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!
Follow me when it's dark out - I will be your lighthouse
He awoke with a start, jerking upright and gasping loudly. It only took a few seconds for reality to chase away the dream world, but residual bits of it remained nevertheless, echoes haunting him every time he blinked. The golden fields of grass surrounding him were reminiscent of the tawny desert realm he'd just slumbered in. Those clouds above, drifting lazily across the sky and smattering the sunlight in designs against the ground, it was eerily similar to the teal and violent lights conjured in his sleep.
"Shit," he complained in a breath, rubbing his face in his hands. Something about that action helped scatter the remnants of his sleep so that the next time he peered out across the field it was only that and nothing more. Still, he reached out for a blade of wheat, its rough and textured edges a tactile reassurance that it wasn't about to explode into sand dunes. Absentmindedly he picked the wheat apart while he stared out across the plains, watching a herd of cattle meander in the distance. These strange dreams were troubling him, and it bothered him that something as insignificant as dreams could. "I've gotta stop sleeping during the day," he concluded to himself, tossing the remaining stem of wheat into the stalks and rustling up to his feet.
Those cows reminded him that he was hungry so after dusting the debris off his pants he fished around in his pockets for any coins. Unsurprisingly he didn't make any money while he was asleep, but it was worth checking. The cattle would certainly make a meal in his other form, but they weren't his, so maybe he'd be better off trying to fish again. He never seemed to have much luck with the pole though.
Edy I'm not totally useless. I can be used as a bad example
Edy was on the hunt.
For what? Well....she didn't actually know, really. Having recently joined up with the Bounty Hunters, the teenager had vowed to bring back something big and bloody to place on the walls. What that would be she wasn't entirely sure given that these lands were still more or less completely unfamiliar to her. Then again, the last time she'd been fucking around in the fields she and Koel had been attacked by a mutated boar, so she was fairly confident she'd be able to find something.
Or someone.
With her usual brand of brashness and energy, Edy trotted towards the man who looked both slightly dishevelled and knee-weakeningly attractive. Raising her fingers, she made fire bloom in her palm. Tossing a ball of it back and forth to get his attention while simultaneously acting like she wasn't, Edy glanced towards Iskra with a bright and mischievous spark in her dark gaze. "Cool, huh?" She asked, thinking that was the understatement of the year. Where she came from being able to do this shit was mastery level. No one in her family had ever mastered an element like this, and so while in this world it was pretty mundane, Edy was feeling like hot shit.
Follow me when it's dark out - I will be your lighthouse
While pondering if his time was better spent staring over a pool of water with a line or heading into town and trying to scrounge up some scraps, Iskra didn't notice Edrei's approach. He did notice the fire though. His gaze snapped towards her the moment it conjured in her palm, half as much for its suddenness as it was for his inexplicable draw towards fire. Something about it always comforted him, and regardless of its dangerous, Iskra never feared it.
With the way she swept it between her hands as nonchalantly as a ball, it seemed neither did she.
The notion brought a broad grin instantly to his features, and it settled in so naturally, it was as if no other expression could fit him. "Nah," he said pointedly, hands sweeping from his sides with a sort of unimpressed semi-shrug, as if he couldn't even be bothered to do an entire shrug. Yet he still wore that wide grin, and something in his gaze was mischevious.
"It's hot," he exclaimed with a low whistle between his teeth, and something in that entire response implied he wasn't just making a corny fire pun. "I bet you hear that all the time from your boyfriend though," Iskra laughed boyishly, his hands coming down to rest on his hips, a perfect angle for flexing slightly.
12-18-2018, 07:53 PM (This post was last modified: 12-18-2018, 07:53 PM by Edrei.)
Edy I'm not totally useless. I can be used as a bad example
Edy's eyes narrowed, waffling between amusement and annoyance. Nah? Had she really run across yet another stick in the mud? What, was he going to start lecturing her on how dry the leaves were and how with one false move she could probably set this entire field on fire? Actually she probably did look that careless, and not that she wasn't, but it wasn't for him to say. It wasn't—
—It's hot.
Oh ho ho.
Grinning broadly back at him and revealing a row of dazzlingly white teeth, Edy tipped her head back and laughed. The mention of her having a boyfriend was slightly overshadowed by his super-hero pose, and Edy found herself not so subtly biting the outside of her lip as she let her eyes dip down for a moment before snapping back up. "Boy friend huh? Whose got the time?" Running her tongue along her teeth Edy continued to hold the orb of fire in a way that hopefully looked badass. There weren't many mirrors around to practice her poses with, after all.
"Been too busy fighting monsters for a boyfriend." This of course wasn't true. When her group had been attacked by the spire demon Edy had merely set up ring-side to offer some commentary. The most she'd done was become a bartender, day-drink, and join Ronin's bounty-hunter club. Or guild. Whatever. But muscles didn't need to know that.
Follow me when it's dark out - I will be your lighthouse
There's an inherent risk that comes with flirting, especially for the guy. Although Iskra would rather take that risk every day than some of the other shit life dealt you, it didn't change that breath-hitching moment of anticipation, anxiously waiting to see if you were falling or flying. Hell, if things went really wrong with this one he could be burnt to a crisp - women had a way of losing their patience in an instant and he'd been the brunt of some harsh refusals before.
Fortunately, Edrei matched his broad grin; it lit up her face and that brightness, that happiness, was more attractive to him than almost anything else. She laughed and he ran his hand through his hair in victory. He didn't have much time left to plan his next move, but damn when she looked back across at him, that fire still crackling between her fingers, he felt every thought dissipate from his body. A different hunger overshadowed that of his empty stomach, especially when she moved her tongue across her teeth.
Come on you big lug of muscle, don't mess this up - she didn't spurn you but you don't have it in the bag yet so think of something else cool, think of-
"Monsters?" Iskra parroted after her, albeit a bit delayed as his mind was working pretty hard to think right now, so he didn't fully digest what she had said as she said it. That hunger, the one that's a hot as fire and grows in your abdomen, well it was washed away suddenly with the disbelief and passionate hatred for monsters that Iskra held. His 'brows sloped down in haggard thought, hardening the comical features of his face into something more, serious.
He crossed his arms, leaning back a bit. "What kind of monsters are here?" Teal lights and amalgations of bones danced just behind his eyes, memories that whenever he focused on the details too closely they got fuzzy and distant. Iskra had dealt with monsters, and he didn't like it.
Edy I'm not totally useless. I can be used as a bad example
Kid went to fun and flirty in a hot second, and though the teenager was more than happy to stare at his face as he displayed an epically attractive broody expression, she was also a bit disappointed.
Like. Yes. Hellooooo, monsters. New world? Girl meets boy? They pull some hero bullshit and then go for a drink and all that other romcom bullshit? Edy's eyes cascaded downwards from his stoic expression for a moment to the impressive muscles the bulking up his arms. Either this kid was a scardy cat who lifted rocks to get that body, or there was some serious backstory here that she wasn't picking up on.
But she wasn't here for handsome's biography. Edy was here for the here and now.
"Uh huh." She said with a chipper nod and playful bob of her eyebrows. Edy had to nibble at the inside of her lip to stifle the gasp of appreciation she wanted to make as his folded arms highlighted the muscles her eyes had been on just seconds ago.
"All sorts by the sounds of it. I mean, there's that nasty fucker that guards the spire. That thing is a real piece of work. Almost took out some of our best people." Edy's normally bright and bouncy tone took a hard and dark edge as she said this, and some of the piss and vinegar faded from her gaze. "I heard tales of a kappa lurking somewhere, some weird talking squirrels in this big maze thing, and out here, I got attacked by a boar with like...18 heads." Okay. It was 2 heads, but 18 sounded better. (Right?)
Follow me when it's dark out - I will be your lighthouse
He listened to her as she detailed some of the monsters, but with each one it felt like he was drifting further and further away. He hadn't been here that long, but he'd hoped it would be somewhere calm and normal for once. He thought, stupidly, that he would finally be able to stop fighting. There were places like that in existence, right? Places of peace and tranquillity, where politics and neighboorhood drama were the only items of concern, not otherworldly threats or unhinged gods - that was something real, wasn't it, not just a version of paradise, of heaven?
Iskra sighed dramatically. Having just lost his hopeful ignorance he was less accepting than usual of shitty things, but he'd bounce back eventually. "So where does one get armor and weapons around here?" The universe saw fit to constantly strip him of his prized possessions along with his happiness with a routine middle finger. He'd long ago lost the priceless artifacts that belonged to his parents, not to mention his own pride and joy, his warhammer Peacekeeper. Still, some cookie cutter gear was better than none when dealing with monsters.
Edy I'm not totally useless. I can be used as a bad example
Well, this wasn't the flirty action-adventure she'd hoped for when she'd originally seen muscles. Guess both of them had a bit of expectation re-calibrating to do.
"Uhh..There are a few leatherworkers I think. And I know there's an alchemist in town who can make magical shit. " The teenager offered unhelpfully. She actually didn't wear much armour which was stupid of course. But she'd always relied on her magic and, for all the Launceleyn's talk about being magical warriors, she hadn't actually done a ton of combat. There was patrolling the streets, but punching drunken idiots and dragging them to the jails hardly counted. "The head of our Bounty Hunters Guild might be able to help you out. Ronin always has cool weapons and stuff, so.." Edy shrugged, feeling weirdly responsible for just how uninteresting all of this had become.
As for who was in charge? "Uhh..." Edy blanked. There was no king here and no Master Chief. "We...had an Overseer...but I don't know where he's fucked off to." Pursing her lips and looking a bit forlorn and disappointed in her answer, Edy swallowed hard and offered the strange a crooked smile.
