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!
'cause we might as well be blind, if seeing is believing, this parable's misleading
There’s a lot to take in, the dragon nodding to Ronin as he mentions he’d distract from any land sharks, but Sunjata quickly realizes that he isn’t going to get anywhere with digging just as himself with the way the sand pours in and the Attuned rises from the pit of sand he’s made to circle the bones with Haai on his heels.
I think we’re going to need to dig together, otherwise the sand is just going to keep falling in. He pauses, watching as Ronin distracts a few land sharks. Plus the landsharks we have to deal with. So he waits a moment, making another circle, before calling out to Remi in the hopes he can hear them. Where do you think we should start?
Sunjata and Haai take back to the sky to get a better vantage point away from the landsharks and asks Remi where they should start digging.
you've got your shotgun loaded with excuses — that you'll fire in vain — but those 12 rounds just won't do
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Yeah it.... Remi mumbles back to Ronin, sounding a touch dumbfounded. Blinking, he kneels down to wipe a bit of sand away from the stone circle brazenly protruding from the sand. He's walked right through the bones of the creature, though around him there's a bit of light filtering through such that he can make out the symbols. ...it looks like a hatch. He adds finally, working his fingers around the outside to see if he could life it off.
Do either of you have a way to come in here with me? Sunjata, what is your smallest shift? Ronin's was likely the phoenix, which wasn't entirely helpful. Perhaps the Flood and Huntsman could instead try and lift the skeleton off of what Remi assumed was the entrance if they couldn't both fit. I think this is the way we are meant to go in. It...it is a stone circle and if Vai's fairy tales have taught me anything, there is probably a passage beneath. It says A W on it, if that means anything to either of you?
Remi stays as a wraith and asks Jata what his smallest shift is. Regardless he says that he thinks he's found the way down.
THE LULLABY
i’ve been chasin the storm of a lovesick lonely lie
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ronin feels very proud of himself, with all of his warding off landsharks and acting the distraction - and it seems like between Sunjata and Remi, they are more or less successful in finding out what does and doesn't work.
Can't really worm my way through the sand to you, he remarks, much as I would want to. And then, because he and his husband are never far off the same wavelength, Sunjata, you reckon you could grab that skeleton as a dragon and lift it off the entryway?
In the meantime, tossing three more starbolts, he circles around to see if he can find any other useful places they might dislodge the bones. Anything my projection can do? he wonders.
Ronin fires off three more starbolts to keep the sharks away, and suggests maybe Sunjata try to dislodge the skeleton away from the entranceway.
Magic: Nimbus Call | The user may call down one of the clouds from the sky and ride upon it. The cloud will hold Ronin and up to one other person.
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
Magic: Shooting Stars | The user may summon celestial energy as a projectile. Control is excellent, and multiple projectiles may be created at once. (In quests or other combat situations requiring dice rolling, only 3 stars may be created per post).
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
Ronin's additional starbolts keep the landsharks busy, but they also have attracted 3 more sharks! Well done Ronin! You're well on your way to earning your Huntsman Made-More-Danger-Than-I-Meant-To badge!
Meanwhile, yes it does seem as though Remi has found the entrance. Now if only you two could find it as well, that'd be swell.
You have 24 hours to reply. Remember to include a summary at the bottom of your post with all action taken. If weapons/upgrades/abilities/items/shifts/etc are used, please include their desc. from your profile at the bottom of your post as well.
'cause we might as well be blind, if seeing is believing, this parable's misleading
Smallest shift I have is either the bat or the snake. He calls down to Remi before his attention is brought to the idea of lifting the skeleton. He circles once more, figuring it’s worth a shot and he invites Haai into joining him as he dives toward it.
Sure, let me try. Sunjata reaches out with his talons on all four of his feet, trying to latch into the skeleton spine from the middle and pushes his wings hard to try and lift it. Haai keeps an eye on the surrounding sand, ready to fend off from any land shark attacks.
Sunjata tries to lift the skeleton with his dragon shift and Haai circles to protect against any land shark attacks!
you've got your shotgun loaded with excuses — that you'll fire in vain — but those 12 rounds just won't do
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
You could probably fit. We could always leave Ronin out here and go in and steal the pillow for ourselves? Remi calls back teasingly.
Remaining wraithly that Sunjata's efforts won't harm him, Remi raises a brow, curious to see how this will go. Sunjata is the weakest of the three and from his vantage point hidden by bones, Remi has no idea why Ronin isn't helping. He can't hear the looming landsharks nor see them.
Shifting just his hands to try and see if his own strength is enough, Remi begins to try and move the stone away from whatever is presumably beneath it. That way if Sunjata is successful, they'll be able to move on that much faster.
Remi tries to move the stone.
THE LULLABY
i’ve been chasin the storm of a lovesick lonely lie
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Oh, well... lol at the landshark party, he supposes. Pulling a face that only he'll be able to see, Ronin decides that he's had enough of playing around with that for a bit, turning instead to the efforts being made by Sunjata. I'm going to try and shift to help you, but if it all goes tits up, Remi is under strict authority to put me in timeout, he says to his friend, and it's with a pulse of nervous energy down the Attuned bond to both of them that Ronin dismisses his nimbus and drops down.
It's with a blanket of pitch black and a starry underbelly that the celestial dragon joins the fray, and luckily enough, his focus is already on the collossal skeleton in need of moving. Snarling and snapping his teeth at Sunjata to move up a bit, Ronin also starts to grasp the skeleton in the hope that, between them, they might hoist it into the sky AND THEN THROW IT AT THE LANDSHARKS!
Ronin dismisses his nimbus, shifts into a dragon and bullies helps Sunjata move bones.
Hey! There we go! You know things are about to get serious when Sunjata, at three-over what constitutes Herculean levels of strength, isn't able to move the bones on his own. Good thing his bff is there at his side to help him out.
The two dragons shove and pull, prying the bones from the sand with a silent groan from the skeleton. If Ronin wants to throw it at the landsharks, by all means, though as Remi slides the stone away to reveal a set of pristine stairs leading down into the belly of the desert, it might just be that the Huntsman finds himself distracted (even as a dragon).
A sickly black light that seems to swallow the desert sun rises from the hole accompanied by the scent of poppies and blood.
This PQ+ is now complete! You are free to leave if you choose. Going down the hole however will initiate a KQ. Those who would like to continue can post themselves descending the staircase.
'cause we might as well be blind, if seeing is believing, this parable's misleading
He doesn’t quite understand what Ronin’s getting at as he struggles with the skeleton’s bones, all of his muscles fighting to keep him both airborne as well as to lift the massive bones. But he feels the anxiety and he can sense the shift as it arrives, similar to his own but bulkier, brawnier, and most importantly, flashier with all the stars that cling to his shift. There’s a second of approval that slips from him as his steel gaze takes in the other dragon, but as Ronin snaps at him it shifts that dragon’s attention within him to bare his teeth back at the bully of the dragon.
He doesn’t have much else to complain about though, because even as he moves because of Ronin’s snarls, the skeleton shifts under both their combined strength and is promptly tossed away, Sunjata and Haai releasing their grip on the spine as to not tumble after it. And then they both hover, eyes immediately peeled to the black light that smells sweet and metallic. Suppose we’re going in, aren’t we? He rumbles to the other two men, eyeing the other dragon a bit defensively, before he’s shifting to his bat shift and diving down toward the hole with Haai on his heels until they’re met with the staircase.
Sunjata sort of asks them if they’re going to continue, before he’s shifting into his bat shift and diving down into the hole and starts going down the staircase with Haai!
you've got your shotgun loaded with excuses — that you'll fire in vain — but those 12 rounds just won't do
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Wordlessly, Remi nods in Sunjata's direction. With his face covered by the strange darkness that accompanies his wraith-affect the eagerness in his eyes is probably lost entirely no matter how good Sunjata's vision is as a bat. Already the cold bleakness of the shift was beginning to settle far too comfortably into his bones, and so it was with a great amount of resistance and reluctance that the alchemist forces himself back into his own flesh and bone body.
Bring on the pillow. Remi says, looking cheerful now that his expression wasn't covered by spiderwebs of inky blackness. Pausing just long enough to ensure that Ronin was with them and that his dragon-form hadn't taken over, Remi would descend down the stairs.
Remi waits for Ronin, but goes down!
THE LULLABY
i’ve been chasin the storm of a lovesick lonely lie
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Together, they manage to hoist the skeleton up into the sky, and whilst Ronin (barely) remembers not to roar his triumph, it all but sings down the Attuned bond. With a powerful beat of his wings and twist of his scaly body, he does indeed launch the old bones out towards the landsharks. Now to deal with his bestest friend Jata rival dragon. Only, as soon as he turns back towards him, the Flood is gone, shrunk down to a bat and disappearing into a little black hole.
Grumbling his protest (and spending a good few moments considering just tearing up the sands across Hak Etme), eventually Ronin does land beside the entrance to the tomb(?), shrinking back to himself and rolling his shoulders. Another day, another set of stairs to fall down, he hums through the bond, leaning in to steal a lusty kiss from Remi before he heads down into the darkness as well.
