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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!
what tried to destroy you didn't have the strength
Understanding the nuances of stubbornness, he only gave her one cheeky smile before watching as the rock lifted much higher, only permitting an inward snort. “Good. Now see how far you can throw it.”
He did much the same on his end – gathering the forces around the already maneuvering stone in his enchantments’ hold. It stilled, then he breathed, and a moment later it rallied and was tossed into a striking arch, down and low over the shoreline and cliffs. While Belial might have conspired to follow it with a low screech, the echoing bounds of it hitting the shoal and fellow stones amused the Sword enough with a shrug of his shoulders. “Then we might try altering the wind,” figuring she should learn to encompass a whole myriad of things to accomplish and attempt with the element.
It was stubbornness, perhaps, but above all it was the driving need to protect. Perhaps if she had honed her air magic, she'd have been of more use against the Void yeti. If she'd been able to wield properly, she might not have lost Sascha. So as the rock floated in the air before her, she shifted her attention to throwing it, using her bowl of air to launch it. It didn't go nearly as far as Deimos's, but she was pleased with the length of her throw all the same. Of course, she could imagine that a heavier rock would be much harder to manipulate than the pebble she'd selected, but they all had to start somewhere.
Once the stone had landed some distance away, she called the wind around her to twist and turn through her dark curls. "That's easier, for some reason," she said, motioning towards her hair. "I think it's something about lifting things with weight. It's easier to manipulate what's already in motion."
funny how it all works out in the end you dance with the devil and you lose your head
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.
what tried to destroy you didn't have the strength
Regrets, rancor, and hindsight often scraped upon growth; no matter how painful the bout. Deimos said nothing; having been entrenched and meandering around those feelings on multiple occasions, but simply watched as the pebble was flung. A start was a start, and he gave her a satisfactory nod of approval. If anything, she’d know and understand the fixtures around the motion, and could repeat it whether in a dire situation, or simply maneuvering things around on her own whims and terms.
“It could be." He’d never given much thought to the air elements – much more prone to the lethal doses of enchantments rampaging through his blood; the fire, the life drain, the water, but considering how often he’d had to utilize these particular portions lately, he’d take any diligencewith it. “And it will all become easier with time and experience.” To a point where she wouldn’t even have to concentrate or mull on the circumstances. They would simply be.
Though, now, out of juvenile amusement and the constant need to distract himself from any impending restlessness, he summoned a massive swell of wind to bolster against Alys. Not enough to move her backwards, but certainly a strong force in her features. Then he grinned, tilting his head to ask and conspire, get her contemplating once again. “How do you think you could defend against it?”
Practice makes perfect, or so the saying went, and Alys considered this as she continued to hone her use of her air magic. Perhaps it was indeed harder from lack of use; even her telekinesis magic, however basic, was easier to control than air, but then, she used it frequently to fetch little things around the house, so much so that it had become second nature. And her other abilities, both those requiring effort and thought and those that were impossible to turn off, were similarly easy to wield, if only because she’d had them for so much longer and used them so much more.
Deimos summoned a massive gust of wind, sending it to press against Alys hard enough to be annoying without actually pushing her off balance. She shaded her eyes against its force to glare at her friend, who merely grinned at her. Of course he would play some kind of trick - it would hardly be a training session with Deimos if he didn’t. Still, if this meant that he had left his worries behind for a while, she would gladly participate.
Thinking, Alys decided against trying to use air magic to counter him; he was stronger than her, and her own weak abilities would be easily overpowered. But nothing else in her magical arsenal made sense to use. Illusions were just that, lacking the substance to block the wind; telekinesis might help, if she was strong enough to move something large enough to act as a barrier. But the rest of her magic was nearly useless in this particular scenario.
With the wind whipping around her, she looked around, at a loss. ”Any hints?” she called, pursing her lips and fighting to look Deimos in the eye past the whirling air.
funny how it all works out in the end you dance with the devil and you lose your head
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.
what tried to destroy you didn't have the strength
Snorting at her lack of enthusiasm, he continued to permit the wind to whip around her, much like an antagonistic swarm of gnats. He didn’t want to do all the thinking for her, that would defeat the purpose of the exercise, but he arched his brow and glanced around nonetheless. If she didn’t hold incantations that might suit the purpose, then she’d have to improvise. “If you do not have something in your own arsenal, then you could utilize your surroundings. Think outside of your own prowess, and focus on what is around you.” It wasn't always about one's capabilities lodged in their soul, but also the distinction of the landscape. The people. Where one fought, and the choices they made.
This shoreline, given how it had been carved out of a cliffside, provided and presided with many natural contortions from the environment. Namely, exactly what they’d been using before – rocks. The sizes and quality mattered; but she’d be able to find a multitude to hide or gallivant behind, while using her own incantations to distract or alleviate.
Alys strained to hear over the gusting wind, grateful for the lesson - no matter how annoying it might be to get through. Pushing her hair from her eyes, she searched the land for a rock big enough for her purposes, using her illusion magic to make it appear that her eyes remained trained on Deimos. If he knew where she was going, then her efforts would be for naught.
When she’d identified a rock large enough to shield her - more of a boulder, really - she utilized that same magical notion that had protected her during the battle with the yeti, splitting herself in two and sending her illusions in a different direction as she sprinted for the rock. With her illusion hiding behind one and her real self hiding behind another, Deimos would have to split his efforts - or choose one, and hope he chose correctly.
funny how it all works out in the end you dance with the devil and you lose your head
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.
what tried to destroy you didn't have the strength
It had been a long time since Deimos had been the victim of illusion magic. He didn’t like it then, and he didn’t like it now – but at least the circumstances weren’t as dire as escaping invasions and evading capture. His brow arched as she wandered forth towards the boulder and then seemed to split into two – permitting a roll of his eyes for amused affects.
But the Sword had multitudes in his arsenal, far more than he had then, and tilted his head, clearly content with prolonging and enhancing his own machinations. Where Alys had utilized her cleverness, he would do the same, and immediately employed Belial from his prior establishment of mourning the loss of his rock chasing, to dive-bombing at one of the seer’s. The peryton squealed and screeched with delight, rising high, before beginning to descend.
While Deimos simultaneously went after the other stone-hidden Abandoned, funneling the wind and all its might and power towards the area; creating a little miniature, and hardly treacherous, tornado of sand and dust in her direction.
She could tell that Deimos didn’t like her illusion magic by the souring of his emotions, but she hardly had time to feel bad. She’d sent her illusion running in the opposite direction and had to concentrate to keep it moving. It ducked as Belial dive-bombed it, trying to duck behind a rock of its own to hide.
Meanwhile, Deimos sent a little whirlwind of dust and air towards her real hiding spot, leaving Alys to think quickly on how to avoid it. She ducked out from behind the boulder, on the run for a new place to hide and trying to determine how to find a more permanent solution. Her illusion did the same, and keeping both herself and her duplicate moving cost her concentration, leaving her unable to come up with a better plan.
funny how it all works out in the end you dance with the devil and you lose your head
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.
what tried to destroy you didn't have the strength
The Sword wasn’t without his own wiles. A majority of the time, his calculations got many out of jams and tribulations; so he funneled away the primordial trepidations over illusion and Neron’s long-lasting distinction, and more upon unfurling the antics of chicanery.
While Belial was occupied in taunting one of the Alys’s, by landing upon the rock and screeching at her, he occupied his machinations upon the other. Each one seemed to be maneuvering constantly anyway, to the point where the peryton followed one, and he tracked the double. But that wasn’t going to work in the interim, and a little silly, given all the incantations.
Snorting, he began to utilize the earth around them – just as he’d granted advice to the Abandoned. Quickly, he raised portions above the loam, so they swiftly looked like gates on all sides of the area, trying to box both Alys’s within. Then he slowly began to maneuver them inward, intending to trap and snare.
The illusion-Alys cowered behind a rock, successfully cowed by Belial’s screeching. The real Alys, on the other hand, hurried from boulder to boulder, ducking behind them in an effort to avoid the wind as she tried to determine next steps. They hadn’t agreed to a spar, exactly, so she wasn’t inclined to strike back at Deimos with weaponry; otherwise she might have thrown daggers at him with her telekinesis. Her best strategy, unfortunately, was to flee.
Earth rose suddenly, boxing her in, and her concentration wavered enough that her illusion flickered - enough that she knew Deimos had to have seen it, and that it would no longer provide adequate protection, so she allowed it to dissolve. Trapped between rocky walls, she was funneled back towards Deimos, and she couldn’t do anything but laugh. ”Do you ever get tired of winning?” she asked as she fled the earthen tomb.
funny how it all works out in the end you dance with the devil and you lose your head
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.
what tried to destroy you didn't have the strength
He likely would’ve been fight with thrown weaponry (easy to avoid), but given the nature of their volley, it had seemed to be enchantments into the more key places. And while he figured Alys’s cleverness would remove her from the situation (perhaps opting to make the earth look as though it were falling apart, or distracting him from full concentration on his dual wielding), his brow arched as she appeared to surrender.
Snorting, he shook his head. “No.” If he were being honest, granting her another juvenile smirk and wrinkle to his nose. “But, if you should ever find yourself in such a situation again, distraction might have been your best bet. Especially with your illusions.” Yielding to wind, and a snare with his earth mastery was one thing, but if she were to ever find herself in places like the unfortunate incidents in Halo, surrendering or fleeing, could only last so long. And what if those failed as well?
Alas, Alys (or Alys’s writer) was not in a creative mood on this particular day, and so she elected to forfeit rather than beat her head against the earthen walls surrounding her. At Deimos’s snort, she fought the urge to grin and lost. One of these days, perhaps she would find a way to best him. Until then, she would simply accept his feedback and implement it into future struggles - of which she sincerely hoped there were few.
”I still struggle to think strategically, sometimes,” she admitted. ”I forget what I have at my disposal, even when the answer is right in front of my face.” It was something she needed to work on, to be sure. Perhaps next time they trained together, she would prove to be more stubborn and tenacious rather than giving up too soon.
funny how it all works out in the end you dance with the devil and you lose your head
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.
what tried to destroy you didn't have the strength
Dissolving and dissipating the sand, loam, and rocks back into their residual places, he tilted his head, listening as the wind came back into its own elements, the fixtures pleasant and airy once again. “And unless you put yourself in these situations, safely,” he countered, granting a wry smile, “Then you may forget all those abilities.” He considered Alys clever; but this was also why he challenged anyone he trained with – including himself. He’d never known complacency to get anyone very far in life – and certainly not in Caido, where they seemed to gather ample monsters on the prowl. That wasn’t including the void or the Family. “But if you ever need more opportunities, you know where to find me.”
Alys watched as the earth shifted back into its original position. For a long time, she had been envious of the ease with which Deimos manipulated everything around him. Nowadays, she understood that her own magic was simply different. She had her own strengths, and frankly, she preferred them to the elemental mastery that Deimos exerted - although she also wouldn’t turn down a bit more of that, herself.
In any case, with their training session concluded, Alys nodded. ”I do,” she responded. ”Thank you, Deimos. In the meantime, do you have time for lunch? There’s a place I’ve been meaning to try…” And, hopefully, she could offer Deimos a brief refuge from his worries, if only by providing a distraction for a brief time.
fin
funny how it all works out in the end you dance with the devil and you lose your head
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.
