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!
Tal heaved a sigh of relief as they slipped inside the warmth of their home. A single lantern burned downstairs to guide them, but with his Goggles he didn't need it. He offered it to Alys with a tired, crooked smile and Boreal crooned softly and pressed against the Seer's leg. "Well, 'least I won't have t'eat for a few days now. An'... thanks for comin' with me. It helped a lot, havin' you there. I know... I know it wasn't easy." Between Sascha's death and Alys's new magic he knew it made crowds a lot more difficult to endure. Tal had never cared for large gatherings, and with a lot less of a good reason. Still, it had been good to see so many of their friends - alive - and he hoped he'd been able to give Zavien... something. Maybe not good advice, but at least reassurance that he wasn't dealing with things alone.
"I'll get things locked up down here if y'want to head up first?" he offered, already starting to move around the bottom floor, making sure the shutters were all closed and barred against the night and stirring the ashes in the hearths to break apart any lumps of coal that might start smoldering again.
He took his time, making sure to do it right with the methodical precision that he brought to his work. Every opening to the house on the ground floor was checked and double-checked and all sparks extinguished before he headed upstairs to join his partner and companion. He pulled his Goggles down to hang around his neck and allowed himself a big stretch after hanging his coat on the peg by the stairs. "Alys?" he called into their home. "How're y'feelin'?"
Emotional Perception | The user can read surface level emotions of those within a 15 foot radius. Control is moderate. Note: "Surface level emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Upgraded
Emotional Telepathy | The user can read deep emotions of those within a 5 foot radius at will. Control is excellent. Note: "Deep emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Tal wasn't the only one relieved to be home. As Alys accepted the lantern, she returned his tired smile with one of her own. "If I've learned anything, it's to hold on to what we love," she replied simply. "I'm not planning to let you out of my sight if I can help it. And at least now we can rest," she added. She was already planning to burrow into a nest of blankets as soon as possible and not emerge until the sun touched Caido once more.
The seer squeezed Tal's hand once before accompanying Boreal upstairs, where she bustled about in the living room building up the fire. By the time she heard Tal call for her, the fire was crackling merrily in the hearth and two glasses of wine sat on the low table in front of the couch. A few blankets were stacked nearby, but Alys left them to go to her partner, slipping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest.
"I'm... surviving," she told him, weariness evident in her voice. "It's - like I'm missing a limb, only not. I'm learning how to - how to live without it." It was hard, but she still had Tal and Boreal, and she had Sascha's memory, and she had friends - all of which meant that, even on the hard days, she had to live. Releasing Tal, Alys led the way into their living room, gesturing towards the couch. "Some days are easier than others. Today is better than yesterday." Even if the Feast had taken her energy, there was a clarity of mind that had been missing in recent weeks.
As they settled on the couch, Alys turned towards her partner, bending one knee to more easily face him on the couch. "I have something for you," she said softly, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small, rectangular box. Inside, when Tal opened it, lay a thin piece of wood about the size of a tarot card - small enough to fit easily in one's pocket, but large enough that the scene painted on it was easy to discern. "I wanted it to be something you could carry with you, so I thought wood would be harder to damage than paper," she explained nervously, hoping that he would like it. "And it's sealed against damage, so..."
The painting, sealed with a clear coat, showed a starry sky and a near-full moon, a balcony set off a domed building that could only be the Spyglass, and four silhouetted figures - two human, one dragon, and one ursur: a perfect depiction of the night Tal had asked Alys to be his partner.
sometimes i think all i'm ever doing is trying to convince myself i'm alive
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Emotional Telepathy | The user can read deep emotions of those within a 5 foot radius at will. Control is excellent. Note: "Deep emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Emotional Perception | The user can read surface level emotions of those within a 15 foot radius. Control is moderate. Note: "Surface level emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
He knew how much she was hurting, but he couldn't help the smile that lifted his spirits at her simple declaration of love. They had been saying it for seasons and it still felt new and precious every time he heard it. He held her hand like a prayer, letting it slip through his fingers like a breath, and watched her climb the stairs into the light above. Even with their grief and the weight of pain she carried she could never be less than beautiful in his eyes, and he let himself hold onto the vision of the moment before he turned to secure their home for the week.
He found his partner in his arms at the top of the stairs and folded her into his embrace, giving her his physical support as well as his heart to lean on while hers was breaking. Broken. But slowly starting to find her way towards a few glimmers of light again. Boreal pressed against both their legs, rumbling her affection for her family, smaller than it had been before and all the more precious for knowing that any one of them might not come home someday, as her cub had not.
The courier followed his seer to the couch and settled down beside her, shifting a little to mirror her, sensing that she wanted to talk. But the box that appeared in her hands had his eyes widening with surprise and a growing delight as he took it in gentle hands and opened it to reveal the painted wood within. He looked up at her face, drinking it in as she explained but as she trailed off he looked down at the gift again. His fingers trailed over the edges of the painting, reverently following the line of the wood as he let his memories of the day they became a couple - the day Alys said 'yes' to a scruffy Halovian courier and changed his life for so much better - rise to the surface, fresh as the day they'd been made.
And there, beside the silhouette of Alys--
His throat closed on the grief that rose, his eyes squeezing shut as he lifted the little painting to his chest, pressed against his heart, love and loss twining gentle vines through his ribcage. "It's beautiful, love. Thank you."
Emotional Perception | The user can read surface level emotions of those within a 15 foot radius. Control is moderate. Note: "Surface level emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Upgraded
Emotional Telepathy | The user can read deep emotions of those within a 5 foot radius at will. Control is excellent. Note: "Deep emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Tal’s reaction was everything she’d hoped for and more. When she’d first had the idea, she’d thought it might be silly - what use would her partner have for a painting, when he was gone so frequently from the home in which it might hang? And then she’d thought to make it smaller, a miniature that he could take with him, and as she’d plotted and planned and painted in secret, she’d thought that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
And despite the grief and loss that still held her heart in thrall, Tal’s gentle grasp on the wood and the way he clutched it to his chest went a long way towards bringing her out of the darkness, if only for a moment.
For a few moments, she was content to sit, drinking in the sight of her partner and allowing herself to enjoy the fact that they were safe, that they were home, and that they had nowhere to be and nothing to do for the foreseeable future. It was a fleeting kind of happiness, the kind that made her feel guilty for being content while her companion was dead and buried, but it was there nonetheless. And she rather thought Sascha would have liked to see them in this moment.
”I love you,” she murmured to Tal a moment later, her voice thick in her throat. ”And Sascha loved you. I think - I think she’d have wanted us to enjoy this time we get to spend at home while we can.” Even if it was hard. Even if it made them feel things they didn’t want to feel. Taking advantage of being alive felt like the best way to honor Sascha’s memory.
sometimes i think all i'm ever doing is trying to convince myself i'm alive
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Emotional Telepathy | The user can read deep emotions of those within a 5 foot radius at will. Control is excellent. Note: "Deep emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Emotional Perception | The user can read surface level emotions of those within a 15 foot radius. Control is moderate. Note: "Surface level emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
"Love you, too," he murmured back, drawing in a breath past the knot on his throat and releasing it slowly as he opened his eyes to blink at his partner with a wobbly smile. Her strength and kindness never ceased to amaze him, inspiring him to be a better person so that he could be worthy of that look in her gaze. Boreal crooned from her place in Sascha's bed near the hearth, lending her agreement to Alys's words as she settled herself down for a nice LongNight nap.
"I think... I know we - Boreal an' I'd - want that. If anythin' happened t'eiher of us," he admitted quietly. He still held the painting close, but the sorrow was easing beneath the love that filled the room. "For th'others t'keep movin' forward. T'live for us." Tal cleared his throat and reached out to twine his fingers through Alys's, giving them a gentle squeeze. "An' t'be happy again. I can't really imagine not hurtin' when I see you hurtin'. Live or dead, I can't imagine anythin' changin' that."
Emotional Perception | The user can read surface level emotions of those within a 15 foot radius. Control is moderate. Note: "Surface level emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Upgraded
Emotional Telepathy | The user can read deep emotions of those within a 5 foot radius at will. Control is excellent. Note: "Deep emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Alys was never sure of her strength or resilience, but she could feel Tal’s admiration mingling with his sorrow, and that was enough to make her think that maybe she could make it through this, that maybe they would survive this storm and find themselves one day in the light once more. Darkness, after all, could only hold them for so long, unless they simply gave up living - and that, Alys was not willing to do.
Talk of something happening to Tal and Boreal had Alys’s throat constricting, a well of panic rising briefly in her chest at the thought of losing more of her family. It was on the tip of hertongue to say that she couldn’t imagine being happy in a world without him in it, but he was trying so hard to push past their grief that she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. Instead, she twined her fingers through his and reached out with her free hand to brush an errant lock of hair from his face. ”It’s not easy, being without her,” she murmured. ”But let’s live, Tal. For Sascha, and for ourselves.”
sometimes i think all i'm ever doing is trying to convince myself i'm alive
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Emotional Telepathy | The user can read deep emotions of those within a 5 foot radius at will. Control is excellent. Note: "Deep emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Emotional Perception | The user can read surface level emotions of those within a 15 foot radius. Control is moderate. Note: "Surface level emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
He tilted his head into her hand as it brushed past his cheek, a small smile lifting the corner of his mouth as his sorrow was lightened by her touch. They had lost so much, and Alys had lost so much more, but because of Sascha's bravery, because of her sacrifice, they had not lost everything. The little bear had given them the gift of Alys's life, and Tal clung to it with both hands.
He would have to take some of her favorite treats with him when he went to pray to Mort after LongNight.
"For her, an' for each other," he agreed, though it sounded more like a vow. From her spot by the fire Boreal chimed in with a rumbling affirmation of her own, wistful and missing her cub but glad that her humans were learning to smile again. No matter how dark the night, the sun would always rise again, eventually.
And if it didn't, they would make their own light.
