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!
After mapping what he could of Torchline with Maea, Loren had found himself curious about the islands he'd spotted from the air. So he found himself flying out towards them. His wings pumped as he soared high above the waters below. It didn't take him too long to reach the closest isle, and he descended slowly.
His eyes were peeled for any sign of danger. However, nothing immediately jumped out at him. So, landing, he shifted into a honey badger. Then he started padding through the sand and the trees. The scents, sights, and sounds of the island were just as riotous and beautiful as everything else in Torchline.
Sascha had wandered off since he was in Torchline and wanted to see as much as he could, besides he wasn't too fond of how nauseous he had been going through the portal so he had intended to stay for a bit. He had no idea really were he was however, surprise surprise, since he hadn't been there long enough to know what was up or down. He wasn't bad at finding his path mostly but in unfamiliar places it took him a while to understand it all. He had gotten here by boat, funny enough since the sailors had things to to on the isles and had told him to find them again when wanting to go back. Would they hold up their end? Who knew but he was grateful none the less.
The environment was stunning in this part of Caido and he loved every second of it. He was currently investigating the trees by scraping of a small patch of bark to see the color of the wood and had by now come across three different colors which delighted him. Sure he wasn't going harvesting quite now but he felt dazzled about the new trees none the less. From the palest of wood to the darkest of red. It was amazing.
A rustling behind him made him turn around quite confused however to spot a badger a bit away, lurking around by the trees. A... badger? Silence occurred for the smallest of seconds before the whole of Sascha just lit up. A badger! Of all the things to find here! He sunk down to his knees with the eyes locked at the animal before clicking a bit with his tongue to try and get it's attention. Mostly to adore it from afar since he loved his animals. What a stunning animal it was none the less!
Strangely enough, Loren was surprised to stumble across another person here. For some reason, because the healer hadn't seen any sign of habitation, he'd assumed the isles were abandoned. As the other man gave the Launceleyn an admiring look, however, he gave the stranger a toothy grin.
Then, though, Loren shifted back to human, not comfortable deceiving anyone about his true nature. "Hello there." His voice was cautiously polite.
Clasping his hands behind his back, he examined the other man. "I was just exploring a bit. What brings you all the way out here?" From where the healer was standing, it seemed the stranger had been examining the bark of a tree. The Launceleyn peered at it curiously, trying to figure out why.
The badger was so cute! Look at that little face and paws, what was it doing on an island like thi.... As the badger all of a sudden turned into a human man Sascha literally took a step backwards in pure chock, tripped over a thing root and fell like a domino on his back in the jungle. Even though he fell his eyes were still widened in pure chock as his heart seamed to have skipped a few beats in his chest. WHY CAIDO!? WHYYYYYYYY!? He tried to grasp air back into his lungs and almost felt dizzy after the tremendous chock he just had gone through. It took him almost 10 seconds to even understand what just had happened.
He sat up on the ground and looked at the badger man as he spoke with a chocked face and jaw hanging low. Okay.. gather yourself Sascha.. He blinked before fumbling on his words in a reply. "..I.. ehum... was just... i mean.." Comeon voice, start working again! He cleared his throat as he felt his heart rhythm slowing down a bit. "I was just.. looking? I mean at the trees.." As he noticed how he must sound the cheeks turned slightly red as he struggled, ungracefully up on his feet again. "H-hi there by the way.."
The other man clearly wasn't used to Attuned, seeing as Loren's shift to human caused the stranger to panic. Immediately, the healer raised his hands in a placating gesture. However, his eyes widened as the other man scrambled backwards, then tripped and fell.
Immediately the Launceleyn stepped forward and knelt by the other man's side. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you." Despite the kind words, there was a wry amusement in Loren's voice. "You alright?" His eyes scanned the stranger's body, looking for any sign of damage or injury.
However, when the other man sat up the healer scooted back. Glancing at the tree, he nodded then looked back at the stranger. "Were you looking for anything in particular?"
Grinning, the Launceleyn extended a hand. "Hi. I'm Loren."
Damnit Caido! You never stop surprising, he SHOULD be used to it considering he had been here over a year already but back in China people didn't go from cute badgers to a full grown man. Not that the man wasn't attractive as well but not cute like that fuzzy little badger he had been a moment ago. He started to wonder if there was anything at all that was impossible in Caido, probably not. "I-i'm alright, somethings seams impossible to get used to in Caido is all. I'm sorry." Yes the sorry came out automatically but was still true, he was both sorry for his own reaction and any kind of unease it may have caused this man as well.
Still struggling to get his heart beating in a normal way again he glanced up on the tree he had been investigating before replying. "I was kind of looking for some sort of Acacia look alike tree.. Not sure if the names are the same here or not however. Its a very pretty type of tree to work with and i have yet to find it." He said, turning his head back to the man that introduced himself as Loren while stretching out a hand. Sascha tried to not think about that the action it self was kind of charming as he grasped Lorens hand. "I'm Sascha, kind of nice to meet you now when my heart isn't exploding." He said before that classical, happy Sascha smile extended out to Loren.
Loren shook his head at the stranger's apology. "No, it was my fault." Giving the other man an apologetic smile, the healer raised his hands in what was supposed to be a calming gesture.
Glancing back at the tree, the Launceleyn ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know that much about trees really, sorry." Tone still apologetic, he shifted so he was seated in a cross legged position. "Are you looking for acacias for any particular reason?"
Taking Sascha's hand, Loren smiled tentatively. "It's nice to meet you too, Sascha." His grip was firm, and he made sure to give a polite shake, and nothing more before releasing the other man.
Sascha couldn't do much more than to smile in still an apologetic manner when Loren said it was his fault that he got as scared as he got. Sascha didn't really see how his inexperience of Caido made it all Lorens fault but didn't want to comment on it further since it would probably lead to them both apologizing til someone gave up.
Saschas apologetic smile turned into a regular, almost punishable happy smile that the woodworker normally owned as he turned up his gaze to the tree once again. "Well.. I have a thing of mixing different type of woods in my crafts to make it more natural but stunning without using paints. Paints tend to wear off and by mixing different woods together it lasts much longer. Just a personal habit really." He turned his head back to Loren with a calmer smile. Yes if he sold something he wanted it to stay in good shape for a long time, so that the buyer got something really nice.
Normally Sascha would bow as a greeting but since he was in the situation at hand he did what was more normal for people; shake his hand. Let go of it at the same time as Loren before giving an honest comment. "I must say that i feel a bit embarrassed. Not only cause of the chock itself but i tend to talk with animals when I'm alone which was what i was about to do when you turned into your human form. Maybe that was what chocked me the most."
Nodding thoughtfully, Loren studied Sascha. "That's interesting." Brows furrowing slightly, the healer titled his head to one side. "What crafts do you do? And how do you mix the different woods together?" There was mostly just a polite interest in his voice.
As the conversation swung around to the fact that he'd startled the other man, the Launceleyn scratched the back of his head nervously. "It's okay, really. You don't have anything to be nervous about." Lowering his hands to his lap, he let out a huff of laughter. "Trust me, talking to animals is pretty normal in Caido." There was a wryly amused tone to Loren's voice.
Sascha looked at Loren in silence for a few seconds before he literally lit up the jungle with his happy smile since he was indeed happy over the interest about his work even though he had a feeling that Loren was just being polite. But he indeed intended to answer it since now his heart had gone back to his normal rhythm again. "Well there are many different ways to be honest but glue or wooden nails are the most common ways. Ot simply fit the pieces together in puzzle shapes. But glue is pretty much always needed in any case" He started chattering like his normal self while he properly stood up after all that had occurred.
"Back where i am from you tend to get a few judging eyes on you when you talk to animals. Well more than smaller wordings that is. Things like; good boy or sit is normal but when you start telling them stories of different kinds you mostly get considered to be crazy." He said with a grin on his face while brushing off some dirt and twigs from his clothing. "What are you doing here by the way?"
As Sascha explained a little bit about his craft, Loren nodded slowly. Brow furrowing a bit, he regarded the other man with increasing interest. "Fair enough. What, exactly, do you make though?"
Letting out a huff of laughter, the healer shrugged at Sascha's worry. "Considering all the weird stuff Caido throws at us, I don't think you've got anything to worry about. Just tell people you're talking to an Attuned like me if they give you funny looks." The Launceleyn rubbed the back of his head a bit sheepishly.
He leaned back a bit at the other man's questions. "I was just checking out these islands, maybe see if they had any interesting plants or animals." Loren shrugged.
"Whats needed to put it simply. There are very few wooden items that i can't make, it all is about patience and carefulness and i at least have that going for me." He said looking at Loren a bit thoughtfully. "Sword sheets, trinkets, bowls, houses.. just whats needed for me and others to be happy." Yes it was pretty clear that Sascha mostly thought about what others needed first off and what he himself needed secondly. Be it good or bad.
By Lorens statement Sascha couldn't help but to kindheartedly chuckle since it indeed was truthful, even do he still wasn't to familiar with all the different species in Caido. "Well i would love to become a cute badger, so i think it has to do mostly with upbringing. You know.. what the parents and grandparents thought and passed down to their kids. Hopefully that will change in time however." Yes Sascha indeed had no problems with any race since he saw them all as one and a same in his own way. "Back where i am from i was a bit of an outcast fearing for my life every day and did all sorts of crazy things just to survive, i think no matter where you go you will run in to simple minded people don't you think?"
As he described what he was here for Sascha looked around a bit in a foolish attempt to see if he could spot something interesting within all the green surrounding them before he caught himself and looked back at Loren. "So.. are you some type of botanist?"
Loren's brow furrowed a bit in concentration as Sascha explained what he did. "So you're a...carpenter then?" Confusion was evident in the healer's tone and expression. Still, he was fairly confident in his guess.
As the other man kept speaking, however, the Launceleyn once again found himself confused. "So I take it you're not an Attuned then?" Scratching the back of his head, he gave Sascha a curious look. "What do you mean by what has been passed down?"
Sighing, Loren nodded. "That you will. What kinds of crazy things, if you don't mind me asking?" It came out a bit cautiously. Blinking at Sascha's question, the healer ran a hand through his hair. "No, I'm a healer."
"Yes i am! And also a healer and a summoner." He stated since magic had a big role here in Caido. And since Loren shortly thereafter had asked in a way if he were an Attuned Sascha smiled and shook his head. No sadly he couldn't become an animal like Loren, he would love to be able to do that but you can't have everything you wanted sadly. As the question came Saschas smile lessened a bit as he considered that there might be some big cultural differences between earth and Caido but he would still explain what he meant by that. "I'm not to sure but i took what you said as Attuned isn't as excepted as they should be? And what i meant was that back in China you get brought up with disliking certain types of people just because they are different than you. You really don't get much more of an explanation then that they are evil or vile. Parents makes sure you get that they are dangerous by constantly stating the fact and maybe Caido works a bit the same?"
As the question came at him Sascha suddenly looked a bit troubled guilty which was rare to see in the otherwise so happy healer. Would he even dare to tell him about these crazy things? He knew Caido was different but some of the things still felt like it would be bad to admit. But he needed to start somewhere right? "Ehum.. well.. Like dating pretty women even though i don't really find women attractive." He almost mumbled the last part of that statement, looking guilty as all hell as he looked at Loren who stated he was a healer. Oh what a small world!
