleanly into muscle and instinct, wings catching the hot air as Noah climbed. Hak Etme stretched out beneath him in pale gold and muted stone, the pools glinting like scattered glass. He circled once, steady and controlled, letting his sharper sight scan carefully. The pools came into focus one by one, their shapes clearer from the sky. It didn’t take long to pick out what Colt had described. One cut clean and angular into the sand, and not far from it, another curved. Noah mused that he thought it looked more like a lopsided cow than a dog, but he sent downwards to Hotaru through the bond that he had found it nonetheless.
Noah banked slightly, adjusting his path. He pulsed down again through the bond, Follow me this way. To Ru, knowing she would transmit the direction to Colt. From his height, and with the blazing sun above them, Noah's figure could get easily lost. His shadow wasn't as accurate to follow, either, so he lowered slightly in his bank nce he was confident in the direction they needed to go.
