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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!
Leaving the beach behind them, it's hard to tell whether Nova or Jack are leading the way. She seems to hum and skip along the path with an impressive level of confidence for someone who has no idea where they're going. He'd said 'buy you a drink' and she'd just moved, content to figure it out as they go.
Which apparently means now.
Twirling a strand of teal hair, she looks back at Jack, blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight. "Where should we go? The Hanged Man? That new smoothie place? Or I think I saw a lemonade stand around the corner with fun straws?!" She doesn't have a preference as long as her drink is sweet and colorful, her thoughts full of beverages with bright gradients and bubbly flavors that tingle over her tongue. Her smile is full of excitement, the expenditure of magic doing little for her energy levels in light of this strange 'father-daughter outing.'
"Do I look like the type of man to drink smoothies?" Jack asks dryly, raising his eyebrows as they make their way up the beach. With his hands tucked in his pockets, Nova seems as though she might be orbiting him, such is her energy and wending footsteps, and not for the first time, the captain has a mind to ask Vesper how he manages to get anything done around his siblings without coming away with a migraine.
His initial thought had been the Hanged Man, but as the smoothie stall does come into view, he gestures towards it as if to tell Nova to go ahead. "It does look like it'd be more to your taste." he admits - and besides, he could always get something from the tavern later on. Approaching and ducking under the awning out of the sun, he nods towards the board with the flavours. "Go on, pick your poison for both of us."
She pauses in the middle of the street to consider his question, head tilted and nose scrunched in thought. "Maybe? Like a sour smoothie? Like something citrusy?" Nova thinks it might go well with his tart attitude, and she flashes him a playful teasing smile, knowing perfectly well he isn't the 'sweet drink' kind of person. Yet, when he suggests they head there anyways, her eyebrows raise in surprise - and undisguised delight.
Unwilling to wait for Jack to change his mind (or realize his mistake), she twirls around so that her dress catches the sunlight, letting out a little giggle. "Okay! Let's go!" Her feet are light and quick to skip towards the shop, not needing to duck as she enters the space and out of the sun. She can practically taste all the flavors from the wonderfully fresh smells of the ingredients, and she is further surprised to hear that she gets to pick what they drink!
Humming and doing a little happy dance, she stretches on her toes to read the names better. Just as she'd hoped, a citrus option catches her eyes, and Nova immediately points it out with her finger. "I think you should get the Lemon Blueberry one! And I'll get..." Her eyes scan the other choices, nearly overwhelmed with the desire to try all of them (or mix them all together). When she finally decides, she gives a little hop of victory. "- the Strawberry Banana one!" She moves her finger to indicate the bright pink and yellow font, her smile sparkling with a hint of illusion magic as she looks back up at Jack.
Offering an exaggeratedly teasing (tart) smile in return, Jack follows in Nova's wake much as he's been doing the entire time they've been walking, slipping his sunglasses out of a pocket and pushing them onto his nose. Even beneath the awning he's grateful for the shade, given the glare of colour from the smoothie board and the way the young woman beside him is still practically oozing rainbows.
"Lemon blueberry it is," he drawls, knowing better by now than to argue with this particular Marin triplet and reaching out to snag a blueberry from the stand as he does so, popping it into his mouth. The stall owner, knowing one of them if not the other (can you guess which?) regards Nova with open appreciation before promptly clearing his throat and getting to work.
Only a few moments later, a purple smoothie and one swirling with red and yellow is plonked on the counter in front of them. "On the house," the stall owner says gruffly.
The man barely sets it down before Nova is grasping at it, her smile brighter than the sunlight as she says, "Thank you!" Whether that's to the vendor or Jack, who knows, because she's already slurping hers down. Its cold sweetness sends a shiver of delight down her spine, manifesting in a wiggle and illusion sparkles. She only pauses for a breath and a light giggle, remembering what happened when she ate her ice cream too fast with Vesper and the very uncomfortable freezing in her brain.
Skipping back out into the street, Nova looks back to Jack with all the naivety one might expect of such a colorful woman. "That was very nice of him. Are you friends?" She knows of the Captain's profession (how else would he know about the symbols in Rae's Fingers?), but there's part of her that wonders if he has any actual friends or just mutually beneficial acquaintances. And, no, Flora doesn't count.
Tossing a lazy salute in the direction of the stall owner and seizing his own drink to step out into the sunshine, the captain rolls his shoulders in an easy shrug at Nova's question. "Sure, somethin' like that," he says; what are friends if not mutually beneficial acquaintances, after all? (And no, Flora doesn't count). Sipping at his own drink and purposely not making a show of the fact that, fine, it's actually pretty good, Jack heads back to the boardwalk where he can find himself back on his ship at some point in their walk.
"How're you findin' Torchline, now you've been here a few seasons?" he asks, glancing sidelong at Nova over the top of his sunglasses. "Done any other explorin', aside from gettin' yourself into trouble in fields of lightnin'?" Of all the Marins she does seem to be the type to get herself into situations, but if she does keep training and gets her magic up to par, he doubts it'll be long before she starts coming out on top.
Taking another sip of her smoothie, Nova accepts Jack's answer without another thought. Instead, she's suddenly distracted by his smooth change in conversation, eye glowing as she spreads her arms to take in the expanse of Torchline. "I love it! The beach is so pretty, and it's hard not to love the weather." She giggles, putting her face to the sunlight with childish abandon, taking a deep breath of salty sea air as it ruffles through her hair.
Her feet spin around again in a skipping motion. "Oh! I've been all over! I didn't realize Caido was so big!" Although maybe she's just small, but that doesn't hinder her ability to enjoy every area she comes across. Nova tilts her head, holding out her fingers as she recalls all the places she's seen so far, her voice rambling on. "First was Halo - I got to hunt a luxere! - then the Hollowed Grounds - did you know they have a giant colorful bonfire?! - then the Greatwood - I helped fix up my mom's shrine there - then the Oerwoud - there was a creepy Void snake there, but I liked all the plants! - then King's End for the Feast where we danced - " Then the other part of his question registers and Nova turns to look at him.
The puzzle expression on her face is near comical, head tilted adorably. "Wait, how did you know about the lightning?" Vesper hadn't mentioned telling Jack, and she still doesn't know enough about Melita to know she's part of his crew, so the connection is lost on her, not that there's anything other than naive curiosity filtering through her mind.
"Mm, I bet it's a little different to... y'know. Space, or wherever you were before," Jack reasons, glancing up at the cloudless sky through his sunglasses, the sea breeze ruffling his dark hair around his shoulders. Sidestepping almost automatically as if to avoid where Nova might spin into him or otherwise cause some sort of chaos, he raises an eyebrow to discover that she's actually visited a fair few places. More than he had at her age, certainly.
"You really have been around. Next you'll have to go to The Climb and try out those hotsprings. Might even find a lily or two." And the gods know they need every helping hand when it comes to the mythical flowers that might hold back the void.
As for the lightning, Jack takes another drink of his smoothie and offers Nova a somewhat shit-eating smirk. "I know a lot of things," he offers. "But Mel - the girl you had that scuffle with - happens to be a member of my crew. Word gets 'round."
Giggling at the absurd idea that they can even be compared, Nova nearly calls Jack 'silly,' grinning ear to ear. "Oh yeah. The stars are much bigger, and you don't even have to talk! You just hear each other's thoughts while getting to see everything." Although Jack probably understands better than anyone. Still, her own mind explodes with images of what it had been like, all colors and sparkling stars filled with an all-encompassing love that still blooms in her chest.
She perks at the mention of Frey's Breath, pausing in her spin to bounce. "Oh! I've been there, too! I even met an Ancient! She was very nice." Nova hadn't seen anyone quite so pale before, but she'd enjoyed making poems with Maea as they made their way through the Climb. "We didn't find any flowers though." Not that it had really bothered her.
Accepting the explanation for his understanding without question, she nods her head, even as expression shifts to something more thoughtful. Nova isn't sure how she feels about 'word getting 'round' about her interaction with Melita, wondering what exactly people might be thinking about her based on the redhead's words. She normally delights in being the topic of conversation, but it makes her drink taste sour to think that they might be laughing about her being 'weak' even though she's nothing of the sort! It sends a flash of anger through her mind, bright and dangerously close to reckless.
Nova lifts her head, all misplaced confidence and pride on full display. "It's a good thing I didn't run into her then." Although she'd certainly keep her eyes peeled for her next time she was near the Ark.
"Fascinatin'," Jack says with the airy interest of a man who really has no idea what it must be like to share thoughts with another person. (And it's not entirely a lie, he supposes - it's one thing to be able to siphon the thoughts and feelings from others, but another thing entirely to have a silent conversation). Swirling the purple in his smoothie as he samples the bursts of colour and starlight from Nova's mind, the captain arches an eyebrow to hear that she's also been to The Climb. Not that he ought to have been surprised.
"Good thing the place where the lilies are found is better'n the rest of the region. Encourages people to visit more often. Maybe you'll get better luck next time." With the rest of The Climb a hostile, burning wasteland (in his very humble opinion), Frey's Breath is a very welcome reprieve.
He falls into an easy silence as they continue along the boardwalk, Jack taking another sip of his smoothie and resisting his smile at the spikes of fury that lance through Nova; he can't, after all, say that he's ever experienced what it's like to not know people's opinion of him. "Well, if you do, you both keep a civil tongue in your heads aboard the ship. And your hands - and magic - out of it. Do what you like on shore, but keep it off The Ark."
Having not seen much of the other parts of the Climb, Nova has to take his word for it, although she'd liked Frey's Breath enough to be eager to return. Smile bright at the idea. "Maybe! I really want to go back with Caly and Vespy." Then they can feel how relaxing the warm water is!
Making their way down the boardwalk, his stern words do nothing for the suspicions that fuel her anger, but she listens, nonetheless. What was his first rule? Something about not using magic near things that can sink or explode? She supposes she can understand that part... "Fine." And to settle the matter, she takes a long sip of her smoothie, trying to use the flavor to pull joy back into her expression.
If only to distract herself from the schemes that she now has to adjust, she asks, "Why's it called 'The Ark' anyways?"
"There you go. Make a vacation of it. Gods know it'll be just as hot in the springs as it is here come Longheat." The only difference is that you can sit and relax in Frey's Breath, whereas Torchline is still expected to be a region in all her bustle and glory. The Ark usually stays moored during that season given the heat and the danger that comes with manning a ship and her sails in that sort of weather, but now with the ability to fly...? Who knows.
Fine is good enough for now in terms of settling the growing conflict between Nova and Melita, and as The Ark's ruddy sails appear in the near distance, Jack might just subtly start to pick up his pace. "Mm...? Oh, I got no idea," he says, the confession accompanied by an easy and crooked grin over his shoulder at her. "She came with the name. I just fixed 'er up and put 'er to use."
As Jack's pace quickens, Nova has to increase her skipping speed to catch up. There's not a complaint to be found on her lips though, enjoying the stronger breeze that ruffles her curls and dress, not even pausing when she takes sips of her smoothie. It does the job of brightening her mood again, casting aside hurt feelings and wounded pride.
She tilts her head, now even more intrigued about the origin story of The Ark. Her curiosity bubbles like a glittery piece of treasure in her mind, the glint in her eyes barely comparable. "Oh. Where did you get her then?" Is there a ship-buying-shop? Although, if he had to fix it, Nova wonders if there's a more interesting possibility.
Nova's thoughts and feelings perk back up - not that they had gotten particularly dark even with her wounded pride and her thoughts about starting fights, let's be honest - and Jack is happy to ride the positivity especially as his ship comes back into view. Handing his half finished smoothie to the tall, burly man who has just set a few barrels of something down on the dock (he takes it with a grin as bright as Nova's), the captain pauses by the gangplank to regard his ship with her dark wood and crimson sails (and the topless visage of Safrin as a figurehead, of course).
"She was dead in the water in these docks," he explains. "Had been for months when I decided to take her on. Reckon she'd have been broken down for scrap within a season if I hadn't decided to clean her back up. Good thing in a way - meant I had time to learn to sail properly before she was seaworthy." Smirking, Jack glances across at Nova. "This is where I say I've gotta get back to work, by the way. But I'm sure you can find a way to amuse yourself for the afternoon."
