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!
With the last blue light of dusk sinking into the horizon, Chaele is keen to begin their trek into the sentient maze. A large pack is mounted on their back, their feet are wrapped in new fur-lined boots, and a wool hat and scarf are pinned beneath the straps of their mask. If they are going to find the thing they are seeking and leave again before dawn, they must be prepared. It could prove crucial if the Grounds are attacked during the LongNight.
Not that they were partial to any particular settlement, as they had made perfectly clear to Maea before proposing this journey. If anything, this is moreso a test of survival skills, of exploring this peculiar vegetation and testing oneself against its strange cunning. The Efas herb itself will be something of a trophy, to prove yet again that they knew what it was to hunt and gather and endure. It’s definitely only a coincidence that they might be helping the city where a future guild might be headquartered.
“It will look like brown nodules on green stalks, about this long,” they mention, head turning gently from side to side as they view the world through the awkwardly placed holes of their mask. The torch in their hand sways in the same rhythm. “Have you seen one before? Been through this place before?”
As if in mute defiance of the colder season, the young Ascended had not altered her garb in the slightest. Still decked out in her usual dark coat, tattered and worn with fraying cuffs and a new tear along the left sleeve, with only light boots, she did not really notice the snow on the ground, save for when it caked up beneath her feet. The pale hair hung loose over the shoulders and tangled up a bit more with each fickle gust of wind, and she occasionally blew it out of the eyes as she trudged alongside Chaele into the Labyrinth.
"Yes. I've gathered it before," came her simple response. Quiet and subdued - a far cry from the conversational tone she'd carried during their previous encounter. Something had changed in her since then, a spark gone out; her gaze remained fixed on the snow-covered path ahead.
"If you hear someone speak to you in there, don't listen. It's only squirrels."
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 ♦
Perhaps Maea’s mood was another excuse to make this little journey, quiet as she is. Chaele did not need to know the reason; they had learned plenty about the loreseeker when they last met, and are hardly one to pry. If there is anything to best treat a distracted mind, it is a more worthy distraction.
“No squirrels,” they repeat idly, lifting their torch and their gaze up toward the overhanging trees in search of such a creature. The flickering firelight casts eerie shadows from bare branches. If only the hedges weren’t evergreen. “Just as well. Maybe they will reveal themselves enough to become dinner.”
Chaele pauses to consider a fork then, lowering the light to get a better look at the stars. There is only one constellation they know, but it should be enough to orient them both amid the close, changing corridors. The search is for the center, whatever that means. “Are there any books about this place? Any knowledge to impart?”
As the torch was raised, Maea took a step away, her face tensing slightly before smoothing over once more. "Be careful with that," she cautioned smoothly. From a pocket, she pulled out a black compass. Its needle spun erratically, heedless of which way she turned it. Sighing she tucked it away again.
"Typical. No - if there are, I haven't found them yet." She looked around, taking in the evergreen hedges with sober eyes. "The hedges move. The squirrels can be nasty - don't mistake them for ordinary animals. Oh, and there have been gremlins sighted in here. So stay on your guard."
She made a gesture for Chaele to lead the way, not particularly interested in choosing a path. It didn't really matter, each one was equally likely to wind up in a dead end.
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 ♦
Chaele sighs and turns left with a shrug, boots crunching in the packed snow as they try to ward off any nearby critters with the noise. The torch is kept far enough away from the wet, snow-heavy branches of the hedges around them, but it nonetheless oscillates back and forth, up and down, as they guide it in search of the precious herb. The shaman is not one to fill silence otherwise; they prefer it to idle conversation, and find it more effective in concentrating on the hazards around them.
At least the sky is clear, the moon high, and thoughts plenty.
Soon enough a dead end is reached, and they spin around to retrace their steps-- perhaps not as carefully as Maea might have liked. They get a brief glimpse at her downcast eyes then, her distant expression, before it might change in reaction to the flame. There is a scrutinizing pause as they pull the torch back and to the side, then step succinctly around the Ascended to take the lead once more.
“I have been thinking about your offer to transcribe my knowledge,” they report, if only to move their thoughts away from the discomfort of concern. “I want to make small guides... like leaflets, for surviving in the wild regions.”
The maze was quiet. In the still of the night only the chirp of snow beneath their feet could be heard, and it was a comfort to be allowed this relative peace. Maea's thoughts were far away, though her eyes kept raking the surroundings, scanning nooks and crannies for signs of trouble.
She could learn to like Chaele's company. So far, their silence had been lacking that awkward weight that so often lingered between strangers.
Too bad it didn't last long. Maea's gaze flitted briefly to the mask-covered face, searching and finding the eyes glinting behind the dark hollows.
"Very practical," she acknowledged. "My former guild-master did a similar thing for the Hollowed Grounds. I can show you later how he structured it, and you can suggest alterations. If you wish."
Nooooo....
A distant cry was carried along by the breeze. Maea turned her head in the direction, momentarily distracted as she tried to gauge the distance.
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 ♦
Two heads swivel simultaneously in the direction of the noise, and perhaps more in the night’s eerie stillness. “I admit I know little about the Grounds themselves,” Chaele replies distractedly, head slanted upward. They listen for the scraping of branches or the tossing of ice, but no other indication of movement is revealed. Don’t listen, Maea had advised, and yet they cannot help but be curious.
The next fork they cross leads them less than coincidentally toward the noise, affirmed by a quick yelping that echoes through the frigid air.
No! No! No!
Chaele pretends to ignore it, trudging forward until it inevitably leads them toward a dead end. With a sigh they lift the torch up in a futile search for a gap or climbing branch, but eventually turn around again to go back the way they came. Their eyes remain on the path ahead, while their attention shifts back from the idle hunt. “But I would learn more. Tell me about the old guildmaster.”
Echoing voices picked up, one after the other. Screeching their eerie denials into the bitterly cold wind, casting a shadow of doubt over every decision made within the maze of hedges. Maea was more concerned with how far away the critters wore, though she couldn't entirely block out the sound, no matter her own warnings.
What was there to tell, about the Lorekeeper? She tucked her hands into the pockets of her coat.
"His name is Jigano. Some called him the Sage, and he certainly lived up to that name. Even though he was an Outlander he uncovered many secrets of this region, and of the world, that no Natural born Grounder had touched in centuries." A wistful expression touched her lips and drew out a faint smile, fleeting and soon gone again.
"He is that kind and caring sort of person who will take the entire world on his shoulders. Unfortunately he had quite a sharp tongue, and some did not take well to him for it. Right now... I assume he will have found some quiet place to wait out the war, together with his mate." Perhaps for good.
Her tone implied that it was a refuge well earned.
When they turned to head back in a new direction, the snow behind them lay untouched, their footsteps erased. Maea's brows furrowed; it seemed the hedges had shifted while she wasn't paying attention.
"Do you still have the bearings? We might want to pick up the pace."
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 ♦
They listen closely to the details of the man whose legacy they had somehow decided to uphold, agreeable nods bobbing in their chin as they march doggedly onward. It is reassuring that they will follow in the footsteps of someone who knew the unknown and spoke his mind, however little else they know about this guild. But it is talk of war that tenses in their shoulders and gives them pause, gaze lifting absently upward in response to Maea’s question.
At least the heavens can give a clue, as the shaman averts her path with renewed purpose. Chaele knows she will tire more easily than the Ascended, but she nonetheless spurs forward against the temptation to rest. The torch flickers low in the wind of her progress as the pair unwittingly grows nearer to the labyrinth's center.
She is less alert in the moments that follow, focused instead on the precise manner of the words she will say next. In truth she knows little of the politics between settlements, and has only barely heard of the conflict’s recent manifestations in Stormbreak. Still, it is not easy to admit that she has been little more than a hermit for her whole life, and lacks such pivotal knowledge. Carefully, slowly, she asks, “What do you know of the war?”
"That's a big question." Maea glanced at Chaele before turning her attention to the path again.
"In broad strokes; The Voice was a mortal who sought to improve the world around her. The Old Gods were displeased with the things she did, and as she grew more powerful they decided to wage war upon her. Three hundred years ago the Cataclysm of the great war ravaged the continent, and the Voice was trapped behind a barrier here in the Hollowed Grounds. Five years ago she was able to bring a great number of Outlanders to Caido, and in their efforts to escape this prison, they brought down the barrier and set her free."
Scowling at the winding twists and turns that passed them by, she tried not to let her personal experiences color the retelling too much. Though it was difficult; it was so very easy to want to pick sides.
"Now, the war is about to resume again. Followers of the Old Gods seek to destroy The Voice, while the Ascended are preparing to fight for their - our - survival. As we cannot exist without her." She let out a sigh, that did not fog in the chill air. It was still surreal, to count herself among the so called 'bright' ones.
"The Voice is also part of the reason why magic-users are shunned by the Old Gods. She was one, back when they were still Acquired. Now they're Abandoned, as you know." At least she assumed Chaele would know as much.
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 ♦
Most of the details are familiar to the recluse, childhood tales mixed with grapevine gossip stirring in the back of her memory. But she had asked vaguely and she is glad for the summary, known and unknown pieces weaving together like so many roots in soil. One thing stands out however; before this moment, it seemed unfathomable that the old terrors would awaken again.
“I am what they call Abandoned,” she admits, for it is less obvious to identify her kind than Maea’s, despite Chaele’s arcane ornamentations. She speaks to the snow in front of her feet, scanning the frosted ground for the telltale brown growths.The turns are tighter now, the path snaking back and forth and promising that they are close to the center.
“And I hope to have nothing to do with the gods and their bickering,” she adds, stomping bitter footprints into the ice. They would no doubt be erased by the magic of this place-- just as any god could erase her if they so chose. She pauses, as if to realize a mistake, or maybe she only thinks she has seen the herb. “But I expect you have no choice.”
Pausing as Chaele did, to watch the surroundings while her friend searched for the herb or whatever she was doing, Maea huffed a quiet laugh, somewhat grim and entirely unamused.
"Of course I have a choice," she replied. "I have made it several times now; when the Voice reached into the halls of the dead to offer a way back. When I promised my brother I would stay with him. Every time I fight to save my own life; that's a choice not to die, and another set of hands to bring into the battle."
A not-so-distant sound made her head swivel around, attention wavering in favor of watching their backs, until it became apparent that no imminent threat was present.
"I wish you all the best in avoiding the conflict... but if I were you, I would bolster my abilities to defend myself, all the same. Just in case you are dragged into it - by accident or design. Some might not to care about your will in the matter and make you fight anyway." The grimace of disgust made it plain that she was not likely to be one of them. Not if she could help it herself.
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 ♦
What she thought was the herb was simply a tuft of grass, heavy with half-frozen mud. With a frustrated scoff, equally at Maea’s description of choices as at the unfruitful journey, Chaele continues on. Talk of family and battle and preparation wells in her chest and gives her pause, inspiring that familiar silence that so often seems to fall between them.
No! A squirrel chimes in from behind now, perhaps the same source of the noise that the Ascended had heard earlier. Noo… Oh! No!
This prompts her stubbornly forward, though with the stifled huffs that signal the onset of fatigue. The torch is burning low as well, more ember than flame as she stretches it out in vain. Still her voice is soft with gratitude as she replies to the tone of Maea’s, the one that insists that she would honor the shaman’s will. Chaele does not tend to make many friends, but this one seems to be close to it.
“I suppose there is always a choice,” she relents. “Even if it is an unfavorable one. But my abilities are in the survival of the wilds, in the intuition of their constituent parts. I doubt I will be useful to either side, and I intend to keep it that way.”
The cries were definitely coming closer. Maea spared a glance at Chaele, noting the strained breathing as they shuffled through the snow. They would have to pause and rest soon, though she was reluctant to linger for long in this place. So far they had been lucky, but she had her trip with Loren in rather fresh memory.
"Honestly, I am grateful," she said quietly, and fell in beside the shaman. "Far too many side against us as it is, and I cannot even blame them. The Voice has done questionable things in the past... The people who won't pick a side are few, these days."
This way!
A sharp cry sounded from her right, close enough to make out clearly, and in a fluid motion the young Ascended pivoted towards it. A dagger appeared in her hand, held at the ready.
The motion saw her feet scraping snow from the ground, and just beside her boot a few weedy looking stalks poked up.
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 ♦
