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!
"Mhm. Well. Better safe than sorry." Her face relaxed, and focus was returned to the task at hand. Or at least she tried to focus, but his antics kept throwing her off. The implication that she had ever been sweet tempered earned Amun a look of incredulity. "Is that what you prefer? Leashes, trackers and meekness... I'm starting to question your intentions for me, brother dearest."
Fortunately they had work to do, and Maea could finally take action when the incredible sound from the room within died down. Teleporting herself back inside, she was greeted by scattered papers and a multitude of wasps that lay twitching and buzzing all across the floor. Most of them, anyway. Perhaps they were somewhat resistant to the light, because a few still struggled around in a dazed sort of way. Those she dispatched with a few zaps from her palm.
Then she turned towards Amun with a puzzled frown. "Are you alright? Why in Caido's name did you put your head in, too? A hand would have been enough, wouldn't it?" Shaking her head, she began to sweep up the stunned and dying 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 ♦
"I haven't even threatened to lock you in a tower and throw away the key." Amun waggled his eyebrows at Maea. When she inquired about his intentions, he narrowed his eyes. "My intentions are to make you worry but ultimately to reassure you that I trust you to take care of yourself." He reached out to ruffle her hair.
Scooping up the net, he added a few zaps of his own to take out the remaining wasps. Then he activated his upgrade and sealed the ones inside the metal so they couldn't escape. "It's a quirk of my upgrade. When I'm phasing through an object like wood or stone, my full body is intangible. It's only when I'm fully through that I can partially phase, if that makes sense, and I can't use upgrades stored in my phased body parts." At least, that's what his experimentations had shown so far.
"You would have to find a tower that could hold me, first," she quipped back with a sweet smile. It grew into laughter as he went on, and she nudged her head into his hand as he mussed up her hair. "And thus I will forever and always be seeking your support and guidance in everything I do, before I forge ahead with the courage of a tiger? Duly noted. You're halfway there already." They just had to work on the courage part.
The explanation made his actions a lot more sensible, and she offered a distracted half bow in apology. "My bad, I jumped to conclusions. Your upgrades are rather complex, aren't they - I can only jump around and zap things. Not very involved." She pointed her palm towards him and let a small torrent of electricity lick its way towards him with a playful grin.
"If you got to pick out upgrades for me, what would you go for? Since you know me best..." Maybe he could offer a direction she had yet to see for herself. A way to be truly useful.
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 ♦
Arching an eyebrow at Maea's response, Amun grinned. "Challenge accepted," he declared. When she mentioned she'd always seek out his guidance, he slung an arm over her shoulders. "And the ferocity of one." Nodding, he gave her a squeeze.
Waving a hand at her, he shook his head. "No need to apologize. In fact, I insist you ask why I do things and offer suggestions for improvement. I mean, I'm close to perfect, but I can always strive to polish off those final few imperfections." He gestured down his body before flinching as the electricity zapped him.
"Upgrades? Always happy to discuss those." He hummed a few notes as he glanced at her. Depositing the metal ball he'd made in the corner, he leaned against a wall. "Let's see, you've got your teleportation for mobility and your electricity for attacks. Perhaps either something defensive or something you can use to strengthen yourself or another Ascended?"
Pacts were struck and promises made, and Maea gave her brother a quick hug before she returned to the task of clearing up the mess she had made. When there were no more wasps to be found, she deposited her twitching pile within the coffer in a quick open-toss-close maneuver, and set the cleaning tools aside with a sigh. They were getting nowhere with the research, at this rate.
"Alright, if you say so." She let the lightning keep licking at her skin, and watched the display of light and dancing shadows as she considered. It struck her how beautiful it looked, those bluish arcs of discharged energy. A lightning storm in the palm of her hand; how had she never seen that before? "What is your greatest weakness, in your opinion?"
Letting the upgrade fizzle out and fade, Maea went over to Amun and slumped against the wall beside him. "Hm, I like that. Especially the defensive part." The suggestions were sound; she even made a scan to see if any of it felt compatible - if such a thing was even possible. Moving to cross her arms over the chest, her underarms brushed against one another - and in a hum of energy, a blueish something sprung to life before her.
"Wha - eh?" Startled and confused, Maea stared at the thing. Clueless as to what it was or even how it had appeared. "Amun?"
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 ♦
As Maea propped open the coffer, Amun tossed his ball inside. Touching the lock, he fused it shut. Then, grabbing a spare piece of paper and charcoal, he scribbled a quick note: PAPER WASPS: DO NOT OPEN. It was accompanied by a quick sketch of the creature in case an illiterate floor found their way down here.
"Fire," he responded without hesitation. "That and simply...not being as strong as some others around these parts. In comparison to Ronin and Remi, I'm positively a weakling." Sighing, he scratched his chin. As she came to stand near him and energy sprang out from her, he reached out a finger to poke it. There was a crackle and he brought back his fingertip with a hiss.
Glancing over at her, he arched an eyebrow. "From your mouth to the Voice's ears." He rubbed his fingertips together and initiated a scan to make sure it hadn't actually done that much damage to him.
Her arms came apart and the shield dissipated, leaving behind a sensation like vacuum in her ears. Shaking her head to rid of it, Maea too scanned again, and found that she had taken absolutely no damage from the incident. "I couldn't do that before," she murmured weakly, a little shaken by the whole thing. "Not that I really bothered to find out exactly what I was able to do, but still." She looked over to see that Amun was alright.
She looked down at her hands. Then brought them both to her cheeks in a fierce clap, that of course did nothing to slap sense back into her. Not feeling pain could be a bad thing, sometimes.
"Fire and lacking raw strength," she murmured. "I'm the same, there. Then, until we can match them blow for blow, we will have to rely on better tactics, and being difficult to hit." Shifting her weight aside, she slid closer until she could lean against him. Letting her head settle on his shoulder, her eyes roamed the dim room. Searching for books, even though her thoughts couldn't be further from the hunt for clues.
"You know, when trapping rabbits, it's all about knowing their habits. Where they dig their burrows. Where they go for water. And then you lay the traps where you know they will step, and leave. Conversely, if you want to take down a bear, it's all about a numbers game. Going against one alone is a death sentence. But if you are a group, and can attack from several directions at once with the proper weapons, you stand a chance of bringing it down."
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 ♦
Waving the other hand through the air where the energy had just been, Amun brought it back unscathed. He compared the fingers of his lightly injured hand to those of his uninjured one. Reaching out, he clasped Maea on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Constant improvements are the name of the game. Think of it similarly to how you'd spontaneously develop magic, before, if that makes you feel better." He grinned at her.
Letting her rest against him, he leaned his head against hers. Humming a note low in his chest, he watched her examine the room. When she spoke about hunting, he arched an eyebrow. "I'm very much afraid I'm the rabbit in this scenario." Laughing, he shook his head.
Dust motes drifted in the stirred up air, invisible save for Ascended eyes. Though the darkness should be complete, Maea still made out the details of the desk, the shelves and the mess they had made of books and paper.
"Alright. You are the rabbit. So to avoid the snares, you have to be unpredictable. Quick on your feet, and wary of traps. If you're the rabbit, you can't afford baggage like pride or overconfidence; if there's trouble coming, you bolt." She tilted her head up so she could see his face, gauge the reaction to her suggestions. It was very vague of course, because she didn't know enough about fighting and upgrades to offer concrete advice.
But she knew a bit about hunting. And about what it was to be a rabbit.
"If I had to choose, I think I would want to be... a viper, maybe. Very good at hiding and moving unseen, and when it's time to strike it would be quick and deadly. Though maybe that clashes with the ferocious tiger thing we had planned." Her mouth quirked into a lopsided smile, amused by the notion that she would ever be deadly to anyone.
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, Amun inclined his head to Maea. "I'll work on that," he drawled. Rubbing his hands together, he whistled a snippet of a tune. "At least between the phasing and the teleportation I can be relatively unpredictable." His brow furrowed and he tapped his fingers against the little bit of metal still on his arms.
"I for one would not want to meet a venomous tiger." Sweeping his gaze across the room, he surveyed it before pressing his lips together. "So. Not to add yet another animal metaphor to the mix, but have we decided this is a wild goose chase?" He gestured at the study.
She nodded in encouragement. "I would say so, yes. If they can't catch you, or touch you, it will be hard to hurt you too. That will be your homework, alright? Practice on getting out of spars without being harmed. Sneak attacks, that sort of thing." Stretching up on her tip-toes, she sneaked a quick kiss to his cheek, before pushing away from the wall.
Sighing, she had to agree with his conclusion. "Unfortunately, yes. I don't know what to look for, and there's too much that's unorganized - we could be here for weeks and find nothing. I'll admit... I'm disappointed. Not surprised, but..."
There was a slight shrug of her arms. "It felt good to be down here again. Almost makes me want to revive the guild, and clean up. Just imagine the wealth of knowledge hidden in all these books and scrolls and journals - it would be a good way to pass all this endless time I suddenly have at my disposal."
Moving towards the door, Maea pushed it open. Clean air came wafting in, and the shadows paled in the corners from the marginal amounts of added light.
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 ♦
04-22-2022, 07:41 PM (This post was last modified: 04-22-2022, 07:42 PM by Amun.)
my whole life is mine, but whoever says so will deprive me,
for it is infinite.
Groaning, Amun rolled his eyes. Pouting, he met Maea's gaze. "Homework? Aren't I a bit old for that?" He swept his arms down his body and let out a whine. Still, he winked at her.
Slinging an arm across her shoulder again, he smiled. "It was a long shot anyway." Looking at the room, he narrowed his eyes. "I'll try not to be offended that you don't want to join the Art-isan's Guild." Reaching out, he booped her in the nose. "I personally am happy to call scholarly output art." He waggled his eyebrows even as he let himself be steered towards the door and the hallway beyond.
"No one's ever too old for homework," she laughed, while slinging her arm around his back. "You're already doing it anyway, so it's not like I'm giving you extra work. Only a different approach." Sometimes brute strength just wasn't the way to go.
As they left the old guildhall behind, Maea looked up at her brother in mild surprise. "I never considered it," she mused. "I've never been much good at painting, or making things. But if books are alright, then..." A mischievous look came over her. "How about this; I'll join your guild, if you join mine?"
The idea was biting deeper into her mind, and with it came a quiet thrill she had not felt in a long time. Maybe... maybe it wasn't such a crazy idea. "Do you... think anyone would want the Loreseekers back? Is there a place for it, with war so close?" Lights were appearing along the walls as they reached more frequented areas, and before long the stairs appeared ahead. Waiting to deliver them back to the ground floor.
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 ♦
my whole life is mine, but whoever says so will deprive me,
for it is infinite.
Frowning, Amun stared at Maea. "I think we should leave the senior citizens be, don't you?" Sighing, he pressed his lips together. "Yes, but it sounds so much worse when you call it homework," he whined. Hanging his head, he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth before letting out another, longer sigh.
"Deal. Books definitely count. You're making something, aren't you?" He glanced over at her and waggled his eyebrows. "So long as you record the adventures I'm happy to find the lore. Or whatever."
Shrugging one shoulder, he looked back at the study. "I don't think knowledge will ever go out of style. And most folks around here are just desperate for some sense of direction." Grimacing, he faced front again, heading for the stairs.
