Click here for a list of weather descriptions, seasonal festivals, and a real time:site time conversion.
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!
My heroes had the heart to lose their lives out on the limb
In the early morning, the Temple lay quiet. Stealing in through a crack in the heavy gate, Maea paused just past the threshold to remove the damp cloak. It was drizzling outside, a thin misting rain that soaked through everything and left her feeling colder than the temperature warranted. The contrast of stepping inside the warm temple brought a contented sigh to her lips; shuddering as the chill worked itself out if her bones she raked damp curls out of her face and slowly approached the altar. Fortunately she was alone. It was always a gamble to come here, whether she would happen upon anyone she knew. Some would be nice to see again, while it was better for everyone to steer clear of others. Yet with this being the closest and safest shrine to Dygra on this side of the continent, Maea chose to risk it. Embraced chaos, so to speak, in a gamble against the odds; or perhaps she simply refused to ban herself completely from her homeland, no matter how different it had become from what she once knew.
Stopping by the massive obsidian slab, the moon-haired ancient delved into the satchel she wore slung over one shoulder and brought out the velvet dress. After laying it out before the shrine, she ran a thumb along the edge of her chakram, so that a thin line opened in the skin that wept with crimson.
"Dark Mother," she murmured softly, as blood dripped onto obsbidian stone, "I have returned. All the tasks you set me have been completed - to your liking, I hope."
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Maea has completed her tasks for upgrading her armor to mastered:
2. Complete a training thread allowing someone else to wear the armour, using only unarmed strikes. (No weapons or magic allowed!)
– [Training] Past the event horizon
3. Complete a thread spending a night out in the Boneyard in Hak Etme with only her armour and abilities to survive.
– [o] upon whom the pale moon gleams
Dygra's voice thrums beneath the very ground and up the walls, deep and sensuous and enough to set Maea's very bones to vibrating. Her blood warbles along the obsidian before seeming to melt into it altogether, as if the warm, dark stone has eagerly drank her offering.
"This creation has come a long way from whence you started," she continues; the Ancient before her altar will feel the air stir around her ever so slightly, like a sigh against the back of her neck. "As have you."
That sigh carries right through Maea, then, fluttering at the edges of her dress and causing it to shimmer, ever so slightly, in the silence of the shrine. "Take it, then, and wear it with pride."
Maea has completed her quest and has received the following!
Type: Grey | Style: Defensive | Level: Mastered
Valair Armour | A beautiful black dress lined with crimson, stronger by far than it appears. This item blocks physical damage. Requires a 2 post cooldown between uses.
My heroes had the heart to lose their lives out on the limb
Dygra's presence was a tremor in her bones, a flush of heat that banished the chill and drew a contented little sigh past Maea’s lips. To hear such praise from her goddess made her emotional; the armor really had been a long time in the making, and to see it completed allowed her to look back on herself from a different perspective.
"Thank you, Mother. For the dress, and for your unfailing acceptance of me. I will wear it proudly, and strive to embrace change with faith in my ability to face whatever comes my way." The caress of wind sent goosebumps trailing across her skin. With the armor blessed for the third and final time, Maea scooped it up and pressed her cheek against the soft material, inextricably happy. She didn't want to wait to put it on; right there before the shrine she stripped out of her clothes, down to bare skin, and slipped the gown over her head. The way it closed around her was an embrace, a rush of warm security that bolstered a wounded confidence and reminded the petite woman of why she had desired change in the first place. Yes, it was frightening, and yes she was making mistakes along the way. But was she not growing, also? Was she not bettering herself with every lesson learned? Maybe she had earned a season of rest, as a chance to relax her tense shoulders and regain enthusiasm for the new year to come.
"Lady, may I ask..." Cocking her horned head aside as she sank back to her knees, Maea's gaze lingered on a cluster of rubies on the far wall, for lack of a physical manifestation to focus on. "Many of the other gods are celebrated throughout the year, in various ways. Was there ever such an event to honor you? Would you care to be celebrated in such a way?" She didn't know what such an event might look like, but very much longed for a place to openly share her fondness for the goddess with others - especially, perhaps, because of her estrangement from so many of the other Ancients. She couldn't quite accept that bloodlust and orgies were the only ways to embrace entropy.
The shrine continues to hum with Dygra's presence as Maea peels off her clothes and dresses herself anew in the armour she's worked so hard to forge, fabric whisperng sweetly across the stone when she's finished. "There were many events celebrated in my honour, though never at the same marching intervals as other gods." The goddess's voice pulses from the walls and the stone beneath the Ancient's knees.
That sort of regular drumbeat of worship is anathema to everything Dygra is, after all.
"Most famed is the Blood Moon Festival, which has occurred here once already since my reawakening. I sense another occasion may be approaching soon, also." A smile curls in her voice. "I am sure the priestess of this very Temple may be able to share further elements of worship with you, though as I say, I am not a doctrine." And nor is she one to be celebrated one day and forgotten all the rest.
My heroes had the heart to lose their lives out on the limb
Listening with keen interest, a thrill started up within upon hearing of the upcoming event. Reminded also of Charlie's role as a priestess, Maea made a mental note to seek her out again, and try asking more about what she had struggled to comprehend before.
"I will learn what I can from her," she promised, "and I very much look forward to experience the Blood Moon Festival. I missed it before - but not this time!" A milky tail thrashed excitedly around her heels, aflutter - like her stomach - with nervous anticipation.
"Thank you for teaching me, my Lady. Thank you for everything, now and always."
With homework to do, and no further questions to ply her goddess with, Maea bid her farewell, lingering in the temple until the echo of Dygra's presence faded into a fond memory. She might have stayed longer, but her business in the Grounds were not quite over yet and the day was not endless.
Rising to her feet, she slowly headed for the exit, collecting her cloak as she went, already bracing against the chill outside - and perhaps even more so against the challenges she had yet to overcome.
