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!
Clever is as clever does, and while the demigods use their experience to their advantage, Maeve and Locke each make their own observations. What isn't answered is the why of it all, but perhaps that will come in time. For now it's enough that Remi seems to have a direction to follow, and Ronin has a handle on the danger that lurks all around.
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Knowing that not only was he not Locke's most favourite individual, but feeling the emerging tines of discontent spiking out of the other man, it's with a pulse of appreciation that Remi accepts the crow on his back.
I think it is something like that. Remi wordlessly replies, trusting Locke to pass the message on to Maeve. This way things are fresher and newer in their cycle...which hopefully means whatever is doing this is close by, or recently was, anyway. Such was the logic he was operating on, anyway. Was that logic the sort given to him by his not-quite-teenage-son? Absolutely it was.
Do you see anything? The alchemist asks Ronin, relying on the Huntsman to keep his eye out for danger while he continued to navigate.
Remi continues to direct them toward where the plants are lushest and most newly grown using INT 2
get out of my waters
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters
Ronin does see something, and it's with a rumble of warning to Maeve that he banks slowly to the left to get a better view. Mm, there are carrion birds and coyotes up ahead... he tells the Attuned members of the group, pausing for a second before continuing. It looks like they're following after a herd of camels? Same direction that the plants are in. The camels must be eating the foliage... And when it runs out, the predators are probably snacking on the camels.
Drawing back up with a lazy beat of his wings, he wonders whether or not the herd will spook at their presence. Carrion is one thing, but a manticore and a dragon are something else entirely. You'd think it would stink less up here, but it's not true. Shall we go down and investigate?
Ronin delivers his information and complains about the stench. He suggests going to investigate the camel herd.
Maeve, unfortunately, gets none of the information Remi and Ronin feed Locke. She is instead left to figure things out on her own. The Nightshade tightens her grip on Ronin's back, taking the hint and moving with him to keep from slipping off, doing her best to stay put. Her eyes scan the sands below them, spotting the coyotes and camels up ahead, noting the path they're taking. She doesn't keep her eyes there, though.
No, Maeve continues to scan the skies around them, knowing better than to let her guard down. A manticore and dragon might be enough to ward off most things, but it would be naive to believe they were the only dangerous things in the sky. "I'm following you guys."
I'm undone about to burst at my seams 'Cause I am picturing you beside me So let me be everything that you need
Remi flies, Ronin relays what he sees far below (and complains about the smell), Locke remains silent, and Maeve does her best to contribute (which, in this situation, mostly means not falling off).
Ahead the desert seems to stretch forever toward the horizon line, threatening to continue on past it. Are we just going to sail on forever Remi? There are a number of notable landmarks below—half buried bones, more sulphur pools, barren lake beds—are we just going to keep cruising high above it all, or like Ronin, are we all suddenly interested in pachyderms?
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Are you saying that because you are hungry...?/{i] Remi thinks with a grin, shooting Ronin a look. [say}{i]I wonder if the smell is not a clue..[/say} The alchemist continues, as if this were one of Vai's detective stories. If you were hiding out here, doing experiments, maybe you would go someplace that smelled terrible so that no one would bother you. He suggests with as much of a shrug as his leonine shoulders could manage.
Let's follow and look out for anything that looks...new, or livable, I suppose. Despite saying this, Remi still wasn't entirely convinced that what they were looking for would be in the sky. Was that because his son had suggested it? Absolutely it was.
Remi says okay to following the camels and keeps using his INT 2 for any signs of something living in the area.
get out of my waters
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters
I can be hungry in almost any situation, but not in a place like this, Ronin says with almost a mental wrinkling of his nose. And this isn't the only place those plants have shown up, much as I hate to squash your theories... They've been all over the desert, almost as if whoever or whatever was growing them was trying different places. Or blindly panicking. Either way.
Okay, but if we keep up like this we'll overtake the camels and just fly off the edge of the world, Ronin mumbles, swooping a bit to create a draught for Maeve to enjoy before pulling up again, keeping his eyes peeled on the herd below.
As long as you don't totally leave me, I can go check around. No offense but you two are a bit.. Conspicuous. A crow is surely less out of place here than you know, a dragon or something. Plus, he's getting kind of bored just chilling with Remi. Plus, maybe he can cajole the carrion eaters into leading him to something.
He tries to swoop closer to the birds, cawing softly at them. With any luck, he'll be better at befriending animals than he is at befriending humans. While he's down with the critters, he tries to look for anything curious. I wonder if it's spreading on the wind? If it can carry that stench, it can surely carry seeds..
___
Gore Crow!Locke swoops down closer to the carrion birds to see if he can spot anything without spooking them.
Maeve has his dagger and water canteen plus his inventory stuffs.
The breeze is appreciated and Maeve savors what she can of it, "We also have to consider that the seeds could be being carried by animals too. However it wouldn't explain how they're managing to grow it it's through magical means." She offers, adding onto Locke's theory, keeping her eyes peeled for anything else odd. "We might have better luck on the ground once we find something fresh?" She wasn't much use up here except as a glorified bellhop with all the things she was carrying.
Going off of Remi's suggestion, Maeve shifts her focus to pick out freshly dying plants or anything that's new growth from Ronin's back.
Maeve suggests finding something fresh and checking the ground around it.
I'm undone about to burst at my seams 'Cause I am picturing you beside me So let me be everything that you need
It's like the circle of life down here, and if the desert wasn't so hot and smelly, this might be a nice moment. Instead, Locke 's avian counterparts by and large ignore him. The larger species like the vultures eye him threateningly, not wanting him to try and infringe on what they've rightfully earned. The rest, coyotes and foxes and things, yip! up at him, daring him to fly closer where they might have him as a snack.
Remi will indeed notice a few clues.
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Your randomly assigned posting order is Remi, Ronin, Locke, Maeve
With Locke down below, Remi is unable to communicate the content of his warning to Maeve. He'd mentioned landsharks already but would have again had he been able. Instead, he merely tries to twist in her direction to shake his head; no, the queen of Torchline was not going to be strolling around on the sands.
Hey...look over there. Nodding to Ronin, the manticore turns himself towards one of the dry lakebeds. Rocks litter the circumference, but around the rocks are a few holes. Large holes. Larger than any desert cat or canine would need. A hole seems like a good way to stay out of the heat? And maybe since there was once a lake here, there is still water below.
Flying in that direction, Remi remains about 10 or so feet above the ground so that he won't disturb the sands below or otherwise notify any lurking landsharks of their position.
Based on his INT 2 knowledge, Remi sees some large holes and suggests they check them out.
get out of my waters
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters
Listening hard to all the information passing back and forth between them, Ronin also eyes the big holes with the mental equivalent of a raised eyebrow. Might be water, or it might be the lair of a landshark, he points out. Even Ronin isn't entirely sure whether he's joking or not. Still, Locke is right in that they're very conspicuous, so he avoids the little caravan of carrion and camels (god, alliteration, get a grip) and tilts his wings towards the once-lake.
As he adjusts, though, he lets his senses stretch out again, trying to determine whether they're still safe in the air on their journey towards... well. He doesn't know. That's the point. Regardless, maybe INT 2 will let them keep their bearings. Do you want me to breathe fire into the holes? he adds distractedly.
Ronin tilts towards the holes, using INT 2 again to check that the area is safe before they proceed any further.
Locke snaps at the birds as if it gives him any relief before flittering back up to the trio above. If the landsharks and things weren't such a threat, he'd show them what a real predator could do. Do you two have anything.. Smaller to shift into? I have a few small ones, might be light enough to keep the landsharks from noticing.. After all, they weren't harassing the caravan of easy pickings below, right?
Fire might be good unless we want whatever's doing it alive. What was the goal? Just to see why the plants are spreading? Or to stop it? To steal the power for themselves? He cranes his darkly feathered head, trying to peer into the holes as if he might learn something.
Message received loud and clear, Remi. Maeve huffs a soft breath that's lost in the wind whipping past her on the back of Ronin. Locke rejoins and she's able to at least hear his portion of the conversation and once more replies so everyone can hear her. "If we're worried about Landsharks I won't be able to be on the ground at all. I'll either have to stay on someone's back or Ronin's nimbus." There were options if they had to land at least.
"These tunnels are the only new things we've seen. It wouldn't hurt to try and flush them out before taking a look inside."
Maeve stays on Ronin's back and suggests flushing out the tunnels before going inside to look.
I'm undone about to burst at my seams 'Cause I am picturing you beside me So let me be everything that you need
