From Attuned to Ascended to Ancient, Kiada Njovu-Reyes has been reborn several times throughout her short life, but her fighting spirit has never once been diminished. With beauty, grace and a quick wit, Kiada is the whole package wrapped in an infectious smile. Recent endeavours have found her in the heart of the Hollowed Grounds, aiding the region and bettering it for her new Ancient kin, and whatever she does next, we know it's sure to pack a punch.
Congratulations, Kiada!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
Edmund and Sah's disapproving statements ran over each other in a unified stance of disagreement. In addition to Ellyra's physical transformation and Maea's orders, everyone's unanimous decision is obvious. That fact is only mildly surprising. Although she'd anticipated some resistance, didn't they want to learn what they could? With a huff of annoyance, Thal stood, shooting everyone an accusing glare. "If we are going to learn everything about the Void, we will eventually need to know what ingesting it does. Could it be used as a poison? What would the symptoms be if the water sources became infected? Is it permanent or not? Would you rather find that out by accident without knowing the cause, or let a willing person offer to show you?" They needed to consider everything. This wasn't just a fun science experiment; this was a strategic assessment of the capabilities of their enemies.
But knowing that their minds won't be changed, she found her notebook and settled to watch them work, prepared to take notes on the Tangleweeds as ordered instructed.
I must become a lion hearted girl Ready for a fight
Ellyra lowered her head and her growl rumbled out of her throat — and she wanted to reach out across the attuned bond and tell the woman that they didn’t have a healer with them, but she knew she couldn’t. There was no one here who shared the bond with her.
Once Thalassa was resigned to her duty, thankful ultimately to Maea for reining her in, Ellyra was able to focus on her next task. The lioness turned and stalked around the experiment’s perimeter, keen amber eyes scanning and watching to ensure that none of the void creatures escaped — at least, ensured that none of them escaped without finding the wrath of her claws and teeth.
Sah nodded, "We can do that." Tal quickly came up with a plan and although the Abandoned made a face at how quickly the courier started trying to order him, he rolled his eyes and got to work. Once the courier finished his part, Sah stepped forward and used his telekinesis to remove the necessary walls. He held them above, ready to drop them back down if necessary.
He watched the void weed with cautious eyes. The erratic nature of the plan made him doubt if it would even act as they anticipated. Worst case scenario, Sah could drop the walls and use fire to take the creature out.
~
Sah works on Tal's plan, using his magic to take down the sides of the enclosures that are inside the chute, opening the way for the Void tangleweed to get to the non-infected one
Telekinesis: Can move large objects.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Edmund was relieved they'd managed to stop his fellow Ancient from completing her reckless plan. Still, their current one wasn't much better. He briefly wondered if perhaps he should stay in his normal form to use his fire magic, but in terms of intimidation, his tiger form was certainly more potent.
Rolling his shoulders, he began to shift. His hands gave way to fiery paws as fur spread across his skin. A molten tiger soon took the Ancient's place, and he lashed his tail as magma dripped onto the ground beneath him. Padding over, Edmund took the post opposite Ellyra to make sure that they were covering as many of their bases as possible.
The moment the path opened up for the two Tangleweeds, the void infected one lurched forward. What began was a hectic chase round and around the pens as shadowy tendrils lashed the healthy mass of bramble and debris. They were of equal size and speed; and as they fought it became increasingly clear that simply brushing past or temporarily injuring the other did not cause the infection to spread. It was not until the healthy Tangleweed became trapped in a corner and the two began to merge that anything changed; if that wasn't a bite, Maea didn't know what was.
"That's enough! Onto the final step; we are putting down all the Void Critters we have here. Use as many different abilities as you can to see if they react any differently. Once we are done, that will conclude this experiment."
Final round!
Kill all the void critters, using as varied methods as possible. Including shifts, magic, basic/enchanted weapons etc.
It's just your shadow on the floor
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Thal watched with feigned interest as the Void tangleweed slowly infected the other with what was presumed to be a bite. She took a few notes and tossed them aside for Maea to read later. It didn't contain much other than the lack of evidence until the final moments. The information didn't appear world-changing in comparison to the previous experiments, although she'd let the pale Ancient decide that for herself.
She smiled at the new instructions. Pulling her dagger out, Thal approached the Voidspiders with obvious prejudice. Without releasing them from the enclosure, she used her dagger in an attempt to stab one.
I must become a lion hearted girl Ready for a fight
Ready to be done with the experimenting and the trials, Ellyra was more than happy to pounce on the void creatures with Maea have the go ahead. With a sharp growl the lioness was on the move, claws and massive paws aimed to decimate and destroy. She continued to growl, even snarl, as she ripped and tore at anything in her path. She hated these void creatures, and the more of them she destroyed the more she wanted to keep doing such actions. She didn't let her eyes wander anywhere except on the next target, bringing only the fury she held in her breast to the surface of her dangerous claws.
Tal watched the corrupted Tangleweed go after the uninfected one and his scowl turned into an expression of disgust and revulsion as it attacked its Void-less cousin. At least the lashing of its shadow-vines didn't seem to transfer the corruption, but once it had gotten it wrapped up and started to merge with it--
"Oh, absolutely fuckin' not," he growled under his breath to Sah, and drew his Special Delivery Dagger.
The light caught the sheen of the poison along its blade and he barely waited for Maea's signal before he stabbed at the pair of Tangleweeds with grim precision from the safety of the outside of the pen. No one else seemed to be using blessed/mastered weapons so he figured he could fill that slot in the experiment.
And it was damned satisfying to finally be rid of the enshadowed critters.
Tal uses his Mastered Dagger to stab at the Shadowed Tangleweeds!
Type: Grey | Style: Offensive | Level: Mastered
Special Delivery Dagger | A carefully crafted dagger veined with crimson markings, decorated with the foot of a blink hare. Upon making a stabbing motion in the air, the dagger may damage a target up to 30ft away from the user.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
Honed by Nightmares | A curious silvery coating covers the Special Delivery Dagger. Causes extra physical damage at a Basic level.
Maea's next orders made Edmund's tail lash eagerly with rising bloodlust. Killing the void creatures wouldn't sate it, but the necessary violence of a hunt was still delicious. The young Ancient shifted back to his normal form and began to reach for his magic.
"That sounds wonderful." Edmund took a breath and the furnace deep in his chest sparked. Flames bust to life in his palm, and he narrowed in on his first target. A spider was the first to fall to his flames, but he didn't stop until the group eliminated all the contaminated creatures. It was satisfying to watch them burn to ashes and dust.
~
Edmund shifts back and burns the void creatures with mastered fire magic!
Fire Manipulation: Can create and control flames. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
Sah grinned ferally as Maea spoke, "Excellent." He'd had more than enough of these void monstrosities for the day. It was well past time to eliminate them all and prevent any further infections from this group. Tal got to work on the weeds on his side, so the Wild Thunder turned his attention to those on his.
Lightning sprung to life, crackling along his fingertips as he directed it to strike at the weeds. A few more quick bursts of lightning took care of other void creatures as the rest of the group began to finish up as well. When it was over, the Abandoned checked their surroundings for any stragglers with a careful eye.
~
Sah kills void creatures with his mastered lightning magic!
Lightning manipulation: Can create and control Lightning. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
One by one the dread creatures were taken out, by tooth and claw, by steel and fire, lightning and enchantment. Shifting into her tiger form, Maea joined the rest in the gruesome task, and noticed that none of the methods seemed more or less effective than any other. It was as reassuring as it was disappointing, as she had hoped to discover a weakness in these creatures. But none stood to find, and before long the glade lay silent and still.
Shifting back, the Loreseeker gazed out over the carnage and sighed wearily. "That was the last task. Thank you all for your help today. I will work on compiling the information we gathered here today and send you a copy of the results. If you so wish there are rooms available to you at the inn, and I would be honored to treat you all to dinner later."
With that, the assistants and guards stepped in to begin the cleanup. Wild animals were released from their cages, materials loaded back into the carts, and Maea gathered up the notes. Her real work began here, and already her thoughts were turning towards the contents; the day was drawing to a close.
That's all folks! Thank you guys <3
{Fin!}
It's just your shadow on the floor
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
