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!
After a thoroughly enjoyable game of Spin the Bottle assuming timelines and shenanigans, Amun had wandered back to the main part of the Festival. There he spotted a familiar figure making her way through the crowds. Grinning, he shadowed her, doing his level best to tail his target. It was easy enough, given the sheer press of people here.
Eventually it became clear that they were headed towards a circle of fire in the center of the party. Putting on a burst of speed, Amun pulled up next to Wessex and snagged a match as well, lighting his candle with a flourish before blowing out the match.
He sent his own silent prayers up, before turning to her with a wink. "Now. Even if it is technically honoring Frey, we are going to find you a woman and me a man, Princess, and then we are going to have fun." There was a wickedly gleeful tone in his voice and a mischievous glint in his eyes. Unless she resisted, he'd sling his arm across her shoulder. "Where to?"
Letting out a huff of laughter, Loren smiled at Abasi. ”Frey is not just about sex.” As Amalia passed by, the summoner gave her a cheerful wave. ”They like it a lot, yes, but they’re also about excitement, and getting the most out of life.” Unbeknownst to him, his voice gained a great deal reverence as he discussed the deity.
Then his smile turned into a grin. ”But if you’re looking for something more salacious, that can definitely be arranged.” This time, there wasn’t a hint of awkwardness in him as he made his quite forward offer. He gave the undertaker’s hand a gentle squeeze. ”I imagine others will be making arrangements of their own once the alcohol has been flowing for a while. We could find a little secluded spot, just the two of us.” The Launceleyn’s tone was hopeful, but he bit his lip as he waited for the response.
Simply laughing again at Abasi’s comment, Loren stepped closer to adjust the crown slightly on the undertaker’s head. ”You look handsome too. But you always look handsome.” With that, the summoner leaned forward, hoping for a kiss.
Then he'd turn sigh and start to run a hand through his hair before remembering the flower crown as his fingers touched the petals. Giving a sheepish grin, the Launceleyn glanced around. "As much as I'd like to spend the whole time with you, I promised Deimos I'd help with an exhibition match, and Jigano I'd run the riddle contest and man the Loreseekers booth. You're welcome to join me at both, but I also don't want to stop you from enjoying the whole festival."
light is precious in a world so dark begin at the beginning
tell a story. make some light
Seeing everyone with each other kind of made Oliver feel lonely. Okay, not kind of, really made him feel super lonely. This was a festival dedicated to Frey! He should be enjoying himself! No, he wasn't going to yank down his pants and enjoy himself in that context nor was he going to find someone to fuck, but he did decide that he should find someone to talk to. Already, many people were with others close to them. He was momentarily tempted to go over to Loren and Abasi, but there was a certain chemistry between the two that made Oliver realize that he probably shouldn't interrupt their date....or whatever was going on with them. Same thing went for a lot of others, most people seemed to be with others. That was the case with almost everyone he recognized, except for Phoebe.
With a small smile, he walked over to Phoebe, watching her hand out a crown to a couple of people. Once nobody was waiting for a crown, Oliver walked up to her. "Hey Phoebe! How are you enjoying the festival?" Seemed like a nice conversation starter. It was his first Fiat Lux so he didn't really know what they had in store, nor could he compare it to anything in the past.
I JUST WANT MY EXISTENCE TO BE MORE THAN TREMBLING
Aoife nods knowingly at this, cooing softly to herself as her eyebrows move up and down to punctuate her incoherent babbles. "Oh, you've no need to tell me. It absolutely already has. And why shouldn't it? Stars in her eyes and a fearsome dragon at home to do her bidding?" Pressing a kiss to the back of Aoife's head—which the girl tried to wriggle away from—Remi merely laughed adoringly.
"Offended me?" Remi repeated, his head tilting slightly to the side. His brows inched towards one another as a boyishly confused expression softly contorted the alchemist's features.
As Loren approached, the alchemist pulled in a subtle breath, jarred slightly by the summoner's jaunty tone. He had the constantly remind himself that the Loren of today was not the one he once knew nor even the one who had come back all those months ago. But it did take reminding.
"I am not one for riddles." He said apologetically. To punctuate this, Aoife trilled loudly, reaching up to pinch at Remi's lips, half-heartedly cooing a response as well.
we were ring-around-the-rosy children, they were circles around the sun
never give up, never slow down, never grow old,
never, ever die young
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Harper arrives fashionably late, clothed in bright spring colors and with a beaming smile on his face. The day is beautiful, his few friends are gathered, and celebrations are abound. What more could he ask for on a day like this?
Phoebe is the first person he recognizes as he walks in, handing out flower crowns made of honeysuckle blooms, the boys at her side for mere moments before they go scampering off. Replaced moments later by Oliver arriving at her side. "Hello there!" he calls over the ruckus as he approaches, happily taking a flower crown from Phoebe and placing it upon his head. "This festival looks amazing. Thank you for making these!" The smell is delightful, subtle but pervasive, and his eyes crinkled joyously as he gazes out at the various fun and activities going on around them. "I honestly don't even know where to start." It's almost the same atmosphere as the circus, and it fills him with both longing and happiness to be reminded of such days.
caught in this reckless raging fury
that they call the love of God
Phoebe smiled warmly at Oliver as he came over to get a flower crown, having already passed out quite a few. ”I’m enjoying it very much, how about you?” she said brightly. She was glad to see so many new faces coming to enjoy the festival. It made everything feel so much more communal and happy!
Then of course, another familiar face stopped and she grinned as she handed Harper his crown. ”You’re very welcome! I make them in honor of Frey.” she said with a smile, tossing in that little reverential bit in there. She glanced out over everything, considering all that was available. ”My favorite is always the dancing.” she said, pointing out the open area where couples danced to the live music.
The widest of grins forms on Oliver's face as he takes the flowercrown from Phoebe, offering her a 'thank you'. With intense care, he makes sure to place the crown onto his head in such a way that the true beauty of it was shown, that it looked good on him, and that it was nice and secure."I'm doing great! It's all so colorful and just...wow! What do you think? Does the flower crown look good like this? It was a bit hard without a mirror, but luckily he'd have a second person to give him an opinion.
Harper joined the couple and Oliver looked at him with a genuine smile, clearly overjoyed to see the man. "Harper! Welcome to the festival." The mention of dancing catches his attention. Glancing over at the dance floor he turns to look back over at Harper. "If dancing really is the talk of the festival, would you like to dance with me?" He had no idea how to really dance, but it should still be heaps of fun.
I JUST WANT MY EXISTENCE TO BE MORE THAN TREMBLING
As the first pair end their playing, they bow to the dancers, who bow back. They leave the dance floor with a smile for Lily, who’s found her big ‘ol cards by now and has tuned her harp. But first - a brief breather, to have some water or ale, find a new partner, whatever.
Once the dancers filter back in, Lily picks up the music machine and steps up the bat. “Hey y’all, I’m Lily Balfour. Some of you may have seen me around. I’m going to sing some traditional songs that Amalia Chandrakant has given me, but first I think we should dance some more. Whatcha say?” At the rousing cheer, Lily smiles and steps back, turning the machine on. It roars to life with an easy dancing song, tthe words of an Outlander tune on her lips,
“Well, I took a stroll on the old long walk
Of a day-I-ay-I-ay
I met a nice lad and we stopped to talk
Of a fine soft day-I-ay-I-ay
And I ask you, friend, what's a girl to do ?
'Cause his hair was black and her eyes were blue
And I knew right then I'd be takin' a whirl
'Round the Salthill Prom with a Galway lad”
Oh yes, she’d changed some of the lyrics, but no one here needs to know that.
She arrives fashionably late, in a beautiful new gown she has made just for the day. One that incorporates leggings for when she inevitably acts too rambunctiously for her dress. The air is electrified with excitement and change, laughter and shrieks of delight filling her ears as she wanders closer to the fringe of stalls and games. It's a delightfully hectic time, one that reminds her of the games the Basin used to host to get through the winters.
Taking a flower crown with a wink towards Phoebe - recalling the hilarious last (and first) to they met - she places it upon her head and seeks out familiar faces in the mingling crowd. Too late of course, as she finds Deimos and Kiada moments before a bundle of flowers is literally catapulted at her. Shrieking in surprise, she stumbles back as it hits her in the collarbone, laughing as it explodes into petals that tickle along her skin. "That's one hell of a greeting!" she yells across the distance, glaring weakly, her grin too bright to make it meaningful.
over time
even the sharpest thorns
will become soft
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
As Amun throws an arm around her shoulders, she turns to give him a little side-eye. “And if I’m feeling a man?” she asks bluntly, before deliberately turning to survey the crowd. It’s a somewhat dour expression, as her arms cross and she mentally rules people out - for various reasons, all unknown to her brother-in-arms. “I’m not quite so easy to shop for,” she says with a bitter chuckle. Either she rejects them or they reject her. And after some twenty-two years of fucking around the Grounds, she’s worn gone through most of the then-eligible or now-eligible men. They don’t like her, either for what she’s done in the past or because she isn’t pretty and feminine.
And those who are strong enough and rough enough and masculine enough to draw her attention are rarely good people. She has to watch her back when spending a night with them.
Not that it’s ever stopped her before, but… sometimes she just wants something easy.
12-24-2019, 04:29 AM (This post was last modified: 12-24-2019, 04:29 AM by Amun.)
amun
Amun grinned at Wessex's blunt question. ”Well, I hope you’re feeling a man, I’m touching you.” Chuckling, the sound dark and low, he fixed her with his most mischievous look. ”Then we find you a man, Princess. Hell, we can even share one if you don’t mind. I certainly don’t.” Winking at her, he squeezed her shoulders gently. ”As for shopping, give him a whirl and return it if you don’t like it.” His voice was cheerfully teasing.
Then he shifted to telepathy. Come onnnnnnn. You’re not queen, Halo is open and being explored rapidly, and all is well, for once, in the Hollowed Grounds and elsewhere. You’ve more than earned a little bit of fun. Nudging her with a hip, he attempted to guide her to where the music was just starting.
They passed by Harper, and Amun couldn’t resist winking at the other man. ”Hey mystery man from the woods. Fancy seeing you here. Let me know if you wanna get physical again.” The potter’s voice was downright wicked. However, he didn’t stop his efforts to tow Wessex, by force of personality if nothing else, out to the dance floor.
She hummed, gathered more flowers crowns in her hands, rummaging and perused stalls, incapable of deciding where she craved to venture first – intricacies and recollections of yesteryear, where she’d floated and wandered for the longest time. Eventually she came back to the entrance, eyes tracing over those milling about, arms tucked behind her breath as she strived to match a hum with Lily’s song billowing over the grounds. It had a wondrous beat, so eventually she was gliding in time with it, a wild, avaricious essence all over again, but without her weapons, without her assailments, only the petals in her hands – glance chancing over, recognizing Nathaniel and his brooding outline, pondering some antics of wickedness or mischief. In the end though, she spared him the notion of any other ruffian regard, instead skirting over in silent, stealthy conflagration, and tossing one of the crowns his way, hoping her precision meant it landed right on his head; before sticking her tongue out, intending to rampage away.
This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?
Midas is king and he holds me so tight
And turns me to gold in the sunlight
12-27-2019, 02:29 AM (This post was last modified: 12-27-2019, 02:42 AM by Harper.)
HARPER
"I'm sure Frey appreciates it," he assures with a smile, glancing about and happy to see many people with the crowns on their heads, milling about or hustling to get in line for various games and booths. The energy is infectious, dancing up his skin like a fever, and he can scarcely keep it contained. As Phoebe speaks, music and singing begin to play, and already his body is unconsciously moving to the beat. Never able to stay still even in the silence. The man from the woods - and the irony of both of them still not knowing each other's names is profound - skates by with the once-Queen on his arm, and Harper sinks right back, mouth curling into a grin. "A tempting offer, I'll have to come find you." Laughter rolls in his chest as he gives a little wave goodbye to the pair, already adding the man to his growing list of dance partners. Whether Amun knows it or not.
So when Oliver asks to dance, Harper laughs aloud and grabs him by the wrist to pull him merrily towards the makeshift dancefloor. "You'll be the first victim!" Spinning around he jogs backwards and points at Phoebe with a cheeky, devil-may-care grin. "And then you're next!" And with that they're off, heading towards Lily's voice and the rush of dancing bodies.
caught in this reckless raging fury
that they call the love of God
You've been here for a while; so long in fact, that you are merely a lump of moss against one of the trees. The only indication that there is anything vaguely human about you, are two fingers clutching a pen that is whirling across a page.
You watch how the human-animals come and mass together. How they cajole and play. You're trying to determine if any of the strange games like capture the flag or spin the bottle have any actual effect on the likelihood of mates being chosen during this festival. However without much of a baseline, you only have your current observations to go by.
Vaguely you peer around for Kai every now and then. You want to ask him follow-up questions about his kiss because you know his memory isn't very good and you want to record the information with as much clarity as possible.
