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!
I will clean up dinner all week, if you do most of the talking. It's a rather terrible bribe given that Ronin's kitchen standards are higher than Remi's and the Star ends up re-tidying things after the alchemist has done, but what else does he have to offer? Sex? As if Remi would have the willpower to withhold that should Ronin decline. Reaching for Ronin's hand, Remi gives it a squeeze, reinforcing his mental plea for help with a pulse of watered-down blue water—or at least that's how the emotion feels to him. It's sloshy and transparent in places, this feeling of uncertainty. Remi wants this, like he hasn't wanted something in a long, long time, and it feels strange to be beholden to a man like Cian, despite having shrugged off the offers of joining the Order for precisely this reason.
Reaching out, Remi knocks twice upon Cian's ornate floor-to-ceiling door, before stepping back that Ronin might go in first.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
07-09-2021, 07:00 PM (This post was last modified: 07-09-2021, 07:15 PM by Ronin.)
you are terrifying and strange and beautiful
If you promise not to, I will be more likely to take the bribe. Ronin picks up where Remi puts down, and he turns briefly to lean in and press a kiss to his husband's cheek. I am a talker by default, so I think I might just be able to manage that. With another kiss, this time to Remi's forehead, Ronin draws back to let him knock. And he does go first, though his fingers are wrapped in the Lullaby's so he can guide them both into the Eye's office.
"Good afternoon," he says smoothly as they walk inside. "Hopefully this won't take too much of your time up. Remi has received some orders from Ludo, and that has led him to a move to the Greatwood. Some of the dragoons have expressed an interest in moving there as well." And so have I doesn't need to be said.
they're whispering his name, through this disappearing land
In they come, and though Ronin begins speaking almost immediately, Cian continues marking things on a map that sits spread out on his desk. Even as the Huntsman finishes, the Eye continues to pour over that which is before him. What might feel like hours pass, before he very intentionally caps his pen and sets it down. Leaning back in his chair and interlacing his fingers together, Cian raises a brow and regards the two men before him with somber interest.
"Not just the dragoons, but a few others as well. Notably our Artificer." Cian muse. "This isn't the beginning stages of a coup, now is it?" The question is said with a smile, the Eye's accent making it sound almost like a joke, though his eyes tell a very different story as they fix on Ronin.
"It isn't." Remi says a touch defensively, not appreciating how Cian seemingly only had eyes for Ronin. But then, his husband was the one doing all the talking and was the Order member here, but even so. Standing a touch taller with his eyes narrowed, the alchemist raises his chin. "Sera..Stevie..Anju..they all expressed interest on their own. I would go alone, with just Ronin, if it came to it." With Ronin being an unwavering detail he wasn't about to leave out.
'Stormbreak has any number of defenses against abandoned and ascended alike, whereas the Greatwood has almost none. Since the Order members can no longer breach the Hollowed Ground, it might be useful to have them close just the same." He offers, now realizing how much talking he was doing in comparison with what he'd planned. Swallowing hard, Remi looks to Ronin with a slow inhale that his husband might more eloquently pick up where he was forcing himself to leave off.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ronin, unlike Remi perhaps, is more than used to these little quirks about Cian, and he gives his husband's hand a squeeze as they wait for the Eye to take notice of them. And then as the back and forth begins (Ronin raises an eyebrow and smiles to Remi) he waits patiently again until there's a lull. "No coup, no." Ronin smiles warmly.
"I was always brought to Stormbreak to help the dragoons - and I think I have done that. But I think what Remi says is true. Stormbreak has plenty of able hands, and the Hollowed Grounds has just made it very difficult for any Order members to get an idea of what is happening behind their boundaries. The Greatwood needs protection, and we need eyes on the Grounds." He spreads his hands.
"Obviously I would be there on Order business. I'd ensure any developments are reported back here - unless you get them first." He smirks.
07-09-2021, 07:45 PM (This post was last modified: 07-09-2021, 07:45 PM by Cian.)
Cian
they're whispering his name, through this disappearing land
Cian nods amicably enough, though quickly his head stills and his smile disappears. "Though I suppose if it was a coup, you'd not say so." He notes, before smiling brightly once more.
"You would be there on Order business. You and Seraphina both." Cian agrees. "I would expect you to keep up with your duties and attend all meetings here. With your compasses, I expect that won't be too difficult?" Turning his pale denim stare to Remi, Cian lets his gaze linger uncomfortably long before speaking. "And you will lead this merry band? " He wonders rhetorically. "Just as long as we're quite clear that Sera and Ronin ultimately report to me, that their allegiances are to the Order first and the Greatwood second, then I don't see any problems."
Pausing, the Eye leans forward. "Do you see any problems with that, Remi?"
Ronin's pitch has much more meat to it than anything Remi has said thus far, and the alchemist finds himself sinking into weary relief at the realization that there were few situations that he wouldn't want Ronin to be by his side in. And the ones the Star wasn't best suited for? Well. Remi would want him even then.
What is meant to be an uncomfortable silence, is met simply by a vague look on Remi's part as he lets his mind find solace in Ronin's. Is he always like this? He wonders, not caring a bit if the Eye has some means of hearing his attuned communication.
"I do not." He agrees with a boyishly defiant smile. "Ludo might, but I will leave that between the two of you." Having no idea at all where Ludo stood with regard to the Order, it was a safe enough bluff to make, he thought.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Always, Ronin says, though he never stops smiling. Cian's caveats are reasonable enough, the Huntsman nodding his agreement and glancing to Remi for his confirmation, before he gives his husband's hand another warm squeeze and draws him close beside him.
"I wouldn't miss any meetings," he assures the Eye. "Our son is staying here in Stormbreak, to continue his studies in the Collegium. I wouldn't want him to go without a visit for too long anyway."
And that, it seems, is that. "I will send correspondence to you as soon as we are set up in the Greatwood. If anything is needed of me until then, all letters should find me. Thank you for your time, Cian."
they're whispering his name, through this disappearing land
'Well it seems as though all loose ends are tidied up." Cian says with a dull smile. " Though Ronin? If you would build a skyport in the Greatwood, I'd be grateful. Order members aren't the only ones who might like to pop over, mm?" How convenient that Ronin was already planning to do just this. Almost like Cian knew.
Though the Eye's smile is polite and warm, something flinches behind his frosty stare. Something that doesn't like letting others think they've won. Even so, he nods his head, immediately reaching for his pen that he might get back to whatever it was he'd been doing with the map prior to the arrival of the two men.
