From Attuned to Ascended to Ancient, Kiada Njovu-Reyes has been reborn several times throughout her short life, but her fighting spirit has never once been diminished. With beauty, grace and a quick wit, Kiada is the whole package wrapped in an infectious smile. Recent endeavours have found her in the heart of the Hollowed Grounds, aiding the region and bettering it for her new Ancient kin, and whatever she does next, we know it's sure to pack a punch.
Congratulations, Kiada!
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 treeflits begin to guide the way, over and through the vines. Remi manages to cut a few with his partially shifted hands, though the treeflit on his shoulder seems to help try and bat them away with little success. Still, they guide them deeper, the vines snaking across the ground and hanging from the trees, almost reminiscent of the hanging snakes.
Things seem to go well at first, the treeflits bouncing ahead and returning back, harmonizing songs with those that remain on the group. The one on Amalia’s shoulder begins to chime a song, the others adding into it on the higher notes. “Through the jungle-through it!” Because that’s what Amalia’s asked, is it not?
Unfortunately for Amalia, the attention on the treeflits do cost her, a vine snaking out and wrapping around her leg and tugging her to the ground right in the middle of Remi and Ronin. And then it tries to steal her away into the jungle’s overgrowth.
Amalia got roped up and is currently beginning to disappear into the undergrowth via vines!
Randomly determined post order: Remi, Ronin, Amalia! You have 48 hours.
Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
"Nooo you don't." The alchemist almost sings, hearing the muffled sound of Amalia's body as it's knocked to the ground as well as (presumably) his husband's calls having been facing toward Amalia as she's grappled by the vines.
The treeflit will either have to hold on or find a new perch as the alchemist's body shifts and grows, contorting as he's pitched forward onto all fours. With a mouth full of jagged shark teeth and claws poised to sheer the vines from Amalia, the manticore tries to position himself between the jungle and the Shield as he chews and slashes away at the vines on his friend.
Remi shifts to be a manticore, and chews/claws at the vines to help free ama
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.
10-09-2020, 08:02 PM (This post was last modified: 10-09-2020, 08:03 PM by Ronin.)
I will fight the end
Ronin sees Amalia go down, but Remi is on it before - he imagines - the Shield has a chance to even scream. It isn’t that the Star doesn’t want to throw himself into the fray, but with a manticore already involved it’s likely to get messy if he does too. So he lets Remi get to work, unleashing his starbolts deeper into the jungle as if to preempt more vines.
At the same time, his astral projection darts out, looping around to cover both sides of the little group just in case other things (other, molten tiger like things) try to jump out at them. ”Looks like it’s up to its same tricks as last time,” he says, his brow furrowing. ”Get some new material, jungle!”
Ronin shoots starbolts into the jungle and lets Remi get on with it. He and his astral projection circle around to protect the group.
"Through it to where?" Amalia asks, too entranced by the chittering treeflits to notice the dark and creeping vines until it is too late. With a muffled "Oomph," the girl goes down, shoulder and hip thumping onto the hard ground. She rolls as the vines tug her towards the jungle, immediately reaching for Nova's hilt. But then Remi is there as a manticore, and Ronin is hurtling starbolts, and it occurs to the Shield that the two of them have things more than handled on the violence front.
"I'm okay!" Shifting her bottom half to that of a snow leopard, Amalia attempts to squirm her way out of the remaining vines. "Don't- don't hurt it too bad. It's just acting on instinct, to protect itself." To the... jungle? Treeflits? Whatever is listening, the girl adds: "Let us pass and we won't harm you. We don't want to fight."
Which more and more seems like a lie, but maybe if she says it often enough the boys will believe it, too.
Ama half-shifts to snow leopard to get out of the vines. She tells whatever's listening that they don't want to fight, and to stand down.
“To the other side, silly!” The treeflits sing in unison to Amalia, despite Ronin and Remi only getting a resulting buzz that sounds pleasant to the ears. But then the vines are lashing out, grasping onto Amalia and tugging her down. Remi shifts, the treeflit clinging itself into his mane. He works wonders to remove the vines from Amalia as she partially shifts her lower half.
The treeflits remain on their respective group – though the two that had been leading them are suddenly gone. Ronin’s starbolts miss the vines and instead travel further into the jungle out of sight. As for Amalia’s attempt to speak to the vines? They don’t listen. Instead, clawed and gooey, they retract into the jungle.
Up ahead, there are three pathways to take. One that veers to the right, one that goes somewhat in the middle but curves in a winding path, and one that goes far left. The two other treeflits are gone for the time being.
Two treeflits are lost, the vines retract and you're faced with three paths to choose from. Right, middle and windy, or left.
Randomly determined post order: Remi, Ronin, Amalia! You have 48 hours.
Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
I'm acting on instinct too. The manticore rumbles in reply, large green eyes slanted and mischievous as he regards his half-shifted counterpart. If the jungle could lash out and have it absolved purely because of instinct, why couldn't he.
Shuffling his wings that he might nudge the treeflit on his back, the manticore nods his head toward the three paths ahead as if the small creature might give some indication of which way to go. Assuming it wouldn't, and that he'd not hear anything from it other than buzzing, Remi looks over his shoulder toward Amalia.
Have our friends any suggestions on which path to take?
Remi defers to Amalia, and will take whatever path she/the treeflits suggest.
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.
Remi and Amalia give their attention to the immediate threat, the vines, the treeflits, and Ronin gives his to their surroundings. So he notices when two of their leading flying lizard friends disappear; he notices when the paths open up before them. Turning to see that the vines have curled back into the undergrowth (sneaky bastards), he nods in agreement with Remi’s assessment.
His projection stays sentinel, while the real star moves to go and help Amalia to her feet. ”I’m keen to stay in the middle path, however winding it may be. But our jewelled lizard buddies might have other ideas.” He glances to his own treeflit, wondering still whether or not they could be trusted.
Ronin agrees with Remi about Amalia checking with the treeflits about where they should go, but he favours the middle path if they aren’t forthcoming.
Amalia finds herself released and scrambles to her feet, which in turn have turned back into their usual humanoid leopard shape. Dusting herself off, she raises an eyebrow to Remi but says nothing in retort, her skeptical expression speaking volumes.
The paths that have opened before them are all promising, but without any real guidance Amalia has no contributions about what choice to make. "Which way?" she asks the treeflits instead, trusting them enough to follow their lead if they give an answer. And if not, well, the middle path seems safe enough you suppose. She'll follow Ronin's lead.
Amalia asks the treeflits which way to go. If they answer she'll tell the boys and lead them that way. If not, she'll agree with Ronin on the middle path
Now that everyone is up and ready, Amalia’s question to the treeflits are merely a repeat of Ronin’s own suggestion. “Middle-middle-middle!” And so it goes, down the winding path ahead. It’s not unlike most winding paths taken for hikes, ones that take you out and around big obstacles like large boulders and the like, but it does seem to lower itself in elevation ever so slightly. The mist creeps in again and a loud crack is heard from Remi’s paws as he steps over a fallen branch.
And just like that the treeflits begin to panic, the lizards taking off except for the one on Amalia’s shoulder, hanging on long enough to murmur something in its harmonic voice. “Noise brings tiiiiiigers down the windy windy path. Hushabye, hush.” It gives Amalia’s hair a brief fluttering with its wings, before it too takes off to follow the rest of the treeflits into the dense jungle. And then it’s just the group of three left behind to continue wandering down the path, no tigers yet in sight.
At the end of the path it opens up into two separate paths again. One that sounds like it may lead toward water, the other that seems to have less jungle coverage.
Treeflits have abandoned you and leave with a warning of tigers being attracted by sound. At the bottom of the path you find 2 new paths, one that heads toward water and the other that heads toward open jungle.
Randomly determined post order: Remi, Ronin, Amalia! You have 48 hours.
Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
Like last time, the alchemist is not necessarily aiming to be quiet. Better that the jungle knows that he—they—are here, that it might make smarter choices. Amalia might have promised it safety but the manticore will do no such thing. So as the treeflits begin to panic, the one riding on his back suddenly lifting off, the manticore pins his ears against his skull. It might not be the plan that his companions would have chosen, but if there is danger here, better that they seek it out.
So instead of moving forward quietly and carefully, Remi gives Amalia and Ronin a pulse through their bonds to warn them of what he's going to do before he does it. Opening his mouth wide the manticore roars fiercely into the jungle. Like any other predator issuing a warning to those around, the cry is charged with a primal challenge: attack at your own risk.
Moving with a predatory awareness now, the manticore will keep his senses searching for the arrival of any other creatures within the area who might pose a threat. Meandering towards the scent of water, Remi chooses that direction least his companions have a different way in mind.
Remi roars into the jungle as a fucking try it to any potential predators. He listens/smells for anything else in the area that might be a threat, and chooses the water path unless someone disagrees
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.
Ah, middle it is. Ronin dismisses his astral projection to let Remi take the lead again, the Star pulsing softly with light to see that all of their group have come out of that brief encounter unscathed. He will forever wear his heart on his sleeve thanks to that little boon from Safrin. Either way, he provides extra illumination for the shadier parts of the jungle, and they wind their way down.
At the treeflits’ departure and Remi’s unspoken warning, Ronin reaches out to cover Amalia’s ears for her given she’s right behind the manticore, wincing at the sound of the roar that echoes through the jungle.
”You show ‘em, husband,” he remarks with a wry smile, and as they head for the water he takes Emmett’s axe from the loop in his pants, propping it against his shoulder.
Ronin follows Remi towards the water and takes out his axe in preparation for problems.
Down the winding path, and all seems well to begin. The treeflit in her hair is a good companion, and Amalia feels comfortable and safe, content with the way things have thus far gone.
At least until they reach the branching paths and the treeflits begin to panic and flee, a whispered warning creeping into Amalia's mind, ringing in her ears. She's about to say something when she finds her ears are now shut tight, Ronin's hands over them. "They said to be-" the Shield starts urgently.
And then there is a deafening roar, drowning out the final word.
"-Quiet."
Sighing, Amalia shakes her head, tightening her grip on Nova and adjusting her shield. "Now we know we're here, I guess." Falling into step behind Remi once again, the girl rolls her eyes at the back of his head, reaching out with her senses as she casts her barrier on the manticore.
Amalia reaches out to see if she can sense anyone approaching. She readies Nova and casts her barrier on Remi
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
It starts as a slow incline in elevation, the mists thinning with the difference. It’s clearer down here, greener, and eventually before the group a large pool appears. Small creatures scatter through the jungle from the roar of Remi, and no tigers can be seen still. They can’t be sensed, and it seems as though Remi has scared them off for the time being.
The further you go up the incline, the closer to a river you reach, and should you follow it, it guides you all toward far rockier paths. The jungle brush breaks away in bits and spurts for cliff edges and sharpness, but the river leads up to a fork. One side appearing as though it heads up the cliff face, possibly toward a waterfall and pools, and the other seems to try and wind around the cliffs.
The jungle begins to become rockier the higher elevation you go. You find a river that comes to a fork, one that goes up and over the cliffs toward a larger waterfall, and one that seems to go around it.
Randomly determined post order: Remi, Ronin, Amalia! You have 48 hours.
Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
Well of course they'd say that. Remi chuckles back to Amalia, who no doubt is glaring daggers into his skull by now. They're prey animals. I'm not. He points out as they continue, unaware that the Shield has cast her name-sake upon him for protection.
Reaching the pool, the manticore makes his way toward the water, sniffing it first to see if it seemed safe to drink, before lapping at it. Do you hear that? He asks of the muffled splashing ahead, though perhaps it's only his leonine ears that can pick it up. Given that they can all fly should they chose to, Remi continues toward the clear and crisp scent of rushing water and the sound of the waterfall.
Remi goes toward the waterfall.
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.
