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!
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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!
and indeed, just think: in many ways, body and soul,
i have been more a battlefield —
With the call to Bastien and Wessex finished, there was another she needed to speak to. But she had waited, a bit, to get the time to try and heal a bit more, before she had help getting back to the shell. She didn’t know who would be around it, but she hopes that perhaps she can get ahold of the Launceleyn, her friend, to check in with him and see how things are going on his end, uncertain if the news has spread over her own injuries.
She settles herself, feeling with an arm and unmoveable fingers to find the location of the shell, letting it set on the table while she faces it, uncomfortable in trying to see how it worked. Bastien had started it by introducing himself, from seeking out her, and she decides that she can do the same. “Hi, this is Rexanna, from the Monster Hunter's Guild.” She starts, hoping she doesn’t look or sound like an idiot. “I’m looking for Loren Launceleyn?”
When Loren had first heard that Rexanna had ventured out into the darkness and faced the monsters of LongNight, his worry for his new friend had overcome his promise not to let his protective instincts take over: he’d snapped at Bastien for abandoning her, and just generally been kind of a dick. However, when the word had reached the summoner that the blue-eyed woman was alive, he’d rushed over to the shells. Unsurprisingly, Wessex and Bastien were already there, so the Launceleyn had let them handle it. Instead, he’d gone to cool off.
Unfortunately, things had heated up quite a bit instead; Loren had burned down the Rathskellar and then slept around a bit, so he was feeling weirdly calm at the moment. That would probably change the next time a monster rolled around—or someone else left the Guild, which felt like an inevitability at this point and not just because of timelines—but for now, when he heard Rexanna was asking for him, he went other there easily enough.
”Hey Rexanna. Glad you’re alive, though I do wish you’d at least given me a heads up so I could lock the doors behind you and you didn’t give everyone such a scare.” Alright, maybe he wasn’t quite as over it as he should be, but at least his tone was closer to teasing than scolding. ”How are you? And the Guild?” Considering the last time he’d shelled he’d been drunk and Remi had gotten pissy, they probably weren’t too happy with him over there. Plus, being known as an arsonist and burning down buildings probably wasn’t going to do wonders for his already shitty reputation.
and indeed, just think: in many ways, body and soul,
i have been more a battlefield —
His voice picks up on the other side, and had she had the breath to breathe it, she would’ve sighed her relief. He sounds okay, and that’s good enough for her. No rage, not yet, only questions and a light scolding that has her smiling on the opposite side of the shell. “Sorry about that.” She offers instead, a small amount of relief extenuating through her voice as well as the rest of her body.
At the question of how she was, how the Guild was, she… Well, she wasn’t entirely certain. “I’m okay. I need to see go to the Voice when Longnight is over.” She tells him easily, head lifting slightly as though she can look around the Guild when all she sees is a stark black darkness. “The Guild seems okay, I’m not… Sure really. I can’t see it.” She admits, but there’s weariness in her tone that can certainly be heard. She doesn’t know how much he’s been told of her condition, but at least she was alive.
Rexanna apologized, which would have to be enough. Besides, Loren’s fear for her had passed long enough ago—and he’d been through so much since then, even during a relatively short period—that he wasn’t going to blow up at her. ”Apology accepted.” His voice came out a little grumbly, but still teasing. Hopefully she’d get that it was just lingering concern and not actually him being upset.
As she brought up that she needed to go see The Voice he frowned, not that she could see it. ”Did you actually learn something from the monsters?” Presumably if they had the summoner would’ve heard about it. Then again, maybe not: he’d been busy with other sex other concerns recently and hadn’t been paying as close attention to things as he usually did. Although he figured they’d come find him for anything important, given how tight-lipped and reticent people tended to be around these parts, perhaps that had been the wrong assumption. As the blue-eyed woman mentioned that she couldn’t see, the Launceleyn’s frown deepened. He almost asked if it was dark at the Guild, but that was no impediment to the Ascended. ”You can’t see?” He felt dread uncoil in the pit of his stomach, though he did his best to keep his voice steady and not freak out like the raging lunatic he was.
As she turned the question around on him, though, the summoner flushed; the heat came from two sources, and he wasn’t really comfortable talking about either one. ”Uhhhh. I’m alive.” In more ways than one, though it felt a bit crass. ”Cera was killed by the monsters before anyone could get to the door though. And...they got in to the Rathskellar. So I ah...burned it down.” He swallowed, remembered fear coursing through him briefly before he shoved it aside.
Of course, his next life update wasn’t much better. ”And uh…” Embarrassment choked his voice, before he throttled it down. ”I guess I should tell you that um...I took Frey’s advice.” Hopefully she’d understand—both what the comment meant and about finding comfort during LongNight—and wouldn’t judge him for his actions.
and indeed, just think: in many ways, body and soul,
i have been more a battlefield —
His grumbled acceptance of her apology does manage to spark a hint of a smile on her face, though nobody is around to see it. And it quickly fades as soon as she hears the question that so many have been wanting to answer. “Maybe? I’m not sure. They’re real enough. We almost caught one to bring back and see, but.. Well, everything happened after that.” She tells him, still uncertain of how much he knows.
That is… Until the pause and he asks her if she can’t see.
So yeah, he doesn’t know, and she pauses before she continues, doing the same as she’s done for all of those that care about her and she care for them. “They took my eyes.” She begins, huffing slightly. “My wrists are broken, ribs are broken, and I was impaled by a railing of some kind.” It’s become easier to say the more she has to say it, but the carnage is there. The scar along her chest she can only imagine to be hideous, but at least she’s alive.
When he goes to speak again, she can hear a scratching sound from inside the shell, and she can’t do much about it other than grow confusion. Is there… Some sort of interference of some kind? That might be making it more difficult for the shells to communicate with one another? She doesn’t know. And so she tries to focus on the chatter that occurs when he tells her that Cera was killed – a man she doesn’t know – and that he burned down the Rathskeller.
It’s enough of a surprise that there’s a prolonged silence before she snorts to him, despite being unable to convey it well with the broken nose. “You Launceleyns love your fire, huh?” She replies, but there’s amusement in her voice, a kind of care. And knowing Loren? She knows he likely thought it was the best thing to do, to save the most amount of people.
At the mention of Frey’s advice though, her head tilts in silent question, though he can’t see that. “Oh? How did that go for you?” Equally curious and hopeful that it helped the summoner have some feelings that he hadn’t had in a long time, that it might’ve relaxed him enough to be so calm to her over the phone. Hopeful, quiet, waiting.
Obviously the monsters were real. Just because they weren’t all there all the time didn’t change that. However, probably best not to comment on that. ”Interesting.” Because it was indeed interesting that they’d managed to capture one, however briefly. It was also foolish. He really wanted to ask ‘was it worth it?’ but he was pretty sure the answer was no. So he asked something else instead. ”What do you mean everything happened after that?” He was pleased at how steady his voice was, though his concern was evident.
The damage she’d sustained would’ve killed most people. Perks of being an Ascended, he supposed. Still, he screwed his eyes shut. ”Which is why you have to go see The Voice? Because she’ll heal you?” Obviously he was worried about her, but Deimos had done everything he could; even if the summoner was miffed with the general for failing to mention the full extent of Rexanna’s injuries, it sounded as if she was stable, at least. ”Well, I’m sure you’ll have lots of help, but if you need assistance getting to a shrine, let me know.” The Launceleyn didn’t know if there were shrines specific to the goddess, though it seemed likely.
At her mangled snort and the comment about his family he scoffed. ”There were monsters IN THE RATHSKELLAR.” He raised his voice but wasn’t actually shouting or mad, just mock exasperated. ”What, exactly, was I supposed to do? Leave them trapped in there and hope no one tried to enter? Fight them? Capture them? Please tell me.” Honestly, people kept judging him—though the blue-eyed woman had been more amused than anything else, which is why he wasn’t mad at her, just grumpy—but in his mind he’d picked the least bad option. If someone had a better idea, they were welcome to share it. He was open to feedback.
Honestly, it was going well, though his blush deepened to a furious scarlet. ”Um...good. Yes. Good.” His voice came out slightly strangled; while there were still echoes of his newfound confidence, apparently they didn’t extend to actually talking about his sexual conquests, just the dirty deeds themselves. Maybe he’d get better at expressing himself one day, but he found it quite unlikely.
and indeed, just think: in many ways, body and soul,
i have been more a battlefield —
If she’s being honest, she’s surprised at how calm he is. It’ll make sense later at the revelation of Frey’s quest, but for now, she appreciates the only slight barbs that come her way. “Well, we tried to bring it back and we’re attacked by the other monsters out there.” She explains briefly before telling him of her injuries, hearing the pause, and opening and closing her mouth until his voice fills the silence. “I hope so, but I’m not sure.” She admits with a small frown.
Maybe she’ll be blind forever?
At his offer, though, she nods appreciatively before remembering again that it’s a shell and not in person before clearing her throat. “Thank you, I will.” It’s a quiet tone to her voice, but she appreciates the offer regardless. At the mention of fire and Launceleyns, she can’t stop the smile that crosses her face. And she wasn’t judging him by any means, she just thought it to be some kind of poetic justice.
“I would’ve burned it down too.” She tells him with a shrug, though amusement lingers in her voice. She’ll have to ask him for the details on that later, once everything has passed and hopefully she can see again. Besides, she’s a bit more interested in his response to her question of how the quest went, and she finds herself laughing quietly at the response. “Oh, come on Loren. Can’t leave a girl hanging like that. Give me the details.” She chimes to the shell with amusement, though a small amount of annoyance as the scratching still remains.
10-25-2019, 10:02 PM (This post was last modified: 10-25-2019, 10:02 PM by Loren.)
LOREN
Apparently they hadn’t learned that much. At least not enough for Loren to believe the whole excursion had been worth it. ”Shocking.” His voice came out in a wry drawl: while he was probably being a bit of a dick, he also didn’t know what Rexanna was expecting to happen. It seemed that no one had really been thinking about much of anything. As she expressed her uncertainty about The Voice, the Launceleyn’s tone immediately softened. ”I’m sure she’ll figure out something. And whatever happens, I’ll be there for you, whether it’s visits to the shrine or pointing out when you’re about to rush headlong into danger. Again.” She was making a bit of a habit of it, if what he’d heard about her two near death experiences this season was any indication.
As the blue-eyed woman agreed with his judgment, the summoner blinked. ”Oh. Well then.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. ”Uh thanks.” The awkwardness just grew as she asked for more information about his sexploits and he let out an uncomfortable chuckle. ”Can’t I? You left us all hanging when you decided to go outside.” That was probably unfair, but his voice came out gently teasing. Clearing his throat again, he found his foot tapping slightly anxiously. ”Well uh. So. I burned down the Rathskellar. And these uh, friends, I guess, though they were mostly strangers, they were with me. And we were feeling, you know, happy to be alive, and then they insisted I go drinking with them, and um, well, one thing led to another.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. Just because she couldn’t see him (and not just because of the shell) didn’t mean the action didn’t make him feel better. ”And then ah, after, I went to wash up because of the blood and the ash and the uh...cum...in the College and uh, someone else found me.” It had been a lot, especially for someone so relatively inexperienced. Still, he could feel his body responding to the memory of that stretch of time. Hopefully that would be details enough.
and indeed, just think: in many ways, body and soul,
i have been more a battlefield —
She thinks she knows him well enough to hear the worry in his voice that comes out as being kind of a prick, and she takes none of it personally, especially as he offers to help be there at her side through it should she need him. A light laugh comes from her then, in agreement to how at odds the statement is as it comes from the tone of his voice. “I do have terrible luck don’t I?” She tells him with more amusement, lifting her hand to rest her head along the splint. “Maybe I need a good luck charm.” She considers, before he continues on.
“You’re welcome.” She has half a thought to tell him that Edrei would probably be proud, if she could see it, but it dies on her tongue as his quip comes back. “I’m teasing.” She tells him with mock wounding. “But in all fairness I think I’ve used more than enough ‘I almost died’ stories.” A small laugh chimes at the end.
“Did these friends help you burn down the bar?” She asks out of sheer curiosity before letting him finish, wondering if she knows who it is. But the people she’s met here haven’t really seemed like the type to go straight into that sort of thing… News for a different time, she supposes. And he gives her a bit more details than she’s expecting, pausing after to real it all in.
After a moment, she smiles to herself as she faces the scratching shell. “Wow, and I thought I had a lot of action lately.” She tells him with amusement. “I think you got into a threesome faster than I did, I’m jealous.”
Rexanna laughed at Loren’s admittedly mean comments and he relaxed almost imperceptibly. ”Well. I don’t know about good luck charms. But I’m certainly willing to drag you down so you don’t go running off without thinking first. Kind of like an anchor.” Again, he was doing his best to joke and tease, and this time he was making fun of himself as much as her; self-deprecating humor had always come more easily to him, at least during those times when he possessed a sense of humor.
Letting out another huff of laughter, the summoner felt himself smiling at the blue-eyed woman’s response to his threat to leave her hanging. ”Well. Sorry to bring it up again, but it certainly felt like I was about to die when I saw the monsters writing in blood.” Too late: it hadn’t been, but the memory of the message made him shiver nonetheless. ”And, kind of. One of them, she uh threw a flaming bottle, but it was mostly, um, me.” Not that he was proud of it, but the bulk of the flames had stemmed from the feather he had secured to his belt at all times.
As Rexanna said that she was jealous, the Launceleyn felt himself flushing. ”It’s not like I planned this or something. It just kind of...happened.” His voice came out a little defensively—though, honestly, it was mostly mortified that he’d actually revealed as much as he had—even though he objectively knew he didn’t have anything to apologize for. He just wasn’t used to talking about these sorts of things. Granted, he'd enjoyed himself, and had certainly engendered the second one, but the threesome had been a fluke.
and indeed, just think: in many ways, body and soul,
i have been more a battlefield —
His best attempts to get her to smile are working, and a laugh comes from her end of the shell despite the scratching sound that’s grown more and more annoying. “I could use an anchor.” She responds back to him, a smile resting on her face. “I’m positive Bastien might appreciate it.” She adds with another quip of laughter.
At the mention of monsters writing in blood, though, her questions and thoughts die on her lips and mind as she tilts her head. “Yeah, that’s… Not good.” She admits wryly, shaking her head slightly before sighing to herself. “I’m glad you did it though.” She tells him again, some reinforcement, some ability to enforce the idea of it. Because if it was between keeping the Rathskeller up and letting monsters roam the Temple, she’d have helped him gladly.
The lighter conversation is welcome, and she finds the smile once more along her face as he mentions he hadn’t planned it. Her shoulders rising and falling in a shrug. “I mean, I don’t ever plan mine either.” She jests with a hum of laughter. “Went to visit Lily’s for her grand opening, ended up without any clothes.” There’s a light laughter at that comment before she passes it off. “I’m happy for you though. I’m sure Frey is too.” And had she been there, she would have stuck her tongue out at him for the sheer amusement of it.
If they’d been aware of the alternate use of the word shipping, there would’ve been an easy joke to make about anchors and ships when Rexanna brought up Bastien. As it stood, the summoner just grinned. ”I’m happy to serve in that capacity.” The grin faltered somewhat. ”I’m not so sure about Bastien. I may have...been a little harsh with him when he came back without you.” Hopefully the other man would accept Loren’s apology.
Not good was an understatement, but at least she thought that the Launceleyn hadn’t overreacted. He let out a grateful sigh. ”I’m glad I did it too.” Taverns, they could rebuild. However, they couldn’t bring people back to life—even if the gods had done so on multiple occasions—which meant Loren would always choose the living over property and the dead. That seemed like an easy calculation in his mind.
”Well, I hope you put a little bit of thought and planning into things with Bastien. In fact, I helped plan your wedding!” Again, the Launceleyn was just teasing the blue-eyed woman; he had every confidence that she’d put a lot of energy and time and effort and work into her marriage. After all, if she was spending this much time on her friendship with the summoner, new as it was, surely her husband received even better treatment. Somehow, Loren had forgotten that Lily was in charge of the sex room. It didn’t seem to match the image of the red-headed woman in his mind, but then again he’d encountered her twice, and hadn’t really spoken to her either time. ”Oh I’m sure they’re thrilled.” Frey had set this task, and would no doubt be thrilled that the prudish Launcelyen was fulfilling it.
and indeed, just think: in many ways, body and soul,
i have been more a battlefield —
“Oh, I’m sure he’s fine.” She says, a light laugh coming from her at the idea of it. “He’ll get over it.” And he will, as soon as everything is fine and she can hopefully see again. Perhaps they can have some form of event that they can invite Loren to. But later, once things have calmed down, once things have evened out. Once… Things are normal, as normal as can be with a scar shaped hole starbursting around her chest.
She nods to his next comment, again forgetting he can’t see it, and instead just folds her splinted hands into her lap as she sits there, a hum of amusement leaving her at his next comment. “You did help, and I think everyone liked the food.” She teases back, uncertain because it tastes like nothing to her. But he had done well, and she was grateful for that. “I might need to work on my planning a bit more though.” She adds with a light hum of a chuckle. “Clemente, I don’t know if you’ve met him… But he’s a boy that should be there at the Temple, Ascended, and what not. I took him under my wing. He's... Different around men, but if you could just keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble?” Shoulders raise in a shrug before she snorts.
“I’m learning to do better.” She thinks she is, at least. Though she’s not sure.
At the mention of Frey though, a smile crosses her face. “I’m glad to hear things have gone well for you though, and perhaps I shouldn’t keep you from keeping someone’s bed warm?” There’s more teasing to her voice as she waits for his response.
