Home is where my hearth is

Maea

Stars, hide your fires

Night had fallen, starless, godless, full to bursting with memory and old fear. Heavy curtains had been pulled over every window in the Treehouse to keep the darkness at bay, and candles blazed on every table, lamps burning without fuel, fed by one Ancient's refusal to allow any shadow across her threshold. She had a book splayed open across her lap, a steaming mug of tea nestled between whitening fingers and a heaping plate of pastries on the coffee table before her. Yet those pale eyes were staring unblinking into the roaring fire, unseeing. If the room was a bit too hot even for the deepest of winters, if some of the wax candles had started to bend in exhaustion, losing structure in the sweltering heat, it did not register. Unseen things were striding across the fields of memory, nameless and shapeless, that left behind a bitter aftertaste of old dread. 

Shii had endured its companions slow spiralling with some patience. It happened every year at this point, and usually passed on its own. But when beeswax began to drip, drip drip onto a polished wood counter, pooled and began to trickle over the edge to the floor, it'd had enough. Zooming around the room, it first tried to catch the attention of the woman it adored, and when that failed, it darted off in search of the Tall one. That one had hands, and voice, and could shake the girl out of her waking nightmares. Shii would make him. It would make them both wake up, so that the silence and long glances cast between them could end. Upon finding the Tall one, the wisp began a whisping dance before his face, pulsing and whispering in the ways of the tricksters until Liam would have no choice but to follow.

Let not light see my black and deep desires

Liam was aware of Maea's slow descent into darkness. How could he miss it, when he'd seen the same thing happen the year before, when he knew of the fears that plagued her during LongNight? But when he'd left her in the overbright, overheated room, he'd thought she'd be alright for long enough for him to fix them some food and drink. Apparently - or according to Shii, at least - he'd thought wrong.

The wisp appeared before him, bobbing and weaving and clearly trying to attract his attention. It didn't have to try very hard; Liam was on high alert himself, though not as haunted as his partner when it came to this time of year. Seeing the will-o-wisp dance and hearing it whisper had him setting aside the sandwiches he'd been making, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel as he followed towards the fireplace and the pale Ancient that sat before it.

The heat was stifling, the light blinding. Liam wouldn't have been surprised if the shadows of LongNight had long since fled into the darkness beyond their treehouse. But he approached the roaring hearth anyway, feeling sweat bead upon his brow as he knelt next to Maea, gently reaching out to take the book from her hands, enveloping her fingers with his own. "Maea, love," he said gently, coaxing her back into herself from whatever nightmare of her own making she'd fallen into. "Come back." Back to the treehouse, back to him, back from where he could not follow.

liam

I'd rather be a hopeless lover than cursed with disbelief

code by sky

Maea

Stars, hide your fires

Ffar away indeed, she responded only slowly. The vice like grip around book and mug eased, but though Maea turned her gaze from the blazing hearth her eyes remained glazed, staring through Liam as though she didn't recognise him. His voice sounded distant to her ears, the words meaningless - but the hands that closed around hers were warm. Warmer by far than she, who remained cool to the touch even in the stifling heat, as though it was her own inner fire that leached out. In a way it was true. Keep it up long enough, and even she would drain herself dry by feeding the candles with so much fear.
"Hmm?" came a belated hum, some long moments too late. "Did you say something?" A slow blink followed by the flutter of pale lashes. A shallow breath brought new air into her lungs, and only then did she seem to realize that she'd barely moved for several minutes.

Let not light see my black and deep desires

Liam's frown deepened as Maea continued to sit silently, staring into the distance at something he couldn't see nor chase away. Concern shone in hazel eyes as he gently rubbed his thumbs over the back of her hands, trying to coax her back to the present. Her fingers were cold, despite the heat of the room, and as he wrapped them in his hands, Maea seemed to slowly start to come back from wherever had held her captive for long enough for Shii to come fetch him.

When she came to, she seemed dazed, as though his words had scarcely reached her. "Are you alright, love?" he asked carefully, searching Maea's face for any sign of distress. It was odd, the way she'd retreated to somewhere he couldn't follow; unpleasant, to know that there were things that haunted her so greatly that he couldn't chase the shadows from her mind. "You seemed far away for a moment there."

liam

I'd rather be a hopeless lover than cursed with disbelief

code by sky

A harsh chorus rings out from the canopy above as Gore Crows descend on nearby branches, feathers ruffling as they jostle for space. Their voices overlap in sharp, gleeful shouts.

“EYES!” one screeches, while another snaps back with “MEAT,” the words hurled with theatrical relish. They hop and flap, clearly enjoying their own noise as much as the attention it draws.

The flock does not disperse, only growing louder and more animated, watching closely as though waiting for the chance to shout something worse.

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Gore Crow Areas Found: Hollowed Grounds, Greatwood, The Climb — Common Twice the size of their more common brethren, gore crows boast wickedly sharp beaks and talons that could pierce even the hide of a dragon, and even sharper wit to boot. Preferring human meat, their inky black feathers often glisten red with their most recent feast. Traveling in small groups, their eerie caws of words like "Eyes!" and "Meat!" can be heard echoing across battlefields or haunting a hunter's trail. These fearsome birds with gleaming red eyes are not to be trifled with, for it is not uncommon for a gore crow to finish off injured prey. Challenge Rating: Easy HP: 92 | To Hit: +34 | Dmg: 14 Movement: Fly 50 ft.; Walk 20 ft. SPECIAL SKILLS Gore Feast: When a gore crow deals damage with Peck or Rend Flesh, it regains a small measure of vitality from the blood it spills; Battlefield Harbingers: Their eerie caw echoes for a mile around, sowing unease and foreshadowing violence

TRAITS Bloodhound Instinct: Can track the scent of fresh blood for miles; Spectral Feathers: Partially ethereal, granting resistance to nonmagical physical attacks; Pack Tactics: Coordinate attacks, striking with uncanny synchronicity ACTIONS Peck: A lightning-quick strike with its serrated beak; Rend Flesh: Sweeps both talons in a brutal slash against one creature; Blood-chill Caw: Unleashes a piercing call that sends a chill through nearby foes