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!
Zariah had arrived early at the training grounds, a rather sad bit of open space on hardened snow that was more suited for hunters practicing archery than magic. But with the school still under construction there really was no better place for them to go. Dressed in all black, like her Warden, the Archmage was dressed in relatively little tiven the cold temperatures of Halo. Fitted pants and tunic, with an Ursur fur lined vest, boots (which, while lacking her typical sky-high stiletto heel still boasted a bold chunky wedge), and gloves. Her wild curls were left down about her face and she waited with crossed arms for the other woman to arrive.
And really, she would be lying if she said she was not interested to see who Neron had placed trust in as Captain of the Guard. Hopefully not some piddly little weakling.
"Good afternoon, Captain. Thank you for the invitation to train." she said in dulcet tones, a charming smile curving her lips when the Captain arrived.
Archmage. The title almost made Morgan roll her eyes; she had magic just as powerful, she was sure. As much as she respected Neron, she half wondered if the appointment had been a case of nepotism, of wishing to give his family member some kind of title to please her. Still, she tried to keep an open mind when it came to new powers in their ranks, knowing that any benefit to their cause was worth having.
She wished to test this Archmage, see just how worthy of the name she was.
As Morgan arrived at the training grounds she unfastened her cloak and let it fall to the floor; she would miss it's warmth, but it was best to be able to move more freely. In contrast to Zariah, she dressed in thick wool boots with a pair of equally functional pants, and a rough tunic with an armoured plate over her middle. The outfit of someone used to spending nights out in the snow and defending herself.
"Good afternoon. You're welcome..I'd like to see what you can do." She did not return the smile, not out of any malice; it was simply not in her nature to smile unless she had proper reason to do so. "You may attempt to make the first strike." That said, she stood ready, not seeing any point for pleasantries when they were here to test their powers.
Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural
We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole
Zariah could have laughed. Attempt to make the first strike. Sure. She swept a slight bow to her, despite her being the Captain's superior. "As you wish, Captain." she said, a wicked grin curving her lips. With a flourish of her hand, lightning shot down from the sky, though it landed nowhere near the Captain, instead striking the wooden archery targets and setting them aflame.
But that was not all.
The Archmage cast out her life drain magic, shooting forward to simply suck the life straight from the Captain. Surely the light show would prove enough of a distraction to keep her from dodging such a maneuver.
Morgan did not at all like the smile on Zariah's face as she responded (technically, Zariah was indeed her senior, though, so she said nothing of it); she readied herself for an attack, determined to fend it off.
She noticed the trick Zariah was playing quickly, kept her eyes on the woman's hands rather than following the path of the lightning (she had always been alert, quietly considering all around her, meditated just for this purpose) - but this did not matter when Zariah's magic was stronger than she could endure to block.
As the Life Drain began to affect her, sucking at her essence and trying to pull away her breath, Morgan gritted her teeth and placed her hands together, summoning a large orb of water. With a yell she lifted up to throw it, as hard as she could, towards Zariah, hoping the quick and forceful blast would strike her in the face and knock her back. Admittedly, the Life Drain stopped her from tossing it as hard as she had wanted, but it still travelled in an arc towards the Archmage.
Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural
We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole
The orb indeed travelled in an arc, one that was just a bit to slow unfortunately. Still drawing on Morgan’s energy with her Life Drain, Zariah dodged the ball of water. The icy spray as it splashed on the ground at her side was unpleasant, but far from harmful. ”Don’t tell me this is the extent of Halo’s offensive magical combat capability.” she said dryly, so far unimpressed. She was slower. Her magic weaker. Based on build she was probably physically stronger but really that wasn’t difficult to achieve.
Pathetic.
With a flick of her wrist the fire from the nearest training dummy shot forward, spiraling towards the Captain that the Archmage was drawing strength from.
"Surely the Archmage should be stronger than the Captain in magical means?" Morgan bit back, admittedly a little embarrassed that her water attack had so failed. Clearly, it was time to try and ramp things up.
Using her telekinesis to push the mannequin away and taking a step forwards, Morgan swung her arms up as water appeared from the ground, drunk away from the snow, and rushed in a huge wave towards Zariah; the intention now was to slip her off her feet, make her break her concentration on the life drain. Frowning with concentration Morgan tried to make sure it would be strong, though she began to sink to her knees with the loss of energy and strain of Zariah's power.
Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural
We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole
Zariah chuckled low at her words. At least this Captain had some tooth. "Perhaps, but I expected a Captain to put up a better fight." she shot back, continuing to goad the other woman. Get her mad. That's when people got sloppy.
Now of course, a wave was much more difficult to dodge than a ball. Zariah braced herself, sliding back as the water smashed against her. The hit wasn't what shocked her so that the Life Drain slipped away, but the cold which left her breathless. She knew she couldn't stay wet long either or she would actually die during this training session. Drawing from another flame lit dummy, fire suddenly engulfed her for a brief moment - just enough to evaporate the freezing water that threatened her life - before it shot out at Morgan again.
"I will not over-exert myself when not necessary." Morgan easily spoke back, not one easily riled up by words or taunts; she spent too much time purposefully settling her mind for that, training herself in the cold mountains to withstand more than many people could, spending time in the silence with herself until she no longer cared about her ego.
Feeling the Life Drain loose it's effect on her Morgan stood, blowing out a heavy gulp of air as she felt strength return to her muscles, watching her wave have it's desired effect. This time, ashamedly, Zariah did catch her by surprise with the flames - only having a split second to react, Morgan engulfed herself in her water, making a cloud of steam evaporate all around her and shroud her, the boiling hot air burning her skin as she attempted to quietly come around the edge of the field to try and attack Zariah from sideways, hoping to hit her with another jet of water from the unexpected direction.
Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural
We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole
Zariah laughed low, amused by her bravado. "I see. Then I shall make it necessary." she said, a wicked grin curving her lips. Though the fire for now was reduced to naught but steam and heat, the Archmage was well onto the Captain's tactics. Frontal assault's would never do much against the Merciless, and so as Morgan danced around to the side, her thought process was plain as day. Unfortunately for the Captain, Zariah was much quicker, and generally more bloodthirsty.
As the Captain attacked from the side, Zariah dodged, jumping into a somersault roll and out of the way. From her hand shot forth a powerful lightning strike, aimed for the blast of water to conduct its strength, heading straight for the caster.
Zariah was smart to use Morgan's water against her; not expecting the electricity running down towards her she tried to quickly drop the spell, get it away from her hands. While the full force of the lightning did not reach her, enough did for her to make a hiss of pain and stumble, her body feeling as if it were vibrating from the force running through it.
It seemed she was not going to succeed here on magical means (probably to be expected, since she was fighting the Archmage) - but well, a part of combat was expecting the unexpected, right?
Perhaps it was underhanded but in a last ditch effort, probably an admission that she was not going to win this through magical ability, Morgan flipped a knife out of her belt and ducking forward until she could, she aimed to shoot it towards Zariah's neck with her telekinesis, the blade stopping just short of making a cut.
Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural
We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole
Throwing knives now? Well that seemed an admission of defeat if Zariah had ever seen one. But alas, she was still much quicker than Morgan was, easily dodging the knife with a flourish of wild curls. In the same movement she shot forth multiple small bits of lightning, each aimed for a different part of her Morgan's form. Two for her ankles, two for her wrists, one for her torso, and one for her neck. If she was successful, the Captain would find herself pinned to the ground with electric chains, immobilized.
Disappointed her knife hadn't reached it's mark, Morgan made to dash away, but soon found herself tackled by bolts of lighting, each aimed for another part of her; not all of them found their mark, but it was enough to send her down to the ground, obviously defeated.
The hot burning shame in her chest was predictable enough, even though she tried to not be prideful. It made sense Zariah would win in a battle of magical ability; she was, after all, the 'Archmage'. Waiting until the lightning began to dissipate, Morgan sat up and reached out a hand towards Zariah to shake, using her other hand to rub at her own ankle. "Good fight. Respectable skill."
Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural
We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole
And just like that it was over, leaving the Archmage victorious and the Captain left to lick her wounds clean. Zariah approached, and shook the hand Morgan had outstretched, using it to help the woman up, should she use it so. "You put up a good fight, for one who does not solely rely on magic for combat. You ought to join the Arcane Academy when it opens. Neron is hoping it will encourage people to grow stronger, and your support of it would be meaningful." she said.
It did well for Zariah's reputation in Morgan's eyes that she came to shake the offered hand - the Captain had little patience for smug winners (or sore losers, for that matter). "Thank you." She pulled herself up, turning her foot a couple of times as she stood on her ankle to see how well it would hold her weight.
"I...shall consider it. How are you intending to teach, at this academy? Are there to be more professors than just yourself?" If it were just Zariah, Morgan felt it seemed like more of a vanity project than anything else...still, she had to show some faith in Neron and his choices.
Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural
We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole
