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!
Turned out, Loren did not know what guns were. ”Guns?” At the mention of better medical and healing, the summoner gave Sunjata a startled look; that was much more interesting to him than some weapon he’d never heard of. For someone who routinely summoned monsters, most weapons were not particularly impressive. ”Wait, better than magic? Like what?” Though his healing wasn’t the most powerful he’d encountered—which simply argued that healing magic could do a lot more than he was capable of—it was able to treat pretty much everything he’d come across so far.
”So wait, she’s mad at you for moving on even after she’d been dead for three years? For you at least?” Loren tilted his head to give Sunjata a bemused expression. The alcohol, thouhg it had been limited, had already loosened the Launceleyn’s tongue, so even though he knew he should probably not wade into this, he couldn’t seem to stop himself. ”I would’ve been more worried if you hadn’t.” Chuckling, he shook his head. ”Also, Phoebe?” The summoner had met the healer, and she was a bit too prickly for his tastes. Then again, he didn’t like to be touched and didn’t think he was worthy of being loved, so his tastes were currently nonexistent, despite the fact that he hadn’t had sex for almost a year. Yeah, he had problems.
When the other man reassured the summoner, Loren smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. At least the bartender—Ezra, the librarian reminded himself firmly—hadn’t stuck around. ”You’re on your own for that one. I think I’m probably still on thin ice around these parts. And he doesn't even know about the vandalism.” The librarian pointed at the message he and Rexanna had carved about Edy. The wine spider had apparently finished its treat, and was now eyeing Sunjata’s drink with a great deal of interest. Loren gestured at it, just so the other man wasn’t assaulted unexpectedly by the critter. However, Sunjata was already on it, topping off the spider’s glass, which it returned to contentedly.
To be expected, the librarian didn’t know what those were. And for a moment he wonders how to explain them, unable to draw one adequately. The corner of his lips lifts up as he leans forward and snags a piece of paper and a small amount of charcoal (likely for the gamblers, left behind after) and begins to draw the rough shape of a hand held weapon. Showing it to the librarian, he points to each section. “They’re kind of like bows and arrows, only the arrows explode and shoot pretty fast. They’re called bullets and they sit in… Here.” He taps the charcoal on the mag of the gun, before he moves to the trigger. “And this is where you’d activate it. You pull back on this to lodge the bullet into position, and then when you press the trigger, a hammer hits the bullet and activates the explosion which shoots the bullet out.” He pauses, eyes lifting to the man to see if he understands.
But he’s received with a startled look that Sunjata can do nothing but chuckle at lightly. “We didn’t have magic there. Just a lot of science and learning. Just… Further along in the learning.” His shoulders rise and fall in a shrug, feeling ultimately thrown back in a past he’d never lived in upon entering Caido. But he’s made it work the best he could. He didn’t understand any of the healing, any ability to help with it, but he did know a thing or two about weapons. Just goes to show what kind of guy he is, at least?
His brow lifts as he regards the librarian again, his tongue a bit more joking and Sunjata offers a huff of laughter in agreement. “She told me it had only been a few hours for her. Imagine her surprise when she saw all the scars and tattoos I got since that day? ” He shrugs once more, a brighter laugh leaving him at the look on her face. It certainly had to be disorienting, at the very least. But he mentions Phoebe, and his smile falls a bit. “Yeah, the midwife. Though it was a bit fucked up on my part, I suppose.” He rumbles, wondering if the alcohol is getting to him or not as his own lips become looser.
“Phoebe had brought Lusea, my girl, back to the clinic. And the moment I saw her I kind of forgot Phoebe existed.” He shrugs before his gaze grows a bit more serious. “Yet, the last time I saw Lusea she had died in my arms, so it was… Jarring, surprising, and I felt a bit guilty like I had forgotten her.” He leans back, thinking on it with little results other than the viperous words she had given him with that very same thought through her own mind. But he thinks about the Rathskeller next, and what it might be like to own a joint like this, if it would be similar to Korofi with Lusea there, or not.
A bright hum of laughter leaves him with a shrug. “Thin ice?” He asks before he continues. “Ezra’s a good friend of mine. I’m sure he appreciates the touch.” He winks, taking a sip from his glass after filling up the spider’s own treat.
and when I go into the ground
they gotta bury me, bury me face down
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Although Loren tried to follow along—and the diagram helped—he found himself unable to fully picture was Sunjata was describing. However, he nodded at the end of the explanation. ”Sounds powerful. And dangerous.” Having seen bows and arrows in action, the summoner figured guns must be even more lethal, even if they seemed to have quite a few moving parts. ”Wait, no magic at all?” As someone who’d been around magic his whole life, more than most, he found that difficult to comprehend. Unfortunately, unlike guns, the other man didn’t seem to have much knowledge of the medicinal arts.
”So it was just a misunderstanding?” Having been through his own fair share of romantic troubles recently (albeit entirely self-inflicted), the Launceleyn was completely sympathetic. However, it sounded as if the situation might have a happy ending. At least for some of the parties: Phoebe was apparently a victim of the fates in this particular case. Maybe that explained her irritable nature as much as the blight did. ”Oh no, I wasn’t, I mean I didn’t…” Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair. ”I’m definitely not one to judge.”
As Sunjata went on to explain how it had happened, the Launceleyn listened, making sympathetic noises where appropriate. At the end, the summoner drummed his fingers on the table. ”I don’t think you forgot her. You moved on, in a very understandable way. But it sounds like you’ve been given a second chance.” There seemed to be a lot of those going around these days.
Despite the other man’s reassurances about the bartender, Loren couldn’t help but feel that he’d made something of an enemy of Ezra. Thankfully (recent behavior aside) it wasn’t as if the Launceleyn made a habit of coming down to the Rathskellar. ”I’ll take your word for it.”
He gives the librarian a slightly roguish smirk at his comment, nodding along. “Very dangerous. Could take a man down with one shot if you’re good at it.” He hums with a bit of thought, having done it many times before. But he shakes the thought from his mind as they speak of healing, and his hand lifts to take another sip. “Nope. No magic.” He reiterates with a nod. “I don’t have any here, either. As far as I know.” He shrugs, inspecting his hand as though he could summon something then and there. Yet nothing happens, and his hand drops back toward the arm of the chair as he leans back again.
Giving a slight nod in agreement, though a bit less eloquent than he had imagined, he huffs a light laugh. “You could say that, yeah.” He admits, a slightly crooked smile crossing his face. But he mentions Phoebe and slyly, his slate eyes watch as Loren fumbles, a dark brow raising in silent inquiry as he charges on through the story regardless. And when he finishes his tale and Loren comments on it, he nods somewhat. “I have.”
But then he laughs lightly, eyes lingering on Loren for a moment. “And I better not fuck this one up.” He says with a wink, a hum of amusement to his voice as he glances back to behind the bar, nodding once more in response to Loren. Ezra, while being perfect at what he did for the advocates, was also willowy and thin, and Sunjata believed that he wouldn’t try to pick a fight unless it was with his words. He doesn’t think Loren has much to worry about, and he hopes it shows as he lets his eyes land back on the spider, fumbling around the table top.
and when I go into the ground
they gotta bury me, bury me face down
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
”So can a regular bow. Or a spell. Or even a punch, if you hit the other person right.” Loren wasn’t really arguing with Sunjata so much as pointing out that everything could be deadly in the right, or maybe wrong hands. As the other man confirmed both that his old world was completely free of magic and that he himself was an Accepted, the Launceleyn smiled sadly. ”You’re probably better off without it. It seems to be more of a curse than a blessing, especially in Caido.” Those with magic were called Abandoned for a reason: the gods had no love for them, and sometimes it seemed neither did anyone else.
When Sunjata brought up not screwing up this opportunity, the summoner almost wished he had more alcohol before him. The slight buzz was already fading and Loren missed how easy it had made it for him to relax into the conversation. ”That’s really all we can hope for. But I’m sure you won’t.” It sounded as if the other man had already been doing quite a bit of thinking about the whole situation. While that might not prevent further tragedies and misunderstandings. It was a start. Like Sunjata, the Launceleyn found his gaze straying to the struggling spider, while his thoughts wandered elsewhere and nowhere in particular. Hopefully this was a companionable and not an awkward silence.
Sunjata nods in agreement to Loren’s statement, a dark hum leaving him. “That it can.” He pauses, growing a bit quieter at the thought, of the memories that spark from such things. But he takes another deep sip, chasing them away, as he turns toward Loren again in response to magic – a huff of surprise leaving him. “Oh? I feel quite boring in comparison.” He admits, a smile quirking the corners of his lips before he shifts his slate gaze away.
“I mean, there’s those of you that can change into animals. Those with magic that can make and destroy. Those of you that are all… machine-like? I’m just me.” He manages a slightly louder laugh at this before he runs a hand through his hair. “But ah well, I’m sure it has it’s upsides.” A shoulder shrugs before he diverts his attention again, speaking of Lusea and second chances before Loren falls silent – a comfortable, companion kind of silence that Sunjata finishes his second drink to (of course leaving a small amount more for the spider).
“So, I told you about where I’m from. Where are you from?” He asks after a moment, knowing little to nothing about anyone else other than what was required. But he was trying to make an effort if he planned on living here. It was easier than Korofi in that regard, where people knew him without having even met him before. Here? Here he could change that.
and when I go into the ground
they gotta bury me, bury me face down
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Loren smiled at Sunjata’s seeming humility. ”Oh I don’t know if you can call yourself boring, considering the tale you just spun about your resurrected love.” If nothing else, the other man was at the heart of an epic romance; whether it had a happy or tragic ending, Sunjata would no doubt have many more stories to tell. ”There are indeed upsides. You see the turning into an animal apparently also makes you distrusted by some of the gods around here, the machine thing makes you hated by the other half, and having magic makes you despised by all of them equally. So yes, you should count yourself lucky that you are far less likely to get randomly smote by a god than I am.” Loren fell firmly into the hated by all camp, and that didn’t just apply to divine beings.
Weirdly enough, the question about where he was from caught the summoner off guard; he was so used to people around here having some idea who he or his family was that he hadn’t been forced to explain his own origins for quite a while. Still, it wasn’t like there was much to tell. ”Oh. Well, I’m originally from a land named Northwind. But I spent most of my life in a land called Northaven.” Indeed, the Launceleyn was a veritable world hopper. It was entirely possible Sunjata had heard of Northaven and Northwind, considering how many people had come over from that land all at once. If not, however, the summoner would be more than happy to explain what little there was to explain.
The man snorts to Loren with a light shrug. “You should hear the stories before the fall, if you find that one exciting.” He jests, a crooked smirk sent toward him. “Quite the heartbreaker.” Once, Sunjata likely wouldn’t have found any part of it funny, had hardly been able to tell Phoebe anything about it. But all his pieces were in the right place now, and there was literally nobody else aside from Lusea who knew Korofi and the difficulties with that type of lifestyle. He finds it’s easy to chuckle about the ridiculousness of it all, of the life he’d lived, of who he used to be, of who he was forced to become.
Still, he tilts his head in response to the admittance of the downsides to each one, and there’s a light frown that crosses over his face, contemplative as he leans back in the chair with a light puff of air. “Well, I did meet Frey. But that was it.” He contemplates, a brow furrowing at the memory before he passes by it. “I suppose I am lucky, then.” He laughs lightly, shoulders rising and falling in a light shrug. He knew hardly a thing about the gods other than Frey, from what Phoebe had told him. But he doesn’t feel the need to go seeking immediately – after all, there was time. A fleeting aspect he had back home.
Still, his brow raises slightly to him when he speaks of the worlds he’d been to, a slight head tilt. “Oh, interesting.” He pauses, contemplating, glancing back to the table as the alcohol sits with a swift and gentle buzz – a feeling he’d missed. “What was it like there?” He’s not sure why he’s being so chatty, likely the alcohol, but he wonders what the other worlds were like. He’d only ever heard of Phoebe’s home, and that story had been sad, but nothing compared to the events he had been through. And as they say, curiosity killed the cat.
and when I go into the ground
they gotta bury me, bury me face down
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Loren tilted his head, giving Sunjata a curious look. ”Should I now? Got a favorite?” If the romance was just the tip of the iceberg then of course the summoner was going to be curious about what else Sunjata might reveal. However, when he mentioned that he used to be quite the heartbreaker, the Launceleyn barely prevented himself from commenting that it seemed that the other man still might be, given what happened with Phoebe.
At the mention of Sunjata’s encounter with Frey, Loren paused. The summoner had not yet met any of the gods—only seen them from a distance and heard about their blessings and curses and how hard it was to tell one from the other—so he was always fascinated to hear about other’s experiences with the divine beings. ”How’d that go?” Considering that Sunjata was not flirting with the Launceleyn and considering that the other man was not complaining about his love getting ripped away it was probably a decent enough interaction.
Pausing, Loren considered the other man’s question carefully. The summoner hadn’t really seen much of either world, but he’d describe them as best he could. ”Northwind was a world at war and Northaven was a world under siege. I spent most of my time in the former training on my family’s estate. In Northaven...well, there was a city surrounded by a wall. And outside the wall there was a jungle, with strange natives, terrible monsters, deadly curses, and a mysterious and vengeful Goddess who disliked the interlopers in her land. Unless you went to sea. Then there were giant fishes and sea serpents to contend with.” So no great options there, really.
A rogue grin is sent Loren’s way before he shrugs. “A few.” He pauses, contemplating. “My city was formed for laws, we made the judges and the juries, those that enforced and guarded.” He hums thoughtfully, eyeing Loren from the side for a moment. “And I was the ruler’s son. So what did I do? I rebelled, of course.” Another charming grin, avoid going the grit and details for another time. “My father placed me out to enforce the slums for a few months, trying to figure out what this underground gathering was about. But I joined them instead.” He shrugs, as if to say if you couldn’t tell, I live for the thrill.
But he listens at Loren’s interest in his meeting with Frey, and his head tilts slightly. “Uneventful, really. Called me blue-eyes.” He chuckles. Of course, he had always thought his eyes hit a bit more grey with hints of blue than a sharp, bright blue, but he wasn’t one for arguing with a god on that matter. And besides, he only ever saw through them rather than looking at them all day. So what did the man really know anyway?
Still, he shrugs as he listens to Loren’s homes, finding and seeking the parallels of his own home. But he speaks of the sea and Sunjata’s head tilts and brow raises with a grin. “What I wouldn’t give to see the ocean again.” He admits, far more beautiful than the flood waters that would occur back home. Sunjata was a swimmer, and he’d give up almost anything just to be in the sea, to see what it’s all about, to enjoy and indulge. But he nods regardless, swallowing down the thoughts for later. “The wall sounds awful though.” He shrugs with a light smile.
and when I go into the ground
they gotta bury me, bury me face down
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
As Loren listened to Sunjata’s explanation of his past, a faint smile haunted the summoners’s lips. Seemed that the other man had found a way to carve a space for himself in a way the summoner never had, though not for lack of trying. Still, given how few Launceleyns there were remaining, perhaps he’d finally have the chance to find out who he was without them. ”It does sound like you’ve got quite a few tales to spin. And I guess your father didn’t know you that well.” Drumming his fingers on the table, Loren remained silent for a long moment. ”Were the rules that bad, then?” The summoner had grown up and lived with the threat that his life would be forfeit if he ignored the orders of anyone of royal blood, which meant he had probably the strictest and most horrible childhood imaginable. So he could easily imagine joining a rebellion.
He’d just never been able to find one that would accept him and that he, in turn, could accept.
”Huh. Weird. That doesn’t sound like any of the other encounters with Frey I’ve heard about.” Still, he had no reason to doubt the other man’s words: Sunjata was an accepted, after all, so perhaps the deity had given the other man special dispensation. As the conversation moved on towards the ocean and Northaven, Loren gave Sunjata a sympathetic look. If the Launcelen had been an illusionist like many of his relatives then maybe he could’ve conjured an image of the waves and the scent of the briny deeps. But his talents lay elsewhere and all he had to offer were empty platitudes. ”Maybe one day you will.” They still didn’t know what lay beyond these lands, though none of them knew if any of them would even live through Deepfrost.
At the mention of the wall, Loren snorted. ”It was. Especially because it was supposed to keep the danger out, and then one day a giant monster just smashed through it like it wasn’t even there.” He still vividly remembered the horror of that day: the boom, like the loudest thunder ever, the screams, the not knowing if his kin and those he cared about were safe. A shiver passed down his spine as he recalled how he'd desperately pelted through the halls, looking for missing faces.
A slight grin is sent Loren’s way at his first comment. “He thought he did.” He admits, a loose tongue from the alcohol, but he regards the next question with a tone of seriousness. “Mmm, it wasn’t the laws so much as it was the way we lived.” His gaze drifts back toward the bar, raising a hand for another drink of sorts while he spins this tale. “The varying noble houses would battle their children to see who would take the rulers place. Each family would have a boy and a girl to extend the line in case something happened. And if you had more, they were orphaned.” His slate eyes slide over to Loren as his drink arrives. “So I was the first born boy, my father had won the battle years before. But every year, they’d gather a few of the noble children and we’d have to fight to the death to see who would win. And those winners would then have to fight one another when the current ruler came close to dying.” He explains, leaving the gritty details out. “But the whole idea of it is bullshit, trying to make a man out of you by making you kill the kids you grew up with.” He sighs, averting his gaze again.
He had won, but at what cost?
The conversation shifts back toward Frey and he rolls his shoulders in a slight shrug, taking a deep sip of the drink before thinking about the interaction. It had been brief, and he hadn’t asked them for anything other than help with Phoebe. He wonders if maybe her closeness to the deity had made it easier for him, or if he was indeed lucky. But thoughts drift toward the ocean soon after, and he sighs a somewhat nostalgic sound as the corners of his lips quirk in a slight smile. “I just want a good swim.” He hums, tilting his head at the wine spider in thought.
He comments on the wall and Sunjata listens, his head swiveling back toward the librarian with a raised brow. “That sounds even worse.” He rumbles, thankful that the only monsters at his home were people, rather than these giant beasts. “Was the point of it to really keep things out or to keep you all in?” He hums thoughtfully, that rebellious soul of his untrusting of the government for the most part until he knew their motives. And in this world that Loren speaks of, he has absolutely no idea.
and when I go into the ground
they gotta bury me, bury me face down
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
As Loren listened to Sunjata’s story, horror dawned in the Launceleyn’s heart. He’d thought he’d had it bad, what with suffering torture at the hands of those that professed to love him. What made it worse was that they probably had loved him. But battling to the death was definitely worse than even the Launceleyn’s practices. ”That’s awful. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I would’ve rebelled as well, had I been in your shoes.” The tradition was also stupid, in the summoner’s mind: slaughtering the children of the ruling class wouldn’t strengthen them, it would just leave them bitter and broken. However, the other man had presumably escaped that path through his revolt. Besides, it was another world and a different life.
At Sunjata’s complaint that he just wanted a swim, Loren snorted. ”Well, I wouldn’t recommend going out for a dip in the oasis, considering how close Deepfrost is. But I’m glad you have a dream, humble as it might be.” He had been doing a bit of dreaming himself, though only in his heart of hearts (except that Remi knew, oddly enough). Unfortunately, keeping people alive and safe took priority over the Launceleyn’s selfish desires.
The question about the wall was surprisingly insightful. ”No one knew, really. Remember the war in Northwind I mentioned? Well, we were losing it. Or at least victory was not assured.” The leaders had never really been clear about that point, and Loren had been too young to actually be sent to the front lines, or to ask. Besides, once upon a time, he'd been too well-behaved to question his betters. ”So they got together the most powerful mages they could, and created a portal to another world. The wall was already there when we arrived, though there was no sign of who built it or why.” The Northaveners had barely encountered the natives before they’d been whisked through another portal, this time to Caido. So the mysteries of Loren’s old home were far beyond him.
He nods his head in agreement, deciding that pretty much everyone would have done the same, except for the nobles themselves. Korofi nobility, for the most part, was deeply involved with tradition. And that was also part of the reason Sunjata really didn’t get along with it all in the end anyway. Still, he rolls his shoulders to Loren with a small half smile. “They surely enjoyed using my face for the rebellion. Gave more punch to the effort.” He gives a slightly wicked smile. “And that’s how I met my girl, actually. She was a part of it.” His smile grows a bit softer, happier at the comment before he shrugs it off.
At the mention of the Oasis, Sunjata’s head tilts slightly. “I went for a swim there a month or two ago, actually. That was how I met Phoebe.” He hums with a bit of laughter before shaking his head and acknowledging the dream. Sunjata wasn’t a man that really had a dream, the only one he ever had was running from Korofi with Lusea to start a life away from the city of iron and floods. And when she died, it had been axed – though he suppose now was his second chance at that.
He supposed it was worth a shot to continue, but he had never really gotten further than the whole running away. After all, before their capture, he had planned on jumping with her hand in his from the tall building they were on to evade – only they didn’t quite get that far.
He shakes the thought from his head as he regards his statement toward Loren, a brow lifting as he listens and nods along. “Ah.” He comments at first, hearing the reasoning and understanding that too, for the most part. But it also seemed to explain why Phoebe had been so adamant about creating a life, a family. He doesn’t realize he’s gnawing on his lip until after a few moments and his attention drags back to the librarian. “Strange things.” He muses. “And now you’re here, with the blight and monsters in the night.” His arm lifts to gesture to everything around them as if the Rathskeller wasn’t even there, slate eyes landing on Loren.
What an adventure.
and when I go into the ground
they gotta bury me, bury me face down
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
