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!
You're sitting at your kitchen table, biting thoughtfully into an guava while squinting at a map.
It is not a map that would make much sense to many people, but for you it's clear as ice. The Fingers have been your pet project for years; you've prided yourself on your mastery of their winding caverns since you were a lad, often boasting that your could navigate the tunnels with your eyes closed.
But now, apparently, the thing's a mess, and your precious fingers are changed.
That's why you called in the big guns - and by big guns you mean Jack's miracle navigator. Because as good as you may be at reading this particular map, you're shit at making them. Which is where Eloise comes in-
-right about now.
I was born here and I'll die here against my will
I know it looks like I'm movin' but I'm standin' still
"Zeph?" Nudging open the door, the illusionist poked her head inside. Jack had spoken of Zephyr on more than a few occasions, as had Raza. Though the two had been in the same vicinity a handful of times, this was the first instance of them actually working together or doing anything more than simply nodding in passing.
Dressed with her regular amount of skin showing (which was to say quite a bit), Eloise blinked like a deer into headlights for a moment until her eyes adjusted. "Heard you needed a bit of help with holes and what goes where?" She chimed brightly, flashing the older man a sugary-sweet smile.
I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
She walks in just as you take another bite of your guava, a line of juice leaking into your beard. Eloise is wearing shockingly little, even by Torchline standards, and you're not too proud to admit that your eyes wander appreciatively for a moment before returning to her face. If her plan had been to make an impression, well, brava on her success.
It makes you a little uncomfortable, as finding people attractive always does. And it's not a small part of why you've spent little time with her, despite her prolonged internment in Jack's crew.
Swallowing down the mouthful of fruit, you wipe your chin off with your palm. "Somethin' like that." Leaning back in your chair, you gesture to the map on the table. "Y'know anythin' about this?" Maps'n'shit, and the Fingers specifically.
I was born here and I'll die here against my will
I know it looks like I'm movin' but I'm standin' still
Being attractive comprises many of the arrows in Eloise' quiver, and she isn't too proud to admit that she's perhaps wearing less than she ought to if only because of her recent spat with Jack.
"Well lucky for you I've seen all kinds, sugar." Eloise said with a smile, before reaching out a finger to wipe away a bit of juice he'd missed in the corner of his lips, if he'd let her. "Missed a spot."
Looking down at the maps, Eloise took a moment to focus on the new topography of the fingers outlined in ink. Rather than sitting, the illusionist merely leaned against the table, her gaze fully down so that should someone decide to take advantage of the view she was offering..well, she'd be none the wiser. There was something so very attractive about older men, after all. Either they were learned and experienced enough to think sex was more about jack-hammering their cock into her, or they were adorably unsettled in thinking one as young and alluring as her might be interested in them.
"Interesting..." Eloise murmured under her breath, sounding genuinely intrigued. Tracing a finger along one of the tunnels that seemed to end in a pool of water, she frowned slightly, and glanced towards Zephyr. "Who'd you say made these?"
I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
You do not expect her to reach out and touch your face, but you accept it with an eyebrow raised, somewhat amused by her brazenness. And when she turns away you absolutely do take a moment to enjoy the view, feeling a familiar stirring in your loins. Rarely does a scantily-clad ass shove itself in your face so wantonly, and if that isn't a sight to appreciate, well, you aren't sure what is.
But first, business. Tearing your attention away from her curves you subtly adjust yourself before pushing out of your chair. "Didn't." Leaning against the table beside her, you flick your chin at the map. "Beauty, ain't it? Only perfect map'a the Fingers there is. Or it was, until Apopo decided to blow its damn top." Your unhappiness with this turn of events is evident in your rumbling voice, and the way your furrow your brows.
"Gonna need't make a new'un soon, an' Jack says yer decent at navigatin'." Which is essentially singing her praises, coming from the captain.
I was born here and I'll die here against my will
I know it looks like I'm movin' but I'm standin' still
Eloise grins up at him, two parts mischief and one part approving. No, he hadn't said who'd made the map, but she thought perhaps his tongue might just slip were he suitably distracted. Either her feminine wiles are in need of some toning (doubtful), or this salt-and-peppered smuggler is every bit the man his reputation makes him out to be.
Which is intriguing in and of itself.
"Decent?" Eloise repeats with a laugh. Indeed it is high praise, but still she can't help but roll her eyes. With a wave of her hands, the map temporarily changes to reveal unknown passageways, covered by churning lava. "Word on the streets is that there's a big old badie at the end of one of these tunnels." Leaning her head lazily to the side to regard him better all the while keeping her shoulder near his, Eloise nodded towards the map. "What say you Zeph? You looking for a finished map, or a bit of adventure too?"
I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
It definitely isn't a failing on her part that keeps you tight-lipped about the source of the map. But it takes more than a pretty picture to make you spill your secrets, even if that picture is tied up with the bow of a bright smile and a petite package you could easily fling over your shoulder and carry up to bed.
Business first, you old pervert.
"Aye, my girl's lookin' into it." Big ol' baddie indeed- that's what Raza had said, and word from the others who went in had gotten around. You make no effort to move away as she leans over; you're keenly aware of the swell of her breasts, the proximity of her body to yours.
You raise an eyebrow, not letting your dark eyes leave hers. "Can't say I'm one t'turn down an adventure." This, though once true, is now a damn dirty lie. You've turned down more than your fair share of adventures, but this one...
This one is personal. This one hits close to home.
I was born here and I'll die here against my will
I know it looks like I'm movin' but I'm standin' still
"Oh I see." Eloise purrs in response, her dark eyes narrowing with youthful mischief as her lips pout. "So I'm not the only girl you've got helping you with this. I see how it is."
Grinning at his acceptance of adventure and all things therein implied, Eloise turns back to the map. Leaning forward, her breasts all the more round for it (and if there was a bit of magic involved, what of it?), she traces her finger on the map which still softly glows with illusory lava.
"Here—" She points. "Near these sea caves. The lava will have thinned out by the time it reached here from the initial flow, and being so close to the ocean we'll have had time to cool. Easiest way in. On the other hand.." Eloise's grin is evident in her tone as she lets her finger wander up and north-west on the map. "Or we skip the foreplay, and drop right down on top of where Melita's group say the monster is. Bit of earth magic or a few explosives and we could get in real hard and fast." Her innuendos aren't subtle, but nor is she.
I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
"Didn' take ya for a jealous one." Which, fuck, hopefully you're right on that read - you lack the bandwidth required to deal with a hookup-turned-disaster right now. But if anything you've heard about Eloise is true, the girl has no issues with no-strings-sharing.
Which is good. Your life has enough strings as it is.
"Neat trick," you rumble in response to the illusion, leaning in closer to peer over her shoulder at the map. One of your hands rests on the table; the other one waits impatiently at your side, itching to accept the invitations laced in Eloise's words. You shake your head at her suggestion: "I'd rather have fewer'a the outsiders knowin' 'bout our little trade routes."
Turning so you stand just behind her, you let your body hover a mere hair's breadth away. Your voice is a low rumble near her ear; your left hand reaches out to pull a lock of hair from her face. "Hard'n fast has its place, Eloise, but I've found slow'n steady a bit more satisfyin', myself." A valiant and terrible attempt at flirting, but you aren't thinking entirely with your brain anymore.
I was born here and I'll die here against my will
I know it looks like I'm movin' but I'm standin' still
05-04-2020, 09:45 PM (This post was last modified: 05-04-2020, 09:49 PM by Eloise.)
Eloise
"Me? Never." Leaning to the side, Eloise nudges her shoulder against Zeph's, the light in her eyes turning positively wicked. "Just trying to get the lay of the land. It's what makes me such a decent navigator, you know." She adds with a laugh.
With the way he's positioned, it would take a no more than a heartbeat for Eloise to spin in place, positioning herself lithely between Zeph and the table. Agile as she is, the navigator could be up on the wooden surface with her legs straddling 'round his waist. Vaguely she wonders if the smuggler would take her up on an offer of unsolicited and casual sex, or if he like so many, viewed her as nothing more than Jack's property. In so thinking, she figured too that if Zeph had the same mental magic that the captain did, that line of thinking would surely reveal it. For good measure, she imagined her fingers twined in his hair, her torso pressed roughly against the wood, his hands tracing tanline-free hips..
"Oh, that's the least of my tricks." Eloise chuckles, thinking he can't read her thoughts, until of course he's reaching to move a strand of hair from her face. "That sounds like the wisdom of one who can't keep hard and fast up for long." The illusionist counters with a wry smile. "Just think, a group of us down in those wet and dark caves...too slow and steady and they might think you've lost your way. But then," Eloise raises a brow, her feet shifting if only to move her hips with them. "that's what you've got me for, sugar."
I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
She knows what she's doing with that body, that much is for sure. The subtle sways of her hips, the husky voice, the playful innuendos... yeah, she knows exactly what she's doing, and you're very close to giving in. How long has it been since the last time you had a good fuck? Okay, maybe not that long, but as her hips move just a liiiiiitttle closer it feels like fucking years.
Business, you old horndog. Keep it in your pants.
Somewhat reluctantly you draw away, moving to stand alongside rather than behind her. "You questionin' my stamina? I'm wounded." With a raised eyebrow and that not-quite-smile, you lean against the table, your hip pressing into the wood. "I may be an old man, but I can keep pace with you young'uns. Though y'don't hafta take my word for it. I'll be happy t'demonstrate." In the Fingers. With the caves. Obviously. Nothing else. Nope.
I was born here and I'll die here against my will
I know it looks like I'm movin' but I'm standin' still
"Wounded? What a shame, I haven't got even an ounce of healing magic." Eloise turned to face him, raising her fingers and waggling them suggestively before adding in a pout and shrug of her shoulders for good measure. "Sorry about it." She said, her eyes trained on his lips. Stepping forward such that one deep breath from either of them would cause her breasts to be against him, Eloise seems to raise onto her toes for a moment, as if to bridge the gap between her face and his. But then her shoulder is against him, and her nudge is oh so far from being the satisfying touch her body suggests she was angling for.
"Just name the place and time." Eloise purrs in reply, her eyes dipping down slightly over her shoulder at the map.
I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
"I'm sure there's other ways y'can make it up to me." For someone who professes to trying not to flirt with the girl, you're doing a shit job of not flirting with the girl. But who can blame you? She knows what she has, and what she's doing, and there's a stirring in your groin that any man might feel in response to the way she moves her fingers and hips, dark eyes hinged upon your lips.
And when she rises up to you, who can blame you if you lean forward imperceptibly, aching to fill that space with your bodies? Can she feel the heat of your desire, the erection not-so-subtly growing in your loose fitting trousers? It would be so easy to grab that lithe body and push it onto the table, press aside the maps and mess and take her right there-
She moves away before your lizard brain can overcome your common sense, leaving your fingers twitching and your cock still half-hard. You clear your throat and turn back to the table, pointedly not looking at Eloise as you attempt to compose yourself. "'Fore it gets dark, ideally." Business, not pleasure. "Not that the dark'll make much'uva difference, given' t'activities we got planned."
I was born here and I'll die here against my will
I know it looks like I'm movin' but I'm standin' still
"Indeed there are." Eloise replies, her dark eyes unblinking as she peers into Zeph's, fully committed to the suggestiveness of her words letting the moment stretch on before she moves away, so that the sailor might have adequate time to imagine all the ways in which she might fulfill such a thing.
"Mmmm. Sometimes it's nice to see what you're doing. Or what others are." Eloise notes entirely innocently, glancing coquettishly over her shoulder with a small shrug. 'Besides, with you demonstrating your..." She lets her lower lip slip beneath her teeth as her eyes wander towards the ceiling, a pantomime of what it is to think so very hard about something, her eyes snap back to focus as she grins. "..considerable talents, I'm sure you'll have us hanging on your every word."
I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
