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!
I'm a lady, like whoa I could bring you to your knees
Weaver makes her way back from Delphia’s gathering, having no real interest in sticking around. She had some errands to run in the Grounds before getting back to Halo, and it seemed she’d need to stop and get some sort of treat now too. Devas Bakery was on the list of places she needs to go, so maybe she’d just grab some sort of baked good, though that probably wouldn’t keep very well. No, something in the market seemed to make more sense.
Honestly, she didn’t really care what she got. Quite possibly she’d just make some toy like she’s done countless other times for Ludo. It had been interesting to learn more of why the herald seemed to like toys so much. She’d been bringing him toys for as long as she could remember, not that Ludo had ever bothered to come see her, though he did take the toys.
Though it is somewhat late, Weaver is hopeful there will still be shops and stalls open when she gets back into the Grounds proper. The weather was nice enough that people seemed to be taking advantage before Deepfrost came and everything changed. There was a chill in the air that Weaver doesn’t notice, though her hood is up anyway simply because she likes it. With her scythe on her back and her black cloak on, she certainly fits right into the theme of the evening.
Josh had had so much on his mind he'd barely even considered what he might gather for this trick or treat event. In fact as he walked along the field paths, lost in thought, he didn't even really remember that the event existed. He'd never really been one for community spirit, had always been more of a loner...he couldn't remember the last time he'd given or received a Christmas present.
He stopped dead in his tracks when before him he thought for a moment he saw the Grim Reaper, black cloak and scythe included. After a moment he realised it was just someone dressed that way, but her appearance was interesting enough that he thought to follow her for a while to see where she was going. A cult would be fascinating.
Staying a distance behind her but not really bothering to be particularly stealthy, Josh began to follow along behind Weaver, trying to see if she was practicing any magic or heading somewhere secret. Was this creepy? Absolutely. But if there was a chance he could discover an underground death cult...well, he couldn't turn that down.
I'm a lady, like whoa I could bring you to your knees
Sadly for Josh, she’s really not that interesting. No, in fact, there are some pretty easy explanations for her grim reaper type garb. The cloak because she’s a Halovian, and wearing warm things is a habit. In fact, she loves her cloak so much she has multiples in various levels of warmth. The scythe because her mother loved unusual things, and had given it to her as a gift. Something crafted by magic, clearly, and designed to give her daughter something memorable. Perhaps it gave her a small advantage to simply wield something so different, but mostly Weaver suspected it had mostly just been for show.
For a while she ignores the footsteps behind her, figuring someone else had been leaving the gathering and walking in the same direction. It’s not like she doesn’t notice him, her ears trained for listening from so many years of hunting. She takes a route not quite direct though, because if they were heading to the Grounds, they would not follow. Instead, the footsteps continue, and eventually she gets annoyed. If they were going to attack, they would have done it already. So this is just weird and mildly creepy.
Weaver reaches up and pushes her hood down before stopping and spinning around to see who’s behind her. It’s hard to see through the growing darkness, so she sticks out a hand and lets some flames jump to life in her palm. ”What the fuck do you want?” she calls out toward the shape of someone behind her.
Josh began to let his mind wander as he followed Weaver, the path taking longer than expected...it was obvious she was trying to lose him, but he continued on anyway, hoping that the added pressure might make her go to somewhere she felt safe; for example the headquarters of her organisation.
He was not anticipating a confrontation but stopped dead with no visible signs of distress on his face when it happened, slowly raising his hands to show he would not attack. "I want to know where you're going." He stated plainly, flatly, saying no more than needed.
I'm a lady, like whoa I could bring you to your knees
He answers and she just stares at him for a moment, disbelief written all over her face. He’s damn lucky she didn’t just attack, because the thought had crossed her mind. Thankfully she’s actually rather controlled, even when she doesn’t necessarily pretend to be. ”You could have just asked,” she says, though the annoyance dripping from her voice is less than friendly at the moment.
Weaver lets the fire drop from her hand, pitching them back into the cover of evening. ”If you really must know, I am going to the market to go find some sort of treat. And if you are going to tag along, do so like a normal human and not a stalker.” It is the best opening he is going to get, and he can take it or leave it. She gives him a minute to make a move before she turns around and begins to walk to her destination, far more directly now that she knows who is behind her.
Josh shrugged; he could have just asked, but he thought he was more likely to discover the actual truth if he followed from a distance: unfortunately, Weaver had been more observant than expected. "You are dressing like that just to go to the market?" He asked, clearly disappointed. "I thought you might be going to a cult meeting."
Still, he supposed he had nowhere else to be, so he walked forward to be next to Weaver and motioned for her to move on, apparently not at all embarrassed by the way this meeting had begun. "I am not interested in harming you, if you thought that. It wouldn't help me." Josh shrugged.
I'm a lady, like whoa I could bring you to your knees
He seems to decide to join her, and she tries not to bristle at his presence. Generally she is pretty open to new faces, though she’s a little less open when that new face has been stalking her. Still, she does her best to be agreeable. Weaver can’t help but laugh as he mentions a cult meeting though. She might belong to a secret guild, but they were definitely not a cult, and she wasn’t going there anyway. ”I am from Halo. I have worn a cloak for the better portion of my life,” she says, as if this explains everything. And honestly, it pretty much does. This is how she dresses, and some habits die hard.
She chuckles again slightly, nodding her head back at the scythe in her hands. ”I cannot say I am particularly worried about that.” Between her scythe, knives, and fire, she was rarely all that worried about one person. Even if she couldn’t beat them, she could fight long enough to get away. ”Though stalking someone is usually not the greatest idea. You’ll find people a bit on edge, in Caido. Others are far more likely to attack first and ask questions later.” They had every right to do it too, with the lives they led.
"Halo. The cold mountainous region." Josh confirmed basically to himself, having heard of Halo from a few people now but not having been there himself. "Do you have any kind of cold-resisting magic or biological advantage? Seems primitive. To still rely on cloaks." From what he'd seen in Caido so far, people becoming part-animal or using magic was commonplace, so he'd think it odd if there was not a way to work around the cold.
Her advice was met with a shrug. "People don't like being stalked anywhere. I am just usually good enough at it that they don't notice." Did she think she was his first?
I'm a lady, like whoa I could bring you to your knees
He seems to be talking to himself as he says ‘cold mountain region’, but she nods out of habit. There are quite a lot of people who need that confirmation, it seems, though then again, there are a lot of Outlanders here now. For the most part, she didn’t dislike them, though if more of them turned out to be like Josh she might change her mind.
”Some of us do, but not all,” she says, wondering if he’s figured out that Caido is rather primitive. Particularly the Grounds, given how much damage it had endured when the barrier was up. ”Some of us just wear cloaks and stay inside a lot,” she says with a shrug. She does have cold resistance magic now, but she didn’t once, and she’d worn a much thicker version of the cloak she has on. At this point, it’s just part of her identity.
As he agrees that people don’t like being stalked and he’s usually better at it, she has to laugh, and it softens her slightly. The market comes into view, a much quicker journey now that she was taking a straight path. ”Then just try not to stalk a hunter,” she says, though her tone is somewhat joking at this point as she enters the market. Many of the stalls are closed, but as she suspected, some are still open, and she begins looking for one with some sort of treat.
"Hm. Seems impractical." Josh was still working out the advancements of Caido: in some places it seemed to be relatively forward, with working plumbing and magic solutions for many of lifes problems....on the other he'd found he missed vending machines and phones more than he'd ever thought he could. That Halo was missing some kind of universal cold-resistance technology really was a surprise, though.
Weaver laughed at what Josh had not considered to be a joke, but he supposed if it made her more comfortable (and therefore more likely to give him information) he was willing to go along with that. He didn't even point out that he'd chased much more dangerous people than hunters, like Men in Black or anime convention attendees.
Seeing the market come up before them, he remembered he was meant to buy treats for the Ludo night too. "Are you buying for the..trick and treat? We had a similar tradition in my dimension, but we just gave out sweets."
I'm a lady, like whoa I could bring you to your knees
”Tell the gods that,” she mutters, more annoyed at the gods than him in this particular instance. ”If you have not yet learned, they do not particularly like the Abandoned. For all the magic in this world, they are not keen on us being able to use it.” Not that cold resistance magic was anything dangerous, but she didn’t really think the gods would care. That wasn’t really the point. The point was centuries of punishment for the crimes of the new gods.
She nods at his question, stopping at a stall that looks promising and picking up a box of candies. ”Where are you from?” she asks, always curious to learn more about where the Outlanders have come from. So many other worlds out there. To Weaver, simply having a bit of Caido open was amazing, to see places she’d only ever visited in her imagination before. The thought of other worlds intrigues her, though she will live vicariously through others. It’s not as if any of them were leaving Caido, and she did not want to anyway.
"The Gods here seem..." Josh put a hand to his chin, an uncharacteristic for him pause mid-sentence as he tried to work out what he wanted to say. "...at first I thought they were fake. Fables. Then I met one." He had been shocked when he'd saw Frey and had spent several hours afterwards studying the area around the shrine for any signs of a trick. "I am still not sure they are true Gods. Just powerful beings of another race."
He stopped at the stall too, just staring at the items instead of reaching for anything, seemingly making a judgement of each as he went by it. "Earth. There are others here from there. Very different to this place."
I'm a lady, like whoa I could bring you to your knees
She chuckles as he describes the gods here. ”Who did you meet?” she asks out of curiosity. She’s only ever met Ludo, and knows little of the others, but certainly enough to have a small clue. ”Most of the ones you are likely to meet are lesser gods. Heralds to the gods themselves, technically. Caido created the world, if he exists, and then came Mort, Vi, and Rae. Death, life, and nature. They are the only gods, in the truest sense of the word. Safrin, Frey, and Ludo are their heralds. The New Gods? Well, they were once just people, to my knowledge.” Abandoned, not unlike her, though vastly more ambitious.
Weaver settles on the candies, largely because she doesn’t care what she gets so much as simply making sure she has something. She digs into her pocket and tosses over a small bag of jerky, her currency of choice usually. Not many said no to some decent meat. ”I have met one other from Earth. What was your part of it like?” She recalls her conversation with Sascha, but she assumes Earth is large enough that not all experiences would be the same.
"I met Frey. They gave me a sense of arousal upon their arrival, which I understand is customary." Josh had been surprised by the bodily reaction he'd had: it was one of the few things that had made him more convinced Frey had been the real deal, though he was still considering the possibility of pheromones or some kind of magic. "They gave me a quest and told me to ejaculate on the shrine the next time I pray." He didn't seem to be embarrassed about that, just somewhat perplexed.
He watched her buy the candles, interested that they would do. There weren't many Earth Children he could think of that would be happy with candles on Halloween. Personally he went for the food stall next to it, a plate of pastries shaped like local animals, each with a unique jam filling.
"Hot. Busy." It was hard to explain Florida as it had been for him, because he knew his experience was not typical. "Lot more built up than this. We had money. Electricity. Big cities."
