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 quakes pause and dark birds appear out of nowhere, circling the god and Kiada’s iceberg gaze remains on it. Everything lashes out, Kiada flinches under the sound of magic and a booming voice and her heart thunders in her chest. They can’t kill him, they can’t. And with the information granted from the birds, she inches forward, casting a glance toward Amalia and Hotaru as she does.
And then she’s trying to get closer. “Stop!” She calls to her group, following after Loren. “Something is wrong. Something… Inside.” She manages, brows furrowing as she sees what the birds were trying to show. So she tries again, anxiety swirling in her gut, trying to approach Tanau. He’s stunning, in pain, and pissed. She doesn’t blame him. “There’s something where his heart is, I’m not… I don’t think it’s supposed to be there.” She wonders if it’s blocking where he produces his flame. She sends the birds around them, then, searching the area for anything of interest.
“How can we help, do you need… Whatever’s there removed?” Standing before the god, she swallows hard, gaze committing him to memory. Perhaps that’s how they should have started. Do they try and remove the blockage in some strange game of godly operation?
Kiada approaches and asks how they can help. She does hold onto the compelled birds a bit longer to scout around the area for anything to help or of interest.
why do i fear becoming a river?
what mountain gave me such shame?
KIADA
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
08-12-2020, 02:17 AM (This post was last modified: 08-12-2020, 04:24 AM by Amalia.)
Amalia
the shield of safrin
She meets his eyes, and in that moment she knows.
"Stop!" Amalia calls in time with Kiada, but it is too late. The burst of water floods the figure, dousing radiance and quelling the light. Too late to do anything to stop it, Amalia raises the hand holding Nova back to stop her companions, while reaching out to try and pull Loren off the fallen god.
Kiada seems to be taking the lead, so for now Amalia stands her ground, trying to keep the others at bay, her eyes trained on the god. "We didn't mean to hurt you," she contributes, lowering her voice. "I'm sorry. Let us help you. Please, tell us what you need."
And, for good measure, she projects her barrier onto him, to protect from any other unfortunate blows landed by her allies.
Amalia apologizes and tries to tell the others to lay off/convince Tanau to allow them to help. She projects Vi's armor around Tanau just in case.
Magic: Armor of Vi | Projects armor onto one ally. Armor will absorb one blow before disappearing, or until it is cast onto a new ally. One use per thread. Cannot be used on Amalia.
Type: Light | Rank: Basic
During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls and receive an extra name during drops. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
She wants the silence but fears the solitude she wants to be alone and together with you
The flinch is obvious. So is the pain. She sighs and buries her head in a hand, biting back a retort that two Gods sent a bunch of mortals - no, one, really, and left it up to her to assemble a team - and didn’t give them any information. So really, that’s on them. Lifting her head to the figure, she puts her hands up and backs away.
“Sorry, sorry.” she calls out to the spirit, hoping it sounds genuine (it is). “No one’s told us anything and we face things that want to kill us all the time. The water won’t happen again.” A pause. “But yes, your sister and Vi? -” sparing a glance at Amalia, because okaaaay, there’s a story there, “did send us.”
And that’s really all she can do. Wessex isn’t personable; she knows it, the group knows it, hell, most of the known world knows it. She’ll step back and let others do the talking right now.
----------------
Wessex apologizes and attempts and explanation, promising no more water. She steps back from the spirit.
Although the light the being directed at Loren failed to do anything, he still beat a hasty retreat. Shifting to human, he held his hands up in a placating gesture. "I'm sorry. And Wessex is right, the water won't happen again."
Biting his lip, he hesitated for just a moment. Then he tapped into another one of his powers and a phoenix burst into being overhead. "Would the fire of the phoenix help you? I can try to repair the damage we did." If the being did indeed say that the fire from the phoenix would help, the healer would order his bird of fire to wreathe the trapped being in its wings.
Glancing at Kiada, he took a deep breath. "And if the thing around your heart is causing you pain, we will do our best to remove it." That came out in as firm a promise as he could manage.
Loren shifts back and backs up. Then he summons a phoenix, and if Tanau says that the fire from the phoenix will help him, Loren will order the phoenix to bathe the god in the phoenix's fire.
Base Summoning : Can summon 1 large or 2 medium or 3 small animals or 3-types of mythical creatures of any size
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
Type: Grey
Mageglass Pendant | A large, prismatic stone suspended from a chain of silver. This pendant doubles the power of any magic that the user wields.
moral of the story is, i will gut you if i need to
i will carve my way out
Well, so that didn't work. Although Hotaru's sharp eyes do take note of how her lightning seems to make the deity relax at the end of his - its? - diatribe. It's easy enough to let her hands fall back to her sides, as everyone begins speaking both to and about the god. Hotaru is here as a weapon, as brute force, there's not much for her to necessarily comment on. But she, at least, eyes their surroundings warily. The more time they waste, the more their luck fades, and with how the earth is falling apart and the lava continues to spit, Hotaru isn't liking their remaining chances.
"If my lightning helps, you are free to it as well," she calls out to the god, unsure what other use she has aside from sitting here with her hands idle, watching the land around them. Muscles remaining springloaded and ready for either retaliation from the deity, or from the environment itself. Ready to grab and haul away anyone who needs it.
Hotaru keeps an eye on the environment and offers her lightning magic to Tanau.
Items/Abilities:
During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls and receive an extra name during drops. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
Lightning manipulation: Can create and control Lightning. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
Type: Dark
Ornate Leather Bracers (Upgraded) | The wearer can, at will, redirect both magical and physical attacks. For magical attacks, can redirect them within 10ft. Physical attacks must be within melee range to be directed, and can then be redirected within 10ft.
with only my teeth
HOTARU
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
08-12-2020, 02:17 PM (This post was last modified: 08-12-2020, 02:17 PM by Court Official.)
TANAU
Their initial plan turns on its heel, from impatient action to coaxing, to questioning, and whilst Tanau tries to respond, there’s another flash of light within his chest that has his throat raw with screaming, that has the birds compelled by Kiada flapping a hasty retreat, just as the rivulets of lava around them erupt again.
For one last time, any fire and magma directed at the group causes no harm, bouncing off some invisible force which seems to crack and shatter to nothing around them. Without the blessing over them, the air feels a great deal hotter, more stifling. And attentive as she is to their surroundings, Hotaru will notice that these lava flows are deepest and most dangerous to the northwest and west of them.
But back to Tanau.
Rather than waste his breath in responding separately, he nods to all of them and straightens on his knees as best he can. The phoenix summoned by Loren helps immensely, settling around his shoulders like a cloak, soothing the cracked and blackened wounds from the water. ”Not much time,” he warns, his hands dropping to his thighs to reveal a molten shard of something - glass or shrapnel, perhaps - embedded in his chest, over his heart.
Veins of blue bleed out and into the surrounding flames, tainting them off colour. ”Take it out. Please.”
Tanau is holding still enough for one member of the party to reach in and try and remove the shard from his chest. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS, CHOOSE WISELY.
It makes sense now, as Tanau stills and her birds depart and the sweltering heat grows stronger. Kiada can feel the sweat beading along her skin, but her eyes remain on the fiery god. She knows she’s useless in helping remove the blockage, as much as she wishes she were the one to do it, but as the magma sparks up again there’s a different idea that comes to mind.
She shifts to her vulture form then, gliding up a bit higher as she tries to spot the way the magma might attack — hoping she might be able to warn those that protect whomever does remove the thing within Tanau’s heart. I’ll be your eyes from here.” She sends to Loren and Amalia, pale feathers tinged in red, with the armor that’s shrunken to her shift. Her scarlet gaze scans, ready to call out where the lava might flow back at them.
Kiada shifts to her vulture form to try and get an idea of where the magma might be coming from in order to warn the group below and whomever tries to remove the blockage.
why do i fear becoming a river?
what mountain gave me such shame?
KIADA
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
The instinct is clear: reach into the exposed chest and draw out the thing that blocks his heart. But even as she considers this she realizes she can't. She's too weak, too new to her new abilities and form. If she dies a hero here then how will she save anyone?
What will the gift have been worth?
Think, Amalia. Magic shimmers in her shield, ready to be used. Magma threatens ever closer, and she can feel the heat dripping down her neck. "Okay," she says softly, looking from Tanau back to her companions. "I'm going to use the water magic to keep the magma from us on this side. Wessex, if we work together, maybe we can make a barrier all the way around." A look at the older woman for confirmation, bygones set aside for the moment as her mind races to plan. "Hotaru, keep him strengthened with your magic. And Loren..."
Looking to try and meet her friend's eyes, Amalia nods expressively. He's brave, if stupid, and has always wanted a chance to find redemption. This is it. "You're up."
With that the Shield lets her barrier slip around the summoner before taking up position on the western edge. Wielding her titanium shield, she attempts to use Loren's magic to create a wall of ice that arcs around them all, hoping Wessex will be able to replicate it, to create a safer area in which Loren can work.
Amalia has a plan, gasp. She moves Vi's Armor to Loren, then uses his water magic to try and create a barrier of ice in a half-circle around them to block the magma, trying to keep it at least 20ft away from Tanau (depending on space constraints). She is on the WEST.
Magic: Armor of Vi | Projects armor onto one ally. Armor will absorb one blow before disappearing, or until it is cast onto a new ally. One use per thread. Cannot be used on Amalia.
Type: Light | Rank: Basic
An ornate titanium shield covered in star sigils. When (abandoned) magic is cast at this device, it can store the power and reuse it as controlled by the wielder. (Made by Remi)
Water manipulation: Can create and control water. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls
She wants the silence but fears the solitude she wants to be alone and together with you
08-13-2020, 11:56 AM (This post was last modified: 08-13-2020, 12:24 PM by Wessex.)
I've embraced the torch passed to me
owned what I've been called to be
Well lookit that, apparently apologies do work sometimes. Letting the others make a plan, Wessex is internally annoyed at the hijacking of her quest, but now is not the time for semantics. And besides, she couldn’t reach in for the shard thing, though she would if the spirit were made of anything other than fire (good job, Eirachi, sending the most flammable into caverns of death).
“Okay,” the demigod agrees with a shrug, moving to keep Amalia and everyone else within her use-radius. Hoping that Loren would be quick with his task, she wonders if there might not be a better way to do this - but they seem to be argue, so she falls in line.
As soon as Amalia uses the water magic in the shield, Wessex also takes hold of the magic and tries to create the other half of the ice shield around the group.
-----------------
Wessex uses magic re-resonance from Amalia's use of Loren's magic cast into the shield to mirror Amalia's use and complete an ice wall around them and Tanau to keep the magma out
Magic: Magic Re-Resonance | When abandoned magic is cast within 10ft of Wessex, she can duplicate the ability at its upgraded level once.
Type: Grey | Rank: Upgraded
As Kiada took to the skies, Loren nodded. When Amalia laid out the plan, he kept waiting for her to come to him. However, when she finally did, he gulped. Meeting her gaze squarely, he nodded slowly. As everyone else got into position, he dismissed his phoenix, knowing that he'd need his full focus for this.
Taking a deep breath, he wished he had time to steady his nerves. However, the risk was too great if they stood here too long. So, as carefully as he could, he reached into the core of the bound spirit? god? being, trying to remove the glittering and hot object within. His own arms started to glitter as the fur from his new lion shift rolled down it, but his hands remained human.
Loren dismisses his phoenix so he can focus his full attention on his next task. His arms shift to Nemean lion fur (minus his hands) for extra protection as he reaches in to try and remove the object from Tanau.
moral of the story is, i will gut you if i need to
i will carve my way out
Okay, surgical procedure it is apparently. For a moment her tongue convulses as everyone’s tasks are laid out before them, wanting to take Loren and Wessex in particular aside, but what can she really say that isn’t already obvious? Be careful, don’t get hurt, things they can’t necessarily even control. Though she’s relatively useless herself, and nervous to be supplying magic too close to the “operation”, Hotaru doesn’t hesitate once the command is given. If her skills are useful elsewhere, she’ll hop to it.
Skirting around the worst of the lava flows, Hotaru tries to position herself more towards the god’s back, farthest away from Loren’s attempts. Her mastery over the lightning is all she can rely on for comfort, summoning it once more and directing it towards Tanau’a body in hopes of keeping his power and health stable - or maybe replenished depending on the compatibility of their elements - while Loren tries to dig the object out. She does this single-handedly, as her bracer-covered arm is kept aloft and aimed towards the cracking ground in case any lava or other debris comes her way.
Hotaru moves to Tanau’s back and uses a single hand to direct lightning at his body, furthest away from Loren. Her braver hand is held between her and the lava in case anything comes her way.
Items/Abilities:
During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls and receive an extra name during drops. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
Lightning manipulation: Can create and control Lightning. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
Type: Dark
Ornate Leather Bracers (Upgraded) | The wearer can, at will, redirect both magical and physical attacks. For magical attacks, can redirect them within 10ft. Physical attacks must be within melee range to be directed, and can then be redirected within 10ft.
with only my teeth
HOTARU
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
08-14-2020, 10:19 PM (This post was last modified: 08-14-2020, 10:20 PM by Court Official.)
TANAU
Hey, the options are always open, kids. Choices can always be made, plans can always be changed. Almost like a quest is meant to be challenging. Regardless, Tanau stands before them, exposed and trembling, until one of them steps forward at last. ”Thank you,” he grates out in a voice that sounds like it isn’t used to being so harsh, molten eyes locking on Loren as his hand plunges deep into the god’s chest.
It’s a decision that will be agonising for them both. Tanau screams, and rainbow fire lashes and bursts from his chest in unsteady tendrils. The golden fur along Loren’s arms cannot be pierced or cut by mortal weapons, but it is no mortal who stands before him now. He burns. ”Pull—” Tanau tells him, once his fingers have clenched around the object.
The surge comes before he can quite manage it, and a blinding flash of light obscures the two from view as the lava erupts and rages around the group. Luckily, they are prepared. Bracers and domes of ice redirect and soak the damage spectacularly, leaving them all unharmed, though the ice (of course) melts away to nothing.
Kiada is not so lucky, unfortunately. She may be flying above, but the magma bursts upwards, and she’s not quite quick enough to dodge. It splatters across one of her wings, rendering it useless, and down she goes.
Tanau, the Longheat God
HP: ???/???
Kiada is falling towards the lava!
Loren must continue to pull the shard from Tanau’s chest to get it out.
Of course, she can’t stay lucky. Not as she’s circling overhead, trying to keep an eye on something that might be of importance. She misses the lava as it erupts, too focused on Tanau and what happens below. The lava shoots upward, coating her wing and singing away feather and what feels almost like tendons.
A cry leaves her as she starts to spiral down – a mix through the attuned bond to those attuned, and a sorrowful, almost pitiful shriek of her vulture shift. And down she goes – trying to steady the one wing in an attempt it might glide her back within the safety of the ice wall – reaching out frantically to the birds of before – the carrion birds that had helped her spy within Tanau.
Perhaps they might be able to buoy her into where the lava can’t reach.
Kiada tries to call some carrion birds again to try and buoy her away from the lava and into the are of the shield again.
Can call like-minded animals for assistance (1 large, 3 medium, 5 small, from the same animal family)
why do i fear becoming a river?
what mountain gave me such shame?
KIADA
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
It's working. Through some miracle, some luck so foreign to Amalia she doesn't know she can trust it, everything seems to work. The Shield and the Wraith work in tandem to build a wall around the group, while Hotaru fuels Tanau's fire and Loren pulls at the sharpened glass and Kiada....
...Kiada...
"Kia!"
She may not be able to respond through the Attuned bond, but Amalia can still feel the Harpy's cry as clearly as if said aloud. Glancing up as the ice wall shatters, she moves instinctively toward where the vulture is falling. As she moves her body changes, growing and changing until a qilin stands where the girl once was, long tail extended toward the falling form. Kia, grab onto me! You're going to be okay.
To Tanau, the Shield asks through her mental speech, not sure if he can hear: How much longer will it take? What is it, in your heart?
Amalia shifts to qilin form and attempts to use her loooooong tail to catch Kia/for Kia to hold onto. She asks Tanau some questions.
During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls
She wants the silence but fears the solitude she wants to be alone and together with you
