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!
Come, lay with me, if you do not fear what hides in the dark
The last time Harper's feet found these shores, he had not dared to climb to the top. Still convinced of his own insignificance, a burden of time wasted even in the eternal sands of the godly hourglass. Instead he had sat with his guitar and sang a song crafted for Safrin. Had found Sunjata instead, who had convinced him to give his relationship with Phoebe a chance. Oh how much time has passed since then. Most of it unwittingly, lost to the fugue state that had gripped so many of them. But now, with Phoebe risen to Frey's side and the tensions rising between the races, there is no room left for doubt.
This time Harper goes straight to the shrine. Laying a gossamer black robe with inlaid beads like stars and silver embroidered moons at the base. He had bartered quite heavily for it, had it custom made by the seamstress in town, and though as always he is unsure whether it will have meaning to her it's something Harper personally believes she will look radiant in.
Sitting cross-legged, Harper's fingers drum along his knees as he turns his eyes to the starlit sky outside. "I have missed you Safrin. I'm sorry for how long it's taken me to return, but I hope you'll give me a moment of your time." And if not well that's completely acceptable. The peace he feels here, closest to her, will be more than enough to keep silent vigil through the night if she does not deign to visit him.
- - -
Turning in level 3 reward for a custom item! And potentially Attuning?
The robe disappears as a silvery wind sighs into the chamber. Bathed in moonlight with skin looking like alabaster thanks to the contrast of the material, Safrin appears wearing the beaded offering. There are subtle changes to it of course—a plunging neckline, a dropped back, and a hem that whispers around her ankles—but it looks as ravishing on her as Harper intended it to; only now the beading winks with actual starlight as she moves.
"Of course my darling one." She coos warmly. "The pace of your life might be different than mine, but even I can understand when the pull of mortality makes time seem to speed up, and you're left wondering where the days went." With a bell-like laugh, Safrin extends a hand toward him, that he might come and sit with her on the stone steps of the altar.
Come, lay with me, if you do not fear what hides in the dark
Beauty is not an apt descriptor for the Goddess, cloaked in as fine a garment as any mortal man can acquire. There is something like smoke curling in his chest, purring away in his chest to see her wearing something of his. Harper turns his face to her light, any and all reservations about infringing on her time evaporating in the wake of her presence.
Like a siren song her laughter pulls him close, hand already moving to take hers before Harper is consciously aware of it. A calloused thumb strokes gently over her preternaturally smooth skin, folding gracefully onto the steps next to her as his other hand comes to rest overtop the fine bones of her knuckles, holding her hand in gentle entrapment. “I’ve still prayed, you’re not so easily forgotten even in the rush of life.” Recalling the song he’d made for her, the various prayers for guidance late at night in the Halenani. His crooked smile aimed her way is endeared, grateful for her easy forgiveness of his absence.
Her offer of an ear doesn’t seem so daunting now that she is by his side. Fingertips still stroking meaningless shapes on her hand, Harper hums thoughtfully. “I spoke to Sunjata here, what seems forever ago. He convinced me that I should feel more comfortable coming to you, even if asking you for even your time feels presumptuous.” Safrin is so much more than he could have expected or wanted. Selfishness is not in his nature, but faith? Devotion? That he has in spades. “When we first met, you told me I could be yours if I merely asked. I know you meant that in a more physical sense,” he chuckles, eyes crinkling as he recalls her playful musing over the nature of what his animal reflection would look like, “but I want more than that. Seeing how close Phoebe and Frey are...I have so much faith in you already just as she does, all I’m missing is purpose.” Purpose in a general sense. Doing nothing more than trailing after Phoebe, her protector and defender. Willing to go wherever he is needed, wherever Frey sends the midwife. But what of his own path? For all he respects Frey, they are not his chosen patron.
“Phoebe is no fighter. I understand that about her, and Frey does not ask it of her. But the Ascended threat, the Order, the Fae...it’s a complicated tangle. One that has been on my mind, keeping me awake, and it has yet to even reach my front door.” Yet. Harper has no doubts it will happen, which does nothing to soothe his vigilant nature. “But standing by and waiting is not in my nature.” No, his hands are already bloody. Though he does not take lives lightly, Harper’s sweet nature does not preclude violence and physical ability. Turning his contemplative sapphire gaze to Safrin, his guileless expression is open and malleable, ready for her shaping hands. “Choosing a side was never a question. But I want to be more helpful. How can I do that?”
04-09-2021, 03:41 PM (This post was last modified: 04-09-2021, 03:41 PM by Safrin.)
every bait and switch was a work of art
Safrin beams beneath his flattery. Overt displays will ever be her favourite—cathedrals cascading up toward the stars, built in her name—but a well-placed bit of prose, you’re not so easily forgotten even in the rush of life, goes a long way to stroke her ego.
Listening to Harper speak, Safrin idly reaches out her free hand to softly push back some of his windswept hair that she might have a better view of his eyes. All of what he's saying is readily available to her, should she push her way into his mind, but she does so love how this little light chooses to phrase things. And so she lets him continue uninterrupted.
And by all her stars, he absolutely says all the right things.
"Well my darling one.." She begins, leaning forward with her star-bright eyes fixed solely upon him. "As it happens...Torchline is precisely where I would want you to be...Ronin Taliesin has already begun work on creating a port for Skyboats to run between Torchline and Stormbreak...but with such a large ascended population that has taken to Torchline, I worry about the safety of the docks." Frowning, her lips parting to release a weary sigh, the goddess shakes her head.
04-09-2021, 05:38 PM (This post was last modified: 04-09-2021, 05:40 PM by Harper.)
Come, lay with me, if you do not fear what hides in the dark
He turns trustingly into her touch like a docile lamb, but the sharp sapphires that are revealed are intense and focused wholly upon her. There is nothing she cannot take from him, no request made that he would not follow to the letter. Though his faith had not had a name in his old world, the potential for devotion translated clearly across the lines.
The galaxies in her eyes are distractingly beautiful. Her worries - luckily - more so, each word keeping Harper centered in the moment. Ronin is a name he knows only in passing as a connection to Remi and therefore to Phoebe and Torchline’s gossip network, but it’s one he commits to memory anew. “Would you have me defend them as a guard? The sun does not seem to be enough of a dissuasion for them, but with Sunjata being married to an Ascended he can’t ban them entirely, and I can’t work against them outright without forcing his hand as Governor.” Something he is reluctant to do not just because he has few qualms with the man, but because he is one of Safrin’s dearest chosen. Laws and government had never held weight to Harper in the past as a vigilante; he’d go against Torchline’s councils if she asked it of him. Yet Torchline remains convoluted in terms of stance on the Ascended.
"Would you be happy as a guard?" Safrin wonders. There is real fight in Harper, this she can feel clearly. But would his talents be wasted, relying simply on muscle? "I wonder if perhaps we might find you a way into Torchline's Government...you could guard the docks physically of course, or you could keep your finger on the pulse of things in other ways." Seemingly indifferent, the choice is his to make, Safrin shrugs.
Harper is neither a bull nor a snake, but something in-between. Graceful, strong, and clever, it would be a disservice to them both to see his talents wasted simply in their combined eagerness to find a place for him.
04-09-2021, 07:28 PM (This post was last modified: 04-09-2021, 07:28 PM by Harper.)
Come, lay with me, if you do not fear what hides in the dark
His expression warms, idle hand still clasped with hers squeezing in silent appreciation. That she takes into consideration his feelings is far beyond what he could ever have anticipated from a goddess. But there are shades of grey at work here, and together they need not pick a side. “I don’t need to be contained to either-or. They certainly won’t need me every day diplomatically, and my role could be tied to security. Just enough to give reasonable cover, what with all the smugglers in Torchline.” Eyes bright with an old flame of plans and mission tactics, stretching out a muscle weakened from lack of use but no less present.
What he would actually be watching and keeping tabs on would be between the two of them. “Phoebe told me no Abandoned can go to Stormbreak. Are the Ascended capable of tricking that?” He will need to determine exactly what he needs to prevent. Their entire passage? Smuggling? Indoctrination? All of the above, in his personal opinion.
Safrin leans in, the gleam in her eye wicked and predatory now despite the sweet smile on her lips. "Oh, they could make it onto the boat alright. But Stombreak is protected by enchantments the likes of which the ascended and the abandoned cannot possibly fool. On the road in to the city the penalty for trespassing is merely being fixed in place until one dies...but to try and bypass that?"
Safrin grins. "Instant death." Stormbreak, in short, was not to be fucked with on this front.
"Still, the last thing we need is for them to try and work out the finer details...how high can they be above the city, could they tunnel beneath, and so on."
Come, lay with me, if you do not fear what hides in the dark
“Quite the defenses. If only we could expand it to more territories.” Harper may be a gentle man, but he is far too well versed in the realities of war; and as a modern century product of his environment, well...it’s admittedly difficult to see past the robotic nature of the Ascended and trust that they are people.
“Is there a way to temporarily disrupt their powers? Where I’m from, we had emitters, technology to help scramble wavelengths and block transmissions.” Not that he can word it much better than that - magic had been just as unfortunately present in his world as this one, though usually only in the hands of evil, and he’d been too busy countering it to bother learning that sort of thing. “Though I’m not sure how helpful that will be for me; I doubt they’ll approve of me jailing Ascended outright. So perhaps it can be planted at the dock, making it painful - but not fatal - for them to come near? Then I could place it without their knowledge.” Ah, the problems of Sunjata’s entire existence. Harper doesn’t doubt it’s harder for Safrin, who has chosen him and is still rebuffed in favor of the man’s dedication to his husband.
'If only.' Safrin agrees. "But I wonder what area would allow for such a thing? Just the Greatwood, perhaps. The ascended are far too populous in both the Grounds and Torchline. And Halo seems to have attracted more and more abandoned as of late." She tuts softly under her breath. "If only it was you in charge, mmm?"
Letting that suggestion hang in the air for a moment, Safrin considers what Harper says next with an interested expression and soft twist to her lips. "There are, though you would have to be quite close. But yes, there are items that nullify magic within a certain radius, or scramble the ascended's upgrades."
Harper's suggestion is indeed a fascinating one. "Without their knowledge, mmm? If you were to...perhaps aid Ronin's efforts with the docks, it might look like you were simply there to provide muscle. Who would notice if you placed such a device away from prying eyes? And the ascended would likely assume it was the work of the Order..." Her grin widens. "And you'd be willing?" We'll ignore timelines -- Harper could do this during the PQ Ronin has to run to repair the docks after monsoon season.
Come, lay with me, if you do not fear what hides in the dark
The Greatwood? It's an idea, though one he has scarcely ever considered as a city boy. But with Frey's realm being nature, perhaps Phoebe would not be opposed to the idea of coming with him. "Would the Fae accept someone like me?" The question alone revealing that if she guided him to that role, he would do his best to win them over. "Perhaps not as a ruler. But I would be willing to go there to work with them; as many lands as we can secure against the Ascended, the better." And surely the Fae would not object to the Abandoned being among those kept out considering their general distrust of humans. Halo, well...perhaps they can come up with ideas for them in the future.
Her next plan aligns so perfectly with his own idea, Harper cannot help the dark grin that pulls at his lips. "If it was innocuous enough in design as well, it would be even more well-protected by way of being overlooked." The simplest plans are often the most effective. "I would be more than willing on both fronts. I cannot create it without your help, but I will do everything else that I can for you." He is hers entirely; her will is his fate.
"I meant of Torchline" Safrin corrects with a sweet smile that twists her perfectly painted lips. The Greatwood was, and always would be, a world unto itself. In the coming war it would likely play no part, despite the lengths Ludo seemed to be going to in edging them toward usefulness.
He says precisely what she wants to hear, but such has always been one of Harper's talents. "Then take these—" Her palms suddenly hold a number of bolts which glow as if created from the stars themselves. Cooling and darkening, soon Safrin simply appears to be holding rather mundane-looking hardware. "No doubt after the storms any number of bolts will need to be replaced." She explains, placing five bolts into Harper's hands. "Tell no one of this. Not even Ronin, if you can avoid it. Though if it comes to it, let him know that you've received your instructions from me. That should be enough to stay his tongue and have him aid you." But secretive was better, even from her Star.
Come, lay with me, if you do not fear what hides in the dark
"Oh," he says dumbly, taken aback. Him, over Sunjata? It doesn't even seem like a possibility considering the man's chosen status and general acceptance in Torchline - the whole 'mob with pitchforks' notwithstanding. "Working my way up wouldn't be an impossibility," he murmurs, unable to consider denying her no matter how out of the question the prospect seems.
Calloused, scarred hands come to cup the metal that pours from her hands, and by the time they are cooled they do not look out of place against his skin. For all they are flesh and bone, his hands are no less tools themselves. "I'll see to finding matching bolts to conceal them better." Bringing a good amount as an expression of goodwill and forward thinking; Harper's good heart has set a precedent, one he hopes will help conceal new ulterior motives. "It will be our secret," he vows, lips twitching into a smile. Even Phoebe would not hear of this; the fewer who knew, the less likely the plot would ever be unearthed. "Do you think this kind of power could be used to nullify the effects around individuals? That seems more strenuous a creation for you, but if war is on the horizon your soldiers should be outfitted against them." Fingertips drift idly to touch the bolts through his shirt, mind still restless with the threat hanging overhead.
'Especially not with me at your side.' The goddess purrs. While it's true that Sunjata is also one of her favoured ones, the situation with Nate has become...volatile. And Safrin is not one who does not plan for contingencies, however unlikely. "Just something to keep in the back of your mind, perhaps." She adds with a coy shrug.
'Clever.' Safrin agrees, raising a finger to her lips as he mentions that it will be their secret. "It has been attempted before, but...the way the Voice gives her creations their abilities is..." Her lips twitch in a grimace of disdain. "Ever changing. It can be difficult to create something that might nullify all of what they can do. But for you?" She leans forward, her smile slipping across her lips like silk. "What would you have it be? A ring? A dagger? A staff? Cloak?" It was up to Harper if he wanted an item that was innocuous to the eye, or if it was an obvious warning to those who might see it. Both had their merits.
