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!
Diligently writing it all down in shorthand so that he might transfer it to a more complete set of notes later, Falke nods along to indicate that he’s listening. And when there’s a natural break lull in the story - perhaps she hasn’t finished, or perhaps that’s all there is to it, the Fixer interjects a couple of quick questions.
“Interesting. Do you think it was necessary to have two demigods there? What did it take to destroy the shrine? Was there anything unusual about the lightning?” It’s clear that the Fixer is in full research mode, trying to get a very clear picture of what happened and what it takes to deliver this kind of damage. He is not a man for the field, but if he can advise - or prepare others - for what to expect, perhaps he might be able to be of greater service.
The shorthand is easier and quicker, Sera finds, and she doesn’t have to continue to pause for him to catch up. Truthfully, it’s the best of both worlds as far as she’s concerned – able to launch into the task she’d had, what they’d done, everything that had been included. His questions are welcome, though, and she flashes him a soft smile as she lounges back in her chair.
“I think so. They were stronger than we were and able to protect us from the retaliation.” She says swiftly, determined and not at all ashamed of being weaker in the grand scheme. After all, that’s why they were demigods, right? The Gods Chosen. “It took… A lot of Remi tearing it apart while the lightning struck. It seemed… Unnatural?” Her head tilts, brows furrowing a bit as she considers it. “It struck out from the shrine until it had been destroyed.”
All of that makes sense, and Falke nods as he writes, pausing only at the end to consider his thoughts.
“I’m not surprised it retaliated, in all honesty. Perhaps a built-in fail safe The Voice places when they’re constructed. Maybe they’ve been destroyed before, in the first war.” And now he wonders if lightning is the only kind of resistance they might encounter, if now that they know what to expect (in theory), it might be able to be done again.
“I assume LongNight was what made it possible?” he ventures. “It seems the Voice follows the rest of the Old Gods in being unable to be present…” And what that means for future ventures. A thought quickly comes to him. “How did Remi tear it apart? And how were you protected?” Laughing, Falke holds up a finger. “And then I think I’m done, I promise.”
“I wonder if the Archive has any information on it…” She tacks onto Falke’s suspicions of whether they’d been destroyed in the first war. They had to have been, right? It only made sense that in her time away, the Voice would have spent those years perfecting things, creating new ways to keep her shrines protected from their assaults. It’s something that leaves a bitter taste in Sera’s mouth as an Artificer herself, though, and she wonders if it’s worth doing the same to their own – if they needed to.
Perhaps it’s something she could speak to them about.
For now, though, she focuses on the next bits of information Falke requests, a soft smile spreading across her face as she nods. “Yes. LongNight. We had heard that the Voice called the Ascended back to the Grounds to fight the creatures she’d created.” And so they had gone, when there wouldn’t be any Ascended nearby to find out. “Remi simply… Used his hands and magic and shifts, I assume? Gideon and I were protected by Amalia’s magic.” She informs him with a brighter smile – a part of her feeling blessed by being a part of such a thing.
“Mmmm probably. Somewhere.” Not all knowledge is for public consumption, but he has no doubt that the Order put as much information down as possible when they were formed and when the Voice wasn’t defeated. To save for later. For times like this.
Falke is both impressed by the idea to use LongNight as a cover and fearful that the Ascended will retaliate in the same way. “And unfortunately, they were successful.” Frowning, he leaves unsaid what he’s sure she’s feeling: it’s a damn shame they didn’t all die at the hands of their foul brethren. The Monsters had certainly been able to do a lot of damage in the previous years… maybe they were underestimating the Ascended now.
It’s also a shame that Sera can’t give him more details, but he covers it by saying, “Mmm probably! I’m just glad you and Gideon were shielded. Remi is certainly... “ he exhales, trying to imagine facing someone with his kind of powers, which are enough to take down a shrine. “formidable. I’m glad he’s on our side.” And with that, as promised, he returns the pen and tears the piece of paper from the pad.
“Thank you so much, Sera. Truly. I’m very excited to practice with the cane.” Offering the Artificer a hug (if she wants), he’ll then take his leave of the workshop.
