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!
Maea hefted a stack of carefully sorted books onto the shelf, and straightened out her back with a groan. Spine and shoulders alike cracked from the motion; she had spent a good amount of time hunched over a table trying to make sense of the scattered books and scrolls that had been disrupted during the interrupted shrine visit. With the shelves back in place and the mess (mostly) sorted out, she felt a little bit better about the whole thing. Not much, but a little.
Dusting off her hands, she turned to Amun with a half-smile. "Now I'm done. Sorry to keep you waiting." She had insisted on doing most of the work herself, which of course meant it took that much longer to finish. But it was a point of pride, and now that it was dealt with, they could get to the real task at hand without distractions.
"Did you ever visit the guild hall while the Loreseekers were active?" Closing the circuits in her palm until sparks began to lick the skin, she led the way down a corridor and into a section of the building that looked to have been untouched for quite some time. No lanterns lined these passages, and the faint light of her upgrade cast madly flickering shadows all across the stone walls.
They didn't need it to see, strictly speaking, but Maea tried to get used to the idea of her abilities, and so took every opportunity she could find to whip them out.
Only wake each morning to remember that you're gone
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Amun had indeed left most of the work to Maea. Perched on a desk nearby, he'd scribbled a word on a spare sheet of paper every now and then. Then, once there was a set of carefully spaced options, he'd folded it into a specific shape. Glancing up when she declared herself finished, he grinned. "I'll take your word for it." He slipped his fingers into the slots he'd made for them and popped up the fortune teller.
Choosing four to begin with, he opened and closed it and followed the instructions. When he finished, he unfolded it and sighed: it said he'd be prosperous in business, which wasn't exactly the future he was seeking at the moment. "Nope!" Folding the fortune teller flat, he hopped off the table and followed her down the steps.
"I see. Well, I practically lived here for a time. It's weird, to see it so empty." Leading them down a flight of stairs and along a corridor, they soon came up to a heavy door. Maea pushed it open with a non-sparkling hand and made sure it wouldn't hit Amun on the swing-back. The rooms beyond lay dark and cold, and there was a layer of dust on the floor. Not centuries thick, but it was still the dust of years. How many? How long had it been since Amalia was here, last? Had no one taken care of the place?
Oddly assorted furniture sat arranged around an empty fireplace. Books lined shelf upon shelf beyond, interspersed with reading nooks and desks. At the far back, a second door led into a smaller chamber beyond.
"That used to be Jigano's study," she murmured, indicating it with a nudge of her chin. She had a forlorn look about her as she picked her way across the rooms; if ever there was a time where she had looked and felt the part of a ghost, it was here. "Do you have any idea what we might be looking for? I remember his room being stacked with books and papers - it could take a while."
Only wake each morning to remember that you're gone
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Amun frowned at Maea's comment. Giving the space a closer look, he ran a finger along the railings. His fingertips came back dusty. He rubbed them together and shrugged. "A lot of the organizations that used to be around here have closed," he observed.
Shaking his head, he moved towards Jigano's study once she indicated it. The potter pressed his lips together. "Nope. Unless they glow or something because they're from Safrin's library, I have no idea." Glancing over at her, he narrowed his eyes. "You mentioned you saw him with them a time or two, didn't you? Did he keep his important texts locked up somewhere specific? Were they scrolls, books, or something else." Scratching under his chin he grimaced.
"Yes," she agreed sadly. "It began as soon as the barrier fell. Can't really blame them - not many would choose to remain here, after so long behind bars." Not if there were alternatives. Farmers had stayed, some businesses too, but so much had changed in only a handful of years, it boggled the mind.
The study door creaked as she pushed it open. The room within was small, void of even the narrow windows that lined the ceiling in the library they had come through, and here Maea found that the sparks from her palm actually helped aid her vision. Looking around, she took in the desk, the empty chair and the many shelves along the walls with a pang of bitter sweet nostalgia.
The question made her pause halfway into the room. "I think... books," she replied, but there was a note of uncertainty. "Can't recall what they looked like, though. Try the desk, and I'll look through these shelves." She made for the wall to the right, already reaching to pull out a dusty tome.
"Oh - and look out for paper wasps."
Only wake each morning to remember that you're gone
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Shrugging, Amun scratched his chin. Going to lean against one of the bare sections of wall, he glanced over at Maea. "The Naturals, maybe. The Outlanders though? They came from all sorts of places." He hummed a low note. "And are the other regions really that much better? The Greatwood is full of hostile Fae, Halo is full of cold and full of hostile...everything, so that leaves basically Torchline, doesn't it?"
Nodding at her instructions, he started checking the desk drawers first. If any of them were locked, he'd use his metal manipulation upgrade to open them. However, he barked out a laugh at her warning about the wasps. "You do know we're immune to venom and poisons of all kinds, right?" He started rifling through any books he found.
She shrugged with one shoulder, both agreeing with him and not. "Depends, don't you think? The other regions didn't have LongNight monsters. They were not starving, not even Halo. And it wasn't so much about where you were going, as it was what you were trying to leave behind. At least in my case."
Opening up the book, she quickly determined it to be an old journal, dating back about fifty years. She closed it, set it back and reached for another. "Oh, if you find anything in a language you can't read, it might be worth setting aside for later. Jigano had a pair of spectacles that translated texts, if I recall correctly."
His laughter made her look up, a little taken aback at first - but her expression soon clouded over and she ducked back behind the cover of old parchment. "No. I didn't know that. No one really told me anything about... anything." Spoken from behind gritted teeth, she didn't sound very amused.
Only wake each morning to remember that you're gone
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Amun shrugged at Maea's explanation. Glancing over at her, he arched an eyebrow. "I've been a lot of places in my life, and if there's one thing I've learned it's that the grass is never greener. The best thing to do is make the most of wherever you find yourself." He grinned.
In the first drawer all he found were old anatomical textbooks. He turned one sideways to stare at a particularly poorly rendered and incorrect diagram before tossing them back in and moving on. "What happens if we don't have the spectacles?"
Pausing, he grimaced. "Right." Scratching his chin, he stood up and propped one hip on the desk. "One of the benefits of Ascension is immunity to aging, disease, and pretty much all toxins, venoms, and poisons. Basically anything that would target a biological system won't work on us." He cocked his head to one side. "Any other questions or concerns you have?" Smiling, he folded his arms across his chest.
Glancing at him, she raised a brow in return and pursed her lips. "You would know," she acknowledged. "Have you also found a way to let go of the past, in order to move on? I'm having some difficulties." The smile was about as dry as her voice - but at least she did smile.
Aged parchment crackled under her fingers as she gently unrolled several scrolls. Each of them proved to be boring lists, detailing the schedule of past librarians dating back some hundred years or more. She could see why Jigano might have found such a thing interesting, but since it had nothing to do with Relics, Maea set them aside. This was going to be a long evening, she could tell.
"Without them, we have two options. Either I scour the library and attempt to learn these languages, which may take years... or we ask around to see if anyone else have a knack for translating ancient texts. The Voice probably can, if nothing else. Or might help one of us learn how." Reaching up on tip toes she withdrew a heavy book from a top shelf, and carried it over to a lectern. These pages were carefully inked and decorated with elaborate swirls, and the language was so archaic that she barely recognized it as her own.
She kept her back on Amun for a time, but as he simply went on speaking, her shoulders gradually slumped in a quiet exhale. When she glanced back at him over the shoulder, it was with a subtly guilty twist of her mouth.
"Do... you know anything about what happens to our souls, after we pass? And... I know we can, eh, borrow, shifts and magic from other races. Does that work on other Ascended, too?" There was a pause, silence disrupted by the whisper of paper as she turned the pages. "Thank you. For not making a big deal of it."
Only wake each morning to remember that you're gone
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Amun grinned at Maea's question. Reaching out, he'd squeeze her shoulder. "Actually, I do. But you probably won't like it." He snorted. "Keep busy, fill your hours with whatever you can, and then one day you'll realize you've gone a whole day without dwelling on the past in an unhealthy way."
There was a lock on the second drawer, but it only took his metal manipulation upgrade a moment to take care of it. Inside, though, he only found ledgers detailing supplies and excursions conducted by the Loreseekers. Sighing, he set them down. "She could. You're welcome to come with me when I complete my current task for her." His gaze slid over to her. "How're you feeling after the last visit?" Jerking his chin at the ceiling above them, he grinned.
"Why would I make a big deal out of something that's not a big deal?" As he asked the question, he cocked his head to the side. "Our souls?" He knelt down to take care of the bottom drawer on this side of the desk. "They go to the Voice, along with the soul of everyone that's ever Ascended. As for bites, if another Ascended is storing an ability, we can take it from them. But we can't borrow abilities that aren't innate, so no items or upgrades, if that makes sense."
Cocking her head aside, the girl considered, and touched the back of his hand with absentminded fingers. "I actually don't dislike it at all," she admitted. "It's by far the most constructive way I've heard of so far. 'Let it go' just doesn't work, and it's annoying to hear after a while." Patting his hand again she went to exchange the book for a new one. Skimming was dangerous in some ways because it was easy to miss the sort of obscure information they were delving for, but Maea had a feeling they would know if they discovered anything of note.
She snorted at his gesture, refusing to let her gaze follow. The spirits were gone, the mess cleared up. "Foolish. Relieved. Anxious that I have to go again without any resolution. In my head I know it shouldn't be a big deal, but..." She shook her head and rolled her eyes at herself. "If you really don't mind, I would be glad to join you. But I don't want to intrude on your moment."
Listening as Amun answered her questions, Maea picked up a stack of papers from a pile in a corner and brought them over to the desk. Sitting down in the dusty chair, she began to flip through them to see what they were about.
"I see. I wonder why she does that. Keep the souls, I mean? If she didn't, maybe Mort and Ludo wouldn't have so much against her." Looking up when the stack turned out to be various folk-songs and anonymous poetry, she watched Amun break the lock on the drawers. "Did you ever find it strange, by the way, what the bite does to people? And to us, especially! I mean, aren't we encouraged to think of each other as family? I don't know about you, but there are some things I don't exactly associate with 'family time', if you know what I mean."
Only wake each morning to remember that you're gone
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Snorting at the advice Maea had been given in the past, Amun shook his head. "'Let it go' is a dumb thing to say. Our memories are who we are. Only by creating new ones and giving the old ones time can we change how we feel about them." For just a moment he flipped his hand over to give hers a squeeze.
"I don't mind at all, and neither will the Voice. After all, she wants us all to band together." He smiled. However, it slipped away as he discovered the drawer he was trying to open was jammed. Jiggling it a few times didn't result in anything, so he scooted back a bit. Yanking on it, he winced at the sound of squealing metal and, under thank, the slight splintering of wood. Looking up at Maea, he grimaced. "I can fix that."
Drawer open, he paged through the contents. One book was a history of the Hollowed Ground, but from a quick skim the author didn't have any pertinent information. They'd just collected stories from residents. Underneath were the diaries and letters they'd used to compile the volume. Sighing, he set it on the surface of the desk to read more closely later, before shifting over to the other side of the desk.
"You'd have to ask her. My guess, though? She thinks Mort's realm is too good to be true, and the reality is a lot more unpleasant. So she's protecting us from that." He laughed at her discomfort surrounding the bite. "You don't have to bite or be bitten," he reminded her. "I don't think it was intentional, to be honest. The pleasure we get from other races is likely to encourage them to let us bite them, and the pleasure we get from biting each other is just a side effect of that."
Then he smirked. "That being said, sometimes families aren't blood relatives. People do get married and start new families, you know?" Standing up, he reached over to ruffle her hair.
Nodding and visibly comforted by the unspoken assurance that it was okay for things to take time, Maea squeezed his hand back before letting go, so he could keep working in peace. The groan of metal and wood that followed made her wince and look around, as if the Sage might come hurtling in at any moment, demanding to know what they were doing. When moments passed and nothing happened, she was surprised at the disappointment she felt. Funny, how someone who had been gone from the public eye so long could be so sorely missed.
"I don't think it matters, anymore," she mumbled, while setting aside the papers on the floor. "I can't see anyone using the desk again. Even if there were other Loreseekers left beside me."
She returned to her own search, listening but with only half an ear as Amun spoke. In the middle of the stack she found an old pamphlet Jigano had put in order, with a list of flora and fauna common to the region. The nostalgia drew a smile to her lips as she skimmed the pages, and she grew so absorbed with it that the hand on her head made her jump.
"Mh? Oh, yes. You're right, of course." Moving to take his hand and lean her cheek against it, Maea narrowed her eyes at a passage in the gathered notes. "Hey, Amun? I know you said that Safrin's Library might be the only place left to search... but has anyone taken a look beneath the Bone Bridge?" She held up the sheaf of papers so he could read the description for himself. "I can't recall that anyone has even tried - maybe the Kappa is there for a reason. What do you think?"
Only wake each morning to remember that you're gone
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Patting the desk, Amun shrugged at Maea's indifference. "That's besides the point. I try to leave things as good, if not better, than I left them." He waggled his eyebrows at her. "That goes for people too." Bending down, he pulled open the top drawer on the opposite side of the desk, which was neither locked nor jammed.
Before he could examine the papers and books within, though, her question cause his head to shoot up. "I wasn't aware there was anything below the Bone Bridge." He came to stand beside her. Frowning, he scanned over the list she'd been perusing. "What in the world is the Kappa?"
