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!
10-05-2020, 03:16 PM (This post was last modified: 10-05-2020, 03:16 PM by Odd.)
REMI
the lullaby
Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
Whether or not this was a good idea was the farther thing from Remi's mind. It was an idea, and once the alchemist's mind had latched onto it, there was simply no letting go. Besides, the last trek into the jungle had been ended far too quickly and for no good reasons (in Remi's humble opinion). So it was that this time he was fairly sure, madness or no, that neither he, Ronin, nor Amalia would call an unnecessary halt.
Dressed more or less appropriately (probably closer to 'less', but he hadn't remained in a body that needed clothes for very long last time), the only real supplies the alchemist had thought to bring was water from Frey's Breath and a goodish amount of rope.
Taking a deep breath of air thick with rich jungle-scents and potential, Remi slides a hand around his husband's waist, pressing his nose against the skin just below the huntsman's ear. "I need this." He whispers softly before pressing his lips against the stark curve of his husband's jaw. This was of course his way both of saying I need you as much as it was a thank you for humouring me.
PQ+ to explore more of the jungle for Remi, Ronin, and Amalia!
And I find myself careening in places where I should not let me go
This is Sky's coding and you all know it
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”I know.” Ronin smiles softly, closing his eyes and leaning into his husband. He nuzzles against Remi’s temple, eyes opening again to peer off into the jungle. Ronin has still come prepared, but it’s with stuff that he would normally have anyway; his fingers are adorned with rings and Emmett’s axe sits pretty in a belt loop. Humming out a note of quiet contentment, he lets go of the Lullaby so he can stretch out and beckon for him to lead the way.
”Let’s have an adventure, then,” he says with a wink, patting Remi on the butt for good measure before looking around for Amalia. ”Are we hoping to get all the way to the other side of the jungle? Or just past the molten lion this time?”
"The other side," Amalia declares from her place behind the men, smiling at Ronin as he turns around toward her. "Without killing anything, please, Remi." This is added in a somewhat sharper tone; she's made it abundantly clear that she will do all she can to prevent loss of life on this venture, no matter whose, but she also knows perfectly well that in a showdown with Remi, the Lullaby would win.
She's probably overprepared compared to the men, but that's to be expected. Amalia carries a bag across her back, loaded with sundry supplies and her horn of plenty. At her side Nova hangs, and her shield is strapped to her arm. "Remind me what happened last time? You said there was a tiger of fire? It sounds beautiful."
Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
Growling low in the back of his throat, the alchemist folds his arms across his chest and fixes Ronin with an extremely unimpressed stare. "You know, I would have thought you'd be able to tell the difference between lions and tigers by now. Or at least, lions and not-lions." He huffs as if offended.
Glancing over his shoulder at Amalia, the Lullaby can only shrug, very much on the opposite end of the life-death balance from his fellow demigod. "Last time the molten tiger—" He glares at Ronin as he says this, "—attacked me first. And I still let it go. If anyone it's Ronin you should look out for. He killed half a thousand bugs last time through."
Taking the lead as he had done last time as well, Remi explains about the molten tiger. How it had come from the mist (thanks to Pim), and how its scales seemed to be made of a molten metal. "The jungle seemed to aid its attack as well; vines reached out to ensnare me so it could bite. There were also those bugs and the strange birds." He adds with a soft shrug.
Knowing a bit more of what to prepare for this time, the alchemist keeps his senses trained for indications of any predatory cats around, eyeing the jungle vines with appropriate wariness and respect.
Remi takes the lead and looks out for tigers/to see if the jungle is going to be a jerk again
And I find myself careening in places where I should not let me go
This is Sky's coding and you all know it
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”Listen, your version of a lion has wings and a scorpion tail - I don’t reckon you can be mad if mine has stripes.” Still, Ronin offers his husband a placating raise of his hands, letting him go first and Amalia second, lingering at the back of the group as he had done previously. ”I’ll have you know that those bugs were climbing in my ears and my pockets and I am not in the habit of letting that go without punishment.”
Haughtily, he meanders after them. Remi seems to have taken the lead (both figuratively and literally) and so Ronin lets him explain without interruption. In the meantime, he turns up his collar in case of any more bugs. As if that will help.
If some part of her feels somewhat awkward about being (loosely) sandwiched between the men, Amalia does not show it. Instead she smiles wryly at the bickering, listening to Remi's explanation of what happened last time and sticking her tongue out at Ronin for his own violent tendencies as she passes the Star. "Maybe bugs are a special case," the girl concedes, being not particularly convinced of the quality of life an insect possesses. "But we should still try."
And then there's the jungle itself, apparently alive and aggressive as anything. Thoughtfully the Shield looks at the woods, wondering if that counts enough as a creature for her to reach. "I'll try to reach out to... well, whatever I can," Amalia says as much to herself as to the others, already pressing out with the Attuned ability toward any creatures that might be listening. We come without threat to this place, in service of the Gods - please let us pass in safety, and we will treat the jungle and its denizens with respect.
Ama in the middle ;D She uses beast speaker to try and ask the forest/any watching creatures to stand down.
Beast Speaker | Can speak to rare creatures/companions/regular animals. Requires permission to "speak" on behalf of someone's companion. Regular animals speak in varying levels of coherence.
It really doesn’t begin much different than before. A swath of clouds that edge closer to fog, large looking palms and jungle vines, the chiming of birds from within, they all come to greet you again.
There are no signs of molten tigers, but there are signs of about five or so treeflits, long bodied lizards the size of an arm with feathered wings and a harmonizing song that flood toward Remi specifically as the fog wraps all of you up.
One of them latches onto Remi’s side, trying to shove some beetles into the Lullaby’s pocket. Another tries to snatch the ring from the man’s finger.
The rest of you are relatively ignored despite Amalia’s outreach, the lizards bonking their heads and bodies along you as they try to sit upon Remi.
Random determined post order: Remi, Ronin, Amalia!
You’ve found some Treeflits this time. They’ve chosen Remi to try and snipe shiny things off of in place of shoving beetles into his pockets. They ignore Amalia for the most part.
Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
"Denizens?" Likely the least articulate of the group, Remi flashes a smile toward Amalia over his shoulder. He doesn't bother adding that he at least, isn't here because of the gods and likely does pose a threat to the jungle should it try to attack him. But he doesn't have the ability that Amalia is likely using, so he keeps these thoughts to himself.
"Oh." Covered suddenly in jewel-toned lizards with beautiful wings, Remi stops for a moment with an adoring and charmed smile on his lips. He watches as they try and stuff beetles into his pockets (this is met with a bit of a frown), but he only takes action as one tries to make off with his wedding ring. Closing his fist to make the task impossible, he raises his forearm to give the creature a skeptical and stern stare. "Anything but that." He warns it, punctuating the words with an ominous rumble that balls up in the back of his throat.
"Ronin, look!" The alchemist calls merrily, turning with his arms outspread that the Star might see his new accessories. Though their claws dig into his skin, it's nothing worse than Sugar, and honestly, they are rather cute.
Remi makes sure that his wedding ring can't be taken, but otherwise things the tree flits are cute and leaves them be.
And I find myself careening in places where I should not let me go
This is Sky's coding and you all know it
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ronin is also arching an eyebrow at the back of Amalia’s head, as if trying to decide whether he should be the one to tell her or whether he should leave it to Remi. Either way, before he can figure it out, something bonks against the side of his head in an attempt to get to his husband, and the Star’s brow furrows in annoyance. ”Yes, yes, look at the little thieves,” he mutters, and it’s only Remi’s joy that stops him trying to threaten off the treeflits with a starbolt.
Instead, he reaches into his pocket and withdraws a bit of jerky (he brought a snack, so sue him). ”Hey, it’s not shiny but you can have it if you want.” He waves the jerky at the treeflits.
Ronin tries to bribe the treeflits with some jerky!
"It's a good word," Amalia half-whispers defensively, shrugging her shoulders and blushing slightly at the call-out of her vocabulary. The unspoken disagreement with her sentiment sails neatly over the Shield's head. A head which is promptly met by a thunk as something bright and long flits past her, making its way to settle on Remi in an alarming display of feathers and scales.
The chaos resolves as quickly as it arose, and now that Amalia can make sense of their interlopers her face lights with delight to mirror the Lullaby's. "They're adorable!" the girl exclaims, stepping forward to offer a hand to one of the creatures. "Hello! Any chance you'll help us find our way through the jungle? We can trade food for it, or something else."
Ama asks the treeflits to guide them through the jungle, and offers to trade for the guidance
Beast Speaker | Can speak to rare creatures/companions/regular animals. Requires permission to "speak" on behalf of someone's companion. Regular animals speak in varying levels of coherence.
The treeflits hiss a small vibrating sound as Remi’s fist closes, but they move on regardless – their voices humming and vibrating a rather lovely tune that chimes and sways almost like a heartbeat. At the offered jerky, one of the treeflits abandons Remi to move toward Ronin, to snipe the jerky from his hands and pay him back for the bribe with a few shiny beetles in his pocket too.
Amalia captures most of their attention, though, as her words register through their minds. Their humming song stops, they stare at her, and after a few seconds of their wings sporadically flapping and stilling, they decide. ‘Follow me-Follow me-Follow me!’ Comes the chimed sound in unison, a perfect harmony among the five treeflits.
All of them, Amalia, Remi, and Ronin manage to retain one treeflit to guide them, the other two dash off, a pathway that leads deeper into the jungle where more mist arises. To Remi and Ronin, this path may look familiar with the way the fog grows thicker and the way the vines drape over the trees in a way that might almost seem like a trap.
Do you follow the treeflits path?
Randomly determined post order: Remi, Ronin, Amalia! You have 48 hours.
Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
Remi offers his husband a crooked and deeply-dimpled smile for his dry sass, absolutely adoring Ronin's utter lack of agreement when it comes to the adorableness of treeflits. His grin turns to one of absolute mischief as Amalia agrees with him, Remi bouncing his eyebrows in a gesture of Ha! Take that, before adjusting slightly as he's left with just one of the creatures.
"Well, what'd they say?" Remi calls over his shoulder to Amalia, unable to hear what the creatures have said in response—if anything at all—but taking their perched positions on each of the adventurers as some sort of sign.
"As for you, you stay right where you are." The alchemist says threateningly, though there's absolutely nothing around for him to be speaking to. Ronin will likely know he means the jungle itself, specifically the thick vines slithering out of the mist, and perhaps Amalia as well if she listened carefully enough. With narrowed eyes Remi proceeds forward, his hands having shifted into claws that he might lash out at any vines looking to inhibit their progress forward.
Remi watches the vines and half-shifts his hands to cut at any that try and latch onto him.
And I find myself careening in places where I should not let me go
This is Sky's coding and you all know it
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”Wonderful. I love beetles.” Ronin doesn’t, but he allows the creature to cling to him as it appears that the rest of their group are being similarly used as a ride. Sneering playfully back at his husband, he continues on the path and frowns at the sight of something strangely familiar. ”Keep on guard,” he warns. ”I’m sure last time, the jungle tried to snare us.”
And a couple of starbolts start to shine over his shoulder, as if in preparation to sear through anything that attempts to snatch onto them. ”Amalia, can you ask them where they’re taking us?” he asks the Shield, as if the treeflits might actually have some sort of an idea what’s happening and why.
Ronin prepares some starbolts in case the jungle pulls more shit, and asks Ama to see if the treeflits will say more about where they’re going.
"Aw, they like you." Her voice is warm with mischief as she watches the exchange between treeflit and Ronin, thoroughly enjoying the Star's gruff demeanor and playful sneer. "I wonder if we could take one home? Though Sugar might get jealous."
There's another flurry of activity, and a bustling of voices in her head. "Okay okay!" the girl laughs, watching with bright and childish eyes as the treeflits chatter their enthusiasm. Settling her shield onto her shoulder, she falls back into step. "They say to follow them," she clarifies for the others, trying to keep her eyes on the lizards. To the treeflit she poses the question: "Where are you leading us?"
Ama plays translator and asks the treeflits where they're going
