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!
The Devil made work for idle hands and Adam was very much interested in getting some. Boredom had settled in quickly after his resurrection, even with the monster-packed horror of Longnight occupying his first weeks. Maybe it was something to do with knowing he was going to live forever now, knowing that he was going to be bored of everything eventually, so his mind was being incredibly unhelpful and getting started early.
When Aurelia had mentioned Smuggling, it had been a spark of hope that there might be an interesting new adventure ready for him in Torchline. Adam's life had been full of bouncing from criminal activity to criminal activity, and he had the right talents: Charisma, knowledge of daggers and footwork, wore all black and had a sexy neckline...he was basically made for the title of Smuggler, and he was sure whoever was in charge would agree.
He'd been told to look for Jack and given a rough description; on the docks there were a lot of rascally pirate types, but his eyes did finally fall on a man that met all the criteria. If he wasn't the right guy, well, Adam was sure this was one of many smuggling operations going on in the Port. Swaggering up and nodding briskly, he looked the man up and down. "You Jack? I was told to come see you 'bout some work."
Rascally pirate types is already enough for Jack to decide he doesn't like whoever the fuck it is on the approach, and he's busy, so even less of a chance of a jovial little meeting between them. There's a shitton to do before monsoon season when the Ark sails out to leave the rain on her tail, and Adam will catch the captain right in the middle of his organisation. His linen shirt has been left open, billowing a bit in the sea breeze, and he's hunched over a barrel where he's writing a few notes.
Adam speaks and Jack barely flashes blue eyes up at him before holding out one of the notes; it's been rolled into a scroll, and within are a few chicken scratchings that don't look as though they ought to even be words - but that's the whole point of a smuggler's code, isn't it? "Sure, here's your work. Go deliver that to a stall in the marketplace that sells fabrics. You'll know it when you see it. Owner's got a unibrow."
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
Adam was not expecting to get a job right away, without even so much as an exchange of names, but he wasn't going to complain; he'd worked for a lot of wankers in his time, people with all kinds of weird quirks and habits. If this guy wanted to get started and be brusque, Adam wasn't gonna complain. Small talk wasn't really something he loved anyway.
"Alright. Seeya in a bit then." He took the scroll and shoved it under his arm, going to the market; Adam didn't read it. Even if it wasn't in smuggler's code, he'dve struggled; there wasn't much point in trying to decipher it, and he didn't really care. Long as he'd get some kinda payment for passing it on to the right person, Adam could be passing over a romance novel for all he minded.
With the scroll given to the right stall and his chin lifted high with the pride of having done a cool smuggler job, he returned to Jack after a half hour. "Hey. Passed on your scroll. You got anymore? This jobs easy as fuck if that's all it is."
Tall, dark and looking-for-work returns after thirty minutes or so, during which time Jack has finished the rest of his notes and his scrolls, and they've all gone out with the other runners he has under his employ. Honestly, the captain was just looking to get rid of the man in question, so it's not ideal that he's come back, but when he finally does look up to glance him over properly, it's with perhaps less dismissal than before. "It ain't all it is," he drawls, a sharp smile flashing over his face.
"Who told you to look for work from me?" he wants to know, leaning his elbows on the barrel as though it's a counter and they're in some kind of weird interview. "An' what kinda work are you lookin' to do? Cuz if it's runnin' notes, I got plenty of guys an' gals to do that already, an' they ain't half as obvious lookin' as you."
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
"Aw, damn." Adam said sarcastically, a short laugh leaving his smirk. It seemed he'd managed to impress Jack enough for the guy to actually stop and talk to him with his scroll-delivery, though (or determinedly annoyed him enough. Either worked). He leaned on the other side of the barrel, chin in his hand, ready to see what Jack had to say.
He paused before giving a name, but supposed that there couldn't be much harm in it. "Aurelia. And hey, tell me what you need doing. So you've got runners, but d'ya need a talker? Maybe a 'blow shit up and get outta there clean'-er? Let me know and I'll do whatever it is." Adam raised an eyebrow, challenging Jack to turn down such a rich offer. Of course, there were jobs he couldn't do, but it was best to start big and lower expectations.
"Aurelia?" Jack tilts his head, and though he doesn't show any outward approval, the fact that he doesn't instantly dismiss the fact that he's here on her recommendation says it all, really. "I could definitely use both of those," he admits, then, straightening up a bit on the barrel. "Talker, mostly. Someone to keep shit together on shore while we're away. Unless you were lookin' to sail?" He raises his eyebrows.
"If not, you'll want to talk to Zeph. I'll write you a seal of approval an' he'll put you to work. Hope your tongue's made of solid silver," he adds. "An' when it comes to blowin' shit up an' gettin' away clean... I'll keep you in mind." And, since it's etiquette even if it's Torchline and rough as fuck, "The price for my advocacy is your name, since you already know mine."
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
"Mhmmm. Met her out in the jungle and hit it off. Charmed her with my sexy dancing skills." Adam declared proudly with a smirk, not thinking he had to explain why he was dancing in the jungle. Seeing that Jack took notice of the name at least enough to keep listening to him, he settled in for a longer conversation, eager to discuss terms for an actual job for the foreseeable future.
He shook his head, probably more than was necessary, when asked if he wanted to go to sea. "Ugh, no. Hate the ocean. Unless I really gotta, I'd rather just be your guy on the shore." Adam hadn't spent much time on boats in his life and that was very much by choice; the few times he had mingled with pirates, it hadn't lasted long, usually ending with him throwing up on nicely polished wooden decks and being escorted off a plank.
Zeph. He nodded, taking the name to memory. "Alright, nice. Y'know, they used to call me Golden Tongue, actually, where I used t'work." Because of his epic blowjob skills, but Jack didn't need to know that. "Real name is Adam Pikely, though. Used to be a pretty big deal in these kind of circles back in my world. Figured I'd start over again." Holding out a hand casually towards Jack, he raised his eyebrows. "I take it you're an important guy here?"
"Never say those words to me again, an' we'll get along just fine," Jack says to Adam's sexy dancing skills, raising his eyebrows across the barrel at the other man. "However you met her, you're here now on her recommendation. So if you fuck up, she fucks up. Hope she managed to charm you enough in return to keep that in mind." Straightening up now, given that his appraisal of Adam is mostly complete on Aurelia's say so, the captain turns his attention to the details.
No ship, then. Jack can't say he's sorry about that either - Adam feels like a talker, and he's got enough of those out on the waves as it is. "Shore duty for you it is, then. If you can't get hold of Zeph, you'll want to speak to Raza, the owner of the Hanged Man. Or you can take yourself straight to the Governor if you're feelin' brave. Tell him I sent you, and you're the liaison between the Ark and the islands while she's at sea."
"Gold is tacky an' talk is cheap," Jack says, both to Adam's nickname and his apparent prowess in his previous world. The captain, put plain, doesn't give a fuck. "Put your Golden Tongue to good use, though, an' you might start gettin' a reputation here."
Is Jack important, though. He raises his eyebrows, a slanted smile curling across his lips. "Nope. Just a sailor makin' a livin'."
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
Adam couldn't help it; he snorted out a laugh into the back of his hand. Oh, he was going to enjoy this Jack guy. It was clear he had a sense of humour somewhere inside, but he was serious enough to make pushing his buttons fun. "You got it. If anything I'm gonna make you happier than you were before you got Aurelia on your team. She's a great talent scout." Pushing his thumbs under his lapels and straightening them out, Adam winked; he imagined he looked the perfect image of a disreputable sort.
Happy to be assigned to land, he nodded along. "You've got the Governor in on this shit? Why are you smuggling at all, then? What's the point of the secrecy and shit if you got the guy in charge on your side?" Not that Adam was opposed to the idea; it would make things easier, and he could still feel like a cool outlaw, but it seemed unnecessary if Sunjata approved.
"Aw. Gold can still look nice in the right places." Adam winked, sticking out his tongue and letting Jack decide what he meant by that. "So, Mr Sailor, how many have you got in this operation?"
Were Jack able to respond to thoughts as freely as he would like, he might have cautioned Adam not to press buttons without first realising what they did. Unfortunately - for now at least - it's a battle of wits that will have to remain hypothetical for the most part. "Bold of you to assume that havin' Aurelia on my team makes me happy." Alright, maybe not quite so hypothetical. Still, he'll give Adam one thing - he definitely looks the part, but whether he's all talk and no substance remains to be seen.
"Not that I gotta justify my business plan to you, but it's a lot easier to operate when the guy in charge in on your side. Point is, he's on my side, not anyone else's." No other smugglers have Sunjata in their pocket, put it that way.
Deciding against taking the gold-plated bait that Adam dangles before him, Jack turns his attention instead to his question. "Got a full crew out at sea. On land, couple runners, about half a dozen main contacts, and there's the rest of the guild too."
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
"Aw, c'mon, she's cool." Adam swung out an elbow to nudge Jack, but it stopped short of actually touching him, the rogue maybe understanding that some boundaries ought to stay in place for at least the first meeting.
Jack's explanation of quite how it all worked was vague, as such answers tended to be; Adam gave up on asking questions for now and just nodded, sure he would get the answers out of him later. "Cool, cool. So there's other smuggler crews I gotta shun." He would start practicing his disparaging looks and cool walks that very night, ready to make all the other sailors on the port jealous of Jack's crew.
It sounded like there was enough room in the organisation for him to fit in; Adam grinned, glad that he'd found a slot before it was taken. "Great. Well, I reckon you'll soon be making me your co-boss, but for now I'm happy to just be here." Hopefully, this was the start of a new era.
