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!
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
Juniper smiles at Ronin's reply, glad that her magic should prove useful. And in that case, if they aren't trying to hide from the Cat Siths -- or avoid scaring them -- then ... "Let there be light," she says quietly, opening her lantern's cover to its fullest, and sending out little illusion-lights too, to brighten up the forest. She doesn't add any loud noises yet; mostly she just hopes that the light will let her identify where exactly the Cat Siths are, since all she's been able to identify on this plane are the noises they make.
And she doesn't see any. This would be a great time to be able to glimpse the spirit realm, but failing that ... Juniper frowns. "Where are they?"
Juniper opens her lantern and creates light with her illusion magic, but she's not sure where the Cat Siths have gotten to.
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
"No you're not." Delphia said simply. She reached out a hand towards Remi, pulling back against him with her own soul calling magic. Tishy trilled as well, as though to coax him back away from her kin. At the very least it might stop him so he could take a moment to hopefully think a bit more rationally. "You are unburdened by your body which means you are exactly the cat sith's sort of prey, remember?" While Delphia did not fear death, she knew most people did. And in particular, she thought Ronin might be a bit distraught if Remi's soul was stolen away by cat sith under her watch.
Delphia uses her spiritual guide magic to hopefully pull Remi back away from the Cat Sith, or at the very least stop him from advancing.
DELPHIA
to cope with the real ones
Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd
Ronin thinks, and Juniper lights up the night... and it hits the Huntsman, like a message delivered OOC via the Cat Sith wikipedia page. Whilst it's true that the Fae won't be able to see the felines, spirit realm or otherwise, they are very enticed by her lantern and by the little illusionary globes of light. Indeed, the two back on the mortal plane will find themselves very much watched by several pairs of eyes. They've got the Cat Siths' attention.
"Lead them away," Ronin suggests to Juniper. "They're attracted to the lantern. We can get them away from the woods and keep a fire going to attract them until Longnight is over."
Meanwhile, perhaps it's because the cats are suddenly distracted, or perhaps it's because of Delphia's spiritual guidance (most likely both), but Remi will suddenly feel as if he's been plopped back down to reality. There is no urge to run, no urge to follow. Just the cold detachment of the ghostly realm, and his body slumped nearby.
Juniper distracts the cats with her lantern! Ronin suggests leading them out of Ludo's woods with it and building a fire to keep lit until the end of LongNight.
Remi is finally able to shake off the felines' influence, with Delphia's help!
the tightrope that i'm walking just sways and ties, the devil as he's talking with those angel's eyes
I am? Remi wonders, feeling himself strangely pulled back by a force that shouldn't have been as strong as it was, and yet...This was not the mortal world. All of Remi's physical strength here was no match for Delphia's magic, and when he was back in his bones, he'd be glad of it.
Feeling more and more grounded by the minute, the alchemist tries to shake off the last lingering effects from the cats. Do you think we should go and help them? Or stay here to see if any other Sith appear? Unaware of his husband's Wikipedia inspiration, he was inclined to defer to Delphia in these matters (sorry Ronin).
THE ALCHEMIST
but i just want to be there when the lightning strikes & the saints go marching in
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
"Perfect," Juniper said, smiling to find herself the object of the Cat Sith's interest -- she was glad to be useful, as she'd started to suspect this hunt would take place primarily in the spirit realm, which she couldn't access.
"Here, kitty, kitty." Rising into the air, Juniper flew slowly towards the nearest edge of Ludo's Woods, waving her lantern enticingly and making her illusory lights sparkle and gleam. No sudden moves -- she didn't want to scare away the Cat Siths, after all -- but certainly enough movement to cast wild shadows and get some felines' attention. And she flew slowly to avoid losing them, though she also didn't want to bore them.
She could only hope that the cats would follow her lights.
Juniper gets all sparkly and flies towards the edge of Ludo's Woods, trying to lead the Cat Siths out of the woods.
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
The demigoddess was glad to see her brother in spirit pull to a stop. At least she wouldn't have to worry about him being carted off by cat sith now. She lowered her arm and tilted her head in thought at his question. "Why don't you go give them a hand. I can stay here and keep an eye out for more cat sith." she said. And most importantly, she would not be swayed by their feline charms, being a non-ideal spirit walking amongst them. Remi on the other hand...well...he had already proven a less than ideally easy target for their kitty prey.
DELPHIA
to cope with the real ones
Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd
Juniper is both lucky and skilled, and she will find herself accompanied by a few shadowy shapes as she flies towards the edge of Ludo's Woods. The Cat Sith very much enjoy her light show and sparkles, and soon enough the Fae will be on the outskirts of the woods with free rein over how to keep the pesky felines from bothering the Longnight dead.
And Ronin isn't far behind, though he's had to pause to scoop up his husband's lifeless body as they make their way out of the dark depths of the forest. Should Remi decide to return to the land of the living, it will be to find himself cradled against his husband's chest. How romantic. "I think there's enough dead wood around to make a bonfire," Ronin calls out to Juniper. "I have phoenix feathers to light it, if we need."
As for Delphia? She ought to be very pleased - things are going exactly as they ought to, and there are no leftover Cat Sith to cause problems.
Last round! We just need to build a bonfire to burn throughout the rest of LongNight!
the tightrope that i'm walking just sways and ties, the devil as he's talking with those angel's eyes
Alright. Remi agrees, and though there aren't any more Cat Sith around to try and corral his soul, it's still with a sigh of relief that the alchemist sidles back into his body. There's no dramatic gasp of air to indicate that Remi is back, just the slow opening of his eyes followed by the tilt of his head from side to side.
"Remind me never to do that alone." The alchemist whispers into Ronin's ear, as he sweeps up behind his husband to give him a quick kiss. "Fire, is it?" He confirms, as his fingers become long and clawed. Raking them down a nearby tree the way a tree might during shedding season, the alchemist pulls long thin ribbons of wood away to be used for kindling. Ronin's fire would set anything ablaze, but there was no reason not to do things properly joust the same.
Remi returns to the real world, and uses his claws to make kindling out of one of the tree-trunks.
THE ALCHEMIST
but i just want to be there when the lightning strikes & the saints go marching in
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
Juniper stopped well outside Ludo's Woods, wanting to make sure the cats didn't wander back in. As Ronin and Remi began to build the fire, she nodded. "I'll keep the Cat Siths occupied while you get the fire going."
She continued to swing her lantern in gentle circles, throwing irregular shadows across the ground and trees, and to use her illusions to entertain the cats. A smile crossed Juniper's face as she produced sparks and dots of light for the cats to chase, always keeping her illusions just a little ahead of the cats' eager paws. This felt like playing with kittens as a child; she was glad that their hunt had gone the nonviolent route, rather than requiring her to shoot at the felines. They seemed playful and harmless, and though Juniper knew they could be dangerous, especially to lost souls, she would have hated to kill them just for acting, well, like cats. After all, it wasn't their fault Ludo couldn't guard the Woods right now.
Juniper uses her illusions and lantern to keep the cats busy while the others build the fire.
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
Delphia watched as Remi faded back into Vi's realm, returning safely to his physical form. She made a mental note that should the two of them be within Vi's realm together once more that she ought to be on high alert for feral Cat Sith. Apparently Remi was far more susceptible to their charms than was safe.
Grey eyes then scanned the wood, following behind her corporeal companions. It seemed Juniper's trick proved invaluably effective, as neither whisker nor hair of any other Cat Sith seemed to be lurking in the shadows. All had made their way to the fairy lights the Fae had cast about. The corners of her eyes crinkled with a smile as she stepped into Vi's realm once again as well, appearing from thin air next to Ronin. "All of the Cat Sith have been gathered here." she reported.
Delphia finds no other cat sith lurking about and reports this to Ronin.
DELPHIA
to cope with the real ones
Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd
Ronin jumps twice - first when Remi comes back to life to whisper into his ear, and second when Delphia simply pops into existence beside him. "Remind me never to let you," he mumbles to his husband, smiling gratefully to Delphia as well. "Thank you for all of your help. Fire it is." Leaving Juniper to go ahead and distract the Cat Siths, he helps to gather the kindling with Remi, piling dead wood into a large stockpile so they might keep the fire going.
And once Remi is ready, Ronin lets his fingertips morph into gold and crimson feathers, using phoenix fire to ignite the kindling. Soon enough, their small embers have become a large, crackling bonfire, and Juniper will be able to let her illusions go. "I think we'll be okay from here. I'll make sure we get a patrol to keep the fire going - once the sun rises again, we can get back to business as usual. Well done, everyone."
