From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
She had said she would ask Frey about the forest, and that was exactly what she would do.
It was still quite early in the morning when Phoebe and Pim made their way to the Glade Shrine. She could no longer go to the dedicated Shrine of Frey and Rae anymore after all, so this one would have to do. In her hand was her usual offering, fruits, eclairs, and honeysuckle on silky fabrics. As she set it on the small alter, she looked over at Pim and smiled warmly at him. He was grumpy from waking so early. ”Pim, did you bring Frey an offering like I told you to?” she asked the little dragon, and in turn she earned a little growl and the sudden feeling of irritation. She took it that was a no.
But Pim scurried off, grumble-growling as he did so. Phoebe sighed and shook her head, waiting for her companion to return. After about twenty or so minutes he did, his gifts in his mouth. Pim scurried up to the alter and gingerly laid down what he found – a couple of glow stones, and a small, very dead pheasant. Phoebe blinked at the glowing rocks and dead bird, then looked at the little dragon. ”Really?” Pim growled and sat, head held high. Pim’s gift was something pretty, things it would horde if it could, and food. Wonderful gifts from a mighty fearsome dragonling.
Clearly that was Pim’s gift so Phoebe knelt to pray to her friend and deity of choice. ”Frey, if you might spare some time for me – I’ve questions about the Greatwood, in hopes we might understand what is blighting the trees and help the Fae.”
"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?" Frey drawled with a pretend pout. Their hands were on their hips as they gazed down at the dead bird that the dragonling had offered as a gift. "Either eat it, or let it live. I don't much care for rotting things." They added, leaning down and collecting the dead creature. In an instant, it breezed apart, particles of the once-living thing taken away by an intangible wind.
Yawning, the god rose, arms crossed. "Off your knees poppet, unless that pretty face is part of your offerings as well?" The god grinned, though at the mention of the blight, they grew stern.
"What do you think it is?" Frey asked, eyes narrowing slightly, interested to know what the midwife made of the problem.
Pim’s little head tilted to the side, making an intrigued little chirping noise at the god. But quickly the little dragon was distracted, the bird disappearing into little bits floating on the breeze. He roared squeaked at the little bits and pounced at them, chasing them around, seemingly not concerned with Frey’s lack of appreciation for the pheasant. The glow stones were still there after all, and Pim was but a baby with a short attention span. Phoebe laughed a little and shook her head at his antics.
She rose when Frey bid she rise, her cheeks turning red at their comment. ”No, I am not.” she said with a light laugh. Phoebe had her boundaries – and she was spoken for, making things complicated as humans did per Frey’s assessment – and Frey had always been respectful of those boundaries. If they ever just wanted some cuddle time though? Well, she would agree to that.
But Frey’s sudden seriousness was uncharacteristic of them, and she similarly grew serious in response. She considered a moment, before answering. ”I can’t say for certain. The Fae say it is because the barrier fell… and I believe after 300 years completely cut off from the rest of Caido, it is entirely possible that certain plant diseases or blights could have developed that the Greatwood is unaccustomed to fighting off.” she said, thinking of it in terms of people, where those that lived far away could bring new ailments with them. And to be fair, the Glade was really the only place in the Hollowed Grounds that didn’t seem a touch blighted. ”But the barrier hasn’t been down that long. For it to spread so rapidly…well it would seem its something more than a standard plant disease.”
"Well then don't tease." Frey drawled with a simper.
But the God knew what Phoebe wasn't here for. What they were interested in was what she was here for, and why she thought events had happened as they had. The god listened with a raised brow, their fingers stroking suggestively along their chin and then splaying thoughtfully against their collar bones. "Something specifically within the barrier, that sounds right." They said leadingly. "And for it to effect the trees so fast...Yes I would say that it was more than standard plant disease. After all, if it was something, oh you know, natural, I would think the fae and their woodsy ways would know very well what ought to be done about it all."
Glancing at Phoebe with a salacious grin on their lips, Frey splayed their hands. "So, honeybunch, what does that leave?"
Phoebe laughed a little at Frey's words, a light blush coloring her cheeks. "Alright. No more kneeling to pray." she promised.
As Frey spoke, she listened intently, trying to piece together bits of information. Meanwhile, being unsuccessful in his attempts to catch the little particles of pheasant Frey had sent on the breeze, Pim trotted back over, rubbing his body along and between Phoebe's legs. The pleasant affect of the god's presence had him feeling very snuggly, and soon enough he was rubbing up against the deity's ankles as well, humming a low, almost purr noise.
Phoebe's head tilted to the side in thought, her hair falling around her shoulders. Something from the barrier, that was not natural. "Well, something unnatural. Something...magical or otherwise created for this purpose...an actual, planned attack against the Greatwood?" she said, looking up at Frey. Nature had a way of being indiscriminate, so for it to not be natural meant it likely was purposeful. She lifted a hand and thrummed her lower lip with her fingers in thought. "Is it the Voice? Is she causing this?" Phoebe asked.
Frey purred back to the small creature, absently leaning a hand down to scritch along Pim's sugary-pink scales.
Listening with an amused smirk, Frey merely shrugged their shoulders apparently neither willing to confirm nor deny the midwife's thoughts at this point. "Causing? An interesting notion." The drawled. "Let me ask you this. If you walk through the woods and your foot print unearths a root that later someone trips and falls over, have you caused their fall?"
Pim trilled happily with the scritches given by the deity, arching his back into the sensation. Then, near quick as a lightning bolt, Pim scurried his way up to Frey’s shoulders, curling himself about the deity’s neck, contentedly purring with the snuggles. Phoebe had a mind to be jealous, but knew better. Frey had a certain effect on people, and Pim was merely basking in the warm, fuzzy feeling they emitted.
Frey’s counterpoint had her furrowing her brow. ”Well…not purposefully no.” Since purposefully had been her intended meaning too, she was clearly in the wrong about that. She thought on it more, watching Pim snuggle with Frey, thinking a bit on the feelings that always made themselves known when her friend was around. Frey did not cause these things to occur she supposed with any conscious thought, more that it was simply and integral part of their being, a side-effect of simply being who they were and the way it impacted the world around them. Could perhaps this decay of the Greatwood be a similar effect of the presence of the Voice? ”I don’t know how to put into words what I am thinking…” she said a bit frustrated, not sure anything really encapsulated her thoughts. ”If it is not purposeful, could it be simply an effect of the Voice’s presence? Like…her aura or something she doesn’t actively control has that effect on the Greatwood?” she said, trying to verbalize it.
Hands appeared from unseen limbs, massaging the creature as it made itself into a draconian scarf about the god's shoulders. Every now and then bits of raw meat would appear in deft fingers, offering the morsels to the dragonling as Frey considered Phoebe's answer.
"It could be." Frey replied elusively. "Does control matter, do you think? Now that I have mentioned how your path through the woods might cause others to trip and fall later, will you simply stop walking? It is possible your actions will negatively affect others, even if you don't mean for them to? The real question I think is...do we stop you from walking, or find a way to better strengthen the woods?"
If the god’s goal was to earn the dragonling’s undying love and affection, they were doing a fabulous job. Pim snapped up the morsels of meat with careful bites – oh you bet he had snipped Phoebe’s fingers once and learned that was not okay – munching them only once or twice before swallowing them down. Were it not for the morsels of meat being proffered he would have certainly fallen asleep under Frey’s ministrations, a fully relaxed lump of scales and dragon flesh.
”No.” Phoebe said at once shaking her head. ”It is as you told me before, we must find was to grow and change, so future generations will be better and stronger for our growth.” she said, recalling all the lessons they had given her whilst in their godly domain. ”So…really I’ve asked the wrong question again. It doesn’t matter so much as to who or what is causing it, but rather, how can the Greatwood be enhanced so it can stand strong against these effects, purposeful or otherwise?” she said, hoping she was on the right track again. ”Is there something we can do to make that happen? To help the Greatwood be able to defend and strengthen itself from this decay?”
"That is better. You mortals are so quick to worry about blame first and solutions second. Shift that, and your odds of survival will increase." Taking a deep breath, their face suddenly looking sullen and stormy, Frey exhaled in a stream of air that smelled of rain on a summer evening.
"You are right that the blight is not natural. It is not something to have ever been introduced to this world before. Experimentation might be a good place to start. A little birdie told me you've a new toy to play with. Something to see passed what the eye cannot. Perhaps that will be of use."
Frey’s sudden demeanor shift made Phoebe’s stomach sink a bit. Though Frey was usually effervescent and bright, she had never seen them so dour and she worried. But they were allowed their worries, their troubles, just as she was. Certainly to a deity who inspired Flowerbirth, who reveled in the creation and growth of new life, would be burdened by this unnatural decay of the wood.
As if on instinct itself, she reached out to take one of Frey’s hands in hers, giving it a comforting squeeze should she succeed. As in her time of trouble, she would stand by her friend in this, and do all she could to help.
Brown eyes blinked, then brightened at the device Frey mentioned. ”Oh yes! Remi made it for me, and I brought it to show you!” she said excitedly, reaching into the small bag she carried, carefully pulling the small device out. ”I haven’t figured out a good name for it yet, but it does help see the little…well I am calling them cells now since you did not give me a name and said people would come up with one anyways.” she said, smiling brightly, holding it out for Frey to see if they wished.
”So you think I might find an answer if I examine some of the blighted plants under this? But…” she chewed her lip worriedly, thinking about the new laws. But…she just needed permission. There was another issue though to compound it. ”Even if I can get the permission to go into the Greatwood, Delah will probably send me back or worse…I have nothing of value to them and I am not certain they’d believe me if I told them I spoke with you about it.”
Glancing down at the hand suddenly cupping theirs, Frey tilted their head to the side (leaning it slightly against the cool pink scales of their dragon-scarf). "Such a mortal gesture." They said, though there was amusement in their kaleidoscopic gaze.
Looking at the device that Phoebe's friend made, Frey simply shrugged. "It would not do me much good to look through poppet. I already see all. But I'm glad that you are beginning to as well. Context always soothes the soul."
Blowing rainbow static gently towards Pim, the god shrugged. "Mortal problems require mortal solutions. Your queen, your relationship with the fae, these aren't things I care about." Such was said bluntly, but not unkindly. The barriers the mortals made for themselves were not the ones that the gods were obligated to help them over.
Phoebe smiled at her friend and nodded. ”Yes, because I am a mortal.” she said simply. Frey had said comfort was meaningless, and perhaps to a god it was. But she was mortal, and comfort had meaning; and she knew that somewhere, deep down, Frey would understand its sentiment in their own way.
That they were neither terribly impressed with her device, nor with her concerns was not shocking. She simply nodded and tucked it away, already trying to think up ways to make this happen. Again, she took Frey’s hand, a cheeky grin on her face in completing her mortal gesture. ”Friendship is two-sided, and you have done so much for me. I can tell the blight in the Greatwood concerns you so I will do everything I can to help see it resolved.” she said, forcing what little courage she had to smother out her worries and what ifs. It had shaken her to see Frey so overcome with trouble, their carefree nature burdened by the seriousness of what was happening in the Greatwood.
”If I find something, especially something I don’t understand, may I call on you again to help me make sense of it?” she asked. This would be the first time she would be putting her device to use, and she was certain she would come across a great many things she didn’t know. Frey had the knowledge to understand what she found, and she the duty as a mortal to make the worldly repairs to see the Greatwood restored.
If the god understood, they did not show it. This gesture seemed to be more for Phoebe than for Frey, but even so, this speck of life wrapped up in bubbly optimism had grown on it, just as so many other things had, and so they let the contact endure.
For a moment the god said little, considering Phoebe's words carefully. "There will always be things you don't understand honeybunch, such is the nature of your morality." They began finally, reaching a hand forward so that their fingers could glide through Phoebe's hair.
"Try on your own first. Ask yourself what I would ask of you, and then answer. There are others you might turn to first, other minds you might help. But yes, if you need me, you may ask."
Phoebe has been given a god quest to start a PQ and investigate the blight!
