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!
They managed to get past the Ursur cub without incident. However, Loren probably relaxed a little too soon, because everything fell apart as they tried to fly over it.
As he brushed against something sharp, Loren immediately shied away from it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t nearly fast enough to prevent the icicles from showering down all around them. His wings pumped powerfully as ice rained down upon them and a pit gaped below.
Avoiding the ice to the best of his ability, he tried to gain some altitude. He was hoping to get above the falling ice. Regardless of if he was successful or not, he would try to fly across the chasm to land on the other side.
Loren tries to dodge and get above the falling ice as he flies to the other side.
tell the boy you love that you are too dangerous to keep
take scissors to the strings tying you to him
They make it past it, and for a moment Kiada glances back to the cub as it cries out after them – a part of her recalling what Wessex had mentioned about what the people in Halo used them for. But alas, she doesn’t think the poor thing would last, especially with the heat of the Grounds now. Oh well, circle of life and all that.
It’s this distraction that when she looks back to following Loren, she watches as he brushes past an icicle and it all starts to crumble down around them. Shard after shard falling from above and Kiada can’t help but to utter a mental ’fuck’ as she too tries to swerve, knowing her wingspan is the largest by far in the narrowness of this, but she continues in the attempts of dodging and weaving through the falling spikes.
Kiada tries to swerve to avoid the ice and follows Loren!
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
Despite his worries, they sailed over the ursur cub easily, avoiding any threat the little beast might pose. Their luck did not last long. Rather, Loren’s luck did not last long, but in a place like this the bad affected everyone. Some small touch had set off a chain reaction of danger, icicles dropping all around them with a vengeance.
The motion of the falling ice confused his chiropteran senses, leaving Peter to find his way with his eyes alone. He immediately made a beeline for his much larger companions, hoping his small size (and the cover from the larger two) would carry him safely to the other side of the chasm.
Peter keeps under the other two and to avoid the ice and get to the other side.
It is Loren who gets hit the worst, a large icicle crashing, sharp and cold into the joint between one of his wings and knocking him against one of the cave walls. Kiada is unlucky but not quite so much, receiving glancing cuts from a few other falling spears. Peter, perhaps because he is beneath the other two, escapes unscathed from the encounter.
Up ahead the ground evens out, giving the trio an adequate place to land. Up ahead and around a blind corner, there's a noise like shuffling, like shambling... like a few somethings moving around.
At least they all made it across. That was about all that could be said about their crossing of the chasm: not only did Loren start the chain reaction to begin with, he also bore the brunt of it. As an icicle pierced his side, and sent him careening into a crash against one of the cave wall, he barely held back a honk of pain.
Somehow, he landed. Shifting back to human, he healed himself, then held out a hand for Kiada. Let me heal you. Whether or not she accepted, he would shift back into the form of a honey badger before the cold got too bad. Then he would pad cautiously forward, alert for any sign of what was making the sounds up ahead.
Loren heals himself and offers to heal Kiada, then shifts into a honey badger and continues on.
tell the boy you love that you are too dangerous to keep
take scissors to the strings tying you to him
Shit happens fast, it seems. She continues to try and evade, aware suddenly of Peter beneath her and Loren as they try to avoid the spears of ice falling around them. They are unsuccessful, as Loren gets hit hard enough to smash him against one of the walls, and Kiada continues on – embracing the scrapes and cuts that flit through feathers. But her and Peter make it, and she lands too. Shifting into her caracal form, she pads over to Loren at his comment, taking the healing to fix the scrapes.
Then, her blue gaze drifts toward Peter in curiosity, allowing him to cling to her should he wish to, and continues forward on as soft of paws as she can manage, tufted ears alert for anything that could come their way.
Kiada lets Loren heal her, lets Peter cling to her if he wants to, and follows Loren in caracal form.
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
Peter is lucky to make it through the aerial maze of danger, but bright worry thrums in him at the injury Loren has received. He doesn’t bother trying to stifle it either, especially not once they’re back on solid ground, and he can move closer to the bird turned man turned badger. His worry abated as Loren doled out healing, for himself and the few scrapes kiada sustains.
For the first time since they began this journey, Peter shifts out of his bat skin and into his hyena skin, thinking the predator will be more useful in the face of whatever was waiting up ahead. He did nod a silent thanks to Kiada, her offer appreciated. He is probably the loudest of the three of them like this, but the extra protection should be worth it as they move towards whatever is making those sounds.
Peter worried over Loren and shifted into a hyena to preparation for whatever they’re Approaching
Is it an illusion, perhaps? An auditory nothingness? You don't know. But as you head around the corner the shambling and shuffling seems always to be just a little ways in front, a few dancing shadows out of the corner of your eye. The pathway twists and turns, getting lower, deeper.
The cold is biting and infinite in this moment, the darkness absolute. Until... it isn't.
Suddenly the world opens out into a large - almost impossibly large - cavern. Most walls are sheer, solid ice, pulsing with veins of light and casting a ghoulish and eerie glow upon the scene. One, however - the far one...
That is made of something else entirely.
But before we get to that, there are other things to deal with. Half a dozen other, hooded things, humanoid but shrouded in cloaks. They are kneeling before the wall. It looks like they are praying.
The group has found a WALL OF MAGEGLASS - this PQ is considered complete in this regard.
What the group decides determines the outcome of this situation. Do they leave with their information? Or do they disturb the strange gathering...?
Give a closing post stating your character's decision.
01-17-2020, 08:14 PM (This post was last modified: 01-17-2020, 08:14 PM by Loren.)
half across the world from me
lie the lands I’ll never see-
They walked through the tunnels for an indeterminate time. Loren tried not to snarl as the sounds continued. Instead, he did his best to pad on in silence, and ignore the growing cold.
Then they stumbled upon something weird and wondrous all at once.
The tunnel opened up to a cavern. The far wall was made out of something he’d never seen before. However, there were also...things? people? cloaked figures that looked as if they were praying to the substance. Making himself as small and still as possible, the summoner watched them warily. Up to you two. They might be friendly, but I doubt it. If it comes to a fight, we don't know what we're facing and they outnumber us. I'd say turn back, and return with a larger group if we decide it's worth it, but I'll go with whatever you two think is best.
Loren votes to turn back, but will go with the majority.
tell the boy you love that you are too dangerous to keep
take scissors to the strings tying you to him
They make quite the trio, she thinks. A badger, a caracal, and a hyena as they walk through the tunnels further and further. She only stops when Loren does, as soon as the cavern is in sight and her gaze flits immediately to the people there – praying in some sort of ritual it almost looks like. The thought puts her a bit on edge, reminds her of LongNight, of being woefully unprepared for taking on this adventure with the rest of them.
She shrinks when Loren does, hiding back around the corner to look at the badger when he speaks, and she could almost sigh in relief. But she remains as silent as she can, a small nod given to Loren. At least we know where it is now… Back up may be necessary. But I think we should leave and come back better prepared. She agrees, turning to look at Peter, to see what he wishes to do. She wants to leave regardless, finds it a bad plan, and the anxieties of the recent LongNight unfortunately wash over her end of the attuned bond connecting them all.
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
It is actually much warmer in his larger form, and easier to keep up with the group. Easier to see as well, strange as that seems. Peter does his best to keep silent as they move through the maze like tunnels, ears swivelling to try and pin down the source of the sounds. And shadows.
The deeper they went, the more on edge Peter grows. And that anxiety only blooms when the tunnels open up, revealing both what they have come for, and a group of people knelt before it. How are they... not freezing? It’s the first question that comes to him, while the others are thinking strategy. His mind refocuses when he’s asked his opinion though, and he thinks for a moment. The only advantage we have is surprise. I don’t... think it’s enough. It’s not like they can move it.
Based upon the conversation between members of the group, the decision is made not to disturb the praying figures or the wall of mageglass.
This concludes the PQ+ - unfortunately there is no reward in this instance other than the information you have obtained regarding the location of the mageglass.
Loren sent a pulse of agreement and understanding towards the other two. Then he turned to carefully and silently try and lead them back through the caves. Hopefully, now that they knew the directions and they’d cleared most of the obstacles, they could make it out without incident.
If they got back across the chasm, he'd pause by the Ursur cub, trying to encourage it to follow them out of the complex. However, he wouldn't get too close, and he wouldn't spend too long, since he had no idea how to effectively communicate with it.
Whatever the result with the cub, he'd move on, leading the group hopefully out of the tunnels and into the snow. Thank you both. With that, he turned to Peter. I'm headed towards the Citadel. Are you going that way as well? If the other man was, the summoner would accompany the adopted Launceleyn in that direction, either by foot or by flight.
tell the boy you love that you are too dangerous to keep
take scissors to the strings tying you to him
There’s a slight bob of her feline head toward Peter, and a pulse of agreement sent through her side of the bond, she glances back at the gathering before they depart and she follows closely behind Loren. At least now they know it’s not a myth at the end of the day, know that it’s not something to pretend doesn’t exist. But there’d been no dragon around it like she’d learned about the possibility of with Wessex. And for that, a part of her is almost sad. She’d wanted to stumble across a great sleeping dragon, clutching the mage glass in its claws.
Regardless, she ignores the ursur cub once more if they get through there, and when Loren speaks and theyre hopefully outside of the tunnels, she gives him a quiet pulse of a feeling of a smile. I’m heading back to the grounds. Let me know if you need my help again. She offers quietly, slinking back her way out.
(FIN for Kiada!)
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
