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!
Laser beams we're about to awesome all your dreams
Curiosity killed the cat… demigod… a lot of things, probably. It’s a dangerous thing, this curiosity, and even with Tanau saying he doesn’t know anything about a relic hidden in the Climb, there’s still one left to be found. She’d be remiss if she didn’t hunt high and low for it. Loki is with her this time, feeling her anxiety and unease, and unwilling to leave her bonded whilst she’s in the midst of this kind of pre-war turmoil.
So, how does an Ascended wander over the Crust of the Climb? Very carefully. Very carefully. Not quite tip-toeing around careful, but definitely an on-high-alert, watch-where-you-step kind of careful. Will the ground open up beneath her? Who knows!
To her credit, the Wraith gives a wide berth to any gaping holes in the ground, counting on Loki to let her know from above if anything is amiss. Hopefully she'll have enough time to teleport away, should something really bad happen.
Amanda stepped out of the portal, touching a hand to her stomach and holding back a surge of bile that rose up in her throat. She'd never used a portal before--it had been a strange experience. Not something she was looking forward to doing again. But it was over for now.
She looked around the blackened landscape. The heat in the air made sweat immediately break out on her brow. A sharp change from the unseasonable cold back in Torchline. And she was only going to get hotter as she climbed up closer to the lava pits, not to mention the possibility of overheating from exertion.
She took a drink from the waterskin tied to her belt. She had expected it to be hot, just not this hot. Maybe she should have brought a second waterskin. Shaking her head, she started moving forward. No sense in making this take any longer than it had to.
Reaching into her pack, she pulled out the rough map. Trading for the map had been dubious at best, but the contact who had brought it to her was usually pretty reliable. She'd have his ears for wall decorations if he'd conned her. But, she told herself, there was sure to be value to be found out here, one way or the other. Volcanic glass, like obsidian, or any number of other minerals could potentially be found. A pack full of loose volcanic rocks would yield her something at least, once she had the glass and stones polished for trade to a jeweler or craftsman. It wasn't the sort of thing that would make this trip truly worthwhile, however.
She studied the map as she headed up the sharp slope. It was hard to follow, but she was able to pick out some of the major landmarks: sheer cliffs rising to the west, a jutting rock shaped like a knife's blade to the east. Once she got her bearings, it wasn't too hard to navigate. The hard part was not losing her footing on the rubble-strewn ground.
Her contact had claimed that there was some kind of treasure to be found. He had claimed that it would be something that would make Amanda richer than she had ever dreamed. She'd told him that it would have to be something, because she dreamed big. He'd made assurances, though, and despite her doubts, she'd bought the map anyway.
After a couple of hours of hiking through the blasted lands, she leaned over, hands on her knees, struggling to catch her breath. The heat usually didn't bother her this much; the unusual cold back home had made her soft, apparently.
"I'm just going to kill him," she said aloud, looking over the map again. Her contact must have been ripping her off. "I'm going to kill him, and I'm going to sell his bones for bone meal. I even know a buyer who won't ask too many questions."
Laser beams we're about to awesome all your dreams
It’s the steam in this area that gets the duo - puffing high into the air, pushed by volcanic winds and whatever else came screeching off the Fang’s peaks. Loki can’t see much, even at her height and Wessex finds herself opting to partially shift into her kitsune form. Let the fox-like creature’s eyes and ears do the heavy lifting, while she focuses on fending off the vague feelings of heat-induced instability.
At least her sensors aren’t going off like a damn submarine alarm. Not yet. That shit can make it awfully difficult to concentrate.
Mid-swivel, furry and pointed ears hone in on the mutterings of someone near by - behind her and - to the left? Wessex had almost passed them. She backtracks, boots crunching against the crumbling, loose rock, calling out to the other person. “Hello?” And then, just because what she’d heard had piqued her interest, “And who are you killing, exactly? I might be of some help.” She’s got a reputation for that kind of thing.
Amanda whirled about at the unexpected voice, instinctively reaching out with her telekinesis and lifting several volcanic rocks. They floated around her, ready to be hurled forth. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw the stranger wasn't hostile. She let the rocks clatter to the ground, tumbling down the slope around her.
Wiping the sweat from her brow, Amanda looked over the stranger's form. Unexpected, but not unheard of. She tried not to stare too much at the fox ears, not wanting to be rude. Yet even in a world of magic and shape-shifters, some sights could still catch her by surprise.
"Killing?" Amanda asked, her face scrunched up in a confused frown. "Who's killing who now?" It took her a moment to realize that the stranger had overheard her muttering. She shook her head. "Oh, nobody. Just got a bad deal, that's all. My own fault for believing him." She absentmindedly waved the map that had frustrated her so much. She had mostly given up on the idea that she would actually find something of value here. It had mostly been her own stubbornness that had kept her going.
She kept her distance as she spoke, eyeing the small draconic creature. She considered how much she could get in trade for the beast's scales and claws, not that she would give it serious thought. If she went near the creature it might bite her.
Coughing in the thick volcanic air, she asked the stranger, "What brings you out to this hellhole, other than offering to help strangers commit murder?"
Laser beams we're about to awesome all your dreams
Yes, Loki would likely bite and then some. Nice as the dragon is to some people, she is still the Wraith’s companion and has more than a little feistiness in her little body.
Oblivious to the stranger’s thoughts about her soulmate and and everything else, the tall blonde makes a sympathetic face. “Must have been something exciting to bring you out here. Sorry.” She knows the feeling, chasing ghosts and relics and finding herself blocked at every single fucking turn. It’s enough to drive a person mad. And so, feeling perhaps that this stranger might commiserate, she answers the posited question with a shrug and some honesty. What would happen if word got around to the other leaders? Not much, probably. Not at this late stage.
“I’m looking for a relic. Found one in almost every other part of the Wilds, so -” gesturing to the inhospitable hellhole around her, she sighs, hands on hips, also clearly frustrated and wordlessly implying that she is comin' up empty.
Amanda arched an eyebrow, a restrained smile coming to her lips. She hadn't been expecting treasure like that on this little expedition. It couldn't have been what her contact had hinted at when he gave her the apparently useless map, but it would be a far, FAR better reward than anything she had expected. If there was even a chance...
"Where would we find this relic...?" Amanda asked, crossing her arms. She glanced around the scorching landscape, without a clue where to begin. But the stranger had to know something. "You wouldn't be out here without some kind of lead...right?"
She tried her best to keep her cool, but she couldn't hold back a series of coughs as she inhaled an unfortunate lungful of smoke. She beat a fist against her chest as she coughed, trying to clear out her lungs. The heat, she could tolerate, for as long as needed. The smoke and ash, on the other hand, were already taking their toll.
Laser beams we're about to awesome all your dreams
“No fuckin’ clue,” the demigod replies good-naturedly. At this point there’s nothing to do but laugh and pretend like everything is all right. “If I knew, I’d be in and out of here already.” Maybe. Probably not, but who cares about the truth right now?
Wessex’s brows furrow in concern at the woman’s coughing. She doesn’t have the same kind of reactio to hazardous environments that normal people do; fire yes, the need for pure oxygen, no. “You all right?” and she’s about to ask something else, when something moves in her peripheral vision. A family of Blind Swamp Rats has edged closer to the duo, perhaps sensing that one of them isn’t doing well in their inhospitable land, and like some other kinds of animals, can smell weakness. Loki dips down and screes out a warning to the two people, causing Wessex to try and edge herself in front of the other, letting a few balls of electric energy form in the palms of her hands.
"I'm...cough...fine," Amanda said in between wheezes. She frowned when she realized that the stranger wasn't coughing at all, despite the haze of smoke and ash. Maybe it was because the stranger was a...well, whatever she was. An Attuned, she assumed, what with the fox ears and all.
The thought was interrupted, however, when she heard the hostile screech. She whirled about, squinting to see through the smoky haze. Only when she saw where the little dragon was looking did she catch sight of the rats.
Her face scrunched up in disgust. She'd never seen the ugly little creatures in person before, though she had heard of them. Enough at least to know she didn't want to get bitten by one.
She stepped back just as the stranger moved to step in front of her. Curious, she thought, that a stranger's first instinct was to move to protect her. Even more curious, she saw the stranger start to channel some kind of magical lightning.
Attuned can't do that, she thought. At least, she had never heard of an Attuned that could channel magic like an Abandoned. Some kind of hybrid, then, she assumed.
She didn't have time to really dwell on such thoughts, however, with the giant rats approaching. Staying well back behind the stranger, Amanda reached out with her telekinesis and lifted several rocks into the air. She started hurling them one after another at the rats. Several of the rocks missed, but one struck a rat right in the face. It screeched, but kept moving towards them, barely phased by the blow.
"Shit..." Amanda stepped further back, looking around for something else she could throw at the rats. She could only hope that the stranger's magic proved more powerful.
