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!
Ronin should have said something sooner, about Edrei. That was his fault and he accepted the blame firmly on his shoulders - and when he had invited his fellow ruler to the Rathskellar, he had said so in his note. A note which paraphrased, roughly, to I fucked up and I'm sorry, it wasn't intentional, shall we discuss what happens next?
And why the Rathskellar? Well, with Ronin's temper as volatile as it had been lately, and with the way he and Wessex seemed to stoke the fire beneath the other at a moment's notice, a public face seemed more responsible. Especially given what Ronin had also just learned about the sickness that was withering him from the inside, and its connection to the Voice.
Not that he intended to spread it around - it just felt like there would be less fireworks this way. So the reluctant king sat in the corner of the ownerless tavern with his drink in hand, seeming wearier and more unsettled than ever. His free hand trembled until he clenched his fist to keep it still, and the pale dragon on his shoulder chirped her sympathy, nosing into his ear.
after all is said and done you're just a carnivore
let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster
Effort goes a long way with Wessex; not that anyone would know that, other than Melita. It doesn’t right a slight, but it tempers an edge and brings her to the table.
Wessex enters the Rathskellar and after finding Ronin at a table, nods, and then goes to get a shot for something dark and hot. Something that she can toast with. It isn’t for drinking’s sake, but symbolically it’s important to the Queen, so she will briefly partake. Bringing her glass to the table, she thinks of the inscribed tumbler and sighs. Good thing she didn’t catch serious feelings. Even this minor affection and subsequent grief sucks balls.
She sits, and before either of them can get to serious business, her glass is lifted; “To Edy,” she begins, well aware that Ronin probably knew her better (though less intimately). “May she get laid twice as much in the afterlife as she did while alive.” And then she offers her fellow ruler an edge to clink against, and room for his own words. His apology is accepted. They can move on.
Glancing up as Wessex entered (Ronin had been keeping an eye on those coming and going), he nodded to his fellow ruler and settled back to wait for her to arrive with her drink. "To Edy," he agreed heartily, clinking his cup against hers and letting out a long sigh. "At least we can safely say that after death there's one helluva party to look forward to." Ronin smiled weakly and took a long drink, setting his cup down and clasping his shaking hands on the tabletop in an effort to keep them still.
Well. Let's not waste time.
"I'm setting up a meeting with Delah and potentiall Arduinna. About our relationship with the Fae, about the rest of Caido and these storms, about the blight..." And there was the pinch point, because what came next could well rattle the foundations of whatever rulership existed in the Hollowed Grounds.
"Two sources - one of them Ascended - have confirmed to me personally that the Voice is the cause of the blight. That it happened as a result of the Ascended exploring the Greatwood, even if it wasn't intentional." Raising dark eyes to Wessex, Ronin spread his hands. Did you know lingered in the air, but that was absolutely not worth saying.
after all is said and done you're just a carnivore
let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster
She shoots the drink back and places the empty glass on the table, leaving her elbows on the chair’s arm rests and her hands folded across her lap. There is no opportunity for her to speak first, just dark eyes and news. My, he’s becoming as brusque as she often is. A nod to the fae meetings - she won’t get her fingers near that diplomacy act unless he asks and she knows he won’t ask. She wants to take an opportunity to emphasize that the Fae should take all the necessary precautions for LongNight, but before she can, he’s moving on to -
Ah, yes. It was going to come out eventually. Steeling herself and her face, Wessex’s mouth creases into a slight frown, but she refuses to look away or give any indication of guilt. This can be dealt with. What worries her more is the way he’s come about the information, how he seems to be privy to information she doesn’t have, over and over again. And that’s not a way to run a land. “I met with my Lady last night, trying to find a solution for the LongNight monsters. Perhaps their willingness to negotiate with me before might be a sign that I could do something. While there, I asked about the blight and she told me. But none of us knew.” The truth. Or most of it. A barely-there sigh and she looks down at her hands before back at the tired man in front of her.
Ronin held Wessex's gaze, watching her expression as she took in the news, and perhaps it was testament to how much he had grown (how soft he had become?) that, if there was any indication of a lie on her face and in her voice, the hunter didn't catch it. Once he'd told more mistruths than otherwise, but the time when he could catch out deceit was apparently over. Or maybe it was just the blight in him.
Either way, he heard the Ascended queen out as she spoke; his expression darkened, as it had when Sam had told them of what the Voice had revealed, and whilst he wanted to rage at them, all of them, it was their goddess that would (one day, he didn't know when but one day) receive the brunt of his ire. They didn't know. What was done was done. Moving on.
"Remi was talking about Longnight preparations as well. I believe he's held a meeting already, to discuss plans about it." That was not an arena that Ronin felt he had much say in any more, given that he was likely to be dead before the longest night rolled around. Hence his sulking absence from said meeting. The blight, though - he still had work to do when it came to that.
"This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion, but given what we know now, it would be wise if the Ascended didn't go further into the Greatwood until a cure is found. We know it doesn't seem to affect the Hollowed Grounds - apart from the people, of course."
Ronin rubbed at his forhead. "We still don't know how it spreads, either. Could an Ascended bite be one of the causes? Is it airborne? Both?" He shrugged.
08-25-2019, 10:43 AM (This post was last modified: 08-25-2019, 10:44 AM by Wessex.)
dont know where the lights are taking us but something in the night is dangerous
“I know. I was there. We’re working on plans for magical light and sanctuary.” She can’t do everything by herself, and in some ways she is thankful for the alchemist’s desire to help and in others she’s fucking insulted that she’s being kept on the outside of things. Especially when Ronin supposedly won’t be around. There needs to be some more teamwork, not just Ronin-and-his-husband-work.
And while Wessex continues to listen, noting that her fellow ruler seems to have accepted that they didn’t know - and they didn’t - he’s still stuck on the idea that she and her siblings seem to have been able to spread it. “I can ask them not to, strongly urge that they respect what’s going on, but you know as well as I do that if some of them - the stronger ones - want to go at night, then they will go.” Like I did, remains unspoken, but they both know who might be capable of it, and more than willing to flaunt a royal decree. Issuing one of those would be pointless for someone like Lucas, Archebold, even herself if she were in a different position.
“But you have my word that I will not go into the Greatwood.” She doesn’t need to. There are others who can go for her.
“I don’t think us biting anyone is how it spreads. Edrei would have had it a long time ago if that was the case.” She pauses and considers her words for a moment, refraining from adding that his husband would likely have it as well. And given that the King before her isn’t ready to slit her throat, she’d say hubby dearest and kid are still safe. “I can’t help figure this out, or anything else, if I don’t know what your ‘sources’ have told you. Given that it was about Ascended spreading the blight, I understand that people would come to you and not me. But that can’t keep happening. We need to share information and insist that the people who come to us do the same. I’m at fault for this too, with my information about LongNight.” Others are more at fault - Jigano, perhaps most of all.
She shakes her head. “I’m not the enemy just because I’ve Ascended and have a harsher personality.” She took this position on willingly. This is her home. They all seem to forget that.
Ronin nodded, glad that Wessex had been along to the meeting that he had ducked out of. Oblivious to the Ascended's feelings about exclusion - though he would have been puzzled to learn of it, given that Remi had posted a notice regarding his Longnight preparations for all to read (and he hadn't exactly run the idea by Ronin either, since they weren't joined at the hip) - the hunter kept his focus on the blight.
It was a little discouraging, admittedly, to learn that an Ascended queen could not stop her own brethren from spreading the blight further, but Ronin nodded acknowledgement that she would send word. "Thank you," he said, and he meant it. If other Ascended decided to go against Wessex and stroll into the Greatwood regardless, well... on their heads be it.
Wessex's pause was palpable, and Ronin gave her a flat look. A look that said I know, and nothing more needed to be said. "We are two rulers - we can't stop people coming to us separately," he said simply. "And strictly speaking, one of those sources didn't come to me at all - I found out through Remi." Was he going to out those people and cause further damage, though? No, absolutely not.
"Strictly speaking, the real source of that knowledge came from the Voice - as you have already mentioned yourself - and Vi, the god of life. Both have confirmed that the Ascended's presence in the Greatwood is what carried the blight to the plantlife. The good news is that apparently there's some divine plan in the mix," and here he wiggled his fingers ominously, a telling sign of his recent opinions about the gods, "but that's once the weather breaks for Deepfrost. Until then, all we can do is try to contain it."
Sighing, he took up his drink again. "I never said you were. It's true, there should be more cohesion between us, and I'm equal parts to blame for not coming to you about the things I had learned sooner." Blight rage and fever dreams put a dampener on lots of his plans lately. "Between you and me, you'll probably only have to put up with me for a little while longer anyway."
after all is said and done you're just a carnivore
let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster
It’s true. She’s never had to pull rank - or even tried to - but if her siblings put her in a shitty position, she won’t hesitate to do what she has to do to maintain some semblance of dominance: cut a bitch, take an upgrade, whatever.
She can feel him bristle at her request. Which is bullshit, if he thinks about it, but his thinking processes have been compromised and whether or not she knows that particular fact, she is unimpressed. By his own admittance, they have to begin to train the people in what to do if Ronin is no longer there. She remains calm, wry even. “You know that’s not what I meant. I’m thinking ahead for when you stop being a self-righteous and moody pain in my ass.” A unique way to phrase when you can’t rule but she hopes he’ll appreciate the levity.
“I’m simply talking about times of crisis like this, when people seem to hold bits of info that, put together, could solve some shit. But biases… I mean the world the might end if Jigano and I have a civilized conversation together." she trails off and shrugs. Whatcha gonna do? Guilty as charged. "Maybe I need to hold an Ascended education class. To ease fears." She chuckles darkly. Or not. Again, biases.
"Anyway. Is there anything you'd like to know or tell me? I have no idea if the blight is airborne. Or contact based. Could some people be more vulnerable, like any other illness? Do the healers or those closely studying it have it?" Wessex is no medical professional, but she has a sharp mind and watched disease take her mother and sister, cared for enough parentless children when she was younger. And she knows how the Ascended operate, which is more than any of those researching can say.
08-26-2019, 03:19 PM (This post was last modified: 09-01-2019, 07:35 AM by Ronin.)
RONIN
THE FALLEN STAR
Scoffing out a dark laugh, Ronin sipped at his drink and flashed Wessex a wry smile of his own. "I will never stop being a self-righteous and moody pain in your ass," he informed her. "Just like you'll never stop being a hard-headed and prickly pain in my ass." He shrugged. Judging themselves on their weaknesses rather than their strengths in rulership? It was definitely more entertaining this way, he supposed.
It might have been a throwaway comment, but Ronin tilted his head curiously - the idea had some merit. "I mean, if you want to help decrease the sense of otherness that I think some hold for the Ascended, there are worse ways to go about it," he admitted. "As for knowledge, we could either agree on a set time for a meeting each week, and bring any new information to each other then, or we need to find a way for the people to tell us what they know at the same time. An audience, perhaps, just... not like Zariah's." That had been a fucking trainwreck.
Leaning back in his seat, Ronin spread his hands. "I know the symptoms of the blight well, given that I've got them. I could put it into a notice to inform people what to look out for. I know some of the healers have contracted it too, yes. They've tried natural remedies, or concocting other antidotes with various experiments, but... no cure yet. It does seem to be contact based, but it might have mutated since then."
after all is said and done you're just a carnivore
let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster
Hard-headed and prickly? Yep. Sounds about right for the majority of situations he’s seen her in. She chuckles again. Could mutually taking the piss out of each other be the key to a working relationship? They may never know, but at least it’s something.
It was indeed a throw-away comment, but listening to him point out the merits of the idea gets her somewhat on board. She isn’t exactly the kind of woman to hold charity events and try to get back into everyone’s individual good graces (half of whom she can’t give a shit about), but to dispel the dark mysteries of their brightness may not be such a bad idea. And she doubts the rest of the Naturals will come around, considering her own childhood feelings towards the Ascended. Slowly, thoughtfully, she responds, “I’ll see if Rexanna would be up for doing something with me.”
Rex is almost universally well-liked. Can’t go wrong with her by the Wraith’s side.
“Could be even simpler. And I don’t say this to be a dick, but you don’t look strong. I’m not going to drag you to countless meetings to sap precious energy and time. Let’s get a messenger we can trust to check in every day. Send a note with updates. Make sure the people know we’re sharing information about important matters, but if it’s personal or whatever, it stays confident.” She throws her hands up in a small mock display of being frustrated at trying to be diplomatic and please people, but that’s the name of the game now - for the most part.
“It seems to me that if it’s attacking natural things - humans and plants - that something natural won’t be able to stop it. The Voice is all about improving and I think it’s via some kind of magic and technology. I can read any language because she did something to my eyes, but I didn’t have to learn anything. It was translated in my head. I think if we’re going to find a cure, we’ll have to think like Her.” Instead of like mortals. Except that Wessex isn't even sure how to think like her Lady, because when you've been imprisoned in a tower for three centuries, you have a lot of time to think and concoct complicated plans. Plans that her children are purposefully kept out of. For situations like this, come to think of it.
Or they cold just wait for the Gods’ plan at Deepfrost, since that’s right around the corner.
"Sounds like a good idea. Especially given that Rexanna has only recently Ascended," Ronin agreed with a nod, glad to see that they were carving some steps forward, even if they were small ones. He flashed a wry smile in her direction, grateful for her preamble even if it wasn't necessary; she was right after all. He looked and felt like shit, it was getting worse, and the more productive he could be with his dwindling energy, the better.
"In that case, we can put up a notice asking for such a person, and get them on board," he suggested. "Either that or we could just decide it between us now. Though that involves them accepting, and I'm well aware that backfired for Edrei once before." His bad.
But then Wessex spoke about a Voice-led cure, and whilst he did agree with what the Ascended was saying, it led to an interesting question. "I wonder why she hasn't offered a cure herself, if this was inadvertently caused by the Ascended." He had several inklings as to why, of course, but none of them would find voice here.
after all is said and done you're just a carnivore
let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster
Though she hasn’t brought anything to write on, Wessex makes mock check-marks in the air, invisibly tallying the things she’s got to do after this. It’s half selfish and half helpful. The more she does, the more responsible she seems, the more likely she’ll have to fight him on a replacement monarch when he can’t do the job anymore. “Let’s put up a notice. Hell if I’m going to conscript anyone in to service.” They both know how that turned out.
And then a shrug. “I’m guessing it was a side effect of what she’s really trying to do. Maybe she knew it would happen, maybe she didn’t. Maybe it’s just another way to hurt the Old Gods, by targeting their followers. But this is a war between them. We’re all pawns.” She is. So are the people who were blindly accepting of a brand new religion and got themselves entrenched in this mess. They’re fed stories and told to choose between two sides if they want power. And who doesn’t want power? Power kills and saves and when people are desperate, when they need to feel safe and protected or even just in control of something, they’ll latch on.
Wessex knows. She’s seen both sides of the coin. She won’t say whether her choice was the right one morally or historically, but it was right for her. And something tells her that the narrative they know isn’t entirely right. Unfortunately, there are bigger problems and no time to go looking for the truth; not with LongNight looming on the horizon. Not with the blight.
It’s almost like these things have been manufactured to keep them all fighting for survival, so that no one can rise to such previously attained power. Wessex is no conspiracy theorist, but wouldn’t it be just the perfect one?
Ronin nodded in agreement. "A notice, then," he said. "An envoy between us, to ensure that we are both kept aware of everything happening." That, at least, should reduce any accidental miscommunications, and prevent the other from missing out on Edrei dying important developments.
The fact that the blight was likely a side effect did nothing to ease Ronin's worries or soothe his uncharacteristically prickly nature; he was dying for something that wasn't even intentional, and it fucking sucked. Wessex was right though, but for one point - it might be a war between them, but with Safrin intrinsically linked to him since she had plucked him from the sky, it was difficult not to see it as a war in which he was involved, too.
Anyway. The meeting had been more productive than he had even anticipated, Ronin raising his glass once more to the Ascended before finishing his drink. "With luck, I'll have an envoy to share the information from my meeting with Delah. Until then, though, let's hope a cure for this blight is found, and soon."
after all is said and done you're just a carnivore
let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster
So it seems like the two of them can play nice when they need to, which is more relieving to Wessex than Ronin can know. Her ruler cred (it’s like street cred, but waaaaay less cool) was at stake, and with the final salute, she knows they’re ok - for now. A phrase that always seems to echo in the back of her head. For now, for now, for now. There is no room for complacency in their lives.
“Sounds like a plan. Will get working on LongNight plans tomorrow. With luck it won’t be a repeat of last year.” Luck and planning. And this year, the Outlanders will take it far more seriously. They already are. Waiting until he tips the rest of his drink back, she rises slowly and says a little more softly - perhaps the tone of someone who might be a friend, rather than just a co-worker. “Soon. And I’m sorry, again. Take care of yourself.” She’s about to add that her door is always open to Remi and Aoife if need be, but the truth is that there are about 52 other people who would say the same, and she’s probably pretty low on the list.
So with nothing else on her mind and little else to say, Wessex leaves, walking out into goddess only knows what will come.
