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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!
With recent events, Nova decided that staying close was probably safer than wandering around Caido, but that didn't mean she had to stay that close. Taking the family boat, she rowed through the open ocean until she landed on the shores of an interesting island. The bursts of color and shiny ivory stones intrigued her, drawing her into its proximity with the ease of a mouse with cheese. She didn't immediately realize that the plants were quite literally waiting to eat her, or that the 'stones' were actually the bones of all the previous naive young women floating onto its shores. No, she just thought it was pretty.
Tucking her blonde and blue hair behind her ear, she looked for a spot to dock her boat. A flat spot (of an abnormally large skull) presented the perfect place. She grabbed her rope, jumping off to secure her vehicle. Her large sunhat didn't do much for the Deepfrost ocean breeze, but her green sweater dress was made with thick, chunky yarn that protected her against the cold. It also made it very easy to snag her on twigs and plants. Humming pleasantly to herself, Nova skipped towards the forest's edge; but before she could breach its dangerous border (and what sat in wait), her dress caught against a piece of driftwood. The young hybrid let out a small cry, "Darn it! I really liked this outfit!" From the dangly star earrings to the fuzzy brown boots, she was feeling really stylish. And now it was ruined.
Tal was back at work, flying his delivery route around Caido - though for the first time in several seasons while he was doing so alone, without Alys at his side. Sascha's death was fresh and continued to weigh heavily on his heart, and he moved through his routine almost mechanically. Even Boreal, normally incorrigible in her antics, was listless and uncharacteristically quiet as she continued to mourn the little cub who had been both daughter and sister to her.
So it was luck alone that brought the Peregrine both close enough to Metacarpal Island and low enough for the dragon to spot the young woman caught on the driftwood. Boreal let out a curious borf from her place at the Peregrine's bow, looking over the side in surprise and drawing Tal's attention as well. "What--?" The courier frowned down at the bright-haired girl battling to free herself from the - thankfully inert - log and then let out an annoyed sigh. He could probably just keep going to the Port, and she would probably be fine, but...
With a quiet curse under his breath he cut the magic and turned the tiller, locking it in place with a leather strap before vaulting the rail to reef in the sail and bring the trim little skyboat down in range of the shore. "Hey!" he called when he was close enough to be heard. "Didn't y'see th'signs?" Some of the past leaders of Torchline - the Merking and Harper or Maeve or whoever. He couldn't keep them all straight - had put up warning signs around the perimeter of the island to keep curious fools away from the lethal island, but apparently some of them needed to be replaced. He heaved the ground anchor over the side of the boat to catch in a pile of sturdy rocks bones on the beach and scrambled down the rope ladder that followed so he could confront the young woman directly, looking distinctly annoyed. "This place is dangerous!"
Momentarily distracted from trying to free her dress, Nova whipped her head towards the sound of a shout. It turned out to be coming from the sky, a small skyship floating down towards her. And was that - a dragon? She paused her movements to watch him descend, curiosity making her blue eyes glitter in the sunlight. After realizing it would take a moment, she shifted to finally release the thread of her sweater from the wood. When the man finally touched down, she was standing face-to-face with him, free to be her usual stubborn/naive self.
Nova narrowed her eyes indignantly at the annoyance. She hadn't asked him to intervene, and the last time someone had told her something was 'dangerous,' they'd bit her (extremely ironic). It seemed a little suspicious on her end, but she just shrugged her shoulders, giggling. "There's no need to be upset. I'm sure it can't be that bad. It's too pretty to be dangerous." As if beauty was any indicator of threat (she should be evidence enough of that), Nova smiled reassuringly, pointing to the array of colors. "See?"
Now that he could get a good look at her, he could see that she was so... so... bright.
Ugh.
Tal's scowl deepened in a reflexive defense just looking at her. He crossed his arms over his chest as Boreal dropped to the sand behind him and padded up. The dragon was subdued with grief, but still found the energy to lift her blunt muzzle to snuffle at the girl's knee with a shadow of her old friendliness. Her human exhaled on a huff at the young woman's words and he snorted something that was too bitter to be a laugh.
"Y'think pretty things can't be dangerous? That's th'stupidest damn--" He bit off the rest of the sentence with an angry shake of his head. "But sure, ignore th'guy who's been here before. If you're that bound an' determined for your bones t'join th'rest o' th'ones all those 'pretty' plants are growin' on top of, I'm sure as hail not gonna stop you!" He made an exaggerated gesture of 'go right ahead' with his hands, but he kept one eye on the nearby jungle's edge, keeping an eye out for any roots or vines moving in a way that they shouldn't be.
Tal was briefly forgotten as Boreal came close to sniff her leg. Nova hadn't seen many dragons before, but she found that they seemed to act very similar to dogs, but bigger, and scalier, and with wings. As the companion approached, she gave a little giggle of delight, reaching out her hand to offer her scent. "Hi! I'm Nova! What's your name?" Because, of course the dragon would answer her question.
As she looked closely at the ivory surface beneath her feet, she began to notice that they were, in fact, bones. Although she wasn't squeamish, it still made her realize that there just might be some merit to his warning. Her nose wrinkled in a cute scrunch before she settled her features again. This place might be more than she expected, but this man's insinuations offended her deeply. Nova let out a humph of her own, raising her head with stubborn pride and a small pout of her lips. "Well, even if they are dangerous, I can take care of myself." Her tone was somewhat childish, but that was to be expected when her exterior age didn't match the maturity of her mind. And how was she to know any better? She had a powerful shift and various new magics to call upon. In her mind, no one could match her skills!
The offered hand was obediently sniffed and the dragon gave a desultory wag of her serpentine tail as she looked up at Nova with soulful eyes that, for once, weren't being used as leverage for treats or attention. Tal answered without thinking, too used to the instinctive response to remember he was too grumpy to keep his mouth shut. "That's Boreal, an' I'm Tal," he informed the girl - Nova - gruffly.
At least his warning finally seemed to get a response as she paused to reevaluate the island. Her nose scrunch wasn't a patch on Alys's, however, and her stubborn streak did nothing to soothe Tal's own grumpiness. "'zat so?" the courier asked her, clearly disbelieving. "Then by all means - prove it!" He crossed his arms, his scowl taking on a faint hint of a smirk as he waited to see what she would - or could - do.
"Hi Boreal!" Nova reached out to offer a brief scritch on the head, giggling at the smooth texture of the scales. It had her thinking about making an outfit out of old iridescent scales. She wondered where she could find some as she told the friendly dragon, "You're so pretty!"
But then she was standing her ground against the man, indignation flaring at the insult. She wouldn't hesitate to prove him wrong, but past experiences made her cautious and she added, "Fine, but no biting." How was she supposed to know if he was going to shift into a giant tide jaguar like her last opponent? Or just bite her outright?
She didn't linger on the thought long, her tongue coming out in concentration. The earth magic was still new, making it difficult to pull the small stone from the ground, but she narrowed her eyes in pure determination. A moment later, the single rock about the size of an acorn came flying towards Tal. Extremely proud of herself, Nova tipped her head up, a wide grin spread across her face.
Boreal leaned up into the petting with a subdued but happy rumble. She was perfectly smart enough to understand a compliment that was being given to her, and her scaly tail wagged in a serpentine wave through the sand behind her. The nice moment was interrupted by her grumpy human, unfortunately, and the dragon was familiar enough with his temper to sense where things were going. With a faintly impatient huff she moved away to give the pair room to work out their differences.
"Biting? Why th'fuck would I bite anyone?" Tal scoffed, genuinely baffled - though he might have been more understanding if he'd known the source of that particular caveat.
He had to admit - he was pretty curious about what she was going to do. Especially when she got such an intense look of concentration on her face and he had a moment to wonder just what kind of massive spell or shift she was about to unleash on him--
Tal stepped to the side on instinct before he realized the true size of the 'threat,' body shifting into defense before his brain had quite caught up. A second later, after watching the pebble go past, he looked at Nova incredulously. "Really? Is that all y'got??"
Completely invested in proving her abilities, Nova let Boreal slink into the background. However, as the rock flew straight past Tal, her pride deflated like a balloon. Her face scrunched with a mixture of surprise and annoyance. She'd certainly thought it was a formidable attack, but he dodged it with ease. Maybe she hadn't aimed properly.
His taunt brought a light flush to her cheeks, and Nova lifted her nose further in the air with a haughty huff of offense. "No! Watch this!" She pulled on her other magics, trying something she'd never done before. With a mixture of air and water magic, she manipulated a spray of ocean water, splashing it towards Tal's face with a wave of her hand and a show of her tongue.
02-17-2025, 09:31 PM (This post was last modified: 02-19-2025, 07:10 PM by Talyson.
Edit Reason: word choice change
)
Oh, yeah, Metacarpal Island was going to eat this girl alive. With ketchup and a side of fries. It wasn't in Tal to just walk away and leave her to her grisly fate as fertilizer for the toothy plants that called the dreadful isle home, but he was pretty shit at being properly heroic and inspirational.
He was, however, extremely good at being an abrasive twit, with years of practice to fall back on. And if that could get her off the island? Then he'd call it his civic duty for the day and be done with it.
He certainly seemed to be off to a good start, if the lift of her chain was any indication! "Oh, I'm watchin'," Tal assured her, smirk settling back over his features as he crossed his arms over his chest to wait on her leisure. She made a grand gesture and he eyed her, secretly tense as he waited for the attack to come, just in case it was stronger than the last one.
A refreshing splash of sea spray moistened his face, causing Tal to blink and shake a few drops from his hair. His defenses failed as he missed his chance to dodge, but only because he was still waiting... and waiting... until he began tapping his finger impatiently on his bicep. "Any time now. I don't got all day, kid," he huffed impatiently, not realizing that the spray of sea water had been an attack and not just a natural spume from a nearby wave.
The spray of water didn't seem to have quite the effect she'd been hoping for, doing little more than making Tal blink. Her blue eyes narrowed again, stars pinching across her cheeks. It was becoming evident that her magics might not be as powerful as she thought, but that didn't mean she was giving up yet. She still had other elements and powers.
Not having any fire to pull from, she resorted to her other new ability, creation.
Nova waved her hands to gather the necessary materials, thoughts concentrating on what she wanted to make, a physical representation of her mind and personality. Clenching her teeth like a cat baring its teeth in aggression, she opened her palms at Tal. "Fine. Glitter attack!" At the same time as her shout, she released the buildup of creation and illusion magic, pushing a cloud of glitter towards him. It erupted from her hands with the extra pizzaz of her sparkling illusions, the pieces catching the sunlight as they moved towards his eyes, nose, and mouth.
The waving hands were a sign that things were about to heat up, if he had to guess. She certainly made a fierce expression, like a kitten menacing a recalcitrant ball of yarn, and he let his arms uncross as he reached up to push his dampened hair back out of his face--
The shout was, uh, not exactly what he'd been expecting, so he'd give her points for catching him off guard. Glitter was a surprisingly effective tactic, especially when combined with illusion!
... Against just about anyone else.
Tal tugged his See-Right Goggles down into place, protecting his eyes from the physical glitter that she'd created and negating her illusions as they came close to him. She almost surprised a laugh out of him until he realized that the real sparkly stuff was dusting his hair and clothes. His scowl deepened as he shook his head to try and dislodge the crap with a sinking sensation that he'd never get it all out. "Well, congrats on makin' whatever eats you real fuckin' shiny after you're dead," he grumbled. "So y'might make it regret it, but y'haven't done anythin' t'stop it from happenin' yet."
Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Mastered
See-Right Goggles: Reinforced goggles capable of seeing with perfect clarity regardless of conditions, up to 30ft. This includes magical darkness. Can see through illusions at 5ft, and be aware of illusions under 10ft.
The 'Glitter attack' succeeded just as planned, bits of iridescent colors coating his hair and face. The earlier water made her confident that he'd have a fun time getting it off later, just adding to her fun. Giggling - because who didn't think a face full of glitter was fun? - Nova wiggled her fingers in preparation for her next action. "Exactly! It makes them sparkly and gives me time to do this!"
Her skin sprouted into black and rainbow spotted fur, claws extending from her hands that shifted into paws, and teeth lengthening into glistening fangs. In the span of a few seconds, her intimidating tide jaguar form was growling at Tal, lips pulled back in a vicious snarl. Not wanting him to say anymore nonsense about her being weak, Nova lunged forward with obvious intent to tackle the man.
It hadn't yet occurred to Tal that the water would make the glitter stickier. That was a revelation that would thankfully wait until later, when he was safely out of strangling range of the sassy young Abandoned girl and her magic tricks, although at least it would fade away before he could get properly pissed off about it.
He heaved a frustrated sigh, starting to seriously ponder whether or not to leave her to her fertilizer fate, but before he could make a decision she pulled one last trick out of her sleeve. Fur rippled over her skin and the courier finally realized that it wasn't just an illusion. The kid was a whole-ass hybrid! And she was... getting... bigger...
Not sea panther bigger, but a tide jaguar was still no joke!
"Shit!" Tal stumbled back as Boreal summoned a subdued chortle at his discomfort, but his heel caught on a loose patella rock and he fell back on his ass. He only barely managed to roll out of the way as her big paws landed in the sand where his shoulders had been, inelegantly scrambling in a backwards crab-walk as naked fear flashed over his face. "Stay back!" Although, weirdly, he started hastily undoing the buttons on his Vest as he tried to put more space between them.
