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 bar was as good a place to test the strange vial of magic, that had the possibility of giving her a familiar rush of hallucinations. The children still had not seen their mother, because she wasn't ready to deal with them; not really.
She was sure they were fine. While in Torchline, not only had she acquired a vial of magic drugs, but she had also acquired paint supplies and some other things of similar nature. She carried a bag across her shoulder, filled with supplies, and another one across the other shoulder.
Delphine had never visited the bar before; she had been mostly sober until recently. So as she took a seat, she rested her chin against the palm of her hand and studied the little vial, shaking it. She hadn't even asked the man his name; but he had told her how to find him, so that's all that mattered.
Things had calmed down for Rance in the weeks since he’d started working at VlamVloed. Oh, there had been plenty of excitement, too, what with the scattered trips to the coasts of Torchline to follow rumors, but that was more to appease his wandering feel and curiosity than because he wanted the danger and uncertainty.
He was finally starting to get a feel for the people who lived in that area, at least, both from the times when it was his turn to bar-tend and from walking the streets. It was like a blending of both the human and Hidden cultures he’d left behind, all with a shadow of old terror and the light of still new freedom. He could trade for clothes and food from a craftsman on the street, but watch them use magic or change shape to fill his request. Utterly alien, but not in a bad way. He’d already filled the journal he’d brought with him to Caido and had purchased another, all for recording the bits of stories he heard in the streets, in the bar, or from his own experiences. Later, some of them might find their way into the Loreseekers’ archives, but many were just fragments that helped Rance slowly understand the world he’d been pulled into.
It was Rance’s turn at the bar when the blonde woman entered, and dropped down in a seat, looking a bit lost in thought. She was staring at vial of liquid – or something like it – which was curious in and of itself. The two packs slung over her shoulders were a bit less unusual, considering how often people seemed to travel to and from the Hollowed Grounds, but brought their own flavor of questions to mind.
The easiest question first, however. “Hey,” he greeted, stepping to her end of the bar. “What can I get ya?”
"Whatever you'd like," she offered. Delphine did not usually turn to alcohol, her vice was sex and drugs, but here she was. She didn't know what she liked or didn't like, "Anything but wine," she added as a quick afterthought. She remembered hating wine. Though it'd do in a pinch.
Once the man had turned away, she'd down her little vial of liquid magic, and hope for the best--the hallucinogenic effect she craved.
It didn't come, and she puffed her cheeks out in disappointment. Ah, well, he'd said the result would sometimes give her the high she was chasing. She'd have to go see him soon. Perhaps later in the day. She still didn't know her new drug dealer's name. She wondered what it was doing, if not giving her hallucinations.
04-16-2020, 08:26 PM (This post was last modified: 04-16-2020, 08:28 PM by Rance.)
Whatever he liked? He arched a brow at her but shrugged and turned back to get a mug and fill it with ale. Not the weakest stuff on tap, but far from the strongest, and if she wanted something with more kick, she could ask.
He turned back, noting the woman looked distinctly disappointed now and the vial was gone from view. The quizzical eyebrow rose again as he slid the mug across the counter to her. “You look like things aren’t goin’ your way today,” he observed, tone as neutral as he could manage in his rough voice. It was as gentle as he normally got with strangers, even if those meetings were all that uncommon these days.
"Nothing ever goes my way," she stated, sipping from the mug. Ale, good, not too strong. She might dread going back home to her children, but at least she wasn't going to get sloshed before doing so.
"How is your day going?" She asked, in return. Her gaze did not find the bartender, not at the moment. Instead, she kept a close eye on the mug she had been given. At least she had enough goods with her to afford an ale or two, make herself feel better, then return to the cave to deal with two, probably upset, children.
Rance snorted softly at her reply, not amusement, but more at the finality of it. "I can relate to that.” Even if parts of his life were seemingly settling down a bit, there was something new almost every day that threw his rhythm off and reminded him of the turns his life had taken.
At her question, he loosely folded his arms and glanced around the bar at the scattering of other customers, doing the woman the courtesy of not staring at her for a moment. "Steady enough. No one’s started a fight and nothin’s tried to eat me, yet.” The last came with a crooked smile that said the day was young enough for either to happen. Hell, Rance might enjoy a little excitement, though more from the former than the latter.
"That's good." She commented, regarding the bit 'about something trying to eat' him. "Some entertainment would be nice," she added with a chuckle, allowing her gaze to wash around the room. "But you won't get that from me." She sipped her ale again, pleased to just be in the company of someone, even if her high had not come.
"Well, how did you end up working here?" She inquired, honestly.
“You’re talkin’ to me, that’s more entertainment than was to be had before you arrived,” came Rance’s bluntly honest answer. She might not be a handsome gent for him to flirt with, but he was up for half-decent conversation from just about anyone.
“Honestly? I needed a place to stay and the owner was fair enough to let me work for it. I was a little… lost, before that.” She certainly didn’t need to know that his other alternative at the time had been a tree branch or a rooftop. “What brings you here? Not that I don’t appreciate the business.” The easy, cooked smile is still on his lips and he lifts a curious eyebrow.
Delphine hummed idly, "I guess that's something," she agreed, easily. At least the man was nice. Some people she had run into had... been rough around the edges. When he explained how he got a job here, she nodded thoughtfully.
"Ah. I understand." She'd been lost most of her life if anyone ever bothered to ask her. Then he brings up why she is here, and she shrugs. "Long day full of disappointment, I guess." There wasn't much more to it; she didn't want to go home to children she despised, but could not bring herself to give up for her own selfish reasons. And of course, she had not gotten the hallucinations she wanted.
If she’d called Rance nice to his face, he probably would have laughed. Many people over the years had called him everything but ‘nice’. However, he also wasn’t stupid and a life on the road had taught him that being a rude asshole to every stranger you met was a good way to not get paid and, possibly, get punched. Not to mention, no one wanted to share their stories with someone who told them to ‘fuck off’. Being polite and keeping someone talking, even when they weren’t real talkative at first eventually got results, more often or not.
Got him punched almost as often, though.
“Not findin’ what you’re lookin’ for? Or still waitin’ to be found yourself?”
"Bit of both." She mused, as she finished her drink and stood. She had children to get back too, after all. As much as that thought weighed heavily on her heart. "See you around, I guess. Thanks for the conversation," waving over her shoulder, Delphine started out the door.
It was getting late and she was going to have to feed two whiney mouths and a frustrated pink bird.
04-24-2020, 06:24 PM (This post was last modified: 04-24-2020, 06:24 PM by Rance.)
"Hope life treats you better," Rance said, grabbing her empty glass of the counter. She'd obviously only needed to sit down for a moment and hadn't really been looking for a chat. He had done more than he usually would have bothered with the keep her around. The downside was that, by the time he realized she hadn't actually paid for her drink, she was out the door and gone. Cursing under his breath, he went back to taking inventory.
He wasn't really cut out for this part of the job.
