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 silence is decidedly unnatural, except what was unnaturalness but a magical phenomena yet explored? And as an Abandoned, Enzo is quite happy to pretend at being a magical expert. Or maybe a pupil? Either way, it means he must explore and examine to gather more information. This would make quite the story to spin later on.
Fear is a useless thing, so he doesn’t bother with it. Fueled by teenage arrogance and curiosity, Enzo approaches the twist in the path. Barely considering the options before moseying onward down the rightmost opening in the hedges.
- - -
Enzo goes right.
Blood on my shirt, rose in my hand looking at me like you don't know who I am
Ophelia has not traveled much since newly obtaining the ability to do so, but the Grounds have always been filed with magic, monsters, and puzzles even before the barrier fell. Though Ophelia had never gotten to experience those firsthand - always locked down in the farmhouse, waiting for the danger to pass - it doesn’t deter them. If anything they’re excited to finally experience such events on their own. So when the maze closes behind them and fog rolls in, Ophelia merely keeps walking. Where else can they even go?
The path splits into two, and the ghost tilts their head at it contemplatively before taking the left hand path.
- - -
Phi goes left.
Shoot lightning through the vital veins They think that you emit the light, but you only take it in
Sah blinked and suddenly he and Lilly were alone. The wolf growled, ears flicking around as she sniffed the air for any danger. Her bonded scanned the area as well and when it was clear that there was no apparent threat, he rested his hand on the wolf's shoulder. Rubbing her fur soothingly, he glanced down, "It's ok pup. Let's see where we are."
Lilly relaxed as she investigated the area further, as Sah eyed the two paths ahead of them. "Left or right, Lilly?" The wolf's ears twitched, and she started walking to the left, same as the Abandoned had been drawn to. "Seems were in agreement." With that, the two turned left.
Nikolai startled when the scenery changed. Biting his lip, he eyed the two paths indecisively. Was going right, 'right'? Or was that just there to throw him off? Was he overthinking this? Probably. Was he able to stop doing so? Nope. Stumped, the Ascended glanced at the two paths in rapid succession. Fuck, they looked the same.
"Fuck it!" Nikolai threw his hands up in the air and went with original thought and turned right. It'd probably come back to bite him in the ass but oh well. He had at least made a decision. Squaring his shoulders Nikolai started down the path, still wondering if he had just made a terrible choice.
Edmund glanced around in confusion when the area changed. Gods this really was a weird day. His brow furrowed as he considered his choices. Right or left. A 50/50 chance of success on this one step. But there were undoubtedly more to come. It was a maze after all.
The young teen giggled as an idea came to him. He didn't have a coin to flip, but this woudl be more fun. Spinning in a circle till he was almost dizzy, Edmund came to a stop and opened his eyes. The right path laid in front of him. That worked. Nodding with determination, he began to walk forward.
~
Edmund goes right!
I never realized how beautiful Fires burn under the stars
Amanda looked around. She checked the left path. Then the right. She crouched down and looked through the mist along the floor, searching for tracks, or any sign of where the paths might lead.
When she found nothing, she stood in the center of the intersection, hands on her hips, searching left and right.
"Fuck this," she said.
She headed straight forward and pulled her rope from her backpack. She tied a lasso at the end and tossed it up into the branches of the hedge. Then she started trying to climb upwards, using the rope if it seemed secure, or if not, grabbing hold of the branches and doing it the old-fashioned way.
Eyes blinded
Hope seems gone
But we'll make it out alive
Expecting to catch up with the curious courier upon entering the maze, and feeling the swell of people behind them, Noah and his companion quickly jumped into defense mode when the hedge closed and suddenly they were alone. The griffin lowered her head and moaned a deep, harsh growl. Having already had his spear in hand, Noah readied it and partially shifted.
Beneath dirty blond locks his ears took on the shape and ability of his polar bear shift, and his teeth elongated into dangerous fangs. Amun had told him of the encounter he had before in the maze, but Noah had not had anything of the sort happen first hand until now. Pulling his companion along with him mentally, Noah headed down the left path, readied to defend himself and Eira from attack.
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
Melita could recall bouncing across the hedgerows ages before – striving to beat Sah and his wolf in a race – but now, amidst the line of brush and bush, it just felt overbearing. Ominous. Not unlike the Labyrinth back in the Hollowed Grounds. She briefly wondered about the bizarre affinity to mazes around here (were there more elsewhere that she hadn’t wandered within yet?), but shrugged her shoulders. If anything was truly lethal or dangerous, maybe she could burn it around her.
And with that last thought (the most appealing), snagging at her companions and her weaponry, the Honeybee made a beeline for the right.
--
Mel goes right!
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
The little fox was aware of the potential hazards of mazes, long since wandered within some that opened up within enclosures at one point or another. But those never quite lasted, and certainly weren’t to scale or grand as the Gambit. Her nose twitched, sniffing at the air, instinctively yearning to paw at the snow-laden ground. Everyone else seemed determined to move about, making their decisions and choices, and she could only stare at the alternating pathways.
Hesitant, she took a step forward, and then another, bobbing back and forth a bit, attempting to see if there was anything obvious about either route. When she couldn’t circumvent anything save for enigmatic confusion, the Caretaker could only take her heart into consideration, and with a brush of her fluffy tail, went left.
The maze closes behind her and Maeve swallows thickly at the sudden unease that threatens to overwhelm her senses. She draws in a shaky breath. Slow and unsteady. With an exhale, Maeve steps forward until she comes to the split, looking back and forth, considering for a moment which way to possibly go. As per usual, there is nothing that gives it away. No clear signs of which way is best to go. That would be too easy, wouldn't it? Of course it would be. That's a silly question, Maeve. You know how this goes.
The Nightshade draws her bottom lip between her lip, jade eyes flicking left and right before she finally turns towards the right, trusting her gut on this one. Not like it has pointed her wrong before, right? It absolutely has, but we aren't going to talk about that.
Maeve goes right!
And I was catching my breath Staring out an open window catching my death
Those of you who go left, well, the mist seems to obscure everything ahead of you, and there's a large, deep(?) pool of dark water directly before you, blocking the path. It seems you can either find a way to jump over the pool of water and continue into the unknown, or you can... dive in and go down? It does look like there's something shimmering...
Those who go right are the subject of a few twists and turns, before here lies another fork in the road! Do you keep going forward? Or do you turn left?
As for Amanda, she will find it a bit difficult to clamber up a maze of hedges and roses. With a few thorny scratches to show for it, the maze will appear to shake her off, and she'll fall... to the right. Off you go!
LEFTIES: Do you try to cross the water? Or do you dive into its depths?
RIGHTIES: Are you continuing forward? Or are you turning left?
Right, left, right, right, left, right, left, left, straight... Maeve follows the path before her, not really having much option than to do so before she finally comes to another fork. Again, there are no clear markers. Nothing to give it away. Just hedges and mist. Mist and hedges. Her hands brace on her hips for a moment and she leans down the straight away, considering following the path along a bit further. Except she hasn't had a chance to make another choice and she's not one to give that up so quickly. After a moment of further consideration, the Nightshade chooses left, following that direction hopefully deeper into the maze and towards the prize that awaits at the center.
Maeve goes left!
And I was catching my breath Staring out an open window catching my death
This much mist was weird. And the silence was nice, but creepy. And Tal was starting to think that maaaaybe someone had been a bit cheeky with that sign on the entrance.
But nothing actually bad had happened yet and at least this mist wasn't giggling at him.
Still, the courier tugged his Goggles into place to help him keep an eye on his footing and make sure he didn't step into any surprise! pit traps hidden by the mist as he continued on. He'd feel kind of silly after coming this far if he turned back now, and Boreal was a reassuring presence at his side.
She rumbled uneasily and snagged a rose to munch on when they came to another fork in the path and Tal scowled. "Well... huh. Which way, girl?" The dragon rolled her eyes expressively and then ambled forward, making a beeline for another rose straight ahead. With no better options, Tal followed. Tal uses his Sea-Right Goggles to peer through the mist and goes forward
Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Basic
See-Right Goggles: Reinforced goggles capable of seeing with perfect clarity regardless of conditions, up to 10ft. This includes magical darkness.
Coming to the puddle contemplated his options. Part of him wanted to dive in but that seemed like exiting the maze. And that sounded like a one-way ticket to failure. He also had Lilly with him, and he'd never make her do such a thing as jump into unknown likely magical waters
As such, his only option was over. Sah reached over and gently picked up Lilly with ease. The wolf twisted and gave him a lick on the cheek, and tucked her paws in, already guessing his goal. "Ready pup? On three. One, two, three!" With that, Sah tossed Lilly over to the other side of the water, using his telekinesis and mage glass to give her a boost. He wasn't taking any chances with her safety.
Right after, Sah stepped back a few steps. And with a running start and another boost from his telekinesis aimed at himself, he leapt over the water to the best of his ability. The mage glass around his neck warmed slightly as it further strengthened his magic.
~
Sah goes over the water! He uses his mastered telekinesis paired with his mageglass pendent to try and toss Lilly over the water and to (hopefully) safe ground. Afterwards he takes a running start and attempts to jump across, using his telekinesis and mageglass again.
Telekinesis: Can move large objects.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Mastered
Mageglass Necklace | A pendant made of mageglass. Will amplify the magical abilities of Abandoned by one level. (Basic becomes upgraded, upgraded becomes mastered, and mastered adds on additional basic damage)
