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 familiar ocean breeze greeted Lilliane like an old friend as she closed the back door of the restaurant behind her. She was glad to be able to work near the beach, especially during her walk home from work. The ocean had always been calming to her. Sometimes she liked to head to a spot few tourists knew, only to watch the sea while listening to the sounds around her. Waves rolling towards the coast, the unmistakable call of the seagulls and in the distance, the faint buzz of the city.
Today, however, was none of these days. After a long day of work, Lilliane was glad to finally head home and get some rest. She pulled her jacket closer against the slightly chilly wind and headed off towards her apartment. The streets were mostly empty. It would be several hours until the first wave of people would start heading off to their respective workplaces.
Suddenly, the world seemed to swirl in front of her eyes. Disoriented, she stumbled a few steps forward. It felt like gravity had decided to point in all directions and none at the same time. "What-" Lilliane muttered, before losing her balance completely and falling. Everything went black for a second.
Until she hit the floor. Not the paved sidewalk she expected, but... Wood? Her perception of her surroundings returning to normal, Lilliane tried to assess the situation. The first thing she noticed was the smell of the sea. Familiar, yet somehow alien at the same time. Slowly getting up, she looked around, confusion clearly written in her face. Torches lit up night around her, and she seemed to be in a port as far as she was able to see. But this place was clearly not anywhere near home. "What...? How did I...?" Half finished thoughts, muttered without even noticing.
She must have been quite a sight to see, a small, confused young woman staring aghast at the busy port around her. Wearing jeans and a pastel pink jacket, she was certainly out of place in this area as well, even when leaving aside that she was obviously dressed way too warm for this weather.
With Torchline becoming increasingly hostile to Ascended -- or at least that was how it felt, to have the region's Queens so clearly devoted to Safrin -- Cam figured they ought to take what chances they could to enjoy the area before outright war broke out. They'd actually brought some paintings out to try to sell, though they weren't quite satisfied with their work in a non-digital medium yet, and they were just packing up when they spotted a very confused-looking woman in the middle of the street. It took them a second to realize why she looked so out of place. Wait, that's denim. They didn't have denim in Caido, did they? (Jaido, whispered a part of their brain still devoted to memes.)
Cam tucked their paintings under their arms and headed over to her. "Hey! Uh, hi. Um, are you ... lost ... ?"
Wow, this was going to be pretty embarrassing if it turned out she was a Natural and knew the port better than Cam did.
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
11-14-2021, 11:57 AM (This post was last modified: 11-14-2021, 12:00 PM by Lilliane.)
A thousand questions still circling in her head, the sudden realisation of someone talking to her startled Lilliane. She turned around in a quick motion to look at the person who spoke. "Um, hi." she replied before even thinking "I guess? That I'm lost. I guess that I'm lost." Her speech was fast, almost stumbling over the words as she spoke.
Looking at the stranger in front of her, Lilliane took a deep breath. She had to calm down. Whatever was going on, this was a chance to find out. Or at least get back home. Exactly figuring out what happened to bring her here was something she could do once she was somewhere safe. Maybe a police station or something. "I'm sorry, but can you tell me where we are?"
Yeah, this woman was definitely a new Outlander. Cam bit their lip, trying to figure out how best to explain what had just happened to her.
Well, the first thing to do was probably to answer her direct question. "We're in Kaiholo Port, in Torchline." Then ... "So, I'm guessing that you were somewhere completely else a minute ago? That's, uh, that's how I got here too. Not just now! Like a year ago. You're in Caido now, and -- "
Someone jostled Cam, and it occurred to them that a busy street might not be the best place for this conversation. "Hey, do you want to find somewhere a bit more sheltered to talk? There's, uh, kind of a lot. I think you're going to have a lot of questions -- I did when I first arrived."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Even though the stranger did answer her questions, Lilliane felt even more confused. She had never heard of any of these places. Of course, she might not have heard of them before. More interesting however, was the fact that they claimed to have experienced something similar to her a year ago. Then why didn't they leave? Was this some kind of elaborate abduction scheme? Or maybe a cult trying to gather members by confusing and brainwashing them? And was this person part of it or really just trying to help her?
Right now, she wanted to trust this person. If only just to not feel this lost and alone. Whether this was a good idea or not would reveal itself in the future. And they had a point. Glancing around, Lilliane realised the two of them were not only partially blocking the path, but also starting to gather some attention. "I think that's a good idea. I, uh, do you know somewhere we can go?"
11-15-2021, 03:37 PM (This post was last modified: 11-15-2021, 03:38 PM by Cameron.)
"Um, I'm not too familiar with the area, but ..." Cam glanced down the street, trying to think of a good place to take this woman -- somewhere that wouldn't overwhelm her. "I think there's a cafe down here. I hope it's still open."
Leading the woman down the street -- at least, they hoped she would follow -- Cam looked for the sign of the nice place where they'd eaten lunch. Due to Kaiholo Port's active nightlife, it was still open, though most of the activity now seemed to be at the bar. That was fine by Cam; they grabbed a quiet table and waved to one of the staff.
Now they could finally turn to the new Outlander, and their explanations. "So, this is Caido. It's, uh, another world than where you come from. I'm guessing you're from Earth? Not everyone is, but your clothes look ..."
Cam's own clothes were completely Caido-sourced today, but they almost wished they were still wearing their Earth stuff. They'd mostly put it away so that they blended in a little better. Oh, but they had -- they pulled their backpack off their back, showing it to the woman. It was still an Earth model, quite modern. Also, while they had it here, they might as well store their paintings inside.
"Um, basically people get zapped to Caido by magic, and there's no way back," Cam said, while carefully sliding the paintings into their backpack. In another pocket they had the trinkets they'd managed to trade other pieces of art for. They realized, belatedly, that they were not breaking this news gently, and that the woman probably wouldn't believe them.
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
That's a nice, warm, Caido welcome you're giving there Cameron. Be a shame if someone were to ruin it with the rough shenanigans that Torchline is known for.
And the captain of shenanigans himself (it's a working title, alright?) has just swaggered into the nice place that Cam has been for lunch. He's not there for any such thing, of course, given the time of day and what Jack's all about.
Indeed, he heads straight to the busy bar, knocking whatever quiet tables might be in his way as he goes past. And if one of those tables happens to be the one where Cam and Lilliane are sitting? So be it.
Either way, upon arriving at the bar, Jack leans across the counter to get the bartender's attention. And when the man turns to face him, Jack punches him right across the face.
And that's how one of Torchline's first bar fights of the evening begins.
full speed ahead 'til i'm dead
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
Lilliane followed the stranger down the street and into the establishment, which she wasn't yet sure whether it was a cafe or a bar or something in-between. As she sat down at the table, she thought she thought she was ready for whatever the stranger would tell her. Which, as became apparent, was not the case.
"Another world..." she muttered, clear disbelief in her tone, "by magic..." As she did so, she stared at the stranger with wide eyes. This had to be some weird cult after all. Maybe this was their scheme, abducting people and then making them believe they were in some kind of fantasy world.
"Um, I'm sorry, I-" Already about to get up and leave, she was interrupted by the table suddenly being knocked over and almost taking her down with it. Gathering her bearings, she now saw the man who had knocked the table over punching the bartender.
For a moment Lilliane simply stared at the scene unraveling before her at the bar. Blinked twice. Then stared at the person she had been talking to. Then back to the Bar. "What the fuck?" Another statement made mostly without realising.
Looking back at the person she had been speaking to, she said: "I, uh, we, uh, I should leave." To be honest, right now she wasn't sure whether she wanted to stick around with this stranger or not.
"Hey!" Cam said when Jack knocked over their table, their self-preservation instincts somewhat low -- but then they'd never been in a bar fight before. Or any kind of fight, really. They didn't hang out in bars much.
When Jack punched the bartender in the face, Cam sucked in a breath. What was that for? Well, it definitely wasn't worth sticking around to find out. Turning to Lilliane, they agreed, "Yeah, we should go."
They pulled their backpack on and headed for the exit, scowling slightly at Jack. "Sorry," they said to Lilliane. "This was not what I intended."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
What was it for? Stick around, find out maybe. Or don't - Jack doesn't much give a fuck, to be frank. He's busy hopping over the bar while someone pulls someone else's hair, a bottle of liquor is smashed, another is stolen and someone has used the ruckus as an excuse to get revenge on Jack-doesn't-really-care. Indeed, while the fight he's started really gets going, he's rummaging around beneath the counter until he finds what he's come here for.
A box, as it happens; wooden, battered, and rather out of place in a bar like this, Jack tucks it under his arm and shoulders his way back out and through the fray. And with bloody knuckles and a smug smile on his face, Jack decides that it's about time he made himself scarce too. "S'cuse me, loves," he mutters as he ambles between Cameron and Lilliane as if he hasn't completely upended their evening.
full speed ahead 'til i'm dead
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
Once again following Cameron, Lilliane turned her back to the bar and the fight which started to spread among the people like a virus. To be fair, violence had the tendency to be even more contagious than most illnesses, she thought to herself. A thought only half realised before being pushed aside for more pressing matters.
Like the guy who started the whole fight suddenly brushing past between her and Cameron. Instinctively, she took a step aside to get some distance from him. Taking a look at him, she couldn't help but realise the box he was carrying. He didn't have that earlier, right? Out of the fray almost as quick as he started it, the brawl continuing behind him. A diversion? Certainly a smart approach.
"Do things like these happen often... here?" she asked Cameron quietly. Lilliane still didn't believe a word of the whole magic and other world explanation they had given her. But for now this seemed to be the only person at least somewhat interested in helping her.
Cam scowled at Jack but made no attempt to stop him on his way out. As far as they were concerned, the farther away that guy got, the better.
As for Lilliane's question ... "Well, this is Torchline. Specifically, Kaiholo Port. It's kind of one of the rougher areas of Caido. Not a great place to be at night -- I was just getting ready to head back to the Hollowed Grounds when I saw you. That's where I live. It's, uh, on the other side of the continent, but we have portals that can get us there instantly."
Cam was ready to head for the portal, actually; they had a feeling that the port would only get more chaotic as the night got later. Starting to walk in that direction -- and hoping Lilliane would follow -- they sighed. "I wouldn't even be out here in the evening at all if it weren't for my little disagreement with the sun."
They'd spoken almost to themself, not considering that Lilliane would have no idea what they meant. Cam had actually been in Caido long enough, and had Ascended long enough ago, that at times, avoiding sunlight felt like second nature to them.
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
It was true that port towns had a tendency to attract all kind of shady clientele. Lilliane should have probably expected something along the lines of what happened earlier, especially at night. Somehow, knowing this was kind of like what she knew gave her a feeling of familiarity. It felt like things were a bit more normal now.
Until Cameron mentioned portals. First magic, now portals. The things Cameron said started to get less and less believable by the minute. Then again, she would at least be able to see how serious they were about their – whatever their scheme was.
Starting to follow Cameron, she barely even noticed their comment about the sun. Thinking about portals and long-distance travel had brought another thing to mind. Why did she not think about that until now?! Checking the usual pocket of her jacket and feeling only emptiness, Lilliane checked all other pockets frantically. "My phone's gone." she then exclaimed, in part frantically yet in part resigned. Realising that she had lost her way to contact someone she knew felt like losing another tether to safety. Yet at the same time, it was to be expected that whomever brought her here had taken her phone as well.
Cam winced when Lilliane discovered her missing phone. "Yeah, no technology makes it through the journey here. When I got here, my phone and laptop were bricked. Weird that it just disappeared, though ..."
They shrugged. The mysteries and vagaries of Caido ... They would always wonder why the portals chose the people they did. It was supposed to be people who could help the Voice, right? So why had so many Outlanders sided against her?
As they got closer to the portal, Cam hesitated. "Do you want to come with me to the Hollowed Grounds? It's pretty cold there right now."
Though Cam wasn't dressed for the cold, since they couldn't feel it anyway.
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
