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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!
It would be wrong to say that Flora had ulterior motives in inviting her sister out for a bit of gardening; really, she was just being effisicent. If being a queen had taught Flora anything it was that there were hardly enough hours in the day to get everything done that she needed to, so when possible it was best to combine tasks.
Case in point, planting whatever these stupid seeds were and seeing if her sister would be willing to give up her orb for Torchline.
In a breezy sundress now that the weather was finally getting back to normal, Flora had kicked aside a few rocks with her sandal and was digging down into the ground with a larger stone. Really she might have brought the proper tools to do a good job of this, but having just gone to see Vi with Hadama, the queen put more stock into the tangible tasks they'd been given by the god of life than a random tree that appeared in the desert.
But whatever, it couldn't hurt.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
You have so much of everything but still you wanted more
"Would you like a shovel? I am quite sure I have one tucked away somewhere." There was a suggestion of a smile in Seren's eyes as she stepped through a fold in reality, to find her sister digging into the rocky ground. Far from laughing though, her expression remained relaxed, practical if not a bit curious. Like a blue shadow, Umbra slipped through the portal before it closed behind them and skulked towards the Doubletake with all the stiff-legged posturing or a watchdog, wings half spread to make his already considerable size seem even more impressive.
"Umbra, if you tease my sistee I will be cross with you," Seren warned him, rolling her eyes as she came over to help Flora.
Glancing up, her aqua eyes sparkling warmly to see her sister, the Doubletake gives her head a little shake. "Nah. Either it'll grow or it won't." She says with a shrug before glancing towards Umbra with a smirk. "Hate to break it to you, but I grew up with dragons. Or, a dragon, I should say, and I can promise you there's nothing more menacing than a dragon whose bonded to someone who hates you." Sugar hadn't gotten the best of her, and Umbra could bet he wouldn't either.
"Have you gone up to see that tree thing in the desert?" Flora wonders conversationally as she drops her seeds into the small hole she'd made. The Rainbow Road led to Frey's shrine so the queen assumed that the land must be at least vaguely blessed by the herald's powers. And if not? Well, at least she tried.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
You have so much of everything but still you wanted more
Umbra halted to assess the seriousness behind Seren's threat and Flora's courage. Finding no sympathy anywhere, he let out a suffering sigh and took off, spreading dust and leaving an acrid scent of smoke behind in a parting gift.
Coughing and waving the fumes out of her nose, Seren shook her head. "Sorry about him. Ever since mother told him to look after me, he's been a complete menace and takes it far too seriously." A peevish yet fond look followed the shrinking silhouette of her friend as he winged his way out to sea.
Digging into a pocket in her loose, flowing trousers, she uncovered a seed pod with a smile. "Yes. Father mentioned it in a letter, so I went to have a look." She considered the little hole Flora had dug, and the giant tree. "I might plant this one a bit further away... Was this what you wanted to talk about?" Not that she minded; being called on at all was delightful, it didn't have to be serious.
Also waving a hand at the smoke, Flora could only grin and shrug. "It's nice, when you think about it. It's one of the reasons I leave Spice at home sometimes. Not that I blame her for trying to fight anyone who comes near us, but.." Shrugging, the Doubletake wrinkles her nose. "It's not always as tactful as I'd like it to be, even if I agree with her."
Glancing at the seed, Flora smirks and nods. "Yeah, weird huh? I half expected that deity that Ronin and Remi—" (Should she have said 'my dads' ? 'my dad and your dad'? 'Our dad' and my dad?) "—saved a while ago to be there. How else would a random tree just appear? But no, not about that." Dropping in her seed and covering it back up with the mixture of clay and soil she'd scraped out of the hole, Flora sat back onto her heels.
"I was just wondering if you were done with all those tests on the orb Safrin gave you?" If it was anyone else she might have beaten around the bush a little bit more, but given that this was her sister, Flora opted for the more direct approach. "Hadama and I have just been to see Vi to protect the coastline. It's the last thing we have to do to ensure Torchline is completely safe from all the void bullshit crawling around, and...well, we wouldn't have to go and collect all the things from all the other regions if we used your orb."
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
You have so much of everything but still you wanted more
"I agree. At least he is better at listening to me now than he used to be. He caused me no end of trouble as a hatchling."
Unsure which deity Flora was talking about, Seren merely hummed thoughtfully like she was completely in the know and understood exactly, desperately grateful once the conversation moved on. The request had her eyebrows come up in genuine surprise. That Flora knew about it, that there might be such a use for an item she had considered only as weighty and vaguely evil by association...
"Well... I have yet to test any Ancient abilities on it," she replied, "because I don't know any well enough to ask." She tucked a stray lock of hair behind an ear. "But if you want it, I do not mind giving it to you. Perhaps you could make the final tests before it is destroyed?" If only to cover all possibilities, and ensure no useful bit of knowledge was tossed aside unexplored.
It was surprisingly difficult not to try and manipulate her sister into just doing what she wanted. Was this what her SiTuATiOnShIp with Jack had led to? Running her tongue across her teeth, Flora eyed Seren levelly. "I'm inclined to say that it doesn't matter since none of them are very strong." Sorry Maea. "I mean, when you think about the leader meetings or the demigod meetings, none of them are there. Well...Danta is, but you know he doesn't want to be." Then again, perhaps her sister didn't.
"Butttttttttttttt—" Tilting her head, Flora smiles and shrugs. "If you think it's important, I have some friends who are ancients and I can have them beat up on it to see if it does things differently than when you all tried." Flora had only heard about it from Ronin and Remi of course, the pair having given her a list of what worked and what didn't.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
You have so much of everything but still you wanted more
Slowly sinking down on her heels next to Flora, the starchild considered her opinion as gravely as she would either of their fathers. The safety of Torchline was by no means unimportant to her, and the only real reason why she wasn't just handing over the distasteful orb then and there... was a sense of duty unfulfilled, she supposed.
"Perhaps right now that is true," she replied with a smile, "but who knows how long this conflict will go on? As far as I know, only two people are even capable of using gravity abilities, and by that logic it does not matter knowing about it because neither Hadama nor myself are strong enough to make it useful immediately." If that upset her at all, it didn't show; Seren's tone remained serene and matter of fact. "It would let me sleep easier to know that we did not overlook anything while we had the chance to explore all options. So... yes, please ask your friends to try. You can even consider it a condition for handing over the orb, if you will."
Digging her hand deep into what might be the ground, or a rift in the air, or simply elsewhere, Seren withdrew the unlucky object. It was as cold as always to handle, and she saw goosebumps travel up her arm - the little grimace that wrinkled her nose was entirely disgusted, if not downright fearful.
"I will not lie, the idea of giving it away is wonderful. But I also worry about the risk you might be putting yourself in, by holding on to it."
"Ugh, why do you have to be so smart." Flora wines, before her frown is instantly transformed into a sunny smile as she looks to her sister. "That's a good point, about you and Hadama. It makes me wonder..." Biting at the inside of her cheek, the Doubletake does a brief dive into her memory for any conversations she might have had with Danta or Isla about whether Dygra had any demigods, or was even inclined to make them. "..why Dygra doesn't have any demigods."
Lifting her eyebrows as Seren, in a manner very much like her mother, reached into a pocket of nothing to produce the orb, Flora's eyes grew wide. Wrinkling her nose at it, she watched the goosebumps trickle up her sister's arm and even if she couldn't actually, part of her felt as though she too could feel the chill wafting off of it. "Yeah, it isn't like I'm stoked to have it, but... I mean, I can always channel if things get weird." And, having already pledged herself to Safrin, the Doubletake wasn't worried about the goddess's wrath. Not about this, anyway.
"I'll get all the ancients I know and we'll see what they can do to it, and then I'll send word to you so you can let the demigod squad know?"
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
You have so much of everything but still you wanted more
"Occupational hazard," Seren replied dryly, before thawing into a warm chuckle. "No, but that is a good question." About Dygra's lack of demigods. Drawing a pattern in the sand, she considered it. "Perhaps she prefers them to be made rather than born? There is a certain lack of choice in being born into a role that may not appeal to her. I am not complaining, but entropy is also both darker and more violent than anything I will ever be asked to do." As far as she knew, at least.
Listening to Flora's promise, Seren nodded with satisfaction. "You have a deal. Here you go." Extending the orb, it was a weight off her shoulders. Trusting her sister to uphold her part of the bargain, Seren didn't hesitate to give it away. It was no safer in her care than in Flora's anyway, and she would much rather help someone else put it to good use than hoard it away and live in fear of it being stolen or destroyed.
"Do you need help with anything else regarding the new ward?" she wondered, already turning towards other subjects - equally unpleasant but far easier to do.
"Or maybe it's because you're the daughter of a goddess." Flora counters affectionately; not even Ronin could impart that sort of wisdom onto his children, just ask Mateo. "Huh. That could definitely be." Flora reasons, before her expression turns somewhat sour. "I dunno, the whole entropy thing seems like a big cop-out to me, you know? Like, no way a goddess who is on par with Caido, is just...cool with whatever being done in her name so long as you say it's because of CHaOs."
Standing, Flora dusts off her knees and adjusts the bottom of her dress. Reaching for the orb, the queen frowned as she felt its weight in her hand. It was both lighter and heavier than she'd expected, both colder and not at the same time. Shivering, she took a breath and nodded silently, as if reaffirming to herself and Seren everything they'd just agreed upon.
"Well, we have to collect more rocks from the Rainbow Road and put them around the coast, but that should be easy all things considered."
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
You have so much of everything but still you wanted more
Humming in agreement, Seren's gaze turned out towards the ocean in a thoughtful manner. "Entropy and chaos are not the same thing anyway," she mused, "though they may share some characteristics. Entropy is the gradual decline into disorder, a destabilization of a state of being, rather than full tilt anarchy all the time. Like a swaying pendulum, or a tipping scale - eventually equilibrium will be reached, then the change begins again. So... yes, I expect that anyone who gets used to doing things a certain way will be in for a surprise." Whether for good or ill depended entirely on what moral code someone held themselves to; all Seren could say about it was that things were likely to remain interesting now that the goddess was awake again.
Rising, she extended an arm to hook around Flora's as they strolled along amid the geysers. Colorful geology provided ample inspiration for the artisan, and she kept looking for a good place to plant her own seed. Would a tree even survive this close to the salt of the sea?
"That does not sound too bad," she agreed. "I look forward to the wards all being in place. How are the other regions faring on that part? Do you know?"
Finding a patch of loose gravel and sand in a crevice, Seren paused to dig as far as she could with her hands. Dropping her seed pod into the hole, she covered it up again and gently patted the soil with hopeful encouragement. Maybe it would become a tree. Maybe it would become something else entirely. Either way, she looked forward to seeing what would become of this simple gesture.
Lifting her eyebrows, Flora seems to realize properly for the first time that not only was her sister older than she was, but that she was much wiser as well. Clearing her throat in an attempt to take the conversation a touch more seriously, Flora nodded. "Definitely having a bunch of them together in the Grounds is only perpetuating that way of thinking. I mean, if no one is around to tell you to think differently, you aren't going to just do it on your own, you know?" But, as one of the few non-demigods in her family, Flora had the luxury of simply saying that it wasn't her problem.
Happy to link her arm in Seren's, Flora's thoughts aren't on the artistic qualities of the coastline, but of its proximity to the jungle and the violet threat that still loomed large.
As if sensing her sister's concern, Flora gave her a little nudge with her hip before smiling over her shoulder. "This close to one of Rae and Frey's shrines, if these seeds are able to grow, I bet they can grow here." She says reassuringly, not that she was any authority on botany, unlike her brother.
"Same." The queen agrees. "Uhhh, I know that Halo is nearly done with their hot springs, and then they'll probably start working on protection like we have." Flora answers, recalling her earlier conversation with Deimos with a small shrug.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
You have so much of everything but still you wanted more
If asked, Seren would have assured her sister that years spent with direct access to divine knowledge would improve anyone's faculties. Lacking in street-smarts as a drawback, they would probably make one heck of a team if they decided to do something together, so Seren was only happy to engage in this thought experiment, where none of them really had to do anything. At least not yet.
"Exactly. And that is fine, at least until they start to spill over into other places. It might be a good opportunity to watch them and see where your boundaries go... what we like and do not like about their 'freedom' so that cultural clashes can be avoided." They definitely had enough to worry about with the Family, without needing to add rampaging Ancients to the list of problems. Seren was happily washing her hands off that too - she was no leader, so upholding laws was not her problem, either.
Dusting the dirt off her hands, reassured that the seeds had every chance they might need, Seren nodded. "I do hope they have enough time still. Same for King's End - there are not a lot of citizens there yet, as far as I know."
