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!
Oh well this was pleasant, was it not? Neron felt the ice beneath his feet, especially when it began to take him further without his asking it to, and the Warden felt it was actually safest not to argue. So he slid his way, slowly and carefully across the bridge, stepping only when absolutely necessary until he was at the other side with Wessex. "Pretty sure I know what's in those boxes," he remarked with a sigh that didn't frost the air before him.
Still, he nodded for them to go on ahead while he investigated, wanting to see for himself what the people of Whitebrim were really capable of. Besides, with the likes of Wessex and Zariah prowling up ahead, whatever waited around the corner didn't stand a chance.
Neron crosses the bridge and investigates the boxes.
04-30-2020, 04:05 PM (This post was last modified: 04-30-2020, 04:05 PM by Morgan.)
MORGAN
Some nights, I wish that my lips could build a castle Some nights, I wish they'd just fall off
At the beginning of the icy bridge, Morgan made the decision to leave Eunike here. Gently touching her companions nose and commanding her to return home, she assured the unicorn she'd be alright through their bond then turned to cross the bridge herself. The cracks under her feet were slightly alarming, but with her proficiency at water magic she was not too worried, immediately creating water to freeze in the cracks and strengthen the break.
If that was successful she would cross the bridge and still hang by the back of the party, waiting to see what would be found in the boxes. She'd spent many years as the faceless guard in the background rather than a charging hero, and was content to let the adventuring stay with the others while she watched out for other threats.
---
Morgan uses her mastered water magic to freeze the ice back solid beneath her feet and attempts to cross the bridge. She also sent Eunike away (cos horse hooves + ice bridge = bad time).
But I still wake up, I still see your ghost Oh Lord, I'm still not sure, what I stand for
Loren got off the bridge, not particularly enjoying how precarious it felt. Glancing at Zariah and Wessex as they scouted ahead, the healer sidled his way up to Neron. The younger twin took the unicorn horn and used it to heal the damage to the Warden from earlier.
Then Loren tucked it back into its spot on his back. As his older brother moved to investigate the boxes, the healer did the same. Peering cautiously as Neron went to flip open the lid, Loren braced himself for the worst. Given what Jigano had told the healer, he knew the contents wouldn't be pretty.
Loren crosses the bridge. Then he heals Neron and investigates the boxes.
The ice beneath Zariah’s feet groans and cracks, and her foot slips through the ice, then the other, slipping and sliding off of the broken shards that fall below. Upon further inspection below, you’ll find those sharp edged spikes of metal gleaming with the lowlight of the cavern.
As for Morgan, whether or not the magic helped to reinforce the spiderwebbing beneath her feet, it’s hard to say. She manages to make it across to hang at the back of the party while the rest of them investigate the boxes and the path down.
Loren’s unicorn horn does work to heal Neron from the superficial cuts from the falling ice from earlier. But when the Warden goes to investigate the boxes, he’ll find the edges of one leaking a red icy substance. As the lid is lifted, the box begins to shift a small amount, spilling the contents of chopped up pieces of bodies and chunks of blood down across the floor.
Wessex, as she sneaks down the tunnel, pulling her shadows in closer to her, doesn’t help as the bend is rounded and lights flicker along the edge. Inside, Wessex will see a few shadows on the wall, but the most distracting will be the clinking of chains against the icy wall, a deep rumbling inhale of breath, bright calculating eyes that land directly on her, and a large growl begins to erupt as a warning for the rest of those that dwell within. She’s been spotted.
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Zariah will fall through the bridge in approx. 1 post. Neron, Loren, and Morgan find the boxes of bodies and blood stored against the wall. Wessex has been spotted by an Ursur. Please summarize what your character does at the bottom of the post.
REMINDER: This PQ+’s level is medium-difficult, which means it can/will be dangerous and there is the possibility of permanent harm/death.
Well. Try to keep the rest of them hidden, for now.
I’ve been seen, keep the others hidden behind the boxes, if you can - she mentally tells Neron at the onset of the Ursur’s roar, trying to ensure that they keep the element of surprise. And hopefully before anyone in the room has a chance to mobilize, Wessex notches her bow an takes a couple of steps forward into the light. She aims for the nearest figure, lets loose, and then tries to wait until enough are within her biopulse radius before letting one loose on the inhabitants of the ice-room.
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Wessex asks Neron to keep the element of surprise and stay back. Notches an arrow and steps into the room and shoots it at the nearest figure. Waits until they start to come forward so she can release a biopulse.
Clearly luck and the dice rolls were not on her side today.
Zariah's nails, filed to points as they were, dug into the ice covered bridge as she slipped and near plunged into the spikes below. With a growl of anger she realized she would have to be a bit more creative with this one apparently. Falling bits of ice suddenly froze in midair as she snatched them up with her water magic. They floated together to form steps, sparks of mastered fire appearing to melt the rough edges before refreezing under the will of her water manipulation. Using these new footholds, the Merciless would make her way across to the otherside.
Using a combination of upgraded water and mastered fire magic, Zariah creates ice platforms/stairs to walk across to the other side.
Nodding his gratitude to Loren, Neron was soon distracted by two things. First, the body parts spilling onto the floor - ew, gods, why - and second by Wessex's warning and the impression that having the stink of blood everywhere wasn't going to do anything to help them.
"Stay back," he hissed to the rest of the group. "Wessex has been spotted - hide here and we'll set up an ambush." He nodded to the boxes (not that any of them would want to), before quickly crossing the area to hold out a hand to Zariah, in case she had to jump for it.
Heeding Wessex's warning, Neron tries not to be grossed out by the body parts and advises everyone to hide behind the boxes. He also tries to give Zariah a hand, just in case the bridge continues to break down.
Some nights, I wish that my lips could build a castle Some nights, I wish they'd just fall off
As stoic as Morgan was, as much gore and horror as she'd seen over the years...she still wrinkled her nose at the spilled body parts, the smell of stale blood hitting her. It was, if nothing else, a stark reminder of how much of a problem they were dealing with here.
She did look back to Zariah, surprised that she had not appeared on the other side with the rest of them: but with the woman making her own ice stairs and Neron making an effort to reach for her, she considered the matter sorted. Going to crouch behind the boxes with no complaint, she took quiet shallow breaths and carefully watched to see what Wessex did. In preparation for the fight to come she slowly drew her warhammer from her back, holding it in both hands.
--
Morgan hides behind the boxes and draws her warhammer ready to join into the ambush/fight when she needs to.
But I still wake up, I still see your ghost Oh Lord, I'm still not sure, what I stand for
Trying not to gag as the body parts spilled out, Loren covered his mouth. Breathing shallowly, he backed away from the boxes. Nodding at Neron's words, the healer turned to go and hide as instructed.
However, the Warden's movements caught Loren's eye. Frowning, he glanced back and saw Zariah struggling on the bridge. Pressing his lips together, he dashed over and held out his hand for his cousin as well.
In addition, he reached out with his water magic. He would do his best to shore up the bridge underneath her feet, creating more ice if necessary to prevent her from dropping into the spiked pit below.
Loren holds out his hand for Zariah and uses water magic to shore up the bridge beneath her.
In a unique twist of events (and just barely by the skin of her teeth), Zariah’s stair tactic works. She makes it to the other side just in time for Wessex to step forth and let her arrow fly. It nails one of the cannibals in the shoulder, a cry out of surprise as he orders a few others to run forward and release the Ursur.
Now you’ve got a few problems.
The Ursur is unleashed, its roar vibrating in the cavern as it begins to rampage toward the group. It sees Neron before he has a chance to hide behind the boxes, but misses Morgan and Loren in the rampage. It tries to go toward Wessex first, jaws parted and sharp teeth and tusks outstretched, before the biopulse staggers it into the wall.
It will recover quickly, what do you do?
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Enemy HP:
Cannibal 1: 190/200
Ursur: 180/210
Please summarize what your character does at the bottom of the post.
REMINDER: This PQ+’s level is medium-difficult, which means it can/will be dangerous and there is the possibility of permanent harm/death.
The arrow lands in a person's shoulder and the Ursur is let loose; she has little attention for what's going on behind her. Coming your way! she mentally yells to Neron. Wessex's focus narrows to the giant bear and the Cannibals. As the Ursur staggers against the wall, Wessex lets another biopulse fly, hoping to keep it disoriented and more or less out of commission. There are a million options, but the thing she did with the Ghost Whale comes to mind as something that might be rather effective. Unleashing her claws on one hand, the Wraith tries to teleport herself onto the Ursur's shoulders, grab hold of the fur for a solid grip on the beast, and shove her claws into the base of the bear's skull - where it meets the spine.
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Wessex targets the bear with another biopulse and releases one set of talons. She tries to teleport herself to the Ursur's shoulders, grab onto its fur for safety, and drive her talons into the base of Ursur's skull.
She might've thanked her sort of family coming to her aid were it not for the chaos at hand. And look, a charging Ursrur, just like she had trained her students at the Academy for. Maybe they'd be less upset about it when she returned with this story.
Wessex was already charging the Ursur, so she went the opposite direction, eyes trained on the Cannibal. As she stormed towards him, mastered lightning crackled around her before shooting out to hit him hopefully square in the chest.
Zariah targets Cannibal 1 and shoots a mastered lightning blast at him.
Better to be safe than sorry - Neron nodded to both Loren and Zariah as the Archmage managed to get herself to safety. But then there were other problems; bigger, hairier problems, with a lot more teeth. The Ursur saw him and Zariah was already headed towards the cannibal, so the Warden kept his attention on the giant bear. Luckily enough, Wessex was on the case, and Neron sprung into action just after her, careful not to get too close to the bio-pulse.
He reached out with his life-drain magic, the situation practically a throw-back to a time a couple of seasons ago when he had used it to put a rampaging bull out of action. Focusing hard on his magic, he attempted to pull at the Ursur's life force to further bolster his own power.
Focusing on the Ursur, Neron uses life-drain magic to try and keep it out of action.
Base Life Drain : Can take life force from a living thing to temporarily make themselves stronger within a 30ft radius.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
Some nights, I wish that my lips could build a castle Some nights, I wish they'd just fall off
Just like that, they all sprang into motion, the fight beginning. Morgan was confident she had not been seen in her position behind the boxes, so she had a chance to try and surprise, to be stealthy before laying a heavy blow.
It seemed like Neron and Wessex had the Ursur sorted. Morgan watched Zariah shoot the cannibal with electricity; while they were stunned she would try to kick out one of the boxes to slam into him, intending to knock the cannibal to the ground. If some body parts were to land on him in this process, it only seemed fair.
--
Morgan kicks out a box as hard as she can towards Cannibal 1.
But I still wake up, I still see your ghost Oh Lord, I'm still not sure, what I stand for
