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!
08-31-2021, 07:50 PM (This post was last modified: 08-31-2021, 07:51 PM by Raza.)
raza
Another end to another season an’ Raza is closin’ up shop for the night. The Hanged Man has finally emptied out, and hell, she sent Mik home awhile ago. Even Hoa’s gone off huntin’ or somethin’ like that (whatever it is, his familiar place in the rafters is empty and there ain’t no distress comin’ her way, so she ain’t fussed about his absence). With an idle song on her lips in some appropriate minor key, she sets to wipin’ up the tables and pickin’ up the empty glasses. A rag’s thrown over her shoulder for the particularly gross bits, an’ the mop pulled out of the back room to take care of some of the worst spills.
Back and forth she swabs, back to the door, but feelin’ perfectly safe there alone, even when the rest of Torchline seems to have gone to bed.
Ever since Samuel mentioned to Cameron that this is the season for tricks, they've wanted to try one themself. It took them a while to think of something, and they're trying it in Torchline instead of the Hollowed Grounds because ... well, the saying "don't shit where you eat" comes to mind. If someone gets wildly offended by their harmless prank -- unlikely, but Cam's anxiety insists on preparing for that possibility -- they want to be able to go home and not see that person again.
So they walk into the Hanged Man, looking for a victim ... and immediately frown a bit to find how empty it is. OK, maybe that's for the best -- they don't want an audience.
"Hello," they say to the only person present. "I was wondering if I could interest you in something for trade."
cameron ?
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The sound of footsteps makes Raza turn ‘round and well - she doesn’t expect whoever it is walkin’ through her swingin’ doors. A stranger, and an excessively pale one at that.
Raising a brow at their request, Raza verbally hems and haws before decdin’ that they probably aren’t that threatening and in stories, it was always the oddballs who have somethin’ worthwhile. And other than going directly to Jack himself, they’d probably come to the right place. So, holdin’ the mop in one hand, she puts her other hand on her hip and faces the stranger square on.
“Aight. I’m listenin’” Lookin’ at them expectantly, it’s an expression that clearly says, but not for long.
OK, Cam is a little surprised to even get this far. Now they have to come up with some Grade-A bullshit, better than any bull they'd ever shit in their life.
They pull a pencil sharpener out of their backpack. People in Caido don't have pencil sharpeners, right? This one's a little old and dingy. That's OK, Cam figures; gives the impression of wear, the idea that this pencil sharpener has seen some shit.
"This is a rare object from my home world," Cam said, a sentence in which only one word was a lie. "It's the most valuable thing I own, there or here. If you put valuables in the little drawer" -- they opened the empty paper-shavings tray -- "it'll tell you secrets."
cameron ?
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If her face is full of skepticism, it’s because Raza’s bullshitometer is ringing.
She’d watched closely as the stranger pulls something out of a pack. A small thing, that, quite frankly, is unimpressive. Even if she weren’t a bit of an accomplished haggler, she might have turned her nose up at it. “That little thing?” she asks, one eyebrow practically at her hairline by now.
Now her hands cross her chest as she sizes them up, propping the mop against the wall for now. “And why would you trade the most valuable thing you own, here or there, Outlander?” What could they possibly need? And better yet, does Raza have them over a barrel?
"Don't judge a book by its cover," Cam warns, grinning. Oh, yeah, Raza definitely smells bullshit -- after all, they're serving up a heaping pile of it. But they're not about to bail now. "It's old and well-used, yes -- because everyone wants to use it."
As for Raza's other question, Cam shrugged. "It's a new world. I'm hungry. Here, I don't have any valuables to feed it, or any use for its secrets. So I'm offering it to someone who'll actually be able to use it ... in exchange for something that'll start me off on my new life."
Now Cam just had to hope that Raza would buy the idea that they were a new Outlander -- and didn't remember that they'd been in their bar seasons ago.
cameron ?
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Raza is quiet for a long moment after their explanation; on one hand, she still thinks its utter bullshit. On the other hand, they say they’re hungry. And as she understands it now, comin’ in as an Outlander ain’t all it’s cracked up t’be. Especially now.
“I don’t carry food here,” she starts off with a shake of her head, “But y’can get most anything with a bottle of booze.” Holding her hand out for the secret-teller (sure, let’s accept it at face value), she waits until it’s in hand before turning to go behind the bar and grab a full bottle of something. “Here.” She offers it to them, over the bar.
“Go up the road to the Inn, keep heading up from here, then a right. Follow the cliff line. Tell ‘em Raza sent you and give ‘em that. Should buy you a night or two and food.”
"Oh, I, uh ..." Well, Cam hadn't expected this to actually work. Now they felt bad about it. They'd hoped to make someone laugh, and instead they'd done the opposite, earning Raza's pity and charity, and all for a lie. They took the bottle of booze, but they didn't hand over the pencil sharpener, and after weighing the bottle in their hand for a moment, they handed it back. "I ... can't actually take this. That whole story was bullshit -- I was kind of waiting for you to call me on it, actually. It was supposed to be a prank, but if you're actually giving me something of value ... then I have to own up."
They gave Raza a strained smile, just hoping she wouldn't be too mad. "I appreciate what you're doing, though. But, like, I know I'm already making an ass of myself for wasting your time, and it'd only be worse if I actually took your stuff. It's not like I actually need to eat or anything, either."
Oh, should they have mentioned the Ascended bit? Maybe not. They didn't want Raza to hate them for being Ascended -- or for her to hate the Ascended because Cam had fucked up.
cameron ?
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She’s more’n a little surprised when Cam hands the bottle back; but the truth comes out and as Raza listens, an unseen flush creeps up the back of her neck. Hot and embarrassed (even though you couldn’t tell just by lookin’ at her), she turns her back on them and goes to return the booze to its rightful place on the bar.
It would have been better if they’d just gone through with it. No one likes to be told they were a compassionate idiot.
The glass clinks gently against its compatriots. “Get out,” Raza says flatly, nails curlin’ in on her palms as she manages a glimpse over her shoulder to see how long it would take them to leave.
Well, that ... could have gone worse, they suppose. Could have gone a lot better, too, though. Once they've made it out of sight of the Hanged Man -- as if they thought Raza would follow them -- they pause and rub their hands across their face. Idiot. What did they think she was going to do when she found out, laugh and say it was all cool? They should just be grateful that Raza hadn't made a bigger fuss over the attempted scam. She could have screamed at them, could have thrown something, could have called the cops -- oh, wait, no cops in Caido. But the other two were still very valid options.
One thing's for sure: Cam's never setting foot in that bar again. Raza may not have outright banned them, but they know she wouldn't be happy to see them return, and they definitely couldn't look her in the eye after such a mutual humiliation. This one's going to sting for a while.
- FIN
cameron ?
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