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!
As Sunjata returns, Kaimana’s question reaches his ears curiously. How far? He’s really not interested in walking, and so he considers the griffin settled on the man’s head as the thoughts run through his head. If it felt just about half as strong just going across the street, he imagines it’ll probably be double the distance until it’s just a light flicker. And so he mentally tells Haai to stay, steel eyes meeting Kaimana’s freckled face again.
“I imagine it probably would. She’s still pretty young after all.” A thoughtful answer before he shifts to his macaw form, navy wings spreading as he takes to the sky and flies above the rooftops, calculating the distance before he perches and tries to feel her. It doesn’t work, empty on that end, and now with the information in hand, he soars back down to where the man and griffin are, shifting into himself with a small nod. “Didn’t feel it in that distance. It just… Dropped off I think.”
if i let go, would you hold on?
would we fly?
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.
Well heck. Hopefully the Tall Man didn't intend to get rid of you anytime soon, because as he transforms into a beautiful bird of sapphire blue your eyes somehow widen even further, jaw dropping to somewhere near the distant floor. An Attuned! You haven't seen an attuned actually shift here before, and the feeling of envy grows somewhere beneath your childlike wonder and excitement.
"Wow!" you exclaim as the man returns, doing your best not to upset the griffin in your hair as you positively vibrate with enthusiasm. "I didn' know y'were Attuned! Though I shoulda' since you have a griffin. When didja change? An' why? D'ya have any other shifts? What's your favorite? Can you talk to animals an' stuff?" If you were not a demigod, you think, you would have liked to have been Attuned.
Or Abandoned. Or Accepted. Or maybe even Ascended. Everything is so very interesting, and you wish you could experience it all.
For some reason, he doesn’t expect his shift to surprise the man so much, but he stands before the demi-god, a hint of a smile crossing his face, lifting the corner of his lip as he focuses on the excitement in the air between the two men. “Oh, yeah.” He shrugs, as if it’s nothing, but something pangs within him. “Wait, do you mean she bonded to me because I’m Attuned?” His head tilts curiously, having never realized that before.
The mention of when he changed and the onslaught of questions, causes him to focus on Kai a bit more in amusement now rather than the hidden frustration that had taken over him. “I changed… A season ago? I asked Safrin to do it. Just wanted something a bit more than being normal I guess.” Though what’s really normal here in Caido anyway? “I can shift into a panther too, that ones my favorite. Can’t talk to animals though.” He shrugs, not knowing what the extent of the abilities of the Attuned are.
if i let go, would you hold on?
would we fly?
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.
"Griffins an' chimeras only bond to attuned," you explain patiently, reaching up once more to stroke the little hybrid. "Just like how dragons only bond to accepted, an' unicorns to abandoned, an' gremlins to ascended. Somethin' about 'em just makes more sense to those creatures, I guess. Mosta the other ones bond to whoever, tho."
A season ago is not long, and you nod your head agreeably. You hadn't realized the Heralds could attune people - another note to add to your growing list of observations and new knowledge. "Usually attuneds get shifts slowly, as they learn about their nature. A few normal animals, an' then eventually real strong mythical ones. Rae designed it that way so people wouldn' go around throwin' the natural world outta balance, but they'd still be more closely connected to the animals an' stuff." It is one of the more generous things your Dama did for humans, you think. Giving them a chance to see new perspective, to experience the world through different eyes! How marvelous it all must be.
His head tilts as the information is given. And it makes sense, why Phoebe had Pim, in the end. Why she likely got to talk to Frey all that much. At least that much he knew. Still, a part of him is sour that had he just stayed plain and normal, he could have had a fiery dragon, too. As if in response, Haai’s throat emits a quiet growl, smoke puffing from her lips in quiet warning – not to Kai, but to Sunjata, as though she’s the best thing to have ever happened to him.
Sunjata eyes the griffin with a slight roll of his eyes before focusing on Kai again. “I see…” Pondering the thought. “The more connected with nature, the stronger with it you become.” He repeats briefly before his dark brows furrow together. “So in theory… I could be a dragon or something like it one day?” He contemplates, the dragon on the forefront of his mind, but so many possibilities. And suddenly, he realizes he could become something akin to a basilisk, and his lip quirks in a light smirk at that.
if i let go, would you hold on?
would we fly?
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.
Again you try to resist nodding too aggressively, the griffin still resting delicately in your hair. "Yeah! An' eventually you can talk t'animals an' ask 'em for help an' stuff- even the ones that're real strong, like landsharks an' companions."
The question about dragons makes you purse your lips thoughtfully, shrugging easily in reply. "Sure, but it's different for everyone. Bein' attuned... it brings out the part of you that's most in touch with nature. So maybe that's a dragon, an' maybe it's somethin' else, like a magna vermis." Being a magna vermis would be great, you think, though perhaps it isn't quite exactly what the Tall Man had in mind.
His head tilts, accepting the information easily with a raised brow. “Landsharks?” He hasn’t heard of those before, but if they’re anything like the sharks in Korofi, it doesn’t sound like a good time. He also glances to Haai briefly, a half smile crossing his face at the name. “Her name is Haai. It means shark in my language.” He offers by way of explanation before shaking his head again.
He asks of dragons, and the other man mentions it’s different for everyone. And while he thinks about what parts of him are most in touch, his head tilts lightly with the thought. The bird form he has… Is it because of it’s color? Its wings? The Panther because he can blend into the shadows, has always lived within it? He contemplates it briefly, before the mention of a magna vermis crosses his radar.
“I suppose that’s true.” A quiet rumble, a chuckle of amusement leaving him at the idea. When you could be a dragon and become a worm, he wonders if perhaps whoever gets that shift, the gods must hate.
if i let go, would you hold on?
would we fly?
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.
"Sharks that live in the land." It is, perhaps, the least useful description you could possibly provide, but it is also fairly accurate. Though at the mention of Haai being the griffin's name and also meaning Shark you positively beam, doing everything within your power to both look up at the little creature and keep yourself from unseating her. "Haai!" you repeat, your accent s perfect imitation of the tall man's. Languages is one of your (few) skills. "My name is Kaimana. It means power of the ocean. How d'ya say that in your language?"
Suddenly you smile sheepishly, looking around at the lingering mess with a haphazard grin. "You told me a lotta things today. Can I pay you back? I can help you clean maybe." If there is one thing you have (incorrectly) learned about this place it is that all information comes at a price, and you have no intention of getting in trouble when the Knowledge Debtors come.
Ah, well that’s a very literal description isn’t it? A snort leaves him before he explains Haai’s name, as the other man says it in exclamation, and the griffin can’t help but to be summoned, waking from the nest from a small tiny nap, she aims to descend onto the man’s shoulder, then to his arm, bright emerald eyes looking up at him as if to say ‘yes, you called?’
Sunjata’s gaze lingers on Kai as he speaks, mentioning what his name is, what it means, and curiously asking what the meaning of his name means in Korofi, and a crooked smile crosses Sunjata’s face at that. “krag van die oseaan.” He offers with a hum of amusement lingering in his voice. “My name’s Sunjata. It means hungry lion.” A shrug, though now there’s a certain amount of irony that he feels under the fact he can become a panther… but not a lion, when it’s what his name literally means.
Ah well. At Kai’s offer, Sunjata nods, reaching for his rake again. “That’d be great.” He steps away from Kaimana, reaching for another tool he had brought, a broom to brush the mud and dust from the porches, the smaller pieces while he picks up the larger bits that are in the way. “So… How do you know so much about all of us if you haven’t been here before?” Because part of him wonders if the man had been here before, he’d know about LongNight, about the terrible things. And he’s certainly not an Outlander, with the knowledge he has.
if i let go, would you hold on?
would we fly?
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.
11-19-2019, 11:47 PM (This post was last modified: 11-20-2019, 12:21 AM by Kaimana.)
KAIMaNA
You grin at Haai as she jumps to your shoulder, half considering seeing if she wouldn't just follow you home. "Hullo, Sunjata!" Beaming you offer up your hand, a common act to follow introduction, as belated as it may be.
Standing up (careful not to unsettle Haai) you grab the broom, determined to achieve some semblance of helpfulness in your endeavors. With a great deal more gusto than skill you follow along behind Sunjata, sweeping merrily away while continuing to answer questions. "Well I'm new to here , but I'm from somewhere else in Caido. Somewhere not-here. I don't remember where tho." A fact you remain wholly unperturbed by. "When we came here tho our Dama made sure we knew all the things we would know to be able to do a good assessment of the Hollowed Grounds an' the barrier an' the people inside. So we can be informed but also objective, y'know?"
The brightness of the man’s voice causes a brighter smile to cross over Sunjata’s, accepting the hello and taking the other mans in a rather… Familiar shake of the hand. “Hello Kaimana.” He rumbles back, his name awkwardly falling through the accent of his lips but he tries anyway. It’s the thought that counts, right? The attempt that’s made? Haai meanwhile feels content to cling to the other man while they work, and Sunjata continues to rake up the larger debris into piles while Kai answers his questions.
“Your Dama?” He questions, because that’s the part that confuses him. “That’s why you’re observing.” It starts to make some sense. It’s a shame the other man doesn’t remember where he’s been before, because Sunjata is rather infinitely interested in what else Caido has to offer. At the end of the day, almost anything is better than this dreary place. “What have you learned so far?” He asks after a moment, giving Kai time to respond to his other questions.
if i let go, would you hold on?
would we fly?
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.
"That's what I call Rae," you explain a little bashfully, your freckled cheeks coloring. Oia always frowns when you use the word Dama, but it's the way you see them. They're your Da and your Ma, and you love them just as much as any child might love their parent. Indeed, just thinking about them brightens your smile.
As though in effort to impress your absentee creator you increase the gusto of your sweeping, which of course does little to nothing for the quality. But when the Tall Man - Sunjata - asks what you've learned, you stop, your eyes going suddenly wide. "You wanna hear everythin'?" you ask him breathlessly, blinking as you begin to process and organize the many, many things you've learned.
11-27-2019, 01:55 AM (This post was last modified: 11-27-2019, 01:55 AM by Sunjata.)
SuNjATA
the flood
After a quick mental check, Sunjata realizes the other man absolutely definitely did say Rae, and his eyes widen slightly in a small amount of surprise. And based off of what Phoebe has told him, Frey is Rae’s herald, a thought that crosses his mind briefly as he nods to the freckled man. “I’ve only met Frey.” He responds, but passes off on it. It makes sense, in the end he supposes, that someone such as Kaimana, granted such an important task, would also come from such a higher up god.
But it seems as though Sunjata surprises Kaimana as well, as the question leaves his lips and the other man’s eyes widen as he pauses in his sweeping to focus on Sunjata. A smile crosses the Korofi man’s face, a quiet chuckle leaving him as he rolls his shoulders in a slight shrug. “Well, whichever parts interested you the most. I’m sure you’ve learned a lot since arriving here. What are the best parts?” He’s not interested in spending eternity here, growing old and grey while Kai continues to ramble on and on about every. single. thing. the man has learned here.
if i let go, would you hold on?
would we fly?
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.
"I only talked to Frey once so far," your reply brightly, though there's a little bit of heat that crosses your cheeks and you feel yourself squirm at the memory of that encounter. Not unpleasantly, just... differently. It was a strange thing, to feel a mating urge for no discernible reason. Though this presents a new opportunity for research, and with the honest frankness of a child you regard Sunjata with open brown eyes. "Did they make you wanna' reproduce, too?"
What are the best parts does not narrow things down by much. Plucking a piece of grass from your hair, you begin to chew it anxiously, less nervous than lost for where to begin on recounting the many things you have learned. Oia would be much better at this - her brain is always so organized, while yours runs rampant as a wildflower field.
"Well... I liked mosta the things so far," you begin unhelpfully, still chewing on your leaf. "Learnin' about the changes here, an' how the barrier affected the development of the livin' things- that's probably my favorite." Like the lack of major predators, the tangleweeds, the way the plants are growing back in the scar around where the barrier was... these are all fascinating to you.
