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!
If I can help one fainting robin unto his nest again I shall not live in vain
Harper has been planning this all day.
You see, a good prank has to have certain qualities: harmless, funny to observers, and only mildly irritating. With summer in full swing, the idea had hit him while he'd been naked and sprawled in bed at the Inn, despairing over the heat and contemplating a night in jail if he streaked to the beach for a swim. Now here he is, perched in crow form atop the roof overlooking a busy street, with hundreds of painstakingly filled water balloons in mismatched containers behind him.
Grabbing and hauling one out with his beak, he flies over the street, letting it go and watching as it bursts satisfyingly over the head of a sulking teenager. The perplexed shout is bordering on anger, and Harper's corvid cackles follow him back to the edge of the roof. "Score!" he croaks in imitation of human vocals, and digs around with his beak for the knot of the next balloon.
Sah was walking along, lost in thought when he heard a yelp. Up ahead, a passerby was soaking wet and removing bits of what looked like a colorful balloon from their clothes. Sah's brow furrowed and his gaze turned skyward as he heard a croaking voice. Sure enough, a crow, clearly an Attuned, was on the roof with more balloons. Tilting his head, Sah felt a mischievous grin come to his face.
Making his way around the back of the building, he scaled his way to the roof. Peaking over the edge, he eyed the balloons. Flicking a wrist, he took control of one. The balloon rose, hovering over the crow. And with a furrowed brow of focus, the balloon popped, spilling water onto the bird. "Score." He stated, fully climbing onto the roof with a playful grin. "Mind if I join in?"
If I can help one fainting robin unto his nest again I shall not live in vain
So few people ever look up on their daily lives. It had been a helpful tool as a vigilante who used rooftops like roads, but perhaps it has made him overly confident, because Harper isn’t expecting any kind of counter-attack. As the balloon bursts over his feathers, Harper squawks and nearly face plants, large wings flapping in sharp motions to keep himself right side up. Whirling around, his crimson eyes alight upon a grinning man, having clearly climbed up. Certainly not the one he’d doused however - the clothing he wears is still depressingly dry.
“Join! Join!” Harper crows happily, bobbing his head in an imitation of gesturing the man over. Hopping onto the rim of one of the buckets, he ruffles his feathers like a dog shaking off droplets, puffing up nearly twice his size to try and dry faster. “Score?” It’s definitely a question this time - a request. Harper grabs the knot of another ballon and pulls it from the group, scuttling sideways on the rim of the bucket to offer it to Sah, clearly intending to judge the man on his own efforts against the crowd below.
Sah grinned, fully getting onto the roof beside the crow. "Awesome. Thanks." He was happy that the Attuned was willing to let him join in. Sah hadn't been part of a good prank in far too long. And dropping water balloons was a fun and relatively harmless one. Taking the offered balloon with a playful smirk, Sah turned to peer over the roof. "Keeping score, huh? How about giving a score out of 10? You judge mind, and I'll judge yours. Whoever has the most points when we run out of balloons, wins." He offered, turning it into a fun competition.
Eyes on the people below, Sah let out a breath. Activating his telekinesis he raised the balloon up above them, searching out a target. There was one person sitting close by. With a smirk, Sah guided the balloon over, hiding it behind plants and buildings until it was in position. Once it was direclty above the person, he released his magic, popping the balloon. With surprised shriek, the person was suddenly soaking wet. They stood up, looking around wildly, but didn't see the Abandoned who had ducked behind the edge of the roof.
Sah ginned at the Attuned. "So? What's my score for that one?"
If I can help one fainting robin unto his nest again I shall not live in vain
Harper eagerly hops along in Sah's wake as the man takes the balloon and heads to the edge of the roof, a quick burst of his wings getting him to the edge to gleefully watch. The idea of a scoring system is exactly what Harper had wanted, and he bounces in a happy little circle like a pleased cockatoo that his desires have translated so well even with so few words. "Yes! Yes!" He is still growing accustomed to the desire for repetition when in his bird form, but Harper supposes animal instincts are unavoidable when wearing the form of one.
Eagerly watching Sah do some sort of magic with the balloon, he keeps his sharp corvid eyes on the floating colorful container of mayhem. When it bursts over the man's target, his laughter is more like a mimicry of human amusement in birdlike squawking tones, wings beating and feathers ruffling with mirth. "Eight!" he proclaims mightily, leaving room for some sort of improvement just in case. Not that he's a very good judge; anything decently amusing is perfect in his eyes.
Soaring back to the bucket, Harper plucks another balloon in his beak, eager for his own turn. Leaping from the edge of the roof, he finds his target - a young boy, sticky-cheeked and squalling at his mother for some treat or another while she sighs in tired exasperation. Harper dives down, dropping the balloon over the child's head in a burst that has the kid shrieking in surprise and tripping, dropping his half-finished ice cream into the sand. Harper wings back to the roof, cackling glee in his throat as he lands. "Score?"
Sah's shoulders shook with mild laughter as he watched the Attuned grab the balloon. "Eight? Nice. Let's see what you've got." The Outlander watched eagerly as the bird swooped down, locked on his target. The child's energetic reaction had him covering his mouth to hide his laughter. Sah did flinch in sympathy at the lost ice-cream thought, that was just sad. Sah grinned at the bird upon is return. "That's a seven. Would be higher, but that poor ice cream."
Taking his turn, Sah telekinetically lifted another balloon. His target this time was a pair of arguing adults. With a determined grin, Sah brought the balloon over their heads and popped it. The argument was cut short as both were suddenly drenched and left sputtering. Both individuals looked around, trying to pinpoint the interruption, argument forgotten for now. Sah glanced at the Attuned. "So?"
If I can help one fainting robin unto his nest again I shall not live in vain
The judgment only makes Harper’s throaty bird laughter appear once again. “Spoiled!” he argues playfully in his croaking voice. Ironic considering how deeply Harper loves children, but his mischievous side is winning out today. Plus the ice cream vendor would likely take pity on the upset child realistically and replace it (or take pity on the poor haggard mother).
Harper eagerly hops back to the ledge to watch Sah as the man picks a new target. Oooh, good ones too. It’s hard not to crow aloud and ruin the sneaky motions, tamping down on the new animal instincts is an exercise in willpower Harper isn’t accustomed to yet. Luckily it doesn’t take long; plastic bursting, water showering down, shouts of dismay and surprise that are drowned out by his squawking excitement. “Ten! Ten!” He hops in tight circles as he cheers it, confident in giving it the highest score considering the argument Sah had stopped. On a jubilant high, he swoops off the ledge to pluck another balloon in his beak - and drops it right over Sah’s head, a belated revenge. “Ten!” he crows all over again, chittering laughter making it harder to discern as he flies in tight circles around the man.
The Attuned's argument has Sah letting out a cackle of laugher. "Fair point. Then a 9. Still not a 10, for the poor ice-cream's sake." He amends, shoulders still shaking slightly. As for his own score of 10, Sah preens slightly, giving a dramatic bow. "Why thank you."
The Abandoned stands up just in time to get the balloon dropped on him. Instead of getting angry, he eyes the bird with a mischievous smirk. Shaking the water off of himself, he makes sure to flick as much of it as he can towards Harper. "Alright, alright." Sah has to pause and stop chuckling long enough to speak. "That's a 10 for sure." He agrees, still laughing slightly.
Once Sah has calmed down he does a quick tally. "That brings you to 19, and myself to 18. Want to have one last round or call it? How many balloons do we have left anyway?" Sah asked as he glanced over to the bin.
If I can help one fainting robin unto his nest again I shall not live in vain
A bob of his head in agreement, Harper gives a magnanimous sweep of his wing as if sealing the new score into place. "Nine," he agrees imperiously, ruby eyes glinting. Both wings fan wide as Sah bows, as if preparing to knight the young man. The dramatics are delightful and well-received by someone as exuberant as Harper. He'd been born a showman after all.
How anybody has missed the two pranksters on the rooftop is a mystery, especially with Sah's laughter chorusing with Harper's avian squawking. Boldly landing on the young man's shoulder, he plucks gently at the man's hair with his beak, tugging playfully. "All! Together!" There are only a few balloons left, and while Harper can't help without hands - and with no desire to return to his human form yet - he's eager to see Sah throw the rest in a big deluge over the side of the building.
Sah hardly reacts to the sudden weight on his shoulder, only giving Harper a grin. This was the second time that an avian Attuned had used him as transportation. At the suggestion however, Sah eyes the street below with twinkling eyes. "Oh yes. That sounds perfect." Reaching down the Abandoned grabs the entire bin. Being careful not to spill any of the water holding the balloons he nods towards his passenger.
"On the count of three. One, two, three!" With a cackle he tilts the bucket, the rest of the balloons and water dumping onto the poor people below. There are numerous shouts and curses that fill the air, some more upset, others furious. Ducking down, Sah hides against the side of the roof. He makes sure not to jostle Harper in the process, hand going to cover his laughter. "That was a great idea, absolute 10." He gets out in-between bouts. "I'm Sah by the way. Nice to meet you." Sah finally introduces himself now that the game is up.
If I can help one fainting robin unto his nest again I shall not live in vain
Harper is careful with his talons - they are quite sharp, and he doesn’t want to hurt the young man, or even poke holes in his shirt. It’s a good exercise in balance, if easily forgotten when Sah bends immediately to Harper’s mischievous whims.
The sight of the balloons and the water they’d been shallowly resting in cascading over the side of the rooftop is beautiful enough - sweet, sweet chaos - but the shrieks that start up from below are the real prize of the evening. Harper’s cackling is scarcely human anymore in his delight, dancing sideways back and forth on Sah’s shoulder as far as he can to get the motion out of his limbs. Turning as the man speaks, Harper tugs on another dark lock of hair, impish and fond already. “Har-per!” he croaks, and stubbornly remains perched on Sah’s shoulder for most of the remaining daylight hours.
Their victims never see them, but the tale is spun by the merchants long after they’ve gone.
