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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!
"What's your favourite?" Carlo wonders immediately. "Mine are those sour gummy crocodiles. They do sharks too, I think." Which feels topical, especially given their prior identities as the toothy, large finned creatures. As for what the spirits do with the candy he and his brother bribe them with, he's honestly not sure, a slow frown drawing his eyebrows together. "Maybe they collect it, or give it out again if they feel generous? There are loads of gummy worms in our sister's house anyway for some reason, so there's always something to give them."
As Fern will undoubtedly learn very soon if they continue hanging around each other, which feels less like an option and more like an inevitability at this point. The reminder of being detectives - and Fern's delight at also wanting in on the adventure - is enough to have him so enthralled that he almost forgets to stop in front of Pretzel Planet, nearly stumbling as a result and having to spend a few moments arranging the prodigal coat around their esteemed doctor surgeon detective.
"Sort of!" he announces, because who can really say what happens when you take a nap? Who's to say it isn't death's cold grip? "People get really sleepy out there lately. Even our dad fell asleep, and he can basically stay up forever now. We're gonna try and find out why." Too intrigued by this aforementioned mystery, Carlo runs out of words to appropriately say hey, should we get a pretzel now to go with this wonderful discussion? and instead simply points at the stall in before them.
Calan nods along studiously as Carlo explains what the spirits might do with the candy. "I like to think they use our bribes when they need bribes," he says, as though he's helping to contribute to the afterlife economy.
Then, as the mystery is laid out properly, his eyes brighten again. "And maybe someone has died already and just no one knows," he adds, lowering his voice with the same weight Fern had used. "That’s part of the mystery too." It feels like an important possibility to mention, especially now that they have a doctor detective available. When Fern announces that this is exactly what’s needed, Calan beams at her with the humble satisfaction of someone who has correctly assembled a team for a very serious job.
Releasing Fern’s arm as they reach the stall, he digs into his pockets and empties their contents into his palm for the other two to inspect: two coins, a button, a shiny black rock, three candies, and a little spill of sand. Calan holds it all up with the grave expression of someone presenting the combined resources of a very small but ambitious company. "How much do you have?"
"The chocolates with the caramel in them!" The answers comes swift, thoughts of them already having been conjured to mind, and in childhood favorites is exceptionally important, so she had been sort of hoping he would ask. Although she probably would have announced it regardless. "But watermelon for gummy-type candies," she adds, because really, it is difficult to accurately compare such wildly different variants. Her cheeks scrunch a touch as she considers his crocodiles though. "Eugh, your favorite is way too sour for me. I can feel my mouth watering just thinking about it." She shakes her head sharply, as if trying to rid herself of the phantom taste. "They are cute though." Cuteness does play a factor in candy rankings.
Relieved to hear that even the ghost experts aren't completely positive where the candy goes, proof she hadn't made some sort of magnificent blunder in knowledge, she takes their suggestions into dutiful consideration. Although she's tempted to follow up the ask with another, but each question reveals how little she knows, which ventures her getting closer to ridiculously foolish, and that's the last thing she'd like to be. Instead, she settles on a truth instead of a query. "You have very interesting houses, I hope we could do a sleepover one day!" A house full of gummy worms and ghosts sounds incredible.
This naturally leads well into the topic of falling asleep and maybe even the long sleep, to which Fern's eyes widen with each truth the boys lay out. "Oooh, that is tricky. A deep sleep can almost look like death." At least, her parents have said often enough she sleeps like the dead for it to sound right. "Maybe we plan a sleepover, and that's how we get out to do the case? Are the Peepholes close by?" She is a doctor, not a geographist.
The honestly life-changing aroma of the pretzel stand causes a grumble from her lunch-time-hungry stomach, which she gasps and puts her hands over to quiet it. Calan seems to figure out well before she does that unlike all the other times she's been here with her family, there's no adult, or adult money, on hand. Something she maybe should have thought about before plunging out of a window without her mother's purse in hand. Checking pockets seems brilliant though, because money does come from there often enough. "Lemme see," Fern considers as she leans in to check her white coat. She pulls out a handful of needle caps, just the caps, and a full pill bottle. It rattles as she holds it up, trying to decipher the text written along the curve of the glass side. "It saaaays, prediction, take one before bed, drowsy." She tilts it away from her face with a scoff, clearly unimpressed with her find, the drugs in hand seemingly useless if that's the best prediction they have. "Of course you're drowsy before bed."
