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!
Kings End was lovely this time of year; oh, it had the same air of danger that all the Wilds did, a thrumming cautionary wind running through it, but that was part of the charm. Mildew had lived in the Wilds long enough to know how to ride it's tempers (even if sometimes that meant simply running away) and was not nervous, idly going about the glades and fields to pick flowers and plants that would be of use in her various concoctions.
It had been an interesting couple of seasons for her, with the wider world suddenly throwing open it's arms; while she was not shy or isolating she had yearned for her home and what she was used to quickly. Later, she would venture out again and taste the outside world, but for now Mildew was content to work with the Gods in the way she best knew how, communing with the nature around her and making it work for her plans.
A few beetles, shiny and red, climbed off a leaf and onto her open palm; Mildew stood with a smile on her face watching them crawl about as she turned her hand.
don't make a shadow of yourself, always shutting out the light
Since gaining the ability to go fast, well.... Amalia had started going fast. Still unable to travel instantly to locations she hasn't seen, the girl nonetheless has thoroughly enjoyed her rapid venture through the Wilds, the ability to see new places and sights and still be home for dinner.
Today she has decided to venture out into more of King's End. From above, the land seems to stretch into endless rolling hills of green, dotted by flowers and mazes and glades and marshes that warrant further exploration - exploration she gives them, of course. Barefoot and be-winged, Amalia descends from the heavens in a truly angelic scene.
One that has devolved significantly, when her path and Mildew's meet.
See, while Mildew is peacefully communing with nature, Amalia has done a very good job upsetting it. For reasons we need not go into now, her latest attempt to broker peace with the gourds has gone woefully awry; as a result she is currently running full speed up a hill towards Mildew, a starwhale at her front, a small army of angry pumpkins on her heels, and a pair of baby pangolins tucked against her chest.
The thundering of one pair of normal-sized feet and many small ones called Mildew's attention; she looked behind her shoulder just in time to see Amalia storming up towards her, various animals and creatures accompanying. "What-" The Swamp Witch began to say, but quickly decided it was the time for action and questions could come later - after all, this seemed like an emergency.
A very strange emergency, but an emergency nonetheless.
Running up behind Amalia, Mildew took no hesitation in lifting her feet and beginning to stomp on the heads of the gourds, ignoring their attempts to nip her and with the courage of someone that had lived in the wilds her whole life, mercilessly mashed their pumpkin innards between her toes until they were all either mush or running away. Panting, once she was sure they were all seen to, she looked up at the guest. "Dear, what is going on?!"
don't make a shadow of yourself, always shutting out the light
The Angel is looking behind herself as the sea of gourds continues to gain, biting and nipping and making her leap up to keep her heels from becoming prey to the ferocious pumpkins. She doesn't see the other demigoddess until she's almost upon her - and then it is with a squawk of panicked surprise, the girl clutching the pangolins against her chest and closing her eyes as her wings extend behind her. There's a feeling like a summer wind, and both Archangel and pangolins disappear, only to manifest once again on the stranger's other side.
"Mort!" comes a strangled curse as Amalia falls to her side, arms and wings wrapped protectively around the infants she's tried so hard to protect. Somersaulting around and up to her knees, the girl looks up at her unexpected guardian, who has managed to earn the respect (or fear) of the gourds long enough to get them to back up. "Thank you," she gets out between gulps of air. "I - they -" She holds up the pangolins which yawn and flop over, remarkably unphased by this whole misadventure.
It seemed Mildew wasn't going to get an answer to her question, but the winged stranger did finally stop panicking and thank her. With a nod, the Swamp Witch gave her a hand to help her up, looking with interest at the two pangolins.
"Admirable that you wanted to save these babes, but perhaps you misjudged your own abilities." She reached down to pick up one of the creatures, turning it this way and that with a detached interest, like a tired school matron; once she had confirmed they were fine she set the pangolin back down. "The wings, though. Those were interesting. Attuned, perhaps?"
Mildew hadn't ever seen an Attuned bring forth wings that big, but maybe things had changed in her years away. Regardless, now that the mood was calming down, she lifted up one foot and balancing expertly on the other, began to pick gourd guts out of her toes.
don't make a shadow of yourself, always shutting out the light
It is with some reluctance that Amalia lets the woman take the pangolin, an instinctive protectiveness causing her to hold the other close. Fortunately Jyoti has caught up enough to soothe her, crooning curiously at her soulmate's shoulder and peering at the stranger as she examines the pup. "They- the gourds had rampaged through their burrow," Amalia explains, taking back the baby pangolin before Mildew can leave it on the ground. "Their mother was killed." It's very simple in Amalia's mind.
The pivot in topic to her wings and the declining adrenaline catch Amalia off guard. "Um, n-no... not anymore." Said wings tuck away into her back; now she is a normal human, but for the shock of small primroses in her hair and the halo above it all. "You... the gourds respect you. I've never seen that before."
The little starwhale took Mildew's attention for a moment; she'd seen plenty of dragons in the last season, but nothing like that. Hearing the fate of the pangolin's mother and burrow she sighed and tutted down at them. "Well, that won't do. I know where there's some more of them - we could drop them off. Better to be with their own kind." Whether they would be accepted into the new group was unknown, but that was nature.
Mildew found Amalia's rushed, flustered nature somewhat endearing; reminded her of herself in her youth, when the world had still been new and exciting and discovering her place in it had yet to come. "Well. Respect might be a little strong, dear, but I have an understanding of how things work out here. Show your force, your willingness to attack - and most creatures are smart enough to back off."
Satisfied that her feet were as gourd gut-less as they were going to be, she straightened out and looked around. "So...prior to your gourd run in, what were you doing out here?"
don't make a shadow of yourself, always shutting out the light
Amalia nods in agreement at the plan of re-homing the pangolins, though a protective pang brings warm, soft fur rising up on her arms, the better to hold them close. "That would be good," the girl agrees, adjusting the infants in her arms. "Otherwise I'll take them back to the Celestine, in Stormbreak."
She's ready to follow this wild-haired woman to the alternate burrow, trusting in the superior understanding that the stranger has for the Wilds. "I... just exploring," she answers the query about what brought her King's End, a shy, crooked smile curving her lips. "It's beautiful out here. I can think of nowhere better to leave prayers to Rae." She shrugs, unapologetic in her faith. "What about you? I'm- I'm Amalia, by the way. And this is Jyoti."
Mildew noted with a glance and raised eyebrow the fur growing up Amalia's arms, but didn't comment on it. She'd seen plenty of odd creatures and people in her time, after all. "Oh, I heard of that. The garden. I think the wild would be better...to be cooped in can be a nightmare for some of these animals. Come with me - I'll take you to the glade where the others live." Without waiting for agreement, Mildew turned on her heel, held a finger in the air for a moment, then nodded and set off ahead.
"It's...very bright here. Alive and beautiful, but..." Mildew shrugged; her heart laid with the dark dank of the swamp, the duality of life and death that existed in the poisonous flowers and sucking mud. "..Not my home, I suppose."
Amalia. The name seemed familiar for some reason, but Mildew couldn't quite catch why in her mind. "Mildew, dear. Jyoti is quite the creature. How did you come across them?"
