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!
Stepping out of the portal, Cameron saw the wasteland of the Outskirts with new eyes -- as Lilliane might see it, as they'd seen it so long ago when first arriving in Caido. It looked horrible. Barren, almost blasted, dominated by the ominous Spire ... Cam had a feeling that Lilliane would not be thrilled with this first glimpse of the Hollowed Grounds. Damn. Maybe they should have thought about that before bringing her here.
Well, too late now. Cam turned back to the portal, waiting for Lilliane to arrive. They hoped she hadn't gotten lost. It wasn't that hard to misstep inside a portal, after all ...
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Lilliane was visibly relieved when she saw Cameron on the other side of the portal. At least she didn't take a wrong turn or something. Taking a closer look at her surroundings, the feeling of relief washed away just as quickly. It looked like a wasteland, left behind by something horrible a long time ago. Barren, empty... hollow. "The name does fit the place." she muttered, more to herself than to Cameron.
Yet when Cameron talked about the place earlier, they seemed be fond of it. There must be something more to this place than just this wasteland. "Thanks for waiting for me." she said with an apologetic smile. "I uh, had to get my shoes."
"Yeah, I know," Cam replied with a bit of a wince, looking around. "It's not all like this, I promise. But the portal's all the way out here ... We have a bit of a walk to get to the settlement, unfortunately."
They started down the road towards the settlement, waiting for Lilliane to follow. Waving away her thanks, they said, "No worries. Probably better not to show up here barefoot."
As they moved down the road, Cam kept talking -- they weren't exactly a taciturn person. "This is where I showed up when I first got zapped into Caido -- did I say that already? It was pretty weird. I thought I was dreaming at first, but I'm kind of a lucid dreamer -- usually I know ... Anyway, if this is a dream, it's a really long and weirdly cohesive one."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Following Cam down the road, Lilliane nodded. "At first I thought I'd been abducted and this is some kind of sect trying to abduct and brainwash people. But I don't think anyone would be able to fake these portals. A dream was my next idea too, but I also think it's too cohesive. And even if it's one, there's no harm in treating it like it's real."
A slight smirk appeared on her face when asking the next question. "Then again, if it's a dream, am I just a creation of your dream or are you a fabrication of mine?" A question people could – and probably have – write philosophical essays about. But in the end, it didn't really matter. What mattered was to live a good life, regardless of whether it may be in a dream or reality. In a movie she'd never get the role of a hero, since she would never go against the matrix just because, Lilliane thought with a chuckle.
"But does that happen often? People just being spirited away to this place?"
Cam nodded, entirely willing to entertain the hypothesis that Caido wasn't real. Though ... "See, I have a pretty good imagination, but I don't think I could come up with a dream this detailed -- or long. I've been here for over a year now, so that would be a hell of a nap." They chuckled, adding, "If it's a brainwashing cult, consider me pretty well brainwashed. But this place is big -- you couldn't hide it somewhere. Unless it was VR, maybe, or like ... the Matrix."
It hadn't occurred to Cam before that Caido might just be the Matrix, a simulated world in which their mind had become ensnared. (Nor did Cam realize that Lilliane's thoughts had also tended in that direction.) The idea was kind of compelling, actually. But in that case: "I mean, if you live in a simulation that's functionally indistinguishable for reality, then doesn't it just become your reality? You still have to live in it. Like, who's to say that Earth as we know -- knew -- it wasn't a simulation too? Maybe it's Matrices all the way down."
Oh, but Lilliane had questions. To the first one, Cam replied, "Well, that would depend on which of us is doing the dreaming, wouldn't it? Like, I have no way to definitively prove to you that I exist as a separate entity and not a figment of your imagination, since you can't read my mind -- and, I mean, Wessex can do telepathy and I still don't think she can technically prove that, since I could have just imagined her telepathic abilities. You'd have to be able to, I don't know, experience my consciousness ..." They trailed off, realizing they'd gotten distracted. "Uh, anyway. Yeah, people actually show up here from other worlds pretty often. We're called Outlanders. It's because of some magic, or, uh, technology? From the Voice. The Voice is one of the gods here. She set up the portal system, and she made it so that sometimes the portals pull in people from other worlds."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Brows furrowed in deep thought, Lilliane nodded. "Well, but if we want to go that far down the rabbit hole, I don't think there is any way to prove this is not a dream of either of us. For example, imagine you could experience someone else's consciousness. You might just as well be dreaming that you are able to experience their consciousness as well." A thought which might be somewhat unnerving.
Then again, it was a matter of whether the question of reality was even relevant. "But I like what you said there. If you live in a simulation - or dream – that's functionally indistinguishable for reality, doesn't it become your reality. I think that's true. And instead of thinking that which seems to be reality for me might not be reality after all, I'd rather make the best of the one I have."
Speaking of making the best of her new situation, she should probably try and understand more about it first. "And why are we pulled here? I doubt the voice does it out of boredom, otherwise you wouldn't call yourself one of her followers after being dragged here."
Cam nodded at Lilliane's assessment of the situation. "We really don't have any way to establish an objective reality. But we just have to live in the world we perceive, whether it's 'objectively real' or not."
They opened their mouth to ask what "real" even meant, anyway, then figured that they'd gone far enough into philosophy already. Instead they focused on answering Lilliane's question.
"The Voice is under attack. First the Old Gods created the barrier and trapped everyone inside just to 'quarantine' her, and now they're threatening war." The condemnation in Cam's voice was obvious; they definitely weren't a neutral party to give this information. "The Voice can remake someone's body -- it's called being Ascended. I Ascended because I was kind of dying, and no the Old Gods want to destroy me for it."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Lilliane nodded to Cam's explanations. While she was aware that they were no neutral party in this matter, it mattered to her what they thought. It was their view of the world after all. And even though she would have to ask many people to form her own opinions, for now it was a way to get to know more about Cam as well.
"So you were dying and the voice saved you by ascending you?" she asked, well aware that this might be a sensitive topic to Cam. After all, nearly dying might have been a traumatic experience.
"Ascended. It's usually a term used for someone or something which is either a higher being, sometimes through evolution and sometimes because they were made them that way. Or it's used for someone who has gone further towards enlightenment than others." she continued on, attempting to leave them an option to disregard the previous question and continue on with this trail of thought.
Cam pursed their lips at Lilliane's question. It wasn't that they minded talking about it, really, but they did have to kind of reconsider the exact wording they'd used. Dying was a little dramatic, even if it was mostly true. "Well, see, on Earth I was on medication that made my life ... livable." They didn't really want to specify that it was psychiatric medication, that it kept their brain chemistry running smoothly. "But here, that medication doesn't exist. So I went to the Voice for help. Now that I've Ascended, I don't need the medication anymore."
When Lilliane defined Ascended, Cam gave a little shrug. "I mean, I don't think most Ascended think of ourselves as 'higher life forms' or anything. Maybe the Voice does ... " They sounded uncomfortable with the concept. "And there are a lot of advantages to being Ascended, but some disadvantages too. Like, I can see in the dark and I don't have to eat or sleep, but I also can't go out in sunlight."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
"I see. I forgot that there might be problems because of differences in medical advancements when being brought to a different world." Thinking about it, it almost felt like Cam was blackmailed into ascending by being brought into this world in the first place. At least if Cam was brought here on purpose, knowing about their need for medication. "You said the voice made it so that people are spirited away to this world. Does she choose them, or is it random?"
To Cam's other point, Lilliane replied with a shrug as well. In the end, they would only ever be able to guess at the true intentions of others. But since Cam seemed uncomfortable with the idea, she decided to drop it. "Darkvision, no need for sleep and food, but vulnerable to sunlight. Sounds a lot like a vampire to me." she said, somewhat jokingly yet serious at the same time.
"Yeah ..." It could have been worse, Cam thought. They could have been someone who relied on a pacemaker to keep their heart going, or needed dialysis to stave off kidney failure. But the Voice could have fixed those problems too, right? As long as they'd gotten to her before they actually died. "I'm pretty sure it's random. Or ... I think I heard that the spell was supposed to look for people who could potentially help the Voice, but I don't think she, like, individually chooses us or anything. Plenty of Outlanders have ended up on the other side, after all." Cam sounded a little bitter about that. They understood that not everyone who wound up in Caido was thrilled to be here; what they couldn't wrap their head around was how people could come into a new world and just accept its prejudices as their own.
Lilliane's comment made Cam laugh. "Yeah, I didn't even get into the blood-drinking yet. We're basically, like, tech-based vampires. Oh -- don't worry. We don't have to drink blood or anything; I'm not going to, like, try to drink yours. I've never actually done it, to be honest."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
01-04-2022, 05:20 PM (This post was last modified: 01-04-2022, 05:40 PM by Lilliane.)
An eyebrow raised, Lilliane asked: "So I'm someone who can potentially help the Voice? I'm not sure if I can fill that role." To be honest, she wasn't even sure if she wanted. "So far, I've found that once things turn into their side and our side, nobody is happy in the end. Not even those who 'won' the conflict." She shook her head, a tired expression on her face.
"But before I make any decision in this old gods – new gods situation, I want to listen to both sides. Preferably several accounts. It's not that I don't believe you." She gave Cam a warm smile. "I know that you believe in what you said. But right now I only have a very one-sided picture and damning anyone because of it would not be okay."
On the note of the vampire topic, Lilliane laughed as well. "Tech-based vampires, sounds interesting. But if you don't have to drink blood, yet you can, what does it do?"
Cam chuckled a little at Lilliane's response. "Yeah, I get it. I think the Voice's 'help' detector might need a little fine-tuning. Uh, not to say that you aren't capable or anything -- I was thinking of myself. Since I got here, it's been the Voice helping me, not the other way around. Though I would like to repay her."
The mention of conflict made them sober up. "Yeah. Things are already pretty far gone here. It's ... I don't see why we have to fight at all, honestly, but apparently the Old Gods are dead set on it."
They glanced over at Lilliane. "I understand completely. Honestly, if you picked a side after just talking to me, I'd be kind of worried. Definitely talk to both sides! But if you only remember one thing I've said: the Old Gods want us all dead, and we just want to be left alone. You can ask someone on the other side and they'll say the same thing, that they want to annihilate us just for existing. To me, that automatically puts them on the wrong side, no matter who they're trying to exterminate."
Cam smiled at Lilliane's laughter, though the thought of drinking blood did actually make them a bit uncomfortable. "Apparently when we drink someone's blood, we can ... use their powers. Some people here have magic, or can shape-shift, and we can copy those abilities if we drink their blood."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Lilliane nods. "Then again, it's a god we are talking about. Maybe her search methods take the future into account and we will both play a role in the future. Or it checks for our potential to change the status quo, but it can't detect in which way we will change it."
On the topic of fighting, Lilliane became more serious as well. "So both the old Gods and their followers want you guys dead. I wonder what they'll say when I ask them about it. If they truly say that they want to annihilate you, the reason why will be interesting to know."
As she continued talking, she seemed a bit embarrassed. "I know it sounds stupid, having just arrived here and being just some normal person, but if anything I'd like to find the reason for this conflict and resolve it. Of course, after such a long time of animosity, people won't immediately let it drop once the underlying reason has vanished. But I think it would be the first step towards mending things."
"I see. So it's something to use if you're in grave danger, but people probably don't do it often since I doubt it's well perceived by non-Ascended." Lilliane made a short pause. "So tech-vampires, shapeshifters, and mages. Anything else I need to know about the people of this world?"
