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!
Quanil had one important reason to be here today. A Reason, a good one, even, and that was rare for them (if you asked their parents, anyway). They were not goofing off, they were not slacking on their Loreseeker duties. They'd gotten a good start at copying one of the books they'd been given.
The fact that it was a beautiful day in LongHeat and the glade was shady and cool and lovely was irrelevant. They weren't here for that. They were looking for someone. Someone with the same color hair as theirs, but different eyes, and Mom's nose instead of Dad's. Someone definitely female to Quanil's less obvious gender markers. Someone just a year younger. Someone lost, and hopefully soon found.
That was the Reason.
But it was a beautiful day in LongHeat.
The glade was shady and cool and lovely.
And if Quanil was taking some extra time about their task, surely that was just their being Extra Careful and not because it was nice here and they wanted to stay a little longer. They loved books, loved being surrounded by them and having access to them, but sometimes a body just needed to be out of doors.
For all her exploration and dissection of the Hollowed Grounds, Nephele often returns to the Glade when she cannot justify flying all the way back to the Village. It is the one spot in the Grounds that is flourishing with life against all odds, soil quality and flora blooming where everything else wilts. It is aesthetically pleasing as well - beautiful, if she is feeling poetic - and though no competition to her when compared to the Greatwood, it reminds her enough of home to let her relax and overnight there.
She is walking for once, if only to keep the muscles in fit shape. Her wings splay out behind her, glinting silver and copper in the dappled sunlight that passes through the leaves overhead. In this manner it is almost inevitable that she runs into another individual, clearly intent on...something. Nephele isn't quite certain. Though she's no socialite on a normal day, her past experiences with the Grounders have been wholly pleasant, and it spurs her to try and recreate that outcome in the scientific way she always embodies. "Greetings," she calls out in her lilted voice, wings opening and closing slowly upon her back in a distinct sunning pattern.
Don't stare Stop Staring IT'S RUDE okaybutshehaswingssoshemustbe...
"You're a Fae." And they winced at how rude that was and they were Doing It Again and they had to knock that off. "Sorry, I mean, hello, I'm Quanil."
They'd pretty much been a Fields child their whole life and now that they were adult and out on their own, they were having experiences they'd always dreamed of, and hadn't even left the Hollowed Ground yet!
"Your wings are lovely." Should I have said that? Is that rude? Too forward? Will it be taken as flirting? I'm just trying to be nice, it's a nice thing to say that, right? Who knows what Fae think of it as, I have no idea what I'm doing THIS IS WORSE THAN MEETING OTHER HUMANS
They smiled uneasily and did their best to be the very picture of Friendly Harmlessness, which they were, on both counts, and do Fae turn people into toads? What's it like being a toad anyway?
Ah, a young one. Nephele tilts her head in a birdlike manner as she surveys the features of this new person. Their gaze is heavy and prolonged, but Nephele has grown used to this in her travels throughout the Grounds. Fae do not normally leave the Greatwood, and often are too spiteful to do more than throw acorns from above when Grounders decide to venture into their forest. Nephele is perhaps a rare breed, and if this youngling is as fresh-faced as she assumes, it's not unexpected to be stared at.
"Yes," she confirms simply when they blurt out her race. Perhaps Quanil is lucky, but Fae are quite used to being blunt considering they cannot lie. "Hello, I am Nephele." This is perhaps the easiest time she has had meeting someone new, and she certainly doesn't mind it. Everything to the point and easy.
Until the compliment.
Nephele's cheeks go warm and flustered, wings speedily humming at her back to expel the frenetic energy suddenly building in her chest. Many had commented on her wings in the Grounds, or just stared, but none had complimented them. "Thank you," she says weakly, unsure how else to respond to such a thing. "What are you attending to out here?" Best to get the subject matter off herself to spare them both.
"H-hi, Nephele, I'm Quanil. Wait, I already said that." They cleared their throat.
"Uh, I'm looking for my sister, Freina. She's been missing ever since the Fiat Lux festival, and I don't know where she could be. But, also..." They looked around at the trees and the sunlight filtering through them. "It's just nice here. I hope she is here, not just 'cause it'd mean I'd found her, but also because it's such a nice place to be, even if there aren't any books."
They looked back to their new Fae friend. Well, acquaintance. Quanil had learned that "friend" in their book didn't necessarily mean it was mutual. "What brings you here, Miss Nephele? I haven't met a Fae before."
03-01-2020, 08:19 AM (This post was last modified: 03-01-2020, 08:20 AM by Nephele.)
NEPHELE
"Yes you did," she replies matter-of-factly, a single brow rising curiously at their stumbling and uncertainty. Surely she is not so intimidating as Quanil makes her out to be?
"She may have perished," Nephele notes bluntly, though her eyes are uncharacteristically soft with empathy at the mere idea. Life without Eriadne would be agony, and she's not sure she would even wish to continue it without her twin. "Though I hope you find her. Are you a scholar, then?" A small pique of interest appears, wondering if they are kindred spirits in this way.
"This is one of the only areas of natural growth, untouched by the decay and rotten soil of the rest of the Grounds. It is as close to the Greatwood, to the natural state of the earth here, as it could be. I like to visit it." Normally it is where she spends her nights, cradled high in the trees, whenever she does not return home to the Village. "Fae do not often roam outside the Greatwood." An explanation or a defense, it's difficult to tell with her bland tone.
Quanil cleared their throat. Again. As usual, they were not doing well with socializing. They did even worse with socializing with pretty people.
And Nephele wasn't making it any easier. Quanil had a tendency to just blurt things out, it was true, but even they wouldn't just say things like 'oh maybe your sister's dead' to someone. Especially not someone they just met! But then she was a Fae, so... maybe Fae were just... like that? It was easier to push past the suggestion that Freina had passed and move on to other topics.
"I'm... learning to be a scholar, I suppose. I love learning new things, meeting new people," they gestured to the Glade around them, "going to new places." They were aware that Fae didn't often leave their home (their mother had a whole speech about what a great idea that was, not leaving home, staying where you're safe, etc.), and since she'd just gone ahead and brought it up... "You leave the Greatwood just to come visit the Glade?"
Nephele does not dwell on her own misstep, far too used to making them. Even if someone were to point out her insensitive comment, she would not understand why it would be so. Surely Quanil would want to consider all options? But she is far from a model citizen of societal adherence.
"An honorable pursuit." As close to a compliment as they're likely to get from Neph. "I am recording everything I can about the Grounds and its people to store in our libraries in our village. 'Visiting' is a word for it I suppose. Or researching." Quanil has not yet provided her with much material yet, but their interaction is still young in lifespan.
"Oh! So... you're like a Fae Loreseeker?!" they asked excitedly. "Loreseekers learn about the world and write it down so that we can help others! Y'know, learn what dangers to avoid, how to get out of danger if you're in it, where the best pubs are, that sort of thing."
Ah, Loreseeker. She is at least familiar with the term after her run-in with the Ascended man in the library. It makes her nose crinkle slightly in distaste. "No. I do not seek lore or verbal myths or recommendations. I record facts and observe your kind. We may both practice chronology but with far different aims." It is mildly insulting, but only because she has a negative view of the Loreseekers after realizing they hold Sam within their ranks. Helping others is not really Nephele's goal. Her people perhaps, but even then only the scholars who will seek out her work.
"Well, facts and observations are both stuff we seek, too," they pointed out. If Quanil had gathered that she didn't like them - or the guild they were a part of - it didn't show. (Hint: they had no idea whatsoever.)
"Lore and myths may point to historical truths," they said. "They often have kernels of truth in them. Though it sounds like you're most keenly interested in what's going on right now, in the moment. Of course that's useful and necessary, but so is knowing the history, the past, how we got to where we are.
"Like, for instance, what's the real difference between a New God, an Ascended, and an Abandoned?" they asked. "What I was told, growing up, was that there's next to no difference, that one leads to the other which leads to the other, inevitably. That the barrier, and our being sealed off, is the fault of those who do magic. But what I've found is that's not necessarily true. I've met some Abandoned, and they're nothing like the power-hungry monsters the old stories depict them as. So, there, in that case, the stories are wrong. But it's still true that magic users who did grow too ambitious and power-hungry became the New Gods. So there's still a lot to learn about that."
Quanil is going to keep babbling about this until stopped. Fair warning.
"I do not care about myths and social connotations," Nephele cuts in abruptly, uncaring of any potential rudeness. "I am a scientist, I do not waste my time with lore unless it has weighted relevance. Being trapped in the past does not make for a more advanced future." Clearly something they differ on.
Of course the child goes ranting off about races, and Neph's wings practically hum with agitation. "Fae are a race separate from what you humans concern yourselves with. We have always followed the Old Gods, but we are not a highly religious race. You Loreseekers can waste your time philosophizing but I am here to break you down into factual components as creatures." Yikes a little harsh, but Quanil certainly isn't losing any steam otherwise. "If we cared about your races, internal squabbles, or lore, we would leave the Greatwood far more often. I'm sure you can draw the connection between that and our current lack of presence here."
"Really?" they asked. "I thought you cared at least a little about us and what we're up to, otherwise what point in leaving the Greatwood at all? I mean... I know some of our... um... self-appointed leaders have been less than great at dealing with your people, and that's terrible. If I were in your shoes, I'd worry about what we were up to, too."
Having decided that that was clearly why she was here, they continued, "In any case, we're not all horrible, and I like learning about... everything, really. What sort of sciences do you favor? I've always thought astronomy very interesting, or... well, biology, I guess, in general." There wasn't honestly a science or subject that Quanil had found boring yet. Some were more interesting than others, and some books were dry and boring to read, but actual subjects? All fascinating.
Since there seemed no convincing her that literal lore was a worthy pursuit, they were happy to swap over to something more within her stated wheelhouse.
"I do not care about you," she corrects sharply. "You study animals and insects out of interest for how things work, though they are beneath you. I study you in the same way." Distinctly insinuating that she finds Quanil - and the other Grounders - just as below her. "Your leaders are spineless cowards whose words are as flimsy as a blade of grass, I am astounded they believe they can govern your people at all. Their efforts are pitiful at best, and they do not worry me." Anger her? Absolutely. She's endlessly furious that the incompetent government of the Grounds cannot put a leash on their Ascended mutts, and part of her - distinctly Fae and blood-baptized - wants to exact revenge by killing some of their own citizens.
Quanil only manages to wriggle past her rising intolerance by mentioning what is quite possibly her favorite word: biology. Reluctant interest lights up in her hazel eyes. "I am a biologist. I study what I can of organisms and how they meld with their environments. That is why I am here." Not that Quanil needs to know that Nephele often refers to the Outlanders as an invasive species.
