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!
‘The Grounds are shit.’ Is a comment that does burst and break through Sunjata’s questioning and burning thoughts, a snort leaving him. He settles enough to take her information and fears into account, not wanting anyone to be helpless if some danger came their way. So he draws himself up a bit more, scanning her face in the silence after she offers her promise.
He doesn’t know her, but he does know her face now. So if there were some news of an attacker that had started harming the Ascended in the way he’ll explain, well, he knows who to find.
He takes a deep breath and mulls it over a bit longer. “You can still slow them down by breaking things.” He offers, quietly, tilting his head toward her to cast a glance. “Despite not feeling pain, it’ll still spark their sensors and make it difficult for them to follow… If, for example, you broke a leg.” He shrugs, pulling his gaze away from her now to stare at the tree with the knotted face.
get a load of this trainwreck
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.
In a split second the air between them thickened. For the first time, Azure felt genuine threat pressing in from the scarred man. Steely eyes turned clear and focused, and the girl they held in sight became still. Her fingers ceased their roaming over the fresh grass and strings of tension began weaving into her shoulders.
Then he spoke. Like the click of a switch the threat sheathed its edge and the air between them became breathable again. She listened carefully, auburn eyes roaming over the grass as she imagined her foe and how she might break them. For a moment, the weight of that thought marked her face. Instead of an imagined enemy, war-bent and zealous, the image of her Ascended attacker took its place.
Quickly, she made a decision and hesitation cleared from her face, expression becoming calm and resolute. "Alright then," she said, standing up. She brushed the dirt off her clothes and the tension out of her muscles. The girl took a step back and stood in a wide stance facing her instructor. "What's the easiest way to do that?"
His eyes follow her as she moves to stand, as the tension in the air fades despite it building further in Sunjata, but he follows suit. Eventually he’s on his feet as well, the Attuned drawing up his posture and pushes his shoulders back as he regards her. “I’d imagine the legs would be the first step.” He offers her – especially if she’s concerned about being able to run if someone comes her way. “Whatever you’d do to normally break a leg would probably work.” The idea of the Ascended possibly having reinforcements there don’t cross his mind.
“Look around you for any weapons or anything that can be made into one. Sometimes the largest branch can be used to break a leg or an arm.” Provided you hit hard enough with it or knew the right spot in between the joints to get it to pop. So saying, though, the first task is laid out and Sunjata links his hands together behind his back as he watches and waits for her to follow through his instruction.
get a load of this trainwreck
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.
The girl looks at him, and how he suddenly seemed to stand apart from the serene environment. A bunny hopped merrily in the background while her instructor stood cold as a statue. "I don't usually break people's legs." She moved from her spot, searching the ground for a weapon, as instructed. "Do you?", she asked, turning back to look into steely eyes before catching sight of a branch in the corner of her eye. She picked it up, inspected it, and threw it away, finding it too thin.
A thick branch lay in the bushes a few steps ahead. She grabbed it and broke off the excess, spinning it in the air once on her way back, handling it more like a twirling baton than a club. She pointed over her shoulder at the blinded face in the tree trunk. "Mind if I use you for practice instead? Treeman has suffered enough." Azure's tone was as easy as her smile, her stance relaxed. She began to circle her instructor in slow steps. Even when the scar marked man just stood there, Azure's every instinct strongly suggested it was best that she flutter away. Which was why the tree would just wouldn't do. The next time the time comes to choose between fight or flight she has to make the right choice.
She looked at the joints of his limbs, the ways he might reach or avoid. There were a few approaches that appeared likely to make an opponent twist and snap. The thought of it made her roll her shoulders back in discomfort. She waited for confirmation. If it was to come, she'd get in a wide stance, much like a particularly willowy gorilla, grab the stick firmly in both hands and swat at her teacher's leg, as if she was trying to squash a fly on the wall. She'd put her strength into the blow, but it would taper off on the way to its target.
If the approval wasn't to be given, she'd swing half-heatedly at the tree, hitting it with a dull thud.
Her question turned around on him does spark a bit more motion from the statuesque attuned, a small huff of a laugh that leaves him out of pure surprise. “When I have to.” He hasn’t needed to in a while, but it was certainly something they’d learned early on when he became an enforcer – even earlier with his training for the Trials, though far less practiced with it with the uncertainty he’d survive his trial. After that, however, they went full fledged into it.
She finds one, though, and he draws up his posture to watch her when she asks if she can use him instead and he nods – sure that this woman wouldn’t choose to actually break his legs. But practice was practice, and he could take a few bruises at the very least. He’d broken a leg before – granted he was a child, but the piece of metal was still lodged in his leg from the repair – so he’d certainly try to dodge any that came the way of that particular leg.
Which only makes for better training, right?
He offers her a nod, loosening himself up just a bit to be ready to move the second she starts to make her intentions known. With the way she draws the branch back he can tell just where she’s about to go and he lets her get the first shot – not dodging out of the way of it for the first time, feeling the way the branch pops off his calf. “Not bad.” He murmurs, before he turns slightly so she might be able to see his joint a bit better through his pants. “Try to aim for the knees.” He suggests, gesturing toward the backside of his knees because at the very least it would bring him down to them and make it harder to follow up.
“Try again but this time I’ll actually dodge.” He flashes her a small amused smile, straightening himself up again. He watches her with bright steel, waiting to see just where she starts.
get a load of this trainwreck
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.
