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!
it doesn't matter where you roam, when no one's left to call you home
Remi snorted and nodded. "It is certainly more tolerated here than in Halo, it sounds like. There's a balance to it all..." Biting the inside of his lip, the alchemist shrugged. The trouble was, when things were off-balance, little could be done. "Lots of vigilante justice in the streets, you might say."
With a bit of a shrug and a deep inhale, the alchemist shook his head. "Oh, the Grounds are fine. Mostly dead crops and of course there's the big half-broken Spire in the middle. It's the people." Once he'd have laid down his life for almost any of them. Now? Now he wished never to return. "Hero breeding ground, if you ask me. There are some who thought themselves big fish in that little pond and are trying to force that mentality on the rest of the world."
i might have strained a bit too far, i'm countin' all the moonlit stars
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Vigilante justice is often no justice at all." Morgan quipped in a tone that implied she'd said this many times before, which she had. She did not trust people to take the law into their own hands, not when they had connections and biases and resentments. Not that she was without those things, but she did her best to remove them from the people she served and arrested.
The way Remi spoke of all this made her curious as to his role in it. "What is it you do here?" She asked, hoping it would not be one of those questionable jobs on the dock.
Hero breeding ground. The description made her laugh, though she was unaware of any 'heroes' coming from the Hollowed Grounds so far. "I have heard tales of attempts to take over the Hollowed Ground. Is there anyone from there you believe I should be wary of?" If there was anyone that was a particular threat, she wanted the names now before they were a problem.
it doesn't matter where you roam, when no one's left to call you home
"With neither judge nor jury, who's to say?" Remi quipped back, though his tone suggested he did agree with her. It was one of the things he thought most in need of change here, but as one man, he could do little about it. Still, the number of women raped, the murders gone unpunished, and thieves constantly filling their pockets cried out for justice of some sort.
"Oh, a bit of this and a bit of that. I...was once a weapons creator, but mostly now I'm an alchemist. I help out where I can." Murdering sailors for Ludo, fixing windows for Raza. All in a day's work."
Tilting his head in a rather reluctant gesture, the alchemist sighed softly. "I'll not pretend to tell you how to do your job and trust you to make your own impressions but...Yes, the Grounds have had..." Remi counted silently: Zariah, Edy, Jigano, Wessex, Ronin...Rexanna? "..6 different rulers in the last two years? The current queen, Rexanna, has a good head on her shoulders though and experience with ruling. I think she is keen to keep the peace, for whatever that is worth to you."
i might have strained a bit too far, i'm countin' all the moonlit stars
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Morgan did not have another quip to come back with, just found herself glad that Halo was comparatively lawful; they had their criminals but there were systems and punishments in place, and she found that most people were willing to work for the greater good of the Citadel.
"A weapons creator and alchemist? You are a creative man, then." She looked him up and down and supposed he did look a bit like an artist, actually - or at least the limited idea she had of what an artist would look like. "Do you have magic to assist you? I've...never been able to create art. My mind will not make the images." If she so chose she could use her mastered water magic to make ice sculptures but she'd never had the urge to do anything beyond a functional block or wall.
The news that the Hollowed Grounds had had six different rulers in two years came as a bit of a surprise, Morgan incredulous. "How has this Rexanna won her throne? It sounds a volatile place, to have so much changeover in such a short time. Did she have to fight for it?"
it doesn't matter where you roam, when no one's left to call you home
Remi shrugged a touch at what might have been a compliment, or just a mere assumption. "In some ways." He said a touch cagely. In this strange new world Remi found himself in, he tried his best not to be too terribly down to one archetype or another. "I do, yes." The alchemist agreed in a low voice. "I haven't always, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't make certain things much easier."
Scratching just above his brow as if that might help his memory, Remi tried desperately to recall. Her ascension had come at a rather tumultuous time in his life and he'd paid absolutely no attention to it. "I...believe there was a vote. The former queen's rule, as an ascended, did not sit well with the Fae and the Greatwood so they called for her to give up the thrown. I think she did and Rexanna was voted in. Or perhaps she simply filled the spot, I don't really recall. But given she's a hybrid ascended herself, I'm surprised she's held the peace honestly." But then, Rex had experience, as he'd said.
i might have strained a bit too far, i'm countin' all the moonlit stars
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Morgan saw no shame in using magic for your craft; it was only an extra ability like using your hands or any other skill. "What kind of things do you make as an Alchemist? The typical application is turning things to gold, isn't it?" Not that she thought that was particularly useful, the metal being too soft to use for decent armour and her having little need for trinkets.
Ascended. There it was again, that new concept that had begun to bleed into Morgan's life from all angles recently; followers of a Goddess-that-wasn't. She had no desire to defend the honour of the Old Gods, but something about the 'new' race made her skin crawl and she found she felt a little ill at the idea of them already achieving positions of leadership. "These...Ascended. How do you feel about them? You likely know more than I."
it doesn't matter where you roam, when no one's left to call you home
He chuckles and nods. "Yes, that is what most people think of. I suppose I go a bit off book when it comes to that. I prefer the creation of new things, than just transmuting them." Rubbing a touch bashfully at the back of his neck, the alchemist shrugged his shoulders. "Telescopes, shapes that glow like stars to be placed on ceilings and such...magical weapons and items."
Watching Morgan though not able to tell precisely what it was she was thinking, likely her military training was to thank for this, Remi gave her a skeptical sort of look as she asked his thoughts on the ascended. Her question certainly seemed highly leading. "I came from a world where racism was the norm. I was judged for one fact about me. I was told this place was different, but it isn't." Morgan's opinion wasn't really the minority after all.
"So I think perhaps it's important to note the difference between those who choose to be ascended, and those who the Voice brought here as ascended." Still, unlike the other races, the ascended were inexorably linked to the Voice. "I think the Voice is manipulative and deceitful, though perhaps no more than the old gods and the heralds are."
i might have strained a bit too far, i'm countin' all the moonlit stars
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I see." Stars for ceilings seemed pointless when the ones in the night sky would always be a hundred times better, but Morgan could see the use in telescopes and other magical items. She herself had often wish she had more in her arsenal. "...Do you sell your magical items? There are things I could use, as the situation in Halo appears to be growing..more complicated." Not wanting to elaborate on that, Morgan just waited for Remi to answer her question.
Remi's opinion on the Ascended drew a raised eyebrow from her and she looked him up and down, not having expecting the answer. "You would consider them a race rather than a cult? True, those that are brought here as Ascended must be in an unfortunate position, but those that choose it were not born that way. They chose to follow this Goddess, to give away their humanity for whatever she could promise. You do not believe their influence to be dangerous?" She was skeptical but willing to hear Remi's thoughts on the matter as someone who had presumably had more exposure to the Ascended than herself.
it doesn't matter where you roam, when no one's left to call you home
"I do. For trades or future favours and the like." Unable to help himself, he smirks a touch darkly at her silence. "Complicated? With such powerful abandoned like Neron, Zariah, and Loren at your helm? I'm shocked to hear it." The blandness of his voice and his raised brow suggested he was anything but. "If I can help, feel free to ask it of me. But I should make this clear: I've no love for the Launceleyn family. I'd kill both Loren and Zariah onsight if the opportunity presented itself."
Considering her words, Remi merely shrugs. "What differentiates a race from a cult? I suppose you'd have to consider her less than a god for that to be the case." Which from what he'd heard, many did. "Do I believe their influence dangerous? No more so than anyone else." Shifting his stance slightly as he tried to come up with the words—language having never really been his strong suit—he fidgeted for a moment before seeming to commit. "Hating the ascended seems...lazy. I'd rather be against certain ideals and those who choose to hold them, than damning an entire race—or cult. There are always exceptions. From what I've seen, the few ascended I know seem to have no interest in the Voice's larger agenda. Some do, and if it ever comes down to it, I'd much rather be able to tell them apart than lump them together."
i might have strained a bit too far, i'm countin' all the moonlit stars
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Hm..." Morgan did not like to be in debt; still, it was good to know Remi was here if she ever did feel the need for some magical tools. "..I may return later." As for the Launceleyns - maybe she ought to have felt offended at his callous words on her co-workers, and while she took note of it as a potential danger to the Palace, she could only snort a laugh. "I understand when it comes to Zariah, but what has Loren done? The man is a sufficient enough healer and takes most orders."
Remi's musings about the Ascended and what they were were listened to, but she couldn't help personally feeling the best way to stop the danger was to eliminate the source, even if there would be good lives caught in the balance: life was not a child's story and sometimes sacrifices had to be made. "Then how do you tell them apart? How do you know which are aiming to progress their 'Goddesses' agenda and which are safe?"
it doesn't matter where you roam, when no one's left to call you home
The alchemist could only laugh a touch at that. "Loren, taking orders without argument? Wonders never cease." He could only roll his eyes and shrug his shoulders. He'd not malign the Launceleyn here and now to a near-perfect stranger. "Loren and I came from the same place. The same world, before being brought here." Actually, the bulk of the wounds done to him by the healer had occurred here in Caido, but a shared history seemed to be enough of an answer to Morgan's question.
Nodding approvingly at Morgan's question, the alchemist tapped the side of his nose as his brows raised. "Well, that's the trick, isn't it." He agreed. "Luckily, I am no soldier and this war of old gods versus new is not one I plan on engaging in." Despite the PoRtAl GuArDiAn sphere in his pocket. "So I leave it to much cleverer minds than mine to decide."
i might have strained a bit too far, i'm countin' all the moonlit stars
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Remi and Loren had come from the same world: a little surprise to Morgan, who had assumed Remi to be a Natural, but she knew some of the Outlanders had come together. If the men had personal history together she supposed it could be all kinds of things that caused Remi to disapprove of the Launceleyn, from a romantic tryst gone wrong to a brotherly rivalhood; as long as Loren was a good worker, she wouldn't pry.
Morgan too tried to keep out of the war between the Gods, though she was swiftly becoming involved in it as she found herself more and more biased against the Ascended: with that said, she was hardly fighting for the Old Gods either. "And who would you consider a cleverer mind? No one I've found passionate about this God war seems to be particularly intellectual about it." In fact, they'd all seemed like cultists, determined to push their own side with no thought to anything else.
it doesn't matter where you roam, when no one's left to call you home
"Passion isn't quite the enemy of rationality but...probably not an ally, either." The Alchemist agreed with a bit of a nod. As for who might fill such a role? Certain names came to mind certainly, Jigano chief among them. Even so, what the Sage might want and think best might not necessarily be so. That was the trouble with all of this: competing goals made the path forward almost impossible to see.
"Honestly? I've no idea. I can tell you it isn't the portal guardians." Of which he was one. "It probably isn't anyone who wears a crown, and it probably doesn't necessarily have to be a natural either, but perhaps I'm biased."
i might have strained a bit too far, i'm countin' all the moonlit stars
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Remi brought up Portal Guardians, another piece of the puzzle Morgan hadn't heard of yet...but she found herself hesitating before she asked any more, thinking it best to keep this short and sweet, not overwhelm Remi with queries and herself with information when she was still only beginning to face this threat.
"...I see. I..do not know if I believe any one person could hold all the answers, but..." She shrugged, looking out to the sea - and was surprised to see the sun had dipped lower than she had expected, turned her head towards the top of the beach where the portal stood. "...I should go. I cannot stay and chat on the beach forever. Thank you, for your help." With a polite nod, she would say her goodbyes then head back to Halo, plenty on her mind from her conversation with the Alchemist.
