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!
The Mourn was quiet, peacefully, idyllic -- usually. Not today. Today Cam had decided to go for an ill-fated walk, and now the nice atmosphere was broken by their swearing and shouting at the vampire gourd with its teeth sunk firmly into their leg.
"Ow! What the fuck! What did I ever do to you, you overgrown vegetable?"
Cam shook their leg, trying to dislodge the gourd, but that just made it hurt more. Fortunately they were wearing long pants, so the injury wasn't as bad as it could have been -- a shallow wound, rather than a good mauling -- but they were still bleeding.
All right, clearly this called for desperate measures. Now what could Cam use as a weapon to smite this presumptuous flora?
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
We are only haunted by the things we refuse to accept -Bridgett Devoue
The moon had risen and Nikolai found himself in the Mourn. It had been a long day and he'd decided a nice long walk was in order. Preferably one where he could find a nice place to read. He'd just found the perfect spot in the field when a suspicious fine crept toward him. Eyes widening, the young Ascended got to his feet to see a vampire gourd eyeing him with bared teeth.
Giving a fanged snarl, Nikolai stalked over and promptly punted it away with his foot. He heard a satisfying crunch in the distance that made him grin. Pleased, he was about to return to his book when he heard cursing. Seems like the pests were troubling someone else. With a resigned sigh, Nikolai put his book away and headed over.
Sure enough there was a person shaking a gourd from their leg. Glancing around he eyed a sharp stick and tossed it over. "Here! Smack it with this!" He hoped that the person didn't stab themselves on the stick trying to catch it.
Resilience is born even when we feel like we are dying -Alex Elle
Fortunately, Cam had been scanning their surroundings when Nikolai approached, so they weren't caught completely off-guard by the stick flying at them. They caught it, fumbled a little, and managed to get it pointy-side down and stab it into the offending gourd. The little teeth released Cam's leg as the gourd gurgled and died.
"OK, that sucked," Cam said, bending down and pulling up their pants leg to examine the wound. Then they remembered that they weren't alone and looked up at their benefactor. "Thanks, though. This is a good stick."
They hefted the stick, feeling some weight to the improvised weapon -- just in time for a pair of large gourds to chatter towards Cam and Nikolai, seeking revenge.
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
We are only haunted by the things we refuse to accept -Bridgett Devoue
Nikolai shrugged. "Sure. You're welcome." He had no idea what to say to them. Their leg didn't look horrible but it likely hurt and he felt a pang of sympathy. He'd been an Ascended for only a brief amount of time, so he still distinctly remembered the sensation of pain.
Thankfully he was saved from further conversation when more gourds showed up. Nikolai never thought he'd be thankful to see the pests. But grabbing his own stick, he got ready to deal with the pumpkins. As one made it's way over, vines writhing, Nikolai smacked it with the stick. It made a displeased hiss and lunged towards him. Not really knowing what else to do, he stabbed at the gourd and thankfully skewered it.
"Oh that actually worked. Phew."
Resilience is born even when we feel like we are dying -Alex Elle
After speaking, Cam had to stop to give the second large gourd a good whack with the stick Nikolai had given them. Tougher than the last, the gourd just rolled away -- and then rolled upright again and hopped back towards Cam. "Damn it." Glancing over at Nikolai, they saw that he'd found success stabbing, so they tried that motion instead. The gourd eluded their first attempt, suddenly swerving to the side, but as it lunged at them, they managed to stick their weapon straight through the round body.
Taking a moment to get their breath back, Cam added, "Where'd they come from? Why are they like this? I didn't expect to be attacked by pumpkins today."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
We are only haunted by the things we refuse to accept -Bridgett Devoue
Nikolai threw his hands up in a frustrated shrug. "I have no idea." He had to pause and stab one pumpkin, smacking another away with his stick and sending it rolling down a hill. There was a squelch and he looked down. Disgust twisted the young Ascended's features. He'd stepped in the remains of one of the pests and now his foot was entirely orange. "Yuck!"
Letting out a frustrated grumble, Nikolai stabbed another gourd before glancing at Cam. "I HATE these things. Any ideas on how to get them to fuck off?!" If this didn't end soon he was going to scream. Well, he was almost doing that already. But it'd be a lot worse if the gourds didn't stop soon.
Resilience is born even when we feel like we are dying -Alex Elle
Cam couldn't help laughing a little when Nikolai stepped in the pumpkin guts -- the look on his face. They could only hope that he wouldn't take offense.
"Just another lovely feature of Caido," Cam said without bitterness, their voice almost sing-song and still warm with amusement. "I don't know if there is a way to get rid of them for good, besides just hitting them."
And they suited action to words, giving another gourd a good swing that shattered it, then attacking a smaller one, which flew through the air like a golf ball.
"Look at it this way," Cam added, grinning. "It's good exercise."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
We are only haunted by the things we refuse to accept -Bridgett Devoue
Nikolai let out a frustrated groan. "Maybe we can just set them all on fire." He grumbled. "I have no way of doing that though. Don't suppose you do?" It would be incredibly satisfying to just take the gourds out all at once like that. But alas, neither of them had fire magic it seemed.
Smacking and stabbing the pumpkins non-stop was making the young Ascended even more irritated. "There has to be something." He kicked one away and began to glance at their surroundings. Surely there was some means of ending these pests more efficiently?
Nikolai's eyes widened as he caught sight of something. "There's a cliff up ahead! Let's push them over it!" He called back to Cam, beginning to smack pumpkins that way himself.
Resilience is born even when we feel like we are dying -Alex Elle
"Sorry, I left my flamethrower at home." The grumpier Nikolai got, the more amused Cam felt. That probably wasn't the best reaction to have to someone else's frustration, but damn it, it was funny. And finding humor in the situation kept Cam from being too upset about their leg, or anything else.
The idea of lobbing pumpkins over the cliff made Cam grin even more, and they headed that way, limping a little on their injured leg. "Let's go for it."
They'd already been using their stick as a golf club; now they imagined themself at the PGA tour or whatever (was that golf? Or maybe tennis? Cam knew next to nothing about sports). Swinging their stick at a small gourd, they called, "Foooore!"
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
We are only haunted by the things we refuse to accept -Bridgett Devoue
Nikolai sent Cam a disgruntled look. "Oh, really? What a shame." His voice practically dripped with sarcasm, doing his best to seem annoyed by the joke. But there may have been a slight twitch to his lips.
Plan decided on, Nikolai happily began to punt and shove the gourds off of the cliff. It may have been sadistic but he also made sure to round up the fleeing ones. After all, if they fled they'd just go bite someone else. Might as well take care of them now. After shoving a particularly desperate one away, Nikolai glanced back at Cam in confusion. "Four? Four what?" They'd definetly pushed more then four off the cliff at this point.
Resilience is born even when we feel like we are dying -Alex Elle
"I really should know better," Cam said, voice mock-regretful. "You never know when you'll need to rain fiery destruction upon someone."
Maybe not the best thing to say to an Ascended, but Cam hadn't realized Nikolai's nature yet, nor had they yet Ascended themself.
"What? Oh." Whacking another gourd off the cliff, Cam laughed. "Fore, F-O-R-E, not the number. It's just ... There's a sport at home called golf, where you hit a ball like this, and the players yell 'fore' when you hit. I think. I don't know that much about sports, so I might have gotten that a little mixed up."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
We are only haunted by the things we refuse to accept -Bridgett Devoue
Cam's sarcasm got a small laugh out of Nikolai, despite his Ascended status. He glanced at Cam with amusement, lips twitching into a smirk. "Very true. Let this day be a lesson. Never forget your torch."
Cam's explanation only made Nikolai more confused. "Ok?" It gave him the impression that it was something he was just better off not asking about. Putting Outlander sports and mannerisms, on the backburner, the Ascended returned to destroying the pumpkins around them.
Stabbing a particularly large gourd, Nikolai unfortuanly got his dagger stuck in it's rind. Unable to pull his knife free, the Ascended got a bit desperate in his effort to send the pumpkin over the cliff. Making a rash decision, Nikolai roughly headbutted the creature with as much force as possible. The pest hissed in pain but was dislodged and fell back over the edge.
The Ascended was incredibly thankful for his lack of pain receptors at the moment. Slamming face-first into a giant pumpkin probably would have hurt.
Resilience is born even when we feel like we are dying -Alex Elle
Only when Nikolai said "torch" did it occur to Cam that he might not know what a flamethrower was, if he wasn't from a world that had them. Well, the name was pretty self-explanatory, right? Even if it didn't convey the device's full destructive power.
Nikolai sounded confused by golf, too, but that was OK, because Cam was also confused by golf. For a moment Cam, too, focused on punting vampire gourds off the cliff -- and on not losing their balance and going over themself. That would be a bad way to go.
Seeing Nikolai headbutt one of the pumpkins, Cam winced in sympathy. "That looked like it hurt."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
We are only haunted by the things we refuse to accept -Bridgett Devoue
Cam's comment got a sly grin from the Ascended. "Nah. Not anymore." He bared his teeth for a second, revealing his fangs, before returning his attention to the pest around them. With a hiss, Nikolai crushed anther pumpkin underneath his boot. He was genuinely going to scream if these things didn't stop coming anytime soon. They were just so irritating.
"I never thought pumpkins could be so annoying." He grumbled, his expression nearly a pout. But he'd deny that until his dying breath. Or...undying moment?
Regardless, the crowd of hissing gourds was beginning to thin out. Tossing one over his shoulder by it's vine, Nikolai glanced at Cam. "I think they're just about done. Any ideas on rounding up the rest in one go?"
Resilience is born even when we feel like we are dying -Alex Elle
