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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!
The time had come. It was a new season, and with it, she had promised to visit Deimos for his help in finishing her quest. Today she would play tag with the Warden of Halo - for better or for worse.
She wore the ring he'd crafted for her and simple, warm clothing that would be easy to move in. Her wild curls were tied back out of her face. She was just a seer, prone to a relatively sedentary lifestyle. She had no doubt that she was going to fail miserably at a game of tag with freaking Deimos of all people. And yet, here she was. Not for the first time, she questioned her sanity. Why hadn't she asked someone less physically fit to help her? But all of her friends were stronger than she was, so really, if it wasn't Deimos, it would have been someone else.
So Alys had arrived, they'd set up in the barracks, where she could - hopefully - dodge in and out of training dummies and other obstacles. The rules were simple - they would play tag until she was exhausted. No magic. No weapons. Maybe it would even be fun.
"Are you ready?" she asked Deimos. When he agreed, she darted forward to try and tag him to get the game started, reaching with an outstretched hand for his arm.
alys glasse
waiting for the right mind to drive insane
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Emotional Telepathy | The user can read deep emotions of those within a 5 foot radius at will. Control is excellent. Note: "Deep emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Emotional Perception | The user can read surface level emotions of those within a 15 foot radius. Control is moderate. Note: "Surface level emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Having rules was likely a good start with the Sword, who would’ve thought it hilarious to snag at Alys with zero effort; cheeky enough to find it thrilling to be divesting machinations while playing a child’s game.
The seer had picked a tough opponent for herself regardless; Deimos ensured he was physically fit by a litany of activities every day – including but not limited to daily runs with the soldiers on patrol, fighting spars, climbing the ice wall, going on hunts…
So he let himself be tagged, a juvenile grin unfurling along his mouth the instant the hand snagged at his arm – and unleashed a rapid shift in movement to dart at her shoulder – and hopefully, off and away in a single motion.
Alys was well aware that Deimos could have dodged her tag if he had been so inclined, and so it was with a resigned sort of pleasure that she felt her hand make contact with his arm before she skipped away, attempting to get out of range. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't quite quick enough, and before she could duck behind a nearby mannequin, the Sword had darted towards her shoulder, succeeding in tagging her back before he was off and away once more.
Now she was at a bit of a disadvantage; he was taller than her, with a longer stride, and they had long since determined he was far faster than her as a result. As he ran away from her, she leapt into motion, falling into a run as she pursued him through the room. Maybe, if she cut across the corner and reached out, she could tap his shoulder or back and then dart the opposite direction. It was worth a shot, anyway.
alys glasse
waiting for the right mind to drive insane
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Emotional Telepathy | The user can read deep emotions of those within a 5 foot radius at will. Control is excellent. Note: "Deep emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Emotional Perception | The user can read surface level emotions of those within a 15 foot radius. Control is moderate. Note: "Surface level emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Alys was quick and clever; he’d concede those notions to her each time. But so was he – and had spent lifetimes being seditious, and sometimes juvenile – a combination of machinations and rebellion that snagged at his mind with every stretch of his stride. And while weapons, magic, or shifts weren’t in use…she didn’t say he couldn’t try other things.
After all, wasn’t it supposed to be a challenge?
Her outstretched hand just missed him on a whiff of air, and he was off – dodging past several soldiers who opted to rampage out of the way, and swiftly, fully intent on launching himself up the icy training wall, where she would have to put in much more work to catch him. Palms snagged on the first few rungs with efficiency and ease, not daring to glance back just yet.
She reached for him, and for a moment she was sure that she would feel his shoulder beneath her hand at any moment - but then he was gone and away, and she was left staggering through the air where he had been mere seconds before. With a muttered curse, Alys launched herself into a run, dodging through training mannequins in a desperate effort to keep up.
When she saw where he was headed, she nearly groaned aloud. Of course he would find some way to make this as challenging as possible.
The training wall was icy, and Alys was not as nimble as Deimos, for all she was quick and clever. She made it only a short way off the ground before her hold slipped and she fell, hitting the ground with a loud oomph that knocked the breath from her lungs. For a moment, she was dazed, watching Deimos ascend higher and higher as she lay, wheezing, on her back; but then she forced herself to her feet and doggedly forced herself to try the ice wall again. Now she had even more ground to make up.
alys glasse
waiting for the right mind to drive insane
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Emotional Telepathy | The user can read deep emotions of those within a 5 foot radius at will. Control is excellent. Note: "Deep emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Emotional Perception | The user can read surface level emotions of those within a 15 foot radius. Control is moderate. Note: "Surface level emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Deimos knew better than to look back. Any competition, any challenge, any happenstance where his boldness contorted near rivalry bolstered his ambition – but the oomph of Alys hitting the ground gave him pause.
Glancing downwards, over the lines of the climbing wall and multitudes of others around, he intended to spot where the seer happened to have fallen. Within half a moment he thought about scurrying down and calling the ridiculous game where it was, snagging at a healer, and going from there –
But then she was back up, clambering after him, and he snorted to himself. “You all right?” he rumbled at her regardless, already beginning to ascend once more, but irritated he’d lost ample moments of time. There could’ve been far more tactical gain – but then again, one would have to weigh out the nuances of what it meant when searing and scorching against friends.
"I'm fine," she called up, her voice equal parts determined and wheezy. But she'd never been one to throw in the towel just because things got hard, and this was no exception. This was more than just a game, more than training - this was a part of her quest, and she had to give it her all, to prove that she was worthy of a blessed item. And she needed to work even harder to prove herself - at least in her mind. She was Abandoned, after all.
So she doggedly climbed after Deimos, who had begun to ascend again once he'd ascertained that she was alright. This time, she paid more attention to her hand- and footholds, scaling the wall quickly and efficiently in the hopes of catching up to the Warden when she reached the top.
alys glasse
waiting for the right mind to drive insane
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Emotional Telepathy | The user can read deep emotions of those within a 5 foot radius at will. Control is excellent. Note: "Deep emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Emotional Perception | The user can read surface level emotions of those within a 15 foot radius. Control is moderate. Note: "Surface level emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
The determined and stalwart response, along with a mixture of heady notions he immediately distrusted, still ensured he continued moving forward. He made a mental note to find some healers nearby, thereafter, to take care of any lingering malaise clinging to the seer. Ascending the top of the climbing wall permitted him to look down, briefly, before pondering his next move. It would’ve been amusing to send incantations after her, or shift to a bird and fly off, but such maneuvers would be breaking over the challenge and rules.
So he narrowed his eyes and smiled, wholeheartedly juvenile, as he took several strides towards the nearby roof (never far from the climbing wall), and began to utilize his strength and height, fully intending to climb upwards upon that too.
As a healer herself, Alys would decline Deimos's efforts on her behalf, though they would be most appreciated. For now, she knew that she hadn't broken anything, and she suspected that she'd merely knocked the air from her lungs momentarily. She could do a more thorough evaluation after their game was over.
Deimos reached the top of the wall, but the seer was only about halfway, focusing on her hand- and footholds as she grew higher and higher. She made the mistake of looking up just in time to see Deimos disappear, climbing towards a nearby roof. With a muttered curse, Alys pushed herself harder, finally topping the climbing wall and starting towards the roof herself. Thank the gods she wasn't afraid of heights!
alys glasse
waiting for the right mind to drive insane
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Emotional Telepathy | The user can read deep emotions of those within a 5 foot radius at will. Control is excellent. Note: "Deep emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Emotional Perception | The user can read surface level emotions of those within a 15 foot radius. Control is moderate. Note: "Surface level emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
He could hear the muffled curse, that brief undercurrent of irritation, that left him thoroughly amused. A low chuckle reverberated, echoed, and wound through the halls of stone and fire, granting Alys another grin before he finally assailed to the top. Clambering over the structure and surface was easy, for he’d mastered utilizing and racing across their depths before; it was just to see if Alys would.
Which meant he kept inviting the chase – making it a bit more challenging every step of the way – as he began to head for the next building over, fully intending to span his long stride over one roof to the next.
Alys clambered to the top of the climbing wall and paused as Deimos made his way onto the roof, scowling up at his retreating back. She was nothing if not stubborn, and so despite the fact that her arms and legs were starting to feel like gelatin and her lungs were burning with exertion, she forced herself to start climbing up, and up, and up, refusing to give in to the urge to look down. She wasn't afraid of heights, but nor was she particularly keen to see how far she had to fall now that she was climbing onto a gods-cursed roof.
But of course the chase wouldn't stop there; as she topped the final climb, she watched Deimos take several long strides that took him from their roof to the next. With a huff and a laugh, because of course he would, she looked at the gap and promptly decided it wasn't worth it. Deimos might run across rooflines all he'd like, but she was shorter, her stride smaller, and she had no confidence in her ability to leap from one to another without falling to her death.
"Okay, you win!" she shouted after him, slowing to a halt at the roof's edge to brace her hands on her knees and gulp in lungfuls of air. "I give up!"
alys glasse
waiting for the right mind to drive insane
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Emotional Telepathy | The user can read deep emotions of those within a 5 foot radius at will. Control is excellent. Note: "Deep emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Emotional Perception | The user can read surface level emotions of those within a 15 foot radius. Control is moderate. Note: "Surface level emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Those snippets of Alys falling had seemingly done in the entire scenario; his competitive mettle had unfortunately likely done in the rest. In all platitudes, he wouldn’t have let her fall off the roof, or anywhere; had he been aware of her faltering off the wall, he would’ve tried to cease it – but it would’ve meant magic use. But he could hear her shouting, and turned back to see she was no longer following; uncertain if she really meant it or not. There could be some amount of deceit in there – like a lure to bring him back over the brink and be tagged in the onslaught.
Taking the chance, and perhaps to give her an opportunity, he returned to the original roof of the barracks, rather than continuing to scurry over to the neighbor’s; but decidedly out of an emboldened, if foolish, reach. “Shame,” he rumbled, with a boyish grin on his face to match. “You all right?” An echo from earlier, but given the huffing and puffing, he wanted to be sure she was not going to keel over on the shingles.
With her capitulation came Deimos's return; Alys straightened as he approached, throwing her arms haphazardly over her head as her breathing began to slow. Why she had chosen him of all people to play tag with was beyond her, now that their game was done. Not that it was much of a game, really. She wondered if it would even count for the purposes of her quest. In the end, it was her effort that mattered, she thought - and she had put in a great deal of effort here today, failure or no.
"I'm fine," she said, waving away Deimos's concern with a smile to soften the gesture. "Nothing broken. Just got the breath knocked out of me. I didn't fall far." Just far enough to ensure his victory, but that had been a foregone conclusion from the start.
alys glasse
waiting for the right mind to drive insane
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Emotional Telepathy | The user can read deep emotions of those within a 5 foot radius at will. Control is excellent. Note: "Deep emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Emotional Perception | The user can read surface level emotions of those within a 15 foot radius. Control is moderate. Note: "Surface level emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
His brow remained arched under her assessment, but he nodded; nothing he could do otherwise. Accepting the notions, he began to make his way off the roof this time, meticulous and careful along shingles and stoneworks, dropping downwards and onto the climbing wall, turning back and expecting Alys to follow. “Good game. Might need more rules next time,” he wrinkled his nose in the boyish and juvenile outlook – perhaps she’d want to ensure not only was there no magic or shifts involved, but that they also stayed on the ground entirely.
Live and learn, perhaps – for the Swor would always try and find a way.
