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!
Well aren't we a cheery group, huh? Head Bitch in Charge over there acting as though we let the fucker in. What's a table gonna do? How about keep it closed? "Oh, so what, we stick with what's there? Because that worked out so well?" I get out through gritted teeth, still pushing the table against the door while Sunny and the skinny one grab chairs and other shit to hold it shut, because thank the gods someone is thinking with more than their egos. Calm in a crisis, that's my lover, and I flash him another feral, hungry grin. If we survive this he's getting rewarded. He can count on that.
Head Bitch, meanwhile, appears ready to dip, though she's also spraying some sort of nonsense all over the place (you know, other than her words). Stepping back from the table I shoot her a glare, wishing so desperately that this was Korofi and my father was here to tell her exactly what that kind of teamwork gets you. "Oh, yes, let's all compare dicks, that's a much better strategy," I snap back, at the same time grabbing another chair to prop against the door.
And then I see the words.
I might be a humble barkeep's daughter, but even I can read. "Fuck." It's in here. Whatever it is, it's in here, and I've got nothing, no guns, no molotovs, zilch. Well, no molotovs yet. Backing toward the entrance and trying to bring the boys with me, I grit my teeth, formulating a plan. "Ok, what are we packing? I can get some firepower if you lads cover me a minute."
And because I know Sunny will do what he's told I vault over the bar, grabbing a bottle of the hardest shit I can find and hastily shoving in a rag, while at the same time I use every ounce of willpower I have to make my imaginary friends start flashing as far away from us as I can manage.
Lusea is making molotovs and trying to distract whatever's in there with magic flashy lights.
if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
i know you wanna go to heaven
He really starts to wonder, if only for a moment, if that’s how he had been — he knows deep down it’s not, because had he been? His father would’ve been insanely proud. But here he was, the family disappointment, helping prop the fucking door to the outside to help prevent more shit from happening, watching the queen retreat. Well, at least Sunjata’s the only one covered in blood right now. Gritting his teeth, he looks to Lusea as she speaks, catching a look that he knows deep down means that she can see that old him. And he flashes her one of those wolffish grins like back before they’d storm a warehouse with the rest of the rebels.
Ah but it doesn’t last long. Words are written in the blood and Luci is moving with that brilliant mind of hers. She’s always done well under pressure, and gods if he doesn’t love watching her take the charge. In reality, he has little here without his guns, and with that he reaches for that part of him that Safrin has altered, to guard the entry where the monsters are lurking while Lusea crafts a Molotov.
When he’s finished shifting, there’s no wings to be seen, and for a second he’s pissed it hasn’t worked. Until arms shift and cover in black, faintly spotted fur, and teeth are extended in sharp canines. Paws replace hands, and fur is raised along his hackles as he guards the back to his lover. A deep growl leaves his throat as he prepares to attack, steel eyes narrowed in on the tunnel they have barricaded that harbors the monsters.
J shifts to panther!form and guards the entrance while Luci makes the Molotov, ready to attack the creatures the best he can!
but you're human tonight
SUNJATA
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.
Wessex peaced. After screaming at them to leave, expecting them to obey without question, to somehow intuit why she did the things she did and said, gave the impossible to understand and follow orders that she did, she left them behind. Fucking coward. At least she’d sprayed some gas in the air before she did. Maybe that had helped, maybe it hadn’t, but at least no monsters had attacked yet. So thanks the gods for that. He'd take what blessings he could.
Unfortunately, Loren didn’t have time to deal with her right now, because Astra nudged him and he spun, eyes widening at the bloody message on the ground; apparently, there were indeed monsters in here and they were toying with them. He immediately summoned another luxere, knowing they might need all the protection they could get. Of course, then Sunjata shifted into a panther (that was new) and Lusea (again, the summoner assumed) darted behind the bar to do...something, and asked what firepower they had.
Well. The Launceleyn had a lot of firepower. And was perfectly willing to use it. The Rathskellar was a lost cause, and they should make sure no one tried entering it from the Temple, because people were fucking idiots and wouldn’t listen to warnings or reason. Best to take the chance to be stupid out of their hands. Besides, the monsters and the queen and the whole situation had pissed him off to the point that he was ready to explode. Instead, icy fury and certainty coursed through him instead.
Fuck. This. Shit.
Loren was done. So done. After all his preparations to keep this place safe, Wessex and Remi had put in a second entrance, without consulting anyone, without considering the implications, or downsides, or consequences. As soon as he'd heard about it, he’d said that the heartbeat door was a bad idea, and lo and behold, it was a bad idea. And now there were monsters in the Rathskellar.
Well, too bad for them, because he as far as he was concerned, he was the biggest monster of them all. Afer all, he had every single creature in this world and all the rest of them at his fingertips. He was king of the monsters, as far as he was concerned, and these dark and creepy fuckers who'd invaded the Rathskellar were about to find out exactly what that meant.The LongNight monsters were right: it was too late. For them. Because he knew they weren’t unstoppable, and knew they could be fought. Even knew a little bit about how to fight them. Now, he was more than ready to put that to the test.
Turns out, they burned like everything else. Loren had always liked fire. Now he'd get to make the biggest fire of his life. If only it was under better fucking circumstances, this might've been fun.
”I have all the firepower we need.” He reached down and plucked a pouch off his belt. Lifting it and then opening it with his telekinesis, he pulled the feather inside out. It sparked and crackled and burned. Pretty. And deadly. ”I’ll torch the place. You two, cover my back, please, and get ready to retreat through the door to the Temple.” His voice came out calmly and cooly, and while it held more than a hint of command, he was asking them more than ordering. With that, he sent the feather drifting forward to gently touch the furniture they’d piled.
Which immediately started blazing merrily. Good. Let it all burn. Astra at his left side, summoned luxere at his right, Loren started backing up flicking the feather at the bar, the remaining chairs and tables, even the floor, everything within reach of his magic. Wherever it alighted, whether it be wood or stone or hard-packed earth soon came alight with fire. Smoke and heat and light filled the Rathskellar.
When he got near to the exit, he carefully replaced the feather, not wanting to risk setting the earthen tunnel on fire as well. Then, if the other two in the Rathskellar had actually gone where he’d asked, he’d look at them, eyes reflecting the inferno he’d just created. Regardless, they were done here. ”Let’s go.” He would make sure they got out before finally exiting this fucking place. Hopefully for the last time.
The Rathskeller, mostly dry save for where alcohol has long since soaked into the wood of the floor and the bar, caught fire instantly. There was no need for Loren to flick the feather about, and indeed, the trio would likely receive minor burns given how quickly the blaze erupted.
All burned.
The wine-spiders who had lived there for centuries. Chunk, rest his fat soul poison-sensing soul, and importantly, the monsters, all were trapped within. The fire, magical rather than mundane, blazed merrily reducing everything to ashes, yet blissfully halting as it reached the tunnel up towards the temple, given the moist earth, and the snowy street on the opposite end.
