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!
Lilliane looked at Cam with a bit of surprise. From what she saw, Cam seemed to be dressed way less fitting to the cold than she was. Either way, she decided to accept it for now. This was something she could find out later. For now, actually heading to – or through – this portal was her main concern. "That's okay. I'd like to come along if you don't mind."
Maybe she would be able to make sense of this situation once she saw these portals. Mostly, she was prepared for this to be some weird device meant to fool people into believing into the story of being spirited away to another world. Though there was that little voice in the back of her head which asked: what if it's true? Especially with how normal Cam made it seem.
Continuing to follow Cam, trusting them to lead the way, Lilliane asked: "The place we're going to, why is it called the Hollowed Grounds? The name sounds like a place you would expect in a video game."
"I don't mind at all," Cam said, smiling. "The Hollowed Grounds took me in when I first arrived in Caido -- I'm sure they would be glad to do the same for you."
At the moment, none of the negative things about the Hollowed Grounds occurred to Cam -- not the barren landscape, not the small population, not the ruined buildings. They just saw it as home, and a welcoming home at that.
"It does, doesn't it?" Cam laughed, then grew more serious. "I'm not sure why it's called that, but if I had to take a guess ... Well, the Hollowed Grounds were enclosed in a barrier for 300 years -- it only came down a few years ago. So from the inside it was all that could be seen, and from the outside it was just this big bubble that no one could enter. I guess that makes it kind of hollow?"
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
"Hmm..." Lilllianes brows were furrowed, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I guess that's a good reasoning." By now, she wasn't even questioning the fact that there was supposedly a barrier. Checking whether the portal was real would reveal the truth.
In the meantime, she decided to ask more about this place. Whichever truth would reveal itself, knowing more might help her one way or another. At the same time, Cam's explanations started to interest her. Worst case scenario, they would be an interesting story to pass the time until they reached their destination. Or maybe they might help her to understand the place she currently found herself in. "You say there has been a barrier on the place for 300 years. But why was it there? And why isn't it there anymore?"
"We're almost to the portal," Cam said, unnecessarily, as they approached it: a mirror-like structure that displayed a cloud-like landscape within, one without sky, ground, or horizon. "From here it's just a couple steps to the Grounds."
Cam nodded at Lilliane's questions -- perfectly logical inquiries, and ones that they were happy to be able to answer, though they did have to try to filter out what would make sense to someone completely new to Caido. Not to mention what Lilliane would actually believe. "There was a war 300 years ago, a war between the gods. The Old Gods put the barrier in place to contain the Voice, who had just risen to godhood, and her followers, the Ascended. It took 300 years for the Voice's followers -- and everyone else trapped in the bubble -- to bring it down."
Yes, that seemed like a good summary.
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The portal was easily recognizable once it came into view. Even though Lilliane was still listening to Camerons words, her eyes were glued to the structure in front of her. It was only when Cameron finished talking that she returned her focus to them, looking at Cameron again. "Well, locking away problems has never actually solved them. These gods should have known that a barrier like that wouldn't be a solution." Lilliane wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to talk this way about a god, but at this point, she had not even decided whether she believed all this anyway.
"Can you wait here for a moment?" she asked Cameron apologetically. "There's something I need to check." Saying this, she took off her shoes and socks, leaving them on the ground next to Cameron. After this, she walked into the shallow water next to the portal, circling around it to get a look at it from all sides. This thing seemed thin. Way too thin for any tricks or secret compartments. Nothing hidden at the back. It really looked like a mirror reflecting a cloud-like landscape from both sides.
Having gone full circle, she arrived next to Cameron again, staring at the portal with furrowed brows. She didn't want to believe it. All of this didn't fit in her view of the world, existence as a whole. But if this thing really worked, that would mean everything Cameron said was true. Lilliane wasn't even sure whether she wanted to find out. "I guess we can go?" It was more like a question rather than a statement.
"Yeah, I guess they should have known the barrier would come down eventually," Cam said. Since they had long since aligned themself with the Voice, they had no problem slandering the Old Gods. "But I mean ... Their plan B isn't exactly great either. Uh, plan B is 'go to war and slaughter all the Voice's followers.' People like, well, me."
Cam waited patiently while Lilliane investigated the portal, though they did chuckle a little. Her skepticism made sense; from an Earth perspective, Caido didn't make any sense. It was probably weirder that Cam themself had accepted appearing here so quickly, honestly, but then Cam had spent a good portion of their childhood waiting for some magical adventure to whisk them away, so perhaps they'd been more open to the idea when it actually happened.
"Yeah, let's go on in," Cam said. "Oh -- I don't know if we'll be able to see each other inside the portal, but you just want to step in the direction that says 'Hollowed Grounds.'"
With that, Cam entered the portal, stepping into the misty landscape within. Without hesitation, they headed for the Grounds.
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
12-09-2021, 06:57 PM (This post was last modified: 12-09-2021, 06:57 PM by Lilliane.)
The fact that Cameron walked right into the portal and vanished when walking through was yet another proof that all of this was actually true. Lilliane would have suspected to be dreaming, but as strange as it may sound, all of this made too much sense to be a dream. Too many details, too many connections. It seemed that she would have to accept this as a reality. If she was able to.
Lilliane was about to follow right after Cameron when she realized she was still barefoot. Stopping for a moment to put on her socks and shoes, she then stepped in front of the portal. She hesitated for a moment. Within her was the same dreaded feeling one had when sitting in a rollercoaster, looking down at the drop mere moments before it went down. Not quite fear, but a deep-seated uneasiness.
"Here goes nothing." she muttered to herself, stepping inside the portal. Lilliane was not sure what she had expected, but she hadn't anticipated this portalling process to be so... calm? Like stepping through mist and suddenly being in another place. With a signpost. Remembering what Cameron told her, she turned in the direction of the Hollowed Grounds. By now, she wasn't even surprised to find another portal right in front of herself as she did so. With mixed feelings, she stepped through into the Hollowed Grounds.
