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!
When Oliver was actually allowed to help out with Fiat Lux he was overjoyed. He thought that he would be regulated to just making a sign or moving a bench a little bit to the left, but instead he was allowed to actually do something big. Help to run something that people may look back on with happiness. It's....kinda a big deal, even bigger than his whole plant planting event. It was helping the festival and it made him feel excited and even a bit nervous.
Standing at the clearing a bit away from the major festivities, Oliver watched with an eager grin. The flags were carefully sat at his feet, as was a stack of small pieces of paper, a few pencils, and a jar. Cupping his hands around his mouth, Oliver called out as loud as he could without screaming, "Capture the flag starting in just a few minutes!" And with that, he would wait eagerly.
Once the first person would arrive, Oliver would direct them to write their name down on a piece of paper and place it down into a jar. After all, that seemed like the best way to make an unbiased team. He wasn't too familiar with everyone so he probably couldn't fairly pick two team captains.
Welcome to the Capture the Flag Event!
Go ahead and have your character arrive and place their name into the jar!
This mini event will move on in 48 hours
I JUST WANT MY EXISTENCE TO BE MORE THAN TREMBLING
Excitement pulsed and raced along the youth’s bones, flesh, and soul; opportunities to express her endless enthusiasm, to shed the latent skin of LongNight’s crush, and to break apart the seams of normalcy were all right up her alley. While she wandered along various stalls in the rush and swarm of people, her eyes drifted along the various games available this year – wider, grander opportunities, and Melita intended to relish and savor at least one of them. Oliver’s familiar voice (though not as bounding or loud; she gave a half-hearted shrug in surprise), booming across the crowd, an announcement of capture the flag, only escalated her further into an obvious bout of reckless, buoyant, fervent energy.
Fangorn hissed and grumbled in her arms as she raced along the fields, arriving abruptly, one hand saluting while the other held the gourd in the crook of her arm. “Excellent! Thanks for hosting this!” A loud, unrelenting sound of approval, while she hastened to follow directions, putting her companion down (much to his satisfaction), while she wrote her name down on one of the papers, and slid it into the jar. Incapable of containing the exuberance, she glided along the yard, waiting, waiting, waiting to see who else would show.
Considering that Loren was participating in almost all of the other Fiat Lux festivities, he decided to give Capture the Flag a shot as well. When he heard Oliver’s call, the summoner meandered over. However, the presence of Melita gave him pause. It didn’t stop him from walking up, though he gave the redhead a careful nod and another apologetic smile.
Then he turned to Oliver. ”Thanks for hosting!” The Launceleyn scribbled his name down quickly and tossed it in the jar. That done, he gave the other man an encouraging nod. After, he went off to one side to stretch out, rolling his neck and his shoulders. All the while, he took deep breaths, centering his mind.
Shockingly, you know everyone standing around. Well, you don't precisely know them, you've merely encountered them. Regardless, this does help with your social anxiety enough so that you venture towards the group. Hearing the instructions; Capture the flag!, you stare quite perplexed.
Though despite what Loren has tried to tell you, you don't actually think human-animals are all that clever normally, and so despite evidence to the countrary, you decided to participate.
Well.
What you in fact do, is walk towards Oliver without addressing anyone in the group. If you aren't stopped, you'll reach out and grab one of the flags at his feet declaring: "I've captured the flag. Do I win?"
sometimes i'm terrified of my heart; of its constant hunger for what it is it wants. the way it stops and starts.
tell the boy you love that you are too dangerous to keep
take scissors to the strings tying you to him
She heard the call for capture the flag across the crowd, and begins to make her way toward there. Upon nearing it, she immediately spots the flash of red hair that signified Melita and she takes a deep heavy breath at that, but decides to continue anyway. She wasn’t going to tiptoe around the fiery girl any longer, not after the Trials and the events that occurred after. They could get over their differences, they had both blighted during the puppet show, but this time it was different.
She scribbles her own name onto a piece of paper before placing it in the bowl and moving back to settle and prepare, when she notices an unfamiliar woman step straight up toward Oliver and pick up a flag, declaring the winner – to which Kiada says nothing but snorts and chuckles quietly to herself as she waits.
do not eat, do not sleep
perfection is not obtainable
by those who are weak
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
This wasn't usually his style, but the feeling of the season was infectious and Jigano grinned and headed in the direction of the flag game as he saw others drifting towards Oliver. "Why not?" he chuckled, writing his name on a scrap of paper and tossing it in the bowl as he looked at those gathered and gave Loren a wink. He smiled at both Melita and Kiada - and took note of the tension still singing between them, swallowing back the sudden uncertainty. They'd been able to work together before, and this was just a game, right?
Never mind that it was competitive and potentially violent and once the elbows started flying the blood wouldn't be far behind...
A woman he didn't recognize stepped forward to claim victory and Jigano couldn't help but grin at her forward-thinking solution. He might have piped up, but this was Oliver's game to run, and therefore it was his place to explain the rules, so the bard settled for going to stand foolishly equidistant between Melita and Kiada, forming a living barrier of sorts to help keep them separated.
The first to arrive is Melita and soon after her is Loren. With a wide grin on his face, Oliver blushed ever so slightly. "It's no problem! Just wanted to take part in the festival!" And to show Frey that he is worthy of sometime getting a fucking response. The next to arrive is Oia who...doesn't seem to get the point of the game. "Close, but not yet. I'll explain the point of the game soon." Looks like not everyone actually knew what capture the flag was. There's a first to everything. He writes down Oia's name for her and throws it into the bowl, seeing as he doesn't want to be rude and point out that she also hadn't done that yet. A nod is thrown to Kiada and Jigano, both seemingly pretty quiet.
Soon enough, there is enough people that Oliver feels ready enough to start the game off. "Welcome everyone to Capture the Flag! Since some of you may be unfamiliar, I will explain how to play. The objective of the game is to get the enemy teams flag. This can be done through various means, such as sneaking around or fighting for it. The boundary line is between that bush and that tree. An imaginary line is between those two points." Oliver would proceed to use his entire arm to point to the two objects, hoping that they would be obvious enough. "To the right is the blue team and to the left is the red. You will hide your teams flag. Protect your flag but also try to get the other team's." There is a small nod and a smile before he claps his hands together.
"I have a few ground rules that I want to get down before we can begin. No murdering, if you are greatly injured, somehow indicate so that one of our fantasti healers can help you out." Oliver makes it an obvious point to gesture over to Loren and Jigano. Thankfully, both would be playing and hopefully they would be on different teams. "Please, no permanently hurting each other. So like....I'd rather not see someone's severed arm laying on the grass. The flag must be where someone on the other team can reach it. It's not fun otherwise." This was mostly to avoid a flag being hidden in an impossible to reach area that only one person could reach in the entire game. "Everything else, just use common sense. Please." With all the boring stuff out of the way: time to get to the real fun. "Since we have an odd number of players, I will be joining in. So please, use your common sense and don't murder each other. There is no ref, but play fair." As he spoke, he wrote his own name down, folded the paper, and added it to the bowl.
Grasping the bowl in his hands, he made it a point to show himself mixing the papers up, showing that the names would be as random as possible. "Now, I will pull out three names, that is team blue. Then everyone else is team red." Reaching in, he pulled out three slips and read the names allowed. Team blue is going to be Loren, Oia, and Melita. That leaves Me, Jigano, and Kiada on team Red. Go ahead and move to your team's side. I will give you ten minutes to prep. If you have questions, ask each other. Again, common sense. Let the game begin!"
Thank you everyone!
I will be rolling to determine whether or not your character was successful.
You will have one round of posts to discuss things and ask questions, then I will start the game
The teams are
Blue: Oia, Loren, and Melita
Red: Oliver, Jigano, and Kiada
No posting order.
Let me know if you have any questions/if I need to fix anything.
I JUST WANT MY EXISTENCE TO BE MORE THAN TREMBLING
Loren nodded at the rules, and as the teams were read out. ”No murder, no maiming, all good fun, got it.” He went with his team to his side, then turned to them to discuss strategy. Shooting a glance at Melita, the summoner bit his lip. ”Truce?” Although he wasn’t in any position to ask that of the redhead, he hoped she’d be willing to work with him for the duration of the game. His tone was hopeful.
Looking at Oia’i’o, the Launceleyn smiled. ”It’s totally up to you whether or not you participate or just observe, but I think you’d be excellent on defense. Hide yourself and the flag with your illusion magic and your demi-god magic, and if anyone grabs it, just freeze their hand.” His tone was encouraging, and his eyes were bright.
Turning back to Melita, he tilted his head. ”I can probably try and take their flag from long distance. I’ll trust you to know where your skills are best employed.” With that, he took a deep breath, then plunged deep into his magic and his soul. There was a new energy there, and he coaxed it out, hoping it was what he thought it was.
Three starlings flitted about his head. Using images more than words, he asked them politely to locate the red flag. If and when they returned, he’d summon three rabbits and send them bounding across the field to try and snatch the flag.
Several newcomers gave her pause, mainly Loren and Kiada, and only because of the bad blood between each. She offered a small, tight smile towards the Launcelyn out of mere courtesy, and the Harpy received a death glare. Oia’i’o was an unexpected delight that caused her to muffle her laughter, and at Jigano’s presence, she arched a brow as he maneuvered in between her and Kiada. But there’d be no prevention of their antics today – she could feel it in her bones, beneath the surface of her skin. One of her hands gripped her staff tighter, and others nearby could likely hear Fangorn’s resigned sigh.
But the youth listened to the rules too, mainly to see where she could angle her weapons, her munitions, and what the main goal was. The insinuation of no murder seemed oddly pinpointed, and she huffed under her breath, eyes glancing over to where the imaginary line supposedly started. Common sense? Play fair? Oliver hadn’t been around Melita or Kiada enough.
The teams were interesting, and with one last snarl drawn in Kiada’s direction, the girl turned towards Loren, who’d designated himself leader of their assembled. Her eyes flicked up towards him, half-tempted to be a battering ram and say no, but for the sake of beating the other team (and especially the Harpy), she accepted it with a begrudging intonation. “Truce.” His plan seemed practical, at least in theory, because who knew what would actually happen out there – and then the slightest of smirks wound their way along her mouth; a dignified nod indicating she understand where she’d be useful. Destruction.
So she lined herself along the perimeter, their boundaries, stalking, savage measures, staff in her grasp, bow and quiver at the ready.
Well that certainly made for an interesting team up, Jigano thought to himself as Oliver went over the rules. The flags had to be reachable... but Oliver hadn't specified how easy they had to be too reach, and the bard smiled a predator's grin as he looked to Kiada with a raised brow. So... we can hide the flag in a dragon's mouth, is what I'm hearing? he sent to his teammates along the Attuned bond, careful to exclude Loren from his range.
He kept his eyes on his friend as his grin faded a bit, tilting his head to the side as he glanced across the field to Melita. "Think you can get past her to their flag?" he asked, a challenge in his voice but worry in his eyes. "You're probably our best striker." He turned to smile encouragingly at Oliver. "No offense, but a tiny fox against a badger is no fair contest. What position do you want to take? Defense? Or do you want to match up against the young lady with the flag and try to sneak around while Kiada distracts Melita?" Because he had no illusions that, no matter what the initial plan was, those two would end up squaring off eventually. Better to just work it into the plan from the start.
12-27-2019, 05:45 PM (This post was last modified: 12-27-2019, 06:11 PM by Oia'i'o.)
If the goal is to keep the other team from taking your flag, you aren't sure why there are so many restrictions in place. Then again based on how upset Oliver was about a little mud the last time you met, you think perhaps that he is fairly risk-averse. Perhaps it makes sense that his game would be as well.
As Loren hands you the flag and Melita and Fangorn make as if to prepare for battle, you merely shrug and wander off a bit behind them towards a tree. Leaning against it you force yourself to be still (which for you is quite easy). Magic takes over, and quickly you begin to blend into your surroundings. Using your illusion magic you cast a magical net around yourself to further hide yourself and any outward signs of your presence from view.
sometimes i'm terrified of my heart; of its constant hunger for what it is it wants. the way it stops and starts.
tell the boy you love that you are too dangerous to keep
take scissors to the strings tying you to him
Jigano’s voice reaches her ears, and Kiada glances sideways at the bard with a rogue smirk crossing her face. Anywhere. And she winks, because it’s a new gift she’s been granted, able to speak like him and Deimos and Amalia can, without being in her shifted forms. A small smugness that she’s proud of, before she looks over to the other team – and she spots gilded eyes directly on her. For a moment, it feels like the Cloister – the way Melita’s fire arrow had harpooned right into her shoulder, smoldering and simmering. The scar almost hurts, though it’s likely a phantom pain, a reminiscing.
Perhaps the time for trying to repair old mistakes were over. She didn’t think Melita would ever give her the chance.
“Oh, I can distract her.” Kiada responds almost gravelly, rolling her neck slightly, feathers sprouting from her neck and along the top of her shoulders as she moves to stand a bit more aligned with where Melita stands herself – along the perimeter, ready, prepared, ready for a fight. Something Kiada absolutely will give her.
do not eat, do not sleep
perfection is not obtainable
by those who are weak
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
12-30-2019, 01:22 AM (This post was last modified: 12-30-2019, 01:27 AM by Oliver.)
OLIVER
The blonde knew nothing about the drama between some of the people present for the game, allowing him to live in bliss. Nobody seemed to have any questions so Oliver went to join his other two teammates off to the side. Hopefully, nobody would be using any magic or attuned gifts to eavesdrop in on their planning.
Jigano seemed to have similar thoughts, literally. Within his mind, he heard the Loreseeker speak, something he clearly wasn't used to as a shudder went down his spine. That's right, some attuned could talk in human form, rather than just in animal. It's too bad he couldn't, seeing as he now had to reply out loud. "I'm...not sure if...Shit....one sec." He realized that he could easily be overheard so he quickly shifted into his fox, something clearly tiny as hell. As long as you don't cross over the line, I say it works just fine. Otherwise, I'll trust you two to figure out where we should go. He spoke to the other two through the animal form.
I should be able to slip on through and snag the bag. I'm not exactly fit for defending the flag. I think I'll do a better job at sneaking than at defense. That seemed to be the plan and so, Oliver shifted back into his human form.
With Oliver trusting Kiada and Jigano to hide the flag, he stalked out where to best go in for a sneak attack. Somewhere that nobody could see. With a sigh, Oliver moved through the grass towards the center and shifted back to a human. Lifting his hand in the air, Oliver used his illusion to make a small fire and a loud snap that'd hopefully be heard. If not, his voice certainly would. "Ten minutes are up!" And with that, he quickly shifted down and ran through the grass, staying his body low to the ground. He remained on his color's side, but would soon make his way over to the other side, watching for tall grass that he could easily hide between.
Okay so I did a mess up but it's fine.
In your next reply: There are 5 minutes left to prepare! Finish up preparations for the game, your talking, and post your first actions of the game.
I will be rolling to see if you were successful in my next post.
I will add more to this if I forgot stuff. Again, sorry for my mistake. It's my first event like this so I'm learning <3
I JUST WANT MY EXISTENCE TO BE MORE THAN TREMBLING
Kiada was ready. Oliver had chosen his position. That left Jigano on flag defense and he pondered for a moment as he took the red scrap of fabric and jogged back along his team's side until he was out of sight of the Blue Team.
With a grin he set to work constructing a rough box shape from slabs of earth, using his magic to push it together. Within the box a red flower grew, a large silky petal just visible through the cracks in the construction. The bard hurried to grow a barrier of thorny vines around it in the shape of a loose cage, finishing it just as the time ran out. He shifted into his snake form, tucking the flag firmly between his coils as he settled in to wait in a patch of tall grass, pale body motionless as he watched with unblinking eyes to see who (or what) would come to take the bait.
Jigano constructs a false flag-safe with earth magic, something red and silky just barely visible within the loose earthen box (roughly the size of a microwave), which is in turn surrounded by a messy cage of thorned vines. He then takes the flag and tucks it into his coils, hidden from sight as he shifts to a snake form and curls up in a patch of tall grass to watch over the bait.
