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!
Only upon landing on the ground did the lion push against the ground with its forepaws to enter a standing position and revert back to its human form. Pushing the wide-brimmed hat back after standing up fully in his human form, he saw Wessex enter his view above his head, before being forced back down to the ground.
Something is protecting the top of this strange tower.
"Don't I know it," he muttered under his breath, before remembering that he was now next to someone who could hear his whispered mutterings, which prompted him to pinch the bridge of his nose before looking back up towards the structure, specifically at the rickety ladder.
"Wait, is that a pixie," Neos found himself asking upon seeing the small creature that fluttered into his view and tried to land on the outside of the platform above his head, feeling drawn to it before shaking his head. "Dammit, not the time..." Dashing towards the ladder, he placed a gentle hand on the sides before looking up towards the top. "...hey, Gem, think either of the Ascended can get up this without breaking it," he asked to himself in a near-muted whisper.
Based on previous conversation with Wessex, I would estimate them to be slightly heavier than a normal person their heights and widths, if at all. Either way, I'd get up these fast if I were you, I don't think it'll hold weight more than once.
"Move quick, then, got it."
Wishing he could use the claws he could feel locked in place in his fingertips, Neos made an attempt to scramble up the ladder, not allowing his weight to stay on any one rung for long.
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Neos is the first to try to climb the ladder, moving as quick as he can to avoid his weight staying on any one rung for too long.
This ain't no game We're not here to entertain you
letting people down is my thing, baby, find yourself a new gig
Well well well. Looks like his shitty attitude has its benefits. A savage grin spreads over Nate’s face, his one good eye flashing in sudden delight as he looks up at the tower. Holographic arms dip again, scrounging the ground for more projectiles. It doesn’t have to be rocks, anything palm sized that he can throw.
The fey bitch flies a bit high, though Nate can still feel the force of her glare, turns his grin up on the direction of it and throws a clump of tarry mud at her, fully expecting it to go low. Which means he needs a different target.
Casting his gaze around, Nate considers his options. Someone he doesn’t know, Wessex, and the lion turned stranger who’d been at his reception. Wessex is a bad move, the stranger is a touch too far, but Neos is right there. Already clambering up the ladder, which means his back is the perfect target for another clump of dirt, Nate already rushing to get to the ladder himself.
Nate throws dirt clumps at Neph and at Neos’ back, and tries to rush to the ladder/base of the tower
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
Oh Wessex finds it hilarious, too - the sudden reversal and recognition of what’s just happened has her laughing at herself before she flops in a very un-Wessexlike way to the ground. Rolling over, she rights herself and sets her eye on the prize again, this time checking out where the others have gotten to. She’d seen Nate throw a rock at Neph, and now it looks like he’s reaching down for more handfuls of something, which doesn’t make much sense but if someone else is to get the prize, she’d rather it be him.
Using her exceptional speed and dexterity, Wessex wastes no time in trying to zip across the tar and through the trees to the base of the ladder, trying to time a biopulse when towards Neph and Neos to hit right around the time Nate’s clods do. If they do.
---------------
Wessex rights herself and then tries to run very very fast across the tar and around the trees to hit Neph and Neos with a biopulse around the time when Nate’s clods hit. If she can’t time it right, she does it anyway.
The world is new to you, and you to it. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls and receive an extra name during drops. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
Stars move slowly in a silvery night
Far away on the other side
Well, no one listened to her warnings. Mildew sighed, rolling her eyes. They never listened to the wise ones and it always ended up messy. Hopefully, if there were any corpses, they'd be easy enough to get out of her swamp.
As for the tar pits? Mildew aimed to step on the dryest parts of the tar, where rocks had bubbled to the surface or the sun had formed a crust over the edge. With quick, light footsteps, she hoped to do a practiced dance and make it to the other side by keeping her attention on the ground. One wrong step would be a very sticky problem (which she knew from experience); she tied her skirts around her waist before she set off.
If she did find that something did sink under her feet though, this wasn't worth sinking into the tar for. At any sign of danger, she'd try to hurry back over the tar.
---
Mildew attempts to step on the dryest parts of the tar and rocks, carefully picking her way over the pit. If she encounters something sinking or a particularly nasty looking patch, she goes back.
Will you come to talk with me this night?
But she couldn't find how to push through
As Nephele thrusts her stick forward and then her whole arm, she'll feel as though she's momentarily encased in jello, before her entire body begins to vibrate and she's thrown backward.
Neos begins to climb...and climb...and climb. To everyone else it appears as though the Attuned is just taking a rest on the ladder. For the man himself though, no matter how many rungs he pulls himself to, more always seem to appear.
Nate 's dirt misses Nephele this time given her sudden shove away from the tower, but he does squarely hit Neos (especially given that his target is 'stationary'). At the same time, Wessex 's bio pulse hits both Nephele and Neos. The fae nearly falls from the air as she's overcome with tremors and instant nausea, whereas the attuned suffers extreme dizziness and disorientation.
Mildew, who posted too late, seems to fade away into the swamp.
04-23-2021, 08:09 PM (This post was last modified: 04-23-2021, 08:42 PM by Neos.)
Everyone wears a mask Some just have more than one
To Neos, he stopped upon suddenly feeling sickened, head spinning as he leaned his head on the rung. He felt the mud hit him, but it felt like it knocked him into the ladder to cause his arms to move over and hook a rung under at least one armpit...which is a good thing it had, because what presence of mind he still had barely registered the fact that the biopulse would have caused him to flop backwards...and he didn't really have the presence of mind to think about how high up he was. In fact...he felt himself blacking out while so high up.
To the others, however, he appeared to be leaning against the ladder, his feet on the lowest rung to keep himself stable, his head resting upon one of the rungs with tightly-clenched eyes and one arm hanging over a rung to hook it under an armpit after the mud hit him. He looked to be in pain from anyone that could see his face, before it suddenly twisted into a Cheshire's grin.
"And we were just talking about how the probable weights of either of you two would likely break this ladder before discovering something else about this deception." This newer voice coming out of Neos was higher, twisted...and clearly delighted about the chaos around him as the mentality now in control of Neos' body looked up towards the top after straightening his head, debating continuing to climb or sliding back down, though likely staying still to the others either way. "If any of you tried something to knock him loose again...who knows, the false human might slip and let go, potentially dying upon landing after falling for so long...we have been climbing since touching the ladder." As he spoke, he visibly winced, enduing a sudden coughing fit while clinging to the ladder.
"Do you all truly wish to potentially slay a life so needlessly to satisfy your own greed?" he forced himself to ask.
Someone else has taken the wheel in Neos' head and reveale the possibility that Neos may actually die if anyone tried knocking him off again from falling due to how they had been climbing from the moment they touched the tower's ladder.
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
“Are you okay?” she asks Nephele and Neos innocently, faking concern for the Attuned with a passing hand on his shoulder. To her knowledge, she’s never told them about her biopulse abilities, so with any luck they’ll be fooled and think it’s just the tower and its funny ways.
What a tricky tower, she whispers with a sickeningly sweet mental tone to Nate, subtly glancing his way with a tiny little twist in the corner of her mouth. Paving the way for team Ascended? Maybe, maybe not.
Wessex stands at the base of the ladders and follows a blossoming hunch as she stands at the bottom of the ladder. “Please let me in?” she calls up to the top and whatever is in there. “Pretty please?”
--------------------
Wessex tries to trick Nephele and Neos into thinking the tower attacked them and not her, then stands at the base of the ladder and begs it to let her up.
The world is new to you, and you to it. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls and receive an extra name during drops. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
letting people down is my thing, baby, find yourself a new gig
He’s figuring out the trick of this now, isn’t he? And it’s fun.
Wessex’s voice whispers in his head, telling him he’s not the only one having fun with this, but Nate takes a far different approach to the Family head. No simpering, no asking permission. He’s taking what he wants.
Nates not really listening to Neos, but he does recognize to question for what it is, scoffing while he comes close, reaching past Wessex to grab the attuned by the back of his shirt. ”How about I get you safe on the ground again, huh? Then you can be the fuck out of my way.” Lifting while he speaks, Nate does exactly what he’d said, dropping Neos on the ground none too gently and shifting past Wessex to start climbing up the ladder, hoping this actually works the way hes starting to think it does.
Nate pulls Neos off the ladder and sets him on the ground, then starts trying to climb it
The dirt misses, which is hilariously childish anyway, but the tower and something else certainly do not. Nephele scarcely catches herself before she hits the ground, disoriented and nauseous, and Wessex’s crooning concern makes her want to abandon these efforts to take the opportunity to make the thing burn. But no - preventing them from reaching the prize is more important.
Nephele rights herself with a snarl, and flies as quickly as she can for Nate where he is on the ladder, hoping to springboard off his shoulders with her feet and shove him down at the same time if possible. Maybe not considering her own petite figure, but even getting to kick the brute in the head or shoulder or delaying his climbing would make this worth it.
Regardless of whether it lands or not she shoots off towards the top again immediately, not wanting to give him time to grab at her. Hovering away from the boundary this time to avoid the topsy-turvy bit. Wessex’s voice makes her want to snarl, but Nephele can’t risk it when her face is so visible. “Whatever you are hiding or protecting is too good for them,” she says, happy to use the vagueness of the statement to include the other non-Ascended man. See? Not racist.
If she makes it, she tries to use her minimal magic to make the boundary feel like it is opening up - even just the tiniest little hole.
- - -
Nephele tries to springboard off Nate’s shoulders/head with her feet, hopefully literally knocking him down a peg at the same time, flying back towards the top and calling out after hearing Wessex speak. Then she tries to use her illusion magic to make the boundary seem like a small hole is opening.
Abilities;
Animals know to respect you. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, animals roll with disadvantage against you. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
Base Illusion: Can create minor sensory effects within a 5ft radius
Type: Grey | Rank: Basic
Clever idea Wessex, but this isn't the KQ. The Tower seems to give 0 fucks about your request.
Have you got it, Nate? Successful in pulling Neos off of the ladder, as the ascended climbs, he'll find that he's only slightly more successful than the attuned had been. That is, as he climbs, he doesn't seem to be reaching the top of the tower as quickly as he probably should. Unlike Neos though, he is moving.
Nephele springboards off of Nate easily enough. Not enough to knock him down, but good on you for the effort. The boundary isn't a physical or visual one, so there's nothing on which for Nephele's magic to act. It really does just look like the image being used.
So we've got Wessex talking to an inanimate object, Nephele playing leapfrog with Nate, and Nate getting the most exercise he's had in a while. What now?
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
So much for begging. Maybe more fighting will do it?
Loathe as she is to do something to Nate (and since he doesn’t seem to be going anywhere fast), Wessex decides to further her innocent act by pretending to be focusing on the ladder and finding a way to ascend it. She places one foot on the first rung and reaches up for the next whilst actually breaking out her first use (ever) of Night Terror against the Fae woman in the hopes that maybe, maybe she’ll be scared enough to leave the tower and let the two Ascended to fight it out.
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Wessex tries to step up on the first rung and pretends not to be focusing on Nephele while using Night Terror against her.
Magic: Night Terror | Can create nightmare-like illusions in the mind of one character within 5 ft which have the ability to petrify them in place. Illusions are only visible to that character. (A 30 END difference is an automatic success: characters cannot move or speak for one round during a PQ+/KQ, or 30 seconds) Difference of 20 is accompanied by extreme fear and associated reactions. Difference of 10 or below is accompanied by increased heartrate and anxiety-spikes.)
Type: Dark | Rank: Basic
In case Nate attacks from above -
Type: Dark
Damage Splash Upgrade | For every attack made at Wessex, double the damage is deflected back to the creature who caused it. (Elemental effects are not duplicated. 30 pts of fire damage is translated back as 30 pts of regular damage, for example).
The world is new to you, and you to it. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls and receive an extra name during drops. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
(Depending on if they are within 5 feet and my math is right-)
Fear grips Nephele's heart preternaturally, rabbiting and pulsing in her chest as a cold sweat begins to break out over her skin. She reels away, flying higher in natural reaction for any Fae; few can pursue them into the sky, and their wings will carry them where they need. But the thing she's most afraid of? The thing she loathes and fears equally?
Well, they're already here. Which makes them targets; because between fight and flight, Nephele will pick fight.
Her chakrams are too precious to throw, but she is not otherwise unarmed. Her dagger is crude and made of sharpened bone instead of steel as most Fae would carry, but it is the best she has, and she throws it at Nate with a wild, terrified look in her eyes. Hoping his need to dodge will have him topple backwards and perhaps take Wessex with him. Dropping to the guard rail once more but at the top of the ladders, she holds her chakrams in her hands concealed by her long sleeves, snarling down at the two like a cornered dog, senseless and ready to do far more damage. Even using her minimal illusion magic to try and imitate the noises of wood groaning and snapping beneath their hands. Barrier and potential prizes all but forgotten in her fear. Her only thought? Kill them before they kill you.
- - -
Wessex's Terror ability makes Nephele freak out and throw a bone dagger at Nate. She then lands on the same guard rail she was on last time and holds her concealed chakrams to attack whichever Ascended makes it to the top of the ladder first. She tries to use her illusion magic to project the faint sound of breaking wood.
Abilities;
Animals know to respect you. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, animals roll with disadvantage against you. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
Base Illusion: Can create minor sensory effects within a 5ft radius
Type: Grey | Rank: Basic
letting people down is my thing, baby, find yourself a new gig
The only thing Nate is focused on right now is that he’s on the ladder. He’s making slow work of it, sure, but he’s on the ladder first. He’s going to reach the top first.
And then it gets all fucked up.
There’s no instinct to dodge when he doesn’t feel pain, when he’s suffered far worse than stabbings (by Nephele’s own hand no less) but there’s still a reflex that comes immediately. ”You little fucking cunt!” Nate roars, holographic arms appearing to drag him up the ladder faster, trying to race high enough to close his hands around the fey bitch’s throat.
It takes him a half second to remember something else, and then a low whistle leaves him, steady and incessant in his breathlessness. His little obsidian arrow slips from its sheath and races up ahead of him, a streak of hatred aimed for the delicate gossamer wings.
Nate climbs faster using his extra arms and tries to shred Neph’s wings with his obsidian arrow
Everywhere Arrow | A sleek, obsidian arrow. Controlled by whistling, the arrow is moved and directed via a mental link with the user. Range of 15ft, works with Ascended only.
Oh, you're all really going for it now. With no need for me to roll your attacks as well. I guess that means everything hits, then.
Nephele panics, Nate swears and grows more limbs, and Wessex continues to act like she isn't the one doing the most damage to those around her.
Nephele, perched as she is, is in fact closest to the glowing pulse of energy that's at the top of the tower. Nate is next. Though the addition of his arms do almost nothing, as his arrow shoots through one of Nephele's wings, he'll find that his efforts bring him closer to the top.
