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!
"The Old Gods, but not one in particular among them. I just started here because... well, because I'm here at the moment. Not very special, I guess."
And ohhh, it doesn't matter what tone Amun used to ask, because the important thing was he had asked. And Quanil liked answering questions, especially questions about what they were (currently) interested in. "I don't know, actually! But it's possible. Carvings that seem newer than the building itself could indicate that it was something else first and then became a shrine later, which would also be interesting, though perhaps not relevant. Though it might be, actually." They stopped to think for just a second, barely a tick of a watch, before continuing, "But right now it's all still just basic information gathering. This is the first shrine building I've inspected after all, and I want to take a look at the shrine itself, too, naturally, but I'll take notes for now and analyze them later. I want to look for similarities amongst the shrines and buildings, too. There's really a lot to learn!"
And then they remembered why Amun was here, and cleared their throat. "And it... helps keep my mind busy. I-I mean, it's easy for my mind to be busy, but it keeps it off of having lost a friend."
A death hadn't weighed this heavily on them since their grandparents had passed. They'd never blown any of them off, either, but they'd hardly known most other people. Miss Maea had been nice and helpful and she'd been a good person. They laid a hand on the wall of the building. "I'm sure Ludo was very careful and nice to her soul. If, uh... that's how soul collection works." They could probably ask the provost about that, actually, but... question for another time. Like so many.
Narrowing his eyes, Amun crossed his arms. "Old gods? No interest in the new ones?" This time, the question came out with a bit of an edge to it, though far less hostile than many of his Ascended kin.
As Quanil began to ramble, the potter checked out a bit, making agreeing noises and humming occasionally to give the semblance that he was paying attention. When the words ceased, he blinked. "Fascinating." His tone indicated that it was anything but. "How can you even tell the age of something by looking at it?" Again he was more than a bit disinterested.
As they actually began to talk about Maea, though, Amun's expression grew sad again. "I understand. The wanting distractions thing." Lowering his arms, he grimaced.
"I don't know how Ludo works. I guess we'll never really know until...you know." He sounded almost bitter about that fact.
"Oh no, I have interest in the New Ones, too! In fact... hrm. That might be an interesting thing to check out..." They considered the idea they'd just had and then brightened. "Thank you! You've given me a new avenue to explore." And, as usual, they smiled. Also as usual, they meant it.
Quanil didn't think about Ascended often, and didn't really have any reason to distrust or dislike them, personally. They had no idea they were talking to one, but that was hardly surprising; their first interaction with an Ascended, they'd thought Nate was a floating hooded cloak and a pair of shoes. (To be fair, they had been rather sleep-deprived at the time.)
The question of judging age was a bit thornier. "Um, well, I can't. Not just by looking. I mean, you can tell if a building is old if the materials used to make it aren't used anymore or if the building's falling apart, but in general, you can't, no. But I can take notes, and then go back and see if the Loreseekers have anything about similar... building styles or other features. Maybe someone somewhere knew a particular building was however-many years old, and it had this feature and that feature and they stopped doing those however-many-other years later, and then if you find a building with those features, you can tell how old it is. It takes time, and I'm not even sure if we have any books about it, but it's worth checking into." Especially now.
Quanil lowered their head when Amun expressed their understanding about distractions and their ignorance of Ludo's workings. "Sorry, I made things sad again. I didn't mean to! But... it's hard not to be sad right now, and it's okay to be sad because a good person we both knew is gone from the world. And I guess knowing how the gods work isn't something any of them really want."
Amun forehead creased with confusion. "What new avenue?" Then he shook his head. "If you have questions about the new gods, I'd be happy to answer what I can."
Frowning slightly at Quanil's explanation, he looked over the facade of the building. Then he shrugged. "Or you could just...ask?" He gestured at the crowd of people that seemed to be active in Torchline no matter what time of day it was. Or night, for that matter.
Shaking his head slightly, he slipped his hands back into his pockets. "Not your fault. But you're right. We'll be sad, though I imagine if Maea was here now she'd have a few choice words for us about wallowing."
"Really?" Someone happy to answer questions?! "What are they like? Are you friends with The Voice or... or The Core? That's the other one, right? I usually only hear The Voice mentioned. Are there others? Did they worship the Old Gods before they became Gods? What were they like before they became Gods themselves?"
They stopped themselves there, with visible, obvious effort. "Sorry, sorry. I'm trying to be better about that. It's hard for me to just ask one question. I... my brain's so full of them, except for when I look at the ocean. Then it calms down."
The first time they'd seen it, so blue, sparkling in the sunshine, with Miss Maea. The smell of salt and fish in the air, the sounds of the breaking waves... Even remembering that settled their mind a little.
"True. She was very nice, and she would want us to be as happy and healthy as we could be." They considered this a bit, and then smiled. "I'm happy to have known her, even though I'm sad she's gone now."
Immediately Amun regretted offering to answer Quanil's questions. Still, despite the slight hint of annoyance crossing his features, he answered them as best he could. "I dunno anything about the Core, but the Voice is wonderful. I don't know much about her past, but she treats all the Ascended like her children." His voice was fond as he spoke of his goddess.
Waving a hand, the potter shrugged. "It's alright." However, at the mention of the ocean, he glanced towards it. Taking a moment to drink it in (metaphorically) he let it steady him. Nodding slowly at the mention of Maea, he smiled. "Me too. And I'm sure she's safe and happy in Mort's embrace now."
"Oh, that's nice. That The Voice is nice to you like that. I mean, I assume so, if she treats you like her children." Some parents weren't all that nice to their children, and that was setting aside Quanil's parents, who had basically treated him like a friendly acquaintance they were boarding, and not a child of theirs.
But the phrase the man used about Mort made Quanil's face screw up in disgust. "Sorry, I know you don't mean it like that, but 'Mort's embrace' makes me think they're... um... doing things I don't want to think about." Although, as usual, that drew a question. "Do Gods even... do that? I mean, I know there are demi-gods, so I guess ...maybe they do... unless demi-gods are made some other way? Does The Voice have sex, do you know? or do you kind of lose interest in that when you become a God and you just do it when you want to have a kid?"
Amun immediately nodded. "Yes. She's very good to her Ascended, and anyone else who assists her." Grinning faintly, he gave Quanil a curious look. "You know, you could always go talk to her yourself." It was an idle suggestion, as if he didn't care one way or another.
As they spoke about how strange the phrase was, he just shrugged. "They definitely get it on. I've met children of pretty much all the gods. As I understand it, they're all made in the normal way." However, he shook his head at the questions about the Voice. "I've never heard of her having a natural born demi-god. Considering the Ascended can't have children, she might not be able to either." He wasn't particularly interested in finding out, as evidenced by his tone.
"Yeah, I was thinking about that, actually. Going to talk to her. I'll definitely do it now, since you think it's a good idea." It was always nice to have someone else's opinion. They didn't always heed it, but it was nice to have.
"Oh, huh. I didn't realize Ascended couldn't have kids. Don't really know a whole lot about them; my parents were practically afraid of their own shadows, let alone Ascended or Abandoned or anything like that. I only knew of a few Attuned, even." They shrugged. "I'm just getting more and more questions." They chuckled sheepishly. "Not that that's unusual. I'm sorry if I'm taking up your time, Mi- ...Amun." They caught themselves from adding the "Mr." just in time.
Amun nodded encouragingly at Quanil, though he found his eyes were drawn to the ocean more and more. "Personally, I think it's an excellent idea." Indeed, he sounded quite pleased that they were going to go visit the Voice.
For a moment, he went entirely still, as only Ascended were capable of. Then he shrugged. "I don't mind answering whatever questions you might have. You are much more polite about it than most people who want to learn more about the Ascended." He chuckled, though there was something ugly about it and it cut off rather abruptly. Indeed, his expression grew quite sad as he remembered Maea's reaction to finding out what he was.
For the second time, Amun had opened himself up to the flurry of Quanil's mind. "Do the Ascended really drink blood? If you do, you don't have to drain someone dry, do you? Is drinking blood the only way to sustain yourself, or will regular food and drink do, too? Do you get dehydrated? Would you need blood or water or something to deal with that?
"If you don't drink blood, why do people say you do? I've heard all kinds of things, like that you have to kill people when you do it, or that it has to be babies - and I don't really believe the baby thing, because that just doesn't make any sense at all - or virgins or something. The virgins thing doesn't make sense either, but maybe they taste different? Do different people have different tastes or is all blood the same? Does it taste like chicken?!" That last question was a brand new on-the-spot one, so their eyes alit with the wonder of it. Fortunately, it also stopped the deluge - new questions coming in the middle or at the end of a bunch of old ones often had this effect, especially when they were talking to someone who might actually be able to answer with something other than rumor, opinion, or "I don't know."
Amun opened his mouth to answer Quanil's question. However, before he could say anything, they were moving on to the next one. And the next one. And the one after that. He blinked, bemused, as they rattled off almost too many questions to count.
When they finished, it took him a moment to realize that it was his turn to speak. "Uh, right. Blood." He grinned. "We do drink blood, but only a little bit of it. However, we don't have to do it to survive. The Voice can also replenish our fluids. That's actually the preferred method, but blood will do in a pinch. Those are the only two things that can sustain us."
Pausing, his brow furrowed as he tried to remember if he'd answered everything. "Anyone's blood will do. I personally only drink with someone's consent. As for taste, well..." Hesitating, he smirked a bit. "They taste the same to me. But drinking blood is the only thing that brings us pleasure."
Quanil's eyebrows twitched up. "Interesting. Fascinating, really! I suppose it's good to know we don't taste like chicken. But... really no pleasure at all otherwise? That sounds..."horrible but they weren't about to say that to his face. That'd be really very rude; even they knew that.
"...like it might be difficult. For me, anyway." They paused and then added, "I knew Ascended didn't eat babies." They were quite pleased with themselves, almost smug. "Stupid kids' stories, and I always said so." It was rare they got to be right; they were going to enjoy it a little bit.
At Quanil's almost concerned tone, Amun shrugged and shook his head. "No pleasure. Well, physical pleasure. We can still enjoy pleasures of a different kind." It came out in a teasing tone, and he winked at them.
However, his brief bout of happiness disappeared almost immediately. "I think you'll find that almost all of what you've heard about Ascended is just that, kids stories. But if you have any more questions, I'll answer them as best I can." It was an almost reluctant offer. Indeed, he found his gaze drawn back to the ocean, which was tantalizingly close. He looked at it longingly, expression wistful and sad.
