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!
10-01-2019, 09:54 PM (This post was last modified: 10-05-2019, 10:39 AM by Bastien.)
Bastien
There had been, once, a part of Bastien that had been a little irritated with how quickly Lily had taken over what had been his church. He had barely even fake-died before she had grabbed the place! His not real corpse had still been warm!
But now, knowing Lily's plans for an entertainment venue (something the place sorely needed) and still feeling fond of her after their first meeting, he decided to deliver her a gift. When he had received the Voice Projector his first thought had been Lily; he had no musicians in his guild and certainly no singers, so it was better suited to her.
The last time he had arrived at the door, he had had an evening of rather dirty delights ahead of him; to be politely knocking was an almost funny contrast and he smirked a little as he knocked, waiting for Lily to answer.
oh, cover your crystal eyes and let your colors bleed and blend with mine
If only they'd had a conversation about what transpired after Bastien had "died," they might both have cleared up some residual weird feelings. Alas, they can only rely on time to dissipate grudges. For Lily, it's that she was terrified of losing her home and sure as hell wasn't going to invite a strange old man into the church. It all stemmed from refusing to let another man dictate what she would do.
But things are slowly returning to normal, post Blight. It's probably a good thing that he comes to her now, instead of a couple of weeks ago. That would have been an utter disaster. Today, however, she feels much more like a real person and looks far closer to one than she has in a long time. Bastien might hear the plunk of the piano keys he helped manifest from Frey as he knocks on the door, then silence as Lily slowly rises from the bench and comes to see who it is that disturbs her creative process.
As the door opens and her pale face peers out into the darkness, it breaks into a small, genuine smile when she recognizes him. "Bastien! What a pleasant surprise. Come on in." Swinging the door open so as to allow the Ascended inside, the entertainer notes whatever he is carrying, but waits to ask out of politeness. She also does a quick check behind him for Rex, kind of hoping the lovely lady would be joining them - but alas, she is elsewhere. Oh well. Once the man enters, she shuts the door and upon turning around, asks, "How are you? Was it a nice wedding?"
Lily hadn't been able to attend. She'd been… busy hunting
Returning the smile warmly, Bastien walked in, looking around the room. While he had been here before, he had been rather distracted. Now, with a chance to take it all in, he found himself impressed. "You have truly made this place your own." He commented, placing down the device on a table and sitting for the moment on the nearest chair.
"Oh, I am very well. The wedding was fantastic - I take it you were affected by the illness...?" It was not possible in Bastien's mind that anyone healthy could have known about the wedding and not attended - it had been the social event of the year, after all.
Gesturing around the place, he looked towards Lily with raised eyebrows. "So when can we expect to see this room buzzing with activity? I brought you something that was left with my Sanctuary to help you in your endeavours."
oh, cover your crystal eyes and let your colors bleed and blend with mine
“All it needed was some time, a lady’s touch, and a little… help from Frey,” she says with a slight chuckle, indicating the piano that takes center stage in the room. It’s beautiful - truly beautiful, and should Lily be able to one day be bathed in golden stage light whilst playing the thing, all of Caido might have their frigid, crazy hearts melted. “Yeah,” Lily admits, wrinkling her nose. “I helped Rex pick out her jewelry, but it just got worse after that…” She begins to rub her hands together, still obviously a little distressed about the event, but it’s clear she doesn’t hold Bastien responsible for it.
Lucas, maybe. Or the Greatwood. Or just… life. There are too many stories of whole households catching the pox or influenza and dying, their houses being burned to keep the sickness from spreading. It’s just a fact of life where she’s from. People get sick. Sometimes they die. Or worse, end up horribly disfigured from scars - or blind, or something just as bad. They were lucky with the Blight. “I wish I could have been there.”
Anyway. Moving on. “Probably not until after LongNight. I had hoped to try and move this monstrosity to the House of Revelries, but I’m not sure how I’ll get it through the door. Might need some magical help…” she muses aloud, placing a loving hand on the lid of the instrument, but looking at her one-person-width door frame. “There’s a song in the works, though! I’ll probably debut it during LongNight” She perks up substantially at the mention of her work and then eyes the device in question with an increasingly curious and eager eye.
"Frey? Ah, I have only met them the once, and it was...interesting." Not necessarily bad (he had gotten to cum, and hey, that made it an ok prayer in his book), but interesting. As for the place needing a woman's touch...Bastien liked to think his own touch, which was one with plenty of decor sense and aesthetic sensibility, was fine in it's own way, but he wouldn't argue - it was no longer his space.
He hadn't known that Lily had had any hand in his wedding at all. "Well, your selection of jewellery was very well-considered indeed." Rexanna would have looked beautiful in a burlap sack wearing coals, but the dress and accessories she wore had made her even more radiant. "I wish you could've too, but do not worry - I'm sure we'll find a way to renew the vows and throw a party in due course."
"House of Revelries. What a name!" Bastien laughed approvingly. As for the gift he had brought... "This will help you with that song! It is a device that amplifies ones voice." He held up the music note-shaped tool and spoke into it, his voice louder as he hummed out some notes; as he continued a piano came in behind his voice, and a violin - the musical abilities of the device kicking in. "It plays music for you, as well."
oh, cover your crystal eyes and let your colors bleed and blend with mine
Pleased, tinkling laughter spills out of the redheads mouth, “Well thank you. I’m glad good taste prevailed despite everything.” Someone probably would have caught a faux pas anyway - there were enough people on ‘get Rex ready’ team. And to be honest, she wouldn’t say no to another celebration. One where she might be able to sing?
Speaking of - his declaration that the device helps her sing gives her moment of curious pause. Until he demonstrates, and then her mouth drops into a slight ‘o.’ The possibilities begin to whiz by her, ideas for songs she’d been dreaming up all of a sudden possible, despite her lack of musical knowledge in other areas. “Oh my god,” she breathes out in an excited whisper, hands clasping in front of her chest in a delighted and surprised and day-totally-made way. “Bastien, this is exquisite! Oh my god, I can do so much with this!” She claps. Her eyes light up.
"It always will, in the end." Bastien declared confidently with a smile.
He didn't know what kind of reaction he had been expecting when he had shown Lily how the gift worked, but her emotional excitement was more than he had thought. He grinned and held out the device to her, happy to give it to someone so happy to use it. "It is yours. Maybe you can pay me back one day in a song, hm?"
