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!
Ray can't help the flattered sensation that passes through the bond. They do. They've made their appreciation very clear to me. I love my people. Truly it was a bit surprising. For a city so full of misfits, they looked out for their own. And many weren't afraid to let their appreciation for Ray's aid be known. Favors had been easy to acquire, bonds of friendship formed with those from all walks of life. And now they'd even made her part of the Council.
Ray's amusement is clear through the bond. It would be, wouldn't it. I am a herbalist first and foremost after all. She healed people on the daily. Tending to injuries, giving advice, or providing prescriptions. The fact that she also made and sold poisons in the underground alongside information was another matter entirely. And odd balance for sure. But both were generally used to protect Torchline.
As Belial takes off with Deimos following, Ray sends another surge of amusement and follows.
He laughed at the aspects, a very quiet chuckle, as they pulsed through the bond. It was thereafter though, that he couldn’t help drawing a little solemn – mostly because he didn’t have very many people left. Once a defender of mountains in more than one life, and now suited to playing a waiting, plotting game, intending to eventually make the world tip in their favor again. But he didn’t linger in the wallowing slate for long, moving forward, knowing the agonizing weight of mistakes, of failures, could be also be a starting point.
Hold onto that he wanted to say, but didn’t; refrained, caught it in his webbed mind and silent throat. Instead, the Sword strived to arch and lilt into the amusements, stifling and swallowing down the clarity.
He followed Belial’s wild saunter, listening to the chaotic hooting and hollering the peryton began to emit – rounding another bend, keeping the aperture well in sight – only narrowing his eyes when he chanced a glance upward, reading what appeared to be inscriptions etched and sketched into the wall. What are these?
Ray came up behind Deimos and eyed the markings for a moment, debating how much to tell the outsider. Directions and codes for some of the more secretive exchanges that occur in Torchline. I can't read most of them but I do know a few. She leaned closer to the wall, trying to decipher the inscription. After a moment she managed to read them. This one warns of stalactites in the cave up ahead on our left. It's a warning to stay away.
At least, that was part of the message. The rest of what she could decipher was more then she would ever tell someone not allied with the guild. The herbalist might not be a member but she did trade with them enough times to want to protect them. They were business associates and some were even friends. But all of them were citizens of Torchline, her people.
Torchline and its embedded secrets – even more slanted along in old script, etched for decades into its walls. Amused, and not expecting to be told anything else, he studied it for what it was worth, even if it only came with warnings. Which could’ve been a lie, a tale, a truth, or anything melded and notched in between.
Knowing the worth of secrets, of how many had been laden within his mind, of what it meant to protect one’s land, he didn’t pry any further. A nod given with the massiveness of the tiger’s skull, and then he proceeded onward, stretching out long limbs around another curve and bend, watching Belial bound along (devil-may-care in the peryton’s depiction), no actual intent in his exploration. Simply to know, to understand, to see. Do you have your share of monsters in here too? A quiet chuckle followed; mostly bemused by the notions, having met his fair share of their dominions in many a cave (and the sea panther beside the ocean; slain in his wake).
Ray isn't surprised by the lack of follow-up questions. Deimos certainly gives her the impression of being someone intelligent enough to fill in the blanks of silence. His change in subject only further cements this impression and Ray sends him a feline grin. You can find monsters anywhere. Especially outside the city.
The panther eyes the tunnel around them, tasting the moisture in the air to check her estimation. The main concern though is that when the tide comes in, parts if this place flood. We still have about an hour or two before the tide begins to come in, but it's something to always keep in mind if you go down here.
The greatest defense of the tunnels as well as it's most pressing danger. The cycling of water had killed many who had gotten lost in the tunnels. Ray would continue to keep an eye on their time frame, ensuring that the peryton's adventure didn't' end poorly.
He snickered, aware of monsters and their expansive efforts, but being nosey and inquisitive anyway. The other measures were aptly noted though – eyes immediately going towards the swell of water rising along the canals, waterways, and warren-haze – changing with the tide. He’d been too distracted and curious about all the other inner workings of the tunnels to not notice the alterations; though they wouldn’t have been abrupt. His family would’ve chided him for not paying closer attention – not from a beast once born beside the sea. We can head back now then, in case they meandered too far and got lost in the meantime.
There was a hastening within their linked bond, and he could feel, see, the sneer threatening to unfold over the peryton’s face. With an eye roll and a snort, he turned, shifting his feline paws back towards where they’d come from – listening for Belial and the flicker of wings as the young deer began to begrudgingly follow.
Thank you for your the wisdom, he presided, once they’d reached the end, the opening, and Zuriel remaining standing by the entrance. Have a good LongNight. From what he heard, Torchline had far better moments than any other land.
