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!
12-12-2018, 08:19 PM (This post was last modified: 12-13-2018, 09:19 PM by Samuel.)
Sam brushed his fingers carefully over the edges of the ancient tomes, the sheer feel and smell of the books enough to cheer him up without even looking inside. He had been feeling rather put out recently with one thing and another and knew that a trip to the Atheneum would be the thing to make it right.
Well...righter. He was never happy.
It was late, coming into evening; Sam rarely travelled during the day. Here, in the dim hall with the grand ceilings and old books, the air was comfortable and warm to him and he could relax. He leaned forward to pull out an old book, intending to stare at the words within until he could pull a meaning from them-
With a mighty crash, the book brought with it another, and another, the books clattering around Sam's feet and the sound echoing through the hall. Sam froze, his shoulders drawn up and his teeth gritted until the noise stopped, when he immediately sunk to his knees to try and neaten up the fallen books and papers into a pile. Under his breath, he began to mumble "S-sorry, sorry..." just in case anyone nearby was listening.
The sound echoed the halls just after the books had come crashing down. They continued to echo though the source had yet to reveal himself.
Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap...
The sound continued until sudden silence fell over the sanctuary. It was a long, hushed, tense silence that loomed over the halls like a thick fog passing ever so slowly.
There would be tapping sounds once again, though it would sound much lighter, as it was the sound of Archebold's shoes stepping onto the ground, accompanied by the dull tap of his walking stick until he finally slid his finely tailored form past the corridor where he now leaned and looked upon Samuel with a look of distaste he didn't bother to mask.
"You'll never get any respect by apologizing to no one in particular..."
He smiled rather playfully at first assuming the young man to be a typical pathetic accepted, sniveling in his own weakness, but the smile faded quickly as his black, hollow eyes seemed to dilate with startling quickness as he pushed himself off the corridor and stepped slowly toward Samuel.
His walking stick gingerly pointed to him as he made the motion to stand on his feet. His eyes, unblinking, nearly all but consumed by blackness as his fangs crept through his lips.
Sam didn't hear the tapping of the man approaching until he was right next to him, and flinched with surprise when he looked up to see a figure. And of course, just his luck, this person did not seem to be friendly. Gathering up the last of the papers and struggling to his feet with them, he stumbled a little then bowed his head apologetically towards Archebold.
"Er, right, I just know these are i-important...books, and I- Do you work here? I'm sorry." As Sam spoke his pointed teeth and dark eyes were obvious markers of his being Ascended, but everything in his nature went against that, from his knocking knees to his desperate apologies. He noticed the physical traits reflected in the man stood opposite him but none of the nervousness.
He turned to shakily put the books back in the shelf, stuffing them in the wrong order in his speed to just get the damn things away from himself.
Archebold replied, as he looked over the young man in what was a look that was one part pity, the other part repulsion as he shuffled away with books in hand.
"I'm a...collector, you could say. I look to preserve objects of significant importance. To lose our past is to lose a part of who we are...don't you agree?"
He refused to move, fingers remained over his walking stick, tapping rather dully.
"Archebold Cobb..."
He'd mutter his introduction, continuing to study Samuel as he shuffled about.
"Who might you be?"
As he looked over Samuel he was curious why would someone choose to be ascended had they not expected to fully embrace the gifts that came with it.
Sam wasn't sure to be relieved or not when Archebold confirmed he didn't work there - while he was less likely to get into trouble over the books, the man had a tone which spoke of spades of disapproval.
"Oh, yes. History is v-very important..." He agreed, too nervous to say any more. He desperately wanted to get away but it seemed Archebold was determined to make this into a conversation, giving a name and asking his own.
Bowing his head a little in greeting he sighed and accepted he was likely stuck here for a while. "My name is Samuel. Um. Samuel Wordsworth. I sell books in the market. You might have seen me, maybe." His eyes firmly on the floor, he came to an awkward stop.
