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!
Slipping in beside him, hands and fingers intertwined with the Shield’s, the Sword’s rigid contortions visibly relaxed: spine not so taut, rigid, unbending, or unyielding. For the most part though he remained perfectly silent, indulging in age-old abilities of listening, of observing, of attempting to decipher the wherewithal and predilections of the unknown. He had always been painfully ignorant of the gods’ and their tendencies; and it was well-established now, as Ludo appeared, then slid back into ethers and vestiges, find me lilted and haunted over his mind.
A game. When had he last played or been entertained by a game?
Likely seasons before, when not so many had been lost, when broad shoulders were still able to carry the insurmountable weights, when mischief had been bound and established, and not by deities or heralds.
He wondered if it was a ruse, a trick. Or if this was something else entirely, and truly meant for entertainment. His eyes inclined towards Amalia, who would be far more knowledgeable and understanding of what was going on, Attuned bond reaching through, stepping forward, hand still wrapped in hers. Should we? And which path best to take? Which shell to look under? Which bramble, which bough, which will-o-wisp to follow? It all seemed too numerous, too chaotic, and he was unaware again, poised in either direction.
under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody, but unbowed
Again the sound of laughter on the wind, whispering over the sand, the sea, the surf, and Ludo vanished. Appeared again, in the guise of some small wretched thing, fingers blackened, eyes bottomless and dark; a sight that squeezed Maea's heart and sent chills down her spine all at once.
A game of hide-and-seek. Or was it tag? Perhaps a bit of both, and it didn't matter; the invitation was all she needed to drop her confusion over the Flood and focus solely on the ragged, childlike god. A welcome distraction, and a simple enough task that required none too much thought. Maea found herself laughing along, and when others began to scatter in search of the mischievous deity, Maea moved as well. Drew herself off towards the shoreline, where waves rolled in to tease the rocks and corals of the cathedral's base.
There, she searched the nooks and crannies of jagged outcrops for Ludo. Not really expecting to find it, but taking the task quite seriously. Some solemn amusement lighting her eyes; it drew Shii back from its mingling with the other will-o-wisps, to come help her by lighting up the area for her.
Nothing lasts forever, I thought you should know
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
This is not really what she expected, to end up playing hide and seek with a God. After all, she is used to them simply hiding from her. As some jump into the game, Weaver stands back, watching for a little while. Eventually she begins to search though, making her way into the crowd and looking for the god.
Her attempts are, admittedly, half-hearted. There are others who seem to look in earnest, perhaps because they believe the god is likely to be found by them. Whereas Weaver assumes that like her many shrine visits, the god will stay invisible to her.
Though he did manage to always take the toys she brought. With that thought in mind, she pulls the little toy boat out of her pack and sits it down in the sand in front of her and just waits, sitting herself down in the sand with it. Maybe he’d come for the gift. Or probably he’d never show himself and just snatch it up, but that was fine. She’d brought it for him, after all.
Distracted by the lights, Quanil's first awareness is of the laughter and the time-honored command of children everywhere when hide-and-seek is beginning.
Quanil has always gotten on well with children, before the weight of the world begins to press in on them. Before their parents tell them that Quanil is to be avoided because they're too strange. Before they grow up and give away their toys.
The point of hide-and-seek is never really to find them. It's the seeking. The cathedral of dancing lights (as Quanil thought of it at the moment) was too small a place to effectively hide, and they spotted their guild master heading into the structure. The child would be found in due course; but that wasn't the fun of it. The fun was in pretending that the hidden could be anywhere, even in ridiculous places. The fun was in the make-believe, in the suspension of disbelief.
So Quanil made a great show of peeking under a sea shell. "Could you be... UNDER HERE?!" as they raised the sea shell well into the air. "Oh, nope. No one here! That's odd, I could have sworn..." They kept the sea shell in hand, as if to make sure no one could try to hide in it again. "Maaaaaaaybe you're over here...?" they asked, voice raised to make sure it carried, heading away from the cathedral a bit.
Unlike Deimos in his indecision, Amalia finds the idea of the game delightfully charming, if a bit bemusing. Find me calls Ludo the black-eyed youth, disappearing into the small cathedral of glass and causing Amalia to quirk a brow.
As others begin their search above water (by land or by sea, in Ronin and Remi's case) the Shield stands and dusts off her legs, inclining her head to the whispering waves. With a broad grin and a squeeze of his hand she tugs Deimos toward the edge of the blue: We shall, comes the mischievous declaration as she steps, barefoot, into the sea.
Though she might have been able to walk on the surface with ease, she chooses instead to sink below. As she does her body shifts, skin adopting a rosy tint, legs converging to form a tail. The dolphin slips easily below the water, beginning to search the deeper areas around the sandbar for signs of the god, confident that Deimos is close behind - either swimming alongside or holding her fin.
03-13-2020, 01:59 AM (This post was last modified: 03-13-2020, 02:00 AM by Oliver.)
OLIVER
A familiar man appeared behind him and Oliver offered Loren a smile. "Unfortunately, I'm not sure." He spoke in a hushed tone before turning his gaze back towards Ludo. "I just came because I heard Ludo was here... I didn't actually believe it to be true... but I guess it really is... do you know why Ludo may appear?" Was everything okay?
The voice whispered within his ears and Oliver's body shuddered, not quite expecting what he heard. He also had zero expectations for what would happen next so it came off as a massive surprise when the god disappeared in order to play... a game? Alright... guess he was playing hide and seek now.
Shifting down into his fox form, Oliver started off his journey. His ears were perked up and his sniffer (nose) had been turned to high alert. His actual goal for searching for Ludo was to check in any and all holes that he could find. While some others possibly had this idea, it still seemed like he could have the upper hand. If Oliver managed to find a hole, he would lower his head and sniff around calling out through his mental link to Ludo before continuing on to the next hole.
Oliver shifts into a fox and begins to check holes! He will check a hole, sniff around, call out to Ludo, before continuing on to his next hole.
In the lowering dark and from the distance he had chosen it was hard to see many people clearly. Some seemed to know each other, gathering in pairs, while others like himself stood alone, wary or perhaps just uncertain. A few bold individuals approached the cathedral directly, but the floating mass of rags and eerie mask ignored them all until suddenly-
It was gone.
But the child's voice carried somehow directly to him, even where he stood at the edge of things, and Kellan shivered. A game? With that dark spirit? It seemed impossible that it could end well for them, but others were already fanning out, seeking in the most unlikely places, many with playful laughter on their lips.
Deeply unsettled but not wanting to earn the ire of the local... spirits? Ghosts? Gods? Kellan looked around and used his bow to shift aside the leaves of the jungle's verge, peering under them as he saw others doing with shells and waves and holes in the ground, making an attempt at participation even if he felt more lost and confused by the minute.
Surely that’s not what the Herald is here to do. Or maybe it is. How the fuck would Wessex know? Eagle eyes occasionally spot the briefest glimpse of a child as she wanders aimlessly around, not really putting any effort into the finding the deity who conspired to kill her and all her siblings. While she isn’t afraid of him, per se, having faith that her Lady would intervene if things got truly dicey, she also doesn’t really want to end up face-to-face with him.
Let someone else ‘find’ the Herald. The only thing Wessex wants to know is what he's doing in Torchline, and does it have to do with the portals?
I’m kinda amused. Whatever I'd expected when I (and everyone else) rolled up, it wasn't this. Especially given that I had to yell at everyone to cooperate. This seems to be going better... I think.
There are others who leap into the herald’s orders without a second thought and still others who seem… less than enthusiastic. Curiosity wins out in the end, and I step forward with the others. Every now and then I catch a glimpse of a little boy and dart forward to see if that’s who’s under the rags. I like kids, I like playing when I’m in the mood, but here amongst the Outlanders and non-Torchers, I’m still a bit on edge and can’t seem to give myself fully over to the game.
Rance hadn’t seen the floating ragged figure when he’d arrived, too distracted by the crowd and the dozens of strange lights, the temple as a whole and the beach around him. It wasn’t until the figure disappeared that Rance noticed it for its absence, a sudden increase in the lights where it had been.
The child’s laughter on the wind had his eyes widening with the now familiar feelings of surprise. Even as that faded, confusion hit anew. People were…. Reacting to the creepy voice? Were smiling and laughing as they entered the temple? Did that mean the owner of the voice was… benign? Rance was much too aware of how spirits and fae might trick others with the guise of a game, only to trap them somewhere forever for they’re own amusement. He’d heard and recorded more than enough tales of folly to have any desire to become one of them.
But still… he was curious.
Reluctantly and wary of a trap, but still prickling with the desire to know, he swiftly changed into bird form and took wing. The coastal breezes meant he couldn’t fly straight to his goal, but the lights and his own dark feathers would hopefully disguise where his spiral flight landed him: on the roof of the cathedral itself. Claws clacking on the surface, he looked down on the massing crowd, watching them all search with interest.
And, maybe, he would spot the source of the laughter….
Rance turns into a raven and flies to the cathedrals roof to watch the chaos.
03-14-2020, 03:28 PM (This post was last modified: 03-14-2020, 03:29 PM by Loren.)
Love mends even the broken parts
Loren nods at Oliver's words. Before the healer could say anything, however, Ludo was speaking. As it disappeared into the cathedral (and then fully disappeared), apparently expecting them to play a game of hide and seek, he pressed his lips together. Everyone scattered, and he watched Remi and Ronin head off.
As Oliver shifted into a fox and began to search in any holes, Loren padded along behind him. He compelled a few gulls to keep watch for the god while he moved towards the outside of the cathedral. He examined the base and the structure, trying to see if it had somehow passed through the walls and was hiding behind the structure.
As Ludo asked for them to play hide and seek, Saiden grinned. He shot Raza a wink, then set down the bag of dominos he'd brought for the god. Glancing around as the rest of the crowd headed off in various directions, he arched an eyebrow. Then he strode towards the ocean and waded into the water.
Once he was deep enough, he dove under the surface. Moving in practiced strokes, he began searching the ocean floor for any sign of it. Every once in a while, he would surface and take a deep breath. Then he would dive back under again, enthusiastically throwing himself into the search.
When Ludo asked for them to play, Alina narrowed her eyes. She didn't enjoy games, but she was also a devotee of the old gods and knew better to refuse a request from them. So, as everyone fanned out below, she watched them do so. Then she smirked, and looked around the area, but there was no sign of it.
So she started rising, wings flapping almost lazily. She flew higher and higher, as high as she could, as if Ludo could maybe be hiding in the clouds or the sky. However, she also made sure to check below her periodically, even as the ground grew more and more distant.
Delphia grinned brightly, but unlike others did not immediately take off after the form of the small child. She paused, instead reaching out to the spirits that lurked in the shadows. The whispered and moved with more energy than usual, the Herald's presence invigorating them. Their help, she asked for, guidance in finding the tricky little god she loved so dearly. And help the spirits would, for she was the daughter of Mort, and it was oh so nice to be acknowledged by the living every now and again.
With their suggestions and guidance ringing in her ears, Delphia set off, headed in whatever direction the spirits sent her to find Ludo.
Delphia uses her spiritual powers to listen to the spirits nearby, and follows their directions to get to Ludo.
