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!
"Now now kitten, what's all this about?" Frey's voice weaves through the jungle like a warm breeze. Heat and sensuality fill the air like poplar fluff after a stiff wind, and on it is a very particular pheromone. That of a female molten tiger in heat. From the depths of the trees comes a warm yowl, a sound which beckons something in the very marrow of our upset predator. A plea that suggests attending to her needs will be a much better use of their time.
Standing behind Phoebe, Frey casually strokes a hand through her golden hair. "Cats can be such fickle things. It's why I love them so." They muse with a heated smile, before disappearing into the mists created by Pim.
The molten tiger has absolutely picked the worst target to focus on. While the creature thinks it’s got Remi where it wants him with the jungles’ help, there’s that scorpion tail that lashes out far too fast for it to do anything with. It can’t avoid the attack as it pierces down between its shoulder blades. It pierces, and suddenly the tiger can’t move as paralysis flickers through its body. It drops, wanting nothing more than to run now that Remi has proved himself a target far too challenging for it to have picked on.
Even if the jungle had nearly tried to put him in its lap.
The constellation comes next, a flood of water that pushes the tiger away from Remi with a guttural yowl, ears pinning back as it tries to fight against the water, but just as before the molten tiger’s body is useless. It’s only calmed for a moment by Frey’s approach, a fiery sensation that distracts the tiger from what might have been a meal, to its other basic needs. But unfortunately for the tiger, it’s still unable to move and instead still lays upon the ground in a pool of both blood and liquid metal.
The fog and mist creep in further now, coating the area and hiding the tiger from view for now, thick enough to almost taste the pollen on the air.
Remi remains trapped in vines but succeeds in paralyzing the molten tiger. Ronin’s shackles succeed in pushing the tiger away from Remi and further into the jungle. Frey does distract the feline, but it remains paralyzed and unable to follow through.
Randomly determined post order: Remi, Zephyr, Ronin, Phoebe.
i wish i could say that i am a light that never goes out
Ronin's burst of celestial water coats both manticore and tiger alike, and both yowl their own individual snarls of displeasure. Instinctively his tawny pelt tries to shake off the water, but bound as he is, it's difficult to do anything other than flail in the grip of the veins.
With a seething gaze still fastened on the tiger, Remi offers it a warning snarl before catching the scent of the she-beast on the breeze. Whatever his preferences are in the body of a man, his more beastial and primitive nature hold no such fixations upon the male form. He can feel something hot coiling in his loins as the scent continues to weave around him, and were it not for the vines holding him in place, he might have trotted off into the jungle after the scent, as surely Frey intended the tiger to do.
There's...an..ot..h.." He tries to think to Ronin through the haze. Biting down hard on his tongue to free his mind, Remi shifts into his own body again where his nose is far too weak to pick up on the aroma. Hopefully free of the vines now that he's much smaller and of a different proportion, the Alchemist holds up a warning hand to the group. "There's another in the trees. A female. Perhaps this one is merely protecting her." Or perhaps he might literally fuck off as perhaps Frey wanted. "Once it can move again, perhaps it will go." I certainly wanted to, going unsaid to everyone save for perhaps Ronin, who might feel the shivery sense of arousal which had come over him.
Remi shifts back to his human form to hopefully? get himself out of the vines. He lets the group know there's another female tiger in the trees.
but I f l i c k e r
from time to time
REMI
Table and Gif sniping by SKY who is eternally the best forever
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Well that was... huh. You're feeling rather bewildered, you must say. First water falls from stars (what?), then Frey appears in front of you, ass bare as a babe's while they stroke the girl's hair (what?). It's beginning to look like you're a bit outclassed, Zeph. So much for keeping the kids safe. They've got gods and stars and stinging tails. All you've got is a rug.
A rug now get off, tucking it back into your bag. The lion/eagle/scorpion monstrosity turns back into a boyish governor, relaying information you don't really want to hear. You peer around him at the tiger, a tight frown between your brows. "I'd rather not stick around t'see it," you mutter, not really trying hard to be heard. You suspect you don't have a vote.
Zeph puts away his carpet and weakly suggests they go back home, please.
Type: Light
Carpet | Can fly with 2 human-sized creatures on it. Can only reach a maximum height of 20ft
give your heart to a wanderer who found your soul and called it home
Between the jolly bunch of them, they seem to have it down to a fine art. Well. An art. The smoke hazes everything, Frey appears (and disappears again), Remi is sending some weird and absolutely inappropriate thoughts and images his way, and then he becomes a man again before their eyes. Ronin is already on the move, his gaze on the patch of jungle further out where the tiger might still be prowling. But it’s his husband he moves towards, dropping to one knee beside him and reaching out to help him sit up properly.
”Let me see,” he says of the alchemist’s throat, frowning at the deep gouges from claws and wrinkling his nose. He glances down at his wrist, at the constellation that could help. But there’s also the other thing, but he’s already dropped that bomb on them once. He doesn’t want to risk another supernova unless the tiger really is sticking around. So he reaches into the pack he carries, working on bandaging the wound for the time being.
”We should fall back,” he agrees with Zeph - a surprise, perhaps, but this is starting to play out exactly as his previous jungle mission did.
Ronin helps to bandage Remi’s neck and suggests they go back as well.
Phoebe glanced up at Frey as they appeared behind her, stroking her hair. She smiled, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders while in their presence. Certainly they would help, in their own, unique way. "Thank you, Frey." she said softly, before looking back at the scene before them. The tiger had been thrown back and paralyzed, but the mention of the female tiger in the woods seemed to be Frey's contribution to their cause.
"Ronin, use these. They'll help." she said, handing him the clean bandages to use. Their antiseptic properties would help stave off any sort of infection hopefully. But there were still vines (maybe?) around Remi's limbs, so she set to the task of cutting those away with her dagger.
Phoebe gives Ronin the Clean Bandages to use on Remi's wound, and cuts away the vines if they are still there.
The tiger, slowly beginning to get some amount of feeling back, yowls it’s frustration in hisses and growls. But as Remi removes himself from the vines with Phoebe’s help, the jungle seems to breathe around them. The vines drop, nothing left to hold onto, as the fog begins to whip up again, shrouding the section of jungle the tiger had been in.
And then, the tiger begins to move when it has a chance to — stumbling and staggering through the jungle and through the pins and needles of its body slowly beginning to wake up.
But the fog continues, plunging everything into a thick white darkness for the pathway forward.
-cue the Clash’s Should I Stay or Should I go-
Do you keep going or head back?
Randomly determined post order: Remi, Zephyr, Ronin, Phoebe.
i wish i could say that i am a light that never goes out
The wounds on his throat don't hurt perhaps as much as one might expect. The skin there is already sufficiently deadened thanks to the scar-tissue that mottles it. The nerve endings there are long gone, but the Lullaby still hisses in a breath as Phoebe's strange bandages are applied. "Thanks." He grunts, placing one of his hands over Ronin's as he tries to turn himself slightly to regard the group.
Though the Governor absolutely does not want to go back ('tis but a flesh wound after all, for someone like him), to have 50% of your group inclined to call it a day is not the sort of thing he can ignore. With his jaw feathering, a clear indication of the choice he'd make were it up to him, Remi merely nods his head.
"Alright. Back it is then." He says, putting a hand to his throat where roses of red have already started to bloom through the bandages. Standing, he nods to Ronin suggesting he might take the back as he had done before. Trudging along the path they'd come, hopefully, the way out of the jungle would be less hazardous than the way in.
Remi agrees to leave as well! He starts leading the group out!
but I f l i c k e r
from time to time
REMI
Table and Gif sniping by SKY who is eternally the best forever
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Well, good hustle kids. Now let's hele on homewards, as the locals would say.
You watch this little trio work together with a raised eyebrow and no remark, deciding not to interfere. The madame and the wife are doting on the wounded; you'll only get in the way. Still you try to catch his eye, to nod and confirm wordlessly that he's alright before turning your attention back to the forest, vigilant and alert.
This time you fall into place rather near the lead, determined not to let any unfriendlies sink their teeth into more of Vervain's children. You've got your claws strapped on to deal with bugs or vines, and your ears pricked up for sounds of trouble. And, uh, yeah. That's it.
MVP Zephyr, ladies and gents.
Zeph follows behind Remi, keeping an eye on the forest. He has his sea panther claws to strike any vines or bugs.
Type: Dark
Panther Claws | Gloves tipped with the formidable claws of a sea panther. They will make a fine weapon.
give your heart to a wanderer who found your soul and called it home
Ronin gives a small smile to his husband, squeezing his shoulder before rising to his feet. Were it just you and I, it wouldn’t be an issue, he explains to Remi, knowing what the other man’s preference would be. But they’re barely into the jungle and a god has been summoned, and had it been anyone other than Remi at the head of the group, they might not be going back with four bodies. It might have been three and some scraps.
And he knows the Lullaby has to know that, so he doesn’t speak more on the subject. Instead he nods and takes his place at the back of the group again, no projection needed this time. Offering a hand to Phoebe to let her know she’s free to go ahead of him, Ronin falls into step and leaves the jungle behind. Hopefully it will let them.
Ronin takes the rear (lol) with just himself this time, no projection.
Phoebe certainly wasn't going to argue with the idea of going back. A neck wound, even for someone as strong as Remj, was no laughing matter after all - and though she knew basic medical techniques she had no magic to heal him. Not to mention that other fellow didn't seem particularly fighty either. Perhaps this had simply been too big a job for the gathered crew from the start.
And they had said they wouldn't be heroes after all.
So she smiled a little and nodded to Ronin, taking her place behind Remi with her companions at her sides.
Phoebe and crew take the spot behind Remi and begin to trek out of the jungle!
There’s little to no issues that arise on the trek back, perhaps a few vines break and plummet to the floor, sometimes the Treeflits return in their buzzing singsong tones. But the group is relatively ignored upon their departure.
And so you’ve seen, the jungle mists that cloud and grow thicker – the humidity and pollen strong enough to taste on the air, and tigers and insects that Torchline doesn’t typically bear, reaching out into the fringes with long tendrils of fingers. The warmth is relatively the same, still misty and bright once you all make it back to Torchline.
