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!
(As this is a plot-approved thread, the dragon rolling will be done slightly differently. Do not take this as precedent!)
It takes almost no time at all for the skyboat to sail over the Cordillera mountain range. The captain held his tongue at every juncture where he might have otherwise suggested turning back. With Cian on board, he knew there would be no use.
When the boat finally landed, the Eye was quick to bark orders that the crates were to be unloaded first. Already the calls of dragons could be heard overhead, and Cian was ready to remind the crew that if they wanted to leave with their lives, they would hurry. Opening first the crate with a heavily sedated Lily, Cian motioned for Gideon to give him a hand. "Attach her to these." He instructs, nodding toward a plank with wheels on it. The plan was clearly to strap her down and give the device a shove, thus sending Lily careening through the open meadow where she could pull the attention of the dragons.
There hardly needed to be any kind of announcement when they arrived in the Cordillera; the atmosphere that sunk down around them told Gideon they were there. The sounds of the dragons on the wind and something wild and new in the air. It was as terrifying as it was exciting and when they touched down, he was ready to get off the ship and move off some of the energy in his limbs.
The device Cian instructed him to help with was crude and almost offensive in it's disrespect - or at least, it would have been, had Gideon thought the Ascended more than machinery that ran past it's due termination date. "Alright. How many do we have in total?" He asked as he busied himself with the work, strapping Lily into the device and making sure the attachments were tight enough.
"Enough to make our way to the lighthouse." Cian replied, looking up towards the mountain pass where high above a beacon stood. It looked not unlike how the Spire had, before it had been broken in half. It was a few hours away to be sure, but they were closer to it than anyone else had been in several hundred years.
Once Lily was strapped in, Cian turned her before appraising the sky. Adjusting her angle, it's only when he's quite satisfied that he gives her a hard shove, sending her flying down into the alpine meadow below. Bouncing about, but stabilized by the large wheels, the former musician and entertainer only made it a few dozen meters or so before a massive red dragon swooped down from the skies. Lily's coppery hair was engulfed in flames as the creature roasted her, before landing to feed.
"Welcome to the Draig Cordillera." Cian murmured with an ominous grin. "Now, let's get the next one out." The next one of course, was Mabel.
"I hope we find what we need there." Gideon said grimly, following Cian's eyeline to the structure ahead. A prayer mumbled under the breath was all he added as he watched Lily's descent into the valley; it crossed his mind that this was in a bizarre way, a kind of offering.
With a huff of air from his nose the only acknowledgement of Cian's comment, he went to open the box that contained Mabel, undoing the straps and locks that held it in place. Privately, he wondered if it was a good idea to send out all their bait now, if they shouldn't walk a while then release another, but Cian was the leader here - if the plan didn't work, Gideon had no qualms about rushing away with the use of his compass.
Pushing the lid open, he reached in to grab Mabel.
Dragons roared and wings fluttered and for once her heart might have skipped a beat; but in fear, in terror, in horror. Her mind couldn’t quite keep up with what was going on – the releasing of straps, the clanking of movement, of motion, but enough to know it wasn’t good.
Would dread trap her again? As it had done on the ocean? Would she dangle lifelessly around the world, with nothing left to her name, but some rage and half-hopes?
One last effort, one last hurrah. Please, she pleaded to Wessex, in one of those daring times where she’d beg, as Gideon reached in.
As she attempted to attack, assault, launch, and do whatever she could do to destroy him. “Piece of shit,” she howled, thinking, maybe, just maybe, it’d buy enough time.
dont know where the lights are taking us but something in the night is dangerous
In a perfect world, Wessex would have saved everyone; but the fact is that she can’t and Mabel is the one she’s here for.
Sporting her shadow cloak and some fox ears in an effort to remain partially shifted, Wessex follows slowly Cian and Gideon and Mabel and the rest of the boxes, willing them to see nothing and hear nothing but the rocks and snow and wind behind them, should they care to look back.
A redhead is set free - and dies a death as fiery as her life might have been, if she’d been allowed to live.
And then comes Mabel and the General knows she can’t allow her to be strapped to the contraption. She needs a distraction. I’m coming up behind you, use the bird to get free and then run back towards the ship and I'll catch you. From the left comes a summoned Minokawa (attack the men, it's told), heading straight for the two Stormbreakers. Diving at them with outstretched talons and razor sharp bits, she hopes it’s enough of a threat to make Gideon release Mabel in the name of self-preservation and for Wessex to reach her in time.
A large metal bird sparks to life, flying toward Cian and Gideon. Spitting a curse under his breath, the Eye spins, blue eyes blazing. "Oh I don't think so." He all but growls, hurling the lighter in his pocket at the bird. His handy dandy knowtbook had told him all about Wessex's summoned creatures. Prudent to his situation now, was that they were very killable.
The lighter strikes the summoned beast, causing it to disappear.
Unable to see Wessex for her cloak, Cian narrows his eyes. Overhead a purple dragon appears. Long and ribbon-like, it hurls down directly towards the Wraith, invisible though she might be. Striking Wessex with all the impact of a feather, the demigod will find herself transported 15m away. Not terribly far, but farther than she'd like to be from Mabel, we can be sure. At least now she knows that dragons, or this purple one at least, have some way of sensing her.
I'm the lesser of two evils
Or am I, am I tricking myself nice?
"If only you knew how we were saving you." Gideon mumbled sadly as he shuffled to get Mabel up, hooking his arms under hers and preparing to turn - it was then that he heard Cian curse and turned around, expecting trouble and lifting Mabel out in the movement too, fully prepared to use her as a shield for whatever it was.
He wasn't expecting a metal bird and once the danger was passed, he frowned and shook his head, looking to Cian. "Ascended." Hopefully, they'd be dissuaded from any further attempts after seeing how easily they were defeated, how clear the superiority of those blessed by the Old Gods was. Gideon was about to carry Mabel to the wheel when in a flurry of purple scales and pushed air, a dragon touched down close by.
"Gods! We need to move quickly." Gideon insisted, taking Mabel towards the restraints and nervously checking over his shoulder towards the dragon, not seeing it's target.
If I'm a lesser of two evils
Who's this man, who's this act I hide behind?
Suddenly stronger than anything Gideon will have felt before, Mabel will shove her way out of his arms. Filled with strength that defies the weakness she should be feeling, her eyes will begin to glow an electric blue, as a familiar voice will fill her mind. I've got you, my bright one. The Voice whispers, inserting herself into Mabel's consciousness and taking over the woman's body.
With a shove that is hard enough to send Gideon to his knees, Mabel will round on her heels and point an accusatory finger in Cian 's direction. "Long has it been since we've been face to face, Cian. You've gotten old." Mabel's voice has become clipped as it merges with the Voice's own.
Electricity snarls from her fingertips. "Your tower of bones is about to crumble. And it's going to start with you." Stretching out her hands as if trying to brace herself against a gale-force wind, lightning glows from between Mabel's palms before blasting out towards the Eye. Striking him squarely in the chest, he is so quickly overloaded by the surge that there is no time for parting words or last lingering looks.
He is cooked from the inside out; the smell of his singed eyelashes fills the air.
..come..home.. Mabel will hear, the Voice's words weak in her mind, as she uncouples herself from the ascended.
You cannot have me she beckoned to herself, and all in an instant, the power surged through her. Never before had anything pressed into her veins the way the Voice had now; pulsing, unwinding, maddening, blinding, unrelenting, and it was all she’d ever craved. Ever wanted.
Her actions were not her own, but perhaps they might as well have been. The anger, the hostility, the need for vengeance were all there anyway, ready for the ferocity, for the vehemence. The words were just words – but the actions, oh they were glorious.
Lightning, infernal fires, damnation pervading through her senses, and she was there for all of it, watching from beyond – until it was done and awe-inspiring and that asshole was gone. One down.
And then the sudden exhaustion as the Voice pulled away, and she couldn’t beg for the goddess to stay. Thank you she uttered, crumbling to the deck of the ship.
dont know where the lights are taking us but something in the night is dangerous
First her bird goes down and then she's suddenly fifty feet away and spluttering, too far from Mabel to do enough good. With a quick glance to the sky for any other dragons, Wessex starts to run back towards the trio. And she would have kept running except for the small fact that Mabel’s eyes and voice light up- and goddess, she'd know that energy and that voice anywhere.
Her gut and her heart cheer, silently riding the crest of this emotional wave. Cian (and she knows him but not his name, she remembers his face from the Grounds) falls, almost as crispy as the woman he killed earlier. Then Mabel… Mabel goes down too and her feet are moving of their own accord. She cries out and reaches for something to punish the one person still standing. To exact her promised revenge.
Running headlong towards Gideon, the demigod hurls the chakram at him, willing it to strike deep and true.
------------------
Wessex attacks Gideon with:
Leviathan Chakram (Upgraded): An unbreakable chakram created from the scale of a leviathan by the Voice. With razor-sharp edges, this discus will always return to the hand of whoever throws it, and will always do so without injuring the hands of the thrower.
The chakram flies, and only the magic of being involved in this plot saves Gideon's life. Ordinarily, one attack like this from Wessex would be enough to kill him. As it is, the blade will sing through Gideon's clothing giving the Priest a large scar on his bicep he'll be able to talk about in months to come. That is if he's clever and gets out while the plot magic is still on him.
From the sky comes a new dragon: lacklustre, it appears almost small compared to the others. Only about the size of a small car (some moose are larger than it is), it is a faded grey colour. With a stare towards Mabel, the creature drops like a flash. No sooner has it touched her does her body grow stiff and lifeless. Sucking out whatever electronic soul she might possess as one might suck out the marrow of a bone, the creature chirps, and takes wing.
Now concludes the everyone-is-safe portion of this thread. If Gideon doesn't use his compass to leave, Wessex's attacks will be rolled with regular damage. Similarly, if Wessex stays (perhaps to loot Cian's body?) dragons will attack. There is a 1/6 chance of instant death with the dragons. For a demigod, this means being "off-line" for a season.
She didn’t see the chakram fly. Didn’t see it miss.
She didn’t hear the dragon, coasting above them all.
All she had, in those last few moments, was the satisfaction of the power she’d always sought. And though it hadn’t been hers, not really, not truly, at least she’d known it. Touched it. Felt it. That was enough.
And maybe there’d been a use for her, after all.
Now Mabel could finally go home – not to her parents, who’d always kneeled and prayed to those who’d ignored them. Not to her siblings, who’d strived so hard and couldn’t hold it together any longer. But to her sister, waiting for her somewhere in the wings of this foolish glory. And to the Voice, who’d ensured her last moments hadn’t been in vain. One last malicious little smile curled over her, and then she was gone.
I'm the lesser of two evils
Or am I, am I tricking myself nice?
The next moments flashed by and yet somehow went unbearably slowly, Gideon watching in horror as the Voice seemed to slip right into Mabel's body (he'd known this was her plan, to fully control them from the inside out) and kill Cian with such ease he wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it himself.
He didn't have time to mourn or plan, another Ascended immediately descending upon him; Gideon barely even noticed as a dragon took what was left of Mabel, jumping back and trying to commit Wessex's face to memory in the seconds it took for him to grab his compass and use it.
Gideon was a lot of things: overzealous, angry, passionate...but he wasn't stupid. As much as he wanted to indulge his fantasies of becoming a flaming warrior for the Old Gods, enacting righteousness on this grand stage, he knew it wasn't to be. Not now, and not with this Ascended. As he activated the magic he cried out as pain blossomed over his arm, the sound cut short as he disappeared.
--
Gideon uses his compass to teleport back to Stormbreak.
If I'm a lesser of two evils
Who's this man, who's this act I hide behind?
