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!
Phoebe knew she couldn’t just go traipsing out into the Greatwood, not now that there was a queen and laws. Everyone else seemed very upset by it all but, frankly, Phoebe didn’t mind. Zariah was terrifying, certainly, but she didn’t see a whole lot of bad in what she had instated so far. Perhaps, by showing some respect, by not being amongst the outraged, she might garner some favor. And boy, did she need it now.
She knew that the Left Hand was regularly at the Rathskeller, given that she owned the place, and Phoebe did vaguely recognize her from Long Night and so felt more comfortable approaching her than the Queen proper. Quietly she entered the bar, spotting Edrei behind it. She made her way up, waiting for other customers to get what they needed before she spoke to her. ”Uhm…excuse me…Left Hand Edrei…may I ask you something?” she said, to get her attention. ”I need to go into the Greatwood with a friend. We are researching the blight affecting the trees, and hope that in finding a cure we can mend fences between us and the Fae. Could we please have permission to go into the Greatwood? The Fae have met her before and accepted her, and I met them briefly as well. I promise we won’t make any trouble.”
Timid was...not one of Edy's love languages. And so, as Phoebe siddled up to the bar with gooey sweetness and those stupid big doe-eyes of hers, the Launceleyn merely raised a brow.
"Who gives a fuck about the Greatwood. They don't want us there. That fence can stay broken as far as I'm concerned, as long as we stay on our side of it." Edy replied, speaking her mind because...well, this shit was Zariah's jurisdiction, not hers. Not really. "That rule is to keep you safe and not to start a war with the fae. Besides. Their disease, their problem."
Phoebe swallowed, leaning back a little from how forward Edrei was. Old Phoebe would have completely shrunk away. Old Phoebe would have given up and run home tail between her legs. But…Frey needed her to do this. Frey had never let her down, and so she could not let them down. From her feet, Pim suddenly scurried up her side and perched on her shoulder, eyeing Edrei suspiciously before roaring squeaking at her to intimidate her for his companion.
The blonde to a steadying breath and straightened again. ”It isn’t their disease. It is our disease. Something from within the barrier has begun to destroy their home. If we don’t find a way to stop it, we will have a war on our hands. Please, I beg you let us go and collect the samples we need.” Phoebe said, being persistent in her request. She wasn’t just asking to go and have fun or poke around. She had a purpose. Wasn’t that enough?
06-24-2019, 07:03 PM (This post was last modified: 06-24-2019, 07:03 PM by Edrei.)
Raising a brow, Edy snorted at the dragon, bits of fire appearing all around her. Lazily, because her own bonded needed no such defending, Bobi merely looked up from her place on the bar, yowled slightly, and then went back to sleep.
"Well, it isn't destroying our home. And how is it going to start a war? Diseases happen." The mention of begging though, had Edy nearly gagging. "Listen blondie, unless you're naked, in cuffs, and I've got cherries to eat off your tits, don't beg." She groaned.
As fire flared around Edrei, Pim opened his maw, allowing little bits of rainbow lightning to spark forward, no more than an inch or two away from him. ”Pim, stop.” Phoebe said sternly, and Pim growled but settled on her shoulder.
”Because they will blame us for destroying their home, for bringing down the barrier against the will of the gods and unleashing this onto the wood.” Phoebe said, not backing down. Once upon a time, her sexual description may have made Phoebe’s cheeks flare red and caused her to stutter. But it sounded so much like something Frey would say, she simply let it slide. ”Fine. I won’t beg. I will insist. This can only help both our people’s if you let us go and try, and hurt us both if you don’t. People here are upset because of these rules that have been instated, and I am trying to comply with them. Wouldn’t it show people that simply following the rules yields good results if you allow us to do this?” she said, trying to come at it from another angle.
'Well, they can blame us all they want. But what they can't do is demand that we stay out and then bitch because we didn't come in."
Narrowing her eyes, Edy wished she could just flick her fingers and make this annoying blonde-bug disappear. "Insist huh? Well look at the panties on you." The not-teenager drawled. "Mm, my guess is if I let you go, everybody is suddenly going to pull out their soap boxes and start demanding that they be let out as well. You're from Northaven. You remember." Edy said with a raised brow.
Phoebe swallowed, knowing she was treading in dangerous waters. But she had to. There was no other option.
”You are right. I do remember. And I also remember that those in power there did approve missions to try and make friends with the Native people there too.” she said, trying to keep her voice steady, despite her unease. ”That is what this is – an effort to make friends with these people, an effort to mend what hurts we have unintentionally caused. If we can do this, and gain their favor, it will be a boon to the crown to have allies, won’t it?” she said, unwilling to relent. ”I am offering to risk it, to risk being captured by the Fae, to try and help them and the Hollowed Grounds. This is more than a soap box.”
"Mhmm, and other than some weird infection that made body parts drop off, make mutes of members of my family, and ultimately kill, what came of that?"
Letting her head loll to the side, Edy just huffed and raised a brow. "You pull babies out of vaginas and try to make it as painless and healthy as possible, yeah? Don't stray from your dayjob into politics. You aren't good at it." Edy returned in response to thoughts about allies and whatnot.
"Oh so now it's a risk to be captured by the fae, and that's what's going to make all this hostility better?" Edy answered with a grimace. "Like I said. The fae want nothing to do with us. Who cares about their fungus or whatever it is, there's no proof it came from here. It could be entirely coincidental. And if they want to be left alone, so be it." Fixing Phoebe with a stare, Edy shook her head. "If you're doing this out of the sappy bottom of your heart, the answer is no. So unless you have some other reason, you can either order a drink, or leave."
Phoebe was growing increasingly aggravated as Edrei spoke, indicated by how Pim’s growl grew in intensity as she did so. She was tired of being underestimated, of quietly following along and people expecting she would just because she was quiet and demure. This was a make it or break it moment, and she had a serious decision to make – but it had really already been made when she promised Frey she would get to the bottom of this disease.
”I am doing it because my friend Frey, god of passion, sex and sexuality, and fertility, herald of Rae, asked me to research it. So I am not leaving until you say yes!” she said firmly, her anger only briefly flashing. ”So I guess I’ll have a double whiskey, neat, please if I need to order a drink to stay.”
With an exasperated groan, Edy shook her head with wild abandon. "Why the fuck didn't you lead with that?" No political mastermind was she, but the Launceleyn-girl knew enough that Zariah wouldn't want a god all pissed off at them. Not until they were stronger, anyways.
Raising a brow at the drink order and assuming that Phoebe was either trying to impress her, or that she'd grown up with brothers, Edy just crossed her arms. "You've got your yes. Stay for the drink if you want. If not, have fun getting forest-disease."
Phoebe blinked when Edrei groaned and said she should have led with that. Really? But…the abandon…er…destined couldn’t talk to the gods, so wouldn’t they dislike that it was for a god? Did it matter? She got her yes! Phoebe brightened immediately, grinning from ear to ear. ”Thank you very much!” she said chipperly.
Did she want that drink still? ”Uh, yes, I would like that drink still please. That was stressful.” she said, still grinning. Upon receiving her drink, Phoebe would quietly thank Edrei, chug it in a few gulps, breathing in deep through her nose and out through her mouth to ease the burn, pay and leave. Success! Now to head to the Greatwood!
