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!
Morgan had set off early in the morning to the established meeting point, so she could take her time on the journey. Riding her new companion Eunike, whom she had met only a few nights before but had already found a bond strong as steel with, she had followed the mountain path that few knew from the Citadel to Whitebrim.
She did not arrive at the town, though. First they would need to brief, to discuss what the plan was. Stopping where she could just see the tops of the chimneys a distance away, smell the putrid stench of what was surely forbidden meat cooking on their fires, she waited for her team. She had purposefully gathered all of their council, intending to see how well the people Neron had brought fared when they were put to an actual challenge.
Climbing down from Eunike's saddle and tying her to a post, she waited at the path, stood with her hands behind her back.
This ought to be a joy. If joy suddenly meant an irritating pain in the ass. However, she was Archmage and Neron wanted this done. So here she was, arriving at the predetermined spot to help the Captain with whatever it was she needed help with. All she knew really was that Whitebrim was full of cannibals apparently and she had absolutely zero idea why they weren't simply razing the entire town. They were exiles after all. Who cared if a whole village of cannibal exiles burned and died.
"Hello, Captain." she said in greeting as she arrived, waiting for the others.
Loren arrived with Astra in tow. Although his steps slowed when he saw Zariah, he picked up the pace. When he arrived in front of Morgan, he saluted, the movement precise and sharp. "Captain." Clasping his hands behind his back, he compelled some geese to keep an eye on the town, in case their presence was sensed. It would hopefully give them at least a little warning if they were attacked.
A unicorn horn was tucked into his belt, which also held a special pouch containing his Spark Bird feather. A pair of glasses perched on his nose, the chain wrapped carefully around his neck. Finally, he had a sword at his hip. Ignoring Zariah, he waited patiently for their instructions.
01-31-2020, 04:18 AM (This post was last modified: 01-31-2020, 04:30 AM by Ingrid.)
Ingrid
Ingrid arrived looking red in the face and breathing like an ursur in labor. "Oh my Gods, that was brutal. My feet feel like they were chewed on by a horse. Why are we here?"
Also, who's we?
Apparently Zariah, Loren, and a redhead with a unicorn. "What's up, Loren? Fall into any more holes lately?" Ingrid asked, shooting him a grin. She turned to Zariah. "And it's a pleasure as always, Lightning Bitch. I heard your magic school kicks almost as much ass as you do." Finally, she trudged over to Morgan. "I haven't met you before, so I guess I'm not on your shit list yet. My name's Ingrid."
She raised her hands to cover her eyes as a gust of wind blew snow into her face. When it died down, Ingrid leaned forward and made a sound like a dying elephant. "Sorry. Snow up my nose. Also, to whichever one of you sent that raven, you should know I fed it like three fish because it kept fucking trying to eat my finger."
Peter is last to arrive, as has become unfortunately typical of him. He’s still not late, not by a long shot, but arriving last maybe as well be the same thing. Still, he tries to not let it get to him, tries to focus on the staff held in his hands, or Apricum in its usual place in the bag at his hips. He was as prepared as he could be for this, the situation strangely familiar.
No spoken greeting passes his lips, but Peter does dip his head, nodding a hello to both Morgan and Zariah. Loren got a look, mostly fear, as this was the first time he’d been with the recently disgraced Launceleyn and the family head. This seemed like it was going to a messy operation.
Peter
The only thing I know is this: I am full of wounds and still standing on my feet.
The first to arrive was Zariah, which was unsurprising. She was arguably the most professional of all the team (barring Morgan herself), the most like Morgan herself. Not that she would show this thought process as everyone else arrived, nodding to each equally quietly and respectfully, going back to look over the town and continue to plan, to think.
Once they were all there she faced them, one hand on Eunike's neck. "Everyone. I'm glad to see you all arrived...including you, Sister Ingrid. I have not before made your acquaintance. Believe me. You do not want to be on my shit list, so I would recommend you keep your speech short and to the point today." Morgan looked in the youngest's direction, hoping she might understand the seriousness of their mission soon enough.
"For the potentially uninformed, I will brief you on our mission today. This is the town of Whitebrim. We have exiled criminals and other undesirable men here from the Citadel for years now; they have continued to show their deplorable character by reducing themselves to beasts here. Engaging in cannibalism." Morgan looked to each of her team, making sure they understood the gravity, the disgusting and serious nature of the problem. "Our mission for today is not to attack the town, however. Warden Neron has wished against it for the time being. We are instead to flood the mine, where they keep their...meat. In time it will freeze and render the mine inaccessible. Any questions?" If there were, she would try to answer them as they came. (ie ill do them next round)
Morgan took her sword from it's sheath and held it in her right hand, feeling the weight of it balanced between her fingers. "I will be leading this expedition and hoping to flood the mine with my water magic. Loren, I assume you will be our healer? We can expect some kind of hostile reaction to our mission, so Zariah, you are to defend? Peter, I would like you to scout ahead for us. And Ingrid-- Well. What is it you can do?"
Motioning for Peter to go ahead and see what was before them, she waited for each of her team to confirm their roles, then come with her after Peter's report to begin their mission. When they reached the proximity of the mine, they would see an entrance roughly carved into stone and two guards stood outside, staring ahead into space. Morgan held her sword out and stood back for a moment, looking to the team. "Does anyone have any ideas beyond a simple assault?" She did not often like to go in sword raised and running, but with two men it was unlikely it would go too badly.
---
There are 2 guards outside the mine.
GUARD 1: 99 HP. Has a rusty polearm.
GUARD 2: 95 HP. Has...nothing?
Confirm your role and lets go try do this thing! Feel free to approach, discuss, attack...lets see how chaotic it gets. lol, please be gentle i have no idea what im doing
Loren raised his eyebrows at Ingrid’s comment about falling into holes. "No." It was short and curt. Thankfully, Morgan took over before things could spiral out of control. If he was amused by the Captain's admonishment to keep it short and sweet right before she launched into an unnecessarily long monologue, he didn't show it.
He simply nodded in agreement when she asked him to be the healer. When Morgan asked for questions, he asked his quietly. "Do we know if there are any other entrances and exits to the mine?"
Then they were walking, and he saw the guards. When she asked for suggestions beyond a frontal assault he considered the problem. "Could try to draw them away with a distraction. We should be able to take them though." Again, he spoke softly to prevent himself from being overheard. All the while, he kept compelling the geese to keep an eye on Whitebrim.
Peter stood to the side, his hands folded in front of him, and listened to Morgan’s explanation. His nose wrinkled the more she explained. It was one thing to hear about the fate of the exiled, or to read about it, but it was another thing entirely to actually be confronted by it, to be standing on the precipice of men turned beast. Even at his most desperate, he had never considered eating another person. Not intentionally.
Scouting was something he could do though, and as soon as Morgan motioned he was off, creeping before them to survey the area, then creeping back to report. Two guards, one obvious entrance. One weapon between the two of them, though that didn’t necessarily mean only one of them was armed.
”I think.. we can take them head on.” There was some amount of confidence in his tone, despite the fact that he was going against Loren’s suggestion. ”One has... magic, I think.”
Peter
The only thing I know is this: I am full of wounds and still standing on my feet.
02-04-2020, 01:47 PM (This post was last modified: 02-04-2020, 01:47 PM by Zariah.)
ZARIAH
Zariah couldn't help her smirk at Ingrid's greeting, nodding her head to her. The woman struck her as perhaps a bit of a glutton for punishment but she wore her heart, mind, and tongue on her sleeve - and Zariah did love someone she could count on to be blatantly honest. And for the time being she merely ignored Loren. She had promised Neron she would play nice in the snow box so long as it wasn't a family matter.
But then the wiffle waffling began. She could not have rolled her eyes further back in her head if she tried. "We are not here to negotiate or play nice with cannibals. What is all this chitchat about?" she said dryly. She was here for defense, and the best defense was a strong offense. Without so much as a twitch of her hand, lightning rained down upon the guards from the skies.
A shame, an act of god like that.
Zariah attacks the guards with mastered lightning magic.
02-06-2020, 09:13 AM (This post was last modified: 02-06-2020, 09:22 AM by Ingrid.)
Ingrid
Well, Loren wasn't in the mood for jokes. Fine. At least Zariah came close to smiling, and she got a grin from Ingrid in return.
"You do not want to be on my shit list, so I would recommend you keep your speech short and to the point today," said Morgan. Ingrid nodded, and then Morgan launched into a speech of her own.
If you like short speeches, stop using big words, Ingrid thought dryly.
Next, Morgan assigned tasks. "Well. What is it you can do?"
"I pretty much exclusively offer prayer and unsolicited commentary," Ingrid replied. A bit later, she found herself trudging through the snow alongside the others as Loren and Peter offered ideas. Ingrid shrugged. "I don't know what to do. Fighting isn't really my jo-" FLASH. Zariah's lightning arced down towards the soldiers. "It's her job," she said, pointing a thumb towards the Archmage.
If Morgan saw any irony in her desire for short communication then her very long plan, she didn't show it. Loren's question was a sensible one, one she could answer: "There is another entrance, but this will be the best for our purposes. From this entrance the majority of the mine heads downhill and underground, so water will easily flow in. The other entrance leads to stairs." It was a small detail, but one that would ultimately make their job a lot easier.
Thankfully Peter knew how to follow an order and went off to scout right away, coming back with information: She turned to listen to Loren's suggestion, opened her mouth to say she thought if they all advanced well enough, they likely could take the guards--when Zariah rushed forward to attack. This immediately curled Morgan's lip, the Captain glaring as the lightning came crashing down; the Guard holding the pole arm seemed to accidentally have been able to use it to draw the electricity, dropping it before it reached his body - the other was not so lucky, falling to the ground and convulsing with shock.
"As Ingrid says, it would appear Zariah thinks her job is rushing ahead with no concern for the consequences." In no particular rush, Morgan drew her sword and began to advance towards the fight. "In making this decision I suppose she has forced our hand." The Captain did not care for rash action nor did she care for the Archmage's attitude on her mission. Still, the guards were very much aware of them now, so there was no helping it. "Attack at will."
This said, she advanced towards the guard with the dropped polearm, sword drawn.
---
Zariah strikes GUARD 1 & 2!
The attack on Guard 1 Misses!
The attack on Guard 2 Hits!
If Loren had a nickel or equivalent currency, ignoring the fact that Caido had a barter system for now every time a Launceleyn rushed into battle recklessly, he’d be a very, very rich man. As it stood, he wasn’t surprised in the slightest when Zariah struck without giving the rest of them a warning. As Morgan told them to attack at will, the healer stayed right where he was.
For a moment, he considered just letting Zariah handle it, since she seemed so keen and so confident in her skills. However, sighing, he sent his compelled geese to batter the heads of the guards, hoping to at least distract them if not do damage so none of his allies would get hurt. Simultaneously, he stepped between Ingrid and the fight, hoping to block any attack that came the Priestess' way.
Loren sends his geese to distract the guards and steps forward to guard Ingrid.
The Archmage raised an arched brow at the Captain, her little quip and passive aggressive comment noted. An unappreciated, she might add. Clearly Neron had his confidence tied up with cowards and indecisive fools. A pity. She had thought Morgan had promise - but everyone was wrong every now and again. "The best defense is a strong offense. Any general worth their salt would know that." Zariah said as she moved passed the Captain. She paused, a quiet 'oh' escaping her lips as she turned back to face her, a wicked smirk on her lips. "I forgot. You're just a Captain, not a General. My apologies." she cooed, before turning back to their enemy.
Another bolt of lightning came shooting down from the heavens on the guards, quickly followed by the Archmage's mastered life drain, reaching out in an effort to snatch the two up and pull their very life's essence from them.
Zariah attacks with mastered lightning again, followed my mastered life drain on both guards.
Peter blinked, the chance for stealth gone in a strike, the order to attack coming instead. It makes something in his chest tremble, the chain of command muddied, confused. He can’t linger on it though, not when there are cannibals to kill.
Geese and lightning both assault the guards, and Peter reaches out with his own magic, aiming to make the attacks land easier, to keep the men from raising an alarm. Ice creeps up over the men’s legs, thick and freezing and relentless, holding them in place and leaving them at the mercy of the others.
It doesn’t take much concentration to keep things frozen in the overworld of Halo, so when he is sure the men are held fast, Peter calls a blade, sharp and balanced and freezing, to his hand and throws it, then another, and another, aiming for throats and chests, soft places to cause damage and cut off sounds.
Peter freezes the guards in place so they can be more easily chipped down. He also creates and throws several ice knives, aiming for vital points.
Peter
The only thing I know is this: I am full of wounds and still standing on my feet.
