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 know what makes a good walking stick? A trident. Ludo would probably shake its head are her oh-so-casual use of the absolutely beautiful weapon it made her, but Raza likes to think it adds a certain… j’nais ce qoi to her evening walks. Or she would if she knew French.
Tonight, however, is different. The moon is mostly covered by the clouds and the ghostly globe seems to hang low over the sea for an eternity. Raza stops and plants herself, staring out at it whilst deep in thought, until something moves in the corner of her eye. As she turns, she recognizes a small figure - Eloise. She gasps, mostly to herself, and freezes for a moment before following the woman’s path - out, out into the sea. “Eloise!” Raza hisses, running for a conveniently beached rowboat, pushing it out into the water.
She knew the woman was the Ark’s navigator and had some powers - but this? Is this walking on water thing new?
Saiden had been...nevermind, it wasn't important what Saiden was doing late on the beach and definitely didn't include any illicit activities. However, he was out later than usual and making his way back to civilization. As he did, though he spotted a familiar figure up ahead. Even if he didn't recognize Raza, the trident was a dead giveaway.
Picking up his pace, he was just about to call out to her when she spoke instead. He froze, eye darting ahead of her to the figure beyond. He hadn't noticed it before, since his vision wasn't what it once was. However, it couldn't be. She died.
But the sudden swift beating of his heart as hope swelled within him made him break out into a shambling run. "ELOISE!" he bellowed. He dashed towards the rowboat, hoping to catch it before Raza cast off.
Saiden’s voice bellows out behind her and Raza still has enough of a head on her shoulders to know that he’s a good one to have at sea. Dipping an oar into the ink-water to stall the boat’s slow crawl forward, she tosses the other oar to Saiden as soon as he’s able to climb aboard. Her trident lays in the bottom of the vessel, sparkling and shiny against the dingy, well-worn hull. “Can she do that?” Raza asks the smuggler as she leans forward, putting all of her strength and body weight into the strokes, trying to carry the two of them out to see as fast as she can.
Saiden fumbled with the oar, though at least he managed to drop it in the boat. Climbing inside, he made sure to distribute his weight so they didn't capsize. As soon as the vessel was steady, he picked up the oar and began rowing, timing his strokes with Raza. "Eloise!" he called out again, willing his lost love to answer.
Shrugging at the proprietress' question, he called on his water magic to help push their boat forward. "Not that I know of, but anything's possible. Could be an illusion." Taking a deep breath, he strained forward, muscles already burning. "Do ye...ye think it's really her?" He blinked away tears from his eye.
It hadn’t occurred to Raza that it could be an illusion. The thought makes her physically pause, missing a stroke or two, which causes the boat to drift to Saiden’s side. The movement pulls her back in and she glance back out at the water, where the faint image of Eloise seems permanently far but not too far ahead of them. “I… I dunno,” the Torcher concludes. “It’s been so long since I seen her,” And no one had told Raz that Eloise had died, now had they?
As if on cue, the quality of El’s movement changes, and she seems to be coming back towards them. But not in an… entirely friendly way? If one can tell such things? Maybe it was the speed, maybe it was the direction? Regardless, the tiny woman is definitely heading straight for the boat and they’re well past standing-height water now.
As Raza stopped rowing, Saiden glanced at her. It took him a few strokes to adjust to alternating. By the time he did, they were slightly off course. Grumbling, he moved to the other side for a few strokes until they were moving straight towards Eloise instead. "She drowned. According to Jack. I don't...don't know..." his voice choked off with a sob.
By that point, Eloise (or her spirit) was coming to them. Smiling at her, the cook called out, not noticing or caring about the proprietress' misgivings if they existed. "Eloise! You're here." He was practically beaming, and his water magic spilled out, propelling the boat forward as well as his arms.
12-21-2020, 08:32 PM (This post was last modified: 12-22-2020, 08:02 PM by Raza.)
raza
“She drowned?” Raza repeats, both confused and horrified all at once. Eloise had mentioned something about Jack when she’d given Raza those envelopes. Had he…? A massive gulp pushes down that thought as the boat surges forward to meet Eloise. She’d never had a problem with the idea’a Jack killin’ folks before, so why now?
Somethin’ is off though, somethin’ doesn’t feel right. This new knowledge sets her senses a-tinglin’. Raza fishes for her trident, not that it would do much good against somethin’ spoopy. “Saiden, I don’t think that’s really El…”
A breath after she says it, the figure dives under the water an’ the boat begins to violently rock, causin’ the barkeep to clutch at one’a the sides’a the boat, wild eyes watchin’ for something to surface, maybe. "Fuuuuuck," Raza hisses, tryin' to readjust her grip on the trident, tryin' to feel how to best hold it for an attack.
Something surfaces near them - dark and glinting, no longer looking like El - and Raza doesn't hesitate. She aims her trident and lets loose a bolt of lightning into the water. Something yelp-growls, and the water rolls before becoming quiet again
