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!
Deimos may have been gone, but the Shields still continued; Morgan had taken over as fill in General for the time being. It was a load of work she didn't need atop of her usual Warden duties, but she had been Captain once and knew how to train troops. With the Shields around her performing their drills against each other, she moved to the middle of the barracks and stretched, drawing her hammer.
There was a dummy to fight against, though it wasn't much challenge (obviously); none of the Shields seemed brave enough to face her as of yet.
Morgan looked up, over her shoulder around the room - sometimes there would be spectators, visitors wanting to prove themselves in one of the harshest regions that Caido had to offer. "Would anyone like to spar?"
MORGAN
Snakes are biting at my heels
The worries that refuse to let us go
She’s right, there aren’t any immediate takers. The silence stretches on until someone says somewhat loudly, “I do.” The voice comes from behind the front line of observers as the Wraith, stripped down to little more than a thin shirt that serves its purpose for modesty, but little more, slides out from behind a Shield. Eager, bright, and grinning, the Queen offers a cheeky little finger-wave to Morgan.
“Hello, Warden. I’d love a go.” There are a couple of silvery lines on the Wraith’s arms, the only signs of a recent spar other than some hectic-looking hair. Carrying the sword point-down, the demigod takes a few steps towards the Abandoned and a hushed murmur spreads through the Shields. They’d seen the Wraith with Aisha last season, and she’d popped in occasionally now that Deimos was no longer General.
After all, where else is an aspiring-General to learn how to work with a group of people, other than in the organized ranks of an ally?
Morgan was about to jokingly call them all cowards and continue on with her solo training when a voice finally rang out over the crowd. Looking up and raising her eyebrows as she saw Wessex - not who she expected to see in her barracks, Morgan smiled and nodded. "Then come forwards."
She knew that the Queen was very powerful. Hopefully she would not use all of her power during this drill; the Warden was not too proud to admit that she likely would not be able to face it. Shuffling her cloak off her shoulders, Morgan took a couple of steps towards the center of the room, grabbing the handle of her hammer as she went, seeing as Wessex had a sword.
"Rules?" She asked casually, feeling the weight of her hammer in her hands as she began to circle the space.
MORGAN
Snakes are biting at my heels
The worries that refuse to let us go
Alright then, it’s on. Grinning in response, the tips of her fangs just visible between her lips, Wessex matches the circling, prowling across from the Warden like some kind of sleek robo-panther.
“Keep it friendly,” she says, mostly for the Warden’s peace of mind. “First blood?” Which is to say, no one’s going to be dealing any lasting injuries. Otherwise, as far as the Wraith’s concerned, anything goes: Abandoned magic, Demigod magic, weapons, whatever. Anything that would be exciting is more than welcome.
Waiting a moment for Morgan to agree, Wessex tries to feint with an overhead, downward swing while using Morgan’s shadow to try and trip her up.
Morgan nodded; no need to go any further. All she could hope for that was she might be able to get some kind of hit on Wessex before the Queen overpowered her; the woman had the body of a Demi-God and as far as Morgan understood, a lot of extreme fighting experience. Still, none of this doubt showed on her face, the Warden adopting an active stance with a flat stare.
The swing down was expected, watched and prepared for, but the use of her shadow was not. Morgan stumbled as she took the step back to raise her hammer and brace it against Wessex's sword, resulting in the two weapons sliding against each other and off, rather than the push she had wanted to give. Glancing down in the second she had, she saw that it was her own shadow trying to trip her. "What...?"
In an attempt to distract Wessex for a moment and to hopefully stop whatever was happening there, she gestured with a hand to draw a thin sheet of ice between them as she pulled her hammer away, the end of it jamming into the shadow.
MORGAN
Snakes are biting at my heels
The worries that refuse to let us go
Her blade goes wide, yes, much like Morgan expected, and Wessex drops the shadow-magic, letting it fall flat and useless as the Warden’s hammer beats it into the ground. It served its purpose as a distraction, a way to start her opponent off-kilter, and she won’t linger in it when there are other, far more useful tricks to employ.
Because there’s the magic she’s been hoping for; the Glacier is so aptly named, and the Wraith is happy to play with what she offers. As the sheet of ice comes between them, Wessex uses the magic to begin to lift Morgan up on a small ice platform, theoretically out of striking distance for either of them at the moment, but really just as a way to see what the Glacier willl do when she’s rising into the air and put in a novel situation
---------------------
Magic: Magic Re-Resonance | When abandoned magic is cast within 20ft of Wessex, she can duplicate the ability at its mastered level once.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
It seemed Wessex had a lot of tricks up her sleeve; no sooner had Morgan stopped the shadow around her ankles she was rising suddenly, lifting away from the ground. Once again she looked down and to her surprise saw a magic she did not expect; the ice beneath her feet was her own magic, cast by Wessex somehow. She had thought the Ascended had to bite someone to take on their powers; Morgan was indeed, baffled, but this wasn't the time to ask all the questions she wanted to.
Taking a simple solution out of the problem, she hopped backwards off of the ice surface, landing softly on the floor behind it. With a swing of her hammer the ice was shattered and Morgan took the moment, hammer in her hands and ice falling between them, to comment: "You have a lot of surprises, Queen Wessex."
She had some of her own, though.
Letting go of hammer and placing it down as if she no longer intended to use it, Morgan began to make another ice sculpture; some kind of spike between them, but mostly it was just a distraction, a lot of flurrying ice and snow so that Wessex would not see the hammer pick itself up, telekinesis bringing it up and behind the Queen, then towards her legs to knock her off her feet.
MORGAN
Snakes are biting at my heels
The worries that refuse to let us go
07-02-2021, 12:39 AM (This post was last modified: 07-03-2021, 06:49 PM by Wessex.)
She couldn’t have gotten a better compliment from the Warden, and the Wraith’s grin widens, brightens, and she seems to bask underneath it. Anyone watching might think that the Queen rarely gets compliments, which is more or less true. “Thank you, Warden,” she quickly replies, before getting caught up in the flurries and ice and snow swirling about. There’s more magic to latch on to, so Wessex grabs for the first one she feels - the ice - and uses it to create a shield in front of her.
Just in time for the warhammer to smash into it. The sound sends the Wraith into fleeing - mode and she disappears, leaving an empty space where she once stood along with some crushed and shattered ice. If Morgan were to look around, she would find Wessex behind her.
Well, it seemed like she did at least catch Wessex unawares with the hammer; Morgan let it soar back into her hand, the handle making a light noise as it hit her palm and she took it back into her side. Of course, she was to be surprised again herself as the ice cleared and Wessex had disappeared behind it; it was clear that a fight against her was one that would require full attention.
She whirled around after a moment staring at the room before her, checking the nooks and crannies; the eyeline of some of the Shields around her alerted her to the Queen's location. "How do you do that?" Morgan asked, genuinely curious, taking a few steps back to recreate a distance between them, leaving it to Wessex to make the next first strike.
MORGAN
Snakes are biting at my heels
The worries that refuse to let us go
07-03-2021, 06:49 PM (This post was last modified: 07-03-2021, 06:49 PM by Wessex.)
“Which one?” Wessex replies, once spotted, also moving forward to close the distance between them. She eases back into a cushy, agile stance, knees bent and weight towards the balls of her feet. Giving the sword still in her hand a quick twirl of her wrist, the Wraith eyes the hammer and its range (much farther, with telekinesis) for a moment before skipping quickly forward again. She tries for another feint: a controlled swing to the neck area before it’s pulled back and arcs back down towards the Warden’s outer thighs.
The talons on her left hand are out, meant to catch and halt a weapon coming towards her, thereby hopefully avoiding giving up first blood.
"Everything. But I suppose the shadow is what I'm most curious about." Morgan answered with a laugh; Wessex had managed several miraculous abilities in the last minutes and each one had left her more confused and awed than the last. Still, amazement aside, she tried to focus on what moves Wessex was making, where her hands moved next.
However, the ruse worked; Morgan prepared for a strike to the neck, tilting her upper body away and bringing her hammer up to brace the handle against Wessex's arm - she was not prepared for the hit to her thigh. Impact was made and her hammer faltered, the Warden staggering to the side with a grunt; digging her feet determinedly into the ground, she steadied her hands and tried to recover.
In a possibly playful tactic, she went towards Wessex's neck with the dagger in her belt, snatching it out and swinging it in a second - however, she would actually make the hit, not the trick, aiming to press the blade against the skin but not bite with it.
MORGAN
Snakes are biting at my heels
The worries that refuse to let us go
Well this is nice and friendly and a good change of pace. Today seems to be Wessex’s lucky day. “I’ll show you after,” she offers, rather cheekily, before going into the feint. Because the truth is that sometimes even Wessex doesn’t know how she does some of the things.
As for her fancy sword work - was it successful? Did she draw blood? Morgan doesn’t indicate either way, though she does seem to stagger to one side, and Wessex knows the Warden is nothing if not honorable and would say one way or the other. The Wraith returns to a stable position as well, waiting for the next strike. It comes - but not from where she’s expecting - and the Glacier goes for her neck. Trying evade the blade, she quickly brings her arm up to shove the Warden’s arm up and away, while aiming a quick, snapping kick at the open torso under Morgan’s knife-arm.
"I look forward to it." Morgan would have offered to buy a drink for the conversation, but there was little point when she spoke to an Ascended. She'd probably need one anyway to deal with the idea of such a powerful individual (what would they do if one such person was an enemy?).
As it turned out, Wessex was correct in her wonderings - Morgan realised now that the moment was passed a pain in her side, more than a simple bruise. As the arm came up to shove her she let it push her away, taking the kick with a grimace before holding up both hands. "You have won." Looking to her side, she showed where the sword had made a nick in the fabric and a small prick of red blood gleamed within.
"There was no doubt of the result, but the training was still illuminating." She smiled and nodded an acknowledgement at Wessex.
MORGAN
Snakes are biting at my heels
The worries that refuse to let us go
She takes the compliment graciously, offering the Warden a hand to shake and grinning. “Ah, but you managed to surprise me with that - telekinesis, was it?” Mentally re-examining the steps they took to get to this point, she hums in satisfaction. “Honestly, all I want is a real surprise these days. It sounds egotistical, but -” she shrugs that label aside, “- I’ll be fighting the unknown in the future.” And so this was as much a practical exercise as much as a fun one.
The crowd around them seems to realize that the real show is over and they go back to their various practices and duties, leaving the two leaders relatively ‘alone.’ Sheathing her sword, Wessex looks to Morgan to take the lead (this is her kingdom, after all).
“I’m not sure I can explain what I can do… but I can try. If you’re actually interested.”
