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!
07-04-2019, 01:46 AM (This post was last modified: 07-04-2019, 01:50 AM by Eli.)
Eli
As they continued to walk he eyed her, giving a small nod. He had no idea where she'd come from, he'd never heard of it, but it sounded about as near to where he was from as to how close he was to getting back. Before long he found himself setting foot inside the college, Eli didn't quite remember the way they'd come, his mind had been elsewhere for quite a time now. He peered around at the ornate decoration, no, it clearly wasn't that technologically advanced. He followed her up the steps, peering inside the laboratory's as they passed, this didn't seem like much of a place of healing.
"I'm from a place called Hope- it's a lot different than here. Much different, most likely very much different from Northwind..." Eli said, in his usual gruff tone, though it sounded a little more distant, as if he was distracted. He clearly didn't hear her ask to see his hands, he merely stood here, a scowl on his features as his eyes glanced around the study, eyeing nothing in particular, as if he was in some sort of dazed state.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." - If you want peace, prepare for war.
Despite his gruff tone, Phoebe knew that wistful undertone. Everyone who was an Outlander did. It was the longing for the familiar - the places and people that were left behind when they were brought to Caido. She smiled at him warmly, allowing a few moments of silence to pass between them. "It is hard at first, coming here out of the blue." she said softly after a time. "But in time, you'll feel right at home. It's...a chance to start over. Remake yourself. And there are plenty of us who are willing to help you adjust." she assured.
Once again she lifted the gauze, this time so he could see it. Hopefully that would get his attention. "May I see your hands?" she asked again, hoping this time she could actually address his wounds as he had requested earlier.
He nodded a little in agreement with her, it was indeed hard having arrived here, everything he'd ever know and knew was gone, as if it never even existed in the first place, it was such a shock that it was something he'd only just accepted, only just gotten use to, there was no going back, that was evident and he doubted there ever would be. Exhaling he blinked as the gauze was pushed into his vision, he shook his head a little as if coming out of a trace, blinking a few times.
"Yeah, yeah... sorry." he said, the words sounding apologetic enough though that hoarse annoyance never really need to go entirely, he raised his hands to her, they were as worn as the rest of him, the rough, calloused skin interwoven with various scars of long past scuffles and fights, his actual knuckles were freshly bruised, the small skin tears not being quite as red as they had been, yet a small amount of blood still beaded around the area, he curled his fingers a little, feeling slightly ashamed at why she was having to do this. He eyed her, exhaling as he came to a realisation.
"I'm er... I'm sorry about this, I doubt it's something you thought you were going to be doing today and well- well I'm just sorry." His words were hesitant, as if apologies didn't come all that naturally, it wasn't like he wasn't used to being patched up, but he actually felt bad, about Phoebe having to do it.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." - If you want peace, prepare for war.
"It's alright. Are you feeling better now?" she asked, voice as gentle and soothing as usual when she had her working hat on. "War shock spells can be quite disconcerting to come out from. Just try and relax." Phoebe took his hands, examining the cuts and bruises, completely undetered by the state of them. Nothing was terribly deep or large, so this would do well! She placed the Abrasion Gauze over his knuckles, waiting a few moments before removing it. The skin beneath it, bruises and all, were suddenly completely healed.
His apology surprised her though, and she glanced up, brown eyes wide with surprise. "Well, I'm just glad it was a war shock spell and not what I thought it was originally." she said with a small smile, looking back at his hands to repeat the process with his other hand. "And besides, I am a midwife. I am very used to changing course last minute at all times of the day and night to help people." she said, glancing up at him again. "It would be nice to know your name though."
War shock, she could certainly say that again. He glanced up as well, meeting her gaze for a while before he looked back down to his knuckles... he blinked, it looked as good as new, he wasn't quite sure what she'd done, but he didn't seem to question it, merely exhaling a little as his eyes carried back up to her. "What exactly does a... midwife do?" he himself looked a little puzzled, as if such a job wasn't something he had ever come across, it was one of the many things that was so alien to him, completely so. He inhaled slowly before pushing the breath out through his mouth; continuing.
"Monnrow, Eli Monnrow." he offered her the faintest of smiles, trying to be polite, it was the least he could do after all she was actually doing for him and honestly, he did not have the energy or reason to keep up the barrier he so triumphantly kept around himself.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." - If you want peace, prepare for war.
She looked at him with a bit of surprise. "You didn't have midwives where you're from?" she said with a little laugh, amused at the thought. Once his other hand was healed, she put the gauze away and began sorting through a cabinet that had various containers of dried substances in it. "I mainly help women through pregnancies, from the earliest stages to labor to early childcare. But women's health in general is what I specialize in." she explained. "Though, since coming here, I've been working to broaden my skillset."
As she spoke she pulled various containers down and began prepping what looked like tea bags, thin, delicate fingers working with precision and skill. Once those were completed and tucked into a small bag, she prepared little jars of some sort of concoction. "Well, Eli, it is good to meet you." she said with a smile. "And here. I would like you to make yourself this tea twice a day. It should help your nerves a bit so you feel less jumpy, more even keeled. And if you feel one of those spells coming on, drink one of these tinctures. They are more powerful for calming moods and should keep you from having a full blown attack like earlier." she said, holding the prepared items out to him.
"Machines do... all that sorta' stuff. It's all automated." he calmly replied, knowing she most likely wasn't going to understand what he even meant by that, let alone how it actually worked. He watched her prepare the small package as she spoke, nodding a little at the job description, it sounded a little funny to him in many ways, though he knew that such a job did need to be done by people when such technological marvels had yet to be even dreamed about.
Carefully rubbing his hands together, brushing off some of the caked on dirt and blood. "Yeah, good to meet you too. Under the circumstances." he said, under what could of been taken as a small joke. He tilted his head a little, at the thought of drinking tea to help him and whatever she had also prepared. "What exactly is in the er... tincture?" his eyes fixed on the small bag as he reached out to close a hand around it and take it from her.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." - If you want peace, prepare for war.
Phoebe stared at him wide-eyed, a sort of blank, glazed over stare that made clear she had no idea what he meant. "What's a ma-sheen?" she asked, head tilting slightly to the side. "Is it like a contraption? Like a loom or a forge bellows?" she asked, curious but clearly lacking the sort of basic concept of what he meant. Not that that should be a surprise. There was clearly no electricity anywhere, the room lit by candles and a fireplace.
"Oh they are herbal remedies." she said with a smile. "They contain the same things, the tincture is just more concentrated to have a more immediate effect. They are green tea based, but also have kava root, skullcap, dong quai, chamomile, stinging nettle, and valerian root." she said with a smile. "Oh! And a bit of peppermint. But that's really just to help the taste."
How in the world was he going to explain this? It was so normal to him that it didn't ever really need explanation it just 'was', no one ever questioned it or wondered what it was, he opened his mouth, trying to find the right words, words that she could understand, he squinted a little as he thought. "It's a tool, that you tell what to do and it does it without you doing anything like if... a hammer did its job without someone holding it." he said, wondering if that even made sense to her, or if just the concept was so far removed from what she was used to, she couldn't begin to comprehend it. He wasn't any sort of engineer either, so he wasn't even exactly sure how it all worked, but he had the basic idea.
Though herbal remedies sounded ridiculous to him, it wasn't exactly state of the art medicine where he was from, far from it. He actually grinned, offering a small laugh at the prospect. "That will help me right? I haven't heard of stinging nettles or anything like that- sounds all a bit far fetched but I'll trust you, you seem to know what you're talking about at least." he said firmly, offering her a glance from his mismatched eyes, that actually gave him a rather unique trait among so many others, as well as a small nod.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." - If you want peace, prepare for war.
It took her a second, clearly trying to process his explanation in a way that made a semblance of sense in her mind. But when she landed on a form of understanding, she perked up with a bright smile. "Oh! So they are magic items then?" she said, as if that somehow explained it all. "Magical items are rare and rather small here, I can't imagine using them everyday likr that!" she said brightly.
"Well, if you haven't studied medicine I doubt you would know much about these sort of plants." she said with a light laugh. It boosted her spirits that he was laughing and smiling. Clearly the war shock was behind him for the moment. "You should trust me. I am the Dean of the Medical College after all! Besides, all they do is make you feel calm and relaxed."
In a way he supposed it did seem like a type of magic to somehow utterly removed from such marvels. He nodded a little, confirming her guess of magic; he wasn't going to be able to explain any more than what he had done, he managed a bit more of a grin, eyes now firmly fixed on her, no longer staring away at anything else. "Magic, yeah, let's go with that huh? And should I indeed Miss... Dean of the Medical College." he said, sounding a little less distant than before, a little less disassociated. A hand run up through his hair, trying to at least make himself look a little bit more presentable considering the company. "I'm not exactly the most educated of men, so I put my faith in you." he added as lightly as he could.
He paused a moment, letting silence settle between them, he frowned a moment, weighing something up before he coughed and spoke. "Look, thanks for doing this, I know you put yourself at risk by intervening and actually helping me, so thanks; I'm not too big on these sorts of things, so take it while you can." his words sounded genuine, if not a little stilted, though some might've have said it was endearing. He gave a small nod, weighing up the bag she'd given him idly.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." - If you want peace, prepare for war.
Phoebe grinned, pleased she had gotten her guess right. Though, it was a bit unnerving to be stared at as he was - he was a rather intense fellow, wasn't he? "You can just call me Phoebe." she said with a light laugh. Miss Dean of the Medical College sounded awfully formal. Much to formal for her certainly. "Well, you seem educated to me, knowing about these fancy ma-sheens and all." she said as she put away the supplies she had used to make him those remedies as she spoke.
"When you are close to running out of that just let me know and I will make you more." she said, pulling the books she had originally intended to bring to the college out of her bag anf carefully shelving them. But his thanks caught her off guard and she glanced at him. It was a bit endearing she thought - big tough fellows usually were rare to give thanks or apologize after all. "Well, I am honored and you are very welcome." she said with a soft smile.
07-04-2019, 02:35 PM (This post was last modified: 07-04-2019, 02:36 PM by Eli.)
Eli
Yeah he knew about 'ma-sheens', as much as a peasant knew about blacksmithing, he thought the idea funny, another small laugh escaped his lips as he exhaled, peering around the study again, frowning a little as he did. "This where you work, in here?" he asked, as if trying to find out as much information as he could about her, and where he worked seemed like a good enough thing to ask, especially since he wasn't too much of a conversationalist. Idly he stuffed the small bag into a pouch on his belt, quickly adding. "Rather ornate isn't it? ...But I suppose it fits the theme of this entire place."
He gave her another glance, tilting his head a little as if pondering over something. "You live around here or in the building?" came another question, the technique a little more interrogation than conversation, though by no means did any of this sound malicious, it seemed to just be his way of speaking. He genuinely seemed interested for once.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." - If you want peace, prepare for war.
The questions surprised her but she was happy to answer. "Sometimes I work here. Though this is where I mostly do research. I hope someday we have actual students to teach but we just opened so that will take time." she said as she put the books away. Her back had turned to him but Pim was still keeping an eye on this Eli fellow. In fact, the little pink dragonling glided off her shoulder and scurried his way up on a desk, sniffing at him suspiciously.
"Ornate? I suppose. It is one of the bigger buildings around I guess." she said with a light shrug. It didn't seem ornate to her. More practical and usable as it ought to be. "I live nearby. I also run my women's clinic out of my home." she explained. "The downstairs is more the clinic, and the upstairs is my personal quarters."
