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!
Josh was in Torchline for one reason and one reason alone: Mermaids. This particular creature had always evaded him on Earth, always been the subject of stories and tales he couldn't quite find sources for, hoaxes that ended up being nothing more...he'd always found himself both endlessly fascinated and disappointed by the concept.
After all, the deep ocean was one of the few places that was still a complete mystery on Earth. Would the mermaids know more about it?
He stood on the shore looking out to sea, unsure how one went about meeting a mermaid. He could swim, but didn't want to in his nice suit; besides, he was sure they had a home and he could spend forever looking for it. With only one idea of how to garner their attention, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted out into the evening: "ANY MERMAIDS OUT THERE? I WANT TO TALK."
Well, Maru has certainly seen quite a number of things in his years, but a strange man yelling his lungs out on the beach to summon a merman is not one of them. Few even know of the existence of his kind, and those who do are certainly more...tactful in their attempts to conference with him or his people. It is so bizarre and unexpected that Maru cannot help the trickle of laughter to leave him, bubble emanating from his lips at the confounded state this man has already left him in.
Though the manners leave much to be desired, Maru is intrigued and amused if nothing else. That at least warrants a response. Such boldness cannot be overlooked, though perhaps rewarding the strange landwalker is not the best course of action either. Maru rises from the shallows as he approaches, long inky black hair draping down his back as his tentacles move him closer. Hands relaxed down at his sides, observing the man on the shore. Dark, fathomless eyes twinkle in the dim light with amusement, a tiny quirk of a smile at the edge of his mouth. "You certainly have a way of catching our attention. What do you wish to talk about?" The stranger's answer will tell him whether it's worth spending his time here or whether he should slip back into the ocean to find quieter company.
Was Josh actually expecting his method of Mermaid-attracting to work? Not really, though he had sometimes found the best way to do things was the simplest, most stupid-seeming way.
It seemed that theory continued to work as from the waters rose a man, Josh's eyes flicking up and down to take him in as he came forward. He didn't come to the beach, meaning Josh wasn't sure if he had a tail or not: he tried to peer under the water, but Maru's black hair and the depths masked what lay beneath well enough that he couldn't be certain.
He was a little star struck by Maru's appearance (besides Sasquatches, Mermaids were his favourite creature) and took a moment to speak. "I want to know how you work. I want to know everything there is to know about Mer. I'll pay any price." Josh stepped forwards, keenly earnest.
The baldfaced stare makes Maru display an uncharacteristic twitch of a smirk, one blue-ringed tentacle rising from the water to wave in a mocking sort of way, amused by this stranger's intensity. Though he already appears somewhat lost for words. Maru is far from an impatient man however, and waits for the stream of words that eventually trickles forth. The wording could certainly use some work, but he is far too amused to care by this point.
"Quite a broad question. Are you sure you want to offer such a tantalizing prize?" With an easy pulse of his tentacles he comes closer, as close as he can really get in the shallows without impacting his escape time if it needs to be done. "You will have to be specific, stranger. Do you care to know our physiology, our social habits, our political stances? We would be here for days to tell you such a vast history." And that is if he can sway Maru into revealing such information anyway. What, after all, does he intend to offer?
Seeing the tentacle rise out of the water Josh's eyes lit up and the most genuine smile he had had in Caido appeared on his face, happiness and something a little different in it. It seemed for the moment he was making Maru smile too so Josh let himself relax into the conversation, ready to learn as much as he could.
"Anything. Name it." He insisted again, sure there was little Maru could ask for he wouldn't willingly give for information on the tentacled merman.
As for what it was he actually wanted to know, he paused. "We could start with physiology. How you breathe and how your human parts are connected to the tentacles." Josh nodded towards Maru's bottom half, still mostly hidden but well alive within his imagination.
The man, for all his scruffy outward appearance, is quite handsome as a joyous smile steals over his face. Maru smiles serenely back in response, daring to come a little closer. Out of all his brethren he is blessed to have been part-octopus, capable of spreading out his tentacles to move in shallower waters. "A favor, then. For a future time. I'd like to get to know you first." See what exactly the man has to offer in the first place. Instead of trying to explain how, not an expert on human anatomy, he instead pushes up out of the water with his tentacles braced against the sand, kindly beckoning Josh forward to examine the connection himself.
"Some have gills, others are like ah...plants, I suppose. Our skin must remain damp in order to breathe. This is usually determined by our aquatic shapes." Fishtail mermaids had gills most frequently.
"Sure." He was a little surprised Maru wanted to know more about him, though he supposed for Maru a human might just be as rare a surprise as a merman was for him. A meeting of two worlds. Eagerly Josh came forward to study Maru's body, kneeling down to get a better look and squinting close at the blending between human skin and octopus.
"Like plants. Explain what you mean by that." He asked plainly, wanting to know what it was Maru was implying: did they photosynthesise? Grow flowers? "You are clearly an octopus. Can you fully shift into one like the Attuned can? ...In fact, how do I know you aren't just a half-shifted Attuned?" Now suspicious he looked up to Maru with a squint.
