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!
Yup, definetly should have started with that. Sah gave a sheepish smile. "It's been alright. A steep learning curve, but people have been kind. Halo has been good for me with how generous they are. I've been settling in more or less." Now that the conversation has turned less awkward, Sah begins to finally relax in his seat again. The warm sunlight soothing the last of his nerves away. He chuckled as Ronin mentioned the commonalities between the Demigod and the Abandoned. "Very confused."
Sah listened to Ronin discuss his history with open curiosity. He had known that the Star was an Outlander as well, but he hadn't quite processed just what that entailed in terms of timing. He raised a brow. "You had a Demigod daughter after only two years in Caido?" The tone wasn't judgmental, just a little incredulous. Sah knew it was true, but it was still a bit hard to believe.
Sah smiled sadly at Ronin's agreement, giving a small nod. "Seems so."
I shouldn't laugh, but I know I'm a failure in your eyes
"That's good to hear," Ronin says, and he means it. "I don't envy you, truthfully. When I first arrived, we were behind the barrier in the Hollowed Grounds. It was still really difficult to get used to things, but... the world felt a lot smaller, you know?" He smiles. Seeming to settle, now, at the idea of Seren and Sah being friends (however blunt and strange and confusing he and his stories can be at times). Swimming a bit further out now, but still close enough to chat, he lets out a chuckle and gazes up at him.
"And the rest," he murmurs. "I first met Safrin behind the barrier, and she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. When I fought a monster at the Spire, and I... well, I died," because there's no easier way to say it, "she put me up in the sky as one of her stars. But I was very lucky, and she brought me back down again after a time to be her chosen." A roundabout way of saying he was also a demigod, he supposes. "It's... a lot." He laughs.
Sah nodded in understanding as he absorbed Ronin's words. He could imagine suddenly being behind a barrier to a new world would bring a lot of stress. But the small area probably was a plus for adjusting. [say{\"I bet.\"[/say} He was glad that Ronin is warming up to him a bit now that the worst of the awkwardness has passed.
He hadn't expected to get the story of how Ronin and Safrin met today, but he was interested nonetheless. "Safrin was able to get behind the barrier?" He had thought that once it was up, it was impenetrable from both sides. But then Ronin went and dropped that bomb and Sah froze, eyeing the man in front of him with new eyes. "You died?" He asked quietly, concern clear. Sah swallowed harshly. "I... I saw my world end. Everything went black and I woke up in Caido, in a new body. I don't know if that's death, or just what happens when you go through the portal but...." He took a breath. "It's haunting nonetheless." He offered quietly. He wasn't trying to say that his experience was worse, or the same. Just that he understood some of the emotions Ronin might have gone through. At least a little. Sah hoped that Ronin didn't take it the wrong way.
Still, to be a star was quite something. "I'm glad that Safrin was able to save you in some way. Were you conscious as a star, if I may ask?" He wondered what it would be like to watch the world from above, but unable to fly down and help. It sounded beautiful yet painful. It did kind of hurt his brain to hear that Ronin was also a demigod. How in the world did that work? Wouldn't Ronin be a demigod of Safrin then just as Seren was? "Is Demigod a species here? Because in my world the term was only used for familial parent-to-child relations with a god." He had to ask, his brain hurt too much at the idea. The confusion must have been clear on his face as well.
I shouldn't laugh, but I know I'm a failure in your eyes
"Oh, she chose to go behind it. Or rather... she was told." Ronin chews at his lower lip, wondering how best to explain it. "During the first war, they decided that the best way to control the Voice was to trap her behind a barrier in the Hollowed Grounds. But obviously there were a lot of people in the Grounds, so all of the heralds were put behind the barrier as well, to keep an eye on things. And on the Voice. So she was behind there from the beginning."
Things go from deep to deeper still, and the Star's expression grows solemn as Sah explains. Nodding his agreement, he lets out a long sigh. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. It's not easy, especially when you're dropped somewhere new and just expected to deal with it afterwards... I hope things continue to get easier for you." He smiles.
Brightening a touch to remember his time as a star, it's a somewhat bittersweet feeling, and he nods to Sah. "I was, yes. I remember it was like being on this beautiful celestial shoreline. And from the edge of the pier, I could look over the edge and watch everything. I couldn't do anything about it, though, which was difficult."
He ruffles a wet hand through his hair, darkening it further, and lets out a soft laugh as he tries to find the best way to explain it. "It took a very long time for me to even accept the term for myself," he admits of demigods. "From my understanding there are two ways it can happen. A demigod is born of a god, like Seren... or they're elevated up. For me, I think because my original body was..." Ronin makes a gesture that looks a bit like something exploding, "I had to come back with a new one. And having been a star, it was complicated. But... yeah. I think that's how it works."
Sah nodded, absorbing the new information. He hadn't know that the heralds were already present. That implied that those who sought escape, overcome the heralds. That was a bit nerve-wracking to consider. Was the Voice that powerful? Ronin's words about Sah's loss, made him swallow harshly. There really wasn't much he could say. "Thank you. I hope so too." That was probably all that he could. At least, not without wallowing in grief.
Hearing about Ronin's time as a star, made the Outlander's eyes gleam with curiosity, depressed thoughts fading. "That sound beautiful. Frustrating, but beautiful." To watch the world from above in a celestial paradise? It sounded like the start of a myth. Sah resisted the urge to laugh. It probably was one actually.
Sah can't hold back a slightly relieved sigh. "Ok, that makes far more sense." Born or elevated, huh? That certainly was different from his world. the Abandoned's eyes pinched at the explosion gesture. Not a fun way to go that's for sure. But that dig beg the question. "Is your appearance the same though? Or is completely new?" Sah wondered if the demigod suffered from some of the same confusion and adjustment that Sah was dealing with. Looking in the mirror and seeing something new and unfamiliar was still difficult.
I shouldn't laugh, but I know I'm a failure in your eyes
It was somewhat different to that (the heralds, Ronin had gotten the impression, were keen for release after 300 years as well, but it was a complicated mess and he hadn't asked questions about it), but conversation settles instead into starry shorelines and life as it had been in the sky, and he lets it. "Mm, you've got it in one," he says softly. Even if he hadn't been alone - Vanya had been with him - but that isn't part of the story that he's keen to share with a relative stranger.
"Mm...?" Had his appearance been different? Ronin laughs, gazing down at himself. "Yes and no?" he says. "I look the same as I always have, so that didn't change at all. But when I got back it was like... a new start, I suppose. Every scar and freckle was gone, every bit of training I'd done as a soldier had been wiped away. I have never felt so weak. It took a long time to get back in shame."
Sah gave a cynical chuckle in response. "Oh, I get that. I'm going through something similar." He looked down at his hand as small sparks ran along his fingers and palm. "To go from being able to conjure entire storms to this? It's horribly frustrating. And that's not even considering that this body is physically weaker then my original one by far." Sah deactivated his magic with a frustrated sigh. "I keep telling myself that I'll get back to that level but it's not exactly easy to just accept the loss of an entire lifetime's worth of training."
Sah sat up leaning forward, eyes peering at Ronin curiously. The talk of scars had caught his attention. "Yours are gone?" He subconsciously rubbed a spot on his chest with a grimace. "Most of mine are too. But the bad ones, the ones that were nearly fatal? I still have those.
I shouldn't laugh, but I know I'm a failure in your eyes
"Not easy at all," he says softly, tilting his head to watch the lightning dance so gently along Sah's hands. "But with a new world and a new set of powers, maybe you can treat it as a new sort of adventure?" Ronin's suggestion is accompanied by a hopeful smile, not that he's sure Sah will feel the same way. Still, it had been what he'd been forced to do, having fallen from the stars. "Enough hard work and it'll come back. Maybe not exactly as it was before, but the power will be there."
As for his scars? Ronin barks out a laugh and looks down at his body, marred and marked by battle since his return to life. The pinkish silver starburst in the centre of his chest is the most prominent - a souvenir from his last encounter with the Voice. "Well, they were gone. I've been careless since, and now I've a new host of them to show off. Still, I suppose I remember how the old ones felt..."
Sah gave a small chuckle at the idea. relaxing on his rock. The sun coming through the trees felt glorious and it further relaxed him. "An adventure? Might as well view it that way. A wild adventure in a new world." His lips quirked into a playful smirk. "Only this time I have thumbs." He listened to Ronin's further reassurance that the Abandoned's power would grow. With how many people said that, it had to be true. Sah would just have to be patient.
Hearing that Ronin had traded one set of scars for another made Sah raise a brow. "I guess I'd be reckless too if I suddenly had the powers of a demigod." His expression grew contemplative. "If you don't mind me asking, what is Safrin like? Seren said she was generous but others have called her vain and manipulative. As someone who's close with her, would you be willing to tell me more about her? Or about any of the gods? I've never met any of Caido's." He was curious as to what someone who'd had a kid with the goddess would say about her.
I shouldn't laugh, but I know I'm a failure in your eyes
"Thumbs?" Ronin laughs at that, though he does nod his agreement. "I can't imagine what it would be like not to have them. But yes - the world is your oyster now you've got those, so enjoy the adventure while it lasts." With war on the horizon it's difficult to think of enjoyment and adventures and anything remotely lighthearted, but one has to find their reason for living somewhere, he supposes.
He's still stuck on that train of thought when Sah mentions Safrin, Ronin blinking up at the other man and offering a somewhat enigmatic smile. "I haven't spend enough time around any of the other gods to really give an opinion," he admits, having stumbled upon the lady of the stars early in his travels in Caido. "And Safrin is all of those things. She can be vain and manipulative and generous, and I adore her." It is said with a bare simplicity that leaves no room for dishonesty.
"As a goddess she is complicated and sometimes misunderstood, I find," he admits. "In the end, though, is that much different to the rest of us?"
Sah gave a low chuckle. "I will. It's already been fun just learning how to use them." He glanced at his thumbs with clear amusement. There had certainly been a few shenanigans as he realized just what he could do now. The things he could now open coming to mind in particular. He was pulled out of his musings as Ronin answered is question. Sah was a bit surprised that the demigod hadn't met more of Caido's deities. But he supposed that demigods generally only interacted with the god they were connected to.
The clear affection that Ronin had for Safrin made Sah smile. He noticed the use of 'adore' and not 'love' but wasn't truly surprised. If he was recalling what Seren had said correctly, Ronin was married after all. The last bit does make him pause. "Misunderstood?" Sah wondered what had brought that about. What about the goddess had been misinterpreted by the general public?
I shouldn't laugh, but I know I'm a failure in your eyes
"Mm. What some might see as vain and aloof, I see a little differently," Ronin murmurs, dipping beneath the water briefly to refresh himself before he appears once more, sweeping his hair back from his face. "All anyone really wants is to be noticed, right? To have someone pay them a bit of attention? And with Safrin locked behind the barrier for so long... I understand her in that way, I like to think." He doesn't always agree, but he does understand.
Stretching his arms above his head, he smiles up at Sah. "If you ever visit one of her shrines, bring her something thoughtful, something beautiful. She appreciates it when you put care into the things you bring for her."
Sah hummed, trying to imagine the picture that Ronin was painting of the goddess' character. Her certainly made her sound more human, more approachable, then Sah had anticipated. "You're right about that for most cases." He gave a small chuckle. "It is nice to be acknowledged. As a deity, probably even more so." A thought occurred to Sah that had his brow furrowing. "I can't imagine the stress of wanting to be acknowledged as a deity and as a person. Having to deal with one half is enough." Truly, he'd probably come across as vain as well in pursuit of such things.
At the sudden recommendations for offerings, Sah nodded. "Thoughtful and beautiful?" Sah's thoughts went to something he'd been recently considering. "I've taken up carving a little. Usually the antlers and such from hunts. I could carve the night sky or some other scene into them. Do you think something like that would please her?" The idea was posed a little timidly. Sah hadn't told many people about his recent hobby and he was still a bit shy about it. Showing your art to someone was daunting enough. Presenting it to a goddess was mildly terrifying.
I shouldn't laugh, but I know I'm a failure in your eyes
"Mm, it's not a dichotomy many people often notice in Safrin. Though she'd likely punish you for even hinting that it exists." Ronin says with a wry smile. Pride cometh before a fall and all that. Still, if even one person could look upon the lady of the stars with kinder eyes, Ronin is doing his job. (Kind and reverent and adoring is a bonus, but he's not counting his chickens).
Nodding at Sah's suggestions, he wades back towards the bank to lean against a flat, smooth rock. "Things like that would certainly work, yes. Perhaps you could try carving a statuette of her? Or collecting flowers that only bloom at night?" All things similar to his own offerings, though Ronin chose a paintbrush over a chisel.
