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!
Chaele shakes her head, a mild protest against the attempt to sympathize with those who would see the Ascended extinct. Her opinion of the Old Gods is low, as is her bloodright, and her instinct for self-preservation manifests in words that almost sound like she is taking a side.
“No one can be faulted for trying to free themselves from a cage.” Like the Voice. “Nor for achieving the most they can with what they have.” Like the Acquired.
Seeming to realize the weight in her scales, she begins to add, “Nor for--” but she is interrupted by the cry. Instinctively her empty hand reaches rightward, toward the source of the close sound. Inky black shadows seep out between her glove and sleeve as draining magic coalesces in the direction of the squirrel. Its mischievous eyes droop with a sudden exhaustion, its grip falters on the narrow hedge branches, and it plunges onto the ground.
But as Chaele draws her hunting knife and looks down in preparation of her next meal, she sees the herb beneath Maea’s heel.
Beneath the snow. Obviously.
The failing torch is pressed into the ice, where it sizzles and extinguishes, and the knife is slipped back into its sheath. Then Chaele falls to her knees and tugs the Efas free, leaving the squirrel to scurry off unless Maea chooses to delay it. Shoulders rising and falling in the wake of her exertion, she lifts the little plant upward with an exasperated chuckle.
A nod of approval was offered in Chaele's direction as she dispatched the squirrel that had launched itself at them. And if Maea's expression for a moment twisted with hunger and longing and bitter resignation, it was gone the next moment, replaced by smooth indifference. She stepped out of the way when the shaman knelt to examine something by her feet, and kept an eye on the creature.
Decisions, decisions. The critter ought to be harmless, and certainly looked it where it sat in the snow. Drained and weary, shaking its little head as if to clear it. Maea would have let it go, but when it suddenly gathered itself and leaped at her, she raised a hand and connected circuits in her palm, and a torrent of electricity crackled forth. There was a short shriek as it enveloped the speaking squirrel, and a moment later it lay prone in the snow. The tips of its fur smoldering gently in the cold air.
Maea's mouth was a grim line slicing across the face as she leaned down and picked it up, ingrained habit to let no food go to waste taking over for a moment before she paused. And looked between the carcass and Chaele.
"It's not much of a meal... but do you want it?" It seemed to really trouble her that she had no actual use for 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 ♦
Chaele looks away from the herb with a short gasp of surprise, not expecting the crackle and rush of electricity to flash in front of her light-starved irises. In the dark that resumes the little creature takes its dying breath, with only a crisp burning smell to show for it. The shaman grins faintly behind her mask as she tucks away her prize.
She leans toward the dangling corpse, still kneeling as she catches her breath. With a decisive nod, she replies, “Its meat will cook well, thank you.” And its fur will add to her cloak, and its bones will make a fine effigy, and its vocal chords will prove an interesting specimen for her ritual magic.
There is one more use that it has as well. “Its entrails would make for a fine haruspicy, if you have a question to ask of the spirits.” Preempting the question that might follow, she explains, “I can divine the answer by reading its liver and intestines. But it only works for the person who killed it.”
Divination? Spirits? Maea blinked, and looked down at the dead squirrel in her hand. A trickle of blood had dribbled from its tiny nose, and the sight of it made her hands tremble.
She shook her head sharply and tossed the critter to Chaele, for them to catch and store away wherever. "Thanks, but I don't have any questions. At least none any spirits could answer." All her queries revolved around the Voice, and could be answered by the deity only.
Leaning down she scooped up a handful of snow and rubbed her hands clean with it, until the faint tremors had stopped and her mind recalled no scarlet stains between those fingers. A glance was shot at the herb, then she began scraping away the frozen ground cover in search for more.
"How much do you need?" A single plant would probably not go far, though it was doubtful they'd find much more at this time of year. "I know you are tired, but please try to be quick. One squirrel is not an issue - the problem is when they come at us in numbers. We can't linger."
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 ♦
A private frown pinches in Chaele’s lips as she dusts herself off and stands, accepting the limp squirrel with a curt nod. It is a shame that the opportunity is lost, but the innards will make good bait for trapping larger prey, if nothing else. “The offer remains,” she mentions as she ties the kill by its tail to her pack, the blood from its nose dripping a fruitless crumb trail as she trudges forward. “For any kill you make.”
The snow would reveal no other sprigs or saplings, the hypothesis about the time of year proving true enough. The only task left for them is to find their way out, and luckily they have more than half the night left to do so. There is another torch tied to the shaman’s large pack, but the moon is full enough to see the path by, when one is not searching for much else.
Still Chaele keeps her chin up, staying alert for further danger as she attempts to steady her breathing-- if only out of shame. Her mind wanders in the darkness to the dread of war, the obstinance of neutrality, the needs and biases of her more recent ally. Eventually it occurs to her that the Grounds might make better use of the herb than a lone nomad. Though it still remains in her pack, she says, “The LongNight tends to strike worst in the settlements, I’m told. Perhaps you could make better use of the Efas than I.”
Despite not being overly enthused about the idea of rummaging through entrails for answers, Maea nodded politely that she understood. It was a kind offer, and she did appreciate the gesture. Perhaps there would come a time where any answers were welcome, and when Chaele might find more than carrion staring back at them.
Turning back, Maea scanned the labyrinth around them, and let Chaele take out the direction before setting off. She slowed her pace somewhat, to give the shaman a chance to catch their breath - she could hear the strain even under the attempt to hide.
As for the offer... She walked for a bit, hands tucked in the pockets before answering. "You are more than welcome to stay here for LongNight, if you so wish," she replied. "The Infirmary wouldd be grateful for the herb, and you would not be far removed in case you too have need. Or wish to learn how to make use of it." Speaking lightly, she didn't look at Chaele. Leaving it entirely up to them to decide.
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 ♦
Her offer takes the shaman by surprise, who had spent many LongNights huddled in jungle underbrush and perched between swamp tree branches. The idea of spending it within inescapable walls inspires a shiver in Chaele’s spine-- or perhaps the cold of night is setting in. Her voice wavers before she answers, juggling the invitation on her tongue before she ultimately sets it aside.
“I am familiar with its uses,” she replies instead, though perhaps suggesting that the truth is more in study than in practice. “But the likelihood that one of many people will need the herb is greater than that only one will.” She fishes the little sample out of her pocket then, folded as it is in a threadbare kerchief, and holds it out to the Grounder as they walk side by side.
The quiet settles for a longer time then, a slower pace matching the calmer air in the darkness. The death of their old stalker, swaying like a trophy on the side of Chaele’s pack, seems to have dissuaded any comrades it might have had for now. The test is all but completed, the distraction fulfilled, and all that is left is the mutual company of a young friendship.
The herb was extended, and Maea accepted it without comment. Only bowed her head in quiet gratitude, and tucked it away safely within a pocket. "I'll make sure they know who it's from. Thank you." Far from a small gift, it had earned Chaele a good amount of respect in the pale-haired girl's book. For what it was worth.
Companionable silence fell as they made their way back. Through the winding labyrinth of hedges, over frozen ground where their tracks came and went, sometimes meeting, sometimes walking the same way; however the hedges moved, they did not appear to shift the snow in the slightest.
And whether by some luck or indeed the death of their kin, no more calls sounded in the night. Maea couldn't help but feel that they had been let off easy. Very easy.
{FIN}
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 ♦
