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!
first off, you should know, that my light's on but i ain't home
Well, he’d found the box, and within it was an earring that he assumes does something of somewhat importance — seeing as he’s found it here of all places. And perhaps, he’s a bit selfish and greedy in wanting to keep it for himself, despite his ears not being pierced. But that can be changed, and he’s not unfamiliar with altering his body at all, and so he focuses on gathering the materials needed for it before he sits and thinks on who is aware of the Guild, and who might be willing to come and hang out to pierce his ears for him.
Because we all know that if Sunjata did it himself, it would be crooked or terrible looking, and well, we can’t have that.
So he sends a note to Adam, recalling the man’s pierced ears, to see if he might be willing to or know of someone who can. And in the meantime of waiting, he focuses on the earring in the box, inspecting it and wonders what possibilities the earring holds within its unassuming appearance.
up high, but i stay low
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.
Having received a note, Adam had sighed heavily. Was Jigano sending him homework now? It had taken him half an hour sat down gently sounding out each word before he'd worked out what it was Sunjata wanted and even then the request sounded so odd he had to go over it again. Sunjata wanted him to pierce his ears. The fact that anyone would trust him with that kind of power was hilarious, after the amount of drunken shenanigans he'd gotten up to in the Hollowed Grounds.
But who was he to deny the man's dreams? After all, he had done his own ears. It was a skill he possessed.
Showing up to the Devil's Advocates with a needle and apple in his bag and Coffee by his side, he walked in to Sunjata holding a box. "What's in there?" He asked as he set his things down on the table. "I got some stuff for your ears, if you want."
first off, you should know, that my light's on but i ain't home
He’s had plenty of things on his mind in the recent months, and the information from Jigano that Adam was learning to read, had slipped from his mind just about as quickly as it had gotten there. But it seems the former Guild leader has learned enough to get a grasp of the note left, from the way that he saunters in, with Coffee by his side – a creature Sunjata hadn’t quite seen before. He’d seen Pim, of course, but he didn’t know that Adam had a companion.
As if on cue, Haai bursts out of her little nesting spot below the rafters in their makeshift dungeon of sorts, darting to the desk while Adam questions Sunjata about what’s in the box as she focuses with bright jade eyes at the dragon, wings spread in excitement.
“An earring of sorts. Found it on the doorstep.” He offers, lifting it up for Adam to see. “And thanks, by the way. Wasn’t sure who else to ask.” He rumbles with a small huff of amusement before he shakes his head and focuses on the items brought, swallowing a bit hard. He’s used to having plenty of needles in his skin – but not exactly through his skin. It was a different experience, but likely the pain wouldn’t last as long as the spread of tattoos that adorns his body.
“Do you need anything else?” He asks, steel eyes lifting to Adam in silent question.
up high, but i stay low
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.
Coffee was walking calmly until the rather exciting arrival of Haai, at which point he lept up and bounded over, happily bouncing about and trying to play, little puffs of happy smoke rising up from his nostrils. "Behave, play nice." Adam idly said across the room, not wanting Sunjata's companion to end up a burnt crisp.
"You just wear random doorstop earrings?" Adam asked as he leaned in to look at the item. "I mean, s'pretty, but...what if someone poisoned it or some shit?" Exactly how that would work he wasn't sure, but still. You'd think someone that ran an organisation like the Devil's Advocates would be smarter about trusting gifts on their doorstep.
Taking out the needle and the apple, he placed them on the table. "Err...any booze you got, maybe." Whether or not this was for him or for Sunjata's piercing was unclear. "Then whenever you're ready sit down and I'll get to the stabbing. It's gonna hurt."
first off, you should know, that my light's on but i ain't home
At the light puff of smoke that erupts from Coffee’s snout, Haai has found a new friend. Despite Adam’s warning if behaving, Haai puffs a small amount of smoke from her own nose in an overly dramatic attempt at befriending the dragon.
As for Sunjata, Adam’s question receives a snort of amusement. “You think I didn’t clean it or check for anything on it or within it?” A wink is sent Adam’s way. “I think it’s for the guild. An enhancer of sorts.” He offers. They’d had ear pieces in Korofi, but he imagines these are similar in a sense. But far prettier, far less conspicuous.
After Adam makes his request, Sunjata smirks to that too. “More than I can count for, actually.” With the bar being open and him being better with his self control (however hard it was) he at least was able to keep a good stockpile. But he pulls out the bottle of gin from Remi specifically, his new favorite. “Remi made this one.” He offers, grabbing two glasses from a drawer in the desk and pouring them both one.
If it went poorly from Adam’s side, at the very least he’s sure his earlobes will heal. Could always go see Loren about fixing it too, seeing as he’s offered to heal Lusea’s scars before her disappearance. Still, Sunjata obliges Adam, sitting at the desk and taking a deep drink of his glass. “Don’t imagine it’ll hurt worse than getting stabbed with a knife or shot by a gun.” He rumbles somewhat, stilling to let Adam start, breathing in deeply in preparation.
up high, but i stay low
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.
Thrilled to find a friend, Coffee began to blow smoke rings, running around in a circle, claws clicking against the floor rapidly. Adam rolled his eyes fondly. "Looks like we've got some little buddies."
He shrugged. No, he hadn't thought Sunjata had done any of those things, but it wasn't his loss if the man hadn't. Though what the man meant by an 'enhancer' was completely lost on him. "Why d'ya think it's special? It just looks like a pretty earring to me, mate. Which is enough, really." While he knew magic items abounded in Caido, Adam also knew that not everything was the beginning of an epic quest or a long lost treasure.
Sometimes, an earring you found on a doorstep was just that.
As Sunjata went still Adam moved to hold the apple behind his ear so he had something solid to hit once the needle was through the lobe. "Now uh, I'm not sure if this is true, but Nate told me I should heat up stuff like needles before I use them for uh..germs, or something." With that in mind, he whistled for Coffee, who came over a little reluctantly (wanting to play with his new friend more than help daddy stab a guy) to blow a small blue flame over the needle.
With it heated he squinted then drew his hand back. "Okay. One...two..." On three Adam thrust the needle forward, piercing through Sunjata's lobe and through to the apple with an odd crunching noise.
first off, you should know, that my light's on but i ain't home
As Coffee’s acceptance is realized by Haai, the griffin mimics the attempts at the smoke rings, wings flaring as she darts after the dragon with her own clinking of talons and paws along the floor, tail and tailfeathers wide in their excitement. “It appears as though we do.” Sunjata remarks to Adam with a hint of amusement, glancing over from the pair of companions back to Adam.
“We had similar things back in my world, things you’d wear in your ear that let you hear things.” He tries to explain, before passing it off. “Though I guess even if it isn’t something special, perhaps I have a secret admirer.” The Korofian smirks, glancing to Adam as he notes the slight amount of anxiety the other man has. But judging by the rings the man wore on his own ears, Sunjata finds that there’s really nothing to worry about. Unless of course Adam didn’t particularly like blood, and well…
That made one of them.
Sunjata stills, stealing himself as he feels the apple settle up against the back of his ear. At Adam’s explanation, Sunjata snorts and nods as Coffee heats the needle. “Yeah, it’s true.” He offers. “That’s why I cleaned the earring then had this one made to match.” Germs and the like. At least the other earring he’d had made was clean from the get-go. Able to see exactly who had crafted it, what kind of results were granted from it, what he might want changed.
Regardless, the needle is heated, and Sunjata’s breath is withheld strong and tight as the needle pierces his lobe and he exhales a bit loudly paired with the slight squint of his eyes, before remaining as still as he can and offering the earring to Adam to place in place of the needle, to slip it in after and ensure that Sunjata doesn’t have to just fiddle around trying to put it in himself. What a mess that’d become. At the very least, it wasn't as bad as he thought it'd be.
up high, but i stay low
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.
"I think the secret admirer thing sounds more likely...I mean, you're kinda pretty and now you're the biggest bad boy in the city. People like that sorta thing, but they feel like they gotta be quiet about it. I used to get a lot of little gifts, back in my world." For all of Adam's bragging and bravado, this was actually truthful. The roguish highwayman outside the city walls had drawn the attention of many young hearts looking to rebel and he'd often received things on charity: places to stay, little trinkets, food.
Adam had seen far too much blood in his life to have an issue with it. Reaching for the earring he moved to hold the apple and pull it back, pushing the earring through the hole right after the needle. "There you go. Don't take it out for a week and make sure you clean it or it'll go green and fall off."
Stepping over to Sunjata's other side, he pulled out his drinking horn to wash the needle in, then held it out to Coffee again. "I'll give you that you're not a baby. I've seen some really big, tough guys turn into crying newborns when they get a needle anywhere on 'em."
first off, you should know, that my light's on but i ain't home
“Kinda pretty, huh?” He rumbles to Adam with a light chuckle before he shakes his head. But as he thinks about it, he’s never exactly received gifts before. And part of it surprises him somewhat to come to that realization – his father had never allowed it, and in the Resistance, everyone would have wanted him to disappear rather than give gifts. But ah, he’d gotten the best gift out of it all, Lusea, at least for a time.
Still, the earring slips in and Sunjata’s finally free from the apple as he moves his jaw slightly, getting used to the weight and the sting of the cold metal. Still, he listens to Adam’s comment, smirking lightly as he glances up to the man. “You want a hint? Heat up the water and put some salt in it, it’ll help it ward off infection.” Just in case Adam is thinking about adding to his own variety of piercings.
He stills again as Adam reaches his other side, pausing only to pick up the second earring, the one he’d commissioned to match, listening while Adam speaks of his toughness, and he can’t help but offer a quiet breathy laugh to that. “It took what, less than a minute?” He rumbles. “My wing tattoos took around ten hours of sitting in a chair while someone stabbed me multiple times with many needles.” Sure, this was a different kind of pain, but it was over far quicker than a tattoo was. “Besides, I was raised to… Not show pain, in a sense.” A bit of an honest answer for Adam’s own prior truthfulness.
Sunjata wasn’t raised to show weakness in any sort, least of all when it came to physical pain.
up high, but i stay low
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.
"Oh cmon, you know you are. No one dresses themselves up like you do without knowing they're hot. I do it too." Adam didn't see any point dancing around it; sexy knew sexy and he had never been shy.
It seemed Sunjata knew more about this 'germ' shit than he did. Back in Adam's world, there had been humours and fluids and leeches, not infectious little blobs that jumped about in the air (as far as he understood). "Well, sounds like you know what you're doing. But I've been fine so far, thanks. Sides....here a guy can just wave his hands around and go 'bibby bobby whatever the fuck' and cure you." How he wished he could have had the healing wizards when his face had been ripped open.
He closed one eye and leaned back, making sure the second piercing would be level with the first, then raised the needle again to make a puncture. "You'd be surprised. I got my tattoos in bars where other guys were getting them too, and you'd see massive guys with scars and axes screaming like little girls at a tiny mark on their shoulder." Forcing himself to stop laughing so he could be still, he drew his hand back then plunged the needle forward, piercing Sunjata's other ear.
first off, you should know, that my light's on but i ain't home
At Adam’s confirmation, Sunjata snorts. “There is a difference between dressing how you feel and how other people see you.” He rumbles in his own quiet amusement. Because sure, while Sunjata dressed in what he thought made him feel the most attractive, but that didn’t necessarily mean that others did. That selfish part of him is glad to know that it’s worked, though.
The comment of warding off infection, though, has a playful smile crossing his face. “Very true.” There’s a light wave of his hand, as if he’s pretending to be Loren with the blue light, only nothing happens and he snorts lightly to himself at that. But Adam is preparing his other ear and Sunjata settles at the conversation, focusing on it while Adam pierces his other ear, another loud exhale, slight wrinkle of his nose, before his previous smile faded slightly.
“I’d pay to see that.” He rumbles in slight amusement, handing the other earring to Adam to put in place before he thinks on it a bit. “Back in Korofi we were trained at a very young age to not show pain. It made you weak, and weakness got you killed.” His steel gaze flits up to Adam. “I suppose some habits remain even from world to world.” Though he’d never been quite good at it. Physical pain was easier to hide, but emotional? That’s what he wasn’t good at, couldn’t hide as well as the rest of them.
up high, but i stay low
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.
"I mean, half of any look is confidence." Adam mused, looking down at himself. "If I was wearing this but all self conscious about it, I'd just look dumb. It's about being able to go into a room like hey, fuck you. I'm hot and here's my goddamn nipples to prove it." With a laugh he opened up his shirt (not much opening required) to reveal his chest for a moment, as if flashing it to a crowd of adoring onlookers.
Sunjata's stoicism kept up well as the second ear was pierced. Adam slipped in the earring and stood back, swaying from side to side to make absolutely sure they were even (though if they weren't, he wasn't going to tell Sunjata that). Luckily, they were pretty good; it seemed he hadn't lost his skill.
Suddenly, an idea struck him: Could this be what he did? He had always been good at comforting people, at telling them what would look good. Surely there would be people in the Hollowed Grounds in need of piercings...a thought for later.
"Sounds like a really cheerful place." Adam commented on Sunjata's old world, putting the things he had brought to the side and letting Coffee go to play with his new friend again. "You ever think that was kinda fucked up, or did it help you in the long run?"
first off, you should know, that my light's on but i ain't home
He hums a chuckle at Adam’s response about clothing, chuckling at the antics that followed as well. And when it came to the commentary, Sunjata shakes his head slightly. “Or maybe, ‘fuck me’.” He adds on the end with a slight tilt of his head. But he agrees, attitude at the end of it always made all the difference. And that was the part that amused him the most by it. How to catch someone off guard, to watch them either blossom or squirm under the attention.
He remains still as Adam sways side to side to ensure the evenness of the piercings, and he appreciates that small act in and of itself, as he smirks lightly before nodding and sitting forward a bit. “Thanks.” He begins to pour more gin into Adam’s glass should the man want to stay and chat a bit more, drink a bit more too.
But Sunjata explains his upbringing, of pain being a weakness, and he drinks deeply from his own glass as he focuses on the other man. “Oh, it was fucked up. When we were five or six, they tossed the boys into the flood waters to see who could swim. And if you didn’t, you drowned. Your parents went and tried for another boy to replace you.” His fingers trace the lip of the glass before he shakes his head and looks back to Adam. “It was a common theme that you would be replaced if you weren’t good enough. Only allowed to have one boy and one girl, and to not grow attached to the boy until after his seventeenth birthday if he survived so long.” It had been a cold upbringing, but an upbringing all the same. “Was there anything like it where you’re from?”
up high, but i stay low
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.
"That's always good too. Afraid you missed your chance with me, though. I'm trying out that commitment thing again." He wiggled his hips as if to mock Sunjata with what fabulous gifts he was missing out on. Being strictly monogamous was still weird to Adam, but there was a bit of pride there too, a bit of happiness that he'd found someone worth sticking around with.
Never one to complain about more booze he gladly let Sunjata fill his glass and sat down, getting comfy as he took a long sip. "S'alright. As I said, you just can't blame me if your ears fall off."
He blinked in surprise as Sunjata continued to elaborate on his childhood, which sounded like a ridiculous attempt at being as edgy as possible...yet it seemed he was telling the truth. "Shit. So I guess you must be pretty tough, huh? What did the girls have to do?" As for his own home, it had been far from perfect, but it hadn't been that. "Eeerrr. Not that I know of, no. My mum and me struggled, but there wasn't really any of that. She told me she loved me since I was real little."
