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!
Creatures like these should not make noise upon the snow.
Creatures like these should not give off light from their antlers. Bleached bone and huffs of breath long gone, these creatures should not exist.
But they do.
Like a brewing storm across King's End, from Meadowreach all the way here, to the Last Step, a herd of two dozen luxere tromp and stamp and surge towards a destination known only to themselves.
No fur or flesh clings to their skeletal frames, and no hearts beat within empty ribcages. They still give off light, though.
A sign of hope, perhaps.
Or a trap?
This is a rare creature sighting of a herd of ghost luxere!
Please enter your character within the next 48 hours for them to be able to count this as a rare creature sighting in their levelling.
It sounds like thunder the way the herd slips through the snow. And the closer they got to his home, the more the things within it begin to rattle. So of course he has to investigate, has to slip from his home and follow them. He doesn’t know whether it’s unusual at first, not until he finally gets a good look at the herd, as he sees the skeletal and glowing bits of the Luxere – and there’s a part of Sunjata that lurches with anxiety, but he follows them nonetheless.
It feels like a bad omen, like there’s something that’s about to pass in quite an awful way that he can’t quite place. He’s used to seeing Luxeres – used to seeing the herd of them even if the creatures didn’t particularly care for him much. This, though? Completely different. And so he follows them from above on the wings of his Pegasus shift, his curiosity getting the best of him.
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.
Ray was napping up in the trees, taking a break on the journey home from the Great Wood. It's hear that the sound of hooves reaches her. Jolting awake, the leopard peers down through the leaves, stiffening with surprise at the sight. She's never seen anything like them before, much less even heard of anything.
Warily but with open curiosity, the panther follows via the treetops. Carefully leaping between the branches of the trees, Ray keeps pace with the herd. Any other Attuned around who are seeing this? The chances seem slim but perhaps a fellow Attuned might have a better idea of what's going on.
Nikolai was near the boundary of King's End and the Hollowed Grounds when he hears them. Thee thundering noise of countless hooves has the Ascended on edge and for a second there he considers teh possibility of an invasion. Cautiously but with haste, he crossed firmly into King's End and follows the sound.
It's as he's breaking past some trees that he sees them, ghost luxere. Nikolai's eyes widen at the sight and chills race down his spine for the first time since his Ascension. "What the hell?" The creatures are as beautiful as they are unnerving, and Nikolai can't help but stop and stare as they race past. Though he is careful to stick behind a tree and out of their way.
10-14-2021, 11:50 PM (This post was last modified: 10-14-2021, 11:50 PM by Maeve.)
Maeve
It's a simple trip. One that Maeve has made more frequently in the past few seasons. To get passage on a ship is rather easy even though she'd much prefer Jack's, but she and Edmund manage with another. They're passing through King's End, looking for a few of the herbs and plants that grow in the colder climate, hoping to gather some to bring back to Torchline for various tonics and potions that she was working on before her stores began to run low.
Their just on the edge of the woods, collecting a bit of snow moss when the thundering hooves reach her ears, causing her head to snap up. The first thing she does is shift Edmund behind her, jade eyes narrowing as she presses them a step back into the trees, "Remember, if anything bad happens Safrin will keep you safe." She murmurs in hushed tones, sending a silent command to Aidon to scout from the sky as the herd passes through.
Fight so dirty, but your love's so sweet Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth
Edmund eyes the herd with wonder, glancing at Maeve briefly before returning to watching the herd. "Mummy what are they? They're so cool!!" The child dutifully stays behind his mum, sneaking his arms around her in a hug. She's clearly worried and Edmund doesn't like it at all. "It's ok mummy. Safrin will keep me safe but Aidon and I will keep you safe!"
The small Abandoned child feels an odd burning in his chest at the thought of anything hurting his mummy. And if his hands get a tad warmer for a split second, he's none the wiser. All of his attention is on witnessing the herd go by and keeping his mummy safe.
I never realized how beautiful Fires burn under the stars
Something primal in him ticks at the sight of a herd but alas, they're all bone and there's not much one can do with just a pile of bones. He also not lounging on top of the steps this time, having sheltered himself against the colder air at the base of the steps. A voice, oddly familiar, crackles along the bond and his head twists, golden eyes searching through the darkness. I see them. Wonder what magical fuckery this is..
He pushes himself up and stalks closer to the herd. The glow of their horns is enticing despite their lack of meat. Maybe he should snag a pair. But it's hard to gauge the health of something.. so dead. Maybe it would be best to leave them be.
Trotting behind Ronin and Mateo is a dark shape that glows faintly with colours reminiscent of an oil slick. With his head low and ears flattened nervously against his skull, Ever is doing his best both to avoid eye contact with everyone while simultaneously taking note of everything in his surroundings. It's exhausting. Though his instincts should have been riled by the presence of the luxere herd, the Hart-boy is quick to tamp down on the voices in his bones that urge him to chase and tear and kill.
He can't speak to Ronin or Mateo in this form which may prove to be a problem, but for now, it's working to conceal who he is (mostly from Paige, as he still hasn't figured out what to do or how to reciprocate the gift she gave him).
if the song never stopped it wouldn't have any magic
There is another Luxere moving through the snow, trotting along the tree line just a few meters away from the herd of her ghostly kin. She and Deimos were beginning to head for Torchline when the herd came tearing through King's End, not far from where they've been calling home, instantly calling to the curiosity of the other Luxere. It just seems natural to follow along after them.
I see them too. They don't seem to have noticed me or anyone else currently. She sends a mental image of her point of view along the bond to those who are close enough, nostrils flaring to take in the scents surrounding her, noting that there were at least two predators in the area and she's instantly on guard.
Paige perks up from where she's been hiding out in Edmund's pocket at the sudden commotion. Bright eyes dart this way and that as her ears perk up at the familiar voices in her head. She recognized Ray's instantly and the male voice. Was that Locke? No, he went away. What was he doing out here? She's half tempted to shift back to tell Maeve that Locke is nearby, but she's too distracted by the ghostly herd of Luxere that are thundering by. How did they make so much noise if there wasn't anything to them but bones?
She's unaware of Ever, Mateo, and Ronin who are currently nearby. The last thing she's thinking about is the gift and lack of response to her letter at the moment.
Love you to the moon and to Saturn Passed down like folk songs, the love lasts so long
Ronin had originally been taking two curious boys to the Boondocks so they could see fOr ReAL what shipwrecks looked like. It helps that Sunjata lives in and around the area, so it's like killing two birds with one stone. But this is interesting, and so the Huntsman has let Ever shift into a much warmer, furrier form while Mateo rides upon his back; Ronin, of course, has donned his own luxere antlers for the occasion.
He's pre-warned Mateo to hold on tight and not to speak too loudly lest he startle the herd, and so it's quite a noble and silent trio that make their way to a snowbank overlooking the fabled Last Step. Ronin huffs out a breath that mists the air before them; they aren't the only ones who have stopped to watch the ghostly luxere, and he can only pray that it's not as deathly an omen as it seems.
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
Mateo hasn't seen his friend's newest shift before, and were it not for the herd of ghost luxere, he'd likely have fallen off his father's back by now from trying to crane over his shoulder and look at Everest properly. As it is, his fingers are loosely twined through the ruff of fur around the luxere's neck, and his blue eyes are wide as he tries to see beyond the glow of Ronin's antlers.
"They're all skeletons..." he whispers, knowing better than to break the warning for low voices, but he can't help but comment on the sight before them. It is quite literally like nothing else Mateo has ever seen before, and he's almost sad that Remi can't be there as well. He thinks his pa would really enjoy this.
They could have teleported to the Grounds, but Adam and Pet had decided to make a trip out of it. They were beginning to really fall into a rhythm when alone, understanding how to be just the two of them; he didn't want to end it just yet, so they had been taking their time in the Wilds. When it was just him, Pet and the stars, he found it all so much more simple.
So their hands were joined and their walk slow when they first became aware of the herd before them. "...Babe, you see that?" He asked quietly, leaning in close to whisper to Pet as his eyes remained glued to the scene before. He did notice several other animals around (had to be Attuned, from the way they all simply watched like that), but didn't give them too much heed, focusing on his partner.
"They're kinda like big Apricums, huh?" Adam whispered, squeezing Pet's hand and hanging back to watch the creatures go by.
Adam
For the good of believing in a life after birth
For the good of your body so bright
For the good of the search for some heaven on earth
Walking in the snow is nice. It's peaceful. The cold doesn't touch them, now that they've reached a place with snow. It's even better with Adam at his side, their hands clasped together and the days passed with quiet conversation. They're in Kings End now, Pet pausing at the whisper in his ear. "I see them." He says softly, glancing around at the others who have stopped to watch the procession.
"Th-they are." Pet mumbles the words, his eyes glassy as they watch the herd pass them by. He doesn't blink, just leans in close, Adam's hand the only thing keeping him from following after them. Is he not as tireless as they are now? Could he not follow along forever? "Where... where do you think they're going?"
I don’t know where I’ve been But I know where I wanna go
