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!
Her nose wrinkled ever so slightly in protest. "Dad already has a cloud," she pointed out, as if that firmly ruled out the possibility of her ever using one. "Stars are of course beautiful, but they are a little... flashy for everyday, don't you think? Everyone will stare at me if I come gliding by on one." Though the thought was highly amusing, despite its impracticality. But her island, though... now that was a thought. "Can it do that?" Seren asked, visibly intrigued. "That would be really interesting."
As for the yet uncovered secrets hidden in Halo... the vague answers made the girl laugh. "I suppose we will see, when we get there. Thank you, Mother! It will be very exciting, I already look forward to it. A real adventure!" Her heart swelled at the thought, and Umbra chirped in response from his perch beside her feet.
I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces Reaching the starlight and silver fields
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
'And what's wrong with that?' Safrin wonders, of having all eyes upon her daughter. While it was true that no one could rival Safrin's vanity, Seren was certainly worthy of being looked at. "Of course it can do that, if I make it so." The goddess replies with a playful roll of her eyes, as if her daughter shouldn't ever expect anything less. "Is that what you would like?" There would be a few things which would require doing, but yes, it was easily possible.
Turning to look at Umbra now, the goddess fixes the dragonling with a stare. "And you shall absolutely protect her. Fun and games aside, I'll be counting on you for that." She says to the dragon sternly, though her bright smile seems to diminish the lecture somewhat.
"Oh, but it makes it so terribly difficult to sneak, Mother!" her daughter laughed, only half joking. "But if that stops being fun, I will be sure to let you know, and you can bathe me in starlight all you want." Not that she could do anything to stop her mother, if she insisted on Stars being the transportation a la mode...
At the eyeroll, the starchild held up her hands as if in defence. Of course Safrin could do anything. Was it what she wanted, though? Truly? She weighed the image of herself by the tiller on a skyboat's deck, with the wind in her hair and full sails billowing. It was beautiful, and interesting, but so was her island. And that she carried with her all the time. In the end, practicality won over. "Yes," she decided. "Portals of my own would be lovely. What do I need to do?"
The sudden attention had Umbra sit up straight in surprise. Big eyes blinked at the goddess, and at Seren, before turning back with a slightly offended look. As if he wasn't doing his best already? But there was a slight puffing out of a whelpy chest all the same, and Seren had a sudden horrible suspicion that she would not be able to talk to any new people without the dragon trying to huff and blow smoke at them. "What have you done..." she mumbled under breath, not quite able to hide the smile.
I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces Reaching the starlight and silver fields
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
"Portals it shall be. And before you fret too much, I'm sure your father can find you your own Skyboat in the meantime." There weren't docks set up anywhere but Stormbreak and Torchline, but if Seren wanted to flit about the skies, captaining her own ship, why not? "Just a few things. Coral from Torchline, ice from Halo, dirt from the Hollowed Grounds, Peppermint bark from one of the trees in the Greatwood, and the plants responsible for making EITHER Snapdragon, Dreamdust, OR Thirdeye."
Eyeing the dragonling, Safrin raises a brow and cocks her head to the side. "Now, now. Making her life more difficult by attacking everyone she sees is not the same as protecting. Do we understand one another?" Then again, if Umbra kept any and all potential suitors at bay...well, Safrin wouldn't mind that at all.
Seren has been given a quest! She must
- Collect coral from Torchline
- Collect ice from Halo
- Collect dirt from the Hollowed Grounds
- Collect peppermint bark from the Greatwood
- Collect one of the plants that makes snapdragon, dreamdust, OR thirdeye.
Quietly mouthing a repeat of the required ingredients to committ them to memory, Seren nodded and breathed a quiet sigh of elation. Surging in to crush her mother in an exuberant hug, she put as much love as she could muster into the gesture - which was no small amount, if such a thing could be quantified. "Thank you, Mother, for spoiling me like this. You know I love you even if you don't give me things, right?"
Meanwhile, the dragon hunched slightly under the reprimand. Keeping everyone away would be safer in the long run, but if the goddess insisted... Umbra heaved a long, suffering sigh and flopped over onto his side in sumbission. Protection in the difficult way it was. From threats, and stupidity, and the starchild's own impulses...
"You are so theatrical." Slightly offended, Seren hissed at her companion under breath, before returning her attention to Safrin. This was a stolen moment, and she would savour every last second with her mother before the inevitable parting.
I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces Reaching the starlight and silver fields
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
"I absolutely do my darling star." Safrin agrees, her arms tugging Seren close against her. "Besides, I'm not spoiling you...you're getting the things I require, aren't you?" Smiling against the top of Seren's head, the goddess sighs adoringly, savouring every moment of time spent simply like this.
"This time perhaps you might be a tad bit quicker than with Umbra?" There is only playfulness in Safrin's voice. She had recalled Seren into the stars after all, and her daughter had been so very young when she'd first started her quest for shells and things to call a dragon to her.
Snuggled up against her mother, the girl giggled into a pink-laced shoulder. "Of course, that is true. And I will be swift as the wind this time, you'll see." With a bit of aid from her father and other helpful friends to manage the traveling distances, it was a simple thing to gather up the ingredients. Unless something unexpected happened, it should not take long at all.
But then, it was a good practice to account for the unknown. This was Caido, after all, and luck was a fickle thing.
With no more immediate questions or concerns on her mind, Seren was content to linger in relative quiet with her mother, for what time that remained. Quiet exchanges of confidences and gossip made time seem to fly past, and when it was time to part the girl only reluctantly retrieved her sleeping dragon.
"I'll bring you a present next time," she promised quietly, as the stars faded around the shrine. "See you soon."
- FIN
I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces Reaching the starlight and silver fields
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
