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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!
Sah really didn't understand why he'd ended up in the labyrinth. For one reason or another, a commission had come in for a rabbit caught within its depths. It was most likely for a divine quest. The hunter had taken the job, and it was only due to his access to wings that he wasn't particularly worried about getting lost.
As he meandered, following the faint tracks of his quarry, the maze opened up into a large swath of sandy ground. It almost looked like a standard training ground. The hybrid glanced up a the sun and judged that it was still early enough in the day to take advantage of the opportunity.
With a gesture of his hand, he called forth his creation magic and made himself a target. Although his lighting itched to be unleashed, the Wild Thunder held it back. It'd do him no good to get rusty with his other magics. Instead, he held out his hand a burst of fire took shape. It wasn't as challenging as a moving target, but Sah focused on a pinpoint strike to the bullseye. Letting his fire unfurl, it surged toward the target, smashing into the center and turning the entire construct to cinders.
Brokkrid had tried to find a suitable place to stay for the night, out of the elements, and perhaps someplace dry. The seasons were turning, so the bite of cold that hung in the air danced around at the edges of her liminal mind, starting to take over for her conscious one. She stumbled, quite by accident into the maze, and found herself walking among the walls before she knew it. She blinked a couple of times, trying to have her conscious mind take over for her subconscious walking brain, and realized she had stumbled right into a maze.
She turned back the way she came and sighed, closing her eyes. Brokkrid’s fingers massaged the bridge of her nose and she started off the way she had come in, only to run into a half-bare hedge, scraping herself needlessly on the hard bark of the hedge.
“Huh?” She asked, as if the hedge would answer. She looked at the wall that was standing in her way. Was that there before? She shook herself and sighed. The small scratches had woken her up, at least. Rolling her shoulders so that her pack was more comfortable she stared at the wall, and then turned back around. There was a dead end to greet her there too, with a twist to the left that wasn’t there before.
“I must have fallen asleep on my feet again.” She said, though the pain from the microabrasions and the golden and auburn leaves in her hair suggested otherwise. Brokkrid couldn’t help but just walk the way that the maze led her. At each dead end it turned a different way, leading her further and further in until she reached a cave. She looked back and sighed, letting the cave swallow her for the night sounded better than a night out in the elements.
---
The next morning, she awoke and tried to find her way out. Stumbling for a good long while through the depths after her light source, a torch she had, guttered and died. Panic settling in she stumbled to the nearest wall and prayed that she was going the right way to be led out of the tunnels. Not that praying ever did much good. She hadn’t been blessed by the gods, and it seemed that if there was any intervention it was always in the form of a child picking on a small animal, throwing rocks at it. She closed her eyes, feeling foolish for keeping them open after the first ten minutes and continued to pat the walls to see where she was going, taking left turns, always left. If this truly was a labyrinthe, then she would get out eventually. She just hoped she had the supplies for it.
Brokkrid finally stumbled, eyes closed and face first, and fell a good 4 feet down into the very beginnings of an abandoned training ground, blinking against the sudden light of the sun.
Gods be damned what time was it? She looked to her left, toward the center of the training ground to find a training dummy and an older man, not much older by any stretch of the imagination, but a small amount, punishing a dummy. She wondered who put the dummy there, and why the man was practicing with it.
Getting up, she dusted herself off, letting the sand fall away from her clothes as the worry fell away from her mind. She raised a hand and waved at the slightly shorter man, “Hello! Um, is this your maze?” She asked.
Sah heard footsteps approaching and turned just as the stranger appeared. And fell. Eyes widening, he took a step forward to help, but she was already back on her feet. Tilting his head, the hybrid's brow furrowed. "Are you okay?" Her appearance concerned him. The young woman looked dead on her feet and there appeared to be a stray leaf in her hair. Perhaps she was lost in the maze, like so many travelers before her.
It was clear that she wasn't a local, given her question. The Wild Thunder shook his head, "No. I don't think anyone could possibly 'own' the Labyrinth. It's been here for as long as anyone I've asked can remember, and frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it was sentient." Nearly all of Caido was more than it appeared. The Greatwood was sentient; there were animals that appeared harmless but were deadly, and even plants that came alive and smacked you.
Still keeping one worried eye on the stranger, Sah absentmindedly flicked his wrist to reform the target. "Did you get lost in the maze?"
"I suppose I did get lost in the maze." Brokkrid returned after being asked if she was alright and both literally and figuratively brushing off the question. A silly thing to ask when she landed on sand. She looked around and then back up at the hole she had just popped out of. "Strangest thing too, wait you called it a maze?" She groaned and her shoulders slumped as she slouched forward in protest to hearing the worst news of the day.
"I tell you what, I'll help you with your, uh, training since you obviously know the way out and obviously know who put up that training dummy." Brokkrid said, turning friendly toward the only other humanoid she had seen in the past twenty four hours, "In return, if you could show me the way out, I'd be eternally grateful. I am not a genie or anything, but I'd be mighty grateful and would do anything in my power to repay you for sorting out my blunder."
So far in her life she had only stumbled into a dangerous situation twice. Once when she was out in the wilderness in halo she had stumbled upon a cave and took shelter for warmth, only to be driven out by a bear that was sleeping a bit further in when she had struck up a fire. The other time was when she had lost her way in - which city was it again? - and Brokkrid had a run in with people who took everything, including the shirt off her back. Luckily she had been saved from starvation by a couple of members of - well it didn't matter what religion they were a part of - who clothed her and fed her and took her to the authorities. It took another thirteen days, a lucky number, to find her things and return it to her.
This, however, was probably by far the most dangerous situation she had ever been in. A maze was bad, but not completely without hope. She might be able to subsist on something in the maze, or at the very least cut her way out before she ran out of provisions. A sentient maze, however, sounded much more sinister, and was a greater threat to her life. The fact that this man had asked if she was okay spoke volumes to his humanitarian ways, and his short three sentences said that he was amicable enough to show her the way out, if he knew the way out that was.
So she gambled, and smiled prettily, and waited for him to either turn her down, or agree to a quick training session before quitting the maze. She hoped for the rest of her natural life.
Your leg, ahh! It’s caught in a bear trap some quicksand moss! Quickly you sink in up to your knee as what you had thought to be just a patch of dry moss begins to slowly devour you. If you aren’t freed in about 30 minutes, you’ll lose the leg.
You’ve encountered Quicksand Moss! It should be fairly easy to escape from, though you might experience lingering pain or swelling in your leg.
Quicksand Moss - Quicksand moss has the appearance of dead moss, although in reality, this brown colour is due to it consuming animals instead of sunlight. It grows anywhere a regular moss or lichen would, but grabs any creature foolish enough to come near and quickly digests them.
Sah tilted his head, "You want to spar in exchange for a way out? Sure." He'd have helped her regardless, but the Wild Thunder was never one to turn down a training session. Although the hybrid had planned on flying out, he could surely act her eyes from the sky and guide her to safety. Her second comment registered, and Sah nodded at the target, "That was me, actually." With a quick burst of fire magic, he destroyed the target and let the ashes dissipate in the wind. They wouldn't need it for a spar.
Focusing on the woman, he smiled softly, "I'm Sah. You can start if you'd like. I'm fine with whatever you want to work on. Weapons, magic, shifts, anything." Sah's face twisted in a smirk as he gestured for Brokkrid to come at him, "Bring it on." The Wild Thunder was curious to see what she was capable of. He didn't want to be cocky, but the hybrid was well aware of the strength of his own magic. Sah would prefer that she attack first so that he could judge just how much power to use in order to ensure both of their safeties.
12-14-2024, 09:34 PM (This post was last modified: 12-14-2024, 11:30 PM by Brokkrid.)
Brokkrid nodded at his handiwork, admiring the small target before he destroyed it in a brilliant display, several degrees higher than her own, blinking at the sudden light and clearing her throat in trepidation. She pulled her leg out of the quicksand that had formed beneath her left foot, feeling the grit run into her boot. Gulping down her astonishment, Brokkrid looked at the still burning effigy. Gathering all of her concentration and feeling the strain of it in the fore of her mind, she tried to move the fire toward him. It was a larger flame than she was used to controlling, but she bent it from burning upward, to burning slightly to the side, toward him, drawing the heat in his direction. A bead of sweat ran down her face, falling from her eyebrow to her cheek before she let go of the breath that she hadn't been aware of holding.
((Rolled a 2 on the roll for magic XD))
"Damnit, I can't seem to do anything more than that." She motioned toward the fire and rolled her tight shoulders, the strain of stress had knotted them into a painful tapestry from being stuck in the maze for the greater part of two days.
"Alright, I suppose that we can still train." She pulled out a sword and her shield, in the shape of a bear's head, its silver teeth in a steel bear's head. The silver eyes, glaring at the man in a silent snarl. She unsheathed the sword, it was a straight leaf-shaped blade, the hand guard curling to mate with the pommel of the handle. The leather grip strained under her grip. She moved toward him slowly, "Draw a weapon, we can spar with these." She was more sure of her combat ability with weapons than using magic as a weapon, more was the pity.
When magic failed, she usually resorted to bravado, and when both failed, then it was onto the brawn. She had never been particularly astute, nor had she the intelligence to size someone up. She couldn't tell she was leagues behind the person that she was squaring up to, but she had promised a training session in exchange for being shown the way out. She intended to make good on that.
12-15-2024, 12:24 PM (This post was last modified: 12-15-2024, 12:24 PM by Sah.)
I have never feared the storm
Sah watched the fire beside him flicker, picking up on the women's use of fire magic. It was in its beginning stages and untrained. But they had all been there once. Even now, the Wild Thunder sometimes had mishaps when first learning a new magic. He shifted his weight to avoid the flames, watching as her focus broke.
Her slight self-deprecation pulled a frown to his face. "Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. We all start somewhere." She pulled a sword, and Sah nodded, drawing his own from where it was sheathed at his waist. "If you ever decide that you do want to train with your fire magic, I'd be happy to give you some pointers. Or you could come to the Arcane Academy in Halo."
The hybrid still had little clue as to what level his sparring partner was at. He had a solid idea of where she was in terms of magic, but not in other aspects. Sah decided to go a little easy on her in his first strike. Just in case.
Adjusting his grip on his sword, the Wild Thunder surged forward and slashed at her, purposefully giving her time to parry if she could. If not, he would stop the sword just shy of her skin to avoid harming her.
12-15-2024, 01:03 PM (This post was last modified: 12-15-2024, 01:07 PM by Brokkrid.)
Brokkrid reddened, "I know people half my age that are twice as adept at their magic as I." She rubbed the back of her neck with her hand, after stuffing her sword between her arm and torso, but then when he came at her she hurriedly grabbed the sword and held up her shield, the blow sent her off her balance, making her stumble further toward the fire, she put the still smoldering remains between them and rolled her shield arm's shoulder. She had lost most of the feeling in it from the heavy blow and thanked her lucky stars that she had it.
"Damn, that was a huge hit." She said, "You're stronger than I am for sure." She used the words as a way to buy time, while concentrating on the flames and then pointing at the young man again. Her magic didn't work this time either, though it did leap out toward him, extending itself a good three feet. Though it was more than a meter off of its mark. Her sword arm slumped to her side and she found herself panting. Using magic in battle she had heard stories of, but perhaps she was decades from doing it herself.
"How did you make it look so easy?" She asked, finally feeling the reassuring pins and needles spreading through her benumbed arm. It was starting to regain feeling, and therefore strength. She would be able to use it to advance soon.
Sah nodded, "True. But there's always someone stronger." Despite how far he'd come, the hybrid was well aware that he'd never catch up to some of Caido's most powerful individuals. At least, the chances were incredibly slim. Some days, it hurt his pride, but most of the time, he just felt proud that one of his closest friends was among that small group of legends.
As she stumbled, the Wild Thunder was incredibly glad that he'd held back. It seemed that her magical and physical prowess were relatively even. He could have seriously hurt her. But she hadn't given up hope in their par it seemed. Sah grinned as she reached for her fire again, sending a respectable blast at him. Given its trajectory, he was able to evade it.
Lighting a fire in his palm, he sent a ball of it at her but kept a tight grip on its strength. "Years of practice and getting help from others." As the fire drew near, he posed a challenge. "Redirect this away from yourself. If you can't don't worry. I'll stop it." Sah wouldn't let her be burnt but he wanted to see if she could pull it off. Sometimes, learning how to use your magic defensively came easier than offensively.
"Hmm." Brokkrid intoned, not sure that she believed him about the someone stronger bit of his speech. She turned her attention to the flame that came at her, pointing her sword, she willed it to go left. It nudged itself left, but she still had to put her shield in front of her and jump to the right to avoid the sphere of incandescent conflagration. Her eyes wide, she was now panting heavily, her shield arm hung at her side, the magic having eaten a good bit of her stamina, "Gods above and below, it's hard to continue using it. You make it seem so easy."
She couldn't think of a better way to say it other than just echoing her same thought, as it burned in her mind. He was obviously close to a god, or a demigod at least. Could she really trust him to take her out of the maze, or would he wear her down and then do something that she wouldn't recover from? Would she lose her life or a limb here in this duel just because he was not aware that she was a paper tiger in the hurricane that was; Sah?
She hoped not. She pushed off in her last desperate attempt to land at least some sort of blow on him. She held her shield in front of her and summoned the last bit of strength, attempting to strike him with the shield while pulling some of the heat from the fire and making her shield at least an uncomfortable warm, if not hot.
The magic didn't come as she called it while running at him, which was probably not surprising given her fatigue, having just strained her magic with the redirection, thrice in such a short amount of time. She was tired, and would most likely fall after this. She had trained for hours with the sword and board, but mixing magic in was a hellish training she had not endured ever. Even the muscles behind her eyes hurt from the strain of it.
"Still, you were able to move it. Well done." Sah was truly trying not to discourage her with his capabilities. He was holding back extensively at this point. If he could hear her thoughts, he'd be insulted. Of course, he could lead her to safety. Sah could probably carry her out if he had to and he had his healing magic ready. Giving her a quick scan, Sah resolved to tend to any lingering bruises with it after their spar. She was near her breaking point.
As she rushed him, Sah caught the edge of her shield, locking it into place. "Easy there." He gave her a tiny nudge back as he let go. Not enough to knock her off balance, much less fall, but just enough to force her to take a step back,
The hybrid then stepped into a fighting stance, sheathing his sword. "Instead of rushing, try and go for any openings. I'm not wearing any armor, and I don't have a shield. If you can't reach what would be a lethal blow, go for the joints or other soft points." Sah waited for her to attack, ready to block and end the spar.
By this time Brokkrid had given up on landing a blow on him, but perhaps she could at least try to catch him off guard. She wouldn't go for anything vital just in case she couldn't catch herself in time or he stepped into it, but she would at least try to go for an opening, no matter what she would at least make it a good sparring session for him. After all, she had promised right?
She waited patiently, the beads of sweat pouring down her face from the overexertion, her muscles crying out for a stop to the abuse she had put herself through, and her eyelids feeling heavy. Magic was one hundred percent harder than she had thought, and she wasn't able to use it efficiently yet, since she was unpracticed. Perhaps with years, like Sah had said, she could reach that level, but she put it to the back of her mind that if her life were truly in danger, to not rely on it for the time being at least.
She saw him shift his center from his left to his right, and that was when she decided to strike at him, aiming the rim of her shield for his face, obstructing the sword that was aimed for his thigh. It was a double blow she had learned from a guardsman back in New Haven. It wasn't much use though, her hands trembled and as she reached for his face, it was slow, the balance of her stance was off, and a bead of sweat obscured her dominant left eye. She threw the blow wide, giving him a good look at the whole maneuver.
Easily blockable, she left herself open to a counter-attack. Still, she had tried her best.
It was time to end this. The women attempted a clever maneuver that, with rest and practice, would surely prove effective. As it was, Sah twisted and swept her foot out from under her. Instead of letting her fall flat on her back, the Wild Thunder caught her with an arm around the waist and gently sat her down. She was clearly exhausted.
Sitting down a foot or so away so as not to crowd her personal space, Sah made a flicking motion with his wrist. From his pack over by the edge of the hedges, a waterskin and bag of rations floated out. He presented both to his sparring partner. "Here. You've earned these. And if you're ok with it, may I use my magic to heal you?" Sah didn't want to touch her without her permission, not when he was basically a stranger.
