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!
One minute she was in battle fighting the magic users who threatened her land, slicing and dicing, the next she was levitating in the air as they chanted their mumbo jumbo shit and then she was gone. Poof! Just like that. Where exactly? No one knew. She was just gone.
Octavia landed on her back with a thud knocking the air from her lungs. She attempted to stand as she struggled to keep consciousness. Her whole body hurt like it was one giant bruise. Where was she and how did she get here? She tries to remember what was just happening but everything is foggy. But then she remember the magic users.
She quickly reaches for her sword but it is not sheathed. Her daggers are gone too. She has no weapons. She quickly lays back on the ground and listens to the world around her. Nothing but the breeze. What were they waiting for? She was unarmed and injured, a perfect time to strike. She could hold her own in hand to hand combat but if there were more than a few she wouldn't be able to. She also felt more weak. Was it due to their magic? Her injuries maybe? No, she's had worse and still won a battle. Could it be this unfamiliar land?
quote line one goes hereee quote line two goes in dis spottt
11-15-2019, 07:28 PM (This post was last modified: 11-15-2019, 08:22 PM by Jigano.)
Brooding had become something of a bad habit of Jigano's in recent seasons, though the swift combination of Safrin's curse and the Voice's threat had broken him down even further, even as he struggled to find the core of hope and resistance that had defined him his adult life. He wasn't alone anymore, at least. He had Rory's support, Remi's understanding, a Guild to be strong for and a community to protect as best he could.
Which wasn't very well, given his recent showings.
The portal in the Spire's basement was open for business, but he had been reluctant to pass through it since seeing the Voice in its depths as she bound his most powerful form with nothing more than a thought. Part of him yearned for the new land beyond, but part of him was frightened still of what she had done... what she might do again, should he pass through her power.
Some portal guardian he was, huh? But at least he was here, watching the Spire, considering what it would take to get him back down into its basement again--
And suddenly he wasn't alone. The woman appeared from what he could only assume was a portal, but he missed her entrance. By the time he looked over she had already arrived, and though she wasn't in as bad a shape as Melinoe had been in, she still looked far from well.
"Miss?" He asked cautiously, knowing better now than to approach a newly-arrived Outlander before introductions were made. "Are you... do you know where you are?" 'Are you okay' had an obvious answer, but that too could wait until he was sure she wouldn't attack him out of reflex.
Just when Octavia thought she was in the clear a voice spoke behind her. She jumped up with haste and immediately went into a fighting stance. She studied the man before her. He didn't seem to be threatening in any way but she's been fooled before. She lowered her fists but she kept her guard up.
"You. Who are you? Where am I?"she demanded.
She looked around, really looked around for the first time since she appeared here. She knew she wasn't back in her land. She had traveled far and wide from her village, learning the lands around her in case she ever found herself in a bad situation but this land felt different. Like she was farther from her land than she could ever imagine.
"I need to get home." her voice cracked slightly and she cleared her throat. "Tell me how I get back. Now!"
She took a deep breath and pain wracked her body. She flinched and knew some of her ribs were broken. She sat on the ground and looked up at the man. His eyes seemed kind but there was something hidden there. Sadness maybe? She shook her head. He might be a magic user and hiding his true intentions. She would not die a fool all because she pitied someone for a moment.
"If you're going to kill me then do it. Stop wasting time."
11-15-2019, 08:36 PM (This post was last modified: 11-15-2019, 08:36 PM by Jigano.)
She moved fast when she was surprised, Jigano noted, glad he had kept his distance. He was dressed as he usually was, in a long, grey sleeveless overtunic over a lighter green shirt with wide sleeves sewn inside with many pockets. Close-fitting brown leather trousers and soft-soled boots protected his legs and feet, and his long white hair was pulled back in a loose tail at the nape of his neck. There were knives and a pouch at his belt, but he watched her with hands folded into his voluminous sleeves, making no movement that could be seen as hostile. Indeed, his blue eyes flickered with wry humor at her question-demands, remembering another fiery young woman with more grit than sense when she had first arrived.
”I am Jigano, and this is Caido,” he answered simply, knowing from past experience that there would be more questions to come. She proved him right a moment later, and at her demand to return home his expression shifted to sympathy as he tilted his head at her, wondering how best to inform her of the bad news without having her try to attack him.
She distracted them both a moment later as she flinched at her breath and returned to the ground, and he slowly sank to his haunches where he stood, not coming closer yet, but not wanting to loom over her, either. ”Are you hurt?” he asked gently, instead of the attack she seemed to expect. ”I don’t mean you any harm. Whatever was happening back on your world, you’re not there now. This is Caido,” he repeated again, making sure she heard the name clearly in her confusion. ”And I’m guessing you were brought here by a portal. It’s unfortunately a fairly common occurrence here,” he admitted with a faint grimace. ”I was pulled here as well, over a year ago. And no, I don’t have the power to send you back.” He sighed, wishing that he did, for this stranger was hardly the first to arrive in the midst of some trouble on their own world that they sought to return to. ”Is there a name I can call you, while we work out what can be done to help you?”
"Caido?" Octavia mulled the name over in her mind. The name didn't sound familiar to her. She'd never heard of this place before. "Wait, did you say portaled in? Those damn magic users!"
She knew they were capable of many things but she had no idea how strong they really were. For them to send her to a new world meant they were much stronger than her and her people could've ever imagined. Her people were going to die and there was nothing she could do about it. Octavia put her head in her hands as the tears flowed. She quickly remembered she was not alone and refused to let someone she her so weak. She wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up slowly trying not to show the pain on her face.
"Octavia. My name is Octavia." She stepped towards Jigano with caution but held her hand out to him. She was going to need allies if she was ever going to find a way back.
OOC: I'm so sorry I just now noticed you don't want tables or colors when threading with you. Please forgive me! Jigano
"I'm not sure which magic users you mean," he admitted cautiously, "but the portals to Caido were put in place by a goddess of sorts. They tend to pluck people from their proper worlds and bring them here without much rhyme or reason." It was possible that the Voice's portal had latched into the spell that the young woman's enemies were casting and took advantage of it, though. Or perhaps she had been killed by the spell but, like others, then resurrected through the portal here.
He went quiet as she hid her face away, clearly overcome by emotions and shock. He looked away, giving her what privacy he could in the moment, and instead focused on a cheerful little mind nearby, who had been hunting beetles in the grass.
Only when the stranger stood up did Jigano look back to her, rising slowly as well and taking her hand with a lopsided smile. "I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances, Octavia ." His handshake was firm and his hand was calloused from both swordwork and farmwork, though more of the latter lately. "I'd be happy to answer your questions, but first can you tell me something of the world you came from? It will be easier to tell you about Caido if I know what things are similar that you'll already be familiar with, and what things are different here." Dispensing information was what his guild did, and it felt good to be able to go back to the heart of why he had made it in the first place.
OOC: No worries! My daytime wifi is patchy and pages with lots of tables/images can really slow down my connection, or even stop a page from loading altogether, so it's easier for me to work with 'naked' posting formats most of the time. :)
