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!
i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons
“What’s the term again?” He asks quietly, consideringly, trying to recall the word for it and making quite the show of it – trying to push away that sensation within him. It works well enough, glossing over it and shoving a blanket to hide it away as he focuses on Adam again as they drift further onto the beach to the island across the way that would either be a long swim or a short flight. “Who saved me?” He repeats, brows furrowing for a moment before he shakes his head and peers out at the island across the way. “I, uh, pulled myself out of the water. Dad was pissed I made it out.” There, that’s his traumatic story minus the truly traumatic experience with it.
So instead, he’s exhaling a sigh and offering to shift – moving to give himself some space from the Ascended so he can shift. He doesn’t think about the fact he’s turning into a dragon, too caught up in his own emotions to realize that Adam might not take too kindly to this reminder. But things work out, and once he’s settled in his dragon form, he peers back at Adam with those same steel eyes as he moves to climb onto him. Adam’s ready, as is evident, the leg swinging over his neck. And all Sunjata can do to retort that question is huff a sound from his nose, rising again to push them off the beach and take to the sky.
A little hop and a jump as it were, before they’re landing on the other island – the one that would disappear come the next few days. He lowers himself to let Adam off, hoping the quick jet over hadn’t been too crazy for the Ascended.
Though something tells him Adam’s seen and done worse.
SUNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
"Old fart?" Adam suggested with a laugh, poking Sunjata in the side lightly. It was strange to see the people around him getting older, had been before his death too, but even more so now that he knew he wasn't going to age with them. Would he be hanging out with seventy year olds at some point in the future, still thirty? That thought kind of weirded him out and he tried to put the image away.
He cringed at the ending of the drowning story, which was, probably unsurprisingly for a drowning story, not very fun. At least there was a dragon to climb onto, Adam readily grabbing on and grinning as they got into the air, whooping at the appropriate moments and holding out a hand to feel the air go through his fingers, not at all bothered by the flight. After all, he'd jumped off the Spire before he'd died. Heights were not one of his fears.
They landed so he hopped off, stepping in a little spiral around the beach they had come to. "This is nice. You come here often? ...Do you have to do loadsa paperwork, as Governor?" The face he pulled made it clear what he thought of that.
// i may never sleep tonight as long as you're still burning bright if i could trade mistakes for sheep, count me away before you sleep //
A huff of laughter leaves Sunjata at Adam’s response. It wasn’t what he was thinking – something that had to do with a silver fox coming to mind minutes after the fact to where it’s no longer relevant. So he stuffs that down alongside everything else, to offer his traumatic swimming backstory and gloss over it as if it hadn’t happened. It was easier that way, after all. So he shifts, instead, able to keep those feelings and thoughts to himself and to focus on something else, moving only slightly as Adam climbs up onto his back and Sunjata pushes off the beach to glide through the sky toward the island in the distance.
It was certainly much quicker to fly places, after all.
He waits until Adam’s hopped off before Sunjata shifts back into himself, readjusting his shirt along his skin as he follows the Ascended around the beach. “Nate and I came here once.” He offers quietly, peering around to see if he can spot the small sea turtle nests that had littered this particular island before, provided he’s remembering correctly. “I do have a lot of paperwork to sift through. Probably the worst part.” He rumbles with a wistful sigh before he shakes his head. “We’re doing a quest for Safrin right now, however, which will hopefully protect us for the monsoon season in Flowerbirth.” Provided they get it done.
But he stuffs his hands into his pockets and moves to walk beside Adam then, turning his attention back toward his friend. “It’s nice to be in charge, though.” To make the rules and go from there.
i'll stay awake 'til i trade my mistakes, or they fade away
SUNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
"Oooh, so this is a date spot?" Adam asked, looking back with a wink, as he heard Sunjata had been here with his husband. It wasn't hard to imagine, actually; in the twilight the little island was quite beautiful, the sea around it shining. Torchline was full of romantic locations. "Shoulda told me, I would've put on my sexy shirt." Exactly what made it 'sexy', given that the shirt Adam was currently wearing opened down to his navel, was unclear.
He made a face at the paperwork. That was what had always put Adam off positions of importance. Partly that he couldn't read, but also just the constant, mind numbing responsibility of organising everyone else - no, he liked to be looking out for himself only (and maybe Pet, now that the little weirdo had wiggled his way into his heart). "What's Safrin want you to do?"
Speaking of Safrin...Adam went a little quiet as he thought of Ama. He'd been conflicted about his old best friend in the last week, not knowing if she'd want to see him or not. She had always been devout to her Gods, and he knew he was now all she feared... "...Hey, by the way, do you know where Ama is?"
// i may never sleep tonight as long as you're still burning bright if i could trade mistakes for sheep, count me away before you sleep //
“It is a date spot.” He chimes with a playful smirk crossing his face, hanging back to walk with Adam around the beach, watching the bioluminescent waves dance along the shore. “I’m going to assume your ‘sexy shirt’ is simply no shirt at all.” His gaze slips over toward Adam to see if he’s correct, instead spying the face he makes when Sunjata tells him of paperwork and everything involved in it.
As for Safrin? Well. All humor seems to leave a bit as he looks ahead to the path they take, the Attuned clearing his throat before he speaks. “We’re putting up a barrier for the monsoons. So, we had to redesign the way erosion worked, we have to figure out a way to spread pollen, we have to collect some stones and make some anchors and place them at the bottom of the ocean.” He pauses, his head tilting slightly by the end of it. “And then we go back to tell her we’ve done it all.”
There had been a lot of work put into it, after all.
As for Amalia, however, he can tell the way Adam’s tone drops and it drops like a sinking stone in his gut as he shakes his head. “She departed from Torchline, that’s all I know. But if I hear where she’s gone I can send a letter.” An extended offering, letting her know they were alive again, letting her know he’d keep them as safe as he could. “I’m… Sorry. For the Halo trip and the dragon. I misjudged the situation immensely. I’m sorry Adam.”
i'll stay awake 'til i trade my mistakes, or they fade away
SUNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
"Hell yeah, you get it. Though back home I actually did have one with mesh on the nips - that was a sexy shirt." God, he missed so much of his wardrobe from his old world. Endless boots, rings, shirts and pant's he'd never get back, that Caido could not hope to match. When would they find a good goth fashion city?
The project Sunjata laid out was extensive, to say the least. "Redesign...erosion? Er, how did you do that?" Adam didn't know where he'd start 'redesigning' a part of nature, and the fact that Sunjata said it so casually made him wonder just how powerful he was. He knew in the time he'd been gone things had changed - hell, Sunjata had just been a dragon - but worries about being behind the crowd began to sink in.
Amalia mysteriously gone did not bode well. He assumed, knowing her, it had to be something to do with the Gods (he refused to believe she was in danger). "Thanks."
He was quite content to move onto lighter topics, lay down and make a 'sand angel', when Sunjata suddenly apologised. Adam looked over and blinked a couple of times, the words barely even making sense on a conceptual level because he'd never blamed Sunjata, hadn't even really considered it. "Hey, well, I got better, right?" With a smile he nudged Sunjata's side. "Sides, I decided to go in there and I decided to get close to the fucking thing. Don't see how it comes down to you saying sorry."
// i may never sleep tonight as long as you're still burning bright if i could trade mistakes for sheep, count me away before you sleep //
Sunjata can’t help the hum of a laugh that leaves him at the mention of a real sexy shirt. He can’t exactly imagine it – unsure if Korofi had anything close to the sort. So he focuses on the other question that’s aired – how to redesign erosion. And from this distance, you can make out the little curves that jut out from the beach, the edges over there that are far off in the distance and yet still appearing as though they weren’t entirely there by accident. He juts his chin toward it, rubbing at the back of his neck after as he settles in to explain. “Well, I did some reading. Turns out adding those man-made groynes in there will help the beach erode in a more… Controlled way with the waves. That means that it can spread nutrients easier. Much easier than the havoc of monsoon winds and rain flooding the place.” He squints out at the edge of it all, before his attention flickers back to Adam.
And then he’s explaining his idea of where exactly Amalia had gone – how he doesn’t know, which sparks up further worries steeped in anxiety and sorrow. And so he has to apologize, even if Adam takes it far better than Sunjata had anticipated. Still, there is a smile that sparks on the edge of his lips, small compared to what it once was. “I… Well…” He trails off, puffing a sigh out into the cool air, a shrug of his shoulders. “A lot of people blamed me for it. Got a few scars as the reminder.” But that’s beside the point. The point he wants to make is that the shrine was completed. That Coffee had been immortalized. “Anyway, we couldn’t get your bodies but Deimos managed to get Coffee… She’s immortalized in the shrine in the Grounds Temple now.” In case he wanted to visit? In case he wanted to see what had become of his companion?
Sunjata doesn’t know. He doesn’t even know why the words fall from his lips, only that he has to tell him.
i'll stay awake 'til i trade my mistakes, or they fade away
SUNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Well, Adam certainly had no fucking clue what a groyne was, but he didn't want to look too dumb; he nodded along as if he was following perfectly, issuing out all the confidence of a geyser scientist with his finger on his chin thoughtfully. "Riiiight. Cool. Pretty basic stuff, really, but it's cool that you're doing it."
He raised an eyebrow upon hearing that apparently Sunjata had been blamed; maybe it was because his memory of the actual hours leading to his death were fuzzy, but it hadn't even occurred to Adam to lay any blame at his friends feet. "Scars from who? I don't like people doing shit in my name without my say so." While he was sure they had good intentions (at least, he hoped), he'd never wanted Sunjata hurt.
"Immortalised? Whaddya mean? He's...I mean, I thought he was as dead as me, and not coming back after I came back like this." Adam sighed, rubbed the back of his neck where Coffee used to sit; he definitely did miss his companion, the weight on his shoulders and comforting warmth.
// i may never sleep tonight as long as you're still burning bright if i could trade mistakes for sheep, count me away before you sleep //
The sheer confidence Adam gives despite Sunjata knowing that it likely went over the man’s head, was both amusing and inspiring. He only wishes he had half the confidence that Adam showed right now. But he chews on the inside of his cheek as the conversation shifts on, toward Sunjata taking the blame on Adam and Peter’s deaths, that the question of who the scars were from almost has him squirming a bit.
“Let’s see… Well, Deimos gave me the scars. Amalia and I have had quite the rocky relationship since.” That was it, wasn’t it? Nobody else had blamed him for the misfortune of that wintery hellscape full of dragons as far as he could remember. So he focuses on the conversation of Coffee and how the dragon had been immortalized.
“I’m meaning it in like…” He pauses, lips quirking briefly. “We managed to grab Coffee’s body and Safrin used him to make the shrine in the Temple.” The rare heart they desired.
i'll stay awake 'til i trade my mistakes, or they fade away
SUNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
"Oh shit, big man did? You must've pissed him off." Adam commented with raised eyebrows, finding it hard to imagine a scenario where Deimos would willingly hurt someone he'd thought was a friend - he supposed he had been gone a while, though. It didn't cross his mind that it could have had to do with his own death, even though they'd just spoken of it; Sunjata being to blame was so out of of his thoughts it didn't occur.
He blinked a couple of times at the information about what had happened to Coffee. Adam supposed he wasn't mad about it, though it did make him a little uncomfortable, not least because now, as an Ascended, he wouldn't be able to see what they had done (not without risking an awkward run in with Safrin, anyway). "Oh. Uh, okay. I mean, I guess that's cool - sort of like a grave with extra bits."
There would definitely be some dwelling on that later, but he shrugged it off for the time being, still unsure about his actual feelings on it. Instead he moved swiftly along to something else, eager to dart away from the dark topics that kept finding them both. This would have been easier with some booze in his system, but Adam had had years of misdirection and charismatic charming, so he could lead a conversation when he needed to.
Eventually, when Sunjata grew tired enough they had to go back (and how weird it was, still feeling just as awake no matter the hour), they took the brief flight and parted, Adam waving and glad that at least he'd kept friends in the shift from alive to undead.
