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!
How could Cam resist the urge to explore somewhere called the Bone Bridge? They half-expected a span of skeletons, elaborate constructions of ribs and femurs, topped, of course, with staring skulls.
The reality isn't exactly disappointing, though. Cam gazes out over the scene: the spindly, bleached bridge crossing the great gorge, its bottom disappearing into misty shadows. They go over to the edge, carefully peering down, but they can't make out anything in the depths. "Wow."
Retreating from the cliff, Cam sits down, pulls out their sketchbook, and begins to draw the shape of the bridge, wanting to capture this arresting scenery. They don't even realize they're humming to themselves as they do it.
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Darkeye had many things in his mind when he walked there. He needed some privacy. So he walked where he expected no other people. He wanted to see if he could find a good stone to work with. So he was here. He heard about the bleached stone that looked like bones.
He needed a big one and had to understand how that stone would talk to him. After a long walk, he heard a humming sound and tried to locate it. Roughly twenty meters away from Cam. Until now he had scared many people that way when he had walked closer to them. He took his spear in both hands and made himself ready to fight. He took a sharp breath "Hello who are you?" He was ready to get attacked.
At first Cam was too engrossed in their drawing -- and humming -- to notice footsteps approaching. It wasn't until Darkeye spoke that they looked up, jumping a little -- and then they jumped a lot more to see him advancing upon them with a spear. In fact, they leapt to their feet, almost dropping their sketchbook.
"Uh, hello!" they said, voice on the edge of panic. They'd been attacked in isolated places before, and they were already internally cursing themself for letting it happen again. Someday they'd learn not to wander around alone. "I'm Cameron."
They held up their sketchbook and pencil in a placating way. "I'm not looking for a fight or anything."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
02-04-2022, 09:49 AM (This post was last modified: 02-04-2022, 09:50 AM by Darkeye.)
Blackeye
Not the strongest win the battle —
Darkeye saw no treat in that person so he lowered the spear. Darkeye smiled to himself. "I'm sorry, I don't want to scare you. I was just careful if this is a trap or something. Are you all alone here?" He looked around but there seemed to be no direction from where he could be attacked. "I won't harm you. I only defend myself." Darkeye smiled to brighten the mood.
"Kor greets you, Cameron. I'm Darkeye, nice to meet you. I was just wandering and heard you humming. I just wanted to check if this is a trap.
Are you an artist? Do you know Bastien?" Darkeye pointed at the sketchbook in their hands.
Cam relaxed a little when Darkeye lowered his spear, but not totally. They'd learned the hard way that just because someone acted peaceful didn't mean they wouldn't turn on Cam -- especially as a young Ascended. Maybe they should tell Darkeye they weren't alone? But he could see clearly enough that they were. "Uh, yeah, there's no one else here. But ... " Was there a way Cam could deter an attack without making it too clear that they didn't trust Darkeye? No, they couldn't think of one.
Still, Darkeye's words were starting to set them at ease -- especially when he cited a familiar name. "Yeah, definitely no trap here. Who's Kor? I am an artist -- you know Bastien?"
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
A soft smile appeared on Darkeyes lips when he looked at Cam. He put the spear on the ground. And with a slow movement, he took out a small book and a short piece of coal. "All easy young one. I'm an artist too. I seek a good stone to work with, to do a stone sculpture. I heard of the bone bridge. I know it was just stone. But it would have been interesting if it would truly be made of bone." Darkeye smiled as he said so.
"And about the traps, you can never be sure Cameron. I just hope that you don't want to harm me. This world is crazy enough until now. Kor is the god that I serve. Bastien lets me work in his Sanctuary, it is a place where I can find peace until I find a place to live in. A good young man with much potential." Darkeye looked at Cameron the whole time. One wrong move and Darkeye was able to doge.
"Oh!" Cam blinked; they hadn't expected this rugged-looking old man to be an artist as well. But that was a bit biased of them, wasn't it? Shaking that off, they grinned. "Nice! Yeah, I also thought it would be really cool if it was an actual bone bridge, but it's just rock. Not to say that it's not cool-looking, though." They held up their partial sketch of the bridge's shape. "So, what makes stone good for sculpting? Maybe I could keep an eye out for you. I've never really sculpted before, though."
"I don't mean harm to anyone," Cam said, their expression suddenly serious. They understood why Darkeye would have to worry -- hadn't they had the same worry when he appeared? Caido isn't safe right now. "Wait, I've never heard of Kor. Is he one of the heralds?" And here Cam had thought they'd gotten down all the gods of Caido.
"Oh, you've been to the Artist's Sanctuary? I love it there." Cam smiled. "I'm Cameron, by the way."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Darkeye smiled first then started to laugh. After that, he looked at the sketch. "Amazing, young one, amazing. You are a great artist. And for the rock, I must find out how hard the stone is. Is it easy to form it? If it is too easy it's the wrong stone and I could only make a small piece of work. If it's too hard then it can break while I form it. So I need the right stone. It's like finding the right paintbrush for the art. So I need to take the chisel and take a piece of the stone that has the right size to see if I can work with that." Darkeye thought that this was what he doing, but most of the time he just looked at a stone and saw if it was right or wrong.
" A war is coming so no one is safe." Darkeye said it with no anger or serious expression. It's just a fact. "I'm not from here. In the world where I come there is a different pantheon. And I serve Kor. No, he is no herald." Kor would never bow the knee to these gods here, to no god he does that.
"No I've been to the Sanctuary from Bastien. It's a nice place with his little friend. Nice to meet you, Cameron, it's nice to make your acquaintance. I hope I didn't disturb you." Could Bastiens home have been taken away? Could this be?
Cam blushed at the compliment, accepting it with a little duck of their head. "Thank you." They nodded as they listened to Darkeye speak of finding the right stone. "So, do you think this stone will work?" they asked, gesturing at the bridge. "I mean, I guess you have to test it to find out ... Though, I don't know, it just seems like it's too pretty to go chiseling pieces off of." But it was probably OK if Darkeye took only a little piece, right? Cam had a natural inclination against the destruction of natural features, but they didn't want to get in Darkeye's way, or shoot down his own art.
"I know," Cam said, grimacing a little. "I wish it weren't." Listening to Darkeye speak about Kor, though, they brighten a little. "Oh, that makes sense. I'm from a different world too. We had lots of different religions ... "
Another smile. "Yeah, Bastien runs a whole art studio there. Though I think there are plans for a new studio somewhere else ... But he's let me paint there a little too. It's good to meet you too -- and it's OK. You scared me at first, but now I'm glad we're talking. It's always cool to meet a fellow artist."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
"It would be irresponsible if I would take the stone of the bridge. I hoped to find some stone close to here that is out of the same material. The stone for the bridge would not have been carried too far. I think that the same stone is close and that I can use that. If not that, I hope that I find some material that I can use." Darkeye looked around to find out where the stone of the bride could be found.
"What world do you come from Cam if it is allowed to ask? Most of the people wish that this war would never come, even I do. What are these religions and what would they think about all this." Darkeye tried to make a warm smile
Good, Bastien was not in danger. "Of course, it's nice to meet many new people and talented ones too. I hope that I can see some of your work too then. I'm pretty new to this world so I want to be careful and say sorry later. So, sorry Cam."
Cam smiled, comforted by Darkeye's assurance that he wasn't about to just take a chisel to the bridge itself. And Darkeye's assessment was correct: the surrounding stone of the cliff edge was the same bleached color as the bridge, as were the rocks and veins of stone that poked out of the thin topsoil in places. "Cool. If I can help you find anything, just let me know what to look for."
Cam considered Darkeye's questions for a moment. The thought of the war brought their mood down, and as for what Earth's religions would make of it ... "I'm from a world called Earth. It's a lot more, uh, technologically advanced than this one? Kind of. But there's no magic there, and our gods never really ... made themselves known like the ones here did. Like, we had lots of religions with lots of gods, but it was easy to believe they didn't exist, because there were no definite signs of their presence like we have here. You couldn't go and talk to them or anything. And the religions at home ... A lot of them claimed to preach things like love and peace, but they also wanted everyone to follow their god and only their god. We had a lot of religious wars in the past, people killing each other because they followed different gods. Kind of like what's about to happen here." Cam grimaced at the thought.
"Don't worry about it; no harm done." Cam tried another smile. "Yeah, it's good to meet new people -- and I'm especially glad to have met another artist."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Darkeye looked around. "The first thing was to find them, but know I need to transport them down to the Sanctuary. I need a big one for a head. And many big ones for another project. But first I need to find out how well I can work with them. " Darkeye thought for a moment.
"Can you help me Cameron? It is for a good purpose. I try to help Bastien." Darkeye asked kindly and with respect.
“It must be a really hard world then. Religion in can be a very dangerous weapon in the hands of the wrong people. But I must say that in my world people were and still are hunted for their beliefs." Darkeye wasn't happy about this. But anytime he heard people say that a god wants this or that from everyone, he got angry.
Darkeye was honored to be named as an artist. He had not been able to do this work for too long. He smiled at Cam and was truly happy.
"Ooh, a head and other pieces? What kind of project are you working on?" Cam nodded quickly when Darkeye asked for help; they liked helping people, and helping a fellow artist work on something for Bastien appealed to them a great deal. "Sure, just tell me what to do. I'm pretty strong, being ... " Being Ascended and all, they almost said, but they reconsidered at the last minute. Darkeye seemed cool, but they'd been burned before -- literally. Maybe they should just keep that little fact to themself while they were alone with him in the middle of nowhere.
But as Darkeye commented on religion, Cam had to nod. "It seems like people being hunted for their beliefs is universal, no matter what world you're in. Either people say their gods want it, or the gods actually do want it, like the Old Gods here." They stopped there, again unsure if they should allude to their own allegiances -- unsure how Darkeye would react.
Despite those doubts, Cam smiled back at Darkeye, glad to have made a new friend -- even if they weren't completely sure they could trust him.
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
03-02-2022, 11:43 AM (This post was last modified: 05-02-2022, 03:30 PM by Darkeye.)
Blackeye
Not the strongest win the battle —
"I do a favor for Bastien. I want to make a sculpture of his lost wive. So he has a better reminder than his paintings. I need as much of this white stone as we can both carry. We have to bring it to the sanctuary. Maybe I can also use the stone for some other project, chess or something like that. Are you a true follower of the Voice like Bastien, or something else?"
Darkeye grabbed his beard and played with it a little before he started to talk again. "I'm not sure which side is right. I need to find out what is right or wrong. From what I heard the old gods of Caido did many things wrong but I need to hear the other side too. Then I can decide which side I will be fighting for. It could be that I will only fight the gods. I like people if they are like you. I would never fight Bastien, that is for sure. I like him very much."
