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!
Saiden blinked as Amalia rushed passed them, calling out something he didn't understand. However, he and Morgan had already handled the situation, so the Shield's efforts were for naught. As she disappeared he sighed and got up from where he'd fallen.
Walking over to the Warden, he held out a hand for her. "Thought you were a goner for a moment there," he told her in a whisper. His eyes trailed past the lava to where Amalia had flown and been lost.
He moved ahead, pausing where the tunnel branched. Eying the three, he shrugged. If the majority of the group chose any particular tunnel, the cook would follow.
Saiden will enter whichever tunnel the majority of the group goes into.
this pair of wings worn and rusted from too many years by my side
Well, everything goes very poorly.
Already dizzy from her returning fever, Amalia's depth perception is as lacking as her sanity, and the sudden outpouring of steam and wind does absolutely nothing to help. Once again she reaches for the falling, and once again she misses, but this time it isn't Kiada who goes tumbling into the abyss.
It's the Shield herself.
She crashes down and slides over the ground, tumbling in a mess of dirt and wings and darkness. Pitch darkness, hot and confining, pressing down and suffocating, the weight of it compressing her lungs. Darkness where the lost go to die, except she isn't dead. There is no reprieve from her pain and fear, no stars to guide her, no air, no air, no air-
Panic sets in and the Shield curls against it, tucking her knees up to her chest and wrapping her wings and her arms around herself in an attempt to keep the dark at bay. Terror blinds her, deafens her, shoves itself into her senses and leaves her sad and alone. Again she is a little girl listening to monsters at the door; again she is a woman reaching for a boy in the dark. Moment after moment plays across her vision until she doesn't know which one she's in, until she doesn't know if she's sitting or flying or simply falling, falling and falling and falling down....
Back at the group, a frantic Jyoti trills for Ronin and Remi to follow before swimming down toward the left tunnel, lighting the path with starlight and searching for the source of the Shield's dismay.
Amalia is having a hardcore panic attack/PTSD episode
Jyoti tries to guide Remi and Ronin to her, down the left tunnel
Everything happened in a second and then she was back on solid ground, but all around her was only dark steam; Morgan would chastise herself for this later, but in the moment had only had her instincts to go on. At first she was pleased to be back up, nodding at Saiden as he took her hand and spoke to her, until she realised Amalia was missing. Immediately guilt pricked up her neck and she looked down to the lava: she couldn't see any body, any disturbance in the flow...she hoped that meant there was a chance to save her.
When the mist cleared and their choice became clear she hesitated, holding onto Eunike as the unicorn snorted and stomped with distress, nuzzling into her master's hair. Hesitantly Morgan went to look into the middle tunnel without entering it, peering into the darkness but not daring to step in alone after what had just happened.
--
Morgan looks into the middle tunnel but does not enter it.
No, is all he can think, as everything unfurls before him. He is powerless, he is weak compared to all of them - he doesn't know what to do and that is not something he is used to feeling. Anxiety and fear rise, and he watches as Morgan is saved, but them Amalia is thrown in the abyss and he can't do shit about it.
Visibility was shot; he tried to blink away the steam and darkness, finding himself only blurring his own vision which struggled all the more. The heat, the steam, the sounds - it was a moment of sensory overload that had his head spinning, and it was all he could do to stumble up to Morgan and Eunike's side and steady himself - peering down into the same middle tunnel as she.
He put a hand on Morgan's shoulder for a moment, more to comfort and reassure himself than her, heart hammering in his chest. Then he focussed, and found his vision changing - in the dim light, the change would hardly be noticeable on him, but feline slits took over his eyes, as the leopard within peeked out and tried to see down the dark tunnel before them, its senses and proclivity for darkness hopefully providing an advantage (something he was overly aware he severely lacking in almost every other respect).
--
Chuy stands by Morgan and looks down the middle tunnel with leopard eyes.
they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me
Sugar has perched up on a high ridge, the pale dragon sluggish and clearly not enjoying the heat of the Climb, but her eyes are sharp for Jyoti as the star whale drifts out of the leftmost tunnel. With a trill loud enough for Remi to hear, she drops from the ridge to follow after Jyoti to find Amalia.
Ronin nods to his partner, and as he steps forward he seems also to step outside of himself; both the Star and his astral projection pulse with soft starlight, lighting the way into the middle and rightmost tunnel.
Chulane will see that the middle tunnel contains more ghoulish light - indeed, Ronin returns a moment later and shakes his head. ”It’s blocked further down by more lava,” he explains, hoping that Amalia did not go that way. His projection also returns, curiously ethereal, walking straight through debris and rocks to fade back into the Star. ”Rockfall,” he explains. ”What did you find, Remi?”
He doesn't hear Ronin because he's already fled down the tunnel. His vision is good enough to see in the dark, but with Jyoti and Sugar helping him navigate it isn't a terribly difficult thing (shut up dice, don't you dare). Ahead is Amalia, crouched in on herself, surrounded by wings he had no idea she had. What that is a sign of he doesn't know and in the moment doesn't care.
He has only one thought, aside from the safety of his friend: is this the water wearing off? is it worse now? He fears the answer to both is yes.
Shifting midstride, foolishly and recklessly perhaps, Remi stumbles to a halt near the crumpled angel-figure, his own wings curling outward from his back as he kneels. Though she hasn't asked for it and he's not received her permission, Remi reaches out for her, seeking the contact of his skin. Like some devil devouring its prey, the alchemist's wings fan out to block them both from view, as he leans in to try and take her hand in his, cupping her cheek with the other.
Amalia. He whispers into her mind. You're alright.
But no. He didn't need magic to tell him that she very much wasn't.
Remi runs to Ama, shifting into just winged!Remi and tries to use his empathy magic on her while blocking her from the group with his wings.
THE ALCHEMIST
i’ve been chasin the storm of a lovesick lonely lie
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
09-24-2020, 04:46 PM (This post was last modified: 09-24-2020, 05:22 PM by Saiden.)
saiden
As the group scattered to find Amalia, Saiden stayed in the main tunnel. Eying Remi and Ronin (who split in half as the Hali watched) as well as Chulane, the cook shrugged. Nodding at the Dark Star's words, the Hali looked at the middle and left tunnels. Whistling to himself, he glanced up at the miniature whale that appeared to be emitting light and singing.
Ambling towards it and the left tunnel, he entered the passage. Glancing around at the darkness, he frowned. Straining his eyes for any sign of the missing Shield, he would hopefully see the lullaby's wings at least. If Saiden could, he would glance past Remi, trying to spot what lay for them in the tunnel beyond. As he did, he would try to edge carefully past the pairing to move ahead.
Saiden enters the left tunnel and tries to get and see past Remi and Amalia to figure out what's ahead.
Morgan was glad for Chulane stood by her, her heart still coming down from it's heavy thuds in her chest after her fall. He could clearly see more than she in the tunnel so she tried to spend the moment recovering, taking a few heavy breaths (difficult, with the humid, thick air) and re-centering herself into her usual calm mindset. By the time Ronin returned and confirmed there was little of worth ahead, she had managed to get herself back to something like normal, at least until she had the chance to truly relax.
It seemed they were all headed to the left tunnel. Morgan carefully picked her way over there, keeping Eunike close and watching each step carefully, even when she wasn't over such a dangerous edge this time. Not knowing Amalia that well she let those that did go ahead, hoping they might be able to better speak with her; she remained at the back of the group, with them but giving space to those that needed it.
----
Morgan enters the left tunnel behind everyone else, giving Ama some space.
this pair of wings worn and rusted from too many years by my side
Darkness.
Darkness and hands.
Darkness and a flash of light and a body exploding in her arms.
It's a tumult of emotion that will strike Remi, but then, hopefully the Lullaby knows her well enough to have expected this. Panicked confusion as the man before her blurs and changes in the dim light, his face boyish, his body different. There's red-
"No!" Amalia sobs, reaching out to try and wrap herself around Remi even as he wraps around her, large wings slamming into his in an objectively comic angel slap fight. "No, no, no, you died, you're going to die, I can't let you die again, please-"
Then Jyoti's starlight breaks through the wall of wings and the Shield abruptly stills, calm confusion quelling her panic as her dark eyes blink and clear. Looking up at Remi she opens and closes her dry mouth, vaguely aware of how cool his hand is on her skin, of how hot she is, how thirsty, how afraid. She ignores all of that, focusing instead on his familiar sea-green gaze, the eyes she's seen fractured and repaired and knows now almost as well as her own.
"Remi? Are you going to take me to Ludo? I...I don't want to go yet. I'm scared."
He watches the astral projection, unsure of what it is or how it came to be, with quiet amazement. One again, he felt grossly inadequate, utterly incapable - he questioned silently why he was here, but resolved that he was here, that he'd do whatever he could (insufficient though it may be) to see this done.
His own heightened vision revealed not much - certainly not the path Amalia had taken, confirmed when Ronin emerged. "Neat trick," he commented softly to the man, eyebrows raised for a moment
He followed his warden, down the left tunnel - and he looked at the mass of wings and feathers, only able to discern Remi, unaware that Amalia had wings of her own. "Amalia?" he asked, unable to hold the question back, wanting to know what was going on, wanting to know how much urgency was being injected into their situation.
He was on the outside, only barely able to hear the frantic panic in her tones - and his stomach was in knots, knowing the implications even if he had little clue what was actually. "We need to keep moving." It hardly had to be said, but he said it anyway, making to do just that, and keep going down the tunnel, stepping in and assisting where he could in supporting Amalia, if he was needed (but he assumed for the most part Remi had things as "under control" as they were going to get).
--
Chuy goes down the left tunnel.
He unhelpfully says they need to keep moving, and will help support Ama if it's needed.
they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me
They all crowd into the tunnel, Ronin’s nimbus floating at the back of the group, and he smiles over his shoulder at Chulane. ”I come with my own cannon fodder,” he remarks with a shrug, only to see the way up ahead blocked by Remi. Glancing around the group, he nods for Saiden to go on ahead. ”Can you carry her?” he asks the Lullaby, all the while guiding the group past the wall of feathers so Amalia can have as much space as she needs. He’s not really asking whether Remi can do it - of that he has no doubt - but more whether the Shield will let him without a fight.
Either way, Ronin will lead them deeper into the damp tunnel, checking periodically behind them - the air grows hotter and more humid by the minute, and it feels as though they walk for close to half an hour. The journey in that time is mostly uneventful, safe for a few rocks that come loose and tumble onto the party. Remi, Amalia and Morgan find themselves a bit bruised, but it’s nothing too bad.
Eventually the tunnel ends - in steam and heat and the sound of water - and Ronin is already wiping the condensation from his face. ”I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hot spring before,” he remarks. But that’s where they’ve ended up. As they file out into the open, they will need to be careful not to plunge right into one of the pools.
”Remi - can you get Amalia in the springs? If she’s sick again, hopefully this will help..” And if it doesn’t? He doesn’t want to think about it. ”The rest of us should start looking around and collecting water.”
You’ve made it to Frey’s Breath! Ronin advises Remi to get Amalia in the water to soothe her symptoms. He suggests everyone else explore and start to fill their containers.
Glancing at Chulane, Saiden chuckled. "Got any other advice for us?" Still, he headed down the tunnel. Somehow managing to avoid getting struck by a rock, he found himself sweating even more as the air grew damper. When they emerged into the cavern with all the water, he glanced around.
Turning to listen to Ronin's instructions, the Hali grinned. "Why go to the hot springs when you can bring the hot springs to you?" He winked at the Dark Star. Then the cook began to rummage in his bag. Taking out an empty waterskin, he would carefully approach a pool, stopping far from the edge, but close enough for his magic. Then he extended a hand towards it and tried to call the water into his waterskin.
Saiden uses his water magic to try and take some water from a hot spring to fill a water skin.
Water manipulation: Can manipulate water. Must be within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent
Type: Light | Rank: Upgraded
It is the flood of feeling he's come to expect from Amalia, and though he braces himself for it, the extent of her emotions are churned like white-water as they flow against him. "I will die one day, but not yet I don't think." He hums against her clammy skin. Distantly he can hear the others pass by, saying things or offering support, but he ignores them, having eyes only for the Shield in that moment.
"No, not me.I think even if it was your time, it wouldn't be me who takes you." The Lullaby replies reasonably as he links his arms around her. "It would be Vi or Mort himself...and you wouldn't be afraid." He pulses stalwart affection and love through the attuned bond as he shifts himself slightly. "The water is not terribly far ahead. I'll carry you to it, and it'll all be alright."
Gods, let it be alright. For both of their sakes. Because if this water couldn't heal her a second time, there would be no hope for him either.
Strong as Amalia is, she's light as a feather in the Lullaby's arms as he raises her from the ground (carefully navigating around her wings). His are still outstretched, and though he tries to use them to keep rocks and such away from the Shield, a few do manage to fall onto them both. Growling in the back of his throat Remi picks up the pace until the tunnel opens and the hot springs are before them.
"Nor I." He agrees distractedly as he stands aside Ronin, though he only lingers for a moment. Moving directly to the water's edge, Remi sits down with Ama still cradled in his arms, and then immediately lets himself slide into the water. Inhaling sharply, he holds the Shield softly (like that scene in newgirl with the old Asian man and Nick in the pool). Ama?
Remi carries Ama to the pools and goes in with her.
THE ALCHEMIST
i’ve been chasin the storm of a lovesick lonely lie
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
It seemed that between those that knew her well, Amalia was seen to; Morgan watched as she was lifted, thinking that once she had recovered (because she wanted to hope that was the case), she had to go and thank her for the attempt at rescue. Even if it seemed as if she had been trying to catch someone else, a name she hadn't quite heard, it was still reassuring to know someone had reached for her before she had saved herself.
They set off again, the rocks hitting her barely getting any notice; Morgan had been pelted by enough hail and ice to not care for little knocks like that, though she was glad as they were once again bathed in light at the other end of the tunnel, even if the heat picked up again. Before them there was the spring, close indeed; taking steps around it, she heard Ronin speak. "Nor have I. It is quite beautiful...were it not for the trip involved getting here, I might visit often." Once she had the chance to stand still and simply look, she did for a moment, taking it in, Remi and Amalia in the water, the others collecting it; the oppressive heat and reason they were there hung in the air, but she could still appreciate the moments of joy when they came.
Now to bottle it up. While she could have done the same as Saiden with her water magic, Morgan found herself interested to touch the waters and see how they felt on her fingertips. Taking a container from the selection she went right to the edge, guiding Eunike too (who said you couldn't take a horse to water?), and knelt to gently touch the surface, pushing the container through. "Maybe if we collect enough, we could make a bath of sorts to submerge people within." She suggested, looking up at Remi and Amalia. "...If that does better than simple drinking."
----
Morgan goes up to the waters edge and begins to fill containers with it.
