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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!
"If I could fly I would never come back", you said
The wind that ruffled her feathers was warm. Blistering, hot, close and laden with ash, it was the most wonderful sensation she'd experienced in a good long while. Hot updrafts made flying an interesting experience. One moment she was carried high, high up into the overcast sky, only for the lift to suddenly fall away. Then she would be falling, plummeting - tucking her wings close to the body and diving so close to crags and cliffs that she could see the feldspar and quartz glitter in ruddy hues - before spreading them wide again and arching gracefully up, up, back to where nothing and no one could ever reach her.
Drunk on the freedom of flight, it was hard for her to focus. Only vaguely recalling that she was supposed to be scouting for something to hunt, she felt like she could keep flying forever and never come down. The horizon was vast; beyond black rock and bubbling pools of lava the ocean glittered in crepuscular rays of light, so solid seeming that she wondered what would happen if she tried to pick one up and fly off with it. Would Vi mind? Would Dygra like that kind of gift? Contrasted against the dark of the days now behind them, both shadow and light seemed so much more tangible and vivid than she recalled, and the world larger by far than the confined rooms and hallways that had been her sole refuge.
Perhaps it was a good thing that she wasn't flying alone. With this much wind under her wings it couldn't be expected of her to simply hunt, eat and leave, right?
And it is a good thing that Maea isn't flying alone, because it would likely be a very boring journey up through The Climb otherwise. The gods all know Danta is liable to be distracted in any given moment, and the same is doubly true when he's clad in a gore crow's feathers. Letting out a cry of nothing in particular (meat! and eyes! come later, when he's spotted prey), it's freeing to get the thermals beneath him, and he swoops up from beneath Maea purely for the hell of it.
Flaring out his feathers and letting keen eyes survey the world beneath them, so far it's just lava pools and shiny things and volcanic rock and shiny things-- and oop, Danta is already diving towards the cluster of gemstones protruding from a crack in the earth. So sue him.
Dantalion
put your emptiness to melody, your awful heart to song
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
"If I could fly I would never come back", you said
It was educational as much as it was fun, flying with Danta. Her one brief year of wearing feathers had nothing on his lifetime as a crow, and it showed. Bolder, more agile, he could turn tighter and navigate passages where she would have circled around. Aerial acrobatics she was quick to try imitating, but perhaps not immediately able to replicate - ah, but it was fun.
Picking up speed as his dark form cut up in front of her, Maea playfully snapped her beak at his tail feathers. Following him into the dive, her smaller, lighter body lagged behind and he beat her to the cluster of gems. First to break the fall, she veered aside - only a little bit unsteady before finding lift again - and fell into a circle above the shiny distraction.
"S-T-oOp?" she cawed, twisting the usual noises as much as possible to get the question out. Perhaps that too was a matter of practice - corvids in general certainly had the capacity to sound the words.
Stop? It isn't often that Danta even considers heeding the command of another, especially when it tells him to quit doing whatever it is he's doing, but he does pause with a dark ruby in his beak to gaze up at Maea circling overhead. In moments, where a ball of dark feathers once stood, a man crouches, the gemstone held in his fist to examine properly later. "What for?" he calls to Maea, tilting his head and rising slowly to his feet to brush the ash from his knees.
He can only assume she's found something worth hunting - which, if that's the case, hopefully she can give him direction. And if it's something else, it would probably be a good idea to discuss it with vocal chords properly capable of holding a conversation, rather than crowing to one another. Such are the downsides of not being a full Attuned.
Dantalion
put your emptiness to melody, your awful heart to song
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
In the near distance, around another bend and of caverns, a roar can be heard – loud, potent, powerful. And were those flames, rounding along the corner?
That could be a black dragon: a pernicious beast of legend, ready, willing, and able to defend its home for little to no reason.
Maybe it would be best to go another way?
You’ve encountered a Black Dragon. This counts as an uncommon creature encounter for the purposes of levelling, but does not count as a Random Event for levelling or MP. There will be no further admin/re intervention. If you choose to follow this creature, you do so at your own risk, however, just having it in this thread is enough to satisfy your levelling requirements. (You may not kill this creature without admin permission. )
Black Dragon (uncommon/mythical) - Black dragons of average size. Highly aggressive with fiery breath that can instantly melt most substances.
Sing to me, I am not doing well Getting tired of my own words
Well, it had been meant as a question rather than an order, merely inquiring whether he intended to pause here. But barely had Danta's familiar lanky frame replaced the crow and posed the return inquiry before a roar sounded over the rush of wind. Too deep, too loud, too close for comfort, it sent her heart straight into her throat.
Dropping down out of the sky, the white crow darted in behind him and shifted back, practically hiding behind his back. Scanning the horizon, she noticed sooty flame and a plume of black smoke glimpse near a ridge they had been headed towards.
"Uuh... maybe because of that?" She wished she could take credit for noticing, but alas - it was just incredible timing on her part. "That's... that's a dragon, isn't it. I really don't think I want to hunt that." Not with only the two of them, at least. Preferably not at all - Maea liked dragons.
When nothing seemed to be immediately coming for their heads, she drew a breath and peered around Danta to see what he'd picked up. "Found something nice?"
Sing to me, cause I can't hear myself through the loudness of my own hurts
Luckily for Maea, Danta doesn't know that she doesn't know either, and as the roar of a distant dragon reaches his ears, he ducks down a fraction even as an expression of abject delight flashes across his face. Glancing back at the pale Ancient to see her all but hiding behind him, he can't help but bark a laugh to her. "If you think I'm going to be any use against a dragon, you're sorely mistaken," he tells her, the grin not dampening even a fraction.
After a few seconds of pause where they don't seem to be subject to impending doom, the Maverick also straightens up, opening his palm to show her the ruby. "I think so," he says, turning the gem this way and that, until the sound of distant bleating can be heard over the nearest rise. "I've never heard that here before," he mutters, heading right for the noise.
Dantalion
put your emptiness to melody, your awful heart to song
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
Sing to me, I am not doing well Getting tired of my own words
She grinned weakly up at him, only a little bit sorry to use him as a shield. "You're the bigger mouthful. Maybe it won't see me while it's chewing on you."
Admiring the gemstone - it was really nice, and a good find - she looked up when Danta did, though it took her a moment longer to notice what he had picked up on. The bleating did seem odd. Out of place in a region that seemed to house only predators. Only, that was a strange kind of ecology, wasn't it? Curious, Maea followed after Danta up the craggy hill. His longer legs left her hopelessly behind, and by the time she caught up with him her breath came in gasps, her face flushed and sweaty.
"What... is it..?" Hiccuping and sucking in a long breath, Maea peered down the other side of the ridge.
Sing to me, cause I can't hear myself through the loudness of my own hurts
With his jaw dropping in a mix of outrage and pride - because that is the exact sort of thinking the Maverick would have as well, Maea - Danta resists the urge to give her a good natured shove into the ash and focuses instead on figuring out the source of the strange and unholy bleating. His head has popped up over the ridge a few moments before Maea joins him, and so she'll be able to see the puzzled amusement on his face right before she spots the sheep.
Having fled from the dragon's roar, the black, fireproof animals seem to be engaging in a war of headbutts against each other as they try to determine... well, Danta isn't entirely sure. Is it who is in charge, where they should go next? Perhaps they are also wondering what they are doing in The Climb. Either way, the Maverick knows lunch when he sees it, and so, pocketing the ruby, he bounces his eyebrows at Maea. "Want to pick one off with me?"
Dantalion
put your emptiness to melody, your awful heart to song
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
Sing to me, I am not doing well Getting tired of my own words
Sheep was the last thing she had ever thought to see in this region. How? came to mind, closely followed by Why? and also Yum, because sheep meat had been a staple luxury in the house growing up, and it was probably as nostalgic to her as a spare hand was to Asta.
"Alright," she responded with a dreamy smile, returning Danta's teasing with a hungry smile that would have worried her to pieces if she'd seen it in a mirror. "Pick whichever one you like best. I'll follow on the ground."
Sinking into the shape of her first shift, her molten tiger form was quite a bit larger than the petite woman. Focusing its white-gold gaze on the flock of sheep below, their prancing and bouncing had an itch of excitement build within. Creeping slowly towards the edge, low towards the ground, it was only the tip of her tail that swished eagerly back and forth. [/i]
Sing to me, cause I can't hear myself through the loudness of my own hurts
"Oh, but I like them all best," Danta almost whines, a chaotic and eager glint in his cold eyes as he gazes over the herd of... well, of sheep that apparently inhabit the Climb now. And it's as delightful as it is confusing, and he's not about to say no to a free meal like this. And so as Maea becomes a large feline beside him, Danta clads himself once more in dark feathers and darker intentions, taking to the sky.
His immediate circling doesn't really bother the pyrina (for this is what he'll learn they are called in the coming days), because one gore crow isn't really a threat, but already he seems to be gliding towards one of the creatures that has separated from the pack; a decision that will ultimately turn out to be its downfall, as it so happens.
Dantalion
put your emptiness to melody, your awful heart to song
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
And I only needed one more touch Another taste of devouring rush
She followed the flight of the crow, down, down, across the herd and over to an individual that had made the mistake of withdrawing from the others. Starting forward, the tigress set a wide, sweeping course down the hill, circling away from the pyrinas so that they would not catch her scent. Crouched low and keeping to the ground, it was a measured approach, slow and methodical with calculated intent.
Only when she found herself in the best possible spot, did she start to creep closer. And closer. Soft paws made nary a sound on the rocky ground, and while she stood out in this black and crimson landscape, the foolish sheep were too busy battling among themselves to pay attention. How long that would last was hard to say. Perhaps the crow would distract a few. Perhaps not. At least by the time Maea started to pick up speed and coiled up for the explosive assault, she had yet to be spotted.
She set off. Long, fast strides ate up the ground, and her vision narrowed to nothing but that one, single, unfortunate creature that had been chosen as a tribute. The odds were definitely not in its favor.
That, indeed, is putting it lightly. Danta has contented himself with hassling a few of the herd as he notices the rogue pyrina continue to list off towards some bit of fireweed or another, and he only freewheels back up and overhead as he spots Maea take her shot. His cries of meat! are almost overjoyed, though they do have the rest of the herd instantly scattering in a panic as they realise what has crept into their midst. Of course, the cry also starts an echo of other gore crows in the distance, though Danta doubts they'll get close until the molten tigress has had her fill.
Something Maea will be more than capable of doing; the sheep goes down easily under her large paws, and its wool, while fireproof, is nothing to the unyielding grasp of her teeth. Maea will be free to tear into it and feast as she pleases, and Danta, as a faithful carrion, will wait his turn. Not out of politeness, you understand - he just doesn't want her to snap at any of his feathers.
Dantalion
put your emptiness to melody, your awful heart to song
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
And I only needed one more touch Another taste of devouring rush
It was a satisfying hunt, and largely thanks to Danta's practiced diversion. The chase was brief but intense and ended with her teeth buried in the pyrina's throat. The moments that followed were a haze of blood and meat, hungry and ferocious at first, though calming steadily the deeper into the prey she chewed herself.
With the carcass sufficiently opened, she had no objection to the crow's presence. If it made her a companionable tiger or just too hungry to care about a few morsels disappearing down his gullet was hard to say. In the moment, she was content. Happy, even. It wasn't until later, when her mind came down off the high and she settled back to clean herself off, that the thoughts started to flood back in.
Embarrassment came first. Guilt was a close second, with a slew of mixed emotions in tow; it felt like she'd been caught doing something she'd swore never to do, and in front of the one person she didn't enjoy losing face around. She fully expected that he'd prod her about it. The bloodlust, the hunt, the way she had lost all sense of control...
Flopping over on her side, Maea watched him over the carcass with resigned patience, just waiting for the taunts to come.
