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!
The second he'd realised he had wings in his bird form, Adam had looked towards the Spire with a slightly manic glint in his eyes. It was tall. What did everyone want to do with tall things? Jump off them.
Obviously this was a common desire and not just a vaguely suicidal, fueled-by-alcohol-and-too-many-adventure-stories dream of Adam's. In fact, he was so sure that this was a thing that everyone had to have thought at least once he wrote his very first words outside of his classes just to advertise it.
In the markets, a poster written in a scrawling, awkward handwriting said:
LETS GO JUMP OF THE SPIIR THEN FLY ABOT
BIRD ORE FLYING ATTUNUD ONLY
MEET ADAM AT DAWN AT THE SPIIR
LETS GO WILD
He was sure he hadn't spelt everything right, but he felt it sounded like exciting enough to attract the daredevils of the town. At dawn he headed to the base of the Spire, ready to run up it as quickly as possible to get to the good bit - he'd wait a while for any company, but he was going to do it regardless.
-
Open to anyone that can fly
Lets go do this dumb thing lol
He’d been back and forth through the market at various points in the day, carrying and collecting things for the barracks, the Artisan’s Guild, or any other method, means, or measures he found himself within. The season had kept him busy, with little diversions in between, save for Fiat Lux, and as he took up his savage stroll and stride through the area once more, he caught a poster, scrawled, unfamiliar handwriting catching his eye. Curiosity compelled, investigations seethed, and he maneuvered forward; no judgment lined in the crux of the message; clear in its bulletin and memo. He wasn’t even remotely surprised it’d been concocted by Adam: launching off the Spire seemed right up his alley – though the Sword hadn’t realized the ridiculous man had managed to acquire attuned capabilities.
A vengeful coil wound its way through his mind a moment thereafter, a bit wicked, a bit malicious, a bit of vengeance for LongNight shenanigans.
So he wandered towards the Spire at the designated time, an inward snort billowing through his lungs when he saw he was the only one there, besides the organizing party. He’d never actually launched off the Spire – he’d nearly died within it, he’d helped malign it, he’d helped repair it, and he’d flown about outside it – but hadn’t otherwise clambered to the notion of spiraling from its sanction. Perhaps that was tempting too, to have some measure of power over its orbiting force. The beast extended a nod towards Adam, as if that summed up all of his intentions, and then waited for others to arrive.
She hasn’t quite expected to see Deimos here, if she’s being honest with herself. And the closer she gets to the Spire, the more she wonders who else might show. She knows that Adam and Amalia are friends, good friends at that. But she hasn’t seen the man in quite some time, let alone talked to him at all since their time spent together in the Pit of the Fae. But an opportunity to jump from the height of the Spire, down to meet the ground is something that intrigues her.
There’s almost a confident feeling that pulses from Kiada as she makes her way down, wings flaring as she circles briefly before reaching the ground and shifting into herself – nodding toward Deimos – but her attention is drawn back to Adam with a brilliant rogue smirk. “So, can you fly now? Or are we just going to watch you splat yourself along the ground while we fly up above?” She teases. She doesn’t think that he’d ask for an audience for such a thing.
KIADA
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
Adam was expecting a little more of crowd than two people, in all honestly. He'd imagined at least enough attendants that he could do some aerial stunts and air-patterns with them. Still, as Deimos arrived he laughed with glee, surprised and delighted at the arrival of Amalia's lover. "Hey! I didn't think this was your kinda thing. Got a bit of a daredevil in you, huh?" He teased.
Kiada was their second - he had not seen the woman often since their experience together in the pit. At her question he laughed and shook his head: "No, I'm not gonna kill myself. Not yet, anyway. I'd want a much bigger audience for that."
It seemed for the moment no one else was coming (disappointing) so he shifted to his blackbird form, jumping a little before he did as if getting a head start on the flight. Okay then, c'mon. May as well fly up it - it'll take ages to go up all the stairs. Figuring they could catch up he began to flap his wings and ascend up the height of the Spire, circling around it to catch the odd air current that would help.
Kiada’s appearance and notion of Adam splatting into pieces and portions on the ground was a refreshing, amusing image (half of his intentions for being here had been the potential of the latter). He was only mildly disappointed when the man mentioned it hadn’t been in his planning for the day – didn’t showcase any of it, save for maybe a sullen, nearly inaudible sigh. Perhaps they would have better luck in some other moment.
He narrowed his eyes at the gleeful, somewhat delighted laughter spiraling towards him, presuming there was some mocking accord fixtured in there somewhere. Truth be told, Adam didn’t know him at all – and Deimos had calculated and measured that purposefully, as he did with so many others that occasionally irritated him. Though, perhaps he wasn’t a daredevil, but someone who machinated and devised, who schemed and plotted, who streamlined motions of bestial accord when necessary. In Helovia, it’d always been obligatory, required, for him to throw himself into frays and battles, into invasions and wars, scarred and bloodied and torn apart for the sake of his kingdom. Here? Here was entirely different, and some chances to break free.
Other than a shrug, he gave no response, complete nonchalance, reticence, and reserve, eyes flickering to the top of the Spire, and back down again.
Then Adam shifted, blackbird feathers and emblems, and Deimos followed suit, tawny, gilded plumage unfurling, reaching for the skies, for the daunting heights, for the tower and damned threshold that had held them in its grasp far too many times and for far too long. Maybe he wanted to best it. Maybe he wanted to beat it. Maybe he wanted to burn it all down. Eventually, swift and sure, he rounded along the minaret once, before descending, landing, upon the summit.
His laugh is welcome, and her sharp grin is given back to him at his comment. “Fair enough.” She replies simply, snorting before shaking her head and glancing to Deimos with amusement and surprise to find him here too. But soon enough, Adam shifts to a rather small bird in comparison to her wingspan, and she snorts before shifting to her own winged flesh. Her avian form larger than even Deimos’, as she spreads her large wings and takes to the sky. Let’s get to it, then. She announces to Adam and Deimos, following behind them as she spirals around the obelisk, swerving on the winds until she lands upon the top and peers from the side.
Her scarlet gaze drifts toward Adam then, amusement lingering in the bond between them all as she folds her wings along her back and settles in against the wind that’s picked up at the top of the Spire. Whenever you’re ready. She announces, stepping a small amount closer to the edge but waiting for him to start – to see how well he holds up against the winds.
KIADA
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
Adam did notice, basically immediately, that both Kiada and Deimos made for much larger birds than he did; of course though, he didn't care. It wasn't the size that counted. It was mere coincidence that after learning this fact he sped up his ascent of the Spire significantly, as if trying to get this part over with.
At the summit he transformed back to his human self. After all, what was the joy in the drop if he had wings already? It was all about the last minute transformation, about saving himself in the last minutes before the ground rushed up to meet him. Shuffling forward, looking down to make sure his toes just touched the edge, Adam's stomach lurched as he saw how far down there was to go; not that he was scared.
"Right, who first? I think we should go one at a time so we can watch each other." He said, hoping he might get to see someone else do it successfully before he did.
Deimos remained as he was; eagle, conformed to his tawny, sienna feathers, piercing eyes shifting towards the horizon, taking in the sights, the sounds, from different angles, from the tower’s reaches instead of drifting amongst the sky, the clouds, or the stars. In his human form he might’ve arched a brow at Adam’s antics, but he was hardly surprised. It seemed fitting for the fool to want to leap as a human, taking his chances at the bottom, rampaging to a certain death until the last moment.
The Reaper had already died once, and was in no rush to do it again.
So his talons clicked against the walls and stones, the lining of minarets and spire’s, extending his wings, an obvious voluntarily means – head high and proud and noble, before launching, plummeting, and descending.
(If he happened to catch Adam on the back of his head with one of his wings, so be it.)
It was an entanglement of everything he’d done before: Safrin dropping him from constellations, snapping through boughs and branches while Kiada pursued him during the blight, hurtling himself down and down and down with a zealous rush, a tremendous force and speed. In other figures it would’ve been maddening, and in this one strangely comforting, an extension of the audacity and boldness still there, beneath too many other experiences, trials, and tribulations. Careening, swift, fast, and sure, no uncertainty in the way the breeze threaded through his feathers, in the way the wind whipped at his senses. The world was tilted and flew by, until it was just him and the sky, the whirls of blue, the contortions of liberation, of freedom, of deliverance he’d once asked the celestial beings for. Inward strength and conviction, amongst plights of would-be terror and distortion – and within a breath, before the ground whipped and stole, he circled, slowed, and touched down upon the ground, waiting for the others.
Of course he’d want to do this in his human form. Deimos doesn’t shift, but Kiada has a bit more of a dare devil in her than she originally anticipated, and so when she shifts to her person she feels her boot scuffing against the edge, hair whipping about her face as she looks to Adam with a dark raised brow. “I mean…” But she’s cut off when Deimos takes to the air in his eagle form, slipping past them to head down. She doesn’t see if he hits Adam or not, but there’s a part of her that does pause – a smirk along her face.
She steps away from the edge, hoping that perhaps Deimos hadn’t quite gotten Adam fully unsettled by the edge and flinging him off, and she aims to get a running start – and at the last second she hopes (of course provided Adam isn’t already falling off the Spire) to grab him with her arms and ensure the snare works – taking him with her through the cloudy peaks, the wind that whips from this high of an altitude – a spiral, spinning dance of death as she feels the air get pulled from her lungs in her adrenaline.
And before the ground is fully in sight, she shifts to her vulture form – wings flaring out to bank her upward and away, away from the ground to slow her edge, to slow her roll until she comes up behind Deimos and lands.
KIADA
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
Adam flinched as Deimos took off without any warning, the Eagle's feather brushing through his hair - he watched the majestic bird fly out and down, wondering why it was Deimos got to have such a cool, powerful bird. Still, determined to not look like a wimp, he took a deep breath, calming himself before he took the step off the ledge...
Then there were a pair of arms encircling him and Adam was making a noise not unlike a strangled bird, yet he was still in his human form. The whistle of wind rushing by and the sudden lack of any ground beneath his feet took him some time to get over - time was not a thing he had a massive amount of. Kiada turned to a vulture and flew up, wings catching the current; Adam shifted just as the ground as becoming dangerously close, arching up into the air and following his companions.
Wooo! What a rush!He flew and perched next to his two fellow birds, noticing keenly how much smaller he was.Deimos, kinda wimpy not doing it with the transformation mid-air, though. As much as he tried to hide it, both Kiada and Deimos would be able to feel the residual terror of his unexpected launch behind his words.
Having gone first, he didn’t notice Kiada’s actions until he was already on the ground, staring, watching, waiting – not even bothering to hold back the sudden onslaught of amusement reverberating through the attuned bonds. He hadn’t bothered with that particular reign of terror – Safrin had supplied that once already – indifferent and not bothering to react about being called a wimp (first time for everything, he supposed).
Because he hadn’t been afraid of drifting into the wind, about plummeting into the earth, not when he’d known his own abilities, capabilities, thundering through his veins, not when a fresh round of horror seemed to bleed through their senses – his piercing eyes coiling back to Adam. He nearly asked if it was worth it; but knowing Adam, the adrenaline rush would’ve echoed far beyond the means of dread and fear. Instead, on a dare, on a goading, on a provocation, he simply amounted amidst their tones and tunes. Again? Somewhere different? The same? Did Adam want it under his own power and choice? Or had it been enough?
A bark of laughter leaves her breathless as she latches onto Adam and they begin to plummet down below. For a moment she wonders, as she swoops up, if he’s going to shift back in time or if he really was going to meet the ground in a sickening splat. But his form is far smaller, better managed for swooping up at the last second while the weight of her own would cause her to crash and burn regardless. And with it, she circles to land again, scarlet gaze drifting over to the black bird as she huddles behind Deimos and her side of the bond is filled with nothing short of amusement and shining, bubbling laughter.
He’s had practice. She teases Adam at first while Deimos says nothing on it – asking if they were to go again. She gives an avian bob of her head and takes off, her mighty wings flapping in the air as she gets a slight head start. Race you all to the top! Part of her is surprisingly filled with a lot of glee and entertainment from his, a surprising shift of what she had expected upon arriving here today.
Perhaps she’s a dare devil.
KIADA
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
Feeling Deimos' great laughter echoing through their bond only added to Adam's frustration, his mouth tightening up into a scrunched up line tilted to one side. This was not working out how he had planned for it to, where he looked capable and cool and had both of them impressed with his shifting skills.
He suspected someone would suggest they went again - fighting down a rather nauseous reaction, he nodded and shifted back, flapping his way back up the Spire, perhaps with less enthusiasm this time. Kiada would win the race for sure, but he hoped that might mean she'd be off the top before he even got there and unable to get into position to push him off.
I think I'll try do it with a running start. He declared once he got to the top, going as far back as he could then taking a deep breath and dropping to his feet, beginning to run quickly towards the edge. Back on the horse.
Dares and provocations, some deep-rooted pinnacle of how he lived his life, of how the world scalded him out of his reserve and nonchalance: to give him challenges, to grant him instigation. His wings were pistons and his strength was in his their grasping lines and plumes as he ascended once more, not as swift as the downward spiral, but still keen, still brutal, still every inch a barbaric predator, feasting on the skies, on the wind, on the merciless eaves, instead of prey. Maybe the world was his quarry and he simply hadn’t feasted enough. Maybe the world would pummel him into pieces again, and he’d be as worthless as scattered bones.
Kiada won but he didn’t care; noble crown shifting in a perceptible nod towards her victory as talons clutched over the Spire’s refrain once more. A circle of triumph and ruin, portals and poison, Vi’s roses and the beating, bleeding ways of their errors. Too many meanings in one building. Too many notions along one threshold.
His eyes watched as Adam managed a running start this time, and the eagle followed, extending his feathers again, a descending, circular rotation, everything rushing, rushing, rushing, and they were impervious heathens, powerful and potent; a stretch of pride tipping the scales of his attuned bond.
