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!
Exercise on purpose is a new thing for Finn. But it seems to be doing him some good; he’s filling out again, little by little, the muscle mass lost in his weeks of sickness returning as he continues to eat and sleep like a somewhat ordinary person. He hasn’t long returned to his rooms, in fact; the skylight is open for Artemide to come and go, and he’s rubbing at his damp curls with a towel as he emerges from the bathroom after a shower.
The room is warm and light and homey, and it’s not something Finn thought he’d ever feel about the place again. Not since so much chaos had come roaring through it. But he meanders through into the study space, fingers drifting over books on shelves. It pauses on one in particular - the one he’d taken from a certain office, naturally - before moving on.
one moment you’re lost in a carnival of delights
the next, it leads you somewhere you don’t want to go
It's rare for the owl to make noise. Creature of quiet and enigma that she is. But now, she does; hooting a low sound in Finn's direction. Just the one, mind you. The room isn't overly large and for Finn to somehow not hear her would fly in the face of every time the man thought of himself as observant.
Her eyes, so full of spectacle and grace stare at the Spyglass as he rubs at his curls, his fingertips pausing over a certain book. What her thoughts are on this are impossible to tell. Unlike attuned when they are shifted, Artemide thus far has displayed not a single human-like gesture. Nothing at all to suggest she has ever been anything but an owl. That doesn't mean that her mind isn't sharper than most though. This of course Finn has already picked up on.
The soft hoot has him pausing, glancing across to Artemide with raised eyebrows, as if to ask what he has done to earn her opinion on the matter. His fingers dance back a step, removing the book from the shelf quite on autopilot. ”I suppose you have a number of thoughts on this?” he asks, setting it down at his desk and hanging the towel on the back of his chair so he can sit before it. The Plan seems so contrived, Finn folding his arms as he gazes at the cover.
”Do you know,” he says slowly, ”I have never once known the Eye to leave anything important in plain sight? Let alone to label it.” Which either means that the book doesn’t belong to Cian, or that it’s a red herring of some sort. ”I only took it so he would know it was gone.” It was exactly why he had left the glasses, as well.
one moment you’re lost in a carnival of delights
the next, it leads you somewhere you don’t want to go
There is no widening of the owl's eyes, no sly incline of her head. She is not human, and thus has absolutely no inclination to answer the Spyglass in ways which might be more familiar to him. So instead she continues to stare, her eyes a swirling enigma of celestial light. Unlike other creatures who tend to move and stir, to flutter their wings or shift from foot to foot, Artemide is completely still.
"I thought that would be your opinion on the matter," Finn murmurs to Artemide, the Spyglass watching the owl with quiet almost-amusement. It might come to a surprise to some (and absolutely not a surprise to others) that he is remarkably good with animals in a way that he simply isn't with people. Still, none of this answers anything about the very obviously titled book before him, or why the owl seems to consider it either important or laughable - possibly both.
With a sigh, he gives a small smile and finally succumbs. "Alright. I'll take a look in here, but only knowing that everything I see or read might very well be a lie," he says. Brushing a damp curl out of his face, Finn goes ahead and flips through the first few pages of The Plan to see what it might hold.
one moment you’re lost in a carnival of delights
the next, it leads you somewhere you don’t want to go
No sooner does the Spyglass affirm that he's going to open the book, than the owl silently lifts off that she might land on the bookcase and spy the pages over his shoulder. With as feathery wings as she has, she can move with little to no sound in a way many find unnerving.
The book is written in non-standard formatting. Thoughts seem to drift from the hand of the author, sometimes quite precise and intentional, and other times the lettering becomes loopy and distracted. It is the same hand, at least, it certainly feels like it is, but almost as if it's being written by more than one mind.
These first few pages outline some grand narrative of Stormbreak and the Order's role. Of keeping down the ascended, of the threat they pose and so on. There is also a table of contents which lists sections on all of the Order members and a section called pressure points.
Finn is a researcher, and whether or not this strange book has been planted within his reach specifically to throw him off guard, he can't help but cast a keen eye over it. The hand - the same hand but different, he notes, as if to reflect the author's mood - has no rhyme or reason that he can immediately see, so he turns instead to the table of contents as if it might hold more information.
And it does, sort of, and although Finn is curious as to what each role in the Order might hold (clearly, he is interested in the Eye and the Spyglass most of all, considering whose office this was found in), but pressure points is too good an opportunity to pass up. Glancing over his shoulder at Artemide as if she might have an opinion on all of thise, Finn goes ahead and flicks to the corresponding page.
one moment you’re lost in a carnival of delights
the next, it leads you somewhere you don’t want to go
This part of the book seems to be magically inclined. Finn will gather that the information here is constantly changing; is it the Eye who puts the information here, or is this the source of his information?
Notable information includes:
Fae/Ascended tension. Ascended HG takeover? Losing the Greatwood = way into the Cordillera?
Ascended machine: Cordilerra. Wessex getting close. Way past the dragons?
Demigods: Taliesins (male) - son. Taliesin (female) - returned. Chandrakant - Use Vi to turn her more sharply against the ascended. Thanatos - desire to find ascended souls and release them.
Finn has begun to act accordingly without thinking about it, the Spyglass's hands collecting up a pen and some parchment even as his eyes scan over the notes he finds. In quick and careful strokes, he copies out in his own version of shorthand all that he can get down; about the Ascended, about the Fae, about the lands and this machine. And about demigods, of course.
When he is finished, he merely watches the pages for a few moments, chewing on the inside of his cheek and glancing up at Artemide. "What do you suppose I should look at next?" he asks. Even as he speaks his fingers are flicking pages towards his own entry in the book, and unless the owl reacts otherwise, that's where he will land.
one moment you’re lost in a carnival of delights
the next, it leads you somewhere you don’t want to go
If Artemide has thoughts on where Finn should look next, she doesn't object as he flips to the section with his title on it. Like the pages he's just looked at, the precise amount of space taken up suggests that the pages of the book shift and change depending on what is written upon them.
This page is washed in a single watercolour shade: a powder blue that looks as soft as the silk it's meant to represent. Safrin's name is written in large letters, with a few notes beneath indicating that the goddess has taken an interest in Finn, the author gives no indications of what this might mean, other than a single entry that says: too weak and broken to accept the power offered to him. Predictably there are a few symbols indicating features of Finn's life prior to joining the Order, notes from Falke about the Spyglass's progression (current outlook is that a lack of official work is good for him, because it fools him into thinking he's in control).
Moving from the bookcase, the large owl is suddenly on Finn's forearm. Far lighter than one would expect from a creature her size, she delicately takes the book from the Spyglass's fingers and lets it fall back to the table of contents, where she holds it open, one of her claws pointing to the machine.
Finn doesn't know what he expects to find on the page about himself, only that upon reading it - and it doesn't take long, honestly - he can feel the foundations of himself twist and clench in response. His fingers twitch around his pen, and the urge to change and alter the entry is nearly overwhelming. To correct, perhaps. Or to merely scribble out the truth until he doesn't have to think about it any longer.
Then there's an owl on his arm, and the room seems to brighten and soften again as Finn's concentration breaks. "Hm? Oh... yes. I suppose that was an oversight of mine," he agrees, thoroughly engrossed in the book at this point. He moves to the section indicated to be the machine, resisting the urge to stroke his fingers over Artemide's feathers.
one moment you’re lost in a carnival of delights
the next, it leads you somewhere you don’t want to go
Artemide waits until Finn has read over the first bit, as if allowing for him to react before nudging him to continue: no longer will the machine calibrate Outlanders into bodies best suited to their past lives. All Outlanders will be given the choice during the portal process to ascend, or to stay temporarily impartial. Impartial, clearly meaning accepted.
Intensely now, Artemide stares at the Spyglass, waiting for him to fit together the implications of this.
It doesn't take Finn long - but really, is there any surprise there? Things like this are his job. He's rolling his pen between his fingers now, stormy eyes gazing intensely down at the page and its implications. Only when he feels the owl's gaze upon him does he turn his head. "Only Ascended, or..." Or people like himself, with the capability to become such. Sucking in a deep breath, he slumps back in his seat only enough to ensure he doesn't topple Artemide.
"With this being where it was, though..." Surely Cian must already know about it. Surely there isn't any reason for him to even need to know this information, let alone do anything about it. Then again, his glasses were so conveniently placed beside the book in the office...
Running a hand over his forehead, he huffs out a sigh. "Perhaps it is time I went to see if the Eye has safely recovered from what happened to him," he says slowly. "If he asks, though, I picked this up by accident."
one moment you’re lost in a carnival of delights
the next, it leads you somewhere you don’t want to go
Artemide moves in a flash, collecting the book from Finn's hands and flying to the top of a bookcase where the Spyglass can't easily reach her. She stares down at him with her starbright gaze, the book clutched in her talons. You won't do any such thing her posture seems to say as she lowers herself down so that her body hides the book from sight.
