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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!
Granted, their destination is a long way from Torchline, and so he's taken them the majority of the way on dragonback, trusting his daughter to give his scaly hide a kick if she's too cold or gets hungry or tired. But eventually the Cordillera bleeds into view beneath them, and Ronin exchanges his shift for his nimbus, allowing the two of them to fly closer towards his old home.
"If you look down there," he says, pointing, "you'll be able to see it." The Tramezzino, he means, where he and Remi had lived for over a year after the war, to rest and recuperate. The sight of the wildflower covered houseboat still brings him a great deal of joy, but that isn't what they're here for.
No, that honour belongs to the Weightless Waterfall herself.
With a picnic packed and ready to go whenever Seren finds herself peckish, Ronin takes them down to the roar of the waterfall, where already the gentle spray from it can be felt against their skin. "So," he says, smirking over his shoulder to her, "if you jump in, you'll be carried all the way up to the top."
Their world was vast, and it was beautiful. From glistening seas and white beaches, across dense jungles, rolling hills and beyond into the towering peaks of the Draig Cordillera, there was not a thing that could not be appreciated and adored. So often before while sequestered in her mother's realm had Seren gazed down upon this exquisite quilt and dreamed of touching it. Now, flying high above it on her father's dragon-clad back, it was finally within reach. There was no time at all for petty things like cold fingers and wind-whipped cheeks. If she asked to pause for a moment it was only to get closer and see a vista from a different perspective, to actually lay a hand on a rock formation, pick a flower, take a sip of a crystal clear stream and compare the taste to a thought, a dream, a wish for the future.
Seated on the cloud with Ronin was even better. Now she could point out the things that caught her eye, ask questions, share her thoughts and ask for his. The houseboat would have plenty interesting as a destination for no reason other than the meaning it held to her fathers, and Seren hoped they would stop by there at some point along the way. Though as her dad pointed out the mystery of the reversed waterfall to her, it quickly absorbed her attention and drew a wide, excited smile onto her face. It felt like such a long time since she had felt this light. Not since the meeting, and the voice in the air -
Touching grass with lightly shod feet, she was already prancing past Ronin on her way towards the cliffs surrounding the Weightless Waterfall. Reaching out as far as she dared with both hands to touch the frothing cascade, a whoop of pure joy escaped her.
"It's so cold!" she laughed, shaking water from her fingers, only to promptly be there again, battling the peculiar gravity and the sheer weight of the water when it thundered into her open palms. "Have you tried it before?"
Dismissing his nimbus to follow at a much more loping pace, Seren will have had a chance to test the temperature of the waterfall a number of times be the time Ronin appears, setting down their picnic and grinning as he clambers up to join her before the roaring flood of clear water. "I couldn't tell you the source, honestly. I always meant to fly up river one day and see if I could figure out where it all comes from."
Another day, perhaps. For now with his daughter beside him, Ronin can only flash her a lopsided grin and pretend to nudge her towards the deep pool - though of course he will be there to keep her steady if she does actualy look as if she's going to take a tumble. "A few times, in fact," he says of trying it. "I can confirm that it's just as cold everywhere else as it is on your fingers. Worth it, though."
Grinning at the teasing nudge, Seren assessed the waterfall. Leaning out as far over the edge as she dared - which was pretty far, enough to see the white froth go on and on until it vanished in a haze - she then followed the cascades upward, until they likewise vanished out of view.
"Before we leave I will try it," she decided, cheerfully accepting a challenge that may or may not have been intentional.
"Did you like living here? Did the dragons bother you at all?" She had left Umbra at home for fear that his presence would antagonize any of the residents. Her connection with him had faded to a single pinprick of light at the edge of awareness, too far away for any emotion to come through. The thought of him and of his larger brethren had her scanning the horizon though, half hoping, half dreading the appearance of one.
"I would expect nothing less," Ronin says with a wink, leaving Seren to admire the waterfall and its strange reversal of gravity for as long as she likes; in the meantime the Knight steps back and out of the splash zone so he can find a place to set up their picnic. Choosing a fairly flat and grassy area amid the fields of wildflowers, the roar of the waterfall is still audible without the two needing to shout to each other to talk.
"I really did," Ronin says, of living up in the Cordillera, and his smile is one of warm nostalgia, even as he begins to take out their snacks and drinks. "And they didn't bother us at all, no, though I wouldn't take that as any sort of sign that the place is safe from them." Smirking across at Seren, he gestures to himself. "I think maybe I was just the bigger, badder dragon, so they chose to leave us be."
She came bouncing back eventually, skipping like a little girl with an air of pure enjoyment. Whatever shadows had haunted her lately were thoroughly forgotten, leaving room for the usual bright smile to shine unhindered.
"I think I understand why," she sighed dreamily, plopping down beside her father to help him set out the picnic. "There is something so untouched about this place, right? And you are bound to go undisturbed. Did you get any visitors at all?"
Laughing at his claim to be the biggest baddest dragon in the Cordillera, Seren did not disagree. Her thrill at being allowed to finally see his shift still lingered like a buzz within, not to mention getting to fly with him.
Unable not to smile at the sight of his daughter bounding through wildflowers toward him, Ronin feels something uncoil and relax within himself that has been bound far too tightly for far too long. Having poured Seren a cup of lemonade, he holds it out for her and sits back in the sweet grasses, leaning back on one hand with his own drink. "Mm, that's exactly it," he says, turning his gaze up towards the sky as if to watch for the silhouette of dragon wings overhead.
"After the war, what Remi and I really needed was time and space. And this place gave us all of that, asking nothing in return, for as long as we needed it. We did have a few visitors, though." Pointing across to where the Tramezzino can just be seen, a small perch pokes up from the ground where ravens might wait with messages. (Or they had done, at least). "Only people we invited," he clarifies, tipping her a wink.
"You're welcome to stay here whenever you like, once I know the dragons aren't going to bother you if you come up here alone."
Plopping down to sit beside him, Seren folded her legs beneath her and accepted the lemonad with a murmur of thanks. The drink was cool and sweet on her tongue, as refreshing as the icy waters of the cascade and the untouched wilderness around them.
"I would love that," she smiled, gazing towards the houseboat. "I feel like I might be able to paint wonderful pieces here. Did I tell you that I found a studio? It is very bare bones still, but the light is wonderful. Now I can be as messy as I like."
Helping herself to a sandwich and digging into it with gusto, she hummed happily and rocked lightly back and forth as chewed. "Mh, how strong do I have to be for dragons to not bother?" Swallowing, she tilted her head aside. "I know that's a hard question to answer... hm.. but compared to, say, the ones who fought in Remi's tournament?" It would be a good benchmark to measure herself against, and a tangible goal to strive for.
"Mm, I managed to paint some great scenes here. Sunset and sunrise especially," Ronin agrees, sipping at his own drink and smiling openly to hear that Seren has secured a studio for herself. "That's great news," he says. "Where abouts is it? I'll have to drop by one day - maybe we can paint together, or at least pretend to decorate the place." With paint, of course.
As for the dragons and at what point they'd leave his daughter alone, Ronin furrows his brow and grabs up a sandwich for himself, considering it. "I'd say Sunjata and Deimos, probably, are the only other two who'd have them thinking twice," he murmurs. "But as long as you're with one of them - or with me or Remi - as you can see, it still seems to work."
"It is an old shop, near the upper levels of Haulani" she told him enthusiastically. "I just strolled by one day and realized there was nothing inside. Apparently the owner passed away and it has just been sitting there." Enthusiastically she related how she had asked around and eventually made a deal with the neighbors
"Oh, yes please, I would love that! Hadama asked to commission something for the Court, maybe we can make something together?" As for decorating the studio, it was a blank canvas in itself, so it wouldn't take much at all to improve it.
"Ooh, yes that makes sense. Gosh, I have a long way to go, don't I." If she deflated a bit at the names he mentioned, Seren drowned any disappointment in a long sip of the lemonade. Bitter, sweet, sour - there was an old cliché about what to do with lemons, and she had a suspicion that whoever came up with it must have been an optimist.
"Was it just me, or did Deimos seem a bit... stressed, last we saw him? Even before that voice began to talk to us, I mean." It had been a while since she spoke to him - probably years at this point - and she couldn't helpbut wonder if shehad anything to do with that. They had been good friends at one point, but now...
"Oh, that's sad," Ronin says with a soft frown, to hear about the now-studio that had just been left derelict until Seren happened upon it. "But at least you can breathe some new life into it now." Raising his sandwich in a cheers, he smiles and takes a bite, settling in to listen to how his daughter had cleverly procured the place for herself.
"That's a good idea - I'd love to," he agrees, nodding. "Did he give any details?" Ronin knows where they can get the sort of materials to paint directly onto stone and wood, and if Hadama would prefer a traditional canvas, they can at least try to make it waterproof.
Taking another sip of lemonade, Ronin offers Seren a lopsided smile and reaches out to playfully muss her dark hair. "Enjoy it," he urges. "The journey is the best part - and the people you meet along the way. Being up here alone with dragons isn't as good as the company you might bring with you."
As for Deimos, the Knight casts his mind back to the meeting and furrows his brow, nodding to himself. "He's just recently had his first child," he says, "and I can tell you from experience that it puts a lot of things into stark perspective. Add in the stress of all of this," that being the void stuff, "and I imagine he's definitely not feeling as easygoing as some of us. He also didn't have the opportunity to flounce off up here for a year like Remi and I - he's been Warden throughout."
She couldn't agree more, and counted herself fortunate to be able to do something nice with the legacy, sad though it was. As for Hadama's request, she shook her head. "No, and I suggested he should wait until I had some samples to show before he decided anything," she replied, reaching for another sandwich. "It would be fun, though, I really want to do it."
Grumbling sweetly over the mess he made of her hair, Seren sighed wistfully. "I guess... I just wish I could be more useful. I even have the right kind of abilities. Sort of." Her gravity pulse might be quite effective, if the orb test was any indication. She just lacked... everything else. "It would be nice, wouldn't it, if some of the responsibility could be taken off his shoulders, and off yours and Remi's. It shouldn't have to be up to you to solve every problem that pops up."
"Then maybe we can practice on the studio, and show him when we're done," Ronin suggests, and if he selfishly just wants an excuse to paint on some walls, so sue him. It's not as though they can't paint over it again if it turns out a mess or a mistake - which, unlikely between himself and Seren, such is his opinion.
Concentrating on his sandwich (duh) as Seren speaks, Ronin is already finished with his half by the time she falls silent, the Knight brushing the crumbs onto the grass and leaning back on an elbow with his lemonade, shading his eyes from the sun with his free hand. "You're very useful," he objects. "This kind of stuff rarely just happens overnight. Keep at it and you'll get there, I know you will. In the meantime, it's my pleasure to keep the world a safer place for you to live."
Which, typically cheesy White Knight line, and he winks at her for it for good measure.
"That's a good idea! I can do some mockups too, and see if there's another medium I like." Licking crumbs from her fingers with her mind filled with thoughts of paint and clay, plaster and whatever else might enhance a painting - cloth? sand? maybe even living plants? - she smiled, lighter at heart when engaged with art than any other time.
The sidelong glance she cast Ronin was a bit dubious. Seren couldn't quite recall anything she had done that had been useful. That meeting, maybe, but even there she had needed him to step in and get things going, while she kept floundering about. At least his cheesy gallantry made her laugh, though it was with a lighthearted eye roll. "My champion! Whatever shall I do without you." Clasping dramatically at her heart, then proceeding to swoon and falling to her back on the blanket, the thought honestly didn't bear thinking. "Still... Maybe forget what I said about doing this on my own? Clearly I didn't know what I was talking about" she asked, her nose wrinkling at the memory of her sudden return, and the baseless confidence she'd flung around like a banner. "And I should train more..." She had been postponing that. Procrastinating, when the memory of her dramatic defeat in the tournament reared its ugly head.
Maybe she was a bit scared, to put herself out there again.
