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!
Amun stared at the partially collapsed building before him. Glancing down at his body he looked between it and the nearest pile. Zhanshi poked his head out of the ground and tugged on the toe of the potter's boot. Then the little landshark dove down again and tunneled into the building.
Snorting, the Ascended shook his head. Then he walked forward and took a deep breath. Activating his latest upgrade, he kept moving forward. Hitting the rock, he passed right through it. Emerging out on the other side he blinked. Holding up his hands, he scanned them before turning to look at the stones he'd gone through.
Perched on a different pile of rubble Maea watched him, chin in hand, and tried to muster some enthusiasm. She still wasnt entirely sure what they were doing, and had not bothered to ask. It meant little as long as she had an excuse to trail after him. Keeping busy was key - then she didn't have a chance to think.
"Is it big enough for two?" she called when judging that enough time had passed. Hoping her voice would reach Amun within the ruined building.
I'm bleeding out for you
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Blinking, Amun initiated a scan. Giving the interior of the room a quick glance as it completed, he nodded. "Sure is," he called back to her with a laugh. Turning to face the wall he'd just walked through, he looked down as Zhanshi shot from the ground.
Stroking the landshark's side as the potter's companion tried to nibble on Amun's fingers, he pressed his free hand against the stones. Then he brushed it down from his collar bone to his waist. Smiling he shook his head. "Well that worked," he told Zhanshi. In response, the landshark gave one last love bite before diving underground again.
With a muffled sort of pop as air molecules were rapidly displaces, Maea appeared beside Amun. Looking around the room, she disregarded the ruined space as holding little of interest, and raised a brow at her brother when she noticed that his arm was halfway through the rock.
"What are you doing?" she asked, mouth quirking with amusement. "I don't think you'll find any treasures in there." Unless he'd developed a sudden interest in rubble. You never knew.
I'm bleeding out for you
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Amun let out a chuckle as Maea questioned their presence here and his actions, he waggled his eyebrows at her. Looking down, he lifted his boot and pressed down on Zhanshi. The landshark bit down on the potter's toes before digging down. Grinning, Amun's eyes narrowed as his companion reported back that there was a space below them.
"That depends on your definition of treasure." Scrounging around, he found the slighted rotten remains of a doll and held it up for her to examine. Then he slid over to where a trapdoor was hidden beneath dust and debris. "I am testing out my latest upgrade as well as testing you," he informed her.
Then he phased through the trapdoor into the cellar. Blinking again, he stumbled down the steps he emerged onto. Letting out a muffled curse, he managed to catch himself before he actually fell.
The look of mischief on his face made the twitch at her mouth grow into an actual smile. Whatever this was, Amun was clearly enjoying himself. She couldn't really see why - to Maea the ruins of the Hollowed Ground were simply piles of rubble, an area that required too much work to restore, full of unspecified danger and thus best left alone.
The answer he offered to her query did make her brows shoot up, though. "You're testing me? Why -" But before she could ask more he had disappeared. Huffing in dismay, the girl stared at the trapdoor. Stepping over to it, she tried to pry it open with her hands but found it wouldn't budge no matter what she did. Stuck, no doubt, with centuries worth of filth in the cracks and hinges no doubt rusted apart - if there even were any.
She hesitated. There were risks with teleporting where she couldn't see. And besides, it wasn't like she could use the upgrade indiscriminately. Muttering under breath, she sank down on her heels and stared at the hatch. "Heey. This isn't funny."
I'm bleeding out for you
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
"Why not? You got anything better to do?" Amun waggled his eyebrows at Maea. "I didn't say what I was testing, did I?
After making it to the bottom of the stairs without incident, the potter examined the cellar. Zhanshi flew down from the ceiling towards the ground. Petting the landshark with one hand, Amun eyed the rotten sacks and broken chests that had once contained food and valuables, whose contents were now lost to time.
As the potter's companion tunneled at Amun's feet, he sighed when he heard Maea's cry. Walking up the steps again, he activated his metal manipulation upgrade. A small tendril wormed its way through the gap in between the trapdoor and the stones. It sought out the latch, which he would try to open with his upgrade. "Did I say I was trying to be funny?" he asked her through the wood separating them.
She had no time to answer before he disappeared. When her attempts to open the hatch failed and she stilled, Maea found that she could hear the muffled footsteps of her brother as he walked around somewhere beneath her. She hadn't really expected him to come back when she called though. Though he couldn't see it, she rolled her eyes.
"You're not saying a lot of things, for all that your tongue keeps wagging," she quipped back. "And no. As a matter of fact, I do not have anything better to do." If she did, he wouldn't have her trailing at his heels like a lost puppy.
But Amun had dragged her here, so now he would simply have to put up with her presence. Sensing that he was doing something from below, she tugged on the hatch again. Then, though doubting it would do much good, she closed the circuits in her palm and led a torrent of electricity down whatever metal parts she could see. Hey, perhaps it might make the rust come off, at least?
I'm bleeding out for you
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Even though Maea couldn't see Amun, he grinned anyway. Continuing to try and open the latch from the cellar, he added a bit more metal to his efforts. "Maybe you're the one that isn't listening. Ever consider that?" Out of nowhere, something shocked him badly enough to register.
Letting out a yelp he released his grip on the metal. Shaking his hand and flexing and unflexing it as it cramped, he activated his phasing upgrade now that it had recharged. Emerging not from the trapdoor, but from the ground right next to it, he arched an eyebrow at her. "That was unexpected." Zhanshi tunneled up the walls and popped his head out of the ground to gnash his teeth at her.
The girl shook her head, then remembered he couldn't see her. "No... I always listen. Whether I think anything you say is worth remembering is another matter entirely."
There came a sudden yelp from down below as her electrical charge licked the metal, and a moment later Amun reappeared beside the trap. Blinking at him a few times, Maea glanced down at her hand that was still sparking with released energy, and quickly opened the circuits while tucking it behind her back. Oops.
"What is?" she asked with a look of utmost innocence on her face. "I don't think we're getting this one open... Were you looking for something in particular down there? If you want to go back, I can follow in a few moments."
A quick scan confirmed that the transportation device indeed was nearly done re-loading.
I'm bleeding out for you
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Chuckling, Amun grinned. Glancing in Maea's direction he called back to her. "Everything I do and say is important to someone." He tapped the side of his nose.
Staring at her hand, his eyes trailed to her face. Then flicked back to her hand. Then to her face again. Snorting, he waggled his eyebrows. "It must've all been in my head."
Shaking his head at her question, he drifted past her to the back wall, Zhanshi nipping at his heels. "It's more about the journey, less about the destination, if you know what I mean." With that, he turned to rest against the stones. Crossing his arms, he arched an eyebrow.
Saying nothing, she simply blinked like nothing was amiss at all with the world and she hadn't just zapped him by accident - totally by accident - and watched how he abandoned the hatch and the space below in favor for a seat on the rubble. Shaking her head at the randomness of the whole endeavor, Maea leaned back against a fragment of the wall opposite him, and tucked her hands into her pockets. So he couldn't stare pointedly at them anymore.
"Alright, if you say so. And? What have you figured out, so far? If you care to share, of course. If it's a secret you don't have to say anything." She burned to ask what exactly he was testing her for - to what end, in what way - but when Amun was in this mood, straight answers would likely not be given. Just more wisecracks and winking.
I'm bleeding out for you
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Arching an eyebrow at Maea's comment, Amun just hummed a low note. Still perched on the rubble, he cocked his head to one side. "Technically, I don't have to tell you anything even if it's not a secret." He winked at her.
Making sure his back was pressed against the nearest wall, he rubbed his hands together. "I've found out that you are still impatient and still insistent that everything we do have a purpose and that you seem incapable of simply observing and enjoying the world around you or the moment." Pausing, he waggled his eyebrows at her. "Of course, you're more than welcome to prove me wrong."
With that, he activated his upgrade once more. Chuckling, he phased through the stones to the street beyond. Turning, he began whistling as he sauntered his way towards the next house in the row.
She rolled her eyes, but beneath the exasperation over all these clever remarks lurked a hidden smile. It was reassuring to know that some things never changed, even if the rest of the world did. Amun was and would always remain a smartass.
Only, when he did answer this time, Maea sort of wished he hadn't. Because ouch, did that load of truth sting. He vanished again, leaving her alone with her outrage. Objections went off within her mind like fireworks, and as if she might find some evidence that indeed did prove him wrong, she began going through every single event that had led her up to this moment. That she could recall.
The conclusion was... not to her liking.
It took some time before she emerged from the building. Maea opted to climb her way out of the rubble instead of teleporting, and had to do some searching before she located Amun again. A wrinkle had lodged itself between her brows, and as she appeared it was with a pebble in hand. She threw it halfheartedly at him, and wished she actually felt mad. Or mischievous. Or anything much at all.
If this had been a setup for a game of tag, it passed way over her head.
"I do enjoy your company," she retorted, like no time had passed at all. "... yeah. That's all I've got. Sorry for being an uptight downer with a need to justify my own existence." Leaning down to pick up another piece of rubble, she bounced it in her palm. The sense of detachment lay like a wet blanket between her mind and the rhythmic thumps against the skin.
I'm bleeding out for you
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
