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!
The ocean at night was dark indeed, but the light of the moon still slipped silvery fingers below the waves to stroke the sand to silver and limn the altar's shape in cold fire. Hadama slipped soundlessly through the water on a manta's weightless wings until he reached it. His tattoos were bleached to white gold that glimmered against his dark hide as he settled before the shrine and slipped an offering from the net at his harness.
A black nautilus shell pendant, painstakingly polished to a high shine, was set on the stone first. His trident was placed on the ground before the altar; a gesture of peace, and in hope of a blessing before he lifted his eyes to the night sky beyond the sea's surface and prayed. Safrin, I have questions about the upcoming War and how to better prepare myself for it. He paused, remembering the bloodless encantados and Flora's recent warning on the notice board and his brows drew together slightly in concern. And... of recent strange happenings in Torchline. Please.
Starlight pierces even the darkest ink of the Arclight as Safrin appears. In a gown of flowing seaweed and a bodice of coral, the goddess looks like a piece of the ocean formed into the shape of a woman, rather than a deity simply wearing a garment.
Hello Hadama She whispers wordlessly, reaching out for the dark shell so that she might run her fingers over its smooth, spiralled surface. This is beautiful. Where her fingertips brush, galactic lights bloom against the shell's surface.
08-25-2022, 06:13 PM (This post was last modified: 08-25-2022, 06:14 PM by Hadama.)
Hadama bowed his head at first in respect, but soon raised it to drink in the beauty of the Starsea Goddess. His chest filled with pride as she praised his offering, and he murmured a soft Thank you, as she stroked the shell to even greater beauty.
But as much as he might want to simply bask in her transformation of the waters he had called her for a reason and his awe faded back to solemnity. There was no need to take a breath under the water but he was silent for a moment as he re-composed his thoughts before asking what had brought him to the shrine this night.
Do you know what shape the battles will take? Clashes of armies, or the choosing of champions for single combat? Or something else entirely?
And I would ask for help with a weapon that will be of use in Torchline's defense, but I do not know what would be most effective. I wished your guidance. A fire-touched weapon for a mer was difficult to imagine.
A lightning-touched one was potentially suicidal.
And then there was those strange, bloodless animals... but for now the War took precedence.
Thoughtfully Safrin purses her lips together. There is no need of breath or even movement of her mouth, and yet she does inhale as she gazes towards the shimmering and far-away moonlight bobbing on the surface of the ocean.
There is only one place such a battle could occur. She replies with a regretful smile. Waving a hand through the water, the Draig Cordillera appears as seen from the air. To get through will be a battle of its own, before the true fighting even begins.
As for a defence?
Have you any notion of how Torchline plans to defend hers? There is the stargate now of course, and I have taken steps to ensure that all children will be safe. But for the others? Perhaps you might encase my starlight within the waters and throw it at those who would try and hurt or maim?
The Draig was a mystery to Hadama, a place of legend and myth far from the coast, so he looked with great curiosity at the image Safrin spun for him. He considered the dangers of the dragons said to lurk there, and nodded slowly at the goddess's warning of battles against more than mere mortals.
An unlikely place for any of the merfolk, and it was with a small sense of relief that he turned his head to what he could contribute to: the defense of his home.
All of it. Not just the parts that were underwater.
A weapon of water and starlight would be perfect, he agreed after a moment to think through the possibilities. Something unique to the merfolk who worshiped Safrin, and their ocean home. Something that could reach airbreathers causing havoc on land as well. How do we make this weapon?
Smiling, Safrin considered for a moment before telling the mermanta what it was he would need to bring to her. Water from the Maw, sands from the deepest portion of the ocean that you can safely reach- Here she pauses, head tilting to convey the importance of safely that Hadama might not go overboard. -and a chunk of coral. Combine tehse things together and leave them out beneath the stars for one week, ensuring that they are not disturbed.
Hadama has received a quest! He must
1. Collect water from the maw
2. Collect sand from the deepest part of the ocean he can safely reach
3. Collect coral
4. Mix these things together and leave them out beneath the stars for one week, ensuring they aren't disturbed.
He listened carefully to the list she gave him, and bowed his head in a mixture of amusement and relief that he should not endanger himself in unnecessary heroics. Diligence in the task need not mean foolishness, and he was grateful for her concern for him.
Water, sand, coral, and patience. A collection of the ocean's gifts to create a weapon with which to defend its people. But traveling far and deep into the ocean reminded him of his other question for the goddess.
Thank you, Safrin, he rumbled. I will do this. There is one more thing I would like to ask. A strange happening on both land and sea: entire pods of animals, encantados and rhampires, all drained of blood. Left dead but uneaten. Do you know what could cause this?
On the verge of disappearing into a starry spray of bubbles, Safrin pauses. Tilting her head to the side, her galactic stare seems to grow soft as she looks back through tangled webs of memory. I don't know...the cause is likely some species of human, though. Animals wouldn't leave a kill like that. She murmurs with a small shrug. It reminds of years long gone now, when such sacrifices were made to me.. Her lips curl into a small smile that she quickly sighs away. Perhaps a new cult is forming?
Hadama nodded slowly, taking the words to heart as he considered this information about the starry goddess that had perhaps been forgotten during her long absence over the centuries. I will keep an eye out for such a thing, he rumbled, sobered by the implications. Thank you, Safrin. Safe currents bring you home again soon.
He bowed within the current, shifting as he did so and rising up again in his broad-winged manta form to circle the shrine and stir the starlit waters around Safrin into motion with the trailing tips of his fins, sending liquid galaxies tumbling and spinning submerged nebulae in his wake. A pelagic paeon to the goddess whose light shone over Torchline and all those who lived there.
