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!
08-28-2022, 07:06 PM (This post was last modified: 08-28-2022, 07:08 PM by Sah.)
Sah
Sah eyed the branches above him with a critical eye, hoping to spot a glimmer of purple. Beside him, Lilly vigorously sniffed the air, zig zagging along the ground to keep track of the zhenniao bird above them. The Abandoned had been surprised when the commission had come his way. Someone wanted one of the beautiful but poisonous birds for a recipe of sorts.
As his wolf companion paused suddenly, Sah did as well. The bird was directly above them. Reaching out a hand, he focuses on the nearby vines. Calling upon his telekinesis, the hunter willed the vines to slowly approach and trap the bird. However, just as the vines began to tighten around its leg, the zhenniao caught on and spooked, taking flight once more.
Sah tsked, "We might be out here for a while. Sorry pup." Lilly merely wagged her tail at the apology, bounding back to affectionately nuzzle her bonded's hand.
Amanda trudged through the underbrush, her eyes scanning the ground between every bush and tree. With a wave of her hand she channeled her power, letting the magic push aside branches and leaves as she searched for anything valuable. It was better not to touch the plants with her hands, in case any of them might be poisonous.
The call of birds sounded from the trees. She looked up, scanning the branches. Nothing was in sight; even the most colorful of birds could find hiding places among the vibrant foliage of the jungle. She could trust her ears, though, to lead the way.
She followed the sound of the bird calls, shifting the backpack on her shoulder. It was filled with some minor goods she had scavenged from the jungle floor: colorful rocks that could be made into simple jewelry, a few herbs she could sell to alchemists for use in making tonics and potions, and a pouch of freshly fallen nuts that would sell well when salted and seasoned.
She didn't want to return to the market without something more valuable, however. The goods she had collected would fetch a moderate price, enough to keep her fed at least, but it would be a waste of her time in coming here to leave without something more. So she continued to follow the sound of the bird calls, scanning the treetops for signs of colorful wings.
Suddenly a zhenniao burst into flight overhead. She watched it fly off, wishing for a bow to shoot it down. But it was gone before she knew it, leaving behind only empty sky, and a single green feather floating on the breeze.
She hurried towards the drifting feather, reaching out a hand. As it floated down towards her, it slowed in its descent, then stopped in mid-air. She held it floating over her hand, slowly turning in place as she examined it with a critical eye. It was clean and unbroken. Not much of a price for just a single feather, but it was better than nothing.
Her head jerked to the side when she heard a man's voice nearby. She glanced around, while reaching into her backpack to fish out a small wooden box to preserve the feather in.
Lilly perked up as a new scent reached her and she sent Sah a series of images through their bond. Someone else was out there. Hand on the hilt of his sword, the Outlander silently made his way closer to the direction that the wolf had pointed out. Turning a bend revealed a stranger collecting a fallen feather that clearly once belonged to his quarry.
"Did you see what direction it flew in?" Sah asked in a voice barely above a whisper, his eyes scanning the trees around them. Hopefully they could catch up to the bird soon and get home before dinner. But the feathers clearly had another person after them and Sah tilted his head in thought. "How do you feel about teaming up? We take down the bird and then split the feathers?"
His client had mentioned that he could keep the feathers anyway. So, it was no trouble at all for Sah to split the spoils.
Amanda gave a start at the whispered voice right by her side. She turned, channeling her power into a small focus, ready to unleash it. A burst of telekinesis to the nose had driven off many a mugger in the marketplace.
Seeing the man with his hand on his sword, she stepped back. She didn't know if she could deflect a sword swing. She relaxed and released the power, however, when the stranger showed her no signs of ill will.
"What did you have in mind?" she asked, looking off in the direction the bird and flown towards. She wasn't exactly a hunter, though this fellow looked more up to such a task. "If you can catch it, I can pluck it safely. It's getting it to hold still long enough that's the hard part."
Majestic creatures, water horses. Even in death, this Ceffyl Dwr remains beautiful, if not near transculent from its place washed up at the side of the water. Something has cut its throat from ear to ear, and its blood has all since drained away.
The women's unease was clear, but it was a bit of relief when she dropped her offensive stance and agreed to his proposal. "We don't need it alive to pluck the feathers. Frankly I need it dead for my client anyway. How about I kill it, and you safely remove the feathers, which we then split up between us?"
Sah's eyes went to the bird not too far ahead, "How about you startle it out of the trees, and I'll shoot it down?" Subtlety had failed so far in this hunt. Might as well go for it and shoot it down.
It was just as he was speaking that Sah spotted the Ceffyl Dwr as it was washed up on the shore of the stream beside them. Cursing under his breath, he walked past Amanda and took a knee to observe the creature. He ran a finger along the clean cut to its neck and noted the lack of blood. "This doesn't bode well."
The lack of blood instantly made him think of the supposedly gone Longnight monsters. But the cut seemed too clean for that. He glanced up at Amanda, "Did you see what happened while you were out here, by any chance?" Beside him, Lilly sniffed the area worriedly but didn't pick up on anything unusual.
Amanda immediately lost interest in the missing bird when she saw the body of the magical horse lying on the ground. "Now that's value," she said, walking over to it. She crouched down by the side of the river, looking over the poor lost creature. At first she assumed a predator must have killed it, but a closer look at the wound showed what appeared to be a cut from a sword of knife.
"That's odd..." She wondered who or what could have killed the beast. A hunter wouldn't have been likely to leave the body behind. The body of a Ceffyl Dwr was too valuable. So why would someone kill the creature, if not for the hunt?
"No sense letting it go to waste," she said, reaching into her backpack for another small wooden box. She held her hand up over the horse's hoof, channeling her telekinetic power into a sharp thrust. She moved the kinetic force back and forth, sawing at the beast's flesh like the blade of a knife, until the hoof was cut free. She floated the hoof into the wooden box, then got to work on the second leg.
While she worked, she spared the stranger a sidelong glance. "I didn't see anything before we stumbled across this poor thing." She glanced at the clean-cut wound again, then over at the stranger's sword. "If whatever killed it shows up, do you know how to use that thing?"
Sah hardly blinks as the stranger begins harvesting the fallen creature. The horse was indeed valuable, so he couldn't blame her. As Amanda scavenges, the other Abandoned keeps his eyes on their surroundings. "I didn't either. Nor did Lilly or I hear anything." The fact that even the wolf standing beside him at been eluded meant one of two things. Either the creature was killed further away and simply washed ashore. Or more concerningly, the predator was that elusive.
Sah glances over at the woman at her question, a small smirk stretches across his face as he lets out a quiet chuckle. "I do." And should the sword fail him, his lightning would do the trick. Lilly began to patrol the area around the trio in case the creature returned.
As she does so, Sah raises a brow in question "I guess I'll catch my bird later. Do you need any help taking apart the horse?" It wouldn't be the same as skinning a deer to say the least, but the hunter is certain he can be of help if the woman needs it.
"I can gather most of the materials by myself," Amanda replied. "Though I didn't really bring the kind of tools needed for some of this. Telekinesis can only do so much."
She gathered the hooves, then used her magic to pull out the creature's teeth. The bones themselves would be more valuable, but slaughtering the entire corpse would be too difficult. The teeth could at least be ground up to make bone meal, which was valuable to alchemists.
"How much experience do you have with skinning after a hunt?" she asked once the teeth were collected. "Creature like this, the hide can be pretty valuable, once it's been tanned into leather. I know a tanner that will trade quite generously for something like this. But it's a lot of work to do with just some telekinesis and a knife." She touched the simple knife on her belt, more of a tool than a weapon. It was sharp enough to skin a small lizard or mammal, but not really made for skinning a horse.
"Telekinesis can be difficult to master, at least in terms of finesse. If you focus on practicing with tasks that require small movements, you can build up your sleight of hand with it." Sah throws the advice out as he uses his own telekinesis to raise Amanda's own knife and efficiently slice through the meat around the cheek and extract the eyes without leaving a mark on them.
Once done, he uses his telekinesis to lay both on a cloth before the other Abandoned. "It just takes practice. Think of it like a muscle."
Demonstration done, Sah began to pull his skinning knife and other tools from his bag, "I have a good bit of experience with skinning and prepping meet. Though I admit I've never worked on a Ceffyl Dwr before." He didn't comment on his knowledge about the pelt's worth. As a hunter he was well aware of the worthy of the spoils before them. But it seemed unnecessary to correct the stranger at the moment regarding Sah's expertise.
Regardless, Sah sets to work and begins to work on slaughtering the Ceffyl Dwr, sorting valuable organs and bones from the rest as he goes. At times, the nature of the creature made it difficult to cut, it's affinity to water making it's form versatile and nigh intangible at times. The Abandoned has to use his own water magic at times to make things work.
Amanda watched the stranger work, arching an eyebrow at his more well-refined telekinetic movements. She practiced with her power every day, but she certainly didn't have that level of skill yet.
Somewhat begrudgingly, she settled herself into more of an assisting role with the slaughtering process. She wasn't a hunter, and lacked experience in this level of harvesting of a carcass. But she made sure each valuable item was either wrapped in leather or sealed in a box before sliding it into her backpack.
"You can have the meat," she said. "Or feed it to your little friend here." She smiled at the wolf, before holding out her hand, palm up, for the creature to sniff. She didn't try to touch the beast, knowing full well that she could get her hand bitten off, but letting it get to know her scent would make a good introduction.
Soon the vast majority of the work was done as he set the pelt aside. The last bit was the meat and bones, both of which Lilly was eager about. The offer thus is a welcome one. "Thank you. We'll make good use of it." Cutting a decent morsel off the horse's leg, Sah tosses it as his companion. The wolf happily pounces on the treat and demolishes it in a blink.
The wolf licks her lip of residue just as Amanda reaches out a hand. Sniffing the offered hand, she gently noses the hand before turning her attention back to Sah's actions.
"Good to meet you. I'm Sah, and the greedy one is Lilly." Sah rolls his eye as the wolf snaps up another morsel that he tosses her. When he's done taking what meat he wants, leaving the rest for the wild, he turns his attention to the bones. "Do you want all of them or just some particular ones?"
Smiling at the wolf's friendly greeting, Amanda gave its nose a little scratch before it pulled away. She'd always loved animals and nature, and saw too little of either while living in the city.
With most of the work now done, she turned her attention to the bones. Using her power, she sorted through them, floating one bone after another into little piles as she examined them. Bones weren't exactly her area of expertise, so she was mostly concerned about size, considering how little she could carry.
"Take whatever you want," she said. "I'm going to have some ground into bone meal to trade to an alchemist I know. I can't haul too much back to town, though. My pack is almost full."
She gathered up a small pile of the smaller bones, wrapping them in a piece of leather. Once she had stuffed it into her backpack, the pack was quite full, and it weighed heavily on her back. The trek back to town was going to be a grueling hike.
"So what else can you do?" she asked, gesturing with her hand to indicate her telekinesis. "I've never met another telekinetic before."
Sah chooses a few of the bones left to keep. Some are simply for Lilly to snack on later, but others are for his own use. Maybe he'll carve them into something or trade them. Who knows, but he he'll surely find a use for them. He quickly cleans up his tools and stands just as Amanda poses her question.
"Telekinesis is the first magic I gained. The one I was born with was lightning." Sah raises a brow and holds a hand out, palm up. Channeling the magic that is as familiar as breathing, he creates a surge of lightning. The element sparks and travels along his hand, weaving through his fingers and running along his forearm.
Glancing at the sky, Sah grins and a bolt of lightning strikes the ground beside him. "It's pretty volatile, but versatile." Letting the lightning fade into nothingness he gives a small shrug. "I've also recently picked up water and air but they're both far weaker than my telekinesis or lighting. I'm still figuring them out."
He eyes Amanda curiously, "Do you have any other magics too? I hardly get a chance to talk to other Abandoned about their powers. There's only one that I interact with regularly." There just weren't' many of them to begin with and they were spread thin across all of Caido.
