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 city was still so new, despite the fact she had moved into Halo at the start of Deepfrost. Things had changed since she'd moved in with Noah.
...the thing that had changed most of all was the two of them; their relationship or lack thereof one to each other. But also Snowcloak, the Citadel.
Things were a whirlwind of change, and that hadn't allowed much time for Delphine to get to know anyone else. So today, she had bundled up and decided... she'd make a new friend, just walk up to a stranger and introduce herself, and hope they were not too prejudiced against outsiders.
As she was walking, she sought the perfect 'target'.
I don't mind where you come from as long as you come to me.
I don't like illusions, I can't see them clearly.
I don't care, no, I wouldn't dare to fix the twist in you.
You've shown me eventually, what you'll do.
He was about, as he was always wont to be, in between errands - who needed wood stacked, who needed food delivered, who needed help with repairs to their home? He was something of a handyman, having grown up on a family farm, one had to find creative solutions when things fell apart, and then studying the veterinary sciences and the art of diagnosing a broad variety of issues, leant him a mind capable of riddling out solutions to a variety of issues. He was good at finding efficient solutions for simple problems, and he wasn't afraid of getting his hands dirty and being a part of the solution either.
He wandered the streets with a bag of food slung over his shoulder, hunched against the biting cold, his breath cascading before him in billowing clouds. He walked, mostly with his focus to the ground before him, knowing the path he sought, peering up enough only so that he might step around any oncoming traffic - of which there was not a lot of in these times.
Delphine caught sight of a dark-haired man, who looked like he perhaps belonged to Halo, and could be a native. He had a bag slung over his shoulder and was watching the ground as he walked, and she followed after him.
He looked like he was on his way somewhere. Might as well follow along. When the bottom of his bag tore, and food started to fall to the ground, she hurried to pick up each thing, calling out, “Sir! Sir, you’re dropping food.” She could have stolen it, or handed it off to others, but that wasn’t who she was.
“The bag’s torn,” she called, rushing to catch up with the stranger.
I don't mind where you come from as long as you come to me.
I don't like illusions, I can't see them clearly.
I don't care, no, I wouldn't dare to fix the twist in you.
You've shown me eventually, what you'll do.
He didn't register that there was another person following him until the voice called out. As soon as he heard the words, he knew they were meant for him.
He seemed to be cursed to always choose the shitty bag to carry his vegetables.
He stopped immediately, turning and repositioning what was left of the bag to prevent more of the adventurous vegetables from escaping. Looking to the woman who followed him, he smiled gratefully. "Cheers miss," he offered.
Looking at the torn bag, he frowned a bit, before fishing around in one of his many pockets for a second bag - he had learned his lesson from the first time this had happened. Idly, he smiled at the memory, a warmth blossoming around his heart - it had been how he had met Kia.
Fetching the spare bag out, he began putting the torn bag into it, before holding it up to the woman. "If you would be so kind, miss..?" he asked, inviting a name as well as for her to place the vegetables she had so kindly fetched for him into the new bag.
The stranger was ready for the mishap, and she carefully dumped the veggies into it. "Delphine. I'm staying with Noah for the season," Perhaps longer, but she hadn't decided. And they hadn't talked about it. The season was long and would give them both time to consider, though.
"Hope nothing's too bruised," she stated, nodding to the bag of veggies. She didn't like when good food was ruined by bruising, and rendered useless (to most people, anyway). And it wasn't like food was that easy to come by in Halo, either.
I don't mind where you come from as long as you come to me.
I don't like illusions, I can't see them clearly.
I don't care, no, I wouldn't dare to fix the twist in you.
You've shown me eventually, what you'll do.
"Ahh," Chuy nodded at the familiar name. "Noah, he's a good man." Though their interactions had been brief, the Hunter had made nothing but a good impression on the farmer. "I'm Chulane," he offered in return with a kind, warm smile.
He looked over the vegetables with a close eye; some were indeed bruised, but it didn't really matter to him. "They'll be right. Even bruised veggies have a use in soups and stews," naught would go to waste in Halo, the mere thought of it almost criminal. "Where're you headed?" he asked out of polite curiosity, slinging the bag over his shoulder once more, with the intention to keep walking. Food deliveries still to be done, torn bag mishaps or no.
"He is a good man," she agreed, flashing a smile as she received a name. "Oh, I'm just... exploring. I've not seen all that there is to see," she explained, with a shrug. She did walk alongside him, though.
"Can you tell me about the people here?" She needed someone she could pester other than Noah, if she really wanted to learn all she could about Halo. Multiple sources were better than one source, after all.
I don't mind where you come from as long as you come to me.
I don't like illusions, I can't see them clearly.
I don't care, no, I wouldn't dare to fix the twist in you.
You've shown me eventually, what you'll do.
She was exploring, clearly a newcomer to the region then. "Exploring Halo in the depths of Deepfrost is not something I'd normally recommend," he said with a note of concerned warning, though his tones were overall friendly. With a nod and a smile, he gestured for the woman to follow him if she would like, before continuing his walk along the road, bag of vegetables over his shoulder.
"I'm an Outlander myself, arrived just before the snows set in. I have found the people to be resilient in the face of adversity, kind enough to give me a place to live until I was able to find my feet, and very discerning when it comes to collecting on debts owed to them." He spoke with some soft humour; overall his experience here had been pleasant, even if he had recently lost a friend.
Life kept living.
"I've seemed to make a name for myself as a reliable packhorse of sorts, a delivery-person able to carry food, wood or other such supplies as needed throughout the town. I owe these people my life, it is the least I can do to try and repay them."
Delphine flashed a smile at the man's concern, "It's okay. Noah made sure I know how to stay safe." And honestly, she was not often without Noah. She wasn't going far from the house today, and he was off hunting. She'd probably run into him, at some point. Adjusting her furs, she wandered after the man.
"Oh? Noah's given me a place to stay and... a lot of other things, as well." She smiled quietly, nodding thoughtfully. "Thankfully Noah doesn't let me go into debt," she murmured. Now that she was painting again, though, she'd be able to stop using so much of Noah's trade resource.
She knew the people of Halo had lost a friend, she'd met Korbin recently, and of course had seen how Noah had reacted. As he explained how he'd made a name for himself, she smiled, "That's really good. So you've not had trouble integrating into life here?" Delphine still wasn't sure if Halo was the place for her, but...
Halo had Noah and at the moment, she needed Noah. And he needed her. When the season ended, she'd decide on her needs versus her wants, and find a compromise, she was sure.
I don't mind where you come from as long as you come to me.
I don't like illusions, I can't see them clearly.
I don't care, no, I wouldn't dare to fix the twist in you.
You've shown me eventually, what you'll do.
Satisfied that Noah had imparted wisdom and survival tips to the woman, Chulane nodded idly as he walked along. Her words alluded to something a bit deeper going on between she and the hunter, and as long as they were able to bring each other happiness, the idea brought the farmer some small joy. In such a cold, barren landscape, that they might ignite the fires of passion in each other was something he could wholeheartedly agree with.
"Oh," he began on her enquiry after his experience directly. With a wry smile, he continued, "There are always going to be a few who simply cannot warm to the idea of an Outlander living amongst them. But they allowed me to have a vote at the recent election for leadership, and then Morgan appointed me as Chief of Agriculture, so I guess you could say I've integrated pretty well."
He didn't throw the rank around to impress her, in the middle of Deepfrost the rank hardly meant anything anyway, what with the snows making any such 'farming' impossible. Still, he had ideas a-brewing, that would all come to clearer light when Flowerbirth loosened winter's grip on the land.
"How about yourself? What brought you to Halo?" he asked as they neared the place his vegetables were meant for, only few houses away from the family who needed a top-up to their supplies now.
Delphine listened with interest, as the man explained his title and being allowed a vote in the recent election. It definitely sounded like he had integrated well.
His inquiry made her steps falter. "I... lost my children, Acantha and Bryony." she had slowed to a stop, her voice quiet. "I... needed to start somewhere else, and... Noah was nice to me." Slowly she started walking again, hands tucking into her furs.
"It... is nice here. A bit. I'm not certain I'm a fan of the snow, but..." The woman offered a weak smile, "I believe it is growing on me." Or perhaps Noah was growing on her.
She fell into silence, before asking: "So agriculture? What will that entail?"
I don't mind where you come from as long as you come to me.
I don't like illusions, I can't see them clearly.
I don't care, no, I wouldn't dare to fix the twist in you.
You've shown me eventually, what you'll do.
So much loss, so much disaster, it seemed to be the theme of this world, and not one Chulane liked. With a sad frown touching his features he heard her words, heard more comments of souls lost, given to the God of Death in this realm. He shook his head slightly, hoping to convey the simple sadness he felt at bringing the topic up for the woman. "I'm so sorry for your loss, ma'am," was all he said on the topic - there really was nothing else he could say, nothing else he could do on the matter. They were lost, and they would remain such from the tone and manner with which she spoke of them.
He welcomed the change in topic, though if she indicated that she wished to talk more about it, he'd be glad to lend her his ear to keep listening to her words - it was just the kind of guy Chuy was. He offered a small smile at her question, before gesturing to his bag of vegetables, and then stopping before the doorway to the house the vegetables were meant for.
"Agriculture is about this, about making sure there is food enough to go around, about growing crops and animals for consumption, so that we may endure this world." He paused his words to knock on the door, and give the bag to the family within, waving and smiling and nodding all the while to the locals, accepting their promise of Ningo eggs come Flowerbirth in exchange for his services. Once finished with them, he turned back to Delphine.
"Care to join me at the Kraai for lunch?" He asked, before beginning to walk again - he was never one to stand idle for long when doing so meant one was prone to freezing on the spot. "Come Flowerbirth, I hope to put into place some good practices that will allow Halo to flourish, and to stockpile food enough that Deepfrost is not so daunting. It'll take everyone's help to get going and then to maintain it, but I think the people will see the benefits and be willing to at least try it with me."
06-08-2020, 05:50 PM (This post was last modified: 06-08-2020, 05:52 PM by Delphine.)
Delphine
"I'm not sure calling them a loss is... the right thing to do." She explained, with a smile. "The god that took them cursed me to always remember, when all I wanted was to forget... I'm thankful, that I didn't forget. I was giving them a life they did not deserve; they deserved better." She'd been sad, and if she took her gloves off and her furs, the man would see just how sad she had been, scarred arms and hands told the truth.
But so did the smile that graced her lips when she talked about them, remembered them. It had taken her a while; it had taken words of forgiveness before she had begun to forgive herself. "I'm certain they're happier." She murmured.
The man took the bait and switched the topics, and she listened, eyes bright. "Oh, that sounds glorious," she drifted into silence as he delivered his package to the family, gloved hands clasped in front of her, as she smiled toward the locals.
Ever the shy girl, when she felt she did not belong.
"I..." No one had invited Delphine anywhere in a long, long time. "I'd love to join you for lunch," she'd brought some vials of paint pigments to trade, small enough to keep in her pockets.
He started talking about his plants for Flowerbirth, and Delphine nodded, "Back home, we did not have such troubles as the cold, but we still had greenhouses to help weather the storms and such. Would something such as that work well here?" She inquired. Clearly, agriculture and plants was something she was interested in, and knew about.
Her mother had been a botanist, a scientist. And while Delphine understood plants, inventions, her true passions had always laid in using her ability and knowledge to heal for good; though somewhere down the line she'd taken care of children, become a housewife.
Become weak.
Or had she always been weak? "My mother, she used to keep one room in our house for the plants, she studied plants--she and I studied different plants. Like some plants increase milk production in milk-bearing animals," and that could be the difference in a small child surviving the winter or not. "And other plants are good for spices, and... oh, we had all sorts of fruit trees! Do you know how to splice and create new breeds of plants?"
I don't mind where you come from as long as you come to me.
I don't like illusions, I can't see them clearly.
I don't care, no, I wouldn't dare to fix the twist in you.
You've shown me eventually, what you'll do.
Another frown touched his forehead as she spoke, of a god who took her children, and he… didn't quite know what to do, or say, to the news. Had similar not happened to Zariah? A god, or at least a spirit, had taken her child in exchange for protection of her school?
Had Delphine given her children up willingly?
It wasn't a topic that he was comfortable with breaching openly, and so he would remain wilfully ignorant on it for now. She claimed that they were happier now, but he couldn't help wonder if they would be happier with her, and if not, why? Was she a poor mother, a bad example, unable to provide for them? He didn't dare make assumptions, but her words left him feeling… uneasy.
He guarded his expression well though, diving into the new topic given with gusto, happy for the distraction from his otherwise troubling thoughts. "It would have to be quite a robust greenhouse to weather the sorts of storms Halo endures. But perhaps with a bit of magical reinforcement from generous mages something like that could be viable." He hmmed at the idea, chewing it over in his head.
"I was raised on a farm, though in a far different climate to here, so yeah, I have some knowledge of crops and trees and how they can be manipulated. I also hope to get some livestock production happening in Halo." He nodded to a Ningo that scurried between houses as they walked past, smirking slightly. "I'll need all the help I can get when the time comes for implementation."
He smiled kindly as he opened the door to the Kraai for her to step inside, where warmth and the quiet hum of conversation could be felt and heard.
