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!
01-24-2021, 10:06 PM (This post was last modified: 01-24-2021, 10:28 PM by Neron.)
Neron
So it turns out Neron can no longer help himself when it comes to being behind a bar. And hey, technically the VlamVloed is part of his guild, so it isn't that weird that he takes himself around the counter in the dead of night to clean up and (gods forbid) organise the place. "Who the fuck even runs this any more," he wonders out loud, ducked down so he can take out the glasses he considers need a good cleaning and any empty bottles. There are a lot of empty bottles.
It's the wee hours of the morning and no one is around, but of course Neron has neglected to think about the owners of the VlamVloed, one of whom happens to be his boss. No, he's just turning the place into a mini-Kraai, which isn't a bad thing, given that the laziest Launceleyn has started to run quite the tight ship as of late.
ransom notes keep falling out your mouth, mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs speak no fear, no i don't believe you. you don't care a bit. you don't care a little bit.
His sleep schedule is fucked, but at least he has one now. And perhaps it’s made easier by whatever it is Nate’s doing, to give them time together throughout the day to spend just them. But Nate’s had something to do, which leads to Sunjata trying to find shit to do, as he drags himself down the stairs toward the bar. The comment is heard at a distance, Sunjata not responding just yet until he’s rounded the corner and snagged a seat for himself to let his eyes fall on Neron with a smile. “It’s been neglected given current circumstances.” He offers the ex-Warden with a softer edge to his smile.
He runs a hand along the bar top, before his gaze dances around the shelves and the walls. “Still my baby though.” Shoulders rise and fall in a shrug, wings out from his back to try and make the healing process of the broken one go faster. It works, however, adding to the general aesthetic of it all. If Neron looked at home in the Kraai, Sunjata certainly looked at home here. But he buffs a nostalgic sigh, turning his attention back to Neron with a crooked smile. “I didn’t know you were in town, Neron.”
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.
On the contrary - in these cooler tones and with the Hailstorm still in his customary black, Neron looks much more at home in the VlamVloed than the Kraai. Or he would, were he entirely visible. As it is, steel blue eyes flash up from where he's still rifling through the shelves beneath the bar, followed by a fanged smirk as he straightens up.
"What, you think I decided to attend your wedding reception out of the goodness of my heart?" He raises his eyebrows, though from the look of Sunjata, he would certainly understand if his memory wasn't quite on point.
"I am here to help with the cause," he says, his voice filled with the purr of conspiracy. "I will be here until after LongNight, so perhaps current circumstances will look more favourably on this place. What brings you to the Grounds, though? I would have thought you'd be Governing it up in Torchline."
ransom notes keep falling out your mouth, mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs speak no fear, no i don't believe you. you don't care a bit. you don't care a little bit.
It takes him a moment to remember, especially given how the wedding reception had gone, but the smile grows a bit wider as Neron pops up from the bar a bit more fully, dressed in black as was custom for the man. “Well I had hoped so. Now I’m hurt it wasn’t.” He feigns dramatics, call it a bit of playfulness from actually getting decent sleep and food and not having to worry about the ghosts in his closet for more than a few days.
The mention of what he’s there for has Sunjata nodding, idly spinning his wedding ring as he focuses on the idea of the cause, the Longnight fight coming up ahead. “Remind me to compensate you well for your trouble.” He chimes with an easier huff of a laugh, shoulders rising and falling in a small shrug. “Nate’s got business here for the same reason. Thought I’d come along as a small get away.” He doesn’t air the idea that if things went wrong during LongNight that it might be the last amount of time they had together. “A little bit of a vacation, as close to one you could get in a place like this.”
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.
"I somehow find that hard to believe," Neron drawls, raising an eyebrow at Sunjata and not seeing him remotely hurt by the truth and convenience of his appearance at the wedding reception. Indeed, the playfulness between them grows at the mention of compensation, and Neron resists the urge to look at his pocketwatch to see what kind of compensation he might be able to wrangle out of the Flood.
It would do him well to keep his head out of the gutter for now though, at least for a little while longer. Mention of Nate has him nodding his understanding, Neron leaning casually against the bar and remembering another conversation against this very counter. "We have talked strategy, he and I. Though I have to admit, as far as getting away goes, you've certainly chosen a fantastic place."
ransom notes keep falling out your mouth, mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs speak no fear, no i don't believe you. you don't care a bit. you don't care a little bit.
A crooked smile falls into place at Neron’s drawl. But he passes on that conversation in favor for hearing of what exactly it was Neron was doing here and whether it was the same as his husband’s. The Ascended leans against the counter and Sunjata folds his arms along the top of it easily, peering up at Neron from where he sits, his dragon wings tucked in tight to not jostle anything else as he listens.
“Either this or the Greatwood and we know just how well the Fae would appreciate seeing Nate’s handsome face, hm?” He replies with a shake of his head, that smile growing a bit wider as he both agrees with Neron’s sarcasm as well as denies it. As for what he could get him, Sunjata leans back a bit, hands spreading along the bar top, along damaged lines of lightning that had edged into the wood.
He makes a show of considering it before his steel gaze lands on Neron again. “Whiskey. Not the one on the shelf, but if you look down to the left from where you are there’s a drawer that looks like a panel. That’s the good whiskey.” He’d made sure that the bottles were still there – hardly anyone else knowing of the little compartment.
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.
"About as well as they would react to my handsome face, I have no doubt," Neron murmurs with a smirk. They could just be two people in that moment - a barman and his customer, without the layers and layers of lies and mystique that cover them in reality. Still, as Sunjata runs his fingers along the burned woodgrain, Neron is already reaching down to get a clean tumbler for - and it's a good guess, as it turns out - the whiskey that the other man requests.
He is reaching for the top shelf stuff when the Flood tells him of even better fare, and the grin Neron flashes at him speaks of a growing respect. "Noted," he murmurs, reaching down to the hidden compartment to make Sunjata his drink. "So how is your get away so far? Are you relaxing? Unwinding?" Something says absolutely fuckiing not, but he'll leave that up to Sunjata to voice.
ransom notes keep falling out your mouth, mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs speak no fear, no i don't believe you. you don't care a bit. you don't care a little bit.
“Exactly the same.” He tips a wink to Neron before settling in and running his hands along the marred top of the counter while he instructs the Ascended to the better whiskey. The question is met with a shrug at first, a tilt of his head as if he’s about to roll his neck to crack it before he rights himself again and his wings flutter despite there being no draft. “Better now.” He offers honestly, shrugging off the drama of the rest of it for the here and now.
“Last couple of weeks in Torchline were… Draining, to say the least.” A bit more information never hurt, and he punctuates the statement with an airy laugh as he shakes his head. “I’m sure you had those weeks when you were Warden, hm?” A dark brow raises Neron’s way, opening the floor for the Ascended to speak, to get less eyes on him and make it easier for him.
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? Those great leathery things got anything to do with it?" Neron asks, gesturing to the wings aflutter on Sunjata's shoulders with the bottle in his hand. He wishes he could smell the whiskey as he pours it into a glass that frosts with ice from a pulse of his magic; the amber liquid certainly looks like it would taste good, and he sets it down in front of the Flood with a tilt of the glass - a cheers that he can't return, unfortunately.
At the mention of having those weeks, he can't help but snort and nod his agreement to Sunjata. "You mean those weeks where I wondered whether the people would freeze to death during Deepfrost? Or the weeks where a goddess destroyed the Palace and told everyone it was my fault?" he asks. They were both stress, but they were markedly different, as he was sure the other man could understand.
ransom notes keep falling out your mouth, mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs speak no fear, no i don't believe you. you don't care a bit. you don't care a little bit.
“These?” He asks, tilting his head back just a bit so he can peer at Neron as his wings readjust, flexing slightly before falling back in tight against his back. “Broke one of them in the jungle.” A shrug is granted to that, no further elaboration. He’s certainly not in the mood to delve into that can of worms.
Luckily, the drink is given to him with the flare of ice magic that never ceases to keep the smile from Sunjata’s face. He reciprocates the ‘cheers’ before taking a slow pull from it, letting it burn nicely along his tongue before he swallows it and sets the glass back down on the counter to peer back at Neron when he speaks. “Yeah, something like that.” He rumbles with a quiet laugh. “The Voice bringing people back and the Order sneaking into my lands are certainly proving difficult.” A huff of a sigh, a shrug. “But, we’re working to finish a quest from Safrin that would hopefully make it safer this coming Flowerbirth. Got that to look forward to, I suppose.” He lifts the glass again, taking another sip of it and relishing in the chill of it.
“Top drawer to your right, mind grabbing me one?” He asks Neron with an amused smirk. If the Ascended chooses to look, he’d find a pack of cigarettes and matches within, alongside old papers for keeping track of their stock.
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.
"Those," Neron agrees, smirking and shrugging his shoulders when Sunjata gives his explanation; the fact that he doesn't elaborate further tells the Hailstorm all he needs to know. And for his boss (one of them, at least), he'll let sleeping dragon wings lie. And so swiftly moving on, he passes the drink to the Flood and goes about inspecting the hidden-epic-liquor cupboard, keeping the bottle out under the assumption that more will be had before the night is over.
"All fun and games where you are, then," he says with a scoff, not making mention of either the Order or the Voice. That's not what bars are for, not when Sunjata is giving him such Done vibes. So instead he goes where he's directed, taking down the cigarettes and matches and setting them on the bar, before bringing out the papers as well.
ransom notes keep falling out your mouth, mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs speak no fear, no i don't believe you. you don't care a bit. you don't care a little bit.
There’s a silent thank you he sends up to nowhere in particular as Neron doesn’t pry. It’s easier that way, to shove it under the rug and pretend it doesn’t exist. As it were, however, his attention is brought to the cigarettes pulled out, his wings ruffling with the movement as he slips one out and strikes a match to light it, drawing deep from it and exhaling a bit of the smoke atop the chilled glass before taking another sip.
Steel eyes are drawn to the papers, with the question offered of who’s running the VlamVloed. “It’s been going through hands lately. Nobody in particular at the moment.” Shoulders rise and fall in a shrug. “Which is why Nate checks in on it so often. We’ve moved everything here to Torchline at the very least so there’s nothing left behind.” A pause as he raises a brow in quiet amusement. “Not much drama happening in the Grounds that I already don’t know about anyway thanks to the Queen and Nate.” So it didn’t particularly matter, did it?
He’d prefer to have a hand on it, just as Neron handled the Kraai, just as he himself handled the Slagveld… But the majority of those in the Advocates had drifted from the Grounds. And now the bar sat more as a memory, a beginning to spark the rest of the pursuit rather than a staple. A pity, to be honest. "How has the Kraai been?"
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.
Sunjata enjoys his cigarette and his booze, and Neron hooks a barstool with one of his feet to drag it up opposite the Flood and sit down. The papers are spread before him, and before he knows it, he's looking through what's ordered and when, where improvements could be made, how much the VlamVloed actually has in the way of clientele, and so on. Humming out a sigh under his breath, it's only Sunjata's voice that brings him back around.
"Well, when you put it like that there's no reason to have someone here permanently," he says. "But if that ever changes, let me know. Between the new Ascended and those I have working for me at the Kraai, we might be able to get someone good behind this bar. Not as good as me, obviously, but still." He grins.
"Business is booming at the Kraai, but that's not so much of a surprise. Booze in sub-zero temperatures? It was always going to be a fan favourite."
ransom notes keep falling out your mouth, mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs speak no fear, no i don't believe you. you don't care a bit. you don't care a little bit.
There isn’t really a point to have people there aside from listening in, but truth be told with the Grounds becoming the Ascended hub and Sunjata’s closeness to those within it… Well, chances were he’d already know the details of what occurred. Still, the offer from Neron is taken easily as he drags from the cigarette, letting the smoke curl around the smirk that splashes across his face. “You certainly do a wonderful job.” He agrees, a playful hum to his tone as he flicks the ash from the cigarette into an ashtray.
“So long as the booze doesn’t taste like piss like it did before, I suppose it’s all fair game.” He agrees, a small chuckle with an air of cockiness that he can’t help but to add. He goes to take another sip of the cigarette as he spies little legs sticking out in an attempt to latch onto the glass, his gaze slipping over to find the wine spider that’s trying to indulge in the whiskey. So he reaches over instead, snatching an empty glass beside Neron to pour a little of the whiskey into it for the creature. “So what do I owe you for your booming business?” He asks, raising a brow to Neron as he spies another wine spider attempting to crawl beside the Ascended in search for the bottle.
He didn’t have much to offer in terms of information or jobs as they had agreed to previously.
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.
