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!
Perhaps it wasn't his idea of a good time. Perhaps a sit down with tea and snacks would have been more along the lines of 'rewards' or 'goals', and thus more appropriate as a way to take ones mind off darkness and work. But Maea believed strongly in the beneficial effects of moving the body and working with ones hands, and so she dragged her friend off through the portal before he could find some way to duck out of this, and off into the brilliant sun of Torchline.
Now, this place did not really agree with Maea. It was dazzling, beautiful, so vibrantly colorful and warm that she felt she was about to melt after only a few hours. Like a snowflake gone astray into summer - and with no real chance to strip down into more comfortable clothing, as it would leave her crispy and burned after no time at all. But she persisted, and kept the mood up as she brought them towards the biggest, most obvious landmark she could find.
"This feels like a good place to start, for that map, don't you think?" she told Loren, bright and enthusiastic. She had brought all the necessary tools; notebooks, parchment, ink and quills, measuring devices - everything necessary to get accurate measurements of the land.
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 ♦
Loren was actually wearing a shirt during this trip to Torchline, so that was good, he supposed. Mostly, it was so the straps for his bag didn't chafe too much, since it was weighed down with all the tools he'd need to make a map. Mostly, he stared blankly ahead as they trekked up the mountain. Astra had joined him and Maea on their excursion, and he smiled faintly as she bounded around excitedly, letting out the occasional excited bleat.
When the pale skinned woman brought them to a halt, he nodded distractedly. "Sure." Glancing at her, he examined her for any signs of distress. "How are your lungs?" He waggled a finger, as if indicating he could heal her if she needed it.
Smiling at Astra's enthusiasm, the girl glanced over a little distractedly at the question. She wasn't winded, hadn't coughed at all in a while to be honest, and had been so caught up with the things that went on around her that she hadn't even noticed.
"Quite good, surprisingly," she told him with a smile, and took a few deep breaths just to prove it. There was no strange sound to her windpipes, no hitching or strain. Nor had she had any difficulties after the bruises she'd acquired last time she was in Torchline. "Perhaps being healed so often just nips everything in the bud before it can get annoying."
She shook her head a little at his offer, waving for him to save his strength until it was actually needed.
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 ♦
Loren frowned slightly, though it was considering rather than upset. Peering at Maea, he tried to see if he could determine if what she said she was true (which was obviously impossible from a visual examination). Finally, he shrugged. "I have no idea. Might be worth asking Nate." There was a slight edge to his voice as he mentioned the Ascended.
Stepping back, the healer slid his pack to the ground. Then he glanced at the sky, making sure there was nothing in the way. Backing up further, he broke into a run. Jumping, he shifted midair, and pumped his wings to take him up in to the air above Apopo.
She raised a brow under his scrutinizing stare, as if to ask if he saw anything obvious. But then he shrugged, and Maea frowned at his suggestion. Bit her lip and looked away, not answering - and then he was airborn, winging his way up into the air.
"I'd really rather avoid Nate if I can," she told Astra quietly, a bit belated. Maea dug a hand into a pocket and produced a piece of dried apple that she held out for the luxere, halfway hoping to bribe it into cuddling for a bit. She would stay there to watch the packs, maybe sketch a bit, try to capture the spectacular views.
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 ♦
Loren heard Maea's words, though he obviously couldn't comment on them in his current form. As he flew into the sky above, Astra munched happily on the apple. Gladly, she settled in to cuddle with the pale-skinned woman. The luxere even let out a contented bleat as she did.
Below him, the landscape unfolded, a riot of colors. His eyes noted the way it rose but mostly fell on its way to the many beaches. He traced the line of the coast, where water hit sand. Finally, he spotted what looked like islands in the distance.
Banking a bit, he slowly descended. When he landed, he shifted back to human, and reached for his pack. Rummaging through it, he glanced curiously at Maea. "What's going on with you and Nate?" Pulling out a blank sheet and a stick of charcoal, he laid it on the ground, then began sketching rough contours, starting with the shape of the coast.
Petting the luxere helped keep her mood bright. There was something very soothing with feeling the warm, sturdy little body under her hands. Like she was anchored down and reminded of the things that mattered. Sunlight, warm breezes, the vivid colors of earth and sky.
She was still smiling when Loren came back, and as he began to rummage through the pack for his tools, Maea did the same. Flipping through pages of her notebook to find an empty one, where she could note down information as provided.
"Nothing," she answered, a bit evasive. "And I'd rather keep it that way. What scale are you using for that?" She gestured to the outlines he'd begun to draw.
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 ♦
Astra obviously enjoyed all the attention from Maea. The contentment spread through the luxere's link with Loren. Perhaps that's why he gave his companion and the pale-skinned and haired woman a fond smile when he shifted back to human.
Glancing up from his sketching, he gave her a curious look. "Sure doesn't sound like nothing." Glancing down, he continued outlining the coast. "Don't make me play the 'Grand Healer needs to know about treatment' card." Despite the distracted and self-deprecating tone to his voice, he was slightly worried about any potential fallout between her and Nate.
Letting out a nervous laugh at her question the Launceleyn ran a hand through his hair. "Right. Sorry." He rattled off the scale, and drew it as well, before returning to his work.
02-19-2020, 07:15 PM (This post was last modified: 02-20-2020, 04:24 AM by Maea.)
MAEA
Keeping one hand around the luxere and the other busy with pen and paper, Maea sighed, biting her lip as she tried to put words on the feeling of unease. "It's... nothing worth mentioning, really. Just a feeling I got last time I spoke to him. He kept touching my shoulder, and.. I don't know. Seems almot overeager to help. I kept wondering... if he would ask to bite me again." She admitted it with a slightly awkward shift of the shoulders, half defensive, half... awkward? Admitting it'd happened before wasn't all that easy, especially as she had no idea if Loren knew exactly how the ascended did his 'examinations'.
It was a relief to dive back into work, able to fill her head with numbers as she noted down what Loren said, copying his diagram onto her own papers. Later they would have to compare their work and make a final clean copy, but for now it was better the more information they got.
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 ♦
Loren let out a little laugh at Maea's explanation. However, he gave her a surprisingly sympathetic and understanding look. "Oh yeah, he's an awful flirt, and comes on way too strong. But I'm sure if you told him to back off and tone it down he'd do so."
Then he raised his eyebrows slightly. "I didn't know he'd bitten you." The statement came out idly, but there was a slightly questioning uplift towards the end of it.
Nodding as Maea copied down the information he'd noted down, he reached out to give Astra a quick head rub. Then he leapt into the air again. Flapping his wings, he circled the area, taking note of the contours of the land around them as best he could, before descended to sketch it out before he forgot.
Oh. So Loren didn't know. That... made things a little awkward. Maea flushed and busied herself with her papers, tried to stall for time to find her voice, find some words to explain... Loren had time to take off again in the meantime, and she quite relished the reprieve. Apparently, her relationship with Sunjata had not made her impervious to embarrassment, or indeed blushing.
Soon enough, her friend was back again, and by that time Maea had switched to sketching little renderings of the landscape around them. Specifically, the volcano that towered up on the horizon, providing an excellent landmark as point of reference.
"Well... he did," she eventually said, continuing the slightly jarry conversation. "It's some ascended ability of his... he can tell by the blood if someone is ill. It's how he figured out what was wrong with me. Supposedly, it's entirely 'proffessional'." She said the term with a little bite to it, leaving it questionable how such a thing could ever be anything but intimate and very personal.
At least it was something of a comfort that her impression of Nate had not been out of the ordinary. Maybe she would be a bit firmer next time she saw him.
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 ♦
Loren swiftly sketched the contours of the land before they faded from his mind. Occasionally pointing out something to Maea, or explaining the markings, he soon found himself adding the section she'd worked on while he was in the air to his own map. However, he paused as she revealed exactly how Nate had diagnosed her.
Flushing a little, the healer ran a hand through his hair. "Oh. I see." Swallowing a bit nervously, he glanced away. "So I take it the blood has to be collected the, um, typical way?" The question came out in a rush, and with a more than slightly embarrassed tone.
Maea nodded to the question, but kept her eyes fixed on the work. All the more embarrassed because Loren so clearly was; Amun would have laughed and waggled his eyebrows at her, Sunjata would likely grin and be very casual about it, but... it seemed Loren wasn't as calm about these things as her other friends. Which was... a bit of a relief, to be honest.
"At the very least he didn't offer any alternatives," she mumbled, red-faced. "So... perhaps you can see why I'm not very keen on another 'examination'. Not now that Sunjata and I are... together." She shook her head, as if to reiterate how much she wanted to avoid it. It wouldn't feel right.
Lost in a world full of non-believers Searching for smoke in a still water pond
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Humming a bit as he considered Maea's words, Loren eventually shrugged. "Perhaps he's never tried to do it without the bite." He shot her a wry look. "Or maybe he just wanted to bite you." It came out with a darkly humorous tone, though it was his attempt at teasing and joking.
Nodding, he bent down to add another line to his map. "I can see why you'd be reluctant." Then he hesitated, fidgeting in place, looking more than a bit awkward. "How're things going? With Sunjata?" The question came out very cautiously, as if he was worried she might react poorly to the inquiry (which, frankly, he was).
