What do you get when two ruthless assassins raise their daughter travelling through the wildest reaches of Caido? Take one look at Theea and you'll get a pretty good idea. Cheerful and tenacious in equal measure, and curious beyond all else, she began her journey on a mission to find those her mother once called family. And find them she did, soon rubbing elbows with demigods, leaders and even ghosts from the past. Her determination is resolute, her thirst for knowledge unmatched. We can't wait to see where her next adventure takes her!
Congratulations, Theea!
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!
Even though he had no issue with Frey, especially not the Nature aspect of the dual god, Hadama still tread lightly at their shrines. Safrin was his patron goddess and the one who held his heart and loyalty. He did not make offerings lightly to the other gods for that reason. But Rae had helped to ward Torchline from the Void, and for that reason the Tidebreaker had brought offerings to the shrine in Mourn today. He tended the elemental aspects of the shrine with quiet respect, watering the flowers that surrounded it, scooping leaves from the moat, and sprinkling sweet incense into the flame. He closed his eyes to better appreciate the sounds of the wind chimes that sang sweetly in the warm breeze before placing an offering of honey and fresh fruit with the seeds still within upon the shrine.
He bowed his head, offering his gratitude silently before straightening and stepping away, looking at peace in spite of the new scars that crossed his shoulders, back and chest, visible in his usual shirtless state though not yet tattooed over in gold. They were too fresh yet, dark against his brown skin, but well on their way to healing thanks to his magic and that of the Fountain in Torchline.
When he finished he stepped back, granting the shrine a final nod before he turned and began to walk back through the grasses of Mourn, deliberation in each careful step. His eyes scanned the horizon, however, alert for trouble before it might find him. Especially from the direction of the Barrows, and the most recent... disruption... that had arisen there.
Having been one of the many participants of said 'disruption,' it should come as no surprise to anyone that Thal was raising hell through King's End once again. She dove from the sky in her lyvern form, snapping her powerful jaws around a puff of white and rainbow feathers that set a cloud of Dream Birds scattering in her wake. They screeched and flapped in a flurry of rage and fear as their friend was lost down her throat in the lingering taste of blood and plumage. If she wasn't ten times their size, they might have considered avenging their fellow avian, but her roared warning sent them racing for the skies, stark against the bright blue.
She landed beside the tree line, her eyes following with a rumbling purr of satisfaction, her tongue darting out to lap at the pieces of Dream Bird clinging to the black scales of her maw. It was just as they were disappearing behind the crest of a hill that she spotted a familiar figure among the peaceful fields, regal and stoic with his golden skin glistening in the sunlight. After the ups and downs of recent weeks, Thal had to dampen her excitement for seeing a friendly face.
Her head lifted as she launched from the ground; the membranous black of her wings cast a shadow over the grass, elegant and gentle with the glide of her figure. No longer roaring and snapping, she was quiet as the rustle of the grass, a whisper on the wind, and when she came to Hadama's side, it was with an equally graceful landing shift that rolled into a casual pace at his side.
The dark waves of her hair catch in the soft breeze as she smiles at him, friendly in her own snarky way. "Hadama. Didn't expect to see you so far from Torchline."
Don't ask questions you don't wanna know Learned my lesson way too long ago
Lyverns were not, Hadama knew, native to King's End. He caught a glimpse of scale and fury in the distance but without knowing who it was he continued on his way without interruption. At least, he continued until a short while later he found a familiar young woman walking at his side as if she had been there for the last half mile. He glanced down, the hint of a smile crinkling the edges of his eyes and the corner of his mouth as he nodded in greeting.
"Thalassa. I was visiting the shrine. And enjoying the cooler weather." At least for a short time, before duty called him back to sea-salt-scented halls and oppressive humidity. He paused his steps to look his friend over, pleased to see her looking physically well, at least. "What has brought you to King's End?" The names of those who had put the graves to rest were unknown to him, and Thal's part in that particular adventure was news that had not yet reached his ears.
Her obsidian horns glistened in the sunlight as she looked up at his pleased expression. At least she hadn't interrupted something, although she couldn't agree on the cooler weather. She wasn't cold, but she missed the sweltering heat of the Climb and Torchline, her signature black cloak fluttering in the wind to buffer against any stray chills.
Humming, she paused in her own walking to look towards the Barrows, a smirk on her face as she pictured the echo of chaos that she'd found - tattered cloths, scored dirt, singed grass, and abandoned bones. No signs of the Void villi remained. "I came back to check on the site where the villi had been but got distracted by hunting." The Dream Birds were nowhere to be seen, long gone over the horizon where she dragged her eyes from, returning back to Hadama with a mischievous glint in their blue depths. "You missed quite the battle."
Thal scanned his features with a similar level of assessing, a curious tilt to her lips. "Have you been up to anything interesting lately?"
Don't ask questions you don't wanna know Learned my lesson way too long ago
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.
He followed her gaze to the Barrows, his expression turning thoughtful as he gave a slow nod at her mention of the battle. Something about the way she phrased it - and the knowing smirk that spoke of personal investment - made him turn back to her with fresh respect in emerald eyes. "Indeed. Did you take part in it?"
His face was the same as it had always been, but there were a few new scars on his shoulders, back and arms. Most small and likely to fade with time, but a few larger ones that spoke of significant, jagged gashes too-swiftly healed. They had not yet been tattooed over in gold. He started to nod in answer to her question, opening his mouth to speak--
Cue stepping into the patch of quicksand moss. A grunt escaped the Tidebreaker as his balance was thrown off and he managed to catch himself by sheer core strength. Looking, for once, mildly perturbed at the interruption he bent his knee in order to slam two sharp, hard punches down into the body of the creature so that it writhed and loosened its grip. He pulled his leg out immediately and backed off to greener grass with a slight frown. "I have been in some battles of my own. And found my strength lacking." He raised a brow at his chaotic friend, partly in concern for her own interaction with the moss and partly in invitation. "I am in need of further training, if you would care to join me?"
Raising her head at the approving look in his eyes, Thal grinned. "I did, although it wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped." The Mer King could take that as he would, although it probably didn't align with her disappointment in the villi's demise.
The heel of her boot sunk into the quicksand moss at the same time as Hadama's, annoyed that she hadn't recognized the oddity of the brown patch amongst all the green. Regardless, she barely flinched, summoning fire that pulsed from her boots to singe, burn, and dry the substance to a cracking husk. Not even glancing down, Thal stepped gracefully from the moss without missing more than a beat in their conversation.
"I see. Would one of those battles happen to be on Starfall? How did things go?" Her internal interest turned more sinister, although nothing on her features portrayed anything more than mutual investment in the Void's progression. She noted the fresh scarring and mentions of lacking strength, but his presence in front of her suggested things hadn't gone as poorly as they could have, which meant that they must have succeeded in some capacity.
That thought didn't sit well with her and Thal pushed it aside to smile. She turned to face him fully, her hands settling casually to hover over her daggers. "I'm more than happy to train with you any time. Anything specific?"
Don't ask questions you don't wanna know Learned my lesson way too long ago
He took the statement with, perhaps, some amusement and a solemn nod. "Indeed? That is good. The less excitement the Void brings, the bet--" Speak of the devil, hmm? Vox's broadcast cut through his words, a jagged buzzsaw of static through his brain that had his jaw tightening with displeasure as Stormbreak's New Order was announced. The Tower, fallen for a second time...
He freed himself from the quicksand moss and Thalassa burned her way loose, joining him on more stable ground as the moss was left smoking in her wake. He inclined his head in confirmation of her question, his gaze moving to the southwest as if he could see through the hundreds of miles between King's End and the Arclight. "Mmn. Things went... not as well as I had intended." The admission was grim, but her shift to face him brought his attention fully back to her as she made her offer, and the inclination of his head this time was grateful. "I would like to train without magic or weapons. There was a creature... a... spider. Of sorts. It was able to cut off magic with its webs." He dropped his gaze to consider his hand, which he curled into a fist. "A reminder that I have become to reliant on my powers. I have let my physical training... lapse, in comparison."
And still the echoes of Vox's broadcast reverberated in his skull, reminding him of the clock that was even now ticking down to some greater confrontation in a few short seasons.
Thal frowned at the Broadcast - although not for the reasons Hadama might suspect. She could feel the rage, the anger that had manifested in the tumbling destruction of the Tower. It echoed through her like a call, summoning and demanding in all the ways that made her want to please and sooth, to appease the forces at play in the remnants of her mind. She vowed to do so in any way possible, starting with information.
Putting some distance between her and the moss, she let a worried expression settle on her face. "That's too bad. Do you have enough flowers to continue?" Her question was innocent enough, a concerned friend wondering if she needed to assist in the search for more. Nothing in her demeanor suggested there was anything off about her inquiry, years of leadership giving her the skills to disguise her ulterior motive.
Her eyebrow raised at the mention of the spider, morbid pride hidden behind the surprise in her eyes. "Sounds formidable." Although not formidable enough if they'd been able to defeat it. Either way, she shrugged her shoulders, flicking her inky black hair behind her back as she moved into the easy stance of an agile brawler, relaxed and fluid in preparation for whatever attack may come her way. "Sure. Why don't you go first?" There was a mischievous quirk to her lips, promising that she wouldn't be at a disadvantage if he chose to do so.
Don't ask questions you don't wanna know Learned my lesson way too long ago
Her concern touched him, but he could only give a slow shake of his head in answer to her worries. "I do not. The one I received from a soldier was the last I know of." Perhaps there were other quests underway, but none had been brought to his attention yet. And perhaps others were also seeking cures for infected friends and family, as he had once used a precious Rose to cure Flora.
He could not judge them for it, though he understood Vesper and Ronin's pragmatism in focusing the fight upon the cause rather then the symptom.
"But we will continue searching." His assurance came with the weight of a solemn vow.
Her opinion of the spider was met with a nod of acknowledgment; formidable, indeed, though it missed him with its attacks - which had cost it its life. He did not need to learn that lesson twice, and as the smaller captain shifted into a fighting stance so did the Tidebreaker. He did not immediately appear so agile; he was stone to her fire, stability to her fluidity, but at her invitation he inclined his head graciously. "Thank you."
And then he moved, stillness turning to motion in an instant as he stepped forward, long legs spanning the distance in a single lunge as he jabbed out with his right hand in a straight punch aimed at Thalassa's left shoulder.
The disappointment on her face was genuine, her lips thin as she hummed softly. "Hmm. Well, keep me updated. I want to do what I can to help those with flowers." Her smile was confident, the picture of willing cooperation - not that they'd like the kind of 'help' she had to offer. Nodding her head, she added, "And I'll keep my eyes peeled for more."
But then they were moving into the training, his long legs closing the distance between them. Thal knew they hadn't sparred recently and much had changed since then, so she was eager to see the look on his face as she vanished before his eyes. A whisp of shadows was the only sign that she'd been there, his fist moving through air while she tapped him on the shoulder from behind. She wore a wickedly fanged grin, immensely pleased with herself as she chimed playfully, "I didn't say I wouldn't use magic."
Don't ask questions you don't wanna know Learned my lesson way too long ago
"Thank you." Her willingness to help was accepted with due gratitude. She was neither Torcher nor Mer, but she was a friend, and he relied on her with appreciation shining warmly in his eyes. He had no reason to think that she was anything other than sincere in her offers, and no desire to doubt her or think that anything had changed since their last meeting.
Although he swiftly learned otherwise as she vanished from beneath his first punch. He turned his head to consider her grin and a steely brow rose at her caveat. "Hmm. That is... new." But he also knew that an attack could land before a teleport could fully activate, if the opponent was fast enough.
And he was faster than he looked.
A second punch had less power behind it but had the benefit of being mostly hidden by his body until he twisted at the last moment to bring it around in a wicked roundhouse aimed at her ribs.
As expected, his surprise was extremely satisfying. The chuckle that originated in her chest was shockingly similar to a giggle as she nodded her head and bit playfully at her lip. "Mhm." Maybe she would tell him more about her new ability afterwards, but she saw the tension start in his shoulders, telegraphing his next attack.
She barely had time to register the warning before she was blinking out of existence again, although not fast enough to avoid the brush of air that nearly smashed into her ribs. It fluttered her cloak as she appeared on his opposite side where his flank was now exposed.
Pretending that the punch hadn't been as close as it was, Thal gave a smug grin. "I've found it to be quite useful." Her hand reached out to poke at his ribs in return, not feeling the need to hit him when she obviously had the advantage.
Don't ask questions you don't wanna know Learned my lesson way too long ago
Emerald eyes gleamed in appreciation at her newfound power, and at the trick she had played on him. He could appreciate her cleverness as well as her strength, even when it was turned against him, but it gave him cause to reconsider his approach. He was holding back against her with the same caution and courtesy that he would give to any of his friends who lacked healing magic or divine favor, but with each new trick that Thalassa pulled he allowed himself to hold back a little less.
She vanished again, but he felt the cloth of her cloak before she did so. Ah. So that was how fast she could move. He did not smile, his face remaining solemnly focused, but when her voice sang out from his side he reached under his extended arm with his other hand--
To grab. To catch that hand so kindly offering itself into his range, just before it brushed his ribs. And, if successful, to pull her back around to where she had been standing a moment before. "Indeed. And how useful is it against another teleporter?" he inquired politely.
