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!
07-29-2019, 08:06 PM (This post was last modified: 07-29-2019, 08:27 PM by Court Official.)
Such pretty little things they were, flitting here, buzzing there. Fae were like birdies or flowers, it thought - and oh, what a dandy little thing it was to think, yes. But with thought came awareness, and awareness brought... hunger.
And so in the dead of night, with a full moon shining down, vines poured from the barren soil between the fields and the Greatwood, heaving, pulling, lifting it high up into the air. The tremors, surely, would rumble through the Hollowed Grounds and the Greatwood both. No pumpkin had been so powerful, no gourd so gorgeous.
With a fiendish glow in its eyes, its sharp maw champing and chittering, it began to make its way towards the trees.
A giant vampire gourd is trying to get to the Greatwood - aaah! The gourd is easily as large as a house, and it has been lifted approximately 20ft into the air by thick and thorny vines.
Welcome to the Key Quest.
You have 48 hours to respond, detailing your character arriving. So that nothing is missed, please include a quick summary at the bottom of your post.
REMEMBER: KQs are rewarding, but dangerous. Despite my jovial introduction, this quest may cause death and/or permanent changes to your characters - join at your own risk!
07-29-2019, 08:12 PM (This post was last modified: 07-29-2019, 08:12 PM by Remi.)
Remi the Alchemist
"This is my winding road
This is my way back home
This is the narrow door you know that I will walk through"
Given that his new husband was basically a lamp that would never turn off, Remi was...not sleeping well. He wouldn't begrudge the ex-captain his abilities though. As Ronin had said on more than one occasion, it was Remi's fault for apparently turning him on. If only, like a lamp, he could be turned off just as simply.
And so, wanting little more than to stretch his legs, Remi and Isla found themselves wandering near the Greatwood. Would tonight be when Remi caught sight of his missing fox-friend? Would Ianto simply pop out, only deigning to see Remi when he wasn't with Ronin?
But oh no. It wasn't that at all.
Tossing her head with an anxious snort, Isla's pebble-blue eyes locked upon the rising semi-spherical thing. "Wha.." Knowing only one way of calling upon anyone for assistance, Remi reached into his pocket to push the button on the small black stone he carried. Not that he thought Sam might be able to do anything against this creature, but at least with the ascended's speed in the darkness, he might be able to bring back help.
Or tell of Remi's death.
Remi and Isla arrive!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
07-29-2019, 08:13 PM (This post was last modified: 07-29-2019, 08:15 PM by Samuel.)
Did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Since he had lived in the Greatwood for a while, Sam was much more prone to nighttime walks around the Outskirts. The dark no longer scared him as it once had, the trees now seeming like old friends rather than a wall of immovable danger. And he found his thoughts were clearer somehow when he was on his feet, less cyclical than the thoughts he had laid in bed.
But this night...he was distracted from his thoughts rather quickly when the ground began to shake, and he saw in the darkness something rise. He couldn't quite see what it was, but it was large, gave him a bad feeling...and was headed for the Greatwood. Immediately, he worried it would harm The Voice's plan somehow. Whatever she wanted to do with the Greatwood, it probably wouldn't be aided by a giant pumpkin rushing in.
As he watched, there was a pulse of magic in his pocket; he took out the stone to see it red. Remi. There was no more thinking. Quickly he turned invisible and ran towards the hulking creature, wanting to get a better look and see if there was anything he could do about stopping it. As soon as he saw Remi and Isla he ran up to the pair and yelled: "I'm here, Remi!"
--
Sam arrives on the scene! (Invisible)
It was Fangorn who led her – down down down into the fields, a growl, a hiss, a feral interlude on his breath, such a paramount excitement to his movement and motion that Melita had to follow, stunned, bewildered, confused. Her weapons beat against her back, bow and arrows, her staff in her hands, her heart in her throat, some water banging long her hip as she raced after her vampire gourd.
And before them, was the largest pumpkin she’d ever seen. Positively ghoulish; an awe-inspiring thing.
So while Fangorn hollered at it – a full on howl into the night, she stared, looking for others amidst its fiendish glow, if they were supposed to stop it, if they were supposed to be doing something other than staring.
How they were supposed to stop it?
--
Melita arrives with her bow and arrow, staff, water, and a very excited Fangorn!
There’s a surprising sound out into the night, and while Rexanna would usually be found sleeping or home, things had changed. She had changed, and with it her habits. She finds much of her time spent outside at night in exchange for her time in the sun, soaking up the moon as much as she can. But the sound distracts her, and she cuts her expedition down in exchange for seeking it out. There are familiar faces among the group, and she offers a quiet nod of hello to Remi and Melita and Sam before she takes a look at what’s coming.
She doesn’t have much in the means of weapons, but she finds her magic quelling and burning deep within her as she sizes up the gourd. “Gods.” She says, stepping up beside Melita and looking at the creature with wide determined eyes.
No no, dears - there is no need for gods here. Only kings. Surprisingly lithe and dexterous on its moving throne of vines, the gourd orients itself away from the Greatwood to gaze down upon the puny creatures... the puny... delicious creatures.
It only sees three (good work Sam), and one of them has one of its excitable little subjects with it! Aw, isn't it cute! Ah, well. Not that one either then.
It'll have to be one of the others. And so, with a thick vine whipping up from the earth, it swats out to slap at the most tempting morsel - Rexanna, it turns out. A high pitched screech leaves its jaws, as if to howl in return at Fangorn.
One of the gourd's vines has snaked out to whip at Rexanna. Luckily it MISSES, singing through the air just beside her head.
There’s a bit of surprise that lingers in Rexanna’s sapphire gaze as the giant gourd moves. It doesn’t take long before it seems to regard everyone, a vine whipping out to reach for her in what she can only imagine to be a painful sting (ha but alas she doesn’t feel the pain anymore, how lucky) before she ducks to the side to avoid the possibility of another vine gone rogue. So it means business, got it.
Where anxiety and fear would leave her trembling ever so slightly, Rexanna finds herself focused. And in response, she lifts a hand to aim at the gourds face, sending a large firework out in the hopes it’ll land right in its giant face. She glances to Melita with a small smile as if she’s apologizing in advance to Fangorn.
Rexanna ducks to the side and sends out a large firework aimed at the gourds face!
She really wasn’t sure if Fangorn and her were suddenly at opposite ends of things.
Her eyes glanced at Remi and Rexanna, and if it had been in any other situation, she might have waved and smiled and grinned; but the impending doom and the weird, strangled hold her companion had amidst this bizarre situation had her reeling.
Was it one of his relatives? Was it his ruler, his king?
She swallowed; the apprehension curling around her stomach like a noose, like a knife, until the vine snapped nearby, aiming for Rexanna – and while the other woman unleashed her fireworks, Melita’s resolve set in.
As Fangorn howled back again, the honeybee girl hoped to utilize a distraction. If they were to at odds with one another, best to do it quickly, efficiently, a gulp in her throat as his feral eyes rounded back on the giant. She readied her bow, steadying her arm, grabbing hold of an arrow and fixing it; taut, a breath, a vicious inhale, a savage predilection, and fired towards one of the pumpkin monarch’s eyes.
--
While Fangorn continues his odd conversation, Melita tries to use the distraction to fire an arrow towards the gourd's eyes.
"This is my winding road
This is my way back home
This is the narrow door you know that I will walk through"
Perhaps it was because he was the only one with animalistic-senses flooding through his veins, but Remi hesitated. For however frightening this creature was (largely due to its size), didn't it have every right to be here? Was it the gourds fault that it had grown so large that it was now a menace?
We do not need to hurt you, but you are damaging the land— Remi called out mentally, unsure whether such a creature would be able to hear, comprehend, or deign to respond to his mental voice, but deciding it was worth a try.
"SAM—" The alchemist called, unsure where the ascended was, having only heard his voice. "Are they normally this big? Is it...does it need to be stopped?"
Steeling his focus, Remi looked towards the flailing vines. Not wanting to attack, not until he knew that this creature was properly hostile and not merely a giant and unfortunate ball of orange flesh, the alchemist waited, feeling for a change in what he could sense with his earth magic. If more vines came, he'd try and use his magic to deflect them away, as best he could.
Remi would basically like to hold his turn, to use his earth magic to deflect any more vine-attacks for this round.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
It seemed everything happened all at once. Melita arrived, then Rexanna -- then there were fireworks, and Remi was yelling his name...pulling himself into the moment, Sam stayed invisible but shouted back: "No, they absolutely do not normally get this big! I...I think we should stop it."
With that in mind, he had an idea.
Taking the cube from his pocket he lifted it up. "I'm going to try pin it down with this so it can't get any further." He explained. Hopefully it would work...he had found no one other than Ascended had been able to lift it so far - he would have to see if that carried across to creatures of this size.
Sam tossed the cube, trying to aim it so it would land on the mass of vines beneath the pumpkin and pin it to one spot.
--
Sam throws his heavy cube to try and trap the pumpkin!
Don't these puny creatures realise that this pumpkin can dance? With a lively chittering (it sounds guttural and horrific coming from a creature so large), its vines manage to navigate it out of the way of the firework sent in its direction - and in its movement, the arrow flies harmlessly by as well.
Oh but dears, its attention is all yours, now. Three vines flicker out towards the group - two are deflected by pesky earthen magics, but one sneaks through, whipping hard against Rexanna.
With a shiver of expectation, it barely registers an odd black cube as it sails overhead, swallowed by the darkness. With hungry, fiendish eyes, it lances out another vine in an attempt to grab at Remi - narrowly avoiding him, for now.
Rexanna MISSES.
Melita MISSES.
Remi deflects TWO vine attacks, but one makes it through and hits REXANNA.
Samuel MISSES and his cube sails wide of the gourd, bouncing off into the undergrowth. Oops!
The punking (haha) tries to grab at Remi, but MISSES.
She spends a precious second glancing toward Remi as he uses some magic of his and speaks to someone she can’t see – and that person replies back, and while Sam tosses his cube at the giant gourd – her eyes drifting toward it just as her fireworks miss, as Melita’s arrow misses. She doesn’t get to see where Samual threw the cube, to see where it lands, before a vine snakes up and whips hard against the side of her face – a cut forming that begins to seep that strange Ascended liquid as she stumbles.
But thankfully, she feels none of the pain with it. She grits her teeth hard, moving away from her spot to move toward Remi and inadvertently the invisible Sam as well, panging into her deeper wells of magic for her creation. She creates two throwing daggers, their edges gleaming their fine, jagged points. She looks back up toward the Pumpkin with wide eyes, calculating. And she aims for the vines at the root of the source rather than the pumpkin itself. “If we can blind it or pin the vines, maybe it’ll be enough to turn it around?”
She doesn’t even bother to wipe the fluid from her cheek as she takes aim and throws one after another, aiming for where the vines meet gourd.
Rexanna stumbles, moves to stand by Remi and Sam, and makes two throwing daggers which she throws at the beginning of the vines where they meet the rest of the Punking, hoping to follow Sam's idea of pinning the vines.
Melita wasn’t surprised that she missed – the minute air of disappointment only clinging to her chest for a moment; everything else unwinding too quickly for her to angst about one minor failure.
Because the vines were maneuvering, poised for danger, and with that great bulk, that great size, they might not have stood a chance – Rexanna and Remi targets, and she can only clench her jaw (useless) as one managed to whack her friend across her face.
It was a harrowing ploy, and she might’ve missed Sam’s entrance altogether (had he been there the entire time), until his cube went sailing in the air, and for one, stark interval she thought they had some sort of prayer –
And then it flickered off into the night.
Fangorn, meanwhile, continued to run an entire dialogue through growls, murmurs, and hisses, getting closer and closer to the monarch, to the sovereign of his kind, maneuvering along the threads of shadows and undergrowth, and she didn’t know what to do, where to yield, how to stand. She thought she heard go reverberating through connections, through bonds, but couldn’t tell who it was directed to. Her, or the pumpkin liege?
She noted the remains of her quiver; plenty – quick, methodical motions, following over Rexanna and Samuel’s ideas, suggestions, and tactics, threading an arrow along her bow, pulling the string taut, tight, and then letting it fly again. This time it wasn’t the eyes she aimed for; perhaps too great a distance, too far away, but one of the vines, hoping an impact would thread its way through flesh, securing one of the many.
And her own blessed gourd, a survivor amongst last year’s clan of mauled, brutalized gourds, was rooting through the brush, striving to grab hold of Sam’s cube.
--
Melita fires an arrow at one of the vines. Fangorn continues talking to the pumpkin king, and starts looking for Sam’s cube.
"This is my winding road
This is my way back home
This is the narrow door you know that I will walk through"
Right. Well. No answer save for continued violence from the punking combined with Sam's warning that no, this was far from normal, seemed to help solidify Remi's role in all of this.
Though his grasp of earth magic was strong, the creature was clearly stronger. Despite his efforts, a vine still snaked through, slapping at Rexanna. The sound was harsh and slick in the night, but as Remi turns towards his friend he notices the distinct lack of blood...of pain..."Rex..?" He breathes uncertainly as she moves to stand near him. In the darkness there is little that he can see that would indicate the change, save for the clear fluid on her cheeks. His eyes however do not see this, not shattered as they are.
Thrusting up a wall of earth, Remi ducks behind it as another vine snakes his way. Hissing out a breath—halfway between a laugh and a nervous warble—he continues the small earthen barrier in a ring, hoping that it might provide some protection for his missile-shooting counterparts.
"Sam, if you.." He knew the words to say, but they lodged in his throat. Kicking himself fiercely, Remi grit his teeth together. "..if you need powers, you know where I am." He added, a hand clenching into a fist. He supposed that went for Rex as well, were his mounting assumptions correct.
Note to self: discuss with husband whether ascended biting in the midst of battle was appropriate.
Finally, Remi reached out for the vine that had tried to ensnare him. Digging deep, he tried to use the creature's limbs against him, hoping to thwack the punking in the face with its own vine.
Remi offers to let Sam (and by extension Rex) bite him for powers.
Makes an earthen barrier for friends to hide behind & tries to make the punking hit itself with its own vine :D
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
