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!
Staying up here sounds perfectly acceptable to me, Ianto’s informs the group, not that he thinks they are particularly interested in what he has to say. If they were, they probably wouldn’t still be here looking down at a land shark in a dust storm. Flapping hard against the whipping gale, Alina might be utterly unimpressed with him (for good reason) but she at least offers a place to rest, and Ianto accepts it willingly.
If we can distract it away from us enough to touch down, I can summon the Wishing Wagon to get us out of here, he suggests. Large enough to house all of them and to keep the dust out, he thinks perhaps they ought to have used it in the first place. Except he probably wouldn’t have been able to get a tip-off about the land shark, and then they’d all be eaten.
Ianto accepts the offered perch from Alina, and suggests if they distract the shark away rather than attacking, he can get them out of the storm with the Wishing Wagon.
She can feel the tether holding the Landshark's soul to its body beginning to weaken. As the sand heaves and rolls as it tries to escape, the demigoddess holds firm. As far as the musings of those above her, she cannot hear them. They are too far from her physically and spiritually, so as far as she knows, they remain in danger as long as the Landshark still lives. To escape such a beast would require far more luck than she thinks any of them have.
Plus the beast bit her and she did not appreciate that.
And so Delphia tugs again, trying her hardest to break free the soul of the beast from its corporeal prison.
Delphia continues to try and pull away the soul of the Landshark while in her spoop ghost form.
Abilities used:
Magic: Spiritual Guide | Able to remove trapped spiritual entities from a location/object and release into the environment. Can also remove the soul from a living person and send to Mort (requires character/admin permission).
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
Magic: Living Dead | Becomes a ghost for a short period of time. Is completely incorporeal / transparent and cannot affect the environment. The temperature drops in a 10ft vicinity of her. Cannot be clearly heard except occasional vague whispers. Lasts for 5 minutes x her endurance stat.
Type: Grey | Rank: Upgraded
Greatwood Citizen | Animals know to respect you. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, animals roll with disadvantage against you. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
Delphia
i just choose to feed mine
Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd
Alina blinked, then rubbed her eyes with her free hand. As Ianto took up a spot on the Fae's body, she frowned. "Sorry. I actually can't see Delphia. The dust storm is screwing with my senses." Her brow furrowed in concentration as she stared down at what she could see of the ground below.
Careful not to dislodge the Attuned, the huntress unslung her bow again. Nocking an arrow, she began to fly slowly forward. "I don't know how to distract the landshark, do you? But since the whole point of this expedition is to explore the storms, let's not get further off track." With that, she began to fly cautiously forward towards what she thought was the thinnest part of the storm, eyes peeled for further danger. If something attacked her, she'd loose an arrow at it.
Alina makes sure Ianto has a secure perch on her body. Then she nocked an arrow and begins to fly cautiously forward into the thinnest looking part of the storm. If something attacks her, she'll shoot it.
Delphia continues to tug at the Landshark, and as she does it grows more aggressive. It had wanted to flee, but finding itself tethered has made it feel as though it had very few options. Diving out of the sand where Delphia stands, it snaps at nothing, feeling the cold chill of the demigoddess but finding no skin upon which to sink its teeth.
Meanwhile for Alina and Ianto, there is no thinner part of the storm. Sand whips brutally against them like sandpaper against the fae's wings, and eyes, as well as the cardinal's feathers. Thick orange and yellow cloud Alina's vision such that all around them the world has become one muddled monochromatic mess. A noisy amalgamation of sand and wind, into which the pair will soon become lost.
Nephele has been removed from this PQ+.
Your randomly chosen order is: Ianto, Delphia, Alina. Please post within 48 hours of the person before you, or you will be skipped and you will not be able to count this PQ+ for levelling/MP. And to ensure that nothing is missed, please include a summary of your actions at the bottom of your post, including the description of any magic/items/feats that are being utilized!
A sad trill leaves Ianto as the gales of dust buffet against them, his feathers ruffling in a helpless attempt to create space between his small body and the storm that tries to rage through it. If he tries to fly he’ll end up being tossed away and lost in the storm, so instead he calls out to Alina, trying to bury his head under his wing.
We need to get to the ground, he tells her. If we can touch down softly, I’ll summon my wagon. We can stay in it until the storm passes over, and that way we’ll have time to catch our breath. So long as we don’t move, the land shark shouldn’t know we’re there.
Ianto suggests touching down softly so he can summon the Wishing Wagon for them to hide in.
Sadly, the plans of her friends are literally above her head - the storm and distance made it impossible for Delphia to catch even the slightest bit of their conversation. Moreover, she lacked the connection to speak with them like Attuned. An oversight on her part? Quite possibly. But there really wasn't much time to consider anything else as the Landshark leapt up into the air, snapping its jaws closed around her. Despite being in the realm of the dead, it was rather unnerving to be eaten.
The demigoddess hoped to use the closeness to her advantage though, tugging on the connection between her and the beast, desperate to capture its soul. And so she pulled again, digging deep to try and summon the soul from the body of the landshark. Briefly, she wondered if this was how fishingfolk felt while pulling in their catch. Thrilled? Terrified? Ever so slightly irritated at the creature's audacity to struggle to cling to life? Curious indeed.
Delphia continues to try and pull away the soul of the Landshark while in her spoop ghost form.
Abilities used:
Magic: Spiritual Guide | Able to remove trapped spiritual entities from a location/object and release into the environment. Can also remove the soul from a living person and send to Mort (requires character/admin permission).
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
Magic: Living Dead | Becomes a ghost for a short period of time. Is completely incorporeal / transparent and cannot affect the environment. The temperature drops in a 10ft vicinity of her. Cannot be clearly heard except occasional vague whispers. Lasts for 5 minutes x her endurance stat.
Type: Grey | Rank: Upgraded
Greatwood Citizen | Animals know to respect you. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, animals roll with disadvantage against you. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
Delphia
i just choose to feed mine
Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd
Immediately, Alina knew she'd made a mistake. How dare she think she could contend with Rae's might. The sand storm was fierce, whipping against them, stripping their flesh, striking her wings, and stealing her senses. She narrowed her eyes against the onslaught, but that didn't help. As Ianto spoke into her mind, she pressed her lips together.
Fighting her instinct to flee blindly, she hesitated for the briefest of moments, she nodded. Having no other way to communicate, she simply tried to descend as best she could through the buffeting winds and stinging sand. At least she was pretty sure which direction was down. If she could, she'd land as softly as possible so as to prevent the landshark from detecting them.
Alina tries to land as softly as possible.
Greatwood Citizen | Animals know to respect you. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, animals roll with disadvantage against you. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
Alina and Ianto are able to find their way to the ground, the merchant whistling a familiar tune and summoning the wagon. If the shark hears or notices, it gives absolutely no indication as it continues to struggle beneath the ground against Delphia 's efforts. However the demigoddess will feel her magic begin to wane, having spent far too long in this world between than she ought to have.
What both Aline and Ianto will know, based on years of experience, is that this storm will not pass. Not on its own, anyway. And without any more clever ideas, it seems you will not be pushing through today.
Your randomly chosen order is: Ianto, Delphia, Alina. Please post within 48 hours of the person before you, or you will be skipped and you will not be able to count this PQ+ for levelling/MP. And to ensure that nothing is missed, please include a summary of your actions at the bottom of your post, including the description of any magic/items/feats that are being utilized!
They land, by some miracle, softly and carefully; Ianto summons the Wishing Wagon and quickly unlocks it, beckoning for Alina to hurry inside. Within, the Fae might be pleasantly surprised to find not a poky little wagon interior, but a considerable living space, decadently decorated and packed with trinkets and bric-a-brac.
No time to look around, though - Ianto is locking the door behind them and brushing the dust from his coppery hair, taking a second to cough and splutter some breath back into his lungs. ”Did you see Delphia?” he asks, moving to squint out of the little windows. ”I wonder if this wind will push us back towards the Greatwood?”
Straightening up, he moves to start digging around for some supplies. He finds some more suitable scarves along with some shaded glasses that might better protect their eyes, offering them out to Alina.
Ianto takes a breather, finds more suitable supplies for them to tackle the dust storm, and enquires about Delphia.
Thankfully, they managed to get inside the magically appearing wagon. Making sure the door was shut securely behind them, Alina coughed and brushed the sand off herself as well. At Ianto's question, though, she scowled and shook her head. "No." Taking the scarves and the goggles Ianto offered, the huntress put them on, covering every part of her that she could.
Looking around the inside of the wagon, she pressed her lips together. "Let's assume the wind won't be on our side. Do you have a compass? If so, you can shift and hide inside my clothes and I can use it to guide us out of the sand." She glanced at him and raised her eyebrows.
Alina puts on the scarves and goggles that Ianto offers and asks him for a compass.
Sentient, or close enough to it, Ianto's wagon has absolutely no desire to remain where her outside can be sand-blasted by the storm. She's quite fond of her brilliant colours and outdoor trinkets. So while Alina has many clever ideas about how to get out of the storm, the wagon waits for no man. Or fae. Or demi-goddess.
Beneath their feet they'll feel the slow bumbling of the wagon's wheels, leading them home.
What becomes of Nephele? Of Delphia? The Greatwood, left behind though it has been, will find ways to reach out and bring them home.
The Wishing Wagon brings Ianto and Alina back into the Greatwood safely. Delphia and Nephele will find it much harder to return back, but will eventually, a little worse for wear.
