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!
The stars around are bright, the moon above is new.
And behind the Crimson Cataract, Undine sings for you.
All across the Greatwood, Undine sings for you.
Welcome to the Leafchange drop! A haunting melody has filled the Greatwood, reaching far enough for those in the Hollowed grounds to hear. The source of the melody is still hidden behind the waterfall within the Crimson Cataract.
This will also count as a rare creature sighting (Undine)!
You have 48 hours to respond before this drop moves on.
"What do you mean traipsing off into the forbidden woods might be dangerous?" Remi whispered to Ronin, nudging his lover's side with a mischevious glint in his eyes.
Remi stayed quite close to Ronin as they walked, and only partially because in the darkened and unfamiliar depths it was quite hard for Remi to see. "I think it is basically a rule that if you hear mysterious singing, you are obligated to follow." The alchemist added, and then shrugged lightly. "Besides, it might have something to do with Safrin?"
Table base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
This was not necessarily unusual; Fae were prone to a good song while they explored or worked, but the tune of this song, the quality of it was different. It seemed to ring with a power, carry across the woods just to speak to her...she had followed the song without truly even thinking the decision through.
It led her to the Crimson Cataract, her usual spot for dying fabrics, but now there was not the calm atmosphere here there usually was when she came to work; there was a humming energy in the air and a song coming from the waterfall.
Jiao sat on a rock near the shore and hugged her legs, listening and watching.
Leave all of my regrets to sink like shipwrecks
Through oceans dark
"Did I say it was dangerous? That doesn't sound like me at all." Ronin's tone was warm as he whispered back to Remi, his arm laced around the alchemist that they might walk easily through the woods towards the source of the beautiful, haunting melody. Remi had a good point, too - perhaps this was something to do with Safrin, and the hunter's footsteps picked up at the idea of it.
When they emerged at the waterfall and the pool of rich crimson below, Ronin's breath caught in his throat. He grinned and held Remi a little closer. "Would that you could see this right now, even by starlight..." Narrowing his eyes, he tilted his head at the music echoing from behind the waterfall. "Whoever it is that is singing, they are behind there."
It was a song again – curled and lilting, haunting and coiled, deep in the recesses of his mind, even as he opted to sway away from it. How many times had he tried to not be heralded by a siren endeavor, and still managed to wander into its midst anyway? Was it worth the effort to balk and resist again, knowing full well, eventually, his curiosity would win over the machinations, calculations, and coldblooded experiences?
Already meandering along the outskirts of the Hollowed Grounds, Zuriel gave him the flattest look a unicorn could muster or convey.
So they ventured in, following, further and further, breaking the law and the contracts and everything else in between – whether it was indifference, ignorance, or irreverence hardly mattered, he’d stepped amidst all of them, still a seditious piece of the background – the unicorn following him. His eyes caught the waterfall, the blood-hued pool blending amidst the small crowd forming, and held his breath, nodding towards Remi, Ronin, and Jiao, uncertain what they’d see, what they’d encounter, or what lurked beyond.
Out of sight and out of mind
Make everything alright
So let the sky and sea collide
Just not in our lifetime
If he hadn’t already been outside, he would have ignored it. At least, that was the lie Peter told himself. The soft, haunting voice seemed to call for him, lead him to the edge of the Great Wood, where he hesitated. Could he justify this enough to actually break a rule?
Whatever it was that sang so sweetly could be a threat. It was for the good and safety of everyone that he went to at least investigate. A weak lie, but enough for Peter to push over the border and into the trees. The night, already dark, was made more so by the trees blocking out the starlight, and if he hand then filling the singing, he would have been lost immediately.
To his panic, he found he wasn’t the only one who had responded to the song, and followed it to its red tinted conclusion. He recognized Remi, whom he kept a wide berth from, and the fey woman, but the rest were strangers to him. It seemed safest to linger near the back of the group, so he could make a hasty exit if need be.
And oh, don’t you wanna love?
And don’t you wanna feel?
I remember, you were reckless, you were hungry
You were real
A little bit tired, a little worse for wear, Amalia arrives into the small gathering on wings of starlight and cream, Jyoti close beside. It is the starwhale who first heard the song, the little creature somehow in tune with the magic that dances through their world, the beauty and mystery of the woods. She leads them joyfully, crooning her own low reply, her largo sonata dancing on the breeze in dulcet, surreal tones.
The starwhale cannot resist its call, and so the girl cannot either, gliding behind her smaller soulmate, a silent shadow in the night. She is exhausted from the earlier journey, but Jyoti's enthusiasm invigorates the owl, lends to her a second wind. Encouraging Kiada and Jigano to follow she leads her flock into the woods, the trail of stardust making a pathway easy to follow through the sky.
At last they find the source, or where the source might be: the crimson cataract looms ahead, and over the thundering falls, the song. Already some have gathered, and Amalia chirps a fond greeting to Remi and Ronin before lighting on Deimos' shoulder, running her beak affectionately through his hair, nibbling lightly on his ear. Jyoti for her part emits a cheerful note to Zuriel before swimming out above the pool, harmonizing with the invisible singer, frolicking in the water and leaving starlight behind.
After their journey to the east, Jigano had wanted nothing more than to wing his way back to the farmhouse and collapse into Rory's arms, sleeping deeply and soundly until the morning came, and knowing how sore his own arms would be by then. But Jyoti had heard something in the distance, a song that they had all found coaxing them not home to the Hollowed Grounds, but west and north into the Greatwood.
Amalia was fearless, and Jigano had no intention of leaving his friend to go alone. He coaxed and encouraged Kiada and Isuma along, lending the gryphlet a little extra wing-power as best he could as they followed the song that he could hear clearly now. The evening serenade was unique and beautiful... and not unlike one he had followed before, to the shores of the Stonesong. That had ended in fire and confusion, and four bright hooves. There was every chance that this would end in pain and fair as well... And therefore all the more reason he couldn't leave his friends to it.
The raven with the greyish-black feathers blended well into the night. The rusty-furred gryphlet nearby was equally well camouflaged against the Leafchange trees as they alit on thick branches above the pond. Jigano took note of others who had already come, especially Deimos and Jiao, but Remi and Ronin as well. Delah would probably be angry, and not without cause... and hers was the only dissenting opinion that really mattered, in his book. But it was too late now, and they'd have to deal with the consequences when they came.
It was hard to hang on to such grim thoughts when the beautiful melody reached out and wrapped around him, achingly lonely, heart-wrenchingly lovely, eerie and full of starlight. Almost without realizing it, Jigano opened his beak, a lesser echo of the waterfall singer's song emerging from the throat of a corvid well-versed in mimicry.
Phoebe heard the enchanting song while buried in her research at the college. What time was it even? But Pim had even woken from his sleep, curled up in a corner of the lab, looking towards the Greatwood with curiosity. So putting her research aside, and token pass in hand, she rose to go investigate. What else was there to do after a with such an enchanting song permeating the cool night air?
The young midwife arrived, sleepy pink dragon draped around her neck. He was getting awfully heavy she realized. He wouldn't be able to hitch a ride like this much longer. Brown eyes spotted the gathering crowd, moving from the group to the waterfall. Whatever in the name of Frey was making such a beautiful song?
Another call, another song, another moment where she was caught in its thrall.
They wandered, tethered to those lines of sonnets and stanzas, where the strains proffered the unknown requiems, her breath trying to match the pitches and tones, humming with each billowing motion and movement. They were floating decibels and sanctum solaces, and she pieces them together as she and Fangorn skipped along the outskirts of moss and pebbles, roaming deeper and deeper. The youth was pleasantly surprised when they ended up maneuvering along the Crimson Cataract, already comfortable and familiar with its red traces, its pool full of blessed ichor, stones and lichen laden throughout its essence, its portal.
Even more so when she saw hordes of others, entangled and enraptured by the same rhapsodies, the same harmonies. She waved to the familiar ones, before turning towards the falls, head tilting, waiting for something to happen.
What resided behind the roar of the water? Why did it sing? For what?
Melita sang for strength and persistence, for endurance and fortitude, for comfort and memories, for days not split by storms or false paragons.
This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?
Midas is king and he holds me so tight
And turns me to gold in the sunlight
She flies along the winds with Jigano, originally planning on dropping home in the Hollowed Grounds before Jigano and Amalia mention a sound — a sound as she flies along she can hear too. And she dips toward it, following her friends toward the sound of the singing. Her eyes scan the ground below them, noting so many others that have also arrived. So much for rules preventing them from coming into the woods, right? It was too much of a unique chance, too distracting and wonderful to avoid. She couldn’t chance it.
So she soars, landing after Amalia and Jigano though close to them all, perhaps a bit closer to Jigano as she shifts into herself and squints as she tries to peer into where the music has come from.
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
When Bastien had suggested a late night hoverboard trip to Rex, he had meant it simply as a chance for them to unwind after the stress of the last week, to spend some time together doing something purely silly and fun. Besides, he'd never really tested the thing out. It could just about take the weight of two people, though it went a little slower; it still felt like flying which was good enough for him.
"Isn't this amazing, cara"? He asked back to Rexanna as they soared over the streets of Sanctuary and out into the Outskirts, went in figure-eights and circles around the fields. "Such weightlessness!" For a while he simply zoomed about and enjoyed the technology he had been gifted --
Then he heard singing.
Bastien's hoverboard slowed to a stop, and he looked back at Rexanna. "Do you hear that? Perhaps we should go look at it...it sounds like it is in those forbidden woods, though." With her approval he flew into the woods, following the noise to the red waters they had found before. There were several people gathered and he glided in behind them, slowed and stood off the hoverboard, holding out a hand to help Rexanna down.
"What is all this..." He mumbled, as he looked about the area.
We're aware they're trying to take away our dreams
Rexanna needs something to keep her mind off of everything that’s happened over the last week or so, and so when Bastien shows her the hoverboard and suggests a trip, she can’t say no. The excitement he showed when he explained it to her, had her excited to see what it was like too. She had never flown, nor come close to it, but here she was — on the board with Bastien, arms wrapped tight around his torso as they zoomed from place to place sharing quiet chuckles and memories. Of course, they make their way close to the Greatwood entrance, and when they both hear singing she can’t help but feel the pull to investigate too. She only hopes Bastien’s goddess will appear again should they find trouble.
So she obliges, riding the board with him until they come across a rather large gathering, her eyes drifting from the red river toward Amalia and Deimos, landing eventually on Kiada where she wonders if the girl recalls such a place so similar to this as well. But she voices no concerns toward it, instead she smiles brightly to Bastien, taking his hand to step off of the board to stand beside him and lean into him gently. “Its beautiful.” She says quietly to him, looking behind the waterfall the best she can, but finds it difficult from where she stands.
Rory had ventured into the Greatwood a grand total of two times.
Both had been disasters, and last time, he had sworn off ever going back into it, which likely pleased both the Fae and his Queen. And honestly, Rory was happy to not go into the fearsome, vivid woods—his life was in the Hollowed Grounds. His life was his farm, his goats, his ponies, the never-ending, repeating cycle of keeping himself and his animals fed. It was work that would never be over, and it didn't leave much time for traipsing into danger, or being gone for more than half a day at most.
But then he heard the most haunting and sweet melody he had ever heard, one that bewitched his heart and not his mind. The dreaming wolf in him raised its head, scented the wind, felt the beauty of the call: and it answered, a longing howl that was only silence.
His body itched to throw itself onto the back of the black mare, but he feared what the Fae would do to him—to her—if he rode her into the woods, so he set off on foot instead.
He went at a rapid pace, the forest becoming a blur, a path he could never retrace, and he did not know where he went—only that it was deeper into the forest, towards a song that grew louder and louder until it was stars mingled with thunder.
Rory had seen the Stonesong, once, a fire-tainted memory. He had heard the rush of water, the eerie whisper of it brushing along rocks, and despite the situation, it had awed him. The Hollowed Grounds had nothing to rival it, its rivers placid and calm and lifeless compared to it.
But nothing, nothing, had prepared him for seeing the Crimson Cataract.
Mist rose off of the red surface of the pool, but the sanguine water held his attention for about 0.1 second: his eyes were wide as he traced the waterfall's path to its distant origin, masses of water falling and falling and falling before his eyes. It never ended, it never ceased, and the peculiar roaring sound it made would've been more than enough to lure him in, had he only known it existed—had he only known such a thing could exist.
Rory's breath quickened as he watched in awe, unaware of everyone else around him, enthralled by and in love with the waterfall.
as if you were on fire from within,
the moon lives in the lining of your skin.
