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!
In the very heart of the maze now, it would come as no surprise to Zanshi or Amun that it would absolutely take some doing to get themselves out. Without the maze's cooperation, it might take a few hours, which the potter no longer had.
What a ssssilly thing to do. The voice was in Amun's mind, sounding the way that an old wasp's nest might sound on a summer's afternoon when batted away with a baseball bat. No ssssense in burning yourself. It adds.
From the center of the flame pours a snake of orange and white. It encircles the basin several times, before it lifts its head up toward the potter, scenting the air with its tongue.
It wasn’t a surprise but it was concerning. Amun sighed as Zhanshi dove back into the earth, making a circle at the potter’s feet. At that point, though, the fire began to billow and expand. He backed up as it formed into a snake of fire.
His back hit the nearest hedge before he stopped. Examining the creature before him, he lowered both his weapon and his hand, sheathing his sword. Then he swept into a bow. ”Thank you for the advice, and I apologize for disturbing you, guardian. I was simply overcome with curiosity and awe at your home.”
Pausing for a moment, he smiled at the creature. Reaching down, he lifted his shirt slightly to reveal his wounds. ”I hate to ask this, but I received this bite and it seems to be fatal. Do you happen to know what caused it and is there a cure.” He held his breath as he waited for the answer.
That ssssounds like a lie. The snake replies, though it sounds amused. Perhaps it was the bow that had done it, or the sheathing of Amun's weapons, or the knowledge that it was the superior creature here. It was hard to know. Oh, that wassss me. The creature replies quite matter of factly as it lets itself drop away from the basin of flame. My bite removessss the memory of the incident. The serpent adds casually.
Sliding forward, the snake raises its head once more and seems to gesture towards the bramble currently shaped like a chair. Pleasssse. Ssssit. We can talk about how you are going to sssspend your lasssst few minutessss.
Letting out a laugh, Amun inclined his head at the creature. ”Maybe so. Discovering that I was dying caused me to panic, though initially my statement was true.”
His breath caught as the snake revealed it had been the one to bite him. Sliding out a foot, he stopped Zhanshi from launching himself at the snake. ”I see,” the potter replied. ”Why did you do that?” He narrowed his eyes at it.
Glancing at the chair, the potter grunted. Shaking his head, he moved towards the seat but didn’t take it just yet. ”I hope you’ll forgive me if I stand for now, since you just told me you gave me a fatal wound. But please, what are my options?” He drummed his fingers along the hilt of his sword. At the same time, he initiated a scan to see if he could figure out exactly how much time he had left.
Undersssstandable. The serpant comments, before drawing still once more. If it appreciates the potter's efforts to stop his companion from attacking, nothing about it's expression seems to show it. Why, the ssssame reasssson asss anyone doesss anything. To sssurive of course. Snakes can hardly be said to shrug, but something about the creature's body language suggests that it is indeed shrugging.
Nothing to forgive. If you want to sssspend your lassst momentsss uncomfortable, that issss your perogative. As for options? Well, simply put, there were none. My poisssson isss already at work. Ssssoon the world will become a white exssspanssse for you to sssslip into. Raising itself up again so that it could now look Amun in the eyes, the creature again scents the air with its tongue.
Issss begging really how you would like to sssspend your lassst momentsss? It wonders as Amun's scan completes: there are about 20 minutes of life remaining.
The snake’s explanation didn’t exactly ease Amin’s nerves. Taking a deep breath, the potter tilted his head to one side. ”How was I a threat to your survival?” The question was accompanied by a smile, though he kept his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
As the creature reared up, Amun met its gaze squarely. ”I prefer to think of it as making conversation.” He nodded at the blaze at the center of the maze, the one the snake had emerged from, trying not to react as his scan completed and he realized how little time he had left. ”Well, since I’m going to die anyway it can’t hurt to tell me what this place is, can it?”
No threat at all. The snake agrees, bobbing its head. But I mussst eat. Once you die, I will be able to feasssst upon you.
Offering the potter another of those not-quite-shrugs, the snake nods. Assss you like. Tilting its head towards the fire, it stares unblinkingly for a moment. Thissss wasss once a place of great trial. The maze would pressssent certain challengessss, and thosssse who succeded would arrive at thisss place. Vaguely indicating the fire with its tail, the snake tilts its head.
But Kingssss End is not what it ssssseemsss. Built to be a place of resssst, it insssstead hassss become a graveyard of madnessssss.
”I cannot begrudge you indulging your appetite. Though I warn you, I’m not exactly an appetizing meal, since I’m mostly inorganic.” As the animal spoke, Amun followed its gaze to the fire. As it recounted the past and gave some hints as to the state of the present, he hummed a low note.
Tapping the hilt of his sword, he initiated another scan, not wanting to run out of time. ”What caused it to change? Can it be restored to its former glory? And once they succeeded at their tests and arrived here, what did they do?” He took a step to the side, away from the throne, so he could get a clearer look at the bonfire, since the creature’s body was blocking the potter’s view.
I know. The creature seems to lament. But ssssso few come through here nowadaysssss. I cannot be picky. Amun would prove to be an unsatisfying meal, that they could both agree on, but hopefully, he would provide enough nourishment for the snake to live long enough to find another victim.
There wasssss no former glory. Caido'sssss companion went mad. Rae created thisssss place for it to resssssst. Alasssss, there isssss no resssst for the KingMaker. Do you want to know what I think? The snake leans forward. I think it will kill Caido, one day.
14 minutes, Amun.
They would jump through the fire, of courssssse. 'They' being the acquired. The onessss with magic, before magic became ssssuch a bad thing to have.
”Of course.” Amun inclined his head to the snake. ”And what happens if Caido dies? Nothing good I’d imagine.” As the creature explained what the Abandoned used to do in this very spot, he felt his gaze slipping towards the flame again.
Fourteen minutes. Tick tock.
Well, he knew a few things. One, the snake wanted him dead, so pretty much everything it said had to be taken with a grain of salt. Two, it had only appeared when he touched the fire and had warned him against it. Three, people used to come here all the time to leap through the fire and gain some sort of power, and presumably the snake hadn’t eaten all, or most, of them (assuming he could trust it about anything). Finally, was running out of time and it might be time to take drastic measure; if he was going to die anyway, he may as well go out on his own terms. At the very least, he might be able to deprive the creature of its meal and save the next soul that came through here.
So he gave the creature another smile. ”Too bad I’m not an acquired.” He let his shoulders slump to disguise his attempt to shift his weight onto the balls of his feet. Then, he tried to dash around and past the serpent, putting on as much speed as he could. As he ran he activated his metal manipulation upgrade to try and make a pole out of his metal gauntlets and his sword. If he was able, he’d plant the end of the pole in the ground and use it to vault over and through the flames, praying to any god listening that he hadn’t just hastened his demise.
Amun tries to dash around past the snake and use his metal manipulation upgrade to create a pole that he’ll use to vault over and through the fire. Even if he can’t make a pole, he’ll still try to jump.
Type: Other | Level: Basic
Metal Manipulation Upgrade | When in contact with metal, can conduct electricity through it making it malleable. Surfaces larger than 6ft by 6ft take considerable effort. The ability works best the higher the metal content, becoming unstable at anything below 50%.
Who knowssss? Caido hassss never died before. The snake replies.
Clearly this snake is vaguely magical in its own right, but snakes of a certain length can rarely said to be fast by virtue of their anatomy. Even as Amun begins to fashion his plan and move, the snake is helpless to do more than gawk in his direction. Reaching out far, far too late, the creature tries to pull Amun back, but fails to do so.
The ascended sails through the fire. Whatever you might think about the snake, fire and ascended do not mix. As Amun enters into the wall of fire he'll immediately feel his circuits begin to fizzle. The metallic components of his body begin to heat and melt, and his fluid? Well, that ignites.
There is a blast that reaches towards the sky as Amun explodes in a bright shimmery shower of sparks. Bits of the potter go flying all over the maze, and though there's no one around to be horrified at being rained-upon, rain-down Amun does. Let this be the last lesson any ascended need on the subject: do not jump into fire. Even magical fire.
But back to Amun, because there is an Amun to go back to, unlikely as that might seem.
Opening his eyes Amun will see the night sky stretching out long and low above him, as if the stars might be close enough to reach up and pluck. Zanshi is asleep at his side, and should he lift his head, he'll find that he's laying flat on his back at the entrance to the maze. He'll also find that his senses are precisely as he would otherwise expect them to be, though there is still a bite on his hip.
Upon one of the hedges, sits the snake. Only, it's only about the size of a garter snake now. Flicking its tongue out, the creature tilts its head slightly. I didn't expect you to just into the flamessss. It admits, sounding vaguely apologetic. Not with ssssso many minutessss left.
Amun had a moment of panic as he felt his body ignite. There was a searing sensation as everything went white and he felt his components flaring up. Then there was nothingness for just a moment.
And then...something?
Blinking, he stared up at the stars that seemed much closer than they'd been before. Reaching up one hand, he'd try to trail his fingers in the gaps between one of them. As the familiar voice of the snake spoke up nearby, he let his head loll toward it to stare in its direction. "It was either that or sit, and I always feel better when I move my body. Plus, I was afraid if I waited too long the poison would weaken me too much," he admitted to it.
Zhanshi launched into the air and bit down gently on one of the Ascended's fingers, wiggling it between the landshark's feet. Groaning, the potter pushed himself up onto his elbows, then poked at the remaining wound. "Care to explain what just happened?" As he asked, he initiated another scan to see if he was still dying or not, since his senses had returned but the bite remained.
That'ssss true. I more meant that you ssssskipped right through pleading and bargaining. Not even any lasssst wordssss to passsss on.
Amun's scan would come back faster than the last ones had, given that there was nothing wrong with him. In fact, the small bite on his hip would be healed in just a matter of minutes.
Ssssure. The snake agrees. I am the lasssst momentssss sssssnake. I can turn jusssst a few minutesssss into what feelsss like your lassst hour. Like the dream fisssssh that let you work through your isssssues, I let people unknowingly experience what it might be like to face off againsssst death. The creature explains. Do you want to know how you did?
Amun shrugged, then moved into an upright position. Sitting crossed-legged, he pulled Zhanshi into the potter's lap. Stroking the landshark's rough skin for a moment, the Ascended let out a chuckle. "I'm only into pleading and begging under certain circumstances, and these weren't it" he informed the creature. "And I left a note back home in case I didn't return for whatever reason. So I figured I'd go out in a blaze of glory. Quite literally, it seems."
Sighing, he grinned as his scan revealed he wasn't in danger any more. Arching an eyebrow as the serpent revealed its true nature, his grin widened. "Neat trick, though I think I'll try good old fashioned therapy next time." Nodding, he released his companion; Zhanshi took once last nip of Amun's hands before burrowing underground. "I would appreciate any insights you can give me." Once more, he inclined his head to the snake.
