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!
There is a chittering and chattering palaver occurring beneath Mildew's floorboards as the creatures she communes with consider her query. After that? That, presumably being the display of force employed by the men outside. They are not going to come forward.
The remaining lamplighter is dead before Deimos can do anything further, falling lifelessly to the ground, nearly obliterated by Ronin's starbolts.
Even with the danger passed, there is no sign of the Mathair...
Stars move slowly in a silvery night
Far away on the other side
The reassurance from her swamp creatures was enough to satisfy Mildew - indeed, the men outside had proven very thoroughly that it was a bad idea to mess with them. Standing up and dusting off her dress, Mildew went to the door and opened it, peeking out. "Hello. Good job, dears. I don't think there will be anything else - you quite terrified the Feverlands with that display."
Stepping out from her shack, letting the beetles that had informed her crawl about her arms and shoulders if they wished, she looked out into the swamp. "Now, where is she? Hm." Cupping her hands around her mouth, Mildew called: "Mathair, sweetheart? These men want to take you back home. To see the Fae again."
--
Mildew comes out, tells the group that was it for hostile swamp creatures and calls for the Mathair.
Will you come to talk with me this night?
But she couldn't find how to push through
So that's that, then. Ronin dusts his hands off and glances over his shoulder to Remi and Deimos, offering them a sunny smile which is completely at odds with the swamp and the violence they just ravaged on the area. "I do not look silly," he informs his husband haughtily, about to give his opinion on whether or not there is more to come when Mildew peeps out of her hut, drawing his attention.
"Oh," he says, smiling to her as well and resting his hands in his pockets. "Maybe now would be a good time to see if she's hungry?" he suggests. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm anyone's if you bring me a snack. What was it you said she ate again...?" It's probably something Not Tasty, if their surroundings are anything to go by.
Ronin makes small talk and suggests they start bribing the Mathair with food.
The way up and the way down are one in the same I'm calling an audible late in the game
The look Remi offers his husband is one that says he's absolutely full of shit, and entirely adored all the more for it. Just as he's about to suggest that the Star lob another few starbolts that Deimos might weigh in, Mildew reemerges, (saving?) Ronin from future spectacle.
Rolling his eyes at the truth of how easily led astray Ronin could be by food, Remi glances over his shoulder toward Mildew. "I think we all have rather predatory shifts if we need to hunt something as well. Are...rats the only source of meat here?" It was all he had seen anyways. Even before the lamplighters had been exploded there didn't seem to be much meat on their bones.
If love is everything, love is pain Certain spirits are too bright to be tamed
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
With no need for further assaults, assessing any damage, or providing any healing, Deimos could settle his attention in between the volleys of retorts, and arch his brow at Mildew’s response. Nothing more to be had seemed perplexing, but given the nature of their range of attacks, perhaps animals of the Swamp were more inclined to keep themselves safe. Learn, rather than continually bombard. So he shrugged his shoulders, tending to his companions, and listening to the rest of the conversation.
Where was the Mathair? Did she have to be lured out by the food that had been suggested before? His brows furrowed, pondering. Hunting would be fine, depending on Remi’s inquiry; and if it was scarce the Sword could always compel sources, though that seemed less amusing or fair. “Is there anything else she’d require?” Besides the raw meat? Water?
under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody, but unbowed
07-01-2021, 08:09 PM (This post was last modified: 07-01-2021, 08:09 PM by Random Event.)
Food is an excellent idea. What would a goddess, trapped in a tree for centuries and centuries care to dine on, you ask?
Fresh meat of course.
Best that the main course comes with something to wash it down with and an appetizer of mushrooms, don't you think?
For this post, say what you are going to be bringing for the Mathair (Meat, Water, or Mushrooms—listing the flora or fauna from the guidebook), and explain how you will go about getting it and bringing it back.
Stars move slowly in a silvery night
Far away on the other side
"She eats a range of things, but I'm sure she'd like some meat. Things to go with it too." Mildew looked around the area, a little worried that she still couldn't see the Mathair, but maybe they were right; perhaps she just needed to be tempted out with a meal. "I have mushrooms in my hut, hang on..." Disappearing again, peeking in the door and grabbing a basket of foraged goods, she poked through them. "Hm. Not so fresh, though. You dears get some meat and there should be fruit on the trees this time of year for juice."
Walking around to the back of her hut, where she left the dirt wet and loamy for mushrooms, Mildew smiled as she saw the glowing beacons. Kneeling down she picked them one by one, gathering them in her skirt then bringing them over to the others to combine for the Mathair's meal.
--
Mildew goes behind her hut to get some Magic Mushrooms (haha) and brings them back.
Will you come to talk with me this night?
But she couldn't find how to push through
"I knew food was the right way to go." Ronin smiles sunnily between Mildew and the rest of the group, choosing not to rise to his husband's bait (he'll get him for it later, probably). Nodding to their guide as she moves to pick mushrooms, he wrinkles his nose around at the trees with their 'fruit'. "I'll see what I can do about getting water, or juice or something," he decides.
Moving carefully through the swamp, Ronin isn't lucky enough to find swamp apples or berries or anything of the sort. But there are a lot of massive plants with broad leaves, and he's able to find one filled with fresh water from the condensation of the marshes. Carefully gathering it up, he brings it back to Mildew's hut as best he can.
There's no fruit or water listed in the F&F so I did my best lmao.
Ronin gets a large leaf filled with fresh water from the humid air and brings it back for the Mathair!
The way up and the way down are one in the same I'm calling an audible late in the game
It should be obvious to everyone which task Remi was going to choose. Rather than becoming monstrously large, Remi shrinks and loses nearly all of his mass in favour of golden feathers and agile wings. There was a murder of gore crows they had passed on the way, and while corvids were normally quite clever and would likely avoid the hell out of Remi, he was far fast enough to outrun their wit. Or outfly, anyway.
Slipping above the tangled canopy of branches, Remi's flight is as silent and swift as he can manage. The group ahead sit huddled together on a branch, watching something bubble in the muck and mire below. Descending in a blur of white and gold, Remi aims his talons for the neck of one crow, hoping to snap its neck and kill it instantly. Dropping it, he'll pivot as quickly as he can to try and take down another with a slash of his talons to its throat.
Regardless of how long, Remi will continue on like this until he has four gore crows at which point he'll shift back that he can carry them to the group/
Remi becomes a hawk and attacks a murder of Gore Crows. He'll continue attacking until he has 4, and then will shift and walk them all back.
If love is everything, love is pain Certain spirits are too bright to be tamed
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Meat. Things to go with it. The Sword nearly suggested he could simply make a container, and contort some water within, but Ronin was already off – so he called after him. “Let me know if that does not work, and we can try something else.” Perhaps it wouldn't be necessary anyway. With a firm nod, as he was not of the gathering flora type (likely it’d end up being poisonous and they’d have a whole other mess on their hands), he, much like Remi, opted for carnivore tendencies.
Leaving Zuriel at the hut, he shifted into his hellhound expanse, and with Belial above, began to scout for some capable food. Luckily, swamps seemed to attract a variety of animals, and life amidst the water was no exception. With a ferocious entanglement of wings – for the young peryton had spotted something in the shallows of the nearby liquid, Deimos slunk along in his predator prowess, following after the unknown, unfamiliar scent of the gilled musk deer.
It didn’t seem bothered by them at all; content, chewing on its vegetation, glancing the other way. Something in his chest loomed in misgivings – but the animal wouldn’t go to waste. There was always a purpose in slaying.
So he launched, intending to grab hold of its neck with strong jaws and sharpened teeth, hoping to end it all instantly, then drag it back to the hut.
--
Deimos shifts into his hellhound form, and along with Belial, scouts out a gilled musk deer. Deimos tries to finish it off quickly, then drag it back to the hut.
under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody, but unbowed
07-02-2021, 09:13 PM (This post was last modified: 07-02-2021, 09:13 PM by Random Event.)
MATHAIR
From where the meat, water, and mushrooms are placed, a sickly scent begins to whistle from the mud. Like putrification sped up, the meat sours and decays while the light from the magic mushrooms bleeds away entirely. New fungi sprout in the remains as the collected water creates a perfect moist environment. The smell of sulfur grows and grows, until all has been fully consumed by the circle of time, in just a matter of seconds.
Then ground gapes open as a nauseatingly warm and wet belch is released, shaking the boughs of the trees and what few leaves bother to grow.
From the cavernous open a figure emerges. Her skin is the colour of mud and soil such that it's impossible to tell if she's dirty or clean, naked or sleekly clothed. Reaching down, she plucks a cockroach from the ground and pops it into her mouth with a bright crunch, not seeming to mind that for a moment the creature still wriggles on her lips despite having lost half of its body.
"I have missed the food here." She says to Mildew in a voice that sounds like cricket wings and the squelching of worms under boots. Reaching down once more, she grabs a handful of mud and squeezes it between her fingers before turning her gaze towards the three men. "This is the escort you told me of? I'm not so sure I need them. I think I could eat one or two of them though..."
Er, try to convince the Mathair not to eat Ronin/Remi/Deimos. Or..don't, I suppose.
Stars move slowly in a silvery night
Far away on the other side
Mildew, who had done plenty of her own mud-wallowing and bug-eating, was not perturbed at all by the Mathair's appearance, merely glad to see her safe before them. "I'll bring you some mushrooms to the Greatwood sometime." She promised, gesturing at her foraging basket; it would be a nice excuse to visit the apparently beautiful forest anyway, see the Fae that she'd heard so much about.
As for the escorts...she looked over the men and laughed. "Well dear, you could, but this one--" She pointed at Ronin. "Is a favourite of Safrin, that one a favourite of Ludo, and the large one looks like he'd be a tough meal." They seemed like they could care for themselves; with a shrug, she gestured towards them. "Why don't you see how the journey goes?"
---
Mildew laughs and tells the Mathair she probably shouldn't eat them because like, the Gods would be unhappy, but also do what you gotta girl
Will you come to talk with me this night?
But she couldn't find how to push through
Ronin, who has done none of hid own mud-wallowing and bug-eating (except that one time with Remi but this is very different), thinks he is just the right amount of perturbed as the LeafChange goddess makes her entrance. Stepping back from the sunken hole in the ground and trying to school his expression into something that isn't nauseated from all of the wonderful sickly new smells, he raises his eyebrows between the Mathair and Mildew.
Mildew's words aren't particularly encouraging, but he supposes that's all they've got right now. "I imagine I'd be kind of stringy," he mumbles, not because he's ever given it a thought or because it could be true, but just because he needs something to say.
"A pleasure to meet you," he manages a moment later, as if remembering himself. "If you are still hungry, we could hunt more food for you along the way."
Ronin tries not to throw up, tells the Mathair he'd probably be stringy if she tries to eat him, and offers to hunt her more food en route back to the Greatwood.
The way up and the way down are one in the same I'm calling an audible late in the game
As the world bleches and vomits up a goddess, Remi too takes an appreciative step back. Moving near Ronin if only because his feet have decided to take him there, the alchemist tilts his head curiously as he surveys this new goddess. Remi, understandably perhaps, is a bit leery of female deities these days (Arduinna, Safrin..) but given the Mathair is meant to be his charge until she's back in the Greatwood, he does his best to stand tall. Ish
"Being immortal..if she ate part of us, would it just grow back?" Remi wonders to his husband. "Or would we simply..not die of it?" Likely the latter, the alchemist turns his sea glass stare back to the Mathair looking almost apologetic. "I am far too much of a predator these days to go down without a fight. I am not sure I am worth the trouble." He wasn't fatty enough, and from having dined on extremely lean or muscled animals in the past, Remi could personally attest to what a poor meal he'd likely make.
Remi says the fight he'd put up is not really worth the effort.
If love is everything, love is pain Certain spirits are too bright to be tamed
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
