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!
12-03-2020, 02:56 AM (This post was last modified: 12-03-2020, 02:56 AM by Nate.)
- NATE -
We'll get married or buried We'll have a baby or kill someone
There's been an idea brewing in Nate's mind from the very first moment he laid eyes on Sunjata's new shift, one that started as a joke, but that has slowly grown more and more serious. He hems and haws, juggling ideas back and forth, finally settling on one, something protective, something that sends an unmistakable message.
Of course, as soon as he figures out what he wants to do, Nate has to do some delicate deliberation, has to decide who would be most likely to actually help him with this particular gift for his husband. It's not something he can see the Voice helping with, no matter how his first thought is to go to his lady, to ask her anyway. Safrin and Frey both come to mind next, though the idea of asking for anything from Frey fills him with slightly more quiet dread than Safrin does.
He doesn't know what exactly to offer, doesn't know what will be too much, too little, but going over the top feels a far sight safer than underwhelming the capricious and prideful Herald does.
When he does show up, ascending the steps of the familiar lighthouse, his arms are full of gifts, things he'd thought would be appropriate. Flowers, in lush purples and pinks, tied together with a blue ribbon; a small basket of sweet cakes, made by his own hands; a pair of faceted rings carved from whole pieces of crystal, bartered for on the pier. And the crown jewel of his gifts, wrapped carefully in deep blue velvet, is a hand mirror, bright polished silver making up its face, and blue starry enamel decorating it's back, protected by a delicate silver cover, its open filigree showing off the blue beneath.
Nate himself is dressed nicely as well, albeit a touch conservatively. In the back of his mind, there is still the fear of the lighthouse being filled with sunlight, and he's as covered as he can be, only his hands, head, and throat left bare.
”Sa-“ Nate hesitates a moment, unsure if him speaking her name is rude or not, then shakes his head and presses on. ”Safrin, I uh... I brought you some gifts. And... I’d like to ask a favour. For Sunjata.”
Hi I’d like to use the god quest pass I got as a birthday gift for this please!
Well, I can't decide what to try Commitment or a gun
Safrin appears, starlit and skeptical. The gifts he's brought are sublime. Perfection. Curated specifically to her tastes, but as she appears in a shower of white-bright sparks she takes little notice of the things he's brought her. Instead, her arms fold across her chest as she leans against the windowsill, dark eyes drinking in the ascended who dares to call to her.
"Let me guess. This favour for Sunjata is...a surprise? Something he'd not ask for himself? A gift you want to bestow? That's why you are here instead of him. And you believe that my affections for him will swap my dislike for you." There is no seduction in her tone, and though the dark gown she wears is form-fitting, it is not for Nate's benefit, un-mortal thing that he is.
We'll get married or buried We'll have a baby or kill someone
If he had breath left, it would catch in his throat at the appearance of the goddess before him. Not like his lady, none of the warmth and love he now associates with the Voice, but Safrin still inspires equal measures of awe and terror.
He’s not cut down immediately, a fact that nurtures the thin light of hope in him, but her words cut away any pretty pleasantries he’d planned, leaving them with the bare bones reason of his visit. ”Thats the short of it, mostly.” Nate confirms carefully, eyes respectfully lingering near the goddess’ feet. ”It was my decision to come to you, and I expect to be judged solely for what I am and how I compose myself.”
A warm smile spreads over his face, hiding the anxiety and trepidation in him, if only for a moment. ”You’re absolutely right on every other count though.”
Well, I can't decide what to try Commitment or a gun
'You can expect whatever you want.' Safrin hisses in response. "It doesn't matter to me. Your actions have consequences, wouldn't you agree? Besides.." Moving forward, her gait more like a slink as if she were a predator lazily moving toward her prey, she smiles. "..it is only on my judgements of Sunjata and not just you, that you're allowed to stand here before me at all." He wouldn't be the first ascended she's blitzed with starlight, and likely not the last either, the way the world was going.
That he's smart enough to admit that she's right is a clear win on his part, and she raises a brow at him instead of continuing her slow stalk forward. 'So what is it you want, Nate?"
We'll get married or buried We'll have a baby or kill someone
It feels like a mistake to not lean back and away when Safrin slips closer, danger and beauty, jaws closing around a frozen rabbit, and how long has it been since Nate felt like this. He does manage to nod his understanding to her clarification though. ”I appreciate your generosity with your time.”
Words come quicker now, urgency spurring them on. ”Something to keep him safe. I can see the words on the walls, I know something is coming, and I know I can’t protect him from everything.” No matter what he wants, what he’s promised, reality gets in the way. A hand comes up to rub at his throat, reading out the rest of his explanation. ”I thought you, of any of the gods, could help make something beautiful and functional. A necklace, maybe?”
Well, I can't decide what to try Commitment or a gun
"If you wanted to keep him safe, you'd pry yourself away from him." Safrin replies with a snarled-smile. Nate won't feel the way the air temperature suddenly plummets around them, though a quick body-scan will reveal it. "It is your proximity to him that puts him in danger. If you're really so worried about it, just leave." She covets her followers, of that there is no confusion. Sunjata, powerful and beautiful as he is, Governor of Torchline, is certainly a prized star in her sky, dimmed only by Nate's presence.
His flattery is appreciated of course, but it hardly does the work of stirring the goddess's sentiments. "Of course I can." She says of the necklace, a trivial thing compared to what she is able to do. But will she? Why, when murdering Nate is so much easier.
12-08-2020, 08:28 PM (This post was last modified: 12-08-2020, 08:37 PM by Nate.)
- NATE -
We'll get married or buried We'll have a baby or kill someone
Something on Nate’s face cracks, flinches back and away from Safrin, her words. He might not feel the ice of the world around him, her temper made physical, but he feels it inside himself, unblinking eyes wide and staring, his lips pulled upwards in something that is not a smile. Years of having this lesson beaten into him scream at him to hold his tongue, and he ignores it, like he always has, his voice soft in his own ears. ”You want me to hurt him like that? You want to see him hurt like that?” It pains him to think about, as much as anything can touch him in his icy protection, but he had expected her rage and anger directed solely at him, had not expected such a casual condemnation of one of her followers.
”Of course you can.” A wholly ineffective echo, before Nate draws in a breath, a habit meant to steady himself, to thaw enough of his mind that he can choose his words carefully, not wanting to entrap himself in anything he can’t slip out of later. ”Is there... something I could do that would convince you?” It would be a lie to say he isn’t hoping there’s nothing, to say that he didn’t want to fire now, having wasted some time and favours and nothing else.
Well, I can't decide what to try Commitment or a gun
"Your silver tongue holds no edge with me." The goddess sweetly replies. "It is you who has done this. Your presence in his life. That I would suggest you end his suffering before it might truly begin is not a weight you can so easily shift onto my shoulders." But then she shrugs, cruelly, coldly, beautifully. "But would I choose pain over his death?" She smiles. "Of course I would."
As for if there is anything he can do?
Oh, plenty. But would he?
"You could...kill a fellow ascended. Prove that you love Sunjata more than your kind. You could...carry this device with you, that I might be able to listen in on all those secret ascended meetings—" In her hands she suddenly holds a small star pendant. "You could betray the Voice. Steal a fellow ascended's upgrade or item..." She shrugs as if she might continue her list, though by now her motivations should have been quite clear.
We'll get married or buried We'll have a baby or kill someone
There’s nothing more to argue. Not that he had ever been arguing, but Safrin words hve still his tongue, infected his face with the same ice in his chest, in his mind, in the air around them. ”Those can’t be the only options.” Pain or death? He’s certain the Voice could- no, no. Nate forced his thoughts away from his Goddess, forces himself to focus entirely on the great and terrible herald standing before him, his life a delicate thread in her hands. ”If he sends me away, I’ll go. I’ll let him decide.” The words are so quiet they don’t so much leave him as fall defeated from his lips, shame filled and hurting.
The very first suggestion is murder, smashing through the facade of blank calm on his face and making him recoil, just for a moment. Calm returns as Safrin continues, though it’s a struggle to hold his face so carefully neutral, to not let despair win. Nate keeps his thoughts on Sunjata, reassesses just how serious this all was, how quickly things beyond him are moving, and sighs, his gaze dropping to the floor.
Nate’s hands twitches, rising then falling again, balled into a fist as he works through his last few thoughts. ”If... if I do this for you, I can’t step back. She will kill me, and if she doesn’t, the others will.” It makes him squirm, to have so much he can’t account for, so much up in the air, but it’s familiar too. ”If you can keep Sunjata safe, and promise me some security, once I’m successful, I’ll be your ears.” The hand that had hesitated stretches out in full again, though Nate isn’t sure if he expects a handshake, the pendent to be dropped unceremoniously on him, or to simply be destroyed where he stands.
Well, I can't decide what to try Commitment or a gun
'Your kind are a blight on this earth, unnatural things that you are.' Safrin says with a condescending sniff. "Love makes you mortals stupid. You know this. He won't send you away." She adds in a knowing tone. "But your love will not protect you against what is coming. Only sacrifice will, and even then, it can only shelter one of you."
The conclusion Nate draws is an obvious one, but Safrin doesn't seem moved or concerned about his future. "Protection for Sanjata is easily done. But for you? That will take some real effort." Her fingers tap against her arms as her eyes narrow at him, before offering him the star-shaped pendant.
"Prove to me that you can do this. Return in a season and if your actions have been useful, I shall give you an item to protect the Flood and will help conceal your involvement for as long as you aid me." She grins at him, her expression as dark and cold as the expanses of space. "Do we have a deal?"
We'll get married or buried We'll have a baby or kill someone
The hand begins to falter, to draw away again as Safrins words seem to suggest there’s nothing to be done, no safety net for him. It’s a risk he’s willing to take, anything for Sunjata, anything to ensure he’s kept safe, but still he hesitates, selfish fear rising up. Safrin continues though, offers him time, offers him a flex of her considerable power, and Nate finds himself reaching up, eyes still on the ground.
”We have a deal.” Fingers close around the pendant, Nate pulling it close to his chest, squeezing so tightly the points of the star dig into his hand. He can feel his skin crawling, can feel something uncomfortable settle into his bones, but he forces a brighter smile to his face, lifting bright eyes to the herald. ”Its been a pleasure doing business with you.”
He turns, as soon as the herald has vanished, taking the lighthouse steps three at a time in his haste to escape. For the first time in a long time, he wishes he had some easy way to tear himself apart, drinks, or drugs, or pain. Instead he gets to sit with this panic and dread, the sharp edges in his palm, and eventually against his chest, a heavy reminder of what he’s promised.
Fin
Well, I can't decide what to try Commitment or a gun
