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!
"What are we doing?" Theo asked, probably too quiet for anyone else to hear him -- it was kind of a rhetorical question at this point. He doubted any of the others could provide a coherent answer. They seemed, at least, to be directing the chicken away from Haulani itself, so that was good. It also looked like they'd abandoned the food plan, though, so he dropped his watermelons, finding them too heavy and bulky to carry with him.
With the chicken moving away, Theo was once more tempted to just fall back and abandon the entire endeavor. But, out of some terrible sense of obligation -- and morbid curiosity -- he ran after the giant chicken instead, bringing up the rear, trying to keep it in sight without drawing its attention. If necessary, maybe he could make some noise to encourage it to keep going? He wasn't sure that anything he could do would spook a 20-foot chicken, though.
Man, he was going to have to compose a ballad or something about this later.
Theo follows behind the chicken! He doesn't really know what to do at the moment but he's keeping himself in a position to potentially help out.
Theo
"Poker" by ND Strupler is licensed with CC BY 2.0.
What are you doing? Running a chicken chase across the city, apparently, taking out many a stall along the way until you're at the beach and heading back towards the jungle. What a truly egg-straordinary day in Torchline this is! (And if you think this is wild, just wait till you see what's happened to the Slagveld and the Wren Society). Speaking of which, it's the society's founder who has all of Miss Cluck's attention right now.
And nesting doesn't sound like that bad of an idea. So down she comes, Nate! And the Ascended's newest demigod will find himself thoroughly squashed beneath a chicken's bum.
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05-20-2021, 10:37 PM (This post was last modified: 05-20-2021, 10:37 PM by Ray.)
A panther in the night, a fire burning bright.
The only thing Ray can think of is, Thank Fuck Nate is an Ascended. Hopefully he won't be further squished beyond the initial impact. Seeing as the chicken has stopped moving, Ray stops chirping. Instead she grabs blankets and soft feather-like things from the broken stalls. Walking over to the giant chicken nervously, she places them down as an offering, speaking in a calm and soothing voice. The last thing she wants is to come across as a threat. "For you're nest. To keep the chicks warm." She backs away slowly, sending a glance down at where she thinks Nate might be under all of those feathers. "Sorry Nate." She whispers.
Hopefully if they can keep the chicken still and happy they can come up with a more feasible, long term plan. And hopefully Nate won't be flattened. Speaking of which. "Are you alive down there?" She calls in another whisper.
Ray stops impersonating a chick. She grabs blankets and soft things from the broken stalls and offers them to the chicken to make her nest, and apologizing to Nate. Ray attempt to do so in a manner that portrays that she's not a threat to the 'chick'. The goal is to keep the chicken happy and still so that they have time to come up with a better long term solution.
Herbs for healing, some basic wound ointment, bandages, 3 throwing knives and 2 daggers
r a y
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.
—Albert Camus
Running was a useless endeavor, though Harper winces with sympathy when Nate disappears beneath the chicken's bosom. At least he doesn't have to breathe, though Harper worries all the same; if the chicken doesn't move, will he continue to be crushed? The girl on the shore at least seems to be checking on him, so as Harper circles around he keeps an ear tuned for any response from Nate that will determine if they need to pull him free.
Turning wing, he lands in the sand and squawks up at the chicken in pale imitation of a chick, trying to edge under her wing to give her another feathery form to roost on without squeezing under her formidable body itself. Anything to keep her still and content. Perhaps she will bond to them then, and they can lead her onward to Apopo.
- - -
Harper tries to land and squeeze under the chicken's wing to encourage her to roost, hoping she will see them as her babies and they can later lead her to Apopo when she gets up again.
Just how deep do you believe? Will you bite the hand that feeds?
Of course the day goes from weird to worse. Obviously Nate can’t outrun a two story chicken, but he’d expected another peck, not the beasts bulk crashing down onto him. The hels are released, the birds left to fend for themselves while Nate begins to struggle, shifting in the sand to try and open a little extra space, enough to drag himself out. Two sets of arms are hopefully better than one here.
A voice just barely reaches his ears, the words dragging a savage laugh from his throat. “I’m just fucking fine! He growls, not caring to quiet his own voice. Using her feathers to keep moving, Nate tries to figure out a plan, realizing the only real safe place he could reasonably get is on the back of the chicken.
Nate s shifts in the sand and uses the chickens feathers to try and free himself from under her! He’ll keep climbing if he manages to get free, trying to get on her back
Magic: Finger in Everything | Nate possesses the ability to create two extra arms in the same style as the Voice’s holograms. The arms share Nate's strength stat and can be summoned/dismissed at will. They are able to reach a radius of 10ft.
Type: Dark | Rank: Basic
Will you chew until it bleeds? Can you get up off your knees?
Theo winced in sympathy as the chicken's bulk crashed down on Nate. Ooh, that had to hurt. But their madcap plan had ended the chicken's rampage, at least for now. What next?
The bird-Attuned seemed to have a good idea of what he was doing, though Theo doubted the wisdom of actually trying to get beneath the chicken -- seemed like a good way to get squashed to him. The woman's idea of providing the chicken with nesting materials struck Theo as wiser. Maybe if the bird shifted to work on her nest, Nate could escape.
So Theo went to the stalls and grabbed whatever soft things he could, adding them to Ray's offering. He tried to make his voice soothing and encouraging as he said, "Come on, sweetheart, why don't you make a softer place for those chicks?"
Though he also muttered, half to Ray and half to himself, "She can't stay here forever. We'll have to lead her out of Haulani sooner or later ..."
Theo
"Poker" by ND Strupler is licensed with CC BY 2.0.
This is getting all rather silly. Miss Cluck is nonplussed, at first, by this hen-semble of Torchers fluttering about her. She had assumed them to be bits of corn, but now they are chicks? She's egg-stremely confused by the whole thing.
And whether out of egg-citement or frustration, she gives a mighty FLAP of her wings. Theo and Ray will find themselves propelled some way across the beach, and Harper is unfortunately squashed between the chicken's wing and her body. He's stuck.
Well, the demigod's dexterity is im-peck-able, obviously. He manages to wiggle his little self out of the sand and up, up, up onto Miss Cluck's back! I hope you've got a plan, kids, because I have no idea what the fuck you're doing.
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Ray pulled herself to her feet with a groan. Glancing down at her sand covered clothes, she sighed. "Well, that plain failed." Taking a moment, she analyzed the situation, her eyes widening at the sight of Nate on top of the chicken. Judging the distance between their current location and the forest, Ray took a chance. If this was how she died, she was going to haunt all of Torchline.
Letting out a deep sigh, she glanced at Theo. "Back me up." Ray took off sprinting down the beach, grabbing spilled fruits from the ground near the stalls. Waving her arms, she raced towards the forest, doing her best to dodge stray wings and feet. "Follow me chicken!! There's food this way!!! Nate hang on tight!"
Ray grabs fruits from the ground and starts running towards the forest, trying to get the chicken to follow, (and dodging the feet the best she can). Hopefully Nate can stay on till they get to the forest and kill the thing.
Herbs for healing, some basic wound ointment, bandages, 3 throwing knives and 2 daggers
r a y
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.
—Albert Camus
Ow, ow, okay. There goes his dream of being gently cradled in the feathers of a giant chicken goddess. Does that dissuade him entirely from earning her beady-eyed affection? Absolutely not. He’s Harper fucking Quinn. Everyone loves him. Though maybe not the ground so much right now, which feels like it’s trying to make a detailed mold of his bones - with the skin still on.
With nothing else he can do as Nate does whatever he does (Harper can at least hear Ray shouting) Harper grabs tight to the feathers crushing him with beak and talons, trying to be lifted with the hen when she stands up. Then he will try and break free to fly by her head perhaps, to draw her attention like a particularly ugly fly.
- - -
Harper clings to the chicken’s feathers with his beak and talons after she squishes him to try and be lifted when she moves, and if so aims to break away and fly at the first opportunity.
Just how deep do you believe? Will you bite the hand that feeds?
If Nate was in the habit of being honest with himself, he’d be surprised to have gotten on the back of the chicken so easily. In the moment though, he simply accepts it, praises his extra grip while he shifts close enough to press against the giant hen’s neck, the extra reach of his holographic arms anchoring him around her.
Ray is on the ground, offering fruits and trying to draw her back into the jungle, an idea that seems as easy as anything else at this point (except perhaps just killing the chicken) and that has Nate trying to lean in the direction of the apothecarist. Just like riding a horse, right? Never mind the fact that he doesn’t know how to do that either.
Nate settles behind the chickens neck, holding on with his extra arms, and tries to steer the chicken after Ray like a horse
Magic: Finger in Everything | Nate possesses the ability to create two extra arms in the same style as the Voice’s holograms. The arms share Nate's strength stat and can be summoned/dismissed at will. They are able to reach a radius of 10ft.
Type: Dark | Rank: Basic
Will you chew until it bleeds? Can you get up off your knees?
Theo let out a deep sigh when Ray asked for his help, but he obeyed, grabbing some fruit and running after Ray. Back to Plan A. "Yes, here, chicken, here! We have some nice food!"
He considered again the possibility of using his illusion magic to scare the chicken into going where they wanted, but decided against it: who knew how the chicken might react? Theo didn't want to be responsible for startling it into a rampage. Well, another rampage.
Instead he'd just run after Ray with fruit, glancing back over his shoulder to try and make sure that the chicken was following -- and that it didn't peck or stomp him while he ran.
Theo follows Ray's lead, running ahead of the chicken with fruit (moving towards the jungle).
Theo
"Poker" by ND Strupler is licensed with CC BY 2.0.
Nate really ought to take up a new career in chicken wrangling, because you're right. It's just like riding a horse! A giant feathery horse that has more in common with a velociraptor than an equine, but he manages it nevertheless. And Ray and Theo? They're looking mighty fine with their running about and flailing at fruit and so on, and Miss Cluck is very tempted. So off she goes!
It's unfortunate that all this flailing around gets Harper caught in the crossfire. He manages to free himself, it's true, but he gets whacked quite brutally with one of the chicken's wings along the way. Enjoy the concussion, Harps!
The progress across the beach is slow, at first, but you're lucky - Miss Cluck is also finding it difficult to get purchase on the sand, and she hasn't caught you yet! Give it your all to get to the jungle and maybe (just maybe) she'll keep running and forget all about you!
This Big Mother Clucker: 200/200
POST ORDER:
1. Ray 20/26
2. Harper 57/72
3. Nate 59/70
4. Theo 18/22
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Ray ran as fast as she could for fear that the giant chicken would step on her. Even if the big hen was merely jogging, it's long legs made it quite a challenge to outpace. At least, in Ray's opinion. Regardless, their ridiculous plan seemed to be working. Continuing to carry fruits and call to the giant chicken, she continued the perilous trek to the jungle. "Come on Ms. Chicken! Delicious food! There's more in the jungle!"
Hopefully the chicken would hit the jungle and keep going, or at the very least stay there. If the chicken did decide to make the jungle it's home, Ray hoped it wouldn't attack a giant predator. Fuck, what if that did happen? It'd be one thing to fight a chicken. But if they had to fight a dragon? Or a giant beast? They'd need more people.
Ray is continuing to try and lead the chicken to the jungle. She's also beginning to worry about next steps.
Herbs for healing, some basic wound ointment, bandages, 3 throwing knives and 2 daggers
r a y
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.
—Albert Camus
Concussion? Oh he’s had far too many in his life. Probably why he ended up this way, swanning through the sky after a giant chicken like a cartoon character drifting along on hearts after their object of romanticism. Harper tries to level out on his wings, flapping them powerfully to try and stay ahead of Miss Cluck and overhead Ray and Theo.
He’s not sure how appetizing his own birdy body is, but at least he can flit about like a particularly huge fly in an attempt to keep her attention focused on the path towards the jungle and not the appetizing humans below. “Lead!” he croaks in his crowlike vocals to the two below, hoping to encourage them somehow.
- - -
Harper flies between Miss Cluck and Ray/Theo on the ground to be an appetizing/distracting “fly” for her to chase into the jungle.
