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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!
Well, it was faster – though he still had time to watch the rotations and revolutions before plucking at it with his own magic. Instead of sending it obliterated against the wall again, this time he snagged and pulled until it reached a height of thirty feet, content with the distance and range, before he sent it plunging entirely elsewhere, a comical little piece of wood flying through the sky, and landing far off into the tundra’s endless ivory. “That was better,” he surmised, narrowing his eyes and contemplating further development and focus. “Are you able to aim it directly at something?” So far it’s only been in the general vicinity of his form.
Snagging at another piece with his magic, he let it float directly before her, something to take and snag and mold for her own.
Her eyes followed the launching of the wood, another small expression of awe crossing her features, but then her face was falling with it into the snowy tundra. She raised her head indignantly, a proud pout on her lips as she said, "Of course I can. I just didn't want to hurt you." Her hand flicked at her hair, a new determination and annoyance strengthening her magic.
Deimos might have given her a kernel of praise, but it did nothing to soothe the challenge he'd launched at her. Abandoning the hold on her illusion magic and the flare it provided, Nova focused all her efforts on the air whipping at her fingertips. Suddenly, like a dagger being plucked and thrown, a small plank lifted then flipped once before heading his direction. It still wasn't the fastest or the cleanest, but it was unmistakably heading at the Warden.
Well, she’d be amongst the small collection of individuals who didn’t want to try and strive to maul him, when the opportunity struck. He smiled at the response. “Thank you. That is appreciated,” despite her sudden indignation.
Still struggling not to laugh, he maintained his focus on her next barrage. She’d seemed to take the direction much more seriously, and indeed, the efforts were going towards him in a much more linear facet. In a much more amusing threshold, he snagged at the air around said plank, and then rotated it back so it was facing her; another defensive maneuver – for when someone could turn one’s attack back upon their opponent, there were always multitudes more to deal with. “And now what would you do?” His expectations were lodged in her potential - would she languish it back in his direction? Would she come up a different strategy? Strive for something else?
It was almost infuriating with how easily he caught the wood, like all she'd done was flick a hair in his direction. She didn't like the feeling that her magic was inferior, that she wasn't the most powerful. Perhaps she'd have to add Deimos to her short list of people who might be on her level. For now, he was presenting her with another challenge, one that dangled before her eyes with infinite possibilities.
Her instinct was to use a different element, but she resisted, looking at how she could react with air magic alone. Should she fling it out of his hold? Pull it back? Shatter the wood? Throw it back at him? Hit him with something else? There were too many options to consider, and she took a moment to tilt her head, her nose scrunched in concentration.
When her mind finally landed on a idea, Nova's face split into a grin. "Watch this!" Lifting a hand, she flung it down, releasing a scythe of air at the wood that she pictured splitting the wood in two.
He waited – the evidence of her thought clearly written on her face. At the very least she was willing to concentrate, focus, and strive, which was more than he could say for multitudes of others who were quick to give in, or rely on other means and measures. His head tilted, watching, as she sliced the wood in two – mimicking the motions with her hands as the air neatly sliced into a pair.
Though, that didn’t leave its own challenge.
“Clever,” he relented, before maneuvering those plots and motions into something else. “Though, you may find, sometimes enemies will use these opportunities to their own advantage.” He snagged at the particles as if they were two separate armaments and weapons now, beginning to rotate them around himself as if a makeshift shield combined with the air, swift, but not impenetrable. “How could you get rid of them altogether?”
The wood split cleanly down the middle, and Nova gave a small hoot, throwing her fist in the air. She'd never tried it before, and she was extremely pleased with how it played out. But then Deimos was whipping the two pieces around, suddenly making the one obstacle into two. She frowned, her arms falling back to her sides as she analyzed what to do next.
His question was met with a tilt of her head, an innocently sweet smile on her face as she suggested, "By taking you out?" A multitude of other magics might do the trick, surprising him or disrupting his own magics so she might take the advantage, but that didn't seem to be the solution he was looking for. It seemed to her that he wanted the focus to be on the wood, so Nova did just that.
"Or maybe this?" Lifting a hand, she splayed her palm out to push the air away from Deimos with the goal of throwing the pieces from his hold and out of his reach.
Deimos’ returning smile was all ‘you could try’ without any of the bravado. He knew exactly what he was capable of – and while he wasn’t one to underestimate his opponents, based on what he’d seen today, Nova didn’t have much hope of “taking him out”.
Besides, that wasn’t the point.
The pieces did move, though not entirely out of his reach – maneuvering as he subtly yielded some incantations away so she’d feel the glide, the control, before he squandered it away with just a touch, returning them back to the ground. “You always want to try a few steps ahead,” he rumbled, at least, that was how he choreographed and calculated his strategies. “Figure out the possibilities. So even if something happens, you still have plans.” Tilting his head in return, figuring that’d been quite a bit for this session, he opted to ask rather than presume. “You have practiced a lot – was there anything else you wanted to try?”
Her magic didn't have quite the effect she was looking for, and her mouth fell in a disappointed frown. His words echoed Jack's in strategy and steps ahead, but Nova wasn't like them. She reacted on instinct and chaos. She moved like a whirlwind of glittering color and emotions. She couldn't imagine trying to control the storm in a way that made sense to other people.
But maybe she could work on it.
As if she was the one leading the session, Nova clasped her hands together, controlled and dignified in the lift of her head. "I think that's enough for today. My siblings are probably struggling without my guidance." They could barely function when she was gone.
Nova flashed Deimos a bright smile, rocking onto the balls of her feet and back again as she tilted her head. "Maybe I'll come back and see you again." Some might consider it a threat, although she thought they should be grateful for her to brighten their doorstep with her energy and magic.
Deimos managed to hold back the brief snort threatening him again – wondering just what on earth the siblings would be like if this one had to hold them in command, or if anything he'd signified had made it through her mind. “Sure,” he offered by way of an arched brow – several others still glancing over her way, most likely in disbelief.
Neither threatened nor bothered by the individual, though maybe pondering over whether or not this training session happened to be effective in the long term, all he could do was signify his pleasantries and continue with the day. “Have a safe journey back,” he rumbled in response, from wherever she had blown in.
