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!
Following Ludo’s instructions and directions, Melita pressed her bare feet across the whim and world of Aumakua, only a distant wake from her home. Never one to bumble around cliffs or rock, the youth nimbly, gracefully, managed to whittle her way along the embossed layers and lacquer, listening to the tides hit the shore, blissfully humming with the bags strewn along her grasp. One filled with volcanic rocks and stones from the Angel’s Keep, one carrying ash from Apopo, all meant to settle together into a nest.
Fangorn growled and rumbled behind her, stalwart as ever, and only occasionally did the firebrand lift her eyes and shield them from the sun – grateful for the day, for the moments, of momentary peace. Once she found an appropriate spot, a clutch of other rocks and out of the wind, she crouched down along the ground. “Seems like a good spot, hm?” She mentioned towards the gourd, who replied in an earnest wave of vines and tendrils. From there, she opened the bags, and began to arrange the tectonic pieces.
Darkeye was in a good mood and took a walk near the cliffs. Darkeye wanted to see the cliffs close. As he saw that "Gourd", he was curious about it. Darkeye wondered about that thing and decided to walk closer. He tried to sneak up to it, but it was not possible with all the rocks around him. So he changed plans and tried to find someone that might be able to explain what that thing is. That is why he approached the woman standing next to the gourd. "Hello there I don't want to scare you but what is that thing there?"
Sneaking up on Fangorn might not have been the wisest of choices, and certainly the same could be said for striving the same with his counterpart. A survivor, and far wiser than the rest of his kin, the companion grumbled and rumbled a series of warnings as the firebrand sifted through the rocks, banking them along the sides. Instantly, her face whipped upwards, and a series of possibilities rambled through her mind – the approaching individual very much a stranger – and her eyes went to the other bag, holstered and brimming with weapons.
Her entire body tense and ready, she was surprised when the inquiry launched through – rather than anything else. Brows furrowing slightly, she glanced back to the sentient pumpkin, who seemed to be a matter of curiosity no matter where he roamed. Leaning back from her crouch, hands still fisted over several sharp stones, her gilded stare flickered straight back to the older man. “Fangorn is a vampire gourd. He’s my companion.” Her head tilted vaguely. “Who are you? I haven’t seen you around here before.”
Darkeye stayed where he was. He looked surprised at the gourd and then at the girl. Darkeye tried to look friendly, smiling and raising his hands since it seemed that he disturbed the girl. "Hello there, Kor greet you. I'm Darkeye and I am new to this land. Sorry, but I have to ask, what is a vampire gourd?" Darkeye took a close look at Fangorn. "I would like to talk about Fangorn if that is alright with you? Would you be so kind and tell me who you are young one? Is it okay if I come closer? It's hard to talk like this." Darkeye waited for her to nod or say something so that he could walk closer.
Her eyes narrowed, all suspicion and vehement force, and remaining so even as the man announced and introduced himself. It took a few moments for the tension in her frame to slacken, though her fists didn’t come away from the rocks – molding her fingers carefully over their serrated edges. Her eyes went from Darkeye, and back to Fangorn, protective and unyielding – as there’d been seasons where individuals hunted down his species. “They’re like pumpkins. Only they come alive.” And try to bite ankles, but she left that part out.
Used to being subjected to scrutiny, the aforementioned gourd waved his long vines and tendrils around, but scooted closer to the nest Melita was building. She raised her head, a matter and manner of defiance with the way her chin jutted upwards, promising something justified and quick if necessary. “I’m Melita. And only if you promise not to harm him.”
Darkeye was fascinated by that creature before him. Another example of Caido being a good place for him. Even the vegetables fought back.
Darkeye used his spear to check where he could walk down. After he was closer, he placed it on the ground to show that he only wanted to talk. The inquisitiveness of Darkeye was triggered.
"Hello Melita. I just want to see him closer, if this is fine with you two. I will only defend myself, I mean no harm. And if possible I want to draw him. If this is okay with you Fangorn." Darkeye was still twenty feet away to show his goodwill. He would only come closer if they gave their okay. He tried to see what both were doing.
The spear didn’t do him any favors, not until he placed it on the ground. Her eyes narrowed into their dangerous, gilded spectating again, body framed in a gesture of ready and eager fervency, a vehemence stoked in pulses and blood. The answer gave her the slightest moment of pause, breaking away from the potential realm of violence for something far more subdued; arching her brow, giving way to the particulars. “You can draw him.” But the warning hung in the air, silent, on the edges of her defiant gaze – one false move, and Darkeye would have a dagger or bow drawn his way.
The gourd bobbed only slightly closer to the stranger, tendrils and vines waving about – not threatening, but curious, deciding on his own antics. Melita continued to pile more of her rocks, allowing for a circle in the middle, untouched for the moment.
Darkeye took out some of his paper and some drawing coal. He started to draw the gourd. He tried to find a good pose for how to draw him. Without looking away from the paper he started to talk. "Amazing, what a wonderful being. What does it eat? Why should I hurt such a beautiful creature, how do you tame it?" Darkeye was curious and excited again. He loved to see the new things in Caido.
Darkeye tried to read the movements of the gourd. Darkeye could still use his dagger ready if the groud attacked him, but he didn't want to hurt that vegetable. "Do you mind if I ask what you do here in this place?" Darkeye looked over his paper to see what Melita did.
“A lot of people don’t like them around Leafchange,” and here she frowned, eyes going back and forth from the makeshift rock formation, and to Darkeye. “They tend to make a nuisance of themselves then.” She shrugged her shoulders – clearly unbothered, considering the amount of time she’d spent bonded to Fangorn. He’d been an absolute gem, and some of his counterparts simply weren’t. “They’re carnivorous.” Blood, she wanted to laugh and be slightly ominous, opting to watch the pumpkin’s vines twirling around for dramatic effect instead. “I fed him some meat and he stayed.” Simple – nothing complex about the way they’d become a part of each other’s soul.
And here she was, tending to something in hopes of another addition to their party.
The inquiry thereafter though made her raise her head again, for a moment, before snagging at the bag of ash. Gently, carefully, she began to layer it along the stones. “I’m making a nest for a dragon.”
Darkeye looked for a moment and started to laugh. "This makes it clear why they get hunted. If they eat flesh then they kill. I love that creature. But I don't think that Fangorn will attack me, right?" Darkeye tried to draw every detail of Fangorn. Making notes for every detail he saw. "That simple? It's hard to believe but I trust you."
Darkeye dropped the coal and sat there with an open mouth. He shook his head. Darkeye took a deep breath before he took the coal up again and started to talk again. "What kind of dragon is it? You were able to get a dragon egg? Amazing you must be capable of many things."
“Not unless you give him a reason to,” and here she flashed some sentiments of a warning with a Cheshire grin – though it could’ve been the promise of her own actions too. Fangorn had always been an easygoing sort, but they’d also participated in battle together, however haphazardly that might be described or designated. In a rather mischievous movement, the gourd waved his vines around as if he could clutch hold of something, almost teasingly dangling over one of Melita’s many rocks.
She shrugged her shoulders at the mentioned disbelief, but carried on, sifting through her ash, smoothing it out with her hands until they were soot-stained. “I asked Ludo for it. I don’t have it yet. I have to do a quest.” Hence why the nest, and an assortment of other arrangements. The youth tilted her head vaguely, watching Fangorn for a moment with an arched brow, before answering the other question. “A fire dragon.”
02-01-2022, 03:05 PM (This post was last modified: 02-02-2022, 08:36 AM by Darkeye.)
Blackeye
Not the strongest win the battle —
"Anything will defend itself that is enough reason to fight." Darkeye watched how Fangorn used his vines. Darkeye noted that too. That gourd must have much strength in his vines. Where were the limits for the vines?
Darkeye wondered, he heard that name before. But he was not sure where. "I'm sorry but who is this Ludo? And is he a lord or something that he can give you a dragon egg? And what is a fire dragon and please don't tell me he breathes fire... " Darkeye started to make more notes. Were there different Dragons, how strong were they? Or were these elemental dragons?
She nodded, supposing the sentiments registered with anyone and everything – including herself. And it didn’t take much nowadays; not with the bristling notches in her spine, or the dedication to vehemence at the slightest turn. Even, thinking ahead to daunting horizons, the encroaching yield of war.
If Fangorn was put off by any of the notions, one wouldn’t be able to tell. Eventually he grew bored of simply waving his vines around, and adjusted to bobbing and moving back towards Melita, intending to assist in spreading the ashes, smoothing out the ridges and rough-hewned proportions that the firebrand would miss. The question was enough to draw her focus away from the nest anyway. This man must’ve been some Outlander, to land in the midst of impending conflict. “Ludo is one of the Old Gods.” If this fellow was familiar with any deities, he’d know the weight of power behind those claims. A dragon egg was nothing.
As for the notions of fire breathing, her grin grew into something infinitely Cheshire. “I sure hope so.” A pause, her hand stringing along in the rocks again. “We have a variety of dragons in Caido. I’ve seen some wield ice too,” like Sugar, and probably the larger proportions of her coloring did the same. Sunjata had his lightning shift, but she didn’t think he really counted. Who knew what existed in the Draig and beyond.
Darkeye watched how Fangorn helped to build the dragon nest with his vines. Fangorn must have an amazing feeling for them. Darkeye was curious and wanted to ask more but one question after the other, he had learned. "An old god, okay. Can you say me what aspect Ludo represents? And do you need help with the eggs? Maybe I can help you with it. I have seen a lot of dragons in my world. This can not be so much different." Darkeye waited for a nod or an okay from Melita before he stood up. Otherwise, he would continue drawing the situation.
Darkeye noted that and smiled after she said that. More danger, more ways to fight. More to find out. "No one hunts them, I heard. They must be very powerful. Maybe they are similar to the elemental Dragons from my world. There is only one of each element in my world. And they can't get killed or tamed. If that is okay with you, I would like to draw your little dragon too." Darkeye liked Melita, she had a good heart. Darkeye would have to make a hard decision. He met good people on both sides. Maybe he didn't need to fight the people, maybe he would need to kill the gods to bring true peace into this world. He knew it was a bad idea but a funny one.
