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!
Phoebe had taken her time since Frey had returned her to Torchline to visit a shrine. They had set her on a course, but after thinking it over and searching for inspiration on what path to take, she felt at a loss. She knew the war would yield catastrophic losses, not just for her fellow humans but all of Caido's living creatures. How was she supposed to ensure enough survived to repopulate the world when the fighting ended? It was a difficult task, having come from a world that struggled with the same conundrum. And she knew she would not come to an answer on her own.
"Frey, I need your guidance to find a solution to the problem Caido faces, if you would grant me your time?" she said as she laid peaches at the feet of the statue of Rae, hoping their herald would appear.
Perched on the edge of the statue, Frey pokes their bare toes into the peaches placed on the stone. The red flesh splits and parts revealing the golden innards, and as they wriggle their toes, juices flow up their feet to make anklets of nectar. "Hello honeysuckle." They purr as their body shifts and re-aligns itself to Phoebe's inner desires. Broad-shouldered with a handsome and kind face, they raise a brow at her request.
"The problem Caido faces? How very lucky that all the others seem to have been taken care of then." Exuding sensuality, they laugh richly.
Honeyed eyes blinked to see toes of all things suddenly poking into the fruit she had just placed, before turning up to behold her friend. One half of them anyways. She smiled, feeling the warm tingly sensation wash over her as their form changed to the masculone visage she had come to expect of them. "Hello, Frey. Thank you for coming to see me." she said warmly. Sure, she was their demigoddess, but giving up that extra layer of respect would die hard.
The midwife grinned, laughing as well. "I should have clarified, the specific problem Caido faces you told me to help you with about preserving life when the war comes." she said cheekily. Sobering briefly, Phoebe glanced down to collect her thoughts, knowing well Frey did not like their time wasted. Delicate fingers toyed with the hem of her skirt, brows furrowing slightly. "I've been trying to think of how to accomplish this but...if thre is mass death in an area, it limits who I can save to even make children to replace them. I can't travel quickly enough, much less doing so while avoiding the Voice's portals, to reintroduce new bloodlines." Two problems there, limited bloodlines meant royal diseases that would only exacerbate the problem and the inability for her to travel to places as needed either to aid or collect for preserving life. "And if it gets bad enough...it certainly won't take long for someone to consider forced reproduction." And though Frey indeed caused arousal that could result in unintended attraction, it did fly in the face of their desire to keep pleasure for all involved parties at the forefront.
She toyed with her lip, worry bubbling up in her stomach like butterflies. Reproduction required a male and a female to conceive and grow and bear a child. Even Frey had made that clear when she asked to bear a child for Remi and Ronin - and she certainly couldn't bear enough children on her own to put a dent in population growth! "I'm...I'm at a loss..." she finally admitted with a sigh.
'Oh yes. That." Frey shrugs a touch casually, before watching the way Phoebe's fingers because to fidget with the hem of her skirt. "Oh stop that. Or I'll give your fingers something to do." It's a warning and a sultry promise both.
Narrowing their eyes at the mention of forced reproduction, the peaches that their toes splay in suddenly begin to blacken with mold. "Giving you the means to travel around quickly doesn't seem like the sort of thing that really gets to the meat of the problem..." Frey muses, tapping at their chin. "You know, I once heard a story about a woman who grew babies. Not unlike the garden of body parts that you had started.."
Silently weighing what might and might not be possible, eventually they seem to reach a consensus within themself. "I don't see why you couldn't do the same...It would only take two bits of DNA, one from each parent that the resulting child wouldn't simply be a clone..though we would need special soil...special containers, special lighting..it would be quite the thing honeybee. Are you sure you're up for it?"
Hands pressed flat to her sides in an instant, barely repressing an apology before it escaped her lips. She hadn't even realized the nervous habit coming forth! Oh well. There were more important things at hand.
Brown eyes glanced down to see the fruit spoil, Frey's displeasure at the problems presented undeniable. "I had a feeling you wouldn't like that." she said with a wry smile. She didn't like it anymore than they did, having come from a world where that precedent had been set.
The midwife watched quietly as the herald mused over the problems presented and the potential solutions. Growing babies? Well there was a thought...though it seemed far more complex than her little limb plant. Those limbs didn't have to think or feel or move - subjects for study and education rather than repopulation.
Without hesitation she nodded to Frey's question. "You changed me so I could help you with this, so I will have to be. At the very least I must try." she said with a small smile. Frey had trusted her enough to make her a demigoddess. She couldn't betray that trust by backing down simply because the task was daunting. For Frey and their role in the world, she would do near anything.
'Alright then my little pumpkin patch. Here is what you must do...' Explaining in great detail, Frey outlines that measures that would need to be taken in order to achieve all elements necessary for the creation of a garden capable of creating human-life. 'Don't feel the need to do it all yourself, either. This is to the benefit of everyone—" Except the ascended of course. "—so I expect there to be plenty of helping hands. mmm?"
Leaning forward, Frey reaches for a lock of Phoebe's hair. "Bonus points if the sex sheets are yours honeyflower. You could use the release."
Phoebe must:
1. Mix soil from the Mourn with soil from mud from the Tar Pits
2. Mix water gathered from Frey's Breath with melted ice from the Sea of Glass
3. Bedding that has recently had sex on it
4. Fruit with pits or seeds gathered from the Oerwoud
5. When all of this has been completed, Phoebe must decide the location for the garden. Pray to Frey once she is there.
The Nightingale listened intently to Frey's instructions, committing them to memory. Indeed, this would be quite the feat, and she certainly would need help to reach all of these far flung places. Thankfully, she knew a few people who had the means and skills to lend her a hand.
At their last comment, she grinned, managing not to flush by some luck. "I think I know someone who'd be willing to help make that happen." she laughed lightly, thoughts drifting to Harper briefly.
"I will do my best not to disappoint you." she said with a nod, before watching her friend disappear into the ether.
