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!
Guess we'll never know what was in that cave. Or, at least not right now.
A desert is no place for the ascended, but certainly not for one like Cam. Wisely the group decides to leave him behind before setting off. So it is that one dragon, one shiny bird, and an attuned healer fly across the continent towards the desert. Upon reaching the outskirts of Hak Etme, Wessex is able to consult with her Knowtbook, which suddenly reveals new information. How wonderfully convenient.
Given that it's LongHeat, the air is oppressively hot. Mirages ripple and fade in the distance and there is no water to be seen. Good thing Nate brought water.
You have 24 hours to reply. Remember to include a summary at the bottom of your post with all action taken. If weapons/upgrades/abilities/items/shifts/etc are used, please include their desc. from your profile at the bottom of your post as well.
Your randomly assigned posting order is Ray, Nate, Wessex
Ray remains in her avian form, circling the group lazily. Her eyes scan their surroundings, all of her senses working to try and make sense what's a mirage and what is real. Beyond the senses advantage, the Attuned feels inclined to stay in her shangyang shift. It's more agile, smaller. A smaller target and a form that can more easily stay out of the Demi-gods' way should trouble occur. Ray is well aware that she is the weak link in this trio by a wide margin.
Though she does wish that she could communicate with Wessex and Nate in this form. If needed, she'll shift. But for now, Ray is content to remain a shangyang keeping watch. The others know more about their destination then her.
Ray remains in her shangyang form to scan/watch their surroundings. She'll go where the others choose.
At the best of times, Nate doesn’t like the idea of a desert. Considering right now though he’s a vampire in the middle of summer? He fucking hates the thought, and hates it even more when they actually arrive. His entire face pinches as he squints against the brightness of the sun, surveying the area they land in.
“I guess we should follow the plants?” he asks his shifted companions, glancing between them and wincing harder as he tries to find the dark blot of Ray’s shift agaisnt the sky. He doesn’t expect either to shift back, just hopes they can find some way to indicate they agree, or have a thought about which way might be best.
Nate suggests they follow the plants, assuming there are any around
02-07-2022, 03:54 PM (This post was last modified: 02-07-2022, 03:54 PM by Wessex.)
Dropping Nate off for a moment, Wessex gives her fellow demigod an avian nod and then rises back up into the sky to take a look. Mind being the translator for a bit? she asks, meaning of course, that in this shift, she can’t talk to Ray the way she can to Nate. I’ll take a look for plants from up here. And let me know if you start to feel the effects of the sun. She can cast a large shadow on him for now, should he choose to stay beneath it.
Using her INT to look for signs of the plants or anything out of the ordinary, Wessex remembers a little thing she read in the book. Remi, Ronin, Maeve, and Locke are out here too. I don’t think there will be trouble as this isn’t a relic, but keep an eye out for them. Seven heads may be better than three. Or… we can avoid them altogether.
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Wessex drops Nate on the ground and then takes to the skies again to use her INT to search for anything that looks like plants / something out of the ordinary.
The world is new to you, and you to it. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls and receive an extra name during drops. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
It’s all to play for, as Jimmy Carr says. With Nate (presumably) doing routine checks to ensure his body temperature is remaining within normal limits, we can turn our eyes up to Wessex. Shiny and menacing as all hell in the skies, the demigod is smart enough to know that she is basically a disco ball up here: the light reflects off of him and should anyone bother to survey the skies, they’ll certainly notice her just as clearly as they would the sun.
Plants do litter the desert—mostly cactus and a few that Nate will likely recognize as having certain hallucinogenic properties (or is that not a fair assumption?). Will touching them help? Will it make you see things that are helpful? Who knows.
As for Wessex? She’ll absolutely see two very large somethings off in the distance.
You have 24 hours to reply. Remember to include a summary at the bottom of your post with all action taken. If weapons/upgrades/abilities/items/shifts/etc are used, please include their desc. from your profile at the bottom of your post as well.
Your randomly assigned posting order is Ray, Nate, Wessex
02-10-2022, 12:13 AM (This post was last modified: 02-10-2022, 12:13 AM by Ray.)
RAY
In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods
Ray shifts back as Nate (assumingly) relays Wessex's words to her. It's a bit of a surprise to hear that so many others are already out here, and she has a brief moment to question just who was watching Edmund. Still, the Attuned gives a small nod. "Alright. They probably won't give us any trouble. And if anything does happen, I can certainly talk to Maeve as I'm part of her council." She is certain that her friend and Queen would hear her out.
"Maybe whatever is in the distance is guarding something? Should we try to get closer and see?" They could be a threat or perhaps they were a deterrent for those seeking the deity.
Ray suggests getting closer to whatever is in the distance to investigate. In case they are guarding something.
The assumption is more than fair, in fact, it would be a lie to say Mate isn’t making a careful mental map of the area, already planning a return trip to do a little gathering when the stakes aren’t quite so high. One high thing at a time, after all.
Nate winces more and more as Wessex lists off the other group, something almost like a laugh in his mental voice when he responds. That sounds like a big party of people who want me dead. And Locke. It’s information he relays to Ray when she shifts to join him though, his expression tamed into something more neutral for her sake, though the pinch between his brow remains. “Might as well keep to ourselves as long as possible though, huh? Less hands to split the reward between.”
He turns his face forward, squinting and scanning for the shape in the distance, and trying to work out what it is before they get too close.
Nate suggests avoiding the other group as long as possible, and uses his Int to try to figure out what the shapes they’re heading towards are
With one vote to try and catch up to the other group and another vote to keep their distance, Wessex is caught between a rock and a hot place and lucky for her, neither of her companions can hear the internal sigh.
Gods, same - and Locke. Abandoning the sky for a moment, Wessex comes to join the others on the ground to try and figure out what they should do. “Okay, so Remi’s manticoring and Ronin’s dragoning and I could probably speed up to catch them, carrying one of the you, and summon another mech bird to carry the other, because Ray, I don’t think you’d be able to keep up in that bird form. No offense.” And truly, she means no offense. It’s just a demigod versus regular person fact.
“Or we can try to investigate here. Uh, summon some digging animals - a badger or two? See what’s underground, or something that can tell us where fresh water might be. I don’t know, how do you draw out the god of Flowerbirth?” Gnawing on the inside of her lower lip, Wessex looks at the other two and shades her eyes, musing quietly, “Shame I used that channeling already… could have been useful here.”
Her gaze goes thoughtfully to the nasty smelling sulphur pools, wondering if they might hold any clues.
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While waiting on a decision to be made, Wessex uses INT again to see if the sulphur pools and the water therein might hold any clues.
there was a time that we were kind, but now don't write me, you're not fooling anyone
In the long run there's still time to decide what to do, but in the interim, the desert has made the choice for you.
The sands begin to swell as a telltale fin appears, breaking through the golden granules and heading towards Nate. Jaws part, aiming a crushing blow for the demigods leg and it's only by the barest hair on his chinny-chin-chin (read: he avoided it by 2), that the creature misses. Diving back below the surface, the sands remain unsettled as it likely prepared for another attack.
You have 24 hours to reply. Remember to include a summary at the bottom of your post with all action taken. If weapons/upgrades/abilities/items/shifts/etc are used, please include their desc. from your profile at the bottom of your post as well.
Your randomly assigned posting order is Ray, Nate, Wessex
“I fucking hate these things!” Nate shouts the words just so they’re out of him, irritation simmering just on the very edge of boiling rage. He makes a quick mental calculation, then huffs through his teeth and reaches out with an electrical tendril for Ray, connecting them together just in case.
Then, like a man possessed, he starts stomping in the sand, kicking up dust, using his false arms to slam the ground. A tantrum an overtired toddler would be jealous of, and yet somehow it doesn’t seem out of place on Nate. It’s not just an overflow of emotion that spurs him though, he wants the land sharks attention, wants it to notice him and surface again so Ramoth can take a shot at it and, if he’s somehow very lucky, stun the fucking thing on the surface.
Nate links his damage sponge to Ray, and then starts thumping on the sand to try to draw the land shark out again. Ramoth is standing by to hit it with his breath, and if he can Nate will also hit it when it surfaces
Magic: Damage Sponge | Nate creates an intrinsic link between himself and one other person, represented by a beam of ethereal lightning. Whilst linked, damage taken by the recipient is halved and shared with Nate for one post, for a distance of up to 30ft. The ability has a one post cooldown, and when cast, will remain active until damage is sustained.
Type: Grey | Rank: Basic
Magic: Finger in Everything | Nate possesses the ability to create four extra arms in the same style as the Voice’s holograms. The arms share Nate's strength stat and can be summoned/dismissed at will. They are able to reach a radius of 30ft.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
Nate’s temper tantrum is the last thing she expects, and after all, they could just leave the landshark behind if they wanted to… furrowing her brows at the outburst, Wessex turns to Ray and offers a shrug. “Let’s get you off the sand, just in case, hm?”
She starts to shift while Nate tries to call the landshark back and when she’s back into her mech bird form, she opens a talon, gingerly, and delicately reaches for Ray while offering her a place to sit or lay, and then rises into the air. Hovering at what she hopes is out of reach of the landshark, yet still within firing range. bird!Wessex waits for the landshark to return to slice ‘n dice it with one of her feathers.
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Wessex goes into her Mech Minokawa shift and lifts Ray off the sand and out of reach of the landshark. She hovers, hopefully out of reach, ready to shoot a feather at the landshark when it surfaces again.
Mech-Minokawa Ability | Feather shoot
The world is new to you, and you to it. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls and receive an extra name during drops. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)
Well. There are certainly some choices being made here.
As Nate tries to lure the land shark back up, the creature is happy to oblige. Out here in the desert food is scarce, and if a meal is going to ring dinner bells, the shark would be silly not to come when called.
Thrusting through the sand (it’s a good thing Wessex has taken Ray or she’d undoubtably be a goner), the land shark aims an attack for Nate. Silvery teeth catch on the air again, and though the creature misses, it’s by another very small margin. Ramoth’s biopulse misses, and given our timelines, Nate won’t have a chance to retaliate this turn (read: attack at the start of your next turn).
Wessex will only have just gotten to a safe height by the time the creature attacks so she won’t have had time to release her metal feathers just yet. (Read: do it at the start of your next turn).
In the distance something is happening, but given how focused you all are on the land shark it’s hard to make out just what it is.
You have 24 hours to reply. Remember to include a summary at the bottom of your post with all action taken. If weapons/upgrades/abilities/items/shifts/etc are used, please include their desc. from your profile at the bottom of your post as well.
Your randomly assigned posting order is Ray, Nate, Wessex
Ray sends Wessex a quick thankful glance as they climb into the sky, "Thank you!". Grabbing a dagger in each hand (from her inventory stated at start of initial thread) she shifts into her shangyang form. Holding a blade in each talon she flies just above Wessex so as to remain out of the landshark's grasp.
Circling overhead, she attempts to drop a dagger onto the shark. It's a bit too high up for her to truly aim so she just tries to hit the damn thing. Even if it's just a scratch, maybe the Demi-gods can exploit the opening. At least, that's her hope. Ray feels rather useless at the moment, but she'll do her best.
Ray grabs her 2 daggers (mentioned in inventory of first post of initial thread). She shifts into her shangyang form to fly above Wessex and tries to drop one of the daggers onto the shark.
Hey, better to face a threat right away than leave it lurking in the background, isn't it? Or at least, that's what Nate will say if he's ever questioned about the lapse of judgement, but for now there's a shark to worry about.
Nate does strike out at the Landshark, six fists driving down into the sand with all the force he can muster before he steps back. He doesn't have the advantage of wings after all, all he can do is keep moving and hope for the best. Ramoth flaps to gain some height, and tries another biopulse blast at the beast.
Nate attacks the landshark with all his arms and strength, and tries to keep moving to keep from being bitten (and hit by metallic feathers). Ramoth fires another biopulse and gains height
Magic: Finger in Everything | Nate possesses the ability to create four extra arms in the same style as the Voice’s holograms. The arms share Nate's strength stat and can be summoned/dismissed at will. They are able to reach a radius of 30ft.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
