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!
It all started with an idea. Ripe, and ready for picking, the fruits of creativity and innovation were in bloom when Libbs woke up this morning. Because the next part of this little sun ritual, was to create gifts and appease Safrin. Right? Right. And she thought a bit about it. While she couldn't figure out the Safrin bit yet, namely, because what precisely does one do to entertain a goddess? She thought about the things that she missed. And the gears started turning, slowly, but surely.
And if she missed these things, well, maybe someone else would as well?
So she wrote down her little list, just in case she forgot. It had ideas with haphazardly drawn lines and certain materials highlighted with a large, scribbly circle. It had some badly drawn schematics, blurred with fingerprint smudges, and something that looked like a mixture of English and.. Chinese? Either way, she was packed. She was ready to go. And good news? She didn't necessarily need to go far to get. She just.. had to get lucky.
And even then, worse case scenario? She got to see just an inch more of this puzzle that she fell into. One more stone unturned. And eventually, things would fall into place, slowly, but surely.
In that regard, Libbs was out foraging in the fields for material. Scrap. Pretty much anything that looked like it could be useful. Certain rocks. Certain pieces of wood. Really, anything that screamed inspiration. Though, arguably.. a frown would cover her face as she trudged against the dry, brittle grass, hearing the harsh crunch on her ears, making the air feel that much hotter. The ground was a lot more sandier then normal. And there was a sad nostalgia that settled in the mist of the earthy tones she was kicking up.
Something would break the nostalgia, Libbs would whip her moppy head up to the horizon, eyes blinded by the glare of the sun. She'd put one hand to her eyes to shield her gaze, squinting, and standing on the tips of her toes. What was that over there?
That over there was doing his best to make good on his assurances to Rexanna when he had arrived in the Hollowed Grounds. Having been there for a few nights, Neron had decided to explore the fields today, with the sun on his back and a warm breeze tousling his fair hair. So different to Halo, and yet it called back to times when he had been able to feel the warmth properly, when he had been a lazy, half-baked member of the Launceleyns, sleeping until noon and even then not feeling as though he needed to do anything of particular merit.
Not so any more.
The dry grasses around him would seem to shift and move, as though pushed by the wind, but a closer inspection revealed something altogether more interesting. It was ribbons of water that weaved between the swaying bands of green and yellow, nourishing and hydrating the earth, feeding the fields and, with any luck, preventing the wildfires most Grounders likely dreaded.
Neron was frowning in concentration, his hands moving imperceptibly as he created his fountains of dancing water, trying not to flood the cracked land with too much.
Libbs did indeed see someone standing in the distance. Huh. Perhaps he was lost? He was just standing there.. seemed a bit off. Also, the grass was moving weird, swaying a bit. Perhaps she was getting a bit too hot and needed to break herself. She wiped some sweat off of her brow, smacking her dry lips together. Well, perhaps she can hit two birds with one stone. She started to take one loud stomp in the grass after another, moving towards the man standing in the center.
As she grew closer, she suddenly stepped in a slosh! SCHLORP! Mud? Where? She lifted up her boot a bit confused, her head tilted as she got closer. The mud grew thinner, and in a moment, she realized that she was walking in what seemed to be a slight stream of running water as she grew closer. Huh! Maybe he found water, and that's why he was standing there.
After a few moments.. she announced herself with a chirpy greeting and a handwave. "Hey! Noticed you were standing here, did you see anything interesting? I can see there's water comin' from somewhere, but I don't know how.. or where! Neat huh?" She paused for a moment. "My name's Libbs."
Head snapping up at the sound of a voice, Neron had been entirely too occupied with what he was doing to have noticed the stranger's approach. Momentarily, the water streams around him seemed to flinch with his drop in concentration, before he quickly controlled them once more. A thin smile crossed his lips - how rare to meet a person quite so up front. "That would be me. I was watering the grasses for Queen Rexanna, that she might avoid any wildfires this season."
Slowly the water petered out, that he might focus more on the conversation suddenly at hand. "I am Neron. I hope I didn't get you too muddy."
"Queen Rexanna?" she tilted her head. "There are queens around here??" she looked at him incredulously. Because, yes, Libbs may have indeed been that dense. Or the conversations just haven't shown her the way yet. Or the most likely; she had probably forgotten. But it wasn't wholly bad.. yet. "And where did you get the water from?" Libbs raised an eyebrow at him. Having not witnessed him summoning the water, the naive woman believed that he had bought a watering can or something along those lines. But arguably, in the same vein, she was also questioning where said watering can was. Or how he would have managed to get so much water up here. That would have been heavy.
If Neron was studying her in that moment, he would have visibly seen the gears start to work in her head in that moment, as she went from a blissful, chirpy smile.. to a furrowed brow with a perceptive gaze, looking at the soil, and around him, and a slight blush covered her cheeks. She would blink, closing her eyes. "Wait.. this is one of those.. magic things again isn't it..?" she grinned, but it was more at a mocking manner at herself moreso then anything.
"And it's no worries! I.. uh, I'm used to it. Sometimes, you gotta get muddy in order to get stuff done, especially when you're workin' on hard stuff. And it can always get cleaned off. Sides! It'll help me find some of the stuff I'm looking for." she stated, kneeling down and sitting on the back of her legs, placing her arms in front of herself. "So, in a way, I gotta thank ya! You're helping these fields, and making my job a little easier. And I know it ain't much probably, but I'm really grateful!" she flashed at him.
Neron blinked at Libbs; suffice to say he was not used to these types of conversation and in such a casual way, but the Hollowed Grounds were practically a vacation to him, so his usually cold nature was somewhat less pronounced. "Where are you from?" he asked, already guessing her to be an Outlander - and it was interesting, to note that there were still people arriving even after everyone from Northaven had been dragged through to Caido. "There are indeed queens here, yes. I am visiting from Halo, and I promised I would keep the fields from drying out too badly during Longheat."
As for the water, he raised his hand as if to demonstrate that he had created it, but she already guessed as much. Neron shot her a quiet smile. "That would be correct," he said with a nod, before arching an eyebrow at the implication that the mud would help her. "What is it you are looking for?" he asked. "Something buried underground?"
"Yeah." Libbs nodded, acknowledging that indeed she was looking to the earth for material, looking down at the mud. Her eyes scoured the soil for a second, just like some of the folks at the settlement had taught her to do. Mind you, finding exactly what she was looking for was difficult, and usually a chore. But she was usually lucky enough to find.. something useful that the mechanic's hands could shape into something practical and helpful. "See, when the soil's wet like this, some rocks are a lot shinier, and maybe can even unearth stuff that got dropped.." she pushed her hand around the mud, plucking something from the mud, and giving it a nice shake.
"Like this!" she chirped, taking a rag and wiping it off to get a closer inspection. The stone was a dark grey, with specks of darker colors, oddly glassy and waxy, as if it was bendable. But as Libbs took out a small knife, she pointed the rock at the muddy puddle, and smacked the rock in several spots. After a few seemingly useless attempts, one strike produced sparks that landed flat in the wet mud.
"Arguably, there's not a lot of flint here." she frowned. "But, I was just gonna break it up anyways into itty-bitty pieces. See if I can make a lighter or somethin'." she nodded. She paused, remembering that he had asked a few questions. "I'm from.. I think it's called the Hollowed Grounds. Before I got here? Some place called.. San.. San.." She held the syllable. "Well, I don't remember. Not like it matters. You said you're from Halo right? A lot of the folks I met lately been from there. I was told it was cold.. very cold. Is that true?" she blinked at him.
Libbs looked to the earth and Neron followed her gaze, the Launceleyn tilting his head to watch as she plucked a piece of flint from the mud. Whilst you wouldn’t ordinarily catch him rooting around in the dirt for anything, he couldn’t deny that she was right. ”A lighter?” he echoed, finding the term unusual. ”For a flint box, you mean?” Really he ought to be used to it by now, the strange customs and odd places people were dropped from, but some things still surprised him.
As Libbs continued Neron got the further impression that she was fresh off the boat in the Hollowed Grounds, as they say, and he listened to her ramble on with a polite nod here and there to show he was listening. ”No, I suppose it doesn’t matter now. And yes, the people who speak of Halo speak true. It is very cold, even now in LongHeat. But it is beautiful, too.”
Glancing back to the flint she had dug up, he raised an eyebrow. ”So are you digging for anything specific?”
"No, I mean a lighter." She corrected, seemingly annoyed, before her eyes opened up. The tops of her cheeks tinted a bit, and she nervously chuckled, placing the cleaned piece of flint aside. "I.. am sorry. I forgot. Everyone's got bits and pieces of stuff and they're not always the same. I guess.. lighters don't exist here." she nodded. She looked back up at him, trying to hold a gaze in hopes that perhaps the next bit of information was going to make a little sense. Because she thought it made sense- but alas; the complexities of technology seemed to fall flat on a lot of the people around here. And while some of it still didn't make sense to her? Her limited knowledge seemed above what most people had to offer.
"So.. in my world, there is no magic. None whatsoever. And there was no dragons.. or gryphons, or Wicker Women. And so people made tools for, well, just about everything. Really useful ones. A lighter was one of them. In my world, they were very.. common. Some even collected them, like my brother, because they'd stylize them like some of those brooches and such I see on people around here sometimes." she explained.
"Anyways.." she hastened, becoming a bit self conscious of her own little escapade here. "A lighter is a little metal box, about yay big. Inside the metal box, is two balls of cotton, and a fluid. In my world, we used a thing called lighter fluid which was like alcohol? But lighter. Way lighter. But- there would be a metal 'wick' right here.. " she started at this point to demonstrate on the ground how the lighter work, using a stick to draw it out. The explanation would continue for a bit longer.. before it rounded off to a nice finish. "And thus, you'd get a fire! Any time you wanted, that couldn't be smudged by the wind due to the windshield on it. And you could refill it just by poppin' that off. And, of course, as long as you weren't a dummy with it, the lighter could last ya around 6 months or so without breaking."
"See, I was told that we had to make presents for the capturing the sun thing.." she paused. "I don't have many friends, but a lot of the folks who helped me get started live in- or are going to Halo. And if it's cold, I wanted to make sure they stayed warm. It's the least I could do. So I thought some lighters would go a long way. I still got some pieces to figure out, but that's the big plan. Namely just lookin' for the stuff on this list here." she tapped on the parchment she had tucked away in her belt.
"With all these folks heading out there, maybe I should head out there myself." she laughed.
Neron found himself listening out of politeness to what she said, the Warden picking out all of the important parts - like what a lighter was and why he would find it important - and he nodded in understanding. "So it would be the equivalent of possessing fire magic in one's hand, to use whenever one liked?" He tilted his head to the side, examining the sketch. "Unfortunately I don't have creation magic, but I think you will be able to find cotton or the equivalent, and a metal box. The wick and this fluid would be more difficult."
Raising an eyebrow and straightening back up, Neron was puzzled but flattered that she wished to go to Halo, and also to make gifts for the citizens there. "Perhaps I can help you collect some of those items," he suggested. "Alternatively, my brother does possess creation magic, so you could always ask."
"Yeah! Kinda like that. Though, not as flashy or big. Flame's only like this big.." she nodded, making a motion with her thumb and index finger. "Bigger flames requires a lot more, uh, work. Though, makin' a blowtorch could be cool.. " she mumbled to herself, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. A blowtorch did indeed seem like a good idea. A good way to make neat cuts into metal without smashing or bruising it? Problem would be.. well, figuring how to make one. She did remember pressure had a lot to do with it, but also something else..
Libbs looked up at him, flashing a geeky, dorky smile. "You don't have to if you're busy. I know you were doin' something important out here for the Queen. I was just saying 'hi'. It's good to see new faces." she chuckled sheepishly. "But if you insist, whether we find the stuff, or if your brother helps out, I'm grateful to get any help I can. You're welcome to tag along! But I'm not sure how I'm gonna pay ya back. Unless you need something fixed up or built. I'm still piecing stuff together up here.." she tapped her head. "But I can always see about fixing a thing or opening something up for ya! I may not remember much, but I'm good with a wrench."
Neron nodded as Libbs described the flame on the lighter, and though her description of a larger flame (and indeed, the term blowtorch) piqued his curiosity, based upon the previous explanation he decided against asking about it. Instead, he focused on the things he did understand. "Well, based upon the mud it seems as though I have been useful enough right now," he said, "so helping you with a few ingredients shouldn't be too difficult."
So saying, he stepped across to inspect her list in more detail. "Where shall we start? As for repayment, I'm sure I have something that needs opening or fixing. When you come to Halo, ask around for me and we'll see what happens. My full name is Neron Launceleyn."
There was a little bit of a spark that rose from Libb's face, straight to her chest. Her eyes glittered and her chest beamed, followed by a giddy smile. Libbs was never one to turn down the company of another person, as long as they seemed decent enough. And he seemed to be a good guy! The energy moved into her step as she popped back to her feet.
"Good deal! Though, gotta admit, you may be waitin' a while... I've no idea how I'm getting to Halo, or what I'm gonna do when I get there.." she commented, running a hand through her hair and shaking it back out of her face. "But I'll remember! Though if you're in the grounds, there's only one Libbs. So that's a plus!"
Libbs followed, pointing out some of the items on the list. "So, the most important things to get on this list is the flint, the cotton, something rubbery or sticky.." she paused. "And the metals here at the bottoms. These ones, are the most important.." she pointed down to the bottom of the list. It mentioned 'zinc', 'copper' and 'nickel OR tin'. "I'll admit, I dunno how I'm gettin' the last three. All I got is a rough description. I think I'm gonna end up trading for them. So I have to find some REALLY good to trade for ya know?" she shook her head.
"The rest on that list is just for other projects I'm workin' on.. we don't need to find those, unless you're curious 'bout what those are for."
"There is a portal," Neron advised, "in the Spire. That leads to and from Halo. It is free for use by anyone at the moment, but it is considered common courtesy to bring food or other items as a way of saying thanks to Halo's citizens. And dress warmly, or the cold will take your fingers." If only he were joking about that.
Gazing at the list, Neron rubbed at his chin with long fingers. "You already got some flint, is that correct? Cotton will be available from some of the farms here - I can water the crops in exchange for some. As for rubbery or sticky... tree sap is the only think I can really think of."
The metals confounded him as well - besides mining for them, trade was likely the best option, so he didn't contradict her on that point. As for her other projects, he gave a wry smile. "I think this one is quite enough excitement for now."
