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 alchemist grinned at both Phoebe and Jorseval. "I will be a humble and benevolent overseer." The word overseer suddenly made Remi think of Koel, a long-ago friend and his smile flickered sadly. Glancing to Phoebe, for she would be the only one who might pick up on the reference though she hadn't been in Northaven long, Remi cleared his throat and clapped his hands together.
"Jory, perhaps we can clear the stage of clutter first and then Phoebe can tell us her masterful design for the set?"
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Distractedly, Jiao turned in Amalia's direction and informed her: "Jiao." As she worked, the task at hand quickly capturing her imagination despite the odd way she'd found herself doing it. In her mind, she justified it as a kind of job; clearly the humans would mess this up, so in order to not have the Gods smite them all, she had to add a little Fae magic.
"Ludo wants to look...like Safrin?" She repeated, sure Amalia had to have gotten it wrong, but the woman seemed sure, so Jiao shrugged and began to work. It was an easy enough brief, anyway. To mix Ludo and Safrin's aesthetics was not a challenge - rags, a shaggy cloak made of rough black fabrics with a layer of sparkling silk for stars, small golden embellishments on the hems serving for more celestial flair.
Rather swiftly she had in her hands the beginnings of a costume.
Leave all of my regrets to sink like shipwrecks
Through oceans dark
Set design? Phoebe could do that! She grinned and nodded to Amalia, happy to take up the task. Remi’s mention of Overseer did make it falter slightly – she hadn’t known Koel well but she had known him. His disappearance had been unsettling, but she shoved it aside after sharing a look with Remi.
The young blonde walked over to the stage, looking over it and the various materials there was to work with, and what she knew of Ludo as well. With a little squeak, Pim got her attention, and soon enough the little dragon was making her see visions of scary trees and a night-time setting, rather like the woods named for the raggedy god. She smiled, pleased with Pim’s vision, before gather materials with which she could make the setting.
Jorseval had for some time held his thick skin as a point of pride, the “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me” armor having been his greatest asset in adult life. It grates that the there’s a chink in that armor now, that he notices the skepticism in Amalia’s assessment of him or feels entirely the outsider from the look that passes between Remi and Phoebe. Mostly he dislikes his own reaction to it, why should he feel left out of something he didn’t want to be a part of in the first place?
“Aw c’mon, Chickadee, I’m not that bad! I said I’d come help and here I am: helping!” He tries for playful, and gets it, mostly. The tightness of his jaw and a manic gleam in his eye give his streak of petulance away to those who bother to notice. Eyes on Amalia again he gestures at his feet as they walk themselves over the curtain rod in need of repair before glancing back at the stage and really assessing the work. “I can get a start on rehanging this here. Don’t suppose there’s spare lumber about to replace some of the boards?” This directed at Remi, who seems to be the font of supplies.
They all set to work with gusto, and Amalia walks among them, stopping here and there to comment, smiling as she looks upon the work of her motley crew. Melita's lanterns are made with great passion if not skill, and soon she has a great net of them, perfect for the scene.
Jiao's costume is simple, but lovely, a new set of rags with stars and gold hem. Amalia laughs a little when she sees it, grinning at the idea of the soulkeeper garbed in silks. "Perfect- now all we need are the Luxere. Maybe you two can make them together?" She glances at Melita, gesturing the young girl closer before moving off to investigate the stage.
As Jory and Remi keep busy with construction, Amalia goes to look at Phoebe's progress on design. She seems to be going for a forested design, which causes the baker to nod in approval, an idea springing into her mind. "What of we used cuttings from actual trees? You can pick them out, and Pim and I can fly up to harvest them." Once Phoebe agrees she leads the way outside, shifting down to owl form and waiting for the midwife to select her decor.
Great work everyone!
Jiao and Melita - work together to make reindeer Remi and Jorseval - keep fixing that stage Phoebe - go outside and direct Pim and Amalia to pick decorations
She is messy, but she's kind
She is lonely most of the time
She is all of this mixed up
and baked in a beautiful pie
She is gone, but she used to be mine
Since it seemed Phoebe and Pim had other work to see to, Remi directed his gaze, blind as it was, back to Jory.
"Ohh, I am not sure about that." The alchemist said with a wry smile. "I was told to oversee the work, not actually do any of it." He added with a boyish laugh as he ran his fingers through his curls. Though his eyesight in situations like this was not good at all, it didn't take skillful vision to see the length and width of the new boards that Jory would need.
Kneeling down and running a hand along the splintered wood, Remi closed his eyes to focus. It was a combination of magics that let him create the boards and so took slightly more concentration. Soon though, several pristine and nearly identical boards appeared in a neat stack next to the two men.
"Will that do?"
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Paper lanterns made with gusto, but not a single modicum of talent, she set her sights on Amalia’s next set of directions. Making the Luxere. This would be another interval of skill for Clementine or her mother, both great women with attention to detail and finesse – while the wild Melita had brandished bows and stalked honeybees. As it was, the youth nodded her agreement to the baker, and then instantly had no idea what to do. Sewing? Stuffing? What was involved? Perhaps ignorance wasn’t the best notion to traverse along.
So she sidled up to Jiao, who seemed interesting – eyes flicking over Fae attributes (like wings), and then earnestly extending her potential, but obvious lack of skill. “What would you like me to do?” She’d leave it to the expert, fingers and hands at the ready, eager to be directed – incapable of leading this cavalcade. Were it something with fire and blood, she’d be more than capable, but no one seemed to ask for those particular intervals.
Jiao did not like to work in teams, and looking at Melita she was even less interested. She looked like a rough sort of person, someone who would like to roll down muddy hills or hit things. Not the kind of person to have any sort of taste.
She was happy then, when Melita asked for her guidance. At least she would not have to argue with someone of lesser aesthetic sense. "...Here." She said, fetching some wires. "Can you make these into the rough shape of a body and four legs, and a head? I will make the covering and get the stuffing ready. If we do it right, we should be able to pose and move them." She hoped. She did not really have much experience in puppetry.
Jiao would make a white felt skin, sparkling with light blue glitter, and a pair of tall antlers (painted brightly and with plenty of glitter too, to give across the idea of light). When they were done, there would be 3 little Luxere, cute and ready to be posed.
Leave all of my regrets to sink like shipwrecks
Through oceans dark
Phoebe was happy to show her designs to Amalia, and simply tickled pink when she nodded her approval of it. She smiled brightly at the baker, unable to contain it really. She wanted to do right by the traditions of the Naturals when given the opportunity so this was a major win in her book. "I am glad you like it!" she said, pausing when Amalia made her suggestion - which was perfect of course! "Oh that would be splendid! Come on Pim, you're helping too." she said. Pim trilled his displeasure, tail flicking. He was a dragon protector, not a stick fetcher!
She followed Amalia outside and scanned the trees. For it to look like Ludo's woods, it would have to be quite ominous, and so she carefully pointed out more gnarled, darker sticks with the sort of foliage that would give the stage that look. Begrudgingly, Pim flew up and snatched up the bigger branches, piling them at Phoebe's feet.
Remi's stage comes together unsurprisingly well, the foundations laid out and well prepared for a scene to unfold atop it. A scene which will be on a backdrop of Phoebe's design, the branches harvested under her direction by Pim and Amalia appropriately dense and a little bit spooky, just the sort of thing for a Festival of Lights themed scene.
Once they have gathered enough of a forest, Amalia swoops in through the doorway, her wings extended and silent as she slips back into the shop, landing lightly on Remi's stage before hopping off and moving to inspect the luxere puppets, slipping into human form as her feet touch on the ground. "Those look great!" she says enthusiastically, reaching down to pick up one of the little figurines.
"Let's bring them all together and see how it looks!"
Bring your pieces to the stage and let's get this show on the road! Last round
She is messy, but she's kind
She is lonely most of the time
She is all of this mixed up
and baked in a beautiful pie
She is gone, but she used to be mine
Stepping back as Amalia directed the players to the stage, the hawk watched with narrowed and calculating eyes as everything was lined up. Moving back and forth, inspecting things from all angles to ensure that nothing would give way during the performance, that there were no unsightly edges left unpainted, that no nails stuck up, eventually Remi crossed his arms with a satisfied smile on his face.
"Looks good to me." He said. And then with a bright laugh, Remi crinkled his nose somewhat. "Though perhaps someone else should check as well. My eyes are not what they used to be." The alchemist added with a chuckle, always one for self-deprecating humour, especially where his eyes were concerned.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
For all of Jiao’s discontent towards her, Melita didn’t notice, happy to be guided and apply herself to their task. She did as she was told, sometimes perfectly capable of following directions (especially when in a bout of sickness and ignorance, combining her into something more quiet and demure), gathering the wires and honing them into a luxere’s body, legs, and head. Hopefully, she had done it right and they’d be perfect for the show – her eyes wandering to watch Jiao make ivory flesh, adorned with glitter (which Melita wanted to grab and play with, stick over every surface), and beautiful antlers. By the time they were finished, the three little deer looked as if they could be magical, could be corporeal, could be real miniatures. “Thank you for teaching me. They look wonderful!” she managed to beam at Jiao, in between coughing fits.
Then, upon Amalia’s request, she grabbed a pair, leaving one for Jiao, for her inspection, gaze catching over the regalia of the scenery, the staging, the backdrop. This would be a marvelous masterpiece – the youth was bound and determined!
With Amalia and Pim’s help, the sticks and cuttings for the staged Ludo’s woods was gathered in short time, and she happily brought it all to the stage. Phoebe carefully arranged it all to be just so, outlining the space where the puppets would eventually bounce about and entertain festival goers. But she moved quickly as Amalia called to bring their pieces up as well, and once the scenery was arranged she stepped back and away to make room for others and the things she prepared.
Looking upon it, a bright smile lit up her face, and Pim trilled happily too (if only because Phoebe was happy). ”Oh it all looks marvelous!” she breathed, glad to see that despite so many hands being involved in the work that it was coming together cohesively.
Jiao proudly picked up her work, smiling wanly at Melita at her gratitude. She had never been a gifted teacher, often getting frustrated too quickly that no one seemed to work at her own speed; being thanked made her feel strangely guilty, somehow. Still, she was pleased with the little luxere, and held it carefully in her hands as she took it up to the stage.
Begrudingly, she had to admit that everyone's work looked good, and together formed something better than its separate parts. Sitting on the edge of the stage she quietly looked at all of the work, wondering if humans and fae really were as different as she had once imagined.
Leave all of my regrets to sink like shipwrecks
Through oceans dark
