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!
Haai leans into the touch, twisting her head here and there to try and get Quanil’s fingers to drift wherever she pleased. And the chin scratches cause her feathers to flex a small amount, indulging, ears lowering in the enjoyment of the attention while taking the praise from them.
Sunjata smiles to Quanil, leaning against the bar with the barrage of questions before he chuckles lightly. “I found her egg in some memory mud in Flowerbirth.” He begins, waiting until they’re done with all their questions before he begins to tackle the many of them. “She does act like a bouncer. She can fly, she likes rats. She keeps the bar clean of them. She can also breathe fire.” He says with a slight tilt of his head. As if for extra proof, Haai puffs a small cloud of smoke toward Quanil before sticking her tongue out of the side of her mouth.
ain't no rest for the wicked
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
"Oh, you're a Flowerbirth child?" Quanil asked the little griffin. "I was born in Deepfrost, myself. And you're so talented!!" they gushed as the little smoke cloud appeared.
They looked back to Sunjata. "You're so lucky to have her! You probably knew that, I'm sorry, I... I get excited." They picked up their wine glass to drink more because if they were drinking, they weren't babbling like an idiot.
A quiet chuckle leaves Sunjata at the observation, a nod granted back to them as well as Haai yipping in agreement to both being a spring child and talented. But as Quanil turns their attention back to him, he shrugs a small amount at the gushing. “Have you met Isuma? She’s Jigano’s griffin.” He asks curiously, wondering if that would end up being a surprise or not for the future. Regardless, he shrugs off the excitement with an amused smile of his own. “She can be a hellion, but she’s as much a part of me as is my attuned shifts now.”
ain't no rest for the wicked
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
GASP!"THE PROVOST HAS ONE, TOO?!?!?!?" They cleared their throat. "Sorry, sorry, that was loud." They drained the last of the wine in their glass.
"I haven't met Miss Isuma yet, no. I haven't wanted to ask much of the provost because... well, because he's the provost and I want to be a Loreseeker so bad and I already kinda got started out bad with things." They resumed scritching Haai.
"But companions are so nice. I mean I get it's a big responsibility an' all 'cause they wind up bonded to you but I think it'd be great to have one. 'Course right now I'm havin' trouble just takin' care of m'self, not sure how I'd manage me and a critter. An' I bet Miss Haai has HIGH standards, yes?" Scritch scritch smile smile.
A huff of laughter leaves Sunjata once more, a nod granted toward Quanil. “He does, yes. She’s more of a traditional griffin, I think.” He comments thoughtfully, knocking back the rest of the drink in his glass while he listens to them speak. Haai continues to lean into the touch, laying down along the top of the bar and stretching out for some belly pets. Sunjata sets the glass along the top of the bar before leaning along the wood a bit more, focusing his attention on Quanil. “Oh she does. But… She puts up with me and all of my problems so I suppose she needs to be spoiled sometimes.” He offers with a small chuckle, reaching out to scratch Haai along her neck and off to the side, causing her leg to bounce in the attempts of scratching.
ain't no rest for the wicked
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
"I'll help!" they declared happily, giving belly pats. "If I can catch any mice in the Atheneum, I'll bring them to you, okay, Little Mistress?" Because of course they had to be nice to her; she was sort of also the boss.
Though that reminded them, "It was really nice of you to work on rebuilding the Temple. You must be very devout?"
Haai practically melts under the belly pets as Sunjata listens to the enthusiasm that comes from Quanil. The barkeep nods to them at the promise they give to his griffin, a small smile crossing his face with it. “She’d like that.” He responds easily, shifting in his seat a small amount before he takes a sip of his drink again and focuses on the mention of the Temple. He sets the glass on the table and nods easily, shrugging lightly as if it didn’t mean anything when it really did. “Well, the world I came from didn’t really have any gods or anything. So I never was before I got here, and one day I went to a shrine and asked to Attune and Safrin came and changed me.” He says with a small smile of nostalgia. “She changed my life. The least I could do was repair the Temple for her.”
ain't no rest for the wicked
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
"Oh, you're an Attuned! And here I thought maybe you were just showing thanks for Miss Haai." They paused, conflicted by the question they wanted to ask and wondering if they should. So, instead, they asked that question. "Um... is it... okay to ask about the world you came from? I don't want to be rude or make you upset or anything. Especially since you're now my landlord-and-also-boss and all."
Pause.
"Um, and is it okay to ask for more wine? It's okay if I can't have anymore, but if I can, it's really nice."
“I am.” Sunjata responds with a bright smile, shaking his head to the mention of showing thanks to Haai. Not quite, in fact… Had he found her when he had been Accepted, chances were she wouldn’t have been the griffin that everyone knew. Perhaps a dragon, perhaps… Nothing at all. He’s thankful for it regardless, however, the little wolf-magpie hybrid that’s comfortable along the bar under all the praise and attention she could receive.
He focuses on Quanil as they ask their question, and when they pause before asking for more wine, Sunjata offers a quiet breathy chuckle. “Sure.” He says, reaching for the wine bottle to refill Quanil’s glass before settling in and filling his own glass with more of his favored whiskey. “You can ask about the world I came from. I came from a place called Korofi. What do you want to know?” His head tilts avianlike with the question, steel gaze lingering on their face.
ain't no rest for the wicked
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Quanil beams at getting more wine and smiles wider at being given permission to ask questions. The experience of this was so new to them that their head swam with it. Well, Provost Silversmith encouraged questions, too, but that had been somewhat expected. THIS? This was amazing.
"Oh, wow, I don't even know where to start! I... um..." They sipped at their wine as they tried to calm the flurry of I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING! in their mind down to just a simple starter question. That... wasn't easy. "Um... did you run a bar in Korofi? What was it called? Was it as nice as this one? Did you have a griffin there?" Because of course one question called up others.
They felt like they might be pushing things a bit, and sheepishly drank more wine in order to shut up.
Accepting the idea of questions unleashes a barrage of them – some of them he’s not fully prepared or willing to answer, but regardless he certainly tries to answer what he could. So he settles with the glass moving between his hands as if he’s rolling it between the palms of his hands, steel gaze lingering on Quanil. “I didn’t run a bar, no.” He offers with an easy smile. “I sort of worked in one though. My ex-girlfriend was the daughter of the bar owner.” He answers eventually, mulling over the words, refraining from looking over to the lantern hanging in a square on the back wall among others. “The bar didn’t really have a name either, it was part of a rebellion so they often kept a low profile.” An easy explanation, a wave of his hand before he takes a sip from the glass.
“I didn’t have a griffin there. Though my family had dogs… We didn’t have any creatures like dragons or griffins or things like the Luxere.” He chuckles lightly to that. “There wasn’t any magic or shape shifters or ascended anything. We were all Accepted, all the time.” A rise and fall of his shoulders.
ain't no rest for the wicked
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Everything Mr. Sunjata said sparked more and more questions, but it was the last thing he said that Quanil couldn't help asking about, the most recent curiosities in their mind being the first to be voiced. "You must have had different Gods there though, right? Or did you have gods at all? I heard some places only have one god or goddess or whatever; was Korofi like that? Did your gods fight? I hope not; it doesn't go well for anyone."
The question of gods has him shaking his head, taking a deep sip of his whiskey again before he focuses on Quanil. “We didn’t have any gods.” He admits, offering a small smile to them. “We had things like… Kings and Queens. There were different sections that kept the place running, and usually the rulers of those sections fought.” He says somewhat offhandedly. And fought they had, Sunjata had been a large witness to that, changed forever from it too.
Taking a few moments to consider the way he'd answered, he tries to rephrase it a small amount. "Basically... It's like if Halo and the Greatwood were both parts of the Grounds, and we all produced something different but valuable to Caido as a whole. That's what it was like." Surely it would make sense in that regard, that the leaders often fought, tried to forge alliances, all of that.
ain't no rest for the wicked
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Their brow furrowed. No gods? None at all? Might as well have said no snow, no sunshine, no landsharks or LongNight!
They drank more wine as they listened to the explanation. "So... you just had wars between people, over resources?" he summed up. "What did you do for festivals and rituals then? It wasn't all war all the time, was it?"
