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!
02-11-2020, 11:23 PM (This post was last modified: 02-11-2020, 11:27 PM by Maea.)
MAEA
The sun had not yet risen by the time she left the Domiciles. Setting her course for the Greatwood and its deep, mysterious forests, Maea brought a large basket with her, along with a satchel of food and a mysterious smile on her lips. With Sunjata gone to Halo to fight a dragon, she had too much time on her hands, it seemed. Time that she finally had found a way to whittle away at, with a new project. A secret project, that included an amphora, a lot of bartering with local farmers for their home made liquour, and a few other things.
Specifically, todays goal included berries. Blackberries, to be precise. They should be about ripe now, as the season moved on towards its end, and Maea looked forward to spending a day on her own, with nothing to occupy her save the simple task of harvesting.
It was still fairly early by the time she stopped for a break. A good amount of glistening blue-black berries covered the bottom of her basket; it was still fairly early in the season it seemed, but with some patience she would find what she needed. Having made her way through the shifting Greatwood, she came upon a waterfall and paused to admire it, awed by the deep, eerie red of its waters.
Setting the basket down, she picked her way carefully towards the edge and peered down, ears ringing with the sound of the cascading waters. A bright smile spread across her face; it was beautiful.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Forests were hardly Josh's environment. He was more acclimatised to the city or to large, hot wastelands, places where the only thing you could see for miles were scrub bushes or distant telephone line poles. Perhaps that was why the usually alert and precise man was finding himself so easily lost, apparently managing to cross a border without realising it in his wanderings about the Outskirts.
It was obvious, once he reached the red pool, that he'd come across something unusual (or...maybe it was usual, for this world?). Immediately he stepped forward, intending to dip a finger into the pool and taste it, a common technique of his during his investigations. Dangerous, perhaps, but he trusted his own senses more than some potentially hacked machine's reading.
His finger was just about to touch the surface when his eyes caught sight of something before him; frozen in place he looked up to see a woman, pale and smiling at the water as if it had just given her a million bucks. Why was it that everyone he'd come across so far had been so strange...? Josh was used to being the weirdest person in most conversations, but he was beginning to feel pretty normal indeed.
"Why are you so happy about the water? Is it diluted blood?" He asked, the two most pressing questions in his mind coming out together, hand reaching for the pocket containing his notebook.
Maea looked up, a bit startled to find she wasn't alone. The question was odd too, and she looked rather alarmed as she took in the strange man that had appeared within hailing distance.
"Why would I be happy about diluted blood?" she asked, half terrified at the notion... and half amused, as she understood what he actually tried to ask.
"But no, it's just water, not blood. If you look further upstream, the water is clear there. I think the color has something to do with the bottom... perhaps a plant or such." Maea could only guess, she had not tried to find out.
Tilting her head, the girl appraised this new figure. He looked to be quite a bit older than her, a little scruffy and very out of place. "Are you new to these parts?" she asked, in an attempt to confirm her suspicions.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
It was clear he had startled Maea (and further than that, worried her with his question), but Josh continued on without much concern about that, very used to upset looks cast in his direction. "Some people drink it. Others put it on their faces. Helps with skin, they say. I doubt it. But you might believe that." He shrugged.
Her notion about the plant dying the water was interesting. Josh wrote it down in his notebook, under the heading 'red water theories'. After all, hers was only one opinion, and he was sure he could find other ideas about the colour of the water in time. Was the detail important? Probably not, but he was here to learn everything he could.
The one consistent element to all his conversations so far was that everyone appeared to know he was new; while it made sense they would suspect it (after all, he dressed differently and was obviously out of place), it lent some credence to his idea they might be paid actors with a script to follow. For the moment, he decided to play along. "Yes. Came through the portal. I think I made it myself through air disturbances. Radio signals."
Josh looked Maea up and down. "Are you aware of The Voice?"
This was... a different kind of Outlander from the others she had come across. Far from being panicked or eager to accept help and explanations, there was something in the way this man scrutinized her and the scenery that made her think of Jigano. Someone who keenly observed the world and drew his own conclusions... and in this case also doubted everything, even the seemingly simple things. Especially the simple things.
"Well, there certainly are those who enjoy drinking blood," she admitted, cocking her head to the side. Thinking of the Ascended. "I'm not one of them though. Nor do I believe it does anything for complexion." She wondered where he'd gotten that idea.
At least he confirmed her suspicions insofar as telling her he really was a new arrival. To Caido, not just this region. "No, you did not. You were found by a device that copied your information and translated it here... 'portal' is a misleading term in this case. What is 'Radio'?" His curt way of speaking seemed infectuous, in a way that drained away her hesitation to ask too many questions. If he wasn't upset - not visibly at least - then perhaps it wouldn't be a problem for her to ask things in return.
As he mentioned The Voice though, the girl snorted. "Of course I am. She isn't easily forgotten... makes quite an impression on people. You are aware she's the reason why you are here?" His scrutiny was returned in a similar fashion, her pale eyes quite curious about this strange new individual who was nothing like anyone she'd met before. Maea was intrigued.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
"Who drinks blood?" Josh asked, suddenly sounding much more excited and poising his pencil over the page of his notebook ready to take down notes, hoping Maea might be about to inform him about a cult. Cults were his favourites.
Once again he was told he had not made the portal, but that he had been copied over into Caido. Josh wasn't sure about this still - after all, no one here had seen his years of research into dimensional travel; there was no way for them to know if he had simply happened to open something up himself and arrive here, possibly having made his way over easier due to the already made breaches. Ignoring her comment on this, he answered her question instead: "Electromagnetic waves that carry information. Sound messages. Easy to hack into and make."
He nodded distractedly to her insistence once again that he had been brought here by The Voice. "Where can I find her?"
Maea shrugged. "The followers of The Voice. They can draw sustenance from it in dire situations, I'm told. And they gain quite a lot of... eh.. pleasure, from taking it as well." Not a subject she was comfortable discussing with a stranger in the middle of the woods, but worth mentioning.
She tried to wrap her head around the answer he gave her. It meant very little to her; the basic understanding she got was messages through the air that was easy to steal, but the how remained very obscure. Electromagnetic? Electricity, as in lightning? And magnets... she only sort of knew what those were. Which... really did not help.
"Just find any shrine to the New Gods," she replied, equally distracted; though a small frown did appear at the thought of anyone seeking out The Voice. "Whether she will answer or not is debatable though. "
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
"Really? I knew vampires were real." Josh took down an excited note in his book, thinking he'd love to go back home and rub that one in all those 'scientist's' faces. "Where can I find one? Would they be willing to drink my blood?" He asked, sounding rather like he planned to taxidermy an Ascended to take them home.
He could see her confusion about the radio, but was not interested in explaining further. After all, if this really was an alternate dimension, one that seemed less advanced than his home, there would be many technological things he'd mystify people with.
"A shrine? This Voice is...a Goddess?" Josh looked massively disappointed, even putting his notebook in his pocket as he sighed. "Nearly every time I hear about a 'God' it turns out to be bullshit."
"Vam...pires?" Maea tried the word, found it strange on her tongue. She hadn't heard the term before. "They are called Ascended. And I'm sure you'll be able to come across them... pretty much anywhere. Especially at night, they don't take well to sunlight. Most of them."
She had no issues answering his questions, even though they were strange. Talking so much about The Voice made her rather uneasy though, the goddess wasn't a favorite subject of hers.
"Yes, she is. A self made one... Though I'd be careful about insulting any deities around here. I don't know what they were like where you are from, but here on Caido they are very real. I've met more than one myself, and know others who have too." She said it in the way of being granted audience with royalty, no greater but no lesser than that. Something of a miracle, but nothing unbelievable either.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Hearing that vampires (or Ascended, whatever) wouldn't take well to sunlight made Josh chuckle delightedly, pleased that they were apparently staying close to the myth. "Can they eat garlic? Do they need to be invited in before they can enter a room? If you drop a bag of sand by them do they have to count every grain?" That last one he'd always been disbelieving of, but it was worth it to check.
Maea cautioned him not to speak ill of the Gods and Josh nodded as if he understood, but privately he thought that was bullshit. He didn't believe in them anyway, and even if they were real, grand entities rarely cared what he thought. If they did they were proud idiots and he could probably handle them. "So you're some kind of priestess?"
The man seemed quite deligthed to hear about the Ascended, and rattled off a bunch of questions that had her brows ride high, especially at the slightly depracating tone. Did he believe these things himself, or just... trying to see if she would deny them?
"Well... no, to all of those things," she replied, rather bemused. "They can eat anything, but usually don't. As they can't really taste food. And they can go and do whatever they like... they are still human, not some elemental sprites." At least, in so far as they could be talked to, reasoned with, and liked. Though Maea did have her private concerns about the authenticity of that humanity... perhaps due to lingering prejudice. You didn't erase a lifetime of horror stories and myths in a season, Amun.
Then he went on, and the implication of what he suggested made the girl quite shocked indeed. "Me? Oh, no, not at all! I mean, I'd love to be, but I don't think it would be... very appreciated. Or possible." She scratched her temple, not sure if she was flattered or horrified at the thought. Meeting gods was not an indication of some divine favor, leastways not in her eyes. But... perhaps they had different ideas of what a priestess was. Amalia would no doubt fit the bill better.
"What is your name?" she asked, trying to shift focus away from herself. "If you need any help... I can point you in the right direction." For once, she did not offer to aid him personally. The man gave her an uneasy feeling, for some reason.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
"They can't taste food...so the blood provides all they need?" He was glad to hear the cliche myths surrounding vampires weren't true; it meant there was more to learn and to surprise the theorists with when he returned to Earth. There was a debate to be had about the definition of a human, but he would not bother to get into it with Maea, thinking it probably something different between each dimension anyway.
She seemed flattered he'd thought her a priestess, but Josh had merely meant it as a guess; he shrugged. "Can't think of many Gods that would turn down support." Not that he'd ever met any in person (or even believed in them), but devoted, worshipping followers was a large part of being a God, he thought.
"Josh Sheppard." He told her distractedly, shaking his head at the offer of help. "No need. I'm happy to wander. Do you know if anyone is living in the black obelisk?"
The girl shook her head. "The blood is more a last solution, I'm told... they get their real sustenance from The Voice." He seemed endlessly fascinated by the subject, and it worried her as much as she was glad he chose to ask about it rather than do some crazy experiments.
"Oh, I don't know about that. They don't really need us, I think... they've certainly had no problem with turning away the Abandoned. Magic users, that is." She shrugged, and eased herself down to the ground. Reaching for the red water of the pool, she brought it to her with her magic and made it pool around her hand, dampening them so she could cool them and her face, red and flushed from the heat of the day.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Maea Valair. I... in the Spire? No, not aside from The Core," she replied, turning to look at him, rather bemused. "It's... not a very healthy place to be. People have died there... most tend to avoid it."
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
"The Voice. Right." Josh nodded, deciding to get the rest of his information from another source - he could tell Maea was becoming uncomfortable with this line of questioning and he didn't want to raise suspicions sooner than was necessary.
Besides, she quickly said something else that totally blew anything else out of his mind. "Magic?" He asked incredulously, narrowing his eyes. Magic had been something he'd always dismissed outright, preferring things with at least some kind of possible scientific explanation (hence his scepticism surrounding Gods). However, as Maea leaned down to bring the water to herself with seemingly no explanation but magic, he silently stared for a moment, so surprised he didn't even write it down in his notebook.
"How do you learn magic ability? Or is it biological?" He asked, immediately knowing he wanted to attempt it himself.
