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!
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
Juniper entered the Council Hall gratefully, still not accustomed to Halo's cold -- she doubted she ever would be. She removed her coat, then took a moment to look herself over: she wanted to be presentable for her first meeting with another land's leader. Since she knew little about the Warden -- and her stance on the Ascended -- Juniper had no idea what to expect from this conversation. Morgan wasn't Ascended herself; if she had been, Juniper wouldn't have approached her. Though she did imagine that she would have to face Wessex at some point ...
Taking a deep breath, Juniper smoothed over her hair and stepped deeper into the hall, looking for Morgan, or perhaps some functionary who would take her to the Warden. "Hello?"
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
The Fae were a people Morgan was particularly unknowledgeable about; she had been to the Greatwood but never seen their village nor any of the Fae themselves there, had only ever met one Fae in a brief group conversation. When Juniper had written she had been surprised, no idea what it was she could have to discuss, but she welcomed the Fae woman to the Citadel. After all, she had little to lose from learning more.
She did know they were rather...harsh on the Ascended, which was going to make things difficult, with her recently-softened opinion, but hopefully, Morgan thought, she could make Juniper see them as people, much as she had done.
A guard alerted her to Juniper's presence in the Hall and she asked for the woman to be brought to her office. Juniper would be escorted to a humble room besides the hall, a desk by the window seating Morgan, a couple of chairs before her and books and maps lining the walls. As she entered, Morgan stood up and held out a hand to shake, nodding. "Hello, Juniper? It's nice to meet you."
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
Juniper reached out and shook Morgan's hand, smiling. "It's good to meet you as well, Warden."
She wasn't sure if the title was appropriate -- certainly she hadn't addressed Alina as Queen -- but better to be too formal at first and let Morgan invite her to relax her etiquette, rather than risk offending.
"I wanted to talk about relations between our peoples ... or the lack thereof," Juniper said, trying to convey with a rueful smile that this was a bit of a joke. "The Fae have isolated ourselves for too long, and it has left us vulnerable."
To the Ascended, Juniper meant, but she didn't say it. Not yet. They would have to talk about the Ascended, though -- the threat they represented and the justice Juniper sought.
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
Morgan nodded at the first use of 'Warden', appreciating the respect, but gave Juniper a smile after, saying: "Just Morgan will be fine from now on." There was a use for titles for those that worked for her (not that she was better than them, it just helped to keep a professional distance), but for allies and possible comrades, she thought it best to be as outwardly friendly as she could be.
She laughed too at Juniper's joke, nodded; at least they were starting on a friendly step. "I understand that you are not a very big community and have withstood some threats in a short time." Where those threats came from she didn't mention (she was sure Juniper would, soon enough), but she assumed the Fae would know what she meant. "Hesitation is to be expected. Tell me, what do you think Halo would do for you, in a partnership between our regions?"
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
With a smile, Juniper nodded. Morgan, then. Probably a good sign that the Warden didn't stand on formality, since Juniper didn't have a flawless grasp of etiquette in Halo -- or even among her own people.
"Caido has seen great upheaval lately -- since the bubble came down. And my people have suffered their share of it." Juniper knew that other regions had also had their catastrophes over the last few years, though she couldn't help but feel that the attacks on the Greatwood had been more malicious and destructive than others. But Morgan probably felt the same way about Halo's suffering.
And then there was Morgan's question: Juniper thought her answer had better be pretty well thought out, though she actually appreciated that the Warden had gotten straight to the point. "I would like to tell you my desire is primarily for trade and cultural change, but as you probably know, Fae cannot lie. While those things would certainly be nice ... We're seeking allies for protection. In the past, we've stood alone when attacked, with dire consequences. It would set my mind considerably at ease to know that if anyone should invade the Greatwood, they would have to face consequences from Halo as well as from my people."
Juniper paused, her wings fluttering slightly as she considered her words. "And ... there is the past to keep in mind, as well as the future. My people seek justice for past wrongs, and I would like to find a way to administer that justice legally, peacefully, with the cooperation of other peoples, rather than through violence and blood feud."
Would Morgan consider that a threat? Juniper hoped not; she didn't mean it as one. She, personally, had no intention of slaughtering the Ascended, whether the other leaders helped her get justice or not -- not unless the fight came to the Greatwood. But she knew other Fae did not feel the same way.
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
Juniper spoke at length and Morgan leaned on her desk, hands clasped before her, to listen. She nodded at the appraisal of Caido; it had been a tumultuous few years and the world had changed around them almost instantaneously; for a while she'd thought Halo was going to fall away as the Greatwood apparently had.
She hadn't known that Fae were unable to lie; Morgan wondered if that were an oath or something biological, innate in them: it would likely be ignorant to ask, she decided. Besides, what Juniper was saying was interesting enough to make her forget the question quickly. "Protection we could offer, if we felt you were being unfairly targeted or invaded." There was very rarely such a thing as a 'justified' invasion, but Morgan wanted to keep her words open until she was more sure of the situation.
"What past wrongs do you wish to find justice for?" She asked calmly. Perhaps the Fae's words were a threat, but honestly, Morgan didn't fear such a thing from the Greatwood; she was quite confident that the Citadel would easily win any such fight.
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
Juniper's mouth quirked ever so slightly at the word "unfairly." She didn't blame the Warden for wanting to reserve the right to judge whether the Fae deserved any conflict they drew -- whether they had provoked it. By, say, dismembering an Ascended and sending his body to the different lands. But the Ascended had most certainly started this fight, and that murder had not been sanctioned by the Fae's leaders, as Juniper would happily tell anyone who asked.
Well, now it was time to get to the point, wasn't it? "The Ascended invaded our home, murdered our goddess, and slaughtered her protectors." Juniper couldn't keep all of the righteous outrage out of her voice -- she didn't even try. But she kept it controlled, reasonable. "We would see those who attacked us held accountable for their actions."
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
And there it was. Morgan had been waiting for the Ascended to enter the conversation, knew that it was inevitable. She kept her sigh quiet, not wanting Juniper to think she was trying to dismiss what it was the Fae had gone through, but it was not going to be such an easy decision as to simply protect the Fae against their enemy.
"Surely the Ascended as a whole did not attack you. Do you have specific names?" She asked, her eyes intently set on Junipers. "I agree that those who have acted wrongly towards your people should come to justice, but I would not see to the persecution of an entire race." If the Fae could not say who in particular had attacked them, Morgan wasn't sure what they could do; she was not willing to exterminate all Ascended for the crimes of a few.
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
Yes, now they'd hit the sticking point, hadn't they? Promises of future protection were one thing (a thing, admittedly, that Juniper would very much appreciate), but addressing the past -- that wasn't going to happen without some hard choices.
"Wessex led them," Juniper said at once, an easy answer. Wessex never seemed far from her mind these days, for all that they'd never spoken, never even met. Was Juniper's interest in the Wraith starting to tilt into obsession? No, Juniper was simply reacting to the ripples sent out by Wessex's actions -- and as far as ripples went, Wessex was a boulder thrown into a pond. "The others' names I will gather -- I do not have them now, but I know there are those among my people who know them."
With that specific answer finished, Juniper paused a moment, then nodded. "I do not believe that merely being Ascended is a crime -- though I admit that there are those among my people who do."
And Juniper wouldn't say she felt particularly friendly towards even the uninvolved Ascended, either. They might not have personally invaded the Greatwood, but they allied themselves with those who had, served the goddess who had given the order. The Voice was culpable for the Fae's suffering -- perhaps more so even than Wessex and the others, though Juniper was not about to let them off the hook -- and if there was any way to put a goddess on trial for murder, Juniper would not mind finding it.
Taking a deep breath, she added, "I doubt the Fae and the Ascended will ever be friends. They still willingly follow the Voice, who has my people's blood on her hands. But I hope that this episode of our history, at least, can be laid to rest if we hold accountable the individuals in question."
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
"The Queen of the Grounds." Morgan immediately followed up Wessex's name with her title, hoping it might remind Juniper of just how difficult it would be to bring the woman to any kind of justice. Not only would she be well guarded and in the company of many people, taking her would be seen as a threat against the Grounds itself, and Wessex was a strong individual unto herself.
That, and Morgan had just begun a truce with her.
The rest, about future relations between the Ascended and the Fae, she could appreciate; there didn't have to be friendship as long as there wasn't war. Gathering in a breath as she thought then letting out as a sigh, Morgan tried to decide where Halo would stand on this issue. "You must know it would be very difficult for us to kidnap the Queen of the Grounds, along with likely many of her citizens. Also, Halo is not an enemy of the Grounds personally." We won't be helping you with the past, basically.
"What I could offer is this: Halo will put out a statement of protection, alerting all regions that any attacks upon the Greatwood will be from now on seen as an attack upon us, and we shall defend the Fae in conflicts that begin from this point on...almost with guarantee." Morgan knew this wasn't going to be what Juniper wanted, but she didn't want to make promises she couldn't keep.
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
"Yes." Juniper nodded, but she couldn't help her eyebrows shooting up when the word "kidnap" entered the discussion. Oh, she could absolutely see how Morgan had drawn that conclusion, but: "I didn't expect you to help us kidnap the leader of another nation, or any of its citizens. Setting aside practical concerns, I think doing so would worsen relations among the states of Caido -- Halo, the Grounds, the Greatwood, even Torchline -- not improve them."
Juniper paused, trying to find a good way to phrase her next thoughts -- to describe what she actually wanted to happen. It was a bit difficult, since her own vision of the future remained slightly vague. Plus, her idea was starting to sound naive even to her, and she didn't want Morgan to think her ignorant of the reality of the situation. "I would rather see the Greatwood, Halo, and Torchline work together to impose diplomatic consequences on the Ascended and the Hollowed Ground until Wessex and her kin face justice. Nor would I have their fate determined solely by my people's thirst for vengeance, but by legal agreement among the nations of Caido. The Ascended invaded another nation, murdered its people, desecrated its goddess -- there should be consequences for these actions whoever commits them, Ascended or Attuned, Grounder or Fae. I don't ask you to support this just for the sake of my own people, but to show all of Caido that there are consequences to such violence, that we live in a society that will hold those who attack and kill others accountable."
She took a deep breath. All right, that had been a lot, and she hadn't even addressed Morgan's counter-offer. Smiling a little, Juniper added, "That said, such a protection agreement also deserves discussion -- the future is just as important as the past, if not more so."
Of course, she didn't intend for Morgan to make such an offer of protection for free; she assumed that once they had agreed on what Halo could do for the Greatwoods, they would move on to what the Fae needed to do in return.
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
Morgan nodded, glad that Juniper seemed reasonable enough to know it was unlikely Wessex would be brought to justice in any kind of physical manner. Their relations as regions were fresh, just beginning to stabilise, and that would only ruin the progress they had made.
It seemed the Fae had an idea of what it was she actually wanted and Morgan listened intently to the proposal, trying to work out as it came which parts of it she could make possible. "So you are proposing a kind of trial of the Ascended, orchestrated by each region except the Grounds?" She asked, trying to make sure she had the right idea, though she already had no idea how it would be achieved. "I am not inherently opposed to the idea of being a part of that, but I believe you might have a harder time convincing other region's leaders. Such a plan requires a lot of co-operation and trust that no one is tipping the decision to benefit their own side." She was well aware that Halo was likely the least educated region when it came to the Ascended and might not know the consequences of all decisions, could easily be given a foul part to play in their punishment.
"Also, I would say this to you: what if this council reaches a conclusion the Fae do not judge as righteous enough? Will all agree to go along with it?" From what Morgan had heard, the Fae could be a furiously angry people (often justifiably, to be fair); she doubted they'd accept a verdict they found too lenient.
As for protection...she nodded and laced her fingers together. "I would be interested to know what you feel your people and Greatwood could provide for Halo in return."
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
"I know it won't be easy," Juniper answered. She appreciated that Morgan was even willing to consider the idea -- that "not inherently opposed" was better than a flat refusal. "It would require a lot of cooperation from all involved, including my own people. And I understand your concern there."
The truth was, Juniper was also worried that the Fae wouldn't go along with any bargain she reached. Alina had nominally blessed her attempt to bargain on their behalf, but she hadn't exactly been enthusiastic about it, nor was Alina a particularly strong leader to begin with -- not that people disliked her; she simply hadn't made much attempt to gain their loyalty, or really lead them. As for Juniper herself, she had never been well liked, and she could well imagine that if she brought some idea short of total destruction for the Ascended, plenty of Fae would spit in her face.
Taking a deep breath, Juniper said, "There are still many details to work out. But I recognize that this idea will not work unless all involved abide by the council's decrees -- including my own people. We should be held to the same standard that the Ascended are, when it comes to actually listening to and obeying the Council."
As for what the Fae could offer Halo, well, that was the question, wasn't it? Juniper paused. She didn't want to seem hesitant or reluctant, but, well, she was a little hesitant -- unsure that she really had the power to make promises on her people's behalf. Again, Alina's attitude had been dismissive, not supportive, and Juniper wasn't exactly well-liked. But if she didn't speak for the Fae, then there was no reason for Morgan to listen to her at all. "I would imagine any such offer of protection to be mutual -- if Halo agrees to defend the Fae, we will do the same for you, should it become necessary."
Would that satisfy Morgan, or did Juniper need to add other things to sweeten the deal? She'd let that offer sit first.
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
"If you can succeed getting your people's approval for whatever decisions will be made, I will attend this trial you propose to have. However...I will tell you now, I will not ever support the genocide or punishment of an entire race. To me, it would seem better to have the Ascended assist the Fae somehow, than to have more pain in the world." It didn't seem productive to doll out more harm and selfishly, Morgan thought of the Ascended she knew; with no way to know which had been involved in the Greatwood's attacks, she didn't want to sign away their lives.
As Juniper offered what the Fae had, Morgan couldn't help the lightly amused smile that crept across her face, though she did her best to stamp it back down quickly. "With all due respect, I am not sure the Fae's defense would be worth much to the Citadel, at this time. Truthfully, I believe we would benefit more from a trade of food or other resources we cannot grow ourselves." Hopefully she wouldn't be offended, but Morgan felt it was rather obvious that the Greatwood did not hold a great deal of military power, as evidenced by Juniper being in the meeting asking for what she was.
