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!
There’s a brief pause after the question while he considers it, a slight moment to chew on his inner cheek while he contemplates. It’s been… Well? For him? The parting hadn’t been necessarily on good terms – too much alcohol and too many words said and left unsaid. As she continues it’s met with a slight half smile, something rather boyish crossing his face as he shakes his head. “I don’t particularly know what I want just yet. Lusea died in Halo the first week of Flowerbirth. Then, I got married at the end of Flowerbirth and that lasted a whole month or so.” He gives her a small shrug to that as the smile fades. “Part of me still expects Lusea to walk back through the door and that’s unfair for Maea, you know?” A tilt of his head – avian-like in nature.
Thankful for the comment of the slabs of meat, however, he focuses on her when she mentions Loren had thrown one at Maea’s feet, his dark brow raising in a small amount of surprise as a chuckle crosses his face to that. It certainly sounded like something Loren would do, something Zariah would request as well. There’s only a hum of understanding that leaves his throat to that. But then he shakes his head a small amount to explain the whole ordeal with Zariah from the Grounds.
The implication of magical children isn’t bad in his eyes, really, but it’s the possible idea of her taking Maea from him, to marry her off to some other abandoned in the hopes of offspring that wouldn’t come. “Magical children aren’t bad. A magical children army? Could be bad.” He offers with a small frown to that, before expelling a quiet sigh of agreement with the rest of her sentiments. “Keep an eye out though. I’d rather you not get wrapped up into it.” A quiet sigh to that, arms crossing along his chest. “You’re worth far more than someone trying to use you as a broodmare.”
maybe i'll cope with life without hope
maybe i'll open the door and fall through the floor
SuNJATA
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.
Weaver nods, not quite capable of understanding but able to imagine. She has never loved in the way he has loved, but she understands the idea well enough. There were still mornings she woke and expected Erebor to be awake already, making breakfast and shaking his head that she ‘slept in’. He had always been up before the sun, and her with it. ”Then perhaps you are not,” she says, though without judgement. ”And that is okay too.” There wasn’t a right or wrong answer, though she would never quite understand that halfway limbo. A break. Like hitting the pause button on just part of life. Maybe it did work for some, though she was skeptical about it.
The rain drips through the trees above them, a large drop splashing on the top of her head. She can feel the dampness beginning to seep through her cloak, and she is thankful that it is still warm enough to be wet. ”Mmm, well, she is basically building a magical army. I mean, there are not that many options to marry off in her own family, so it seems she is trying something different.” Though they all have their own free will and she, at least, and certainly Maea, have a brain.
She laughs at the notion of a broodmare. ”And do you really think I would be told to do anything I don’t want to do, Sunjata?” she asks with a slight grin. She is very clearly not the type of girl to be bullied around, and certainly not a good broodmare.
A small shrug is granted back toward Weaver. She might not understand it, but somehow it’s the only thing that makes sense to him in this very moment. A moment to breathe, to think, to realize that the flame isn’t coming back. To grieve and get over her like he had in those three years since she died the first time, ready to move on and figure things out. Only to have her waltz back in like it was yesterday and ruin everything he had built up.
But it did allow him to open up more now – his past not so secretive as it had once been. Talking of her not as painful as it once had been.
So eh focuses on the comment of the army instead, arm partially shifting to cover in long navy feathers, lifting it as a sort of umbrella for her with a wink. “As a person that’s been involved with arranged marriages, they’re absolute shit.” He confirms before snorting lightly. “Just… Let me know if she threatens you or anything. I hear she likes to do that.” His smile only grows when she directly looks at him – laughter ringing from the air around them.
His grin is Cheshire in nature as he regards her. “Absolutely not. I expect you to put that flame of yours up somewhere quite unpleasant.” He winks once more, turning a small amount and peeking through the trail where they might be able to head back toward the grounds or home. “And that’s exactly why I like you.” He adds, a deep chuckle leaving him before he gestures with his freehand, a quiet question of should they start to head back to avoid the rain.
maybe i'll cope with life without hope
maybe i'll open the door and fall through the floor
SuNJATA
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.
Weaver chuckles as he turns his arm into a feathered umbrella for her. She, at least, had a cloak and a hood, while he, on the other hand, is simply drenched. Maybe this is why he does not bother to shield himself. ”Was your failed marriage arranged, or have you made marriage a habit?” she asks with a raised brow, curious. In truth, he simply does not strike her as the marrying type, except for that perfect person. And perhaps his best chance at that was dead, or perhaps not. It was hard to know for certain who else might come along. Though she was not sure marriage was really all it was cracked up to be.
”Oh, she will probably threaten me daily. She does not exactly like me, nor I her.” But she knows what he means, and she appreciates the gesture. Korbin may not trust Sunjata, but Weaver does. There is something protective about him, not unlike her own protectiveness toward those she cares about. And yes, she does care about him, though in a friendly sort of way.
She laughs at his response as well, the sound bright and pleased. ”I would, but she could probably just put it out.” Weaver isn’t sure what magic the Archmage has, exactly, other than life drain for certain, but she doesn’t doubt that the woman has a way to counter anything. ”Though perhaps not before she got a nasty little burn…” Weaver adds, grin sly.
Sunjata gestures at the path for them to head back, and Weaver nods, tired of the rain and with no real desire to stick around in the Greatwood. It was not a place she had really explored or really cared to, as of yet. She begins to make her way along the path, keeping pace with Sunjata as best she can (or perhaps really, it is him keeping pace with her much shorter legs).
He was made to thrive within the water – oceans, rivers, floodwaters. Rain was nothing in comparison, feeling more like a breath of fresh air when it arrived, wiping away past mistakes. He doesn’t mind when he’s soaked to the brim, but for Weaver? An umbrella of sorts is an easy offering – water rolling from the tightness and waterproof outer exterior of his feathers. At her comment, however, he does chuckle lightly to that. “I hate marriage actually. But I’m not so great with words and got roped into the last one.” He shrugs. “Didn’t last long though.” He shrugs to that, finding it an easy explanation rather than ‘Yeah, I cheated on her with my Ascended doctor after a blood test.’
So he listens as she comments that they don’t care for one another. It’s both a pro and a con, meaning it’ll be unlikely for Zariah to want to bring Weaver into any sort of plans. But a con in the idea that it might put her in some extra sort of danger. And with Sunjata in Torchline, his eyes within Halo hardly there anymore? Well, it was cause for some deep rooted anxieties. But he trusts Weaver as well, enough to be sure she’d do the right thing when it came down to it in keeping herself safe.
Her laugh is a nice ring as they begin to walk, keeping his pace slow to keep the umbrella above her head. “I heard she has influencing magic as well. Try to change your mind if she touches you.” He muses thoughtfully. “There might be ways around it, we’ll have to research it. Just… Keep her at an arms length.” He snorts, winking to her, chuckling loudly when she mentions she’d get a nasty little burn. “I can see it.”
maybe i'll cope with life without hope
maybe i'll open the door and fall through the floor
SuNJATA
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.
She gives him a sideways look as he explains he hates marriage. Strange for a man who’s been married at least once, and yet, exactly what she would have expected from him. ”You are charming and clever. I have a hard time believing you got roped into anything...at least not slightly of your own making. We do get caught in our own webs.” It is part of why she rarely lies. It is far too easy to get stuck in a web of lies, to back yourself into a corner with no path of escape. For all she may distrust the fae, her version of the truth was not unlike theirs. Skip the parts you don’t want to admit, give just the required truth.
They begin to walk, the cover of the trees lessening, and she is thankful for the feathered umbrella above her head. Rain has never been her thing. Weird, for a girl who grew up covered in snow in below-freezing temperatures. But then again, she’s never professed to be particularly normal. ”Hmm, good to know. Avoid being touched.” Or in the event she can’t, at least she’ll be aware of what might happen. Does awareness make the magic less effective, or would it feel like being turned into a puppet, made to do something against your will?
There’s a deeper chuckle that leaves him at her thoughts on him. “Ah, well.” He hums at first, unsure how to exactly explain the fact that if someone got under his skin enough in just the right way, that he was relatively easy to manipulate. But it doesn’t seem quite like a conversation for today among the rain, so he glances to her with another quiet sigh. “To be honest it was a pride thing. Bluffs called and what not.” A shrug of his shoulders to that. But in the end, it was a web woven and a web caught, a web destroyed by a night of Ascended bites.
The rain is harder here, and he ignores it as it pounds against his shoulders and rolls down his feathers, explaining what he does know of Zariah, and at her comment he offers a swift nod. “It’s something to try.” He offers with a small shrug as the pathway becomes a bit clearer and he looks over and down toward her with another rogue grin. “So if you need to get ahold of me quickly, I’ve got a house up by the lighthouse in Aumakua I’m fixing up.” A slight tilt of his head to that. “Maea will know where it is if you need to show up.”
maybe i'll cope with life without hope
maybe i'll open the door and fall through the floor
SuNJATA
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.
She chuckles as he admits it was a pride issue, and gives him a bit of a nod. ”Well, that does make sense,” she says, giving him a teasing grin and a slightly playful nudge with her elbow. It was the sort of thing she’d probably do too, though not so far as to actually get married. Weaver would rather take a hit to her pride than be forced into marriage. Though she certainly doesn’t strike anyone as the marrying type, and she doesn’t seem to attract love quite the way he does.
The rain pounds on them but the path is open and clear before them. Weaver has no reason to stay in this place, and she does actually try to respect the Fae enough to generally stay out of their home and business more than is necessary. ”Sounds like a nice place to take up residence,” she says, storing the information away in case she needs it later.
For now though, she is back to Halo for the foreseeable future to get this bar up and running. Torchline would have to wait. ”I’ll get working on the details and I’ll see you soon. You’ve got an empire to build.” She gives him a wink, tugging on her hood to make sure it’s in place. ”Are you heading back to Torchline now?”
Her nudge of an elbow causes a deeper chuckle to leave him, masking over the pain that that conversation might cause. But he inhales deeply, shaking his head to her eventually, gaze narrowing as though there were some game or something he’d have to find just to get her back for the ease she’d had in nudging his side. “You have pointy elbows.” He says instead, raising a brow in some sort of feigned offense.
But he tells her of Torchline, where his home is located and the likes, and he nods to her as he focuses on the trail ahead, guiding her toward the left when the trail begins to split – pretty sure that’s the way to get back to the Grounds. “I always somewhat wanted a house by the ocean.” He agrees quietly, something nostalgic in the tone he gives her before shaking his head and nodding to her comment of information.
“Torchline it is. I’m not exactly welcome too much in the Grounds right now.” Of course, it happens before Deimos attacks him, but it’ll be evident soon enough. “This way leads back to the Grounds. But we can head toward the Mathair if you plan on heading to Halo immediately? I imagine you might want to dry off before the rain freezes to your cloak.” He winks to her, nudging her back with his own elbow and a raised brow.
maybe i'll cope with life without hope
maybe i'll open the door and fall through the floor
SuNJATA
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.
She laughs, amused. ”So I have been told by both of my brothers.” she says, though the statement is tinged with the nostalgia of a past long gone. ”My older brother taught me to fight. He was always stronger, faster, but he taught me to use elbows and knees. More powerful when you are smaller and weaker.” It had worked too, and she often fought dirty, using those pointy elbows and a well placed knee. You had to know your advantages to use them.
His tone too is nostalgic, and perhaps it’s just the time of year that brings them to thinking of the past, of the things that had been. Or perhaps they are always thinking of these things, and it just feels heavier in the gray, rainy day. ”Was there an ocean, where you came from?” She asks, wondering about the place that was once his home. He had told her some, but only pieces. They head to the left, which is probably the right direction, but she’s never really sure in the Greatwood if she’s actually heading in the right direction. Granted, this place wants her to leave, so likely it would make sure she walked in that direction.
”Oh? What trouble did you get into now?” she asks, though she doesn’t sound displeased at the idea. She knows who she is working for, after all, who she has become friends with. Weaver nods as he suggests the Grounds first. She jerks sideways slightly at his own elbow, though too late. ”You have a less pointy elbow, but it is still a good weapon.” She says, rubbing her side with an amused chuckle. ”And the Grounds is probably a good idea. I’m not sure the cold resistance magic is strong enough to keep me from turning into a popsicle.” And Korbin would be pissed if she turned into a popsicle.
There’s a hum of a chuckle that leaves his throat at her comment about fighting and pointy elbows. “I boxed quite a bit in Korofi.” He offers with a slightly nostalgic smile. “But growing up I was mostly taught a variety of ways to fight. Was trained in subduing and restraining, mostly.” A shrug to that – no brothers had taught him, but it had been something that instructors had come in for to ensure he got the best training for it.
He forgets about it momentarily as she asks if there was an ocean where he’s from, and the smile that crosses his face to that is somewhat wider, perhaps a hint sadder. “There was.” He replies at first, tilting his head toward her while they continue down the path. “My sister and I used to sneak out to go visit it all the time.” Might have gotten the shit kicked out of him by his father for it, but in his mind it had always been worth it.
The question of what trouble he’d gotten into has him rolling his eyes playfully before he nudges his elbow out toward her and pegs her in the side. “The usual sort, really.” He replies easily, before grinning to her when she tells him his elbows are less pointy. “I’ll keep it in mind.” He offers her with another playful wink, though he wasn’t truly ever in the habit of throwing elbows. When it comes down to it, it is what it is.
“To the Grounds, then. Get you dried off and then you can head back.” He hums with another soft chuckle.
maybe i'll cope with life without hope
maybe i'll open the door and fall through the floor
SuNJATA
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.
He mentions boxing and her interests perks a little at that. ”Boxing?” she asks, less about the thing itself and more just about his experience with it. She understands the concept, and it is vastly different than learning how to not get thrown to the ground by a larger older brother. Though it had always been far easier to beat Korbin than Erebor, given that Korbin hated to fight and never quite grew into himself. Erebor, on the other hand, had been a mountain of a man. ”May I ask why you were trained in such things?’ she asks, curious, but understanding if he does not want to speak of it. Still, it makes sense for her to learn to fight, to survive, in Caido. To learn to subdue and restrain was a very specific skill set.
His smile at the ocean speaks volumes, and she is suddenly not surprised that he has moved to Torchline. Granted, Torchline was vastly better than the Grounds, and there were a number of good reasons to move. The idea had even crossed her mind, though not seriously. ”That sounds like fun,” she says, thinking of all the mischief she would drag her brothers into. It was always Weaver instigating, though they did not have the sort of parents that minded. It may have upset John a bit, but he certainly didn’t beat them for it. ”What was your sister’s name?”
He skirts the question about the trouble he has gotten into, but she lets it go. She does not pry, generally, but respects some amount of privacy. Eventually the truth tended to find its way to the surface, one way or another. One just had to wait for it. Weaver simply nods as he agrees to take her back to the Grounds. She does not actually need an escort, but she doesn’t mind the company as they make the journey. Perhaps she will stop at the market and see what she can find before returning to Halo. ”I am going to grow too soft for the cold of Halo if I keep spending so much time here,” she says with a chuckle. Really, she was already too soft for it with the magic now in her veins, magic she did not particularly want to lose. It was a nice change, not freezing constantly.
He nods his head to her when she questions the boxing. “It was illegal there, but when I joined the rebellion it was sort of a front for gambling.” A small half smile creeps along his face to that – but he explains what he was trained in, gaze drifting back over to Weaver when the question hits. “I was a part of the section in Korofi that made the laws and enforced them.” He considers her for a moment, gaze scanning her face as he decides whether to tell her or not. “My father… He was the current leader of it, the king of the county essentially. So when I was born, they raised me and taught me what I’d need to know to take his place and keep the status quo.” A rise and fall of his shoulders to that.
But instead, he focuses on the ocean and the nostalgia it brings, the sweet memories that arrive with it. A nod is given toward it sounding like fun – and it had been, for a time, before they’d been split after he’d won his trial and had to go to the front lines of everything. “Her name is Saartjie.” He says, voice steady and smooth along the jumble of letters that make up her name. “And your brothers?” He asks with a tilt of his head.
The walk is easy enough, however, and he chuckles a bit more with her as she mentions she’ll grow too soft. “I never saw snow before arriving here.” He replies with a slight twist of his face, a scrunch of his nose. “Can’t say I’m a fan of it nor the cold.”
maybe i'll cope with life without hope
maybe i'll open the door and fall through the floor
SuNJATA
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.
He fills her in on details of his old life, and she tries to imagine it. Perhaps it was not unlike Caido, in some way, but she cannot quite slot the pieces together. It is hard for her to imagine other worlds though, having never been exposed to what else is out there. ”I am sorry you were pulled from your life, though I admit, I cannot imagine you as a king,” she says, though her words are playful. He was a king in his own way, creating an empire and a guild, mastering secrets and whispers. He just wasn’t the sort of king that needed a crown.
”A pretty name,” she says, and some female counterpart to Sunjata comes to mind. Probably entirely wrong, but minds are prone to creating and concocting. ”My older brother was Erebor, though he passed away a few years ago. My younger brother is Korbin, and he’s still a proper pain in my ass.” More so than he used to be, though she leaves that out for now. She loves him all the same, even if he’s a moody teenager.
She chuckles as he admits to not seeing snow. ”I never saw an ocean before. Or anything green, for that matter. Not unless it was grown inside.” He wasn’t missing much when it came to snow, really, though some part of her would always be partial to it. Even if it was a little frozen hell, it was her hell.
