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!
You notice little of falling boulders that may or may not have crushed you were it not for the bard forced to trail in your wake, nor do you hear Oliver's outrage. It has been years since you've seen a sprite (or maybe it hasn't, your memories are not all there after all); to say that you're excited is an understatement. "It's powerful." You note without concern as it easily moves beneath magic that should have rendered a creature its size frozen in time.
Whether of his own free will or caught in the current of your thoughts, Meraki spreads his own wings and flits out of your hair, rushing after the sprite.
"Is there a reliable method of knowing whether or not this creature means to help us or answer questions honestly?" You ask Kai, knowing that sprites can be fickle sorts of creatures. "Maybe if we make it an offering. Do we have anything?"
because when you stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing
You're much more interested in the sprite than the others, but you suppose you ought to pay them some attention because Oia isn't going to. She's good at priorities when it comes to what's actually, objectively important, but you're better at managing subjective things and interpersonal interactions than her.
To that end, you pause long enough to look back on Jigano and Oliver and make sure they're still behind you - but they don't seem to have much to say, so obligation over. As Meraki takes off after the sprite you bite your lip thoughtfully, tilting your head in thought. "We could offer it a favor, or a story. Sprites like stories, I think. Sprite!"
Raising your voice, you call out toward the flying creature, making to follow Meraki. "Can we trade you a story for information about this place? Or a favor?"
Kai follows Meraki and offers the sprite a favor or story for information
”A… what?” Jigano glanced at Oliver just long enough to show how bizarre he found the young man’s assumption to be, and having no idea how the boy had jumped to it. Oia had called it a ‘sprite’, though Jigano would have used the term ‘elemental.’ They were both right enough to understand each other – more or less – but Oliver’s declaration only served to add confusion. ”Try and stop them, if you can.” He could only shrug – though the gesture was probably lost beneath his layers. Then he was too busy to do anything else as he felt the mountainside begin to tumble down on top of them and turned his attention to his magic.
With the way behind blocked and the place he was currently standing in jeopardy, he gritted his teeth and jerked his chin motioning Oliver to move. ”Doesn’t matter now, we can’t go back and I can’t hold this forever. Let’s hurry and catch up!”
As soon as Oliver was past the bard would follow, holding the path as stable as he could with his Earth Magic and hurrying after the demigod pair. ”Do you know what sprites eat, or would find a treat?” he called ahead to Kai, catching up and hearing the tail end of his suggestions.
Jigano keeps the path stable for him and Oliver to pass, then tries to catch up with Kai and Oia, following after the sprite and asking if the twins know about what sprites eat or like.
Of course Jigano had no idea what he was saying. They shouldn't be trusting this figure. It was leading them to their dooms and unfortunately, there was no way back. It seemed to be a blessing that Jigano had come along as he was able to prevent Oliver from being crushed by an avalanche of rocks. Sprinting on ahead, Oliver managed to catch up with Oia and Kai just enough to hear a small bit of the tail end of their conversation. Some of it, he could agree with, such as telling whatever the fuck this was a story...but a favor?! Hell no! He didn't agree to that.
Jigano offered food, which seemed logical in a way. It was better than selling yourself to a weird siren spirit nature thing. Once he had caught up, Oliver had to hold back a glare. 'Next time, please wait before running ahead...please." Never again would he work with these two twins. He had put too much trust in them and all he could do was hope that they weren't willingly leading him to his doom. "We should offer materialistic things or stories....be wary about the services you offer. Listen to everything." This sounded like the story where you offer to carry a rock but it ends up being a rock that is impossible to move, thus trapping you forever.
But unfortunately, that was too late as Kai was already flying after it. Fucking. Great. People called him inexperienced but let these two people just throw themselves, and others, into danger? "What do we do?" Kai was already splitting up the group seeing as Oia was still here.
Oliver just scolds the half of the twins basically because he has no idea what to do with his magic!
01-27-2020, 05:53 PM (This post was last modified: 01-27-2020, 06:04 PM by Odd.)
RANDOM EVENT
Ahead, Meraki and the Sprite will come upon the camp of a giant. It has its back to you and is currently eating a deer whole, having roasted it over the fire.
Your random initiative order is: Oia, Kai, Jigano, Oliver. Include post-summaries at the bottom of your post and list any relevant magics or items used in your posts. You have 48 hours to reply.
You agree with Kai's suggestions, halting as Oliver and Jigano catch up. Turning, you regard your so-called-leader with a skeptical gaze. "Why do you keep suggesting wariness." You want to know. "You didn't even know what it was." You point out, wondering why you'd trust this man's opinion when he hadn't even correctly identified the species.
You might say more to argue, but suddenly your head cocks slightly to the side as Meraki buzzes in your mind. Too young for any artful forms of communication, he merely pulses the images before him. "Meraki and the sprite found a giant ahead." You inform the group casually.
"I can cloak Kai and I in illusion magic to get around it. It probably won't bother with 物の哀れ. What about you two?" You say all of this as if trudging forward is exactly what you're going to do, and it's simply a matter of how.
Rather than, you know, debating going back instead of into near-certain death.
Oia informs the group of the giant and says she and Kai can probably slip through using her illusion magic.
because when you stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing
You stop before Meraki and the sprite round the corner, thus missing seeing (and being seen by) the giant, turning back to where Oliver is grumbling over your offerings to the sprite. Which seems a bit uncalled for - you made the offer, after all, not him, and personally you're very interested to know what it is a sprite would want. Sharing Oia's skeptical look, you tilt your head, furrowing your brows.
But then you learn about the giant, and are thoroughly, appropriately, distracted. Looking eagerly at Meraki, you press the spriggan with questions. "A frost giant? What was it doin'? Did the sprite lead you to it? Did it talk at all?" Oia's suggestion earns a nod, your head spinning with ideas and thoughts. "Or I could try'n make it a little more sentient an' talk to it- but giants can be a little bit aggressive. I could animate somethin' to try an' distract it, though, if we could find a plant..."
You look to Oliver, though the action is more a gesture than any true deferral to his opinion. Which, so far, he hasn't had much of one.
Kaimana suggests they either try to talk to the giant (lol), or he can animate a plant to distract it while they sneak by
Jigano blinked at Oliver, bemused at his bossiness and feeling an uncomfortable prickle of understanding that this was why Amalia was so upset with him these days. It was like looking in a much shorter, younger mirror, and he didn't like it one bit.
Well. That would give him something to contemplate later, when the world was less full of sprites and giants and killing cold.
There was no point in going back with the rocks blocking the trail. His earth magic might be able to move them, but there was no guarantee the giant wouldn't come down to investigate and find them there before he could clear an exit. Besides, he had been cautious in the mine, when he had others to look out for. Oliver was their leader and Kai and Oia were willing to bravely dash ahead (perhaps not wisely, but sometimes there was something to be said for confident forward progress) and Jigano wouldn't be the one to hold them back. Not with a sprite leading them, at least! Sprites often meant something interesting, especially if you could befriend one in the bard's experience, so he nodded at the twins's suggestion of illusion magic. "If one of you could carry the rope beneath the illusion in case we need it later, I can leave my pack here and try to sneak past him in an animal form," Jigano suggested. This was where having white fur really came in handy, and either his fox or his raven form would be a good choice; both small enough to be stealthy, and also small enough to hopefully be uninteresting to a giant with a deer carcass to sate its hunger.
"I think I'd rather follow the sprite for now than try to talk to the giant," he said to Kaimana's suggestion. "If it's territorial it might attack first without waiting to ask questions, much less answer them."
Jigano thinks that he can sneak by in an animal form, but asks Kai and/or Oia to take the rope in case they need it later.
01-29-2020, 02:29 AM (This post was last modified: 01-29-2020, 02:40 AM by Oliver.)
OLIVER
The blonde restrains back an eyeroll. "I suggest we be wary because I don't want to get you two killed. I don't want you two to be ultra trusting of everything, just like how you immediately assumed that following something is automatically safe." She could've fallen into a trap, easily. Of course, it was hard to explain this to someone that he knew was incredibly stubborn. Taking in a deep breath, Oliver tried to calm himself down. "lets just....try to talk things over next time, please? If you are in danger, please act and do what your instincts tell you, but next time don't abandon the rest of your group." That's probably why Oliver was so annoyed, that the two twins basically ditched him and Jigano without giving them a single thought. It's as though they forgot they were with two other people.
Then things got even worse and Oliver had a brand new reason to almost hyperventilate. A....Giant? Like. A giant human being? Like, Jack and the Beanstalk Giant? The idea of giving the creature sentience both sounded good and bad. Good as in they could tell hopefully what was on the giant's mind, bad and the giant might become too aware and decide to brutally murder them all. Great. "In this case, like Jigano said, I think...it would be best if we split up. I don't like the idea and I'd prefer if we had one attuned with each person, that way Jigano and I can continue to communicate...but if Oia and Kai work best together, then it may be better for them to stay together as well." Gods...just when he didn't want to split up, they basically had to. He didn't like the idea of it, but he wasn't a fan of this whole Giant thing.
"I think I'm going to go with Jigano...but Kai, please be careful." Oliver's full attention was turned towards his companion. Kai and Oia were powerful, absolutely, but he also didn't want them to get hurt. "I'd be cautious about speaking to the giant...if you can find an illusion, try to make it away from us and you guys. I really, really don't want you two to get hurt." Turning to face Jigano once more, Oliver was more than ready to shift into a fox before a look of worry appeared on his face.
"Fuck....can I even survive in my animal shift? I don't think my fox has thick enough fur...shit." Pacing around a small bit, the snow crunched underneath his feet. Could he create a tiny coat for his fox shift? It'd look dorky...and it'd be hard to move in...but would it work? Oliver was half tempted to create it before an idea came to mind. Surely, surely he didn't have another animal shift....right? He did feel a little bit funky....
Focusing a bit, he shifted down into a feline creature. It was substaintially larger than his fox shift, but clearly smaller than many of the other cats that existed in Caido. Turning to look up at Jigano his tail swished. Guess this is a thing now... you ready to try and sneak around?
Oliver has decided to join Jigano with going around the giant! he turns into a clouded leopard in order to do so.
He also instructs Oia and Kai to be careful when going around the monster, but they absolutely should. Also, he thinks they should attempt to distract it, but make sure it isn't towards him or Jigano.
Oia'i'o 's illusion is incredibly complex and detailed. An image of a frost giant appears. Sadly Oia hasn't encountered one of these creatures ever and has only read about them. For those of us familiar with certain thought experiments, reading about things doesn't give an accurate representation of the world in situations such as this. The creature grunts loudly holding a club. Because Oia knows they are predatory creature, she makes this one appropriately hostile.
It has the desired effect of distracting the real giant but instantly sets it on high alert. Luckily, giants are not that smart and Oia'i'o and Kaimana make it 1/4 of the way across with ease as the giants 'converse' in a series of growls and grunts.
Jigano is quite used to his fox shift by now. His colour combined with his gracefulness carries him almost soundlessly ontop of the snow. Should he advance, he too will make it 1/4 of the way across without being seen.
Oliver though is new to being a large cat. The balance isn't quite there, nor is he graceful to begin with. He sinks instantly into the snow and as he scrambles to find his balance, the noise of this attracts the attention of the giant. It leaves its place (roughly half-way across, if we're measuring) and begins to lumber towards the spotted feline.
Your random initiative order is: Oia, Kai, Jigano, Oliver. Include post-summaries at the bottom of your post and list any relevant magics or items used in your posts. You have 48 hours to reply.
"You know we grew up here right?" You ask Oliver, uncharacteristic sass warbling your words. "Why is it you think you know more than us? You haven't even been here a year yet. We've lived in this world our whole lives. Our creator is Rae." You think, as far as defense goes, that's fairly case-closed. To Oliver's latter point, you merely shrug. "Maybe you should run more then."
Listening further, you glance towards Kai. "I think something is wrong with him." You look towards Oliver. "Jigano didn't say we should split up." Suddenly, the thing you're wary of is Oliver. Yes he doesn't want you to get hurt, but it's completely impeeding your ability to do research. And while you don't know about anyone else, that's absolutely the only reason you're here. "If I get hurt or die, Rae will send some else in my place to carry on my work and my body will aid in the fertilization of the soul. My hair might make a nest for a bird." You smile at the thought. Pain and death don't phase you. They are natural after all and you are as far from a hedonist as one could be: life for you isn't simply about avoiding pain.
Things happen between the two pale-haired men, but you and Kai are already off. The creation of the giant is fascinating for you as you worry into the crevices of your mind for everything you recall of them to make your illusion as realistic as possible. This of course means that it's as hostile as the other giant.
As Oliver falls through the snow, you direct your giant to try and rally for control of the situation. Banging on its chest, yours waves a club about and stomps forward, trying to demand domain over the snow-cat which is soon to become someone's meal. You're loathe to increase its size, but you do so anyways if only to secure the safety of the group.
Oia makes her giant try and be intimidating to make the other giant back off, as if it's going to eat oliver for a snack.
because when you stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing
Oliver's arguments make absolutely no sense and Oia's arguments make a great deal of sense, so you nod along with your sister, not interrupting for fear you'll only undermine the validity of her points. When it comes to being concise and accurate, Oia is much better than you.
Also everything she's saying is correct, so why would you need to add to it?
You follow Oia in creeping past the giant, moving quietly through the snow with practiced steps. Jigano and Oliver are doing their own thing - you hadn't known Oliver was Attuned, and file this information away for later. Right now, though, the attuned is in some trouble, because even though he's a cat he seems terribly ungraceful (just like in real life, you note) and is definitely getting the giant's attention.
So you keep an eye on it as you creep along, ready to pull the giant's arm back should it attempt to attack poor Oliver.
Kai continues on with Oia. He has his animation magic ready to make the giant's arm move away if it tries to attack Oliver.
He wasn't sure why Oliver thought they were splitting up, but he just shrugged and nodded with the expedition leader's decision. As long as they were all able to slip around the giant unnoticed, he didn't really care how each of them got there.
Oliver revealed a new shift that seemed well-suited to the terrain, and for one foolish moment Jigano thought things might actually go pretty well.
Ah well. Maybe next time.
A fight between a dragon and a giant in an already-unstable area seemed like it might not be the best plan - at least, not for a plan A, and especially not when he couldn't see where Oia and Kai were - so for the moment Jigano tried to use his current fox shift to dash between the lumbering giant's legs, attempting to trip the big biped up and buy Oliver time to make a dash.
If you have wings, this would be a good time to use them, he suggested to the young man, deceptively calm in spite of the rapid pace of his heart.
Jigano attempts to use his foxform to dash between the giant's legs and startle it or make it trip.
Unfortunately for Oliver, this new shift isn't nearly as amazing as he thought it would be. At first, things seemed to be going super well. He was nice and fluffy, seemed to have a super long tail, and his senses were absolutely great. It meant that he could try to keep a close eye on the giant and make sure that the deer truly was keeping him occupied...until his body quickly sank into the snow, blocking his vision of the giant.
Another bad thing about this is that Oliver genuinely thought something worse was happening, causing him to flail around a bit, clawing at the snow around him. He wasn't the smartest and so, of course, he didn't think before making the loudest sounds ever. The giant wasn't deaf, unfortunately, so he could hear the faint lumbering of the creature towards him. In a panic, Oliver froze up, incapable of really thinking of what to do until he heard a voice calling in his head. That's right. He could fly. It was cold, but it'd be fine to fly for a small bit, right?
Shifting into his bird form, Oliver flew out of the hole and attempted to make his way over to Jigano's original position, trying to stay far away from the giant's grasp.
Oliver shifts into a bird! He then flies in kind of an arc towards where Jigano originally was before he ran over to the giant. The art is away from the giant, giving him hopefully plenty of room between him and the big ol' monster.
