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!
When Wessex had asked Nikolai to join her in paying a 'visit' to the Old God shrine in the Feverlands, at first, he'd been confused. But when she'd explained their goal, he'd become excited. Eagerly anticipating their visit, the scholar had thoroughly prepared. What was the fun in simply saying 'fuck you'? That seemed too tame in his opinion,
Instead, he'd spent a few days scowering the Atheneum and his own collection for as many insulting phrases he could find. Ones long dead, ones from fallen languages, or even just simple translations. He wrote them all down on a scroll and pocketed it for their trip. Nikolai was rather proud of his list. The time and work he'd spent on it was worth it.
The classic 'Fuck you!'
'Siktir Git', for a hearty 'Fuck you/off'.
'As To Thialo', for a good old 'Got to hell'.
And he found a few in an old dead language that had various meanings, but all roughly got the same message across.
'Vescere bracis meis', 'Futue te ipsum', 'Podex perfectus es', and 'ututus et mori in igni'.
It wasn't a long list given that cross-referencing ancient curse words wasn't the easiest thing. Most past scholars were more concerned about more academic topics. But some had made the effort to write down the more colorful aspects of their mother tongues, and for that Nikolai was grateful.
Arriving at the shrine, Nikolai eagerly waited for Wessex. His scroll was tucked away safely, and he'd even snagged a vial of glitter from his mother's craft box. She'd been happy to let him have it when he'd explained his goal for the day and that Wessex would be there should anything happen.
after all is said and done you're just a carnivore
let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster
Wessex has absolutely no clue how much research Nikolai has done for this outing - she thinks it’s just a saucy little jaunt, where she can check in on him and uh, try to assuage any fears or answer any questions that might be percolating in the serious young man.
“You beat me!” the demigod exclaims brightly, the corners of her eyes crinkling in genuine joy. She’s used to being the first one, but finding someone else so eager is always a pleasant surprise. “We can get to it then,” she says briskly, turning toward the icey shrine, which lies quietly covered in frost, even during Longheat. “Whatcha got for me?”
Nikolai perked up when Wessex arrived, her warm greeting making him flush slightly as he returned her smile. "Hi Wessex, it's good to see you." It'd been too long since he'd last seen his sister. The younger Ascended, was glad to be back in her presence. And her arrival meant it was time to get started on their mission.
At Wessex's question, Nikolai happily passed her his scroll and vial of glitter. "I prepared a few things for today." As she read, he pointed at the words on the scroll. "I wanted to make our opinion as clear as possible, so I found a few translations and phrases." Glancing at the glitter he added, "And why not cover our offering in glitter to make it extra special?"
The grin on his face as he spoke was almost diabolical. Nikolai's apparent glee for the visit to come was more than obvious. But who could blame him? He hated the Old Gods and all they stood for. He really hoped Wessex liked what he'd prepared for them too.
after all is said and done you're just a carnivore
let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster
Eagerly unwinding the scroll, Wessex takes a moment to read everything he’s written down, activating and deactivating her upgrade to be able to see the various languages he’s pulled together for her. Unfiltered pride and glee melt into her normally stoic mask of a face, because the work is impressive. Quite beyond what she’d expected. “Where did you find all these?” the demigod wonders aloud, looking over at Nikolai with appraising eyes.
Glitter, of course, is a fine idea, and utterly, utterly harmlessly diabolical. Glitter is the one thing you can’t easy get rid of. It might melt away eventually, but the Halovians will be finding it in multiple places for seasons so come, she imagines. “When did you develop such a sadistic side?” she teases, raising a brow even as she goes for some rocks on the shore. That’s clearly a yes. Yes. Yes to all the glitter.
At a distance, the Ursur looks like nothing more than a snowdrift. Upon closer inspection, however, its thick white fur and huge tusks make it stand out as a once fearsome predator, now fallen and lifeless. There are no major visible injuries upon the creature - no blood at all to be seen - but this does not look natural.
Nikolai practically bounced on his heels in excitement at Wessex's clear approval. "I did some digging in the Atheneum and in some of my own books too." Using a combination of his own upgrade and his continued practice with linguistics, the younger Ascended was able to compile a decent list in the time frame given.
And seeing that Wessex is as much of a fan of glitter as he is, is an added bonus. The teasing makes Nikolai flush proudly. "I've always had it. Just never really have a reason to channel it." Nikolai might hate most people, but very rarely did someone fully invoke his creative wraith. The Old Gods were just in luck.
Nikolai followed behind Wessex as she gathered rocks, picking up a few as he goes as well. Soon the two have plenty of stones to work with. "Shall we start?"
after all is said and done you're just a carnivore
let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster
The rocks would be uncomfortably cold in anyone elses’s hands, but the Wraith pries them from the shoreline and the ground, making a small pile of pieces to work with. The words don’t have to be particularly big. Just legible when any would-be worshippers arrive. “Well I’m sorry we didn’t put your research skills to use earlier. Have you found anything else that’s particularly interesting? Did you go through the Lorekeeper’s books?” It’s something she’s never quite dared to do - there’s too much Jigano in there, too much Amalia. Too much of a fraught past.
“I’ll start with the Common fuck you. You choose something fancy” After a pause, she looks at the shrine and their rocks, and then back to the shrine again. “We can probably get four in? One for each side.”
As Nikolai finished creating his own pile he answered Wessex with a slight flush, "Oh. Thank you." Even now he still wasn't used to his efforts being complemented. And Wessex's opinion was one of the ones he respected the most. Right up there with the Voice and his mom.
"I've been working my way through the Athenum's collection. I've been enjoying compiling different stories about the constellations into one big volume. I've also been reading the works of a philosopher who focused on theories regarding memories and souls." Those were the two bigger projects that had been occupying the scholars' time lately.
The third was a more somber one. "I've also been looking to see if there's anything useful in regard to the war, but I've been coming up short." Nikolai had hoped that some of the older records would hold some viable information, but it seemed like there either weren't any records, or that they'd been destroyed.
Nikolai nodded at Wessex's plan and set about writing out his four with the stones. He chose 'Siktir Git', 'Podex perfectus es', and 'ututus et mori in igni'. Once he was done, he sprinkled the stones with glitter and then turned to check in with Wessex. "What do you think?" He gestured dramatically to his handiwork with a wide grin.
after all is said and done you're just a carnivore
let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster
Nikolai wouldn’t be the first one to delve into the notion of souls around here; he prompts a recent memory, and the Wraith smiles, because she actually has some useful tidbits for once. “Yeah? That’s some heavy material.” Philosophy had never really been her thing; Wessex tended to view the world in shades of various grays, old enough to know that the best intentions can lead to shitty things, and that ‘good’ is a highly subjective adjective. She doesn’t know much about the brain, either, only how the Voice has engineered them. But souls? Souls she can deliver on.
“The Voice let me in on a little secret recently. Well, maybe not a secret, but some interesting knowledge about how the New Gods work. You might not remember all the details of when the barrier fell, but there were two New Gods in the Spire - the Voice and the Core. Once upon a time, they were just the Voice, but she had to split herself, because she couldn’t hold all of our family’s souls and do everything she needed to do. After all, she was once mortal. So this split created The Voice and the Core, and the Core is like, the more physical aspect of her, which is why our Lady is mostly incorporeal. She is the mind and soul and connection to the world. The Core is the power, and they work together.” Pausing briefly, she leans on the shrine they’re in the midst of disrespecting, looking at Nikolai with a kind of appraising sadness.
“The Core holds our family’s souls. It’s a secret thing, a physical thing, I gather, and I don’t know where it is. I suspect only our Lady does. So if you find any information about it in your books, though I doubt there will be anything, destroy it. Our souls deserve peace in the end.”
Nikolai's eyes widened as Wessex spoke, only growing more so as she went on to explain just what the Core was. "I..I had no idea." The words are whispered as the younger Ascended processes the influx of information. The story is both sad but awe-inspiring. Their family's souls had a literal keeper, and that gave him a bit of comfort.
"I promise, if I find anything I'll destroy it." Nikolai means the words. He'll guard their family with his life, even if it means destroying knowledge, the thing he valued most. Family came first. "Thank you for telling me." Nikolai could practically feel the weight and volatility of the knowledge that Wessex had given him, and as such he felt honored that she trusted him enough to share it.
Their graffiti was soon finished, and Nikolai packed up their supplies. "Thank you again, Wessex. I'll see you around." With a wave, he began to head home, deep in thought.
