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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!
As he disembarks from the skyship that ferried him to the forest, Callum wishes that he was here for pleasure. But alas, it's a job that brings him to the Greatwood. Some scumbag from Torchline has fled to the woods, and Cal's employer is paying handsomely to see the man returned home.
It's not the mercenary's first foray into the ever-changing forest, but he's never come just to explore. Sidhe Village is perhaps the most familiar area to him; his targets rarely flee into the woods themselves, fearing what might await them there. Callum doesn't really care where they go - but gods if they don't make his life easier by staying in the village.
He steps out of the Observatory and into the village proper, dressed for work: a dark, short-sleeved shirt shows off muscled arms; jeans and boots adorn his lower half; a crossbow is strapped to his back; and a pair of daggers sit upon his belt. He runs a hand through dark, wavy hair, then moves along with the crowd, already on the lookout for his target.
Noah caught sight of the man just as the crowd shifted—broad-shouldered, armed, moving like he belonged anywhere and nowhere all at once. Not local, not forest-bred. The way his eyes scanned the crowd said he wasn’t here for sightseeing. Mercenary, maybe. Bounty hunter. Trouble.
Noah didn’t change course, just let his path arc naturally toward the other man. A flicker of curiosity edged into his otherwise quiet suspicion. Part of him swelled as his mind whirled as to what could be this man’s intentions, and a protective, demigod-like sense of duty came over him.
He approached with a loose, steady gait. “Looking for something?” His tone made it an open question, but his eyes—measured and unwavering—were already searching for the truth beneath whatever answer might come.
Callum pauses in his hunt, blue eyes flickering over a stranger. They're of a height, built similarly - but the man has an air that makes the mercenary think twice about his ability to take the stranger in a fight. Cal hasn't gotten this far in life picking battles he can't win, after all. Fight smarter, not harder, he always says. But the man is not his target, so he has no quarrel with him - aside from the way the stranger looks him over, searching, waiting to pass judgment.
"Someone," Cal says, hooking his thumbs into his pockets as he stands, relaxed and ready for anything. "Brown hair, green eyes. About six foot. Scar on his right eyebrow and a nose that was broken recently. If it was me, I'd have gotten that healed right off, though, so..." Cal shrugs, then adds (quietly, in case anyone is listening), "Wanted for murder in Torchline."
Trying not to look too overbearing, but still feeling the looming need to press in and on, Noah let his hands slip into his pockets and his shoulders to drop some. He let his eyes bounce from the stranger to the green beginning to fold in on them as they walked further from the skyport and into the beginnings of the Greatwood's forest proper.
Noah's eyebrows shot into his hairline as Callum leaned in and dropped his voice. "And you know this how?" The demigod asked, the inquiry laced with skepticism and curiosity in equal measure. He wasn't sure if this man was trying to spin a tale that he thought might get Noah out of his hair, or if it were true -- and if it were true, then Noah wouldn't hesitate to lend a hand.
As a demigod, of course, bound to the will of the god of life.
Callum's gaze swept over the crowds, still looking for his mark - but his eyes never strayed far from Noah, flickering over to the other man periodically as though to keep tabs on where he was and what he was doing. People dispersed as they walked further from the skyport, no doubt off to find those god-touched flowers that everyone was on about. For Callum's part, he wouldn't be opposed to finding one, but gods only knew what he'd do with it after doing so.
The mercenary shrugged. "Torchline has bounty hunters," he offered. "Some are more... reliable than others." He wouldn't name his source, but he'd worked with them enough to know that their intel was usually good. "The goal is to bring him back alive." Of course, whether or not Cal was successful in that effort would depend a great deal on his target's actions. Self-defense and all that.
As the Greatwood began to close in on them, Noah let Callum's words sink deep. The demigod sighed, some, jaw feathering as he made his decision. "I can lend a hand, if you need it." Noah said, head tilting some as he waited for the man's decision: acceptance or denial. He reached a hand over, pulling it from his pocket, and greeted the mercenary properly. "I'm Noah Olson." Then, he waited for the recognition to fall into the lines of the man's face, and for his answer to come.
If it were acceptance, then Noah would fall into step with Callum and ask further questions about what he knew of the target.
If it were denial, then Noah would wait here for Callum to return with his target, to ensure the murderer left the Greatwood.
The Greatwood muffles everything as it closes around them, its canopy blocking out even the worst of the Longheat sun. "Callum Wilson," the mercenary says, taking the offered hand with a firm grip. "And I'd be a fool not to accept help from Vi's demigod." Oh, yes, he recognizes Noah's name - and he's determined to make use of such a powerful ally.
But not, perhaps, before a strategy session. Pausing in his walk, Liam grabs some beef jerky out of the back he's carried over a shoulder; he offers some to Noah wordlessly before popping a piece into his mouth. "I don't expect the guy to be particularly adept at hiding out here," he comments after he swallows. "From what I heard, he's hardly left Torchline, so a big forest like this? Unfamiliar territory. Probably figured he could hide out and let the heat die down. Doubt he accounted for the trees and how they like to change things around, though."
Noah accepted the jerky in silence, tucking it between his teeth as he walked, gaze fixed ahead while the forest cinched tighter around them. The air here was different—still, but watchful. Like the Greatwood itself was listening in. He wondered if the Mathair was listening as the tiny hairs pricked on the back of his neck.
“He won’t last long if he’s waiting it out,” Noah said, low and even. “The trees don’t like outsiders.” He glanced to the side, to Callum, to see how the mercenary reacted to his words that were fact, laid bare and cold.
He looked to Callum, the calm in his expression hard-earned. “If we want him alive, we’ll need to be fast.” because if the Mathair was listening, maybe she was hungry too. Beneath the dense canopy, Noah moved in steady silence, footsteps muffled by moss and loam. Shafts of filtered light dappled their path as they scanned for signs—broken twigs, disturbed leaves, scent on the wind.
With the jerky disposed of between the two of them, Callum returns to the hunt. That the trees don't like outsiders is a fact that is not lost on the mercenary, but he reacts with merely a shrug. The good news is that he doesn't plan to stay long - if he can find his target, he'll be in and out before the forest even realizes that he's here.
That's the plan, anyway.
"So we'll be fast," he offers, gaze skimming the forest for any sign of life. "There!" A movement in the trees; the sound of running footsteps echoes through the trunks around them, and Callum is off before he can think the better of it. It doesn't take them long; their prey is not accustomed to the forest, and trips over a root before their chase can even really begin.
Once the man is bound, Callum drags him roughly to his feet, offering Noah a lazy salute. "Thanks for the help. Hope we meet again, under better circumstances."
And then the mercenary is gone, dragging the murderer back to Torchline to face justice.
