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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!
Rain hisses through the trees, tossed about by a wind as wild as the woods it whispers through, and a small, rickety cart creaks to a stop beside a cluster of particularly gnarled branches. From this cart, a slender figure climbs down into the mud, leaning against a dark cane and with the hood of his oversized coat drawn deep over his head. Murmuring his thanks and palming off payment to the driver, he manages to get out of the way just before the cart rattles off once more; gratitude is not enough to keep any self-respecting merchant in Ludo's Woods for too long.
Niki doesn't make it a habit of visiting this part of the Greatwood, much less trying to approach it on foot; it's one thing for the forest to trick him in its own way, but add in a sprinkling of mischief from death's own herald, and he's more than likely to die from Ludo's well-intentioned pranks than anything else.
The afternoon is as quiet as expected, the weather and the general fuckery of the place more than enough to discourage birdsong and other wildlife. Parting the nearby branches with his cane and stepping through onto a sodden but still workable trail, Niki presses onward in that same silence, passing all manner of trees and boughs, all morbidly shaped and reaching for him with twig-like appendages. But there's only one shade he's interested in visiting, and he doesn't reach it for a further few minutes.
The sapling is the colour and texture of old, leathery skin, and the lantern that has been hung about it is almost entirely filled with water. Jamming his cane into the mud where it sticks fast, if not at a somewhat jaunty angle, Niki adjusts his hood enough to see properly, and sets about cleaning up the area around the sapling, drying off the lantern cage, and removing a small bag from the inside pocket of his coat to refresh the offerings and tributes.
my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now I can feel the light shine on my face
We avoided the Greatwood a lot past year—the chances of running into someone mom said were VIPs had always been too high, or so she said. Everyone is out looking for Vi’s roses, but she's also paranoid. I’ve been out here for what feels like an eternity, and my most thrilling conversational partner in the last two days had feathers and looked an awful lot like a common finch. Now, I have exactly no conversational partners. No sensible creature wants to be out in this.
I am not sensible. What I am is sopping wet and hopelessly lost.
Not that I don’t know where it is that I’ve found myself. These are Ludo’s Woods, there’s no mistaking the silent chill, the stretch of claws covered in bark, as if the branches are reaching for me. I’d like to find a hollow one to hide in, but part of me is too afraid to wait out a storm here. I’ve heard enough stories.
Stories. That’s all I’ve got.
My boots squelch in thick mud, the trail widening enough for the rain to run in rivulets and sweep away dirt, leaving it rocky and slick. I step carefully, scanning for something familiar as I push through dense underbrush—
I pull up short, just shy of tripping over a rock. Wide eyes blinkd at the gentleman who’d been tending the lantern-laden tree. I push wet hair out of my face, tucking it back into my (useless, soaked) hood, and I dare to feel some relief. The side of my mouth ticks up.
”You’re a person!” Then I pause, and clear my throat a little. This is Ludo’s wood. ”Right?”
welcome to the world of pretend
where we pretend we don't feel pain
Too engrossed in his task and with the hush of the rain all around - not to mention that he honestly isn't expecting someone living to sneak out of the woods nearby - Niki is understandably a bit jumpy in response to the sudden sound of a voice. Having been holding the lantern between both of his hands, he jerks and drops it in his surprise, only to try and fumble to catch it again with a soft curse. The result, naturally, is quite the comedy of errors; the lantern cracks against one of the lower branches at the same time as Niki tries to seize hold of it, and were it not for his gloves, he'd have a few very nasty cuts to his name.
Luckily, he's merely left holding bits of glass and a shell of metal as he glances towards the stranger, an apology on his tongue that's automatic and that he has to bite back all the same. Instead, clearing his throat, he bobs his head in a nod. "I was the last time I checked," he says, his accent warping around the words before he gazes back to the ruined lantern. "This was probably due for an upgrade anyway," he remarks, carefully gathering the glass inside the casing and emptying the bag he'd brought - a few candles, a sprig of dried lavender, and some incense - so he can put the lantern inside it.
"Were you worried I was not a person?" he wonders with a brief smile towards her.
my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now I can feel the light shine on my face
He jumps and I do too, shifting to the balls of my feet. Rather than turn on me, however, he fumbles with the lantern in his hands, and I’m given the impression of tossing a hot potato about until the side of it shatters on a sapling branch. “Shit!” My hand flies to my mouth, brows pulled up at the center.
Broken lantern in his hands, he looks at me, clears his throat and nods. "I was the last time I checked.” My hands drop, looking between him and the lantern. "This was probably due for an upgrade anyway," he goes on, and my answering smile is most definitely more of a cringe. "Were you worried I was not a person?"
A sincere smile isn’t what I expect. I huff a little laugh and glance at the woods, then nod. “Definitely, yes,” I admit. “You’re the first person I’ve seen in like, two days, and here of all places. I’ve never been in this part of the Greatwood before, really was never allowed near it, and honestly, I didn’t even mean to get here, and I am—” I take a breath, “—very lost.”
I consider him a moment, and then step forward to thrust my hand out. “I’m Theea. And I’m really sorry about the lantern.” Then I realize he’s still holding said lantern, and can’t exactly shake my hand. It’s my turn to clear my throat as I close my fingers, withdrawing. ”Um. Have you got a sack for the glass? Or, I think I might have something!” I swing my backpack around to my front on one shoulder, and I start digging for my quite empty coin purse.
welcome to the world of pretend
where we pretend we don't feel pain
"Ah, you have been wandering through Ludo's Woods for a few days?" Niki grimaces and gives a small nod of sympathy beneath his hood. "I can appreciate the question in that case. Not to worry - I promise I am not a shade, even though I may well look like one. A wet one, granted." He gestures to the rain with the hand not holding onto the sack of glass and metal pieces.
"Do not trouble yourself - I think this should suffice," he assures her, not wanting to put her out especially when she's been wandering for so long already, by the sounds of it. "Luckily I was planning to use the former contents of this bag anyway, though I doubt I will be lighting any candles in this weather." Even so, he does spend a little time arranging the candles, lavender and incense so they look the part.
"Niki," he introduces himself, stepping back from the sapling to take up the cane once more before it topples into the mud completely. "And there is no need to apologise, I assure you. I will repair this, or make something different, and come back on a drier day." For now he can already feel his coat growing heavy with water, glancing back the way he'd come.
"There is a wagon trail back there. One should be coming by in the next hour, I think. It dropped me off here, and will pass back this way, if you are keen to no longer be so lost?"
my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now I can feel the light shine on my face
I open my mouth to correct him with something like ’I mean, I wasn’t that lost.,’ or ’Despite what I said, I wasn’t afraid, thanks.’ I bite my tongue instead—he’s being nice. I don’t need to be defensive mom. ”Not a shade is good, sopping or not,” I half-laugh instead.
I stop fishing around in my bag and watch him lay out his supplies—candles, flowers, incense—offerings? This little tree is nothing particularly beautiful, at least not in the conventional sense. The woods certainly aren’t (though it does have its own sort of charm). I can’t imagine what would bring him out here beside a god or a grave. The question nearly bursts out of me before he turns and introduces himself, and I try to be assured that he isn’t put off by the broken lantern.
”Nikki,” I repeat, nodding, and then chuckle, cheeks warm. ”Right. Of course the wagon trail is right there.” If mom is watching, she’s banging her head against a tree. I feel the impulse to myself.
Everything is fine. I’m figuring it out.
Adjusting the dark hood of my jacket, I approach. I study the tree for a moment, and the things he’s laid out. ”With two people, you could probably light those things,” I offer, “even if just for a bit.” I crouch down then, large bag braced on my knees as I start to pull free my rolled up blanket. It’ll dry, and if I can get myself to a settlement then I can—
Not find a place to stay. Right. Broke.
Everything is fine.
”I can shield things from the rain.”
welcome to the world of pretend
where we pretend we don't feel pain
"I can only agree with that," Niki says with a crooked smile. He hasn't had any experience with being a shade, but given their presence in the woods as something eerie and unwelcome, he can't imagine it's a pleasant experience. Smiling in the direction of the wagon trail, it's only the reassurance that he can still see the way the trees thin out, even through the rain, that gives him the confidence to answer her.
"It is right here at the moment, yes," he agrees. "The woods have a tendency to move around on a whim, so if you feel as if you have been turned around, odds are you probably were. And it was likely intentional on the part of the forest." Smiling sheepishly now, he's surprised when she draws closer - and even more so as she drops to a crouch to try and help him light the candles. "Oh, you do not have to..."
But she is already down there, and Niki finds himself fumbling in a pocket for a matchbook. "Alright," he says. It takes a few tries and a bundle of matches to create a suitable taper, but eventually he has something that stands a chance against the rain for more than a few heartbeats. Granted, with a crutch and a knee brace, there's no way he's getting down into the position Theea is in, and so Niki leans against his cane and tips himself forward until he can reach out and light the candle wicks.
"Thank you." He smiles.
my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now I can feel the light shine on my face
03-28-2025, 06:27 PM (This post was last modified: 03-29-2025, 12:11 AM by Theea.)
Theea
He’s got a kind voice, I decide. I hope I’m not making up the curl of it in his accent, or the sincerity in his smile. “Just messing with me then,” I gripe a bit, pretending that doesn’t chill me right down to the bone. How long could I wander here and never find my out, never encounter another soul? I’d never find them then. “It didn’t do anything but spit me out here, to you. Not so scary, right?” I hope.
I hold the blanket patiently aloft over the candles, and after a few moments, the candles are flickering in defiance of the rain. I watch the fire in the comfortable white noise of the weather, and finally, someone’s company. I have no idea who Nikki is, but he’s someone.
I give him a warm smile, adjusting the blanket when the wind shifts. ”You’re welcome,” I say, and look back down at the candles—and try not to draw attention to Nikki’s leg. It would be rude to ask about that outright, but—
”Who are these for?” I ask. I have to tilt my head to see him from under my hood, one eye squinted. ”Can’t imagine anyone coming out to decorate a sapling in Ludo’s Wood just… because.”
welcome to the world of pretend
where we pretend we don't feel pain
"I should hope not," Niki agrees with a gentle incline of his head. "There are certainly much scarier things in these woods than me." Granted, he can see how anyone wandering around a notoriously haunted patch of the Greatwood in a dark, hooded jacket could be considered ominous, but Theea is in luck today; Niki is more interested in arranging his candles than trying to put a curse on her or lead her astray.
Straightening up once he is satisfied and drawing his hood forward to try to stop the steady downpour from hitting his face, his overbright gaze flicks back to the sapling and its adornments at her question, and he offers her a small shrug. "They used to be grave markers," he admits, "before the woods changed after the war. Then they turned into these. This one in particular is for someone I used to know. I try to visit at least once a season to pay my respects, but I appear to have picked the wettest day in Flowerbirth for the journey this year."
my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now I can feel the light shine on my face
My brows rise as he straightens, and I look at the sapling, its leathery bark. ”I never heard about that,” I admit a bit distantly, my mouth tilting down. Never heard about a lot of things. We stayed as caught up as we could, but we travelled in so much seclusion, rarely stopping anywhere civilized, settlements such a rare treat, cities even more thrilling.
I remain silent for a moment, the blanket held steadily. My arms are a little tired, but the candles are lit, and they’re… ”For someone important then?” I shrug a shoulder up at the sky. ”To journey out on the wettest day in Flowerbirth…”
I bite the inside of my cheek and take him in better—the sharp, angular features, eerily bright eyes—and I wonder, ”Where are you from, anyways? Do you live here?”
welcome to the world of pretend
where we pretend we don't feel pain
"No? It is only quite recent, I suppose. Since the Greatwood split into all these islands." Which is still a few years, granted, but given how cut off the forest has been from the rest of Caido for much of that time - not to mention that it was overrun by the void until very recently - and Niki can see how the knowledge would be less than widespread. "And I suppose you could say that?" He tilts his head at the candles, before smiling towards Theea. "You do not need to crouch there and keep them lit. I think it is enough that the effort was made," he assures her.
As for this particular grave marker, Niki reaches out to brush his fingers across one of the spindly branches. "It is more like a habit than anything else," he admits. "Besides, you are never truly gone until there is nobody left who remembers you." And the person to whom this sapling belongs is alive, still, as long as Niki continues to come out here and pay his respects.
"Hm? I am from here - though not this part of the woods, of course. I live just outside the Sidhe Village," he explains, glancing back at the trail to make sure it hasn't gone anywhere. "I assume you are a visitor, though?"
my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now I can feel the light shine on my face
03-30-2025, 08:21 PM (This post was last modified: 03-30-2025, 08:23 PM by Theea.)
Theea
"Oh, I didn’t mind,” I say, but he seems genuine, so I shrug and look at the candles with a sort of farewell as I rise. I roughly bunch up the wet blanket and stuff it back in my bag. “And, yeah, the more you talk to me, the more you’re gonna realize how behind I am.” My chuckle is a little sheepish. “Didn’t grow up around a lot of people.”
I adjust my bag to my back again, and I smile—mostly to myself—but I don’t respond. It’s a small comfort to remember my dad, but perhaps a worrisome thought, too. Not many people know me, if anyone. Who would remember me but my mother?
I stuff my hands in my pockets, looking away from the sapling to meet his eye. “It must be interesting to live out here. I’ve heard lots of stories about the Greatwood.” And then I nod. “I’ve been traveling my whole life. Still traveling, I just have a destination now. Or I will, anyways. Speaking of…” Might as well ask. “You’ve heard of Ronin and Remi Taliesin? The uh… The White Knight. And The Bastion. I’m looking for them.”
welcome to the world of pretend
where we pretend we don't feel pain
"I am only knowledgable abut the Greatwood and my own affairs," Niki says with a self-deprecating scrunch of his nose and a quick shrug. "So do not feel too bad. If I were anywhere but here I would be in your shoes." Though he'd still likely be a lot slower getting from place to place, no matter whose shoes he's wearing. "But since you are lost, would you like to come back to wait for the wagon with me? It will still be a bit of time before it returns, but it should be able to take us both back to the village for a small fee."
And even if not, Niki is still quite keen not to give the woods time to get them both turned around, and so with a final nod of respect to the sapling, he turns to start picking his way back along the trail he'd come from. "It certainly is interesting, as long as you are not the sort of person who likes to be on time for anything." He smiles over his shoulder, only for his steps to slow as she speaks two names that most people in Caido would know in this day and age.
"You are both in luck and not," he says with a gentle nod. "They live in Torchline these days, I believe. I met the Bastion's daughter not too long ago, so I the news is recent. But, ah... you could not be much further from Torchline if you tried. There are skyships that can take you there, luckily - they leave from the village."
my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now I can feel the light shine on my face
My smile grows at the invitation. “I’ll wait with you,” I say, without mentioning that I’ll likely have to follow the road, rather than ride on it. If there’s a fee, I’m out of luck. I need to find odd jobs sooner rather than later if I’m to get anywhere.
I turn and follow Nikki, glad to be with someone who knows the way. I quirk a brow with a light chuckle. ”I don’t think I’ve ever operated on a schedule before,” I say. ”Aimless traveling leaves the days and nights pretty open, unless mom was doing some odd job. But that was never me.”
It’s fun to tell someone the truth of my life, I find. There’s a bubbly feeling in my chest with the sincerity. It was always different names, different stories.
And then, that bubbly feeling is gone, replaced by my heart sinking with disappointment. Torchline? I half groan with a huff, almost a whining sound. ”That’s… far.” Very far. ”Are airships expensive?”
welcome to the world of pretend
where we pretend we don't feel pain
