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!
They split away from the festival and Maea relished the quiet that followed as murmuring voices faded into the background. After wandering aimlessly for some time, the landscape changed subtly and the swamp took on a more menacing appearance. The ground blackened and vegetation died away, replaced by sticky black tar pits that bubbled and oozed in the chill air.
"For once I'm glad I can't smell anything," she murmured as she looked around, hesitating between two paths that looked equally unsafe. Glancing at Amun, she raised a brow. "Have you been this way before?"
A quick look back revealed no sign of the festival lights. Which had been the whole purpose, she supposed, but it was hard to pretend she wasn't disappointed to miss the appearance of Ludo. "I wonder who gets their wish granted, this year..."
Light is easy to love Show me your darkness
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Frowning down at the muck coating his boots, Amun glared at their surroundings. Despite not being able to smell the stench, he still wrinkled his nose. "No. This is my first time in the Feverlands and, forgive me for hoping it might be my last." He grimaced and shook his head at Maea.
"How about you?" Kneeling down, he examined the two paths. Shrugging at her question, he didn't look up from his inspection. "I always wondered whether that was just Ludo playing another trick on us. What does it get from fetching a spirit, after all?" Finally glancing up at her, he pressed his lips together. "Sorry."
"No, never this part. I did hole up in the Feverlands for a while, before I shut down. It suited my mood at the time." She passed him a wry smile; a look around would suggest that she hadn't been in a very bright spirit.
The remark earned him a long stare. But as he looked up, Maea sighed and shrugged slightly. "It's not a trick," she told him gently. "Ludo let me meet my brother, once. I invited it to the Fiat Lux festival, and in return I got to dance with Noah. It was Ludo, of course, but... it was my brother who spoke. His words, his hands in mine. Only for a moment, true, but it was the most beautiful thing, Amun. I will never forget it."
Testing the ground with a cautious foot, it gave suspiciously under her weight. Maea swallowed, trying to shift the lump in her throat. "Anyway. I don't know why. Maybe it's just being kind. Maybe it likes a good party."
Light is easy to love Show me your darkness
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 explanation, Amun smirked. Holding up his hands to frame her face, he shifted so he was framing their surroundings instead. "Ah yes, I can see the resemblance already." Chuckling, he waggled his eyebrows.
However, his smile slipped away as she spoke. When she finished he frowned. Opening his mouth, he paused, then closed it. Instead, he hummed a low note before finally speaking. "I am glad it was able to reunite you, even for just a moment."
Fingers closing around rock, he tossed it at the ground down one of the paths. It hit with a sad gloopy sound, and started to sink into the mud and muck. Standing up, he dusted off his hands. "Or maybe it just enjoys the attention." Shrugging a shoulder, he pointed at their two options. "Thoughts?" He reached out with a foot to poke at the one he hadn't tested yet.
In response to the framing, she did her best impression of a spooky ghost, with arms wriggling mysteriously in the air. Huffing a laugh she shook her head.
"I am too." Then her eyes narrowed at him. "And? What are you really thinking? It won't hurt my feelings if you disagree. Not much, anyway."
Both paths seemed equally unsafe, truth be told. Maea ignored the question for the time being, and busied herself with the search for a pair of stout canes. Not an easy thing to find in this part of the marshland, but she did manage to fashion something almost suitable with a few quick passes of a dagger over some toppled saplings.
She passed one to her brother. "Only safe path is behind us, and what's the fun in going back? Let's try the right one. I've got a good feeling about it." And whether or not that was reason enough to take the left path, she began to make her way carefully onwards, constantly prodding the ground with the cane to make sure she didn't get sucked into a pit.
Light is easy to love Show me your darkness
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
"Ooooo scary." Amun wiggled his fingers at Maea. As she pressed him on what he hadn't said, though, he sighed. Shrugging a shoulder, he shook his head. "What I was thinking, eventually, was that I wasn't there and didn't experience what you did so I have no basis to invalidate your experiences." He arched an eyebrow at her.
As she busied herself with trying to fashion them walking sticks, he watched her. When she finally handed him something, he grinned. Activating his metal manipulation upgrade, the gauntlets lining his arms crawled down them until he had two reasonably sized iron poles. "Lead the way."
Trading one pole for the branch she offered, he rolled his neck, then set off behind her. It was easy enough to step where she did, since the muddy and tarry ground left very visible footprints.
Meeting his gaze, she pursed her lips in consideration. "I see. Well. In the end it comes down to faith, I suppose. I believe it was real, and so it is, to me." She smiled. "You don't have to, though. Oh doubter, you faithless one." Mock pity colored her tones as she cocked the head aside and construed the most 'oh, woe is thee' expression she could muster.
With the improved walking stick in hand, sounding the way became easier. The bog was still treacherous though, because not all tussocks and rocks were what they seemed at first glance. At some point the metal-shod staff tapped into something that rang hollow, in a bone-clacking and rather eerie sort of way. A clicking hiss of annoyance followed, and the rounded cobble Maea had assumed to be another rock suddenly grew legs and began to stir.
"Oops. Watch out for that one - it can take a toe off if we're not careful." Though even as she said it, the girl leaned in to have a closer look. The crab-like creature had lodged itself in what looked like a deer skull, and clapped its claws at her when she kept hovering above it. "I don't think I've seen one quite this large, before."
Light is easy to love Show me your darkness
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Nodding, Amun grinned. Reaching up to pinch Maea's cheek, he waggled his eyebrows at her. "Which is why I chose not to say anything in the end. I am capable of rethinking my opinions and actions." He barked out a laugh. "And I have plenty of faith, I just put it in places and people you find odd."
As she warned him against approaching whatever animal or creature they'd disturbed, he froze. When she leaned a little too close, he grabbed her cloak and pulled her back a bit. "Presumably it can take off your toes too then. What is it?" He jerked his chin at the clawed animal that apparently lived in a skull.
"I know you are," she replied with a smile, as she leaned back to free her cheek from the loving abuse. "It just seemed like you were refraining from saying something... and I want to know what's on your mind. That's all." As for his faith; she could only laugh in agreement. "Maybe one day I'll find it less odd. In the meantime... feel free to prove me wrong." And she winked, before turning back to the path.
The tug on her cloak saw her staggering back slightly, and it took some pulling before her foot came slurping up out of the black tar where she accidentally stepped off the path.
"Careful," she mumbled. "Oh, this? It's a penolaeth. Some sort of crab, I think, or similar to one. They like to live in skulls. Sort of like hermit crabs, except spookier. I hear they can grow huge, but I've only seen tiny ones before."
The creature began to sidle away from them, its claws making a menacing snick, snick in the air as it went. She smiled at it, amused by the adorable display of tiny wrath. "It's kind of cute, don't you think?"
Light is easy to love Show me your darkness
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Groaning, Amun rolled his eyes. Meeting Maea's gaze, he shrugged a shoulder. "I was just going to say that it's possible Ludo was faking, but as you correctly pointed out it was real to you and that's all that should really matter." He shook his head. "Happy?"
Eying the penolaeth, he cocked his head to one side. Giving it a proper inspecting, he snorted. "No, but I have a pet landshark so I am not exactly the right person to ask about cute animals." Maneuvering so he could stand next to her, wincing as the muck pulled at his boots, foot, and pants, he pointed at the path beyond it. "Do we just wait for it to get bored?" He watched as it continued to sidestep.
Puzzled by his frustration that she failed to find a source for, Maea nodded. "Yes. Thank you. I've been happy all along." She opened her mouth to ask something, but thought better of it. With a sidelong glance at Amun she went on ahead.
Until the penolaeth blocked the path. Maea raised her eyebrows at Amun and his impatience. Using her staff, she slipped it in beneath the skull-bearing crab and lobbed it up and off the path. With a soft splat it landed somewhere in the dark, and she could imagine that it had to struggle quite a bit to get back on track.
"There, it's gone. You know, for someone who doesn't know where he's going, you are in an awful hurry." Maea stepped aside and issued a grand bow. "Feel free to take the lead, if you so desire, good sir." A faint smile betrayed her amusement.
Light is easy to love Show me your darkness
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Snorting, Amun inclined his to Maea. "That's what I always say!" Squeezing her shoulder, he winked at her.
Watching as she dispatched the crab thing, he watched as it sailed off into the distance. Arching an eyebrow, he cocked his head to one side. "A simple no would've sufficed, sis." Chuckling, he rested his hand in the small of her back and pushed her forward. "Far be it for me to ignore the local expert. Lead the way."
Waiting for her to do just that, he looked around them. Sighing, he rubbed his forehead. "Sorry I've been a bit grumpy about this whole Festival thing. It's my first big public outing since the whole Stormbreak thing." He shrugged a shoulder.
Allowing herself to be pushed forward, she spared the gone-away-crab a final glance and shrugged before moving on. "Better safe than sorry. And I'm hardly an expert. I just eavesdropped on locals a lot. Hunters gossip worse than old women when they think no one is around." She flashed him a smirk over the shoulder.
As Amun went on however, Maea looked at him again, more closely this time. Making room so that they could walk side by side on the narrow trail, she slowed down and nudged his arm with hers in quiet sympathy.
"You have every right to be," she reassured. "It went as well as one might expect, don't you think? No tables flipped, no stones thrown... I doubt many even noticed you there at all." Though knowing him, that might be something to lament, come to think of it. Perhaps standing ovations would have brightened his mood.
Light is easy to love Show me your darkness
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Amun barked out a laugh at Maea's observation. "Perhaps so. In my experience, old women tend to gossip even more when they have an audience. But I'm less familiar with hunters. Well, gossiping with them." Winking, he bumped her shoulder with his.
Grimacing, he scratched his chin. "I just don't like the feeling that I have to skulk about. I know that it's the right thing to do and that avoiding conflict until I can't anymore is the best approach right now but...it doesn't feel great."
He pressed his lips together. "I just want to be able to walk somewhere and not worry someone will take a swing at me. I know, I know, I brought it on myself." He headed down the path, using his walking stick to prod the less than solid ground. When he came to a particularly squelchy section, he stepped over or around it.
