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!
Deimos’ reluctance to do a minor drain on the owls was quite surprising. After all, the general had assured the summoner that the other man was in complete control of his abilities, so it shouldn’t have been too difficult. However, Loren wasn’t really in a position to question Demios, so the Launceleyn just shook his head at the general’s question. ”Can’t do it remotely. So either I try to summon something to subdue them, which isn’t guaranteed to work, and might hurt them in the process or I go ahead and get scratched up and try to get a hand on them and then heal myself and them. Or we go try to find another tree.” Or Demios could do something, like drain them just enough to knock them out, then they could safely relocate them. It was up to the other man, since the Launceleyn had been told he was shit at decision-making.
"You overestimate the collective intelligence of two bumbling men." It's a gentle tease, more amused than anything, but she remembers well the days of having to guide Deimos through the annoying red tape of negotiations and flattery. He was more of a 'bulldoze through it, ask questions later' type, while Hotaru was a long-game player. It had been an effective pair for ruling, but it exasperated her at times, and she loves to nettle at him for it.
A tinge of discomfort and regret settles like a fine layer of snow on her shoulders at Jigano's wistful smile, the softness of his tone. She has performed a misstep somehow, and it's one she can't navigate, unaware of what minor part of the phrase had triggered him. Instead she hums softly in acknowledgement of his words, but does not press. Not now. Instead she simply leans back and stares at their progress so far, one ear tuned to Jigano as he muses aloud.
[say"It would certainly be easier to pull," she agrees warmly. That's one less thing for her to worry about. When he directs her to where to chop, she merely nods in acquiescence, more focused on the work than any kind of banter she would have normally struck up. Her axe swings in long, arcing strikes, precise and powerful despite her minute frame. It was easy to fall into a rhythm, to lull herself into the physicality of the work, until she feels a foreign weight drop onto her shoulders.
Hotaru immediately freezes, taking rapid stock of the situation and turning her head slowly. There's far too much movement for it to be snow or debris from above, and sure enough as she cranes her neck she sees scales and a wriggling body. Holding very still, she takes a calming deep breath and calls out to her partner. "Jigano, I appear to have made an unexpected friend. Care to help?" She keeps her tone soft and level, only loud enough to be heard lest she startle the poor thing. Hotaru doesn't know what snakes are venomous in this new land, and she certainly doesn't want her boob to be the one to find out.
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
09-26-2019, 03:06 AM (This post was last modified: 09-26-2019, 08:41 PM by Jigano.)
While Deimos and Loren spoke the owl watched them balefully, trusting neither human so near her home. The tree was a good one for the perch, but not so good for nesting – not anymore, putting the pair too close to the ground and potentially cheeky predators like wolves and mountain lions that might try to make a meal of a wounded bird and his mate.
It was while the men were discussing that a faint sound began to trickle through the air, just barely heard in the silences between words. It was easy to miss at first, but the owl began to shift on her claws uneasily, rotating her head to look over her shoulder and then back to the two men again. By the time Loren had finished his suggestion they would hear it for certain, distant but growing nearer. A song, its words still lost to the snow, hauntingly beautiful wafting through the Deepfrost air…
”You may be right,” the bard admitted a touch ruefully at Hotaru’s teasing. The blight might still curl through his veins and twist his emotions down the darkest of paths, but the petite warrior’s sunny disposition was wearing away some of the tarnish and his mood and manner were visibly improving as they worked together as well as two strangers could be expected to. He appreciated her patience, too, in not pushing at the still-raw loss of his fiery young friend, and though they were mostly quiet while they worked, he didn’t find it to be an uncomfortable silence.
Soon they had managed two large sections of trunk that were roughly the same length, and smoothed of their branches. Jigano had just finished his end and Hotaru was nearly done with hers when the blonde’s voice came out with the unnatural calmness of someone unsure of how much danger they were actually in. The bard straightened to look at her, cautious and curious, but for the first time that day a genuine smile broke across his expression, stripping years and lightening the shadows that the blight had carved into his face. ”I would love to,” he murmured, stepping slowly closer and beginning to hum a soothing song. The lullaby wasn’t technically necessary as he reached out with his mind to soothe and coax the chilled serpent into ceasing its attempts to burrow. When he reached Hotaru’s side he held out a hand and the snake slithered docilely over at his coaxing, taking refuge in his voluminous sleeve. ”She’s a hanging snake,” he explained, shifting her slightly so she was more comfortably curled around his arm. She wouldn’t be able to stay there long, but for now he was happy to share what little warmth his blight-chilled skin could produce with her. ”Harmless, friendly, and often found in travelers’ packs or clothing after a day spent in the woods. We probably woke her up from her midwinter nap with our chopping and she came down to say hello.” He grinned at Hotaru and then gestured back towards their tree. ”Shall we see if we can get these loaded up on the sleds? Any suggestions for making it easier?” They were still big, heavy slabs of wood, even if they had reduced them down to far more manageable sizes!
Hotaru survives the attack of the deadly friendly hanging snake! Let’s get those sleds loaded up.
Loren and Deimos hear distant singing. Whatever they decide they should probably be quick about it...
Send a heartbeat to the void that cries through you
Relive the pictures that have come to pass
So it turned out they were both useless in this situation – Deimos refusing to bend into plucking away at owls’ lives, and Loren incapable of healing from afar. His intentions hadn’t been to scar either of them; the hunt for timber hadn’t seemed or been so ludicrous before. Instead of spinning them into another cycle or circle of the same, he seemed pressed to simply find another suitable portion of timber within the forest. There was bound to be something else.
Then he heard a peculiar sound; uncertain if it was anything at all at first – not quite registering over his senses. His eyes had been riveted on the owls and their movements though, watching as the female shifted uneasily, and not because of them. Perhaps it was the only warning they’d receive – a song began to stretch along his ears, haunting, poignant, not quite siren but alarming all the same, one that chorded apprehension and consternation over spines and souls. “We may have bigger problems,” he murmured, shifting sideways, pondering if they were to catch a glimpse of whatever pending force was coming their way – if they should salvage the situation and depart before it came, or stay and fight some brutal, condemning nature. Didn’t Loren have abilities towards magical creatures? The Sword’s stare swiveled back to the other man, curiosity still pulsing despite the oncoming threat. “Do you know what it is?” Or what they should do about it?
For now we stand alone, the world is lost and blown
And we are flesh and blood disintegrate with no more to hate
Did Loren know what the random singing coming from the woods was? No. Did he have some guesses? Yes. Did he want to find out whether those guesses were correct? Not particularly. ”No idea. Only creature I can think of that sings are the sirens, or other similar beings. Seeing as they have all usually have some ability to enthrall men’s minds as soon as they hear the song, I doubt that’s it since we're capable of speech and coherent thought. Still, probably best to plug your ears.” Watching the general carefully, the summoner made earplugs for himself, which would make further conversation difficult. However, whatever Deimos decided to do, the Launceleyn would follow the other man’s lead; already, Loren’s magic was brimming at his fingertips, ready to call down any number of nasty beasts. If this was a threat, the militia members should probably deal with it. If it wasn’t, well, better safe than sorry.
10-01-2019, 01:15 AM (This post was last modified: 10-01-2019, 01:18 AM by Hotaru.)
"I find I'm right pretty frequently, but don't let it go to my head alright?" She says with a grin and a coy wink, taking the momentary break as they parlay to twist her hair up and coil it into a bun, keeping it away from her neck as they grow exponentially sweatier over time. Which, ew. Oh how she misses the indoor plumbing of the other realms she'd found herself in. A hot shower without heating up water and lugging it to a basin? Godly. And Hotaru had met actual gods. They had nothing on that particular human invention.
The work is swift enough with the both of them working on the task, but it ends abruptly enough as she calls out cautiously to her companion. He comes slowly, and she holds still for him, face unafraid and eyes clear but cautious. The soft singing relaxes her further, and though Jigano is essentially a stranger to her, she finds herself trusting him enough to take care of the serpent on her skin. If only because he seemed the overly helpful type.
As the snake departs from the warmth of her skin she turns and smiles at it once it is deemed harmless. "A shame, you could have saved me like a valiant prince and we would have had a far better story than those bumbling boys out there." She suspects they're having a difficult time, if only because neither seems particularly adept with words. And if the two strongest individuals still weren't done and Hotaru and Jigano were, they likely had run into some tangle or another. "She's quite beautiful though. Thank you." Though she would have happily let the snake coil up inside her shirt, it at least made it easier to move around without fear of squishing the little passenger.
"We need to pack down the snow wherever we're dragging it," she starts, a lifetime of living in the frigid mountains supplying plenty of knowledge on the subject. "Otherwise we'll waste energy dragging it through, instead of it sliding smoothly. Which means we either need rope or chain to pull it onto the sled or all available hands to help push it." The woman was unsure if any chains had been brought, and unless Jigano was hiding something other than a snake up his sleeve, they'd need the extra manpower. "And a little ramp of packed snow, perhaps with a smaller log beneath for weight stabilization, so that we can get it up onto the sled easier." Hotaru skirts the front of the felled tree as she speaks, packing the snow down idly with her feet as she contemplates the best course of action. Then she turns and looks to Jigano, ready for his input as well.
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
The haunting song grew clearer as the seconds ticked by, the singer nearing the little clearing on quiet feet. A pale head could be glimpsed through the trees and moments later a young woman stepped into the clearing, her song rising sweet and sad through the Deepfrost air. It cut off abruptly as she saw the two men and she froze. A luxere crunched through the snow behind her stopped and snorted at her pause. Blond hair was pulled back in two thick braids and she wore pale leathers that were ragged but looked warm enough for the season beneath a cloak of brown and white furs. Her hand dropped to a heavy hunting knife at her hip, but then her gaze flickered to the pair of owls and her expression turned to a scowl as she glared at Deimos and Loren . ”What are you doing to them?” she called, her voice still beautiful but now edged with mistrust. ”Did you hurt them?”
At the tension in the air the luxere snorted again and began to back away from the brewing confrontation, shaking her antlers uneasily at the trio of humans, one of whom held the scent of dark magic about him like a cloak.
”As the lady wishes,” Jigano tried to manage a courtly smile, but it was a half-hearted attempt as the blight blunted his usual predilection for banter. He welcomed the warmth of their exertions, a modicum of it finally making it through the eternal chill that had settled into his skin ever since the Voice’s disease had claimed him.
Coaxing the snake might have been more difficult if he’d had to rely on his own warmth to do so, but thankfully he had other talents, and he used them to good effect. Hotaru’s sly comment brought a true smile to his lips, however, and he nodded in wry agreement. ”I thought we’d be helping each other with each tree,” he admitted. ”But I suppose they’re each strong and capable enough to handle one each.” His smile remained, warming as Hotaru complimented the lovely snake, but it faded to a more solemn and studious expression as she gave her suggestions.
And they were good ones, Jigano nodding along with her expertise. ”I admit, I thought it might be easier to dig out a ramp of snow on one side of the log, pack it down, and put the sledge down there.” He gave a little shrug, managing to look a little sheepish. ”Then we could just roll a log over on top of it and haul it out… but getting it up out of the hollow afterwards would be a lot harder than what you suggest. We have the top of the tree to use as a ramp support though, and plenty of snow to pack around it.” As he was speaking he joined her in packing the snow down around the area she had indicated. ”I’ve got rope so between the two of us we should be able to manage it. I’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve than just a snake.” Though he had that, too, and likely not in a way Hotaru thought.
He moved to set the snake back up in the safety of a tree before beginning chopping up a smaller section near the top of the tree to form the base of their ramp and left the construction of the snow to Hotaru’s expert hands. Soon enough they had a ramp that would serve, and Jigano unslung the rope from around his waist. ”Have you ever harnessed up a horse before?” he asked with deceptive casualness as they began to rig the first length of trunk.
Hotaru and Jigano are ready to load their tree, if Hotaru’s construction of the snow ramp is up to OSHA standards!
Deimos and Loren have been joined by a woman out singing to luxere! Will they make a new friend, or a new enemy?
Well, that was unexpected: instead of some monster, there was just a woman. Loren felt a little silly, and immediately took out his earplugs. And then, since Deimos rationed out words like each syllable hurt him, the Launceleyn turned on the ducal charm. While he wasn’t really diplomatic or friendly, especially not these days, he was really good at faking it. Stepping away from the tree, he held up his hands in a reassuring gesture. ”Actually, we’re trying to see if there’s anything we can do to help them, miss. I saw the mate was injured, and I have some healing magic, but I wasn’t sure if I could get close enough to touch them.” He gave the woman a gentle smile.
As his eyes flicked toward the luxere who was backing away from the general and the summoner, he remembered everything he’d heard about the magical deer. Taking another step away from Deimos, Loren focused for a brief moment. A full sized luxere appeared by his side; while he would’ve preferred Astra, this would have to do, and the display of light magic might be enough to calm the real luxere down and wash away the taint of the general's life drain. ”I see you’re also preparing for LongNight. You have a beautiful voice by the way, and I would love to learn that song from you at some point. However, my companion and I are in the midst of our own preparations. We’re looking for trees to help construction a perch for the Spark Bird, which is when we stumbled upon the injured owl. You haven’t seen any likely candidates, have you? Trees, I mean.” The Launceleyn's voice came out in a low a soothing tone, but it was nothing but the truth.
Send a heartbeat to the void that cries through you
Relive the pictures that have come to pass
It was almost pathetic how the Sword had assumed the worst – some sort of monster brewing and brooding, but he’d had too many experiences with too many trials and tribulations to ever presume something friendly or outgoing was coming along pathways. Perhaps it was a pessimistic outlook, but the world had committed its acts upon him in an unholy amount of irreverence, so he often did the same.
The stranger was immediately suspicious, another frustration on top of the other vexations. They’d actually been completely innocent in this regard, but his stance, his existence, had never been in a guiltless, innocent foray; a presence that spoke volumes of war, of quiet, voracious silence, of years spent striving to survive and attempting for others to do the same. He didn’t back away. He didn’t covet any suspicious behavior. He didn’t glean forward. He watched and waited, studied and scrutinized, gaze lingering on the luxere, knowing full well they rarely tolerated his presence – too much darkness, no matter his vows or assurances. His gaze narrowed, pondering where all of this was going to go; Loren’s capability of flattery and compliments hoping to work to their benefit, since the Reaper couldn’t come up with a single, solitary nuance to show their good faith and adherence other than veracity. “No harm meant,” he extended. He wasn’t about to comment on beautiful singing voices, the depths of his gaze swinging back to the maimed owl. “Do you have an ability to help them?” Maybe she contained something greater or grander than them – already wasting precious time and not acquiring a single damned piece of timber. Efforts might’ve been in vain right from the beginning, and they’d be forced to find some other tree.
For now we stand alone, the world is lost and blown
And we are flesh and blood disintegrate with no more to hate
10-03-2019, 03:47 PM (This post was last modified: 10-03-2019, 03:57 PM by Jigano.)
The woman looked at Loren dubiously as he cranked up the charm, her scowl deepening a little. ”So you’re an Abandoned, then?” she said dubiously, and her fingers flexed on the hilt of her knife with the mistrust that many Naturals had for the god-forsaken mages of Caido.
Her question was answered as the Launcelyen stepped away from Deimos and displayed his powers openly. She dropped to a fighting crouch as the luxere appeared from out of nowhere at his side, her knife drawn and held before her as she barked a warning to the one that had been following her. The antlered creature reared in surprise, both at her movements and tone, and fled back the way they had come while she covered its retreat. He continued to try and work his charm, but his blatant flaunting of cursed magic had made her too tense to listen, much less trust him now. ”Stay where you are!” she demanded, icy gaze moving from Loren to Deimos with open ferocity. ”You Outlanders deserve what you get on LongNight,” she spat, edging towards the tree and the owls without taking her eyes from the men.
The owls looked to her, heads turning as one as they listened to something the human men couldn’t hear. The female flew up, winging to a tree above where the woman had entered the clearing while the male hopped awkwardly towards her until she could extend a thickly-gloved arm down for him to hop onto. She lifted him a little unsteadily, but he balanced against her, soothed by the Attuned’s call, and she began to back away again slowly. ”Take your tree, then, but leave the animals alone.” She spat to the side, her disdain for Outlanders and Abandoned alike clear in her cold green eyes as she retreated back into the woods to take the owls to safety.
The gentlemen have added Fallen Tree to their inventory! What are you going to do with it now?
Loren's magic answered the woman's question before he could, unfortunately. He froze when she told him to remain where he was and stayed silent as the words dripped from the woman's lips.
Alright, well, he had severely miscalculated, but seeing as they got the tree they needed in the end, he didn’t really care. Other people's fear wasn't really his concern at the moment, and he was well used to it by now. As the woman looked at him with suspicion in her eyes and somehow called the owls to her, the summoner dismissed his luxere. He didn’t really have time, patience, or empathy for anyone who was ignorant of who he was and what he was trying to do. Still, he would try to mend the rift he'd caused. ”We’re sorry to have bothered you.” While his words and his tone was contrite, his eyes narrowed as she retreated into the woods. Apparently he was the only one willing to make an effort here.
Turning his back to her, he concentrated again: all this spell-casting was starting to get to him, but he was already tired of this task and just wanted to complete it as soon as possible. His ogre sprang back into being, and he handed it back the axe. It hacked away at the last remaining connections between the tree and the ground. Then the Launceleyn took the axe back and had his creature start hauling the tree back to the edge of the woods. If Deimos wanted to try a different strategy, however, Loren would defer to the general’s judgment.
Send a heartbeat to the void that cries through you
Relive the pictures that have come to pass
Ah, there it was. While he hadn’t experienced the prejudice of either Naturals or those who didn’t take kindly to the Abandoned contortions of the world in some time – perhaps because they all knew one another relatively well, had assisted in rescuing Fae from cave-ins, and hadn’t brandished pitchforks or fire during any latest ventures - but it didn't mean the notions still didn't exist. He did as he was told, standing still with nothing placed on his features but a stony composure and lingering sigh softy billowing its way through his nares. He watched, just one more witness, as the woman assembled her rage and vitriol, and he accepted it for what it was, the owls quickly maneuvering despite any injuries, listening to her abilities.
In fact, he said nothing at all to her, turning his head and not even bothering to roll his eyes.
But at Loren’s constant spell-casting, the ogre appearing, hacking away at the tree, and going off to carry it, the General arched his brow, pondered over why all of that was necessary – quicker, perhaps, but more draining in the meantime. “Save your strength,” he beckoned, encompassing either enchantments, invocations, or brawn – indicating to the ogre, if it should listen to his directions, to place the log on the sled, as was always his intention. Deimos had no issue with using his own means and measures of vigor; especially since Loren might need his summoning capabilities later, when they were building. “You pull, I will push.” It would save the other man some measures then too, and the Sword lingered behind the sled, muscles arms, broad chest, warrior-built form positioned, ready to exert force on the ramparts, waiting for the beast to hopefully follow through on his plans.
For now we stand alone, the world is lost and blown
And we are flesh and blood disintegrate with no more to hate
10-05-2019, 11:57 PM (This post was last modified: 10-05-2019, 11:58 PM by Hotaru.)
"As if they would ever stop to consider that they couldn't do it alone," she agrees, nose wrinkled slightly in her habitual way as an amused look crosses her face. She loves Deimos, but his need to be the biggest and strongest - while admirable - can also be fondly exasperating.
Jigano's advice is sound, but he catches the flaw in his own logic swiftly enough, and she smiles encouragingly. "It sounds like a solid plan at least." He joins her in packing down the snow, making it slick and hard beneath their feet, which makes it annoying to traverse back over it but perfect for sliding the tree out. It takes some time, but it's luckily not nearly as physically demanding as cutting the tree down had been in the first place.
Creating the ramp is easy enough, though her shins and knees grow frigid as she kneels in the snow to make sure it's as tightly compacted as possible. It will cling to the cloth and her skin, but the warmth of movement and work will keep her from feeling the pervasive chill until she has time to get back to a warm fire and a change of clothes.
Jigano comes over as his own task is completed, and Hotaru has to bite the inside of her cheek hard to keep from laughing aloud. Oh, but wouldn't he find it amusing to know that she knows the equine body so well? It had been her own body once after all. "Yes, quite often," is what she says instead, amused by this turn of events.
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
”In that case…” The white-haired man gave Hotaru an ironic little blow. ”Will you excuse me for a moment?” So saying, he stepped a little ways back, passing behind a large tree. As he came out the other side it was in the body of a long-legged Andalusian horse, white-haired and elegant, though its blue eyes still showed black blight-sign and the veins in its pink nose were unsettlingly dark. He arched his neck as he stepped over to the rope and waited patiently for the woman to harness him first to the log, so he could pull it onto the sled, and then to the sled itself. Together they were able to move it briskly to the edge of the Woods before returning to push the other log up to the ramp and then repeat the process one more time.
Loren and Deimos :
The tree was large and unwieldy for one creature to try and maneuver, but luckily its fall had cracked the trunk near the broadest branches of the crown and they came loose as the men and their ogre maneuvered the great bole onto Deimos’s sled. Though a few branches remained to impede their progress they would have no trouble trimming them swiftly and then getting underway, pushing and pulling the sledge over the top of the hard-packed snow.
Soon enough they would reach the edge of the Woods, where a pale horse and Hotaru waited with not one but two sleds, each loaded with a much shorter (and lighter) length of raw timber. Between the four of them (and cutting down the men’s tree to a comparable size with the other two, so it was easier to pull) they managed to get the three sections of the Perch hauled back to the Sanctuary and the open square in front of the Temple where the Spark Bird’s roost was traditionally raised.
The horse shook himself once he was unhitched from his sled, cantering back behind the Temple. Jigano emerged a few minutes later, straightening his clothes with blight-wounded dignity and shaking hands as he rejoined the team and nodded to them. Deimos was familiar with the bard’s quirks, but the other two were not, and the darkness that crawled within his veins left him little patience for explaining it at the moment, even if Hotaru had done much to lighten his mood from where it had begun that morning.
”Well need to dig holes for the two support posts,” he said briskly, walking to survey the area they had to work with, and the snow-covered ground. ”Someone will need to shovel the snow, and keep it at bay if it’s memory snow and tries to flow back into place while someone else digs the holes.” He steeled himself for a moment, but when it came to digging Deimos was the unchallenged king of tunnels, at least in Jigano’s experience, and he turned to give the General a stiff nod. ”Should two feet down be enough to anchor them? Or would you suggest deeper?” he asked the resident expert.
They still had their axes, and he turned to look at the three large boles measuringly. As luck would have it, the pine Hotaru had found and the tree that Deimos had located were similar in width, and had already been debranched, but he frowned thoughtfully at them all the same. ”I’d like to cut notches into the tops of the support beams,” he explained. ”They don’t have to be deep or even all that smooth, just curved enough that the crosspiece will rest in them and be difficult to knock off, even if the lashings are damaged. Does anyone have a preference for what they want to do?”
Congratulations on obtaining Wooden Posts!
Choose your task and let’s get this perch ready to go up!
- One to shovel memory snow and keep it away from the hole digger
- One to dig the post holes
- Two to cut notches/make the tops of the support posts concave
No Posting Order!
**Since LongNight is fast approaching, this PQ will be moving on in 48 hours
