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!
So apparently the Fae in the Greatwood do not take well to outsiders. Finn knew this from his research, but was unaware of the extent of their xenophobia. Luckily, he has intimate experience of it now, having been threatened out of the Sidhe Village within moments of arriving. Still, he leaves without any fuss at all - because frankly, his mind has no idea what’s happening.
Whatever magic he prays is contained to his spectacles sees something very different in the auras of the Fae folk. And the Greatwood is Finn’s equivalent of a drug-induced dream, splashing vivid colours across his vision, through the air and on the forest floor, and he can barely separate one existence from the next.
It takes an hour of wandering, in fact - a mildly amusing sight to any watching, given that he is dressed utterly out of place for the woods in a shirt and tie - before he zones back in enough to separate a unique aura from the rest. Adjusting his glasses on his nose, Finn follows the trail, hoping it might lead to the woman he’s been sent to find.
The aura he picks up is indeed the correct trail, for the demigoddess has ventured from her yurt within Ludo's Woods and into the Wildwood. She sought various things, herbs, spices, flowers, roots - all glorious creations of Vi to be used in rituals to honor Mort. Such was the nature of their relationship after all. Vi created and Mort cherished those creations for eternity. "Thank you, for your bounty and sacrifice." Delphia whispered, thanking the wood for its contributions to her rituals. Though not as attuned to it as the Fae, she knew and respected the Greatwood's sentient nature.
But it seemed the wood had other tricks for her today, the ebb and flow of the spirits shifting with a disturbance of some kind. Nothing bad, though clearly out of place. Her brow furrowed slightly as she rose, turning towards said disturbance. Tishy, clambered her way up to Delphia's shoulder, the shadows engulfing the black cat pulsing with anticipation. After a few moments passed, a man appeared, bespectacled, suited, clearly very lost. Or was he found now? The demigoddess stood in stark contrast, wild messy curls reminiscent of the god who created her, comfy oversized sweater and fitted pants with boots hardly formal, if perhaps unseasonal. She tilted her head, smiling at him lovingly. "Hello, there. Have you gotten lost on the paths?"
He’s found her and he knows it instantly. It’s getting harder to look at them, Finn thinks, these demigods and goddesses, though he’s not sure whether it’s his own mind playing out hallucinations in partnership with his spectacles, or whether the glasses are doing it all by themselves. Either way, the woman before him is awash in violet and charcoal, residual auras clinging to her in ways that he’s never seen before. Ways he doesn’t think is truly possible.
So it is that she speaks to him, the Spyglass seeing her lips move but only hearing the words a few moments later. He blinks a couple of times, before shaking his head and reaching up to rub at his eyes behind his glasses, letting out a slow breath through his nose. ”No, I... I was looking for you,” he says softly, distractedly, and he speaks to the ground at her feet rather than the prisms of colour that surround her. ”You are Mort’s daughter, is that correct?”
"Oh?" she said softly, curiously. She laughed lightly, an echoey, haunted sort of noise - a ghostly sort of laugh befitting an old, dilapidated mansion than a living woman. "Well, here I am." she said, lightly echoing phrases her raggedy Herald counterpart might say.
She nodded to his question about who she was. "Yes, I am Delphia, daughter of Mort." she said, voice warm and loving. He was an odd fellow, now wasn't he? The seer held out a hand to him, pale eyes looking at him and the way the spirits reacted to his presence. "You seem to have a heavy soul. What plagues your mind and heart so?" she asked softly.
She holds her hand out to him and Finn doesn’t know how to react. He keeps his eyes on the ground, not wanting to appear rude but equally feeling deeply uncomfortable at the prospect of touching someone with such masses of spiritual energy. ”Then I am glad to have come to the right place,” he says, breathing out a shaky sigh and rolling his shoulders in a shrug. He does have a heavy soul, and many a thing plagues it, but he’s only here about one of them.
”I come from an organisation known as the Order,” he explains. ”We have been sent to find all those who have been touched by the gods, to reach out to you in the hope that you will help us.” So far so... clear, at least. ”I have been to Torchline already, but there were rumours of you here. So... here I am.”
Delphia dropped her hand, not in the least bit offended. She could not see auras but the spirits around him buzzed, frenetic with the anxiety rolling off him like waves on the beach. Curious, she stepped a bit closer, looking down at the spot on the ground with him. "What is it you see down there?" she asked with genuine curiosity.
She listened to him quietly. She knew nothing of this Order, nor what sort of aid she could offer him - but it all sounded far less interesting than the man delivering the news. "I see." she said thoughtfully, still gazing at the spot upon the ground. "What is it with which you seek my aid?" she asked. Morticia mewled at the man, shadows pulsing as Delphia's curiosity extended to her.
”It is not so much about what I see,” Finn says, his voice a quiet tremble as he focuses on the ground, ”but what I am trying not to see.” Swallowing and closing his eyes, he runs a hand across his stubbled cheek and inhales a deep breath through his nose. Gathering himself for a moment, it’s enough for him to gaze at her directly again, but there’s something distant in his stormy eyes, like he’s trying to look through her, to look without looking.
His attention flickers to the feline briefly, and although his interest is piqued, it is not worth his job to get distracted now. ”The Voice and the Ascended,” he explains. ”As I am sure you have noticed, being so close to the Hollowed Grounds - since the barrier fell, her influence is beginning to grow again. There is a fear, that history may be at risk of repeating itself.”
Delphia blinked, unsure why he was so distressed at looking at her. Did he think she was ugly? Quietly, without prompting, she stepped to the side, so he was looking at the forest and not at her. "Is that better?" she asked, concern in her voice. Now being shoulder to shoulder, Morticia quietly hopped over onto Finn's shoulder, sniffing at his glasses as she purred.
The Seer's expression fell slightly when he mentioned the task. For a long moment, she was quiet, contemplative. "History is repeating itself." she said softly, melancholic almost. "Mort has asked me to ponder this very question. I have spoken with the demigoddess of the Voice even in this pursuit, and seek the Ascended souls to return them to his realm." she said, glancing over at him. "What else would you have me do, in addition to my father's will?"
Ugly? Never. Quite the opposite, in fact, but it’s marred by the cost of what he’s been sent there to do. Blinking a couple of times as she moves to stand beside him, Finn can’t hide the way his shoulders relax somewhat, his vision no longer filled with the intensity of her dark radiance. ”Yes... Sorry.” He forces a smile, as if realising how rude he must appear. But before he can say anything further about it - try to explain, maybe - there’s a weight on his shoulder and Finn nearly jumps out of his clothes.
”Oh...! Hello,” he greets the feline, tilting his head at her as she sniffs at his spectacles. Still, what Delphia has to say holds a lot more weight given the reason that he’s come to see her, and he almost holds his breath as he waits for her answer. The one she gives is a great deal more promising than any of the other demigods, and he feels himself relax further.
”I would ask you to help us, should things ever come to the worst case scenario. Work with your fellow demigods and help to ensure that another situation like the Hollowed Grounds does not need to arise.”
"For what?" Delphia said, laughing lightly. "I do not wish to cause you discomfort. If my form displeases you, I am content to stand and speak at your side." she said, tone warm and loving. She took no offense, especially when the problem was so easily rectified to allow him comfort.
Of course, her cat had other ideas about that.
Tishy meowed at him in greeting, before biting at the arm of his glasses a little in an attempt to procure them for herself. They were special and she liked special things and collecting special things. "Her name is Morticia. Tishy for short. She likes taking things that are shiny or magical." she explained, watching with amusement from the corner of her eye.
Delphia considered is offer, rocking back and forth on her heels. "I should see no issue with your request, so long as your goals align with my father's." she said slowly..."But in return, I would ask you help me fulfill a task he has laid before me that I have struggled with."
”Tishy,” Finn repeats, a smile flickering across his face as the feline attempts to repeatedly get at his glasses. ”Well, I’m sorry Tishy, but these are not something I am willing to part with. Here.” Taking the glasses from his nose, Finn folds them and puts them away, revealing the already prominent shadows beneath his eyes. In their place, he draws out something small and shiny, almost like a coin but not.
He walks it across his knuckles before offering it out to the cat, raising his eyebrows as if to ask if this is a fair trade. ”Your form does not cause me discomfort.” He speaks quietly now, to Delphia. ”It sounds ridiculous, but believe me when I say it is not you, it’s me.”
But she seems to be on board with his request, which he can be assured will be a victory for Cian in the report he needs to write. It comes with a price, though, and Finn glances across to her without trouble for the first time. ”What do you need from me?” he asks.
The shadows around the cat pulsed, wrapping around Finn's shoulders like a shawl. Tendrils reached for the glasses in his pocket, but paused as a new something was procured. Green eyes watched with interest as the smallish coin like thing was produced. Tishy stared for a moment before happily taking the proffered gift from him, scurrying off his shoulder and into a pocket on the front of Delphia's sweater. The Seer laughed lightly, patting the now bulging pouch over her stomach.
Her head tilted to look at him, realizing he looked at her without tension now. "Oh? How so?" she asked curiously, glancing at the pocket he placed the glasses in. He did not wish to part with them, but now that he did not wear them he could look at her. Just what did they do, she wondered.
Still, her expression melted into a warm smile. "I would like you to be my friend." she said, corners of her eyes crinkling. "My father asked me to seek out humans...to be friends with them as I am friends with the spirits of his realm. But it has been...difficult." she said, looking away and up at the trees, gaze growing distant and sad. "I am...odd. Strange. It off puts many. And those who seek me out only wish to know of Mort's realm." she said, shrugging a bit.
He’s pleased to see that his gift has appeased the cat, watching as it disappears into the pouch at the front of Delphia’s sweater. He’s so absorbed by it, in fact, that he has to blink himself back to attention as she speaks, clearing his throat and giving a boyish sort of smile.”I... the glasses, they let me see the aura of a race. It’s how I traced you here. But it can get... intense,” he explains. It’s not an explanation easily given, considering how few people believe him about it.
But then she continues, and even though she says it (that she’s odd), it makes sense as to why he feels he can come out with something as outlandish as what he’s just said. ”Your... friend?” he repeats slowly, swallowing, not knowing what to make of it. ”I do not keep many friends,” he confesses. ”But it would be very impolite to refuse, especially after you said you would help. What would you like to do...?”
Delphia was patient as he took his time coming back to his senses. Her eyes glanced towards the pocket in which he stored the glasses once again. They allowed him to see aura's? "I can imagine it would be overwhelming at times." she said, eyes flashing with curiosity, tone excited. "But what a wonderful gift, indeed. To see Rae's realm with such clarity is surely a marvelous blessing." Blessings didn't mean ease after all - in fact most blessings came with some weight of responsibility or other discomfort. That didn't make it any less a blessing though.
Thank you." she said with a warm smile. There, a friend! Mort would be so proud of her! At his question, she tilted her head, looking up at the sky as she pondered it. "I would like to hold your hand and show you where I live so I might offer you some soothing rituals for your soul." she said with a grin. She did not often have the opportunity for human (or divine) physical contact, hence the wish to hold hands, and friends ought to know where the other lived. Moreover she wanted to help her new friend find a sense of peace and calm - if only briefly - but everything she needed to accomplish this was back at her yurt.
