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!
Darkeye starts the attempt of something he has long postponed and promised Batien to do. He had also discussed it with Isla some time ago. He takes the path stones in front of his forge from the house and starts to paint them. Colorful in different colors. Runes as well as friendly and inviting letters. Which are to communicate the arriving protection and joy. He already has some colors on the side and hums to himself a song. About his creator god Angorosh and how they have always fought against dragons. In recent times, the old dwarf had remained very much to himself. But apparently that was now over.
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This is an attempt to start a pq that is also related to the se for this sesaion. Darkeye would like to color the streets in the Grounds as well as some walls.
Flouncing through the Grounds without a care in the world for whether or not she ought to be there (Darkeye was of the opinion she shouldn't, Neron was presumably of the opinion she should), it's the sudden shock of vibrant colour from the rocks that Darkeye has been painting that catches the girl's gaze. So much of the Grounders are horrifically drab in her humble opinion, that possibly garish though the colours might be, they're still a welcome change.
"Heeyo!" Flora calls, waggling her fingers at the former-dwarf before making her way over. "What're you doing? Painting rocks?" She asks a touch skeptically even though that was very clearly what he was in fact doing.
"It all looks quite festive, doesn't it?" Isla's voice is a softer tone as she steps up beside Flora, a cheerful smile on her face to see Darkeye doing something as innocuous as painting. After her previous conversation with the former-dwarf, she'd been worried that he'd be lost to preparations for war, for violence, for revenge. But no - here he is, creating.
"Do you need a hand?" she asks him, before glancing to Flora and holding out a hand for her to shake. "I'm Isla," she introduces herself. "I don't think I've seen you around the Grounds before. It's good to meet you."
10-12-2022, 05:16 PM (This post was last modified: 10-12-2022, 05:16 PM by Darkeye.)
DARKEYE
Darkeye smiled and tried to let his creative streak run free. Only later did he realize that he was being watched. "I promised an old friend to do this in his name. To bring a little more color into the grounds. And in such bleak times, people need some color in their lives. Bastion would have wanted it that way. I start from here who wants to help just takes a paint bucket and paints the stones as he likes. Whether a chess pattern or musical notes or protective fountains. No matter let your imagination run wild. Isla this is Flora. I start from my forge and work my way into the city if you want to help you can do it here or start somewhere else otherwise I'm happy to do it alone."
Almost as if everything had been explained, the dwarf takes the next stone, heaves it out of the ground, and paints it fire-red.
He hums comfortably to himself. "Tok at him, so radiantly beautiful,
Steeled by force. he sits high to ross,
Inspired by the courage of death and anger. where
Beast constantly on the hunt for what
It has broken. throughout the country,
Well known as a dragon slayer, the
Dragon Slayer, he called.
Immersed in deep black the gangway,
I could hardly breathe. blind forward
And then I felt him.
A red glow, a loud scream,
He threw flames at me.
I wielded the blade, struck and hit!
The monster moaned,
Collapsed,
Black Dragon Blood me
Netted and released in me the power!
I met again and saw him die." He continues to hum to himself.
-----
Welcome to a slightly different PQ over a few rounds you may describe how you paint your stones should you be present
Turning towards Isla, Flora conveniently has absolutely no idea who the other woman is, and so it's with a warm and inviting smile that she greets her. "I'm Flora." She replies. "Your eyes are so blue." Flora adds; compliments were usually the best foot to put forward, or whatever the saying was. 'My friend Neron works here, so I was going to visit when I spotted this guy and his colourful rocks." Inclining her head playfully towards Darkeye, Flora turns her attention back to him that she might hear more about what exactly he (they) are doing.
Darkeye explains and then begins to sing to himself, which just has Flora shrugging companionably. 'Sounds good to me!' So saying she collects a few trays to put some colours in before grabbing a brush. Kneeling down not too far away she begins to (predictably) paint flowers on a few of the rocks so that it would always look as though there were things growing.
"Oh - thank you," Isla says, her smile perhaps making her gorgeous eyes sparkle a little bit more. "So you you." She might have thought they were a little bit familiar if she looked close enough, but luckily Darkeye was there to ensure they had plenty to do. And it seems as though he and Flora already know each other, so Isla listens to his story with an expression that grows perhaps a bit sad to hear about Bastien.
"I knew him well," she murmurs, grabbing up a paint bucket and leaning down to select a few smaller rocks to decorate. "I think he would have really enjoyed this. Hopefully, wherever he is with the Voice now, he's happy about what we're doing here."
For her part, Isla chooses some vines and leaves, perhaps to go with Flora's flowers, placing them along the pathway from the forge.
10-17-2022, 07:26 AM (This post was last modified: 10-18-2022, 12:08 PM by Darkeye.)
DARKEYE
"That's what we were talking about Isla. I put it off for so long and something kept coming up." Darkeye didn't care how it looked to people, this was about Bastien and his thoughts on the grounds, at least that's what he wanted to do for his friend.
Darkeye painted the path to the large square with different colors and looked to see if the stones were sitting well. He did not look behind what the others were painting. For him, this was therapy to deal with the last events. He missed Maea very much and she would have liked that. Something salty ran down his cheek as the thought came to him but he wiped away the tear and painted the next stone for her completely in white. As well as the next close he painted a pot for the old potter Amun even if they had not always gotten along well. The old dolt had nevertheless earned his respect.
A path of color that remembers the dead was a good way to honor the grounders who lived and worked here. Sure one did that with the lanterns and similar things but this was the dwarven variant.
He paused only briefly to take a sip.
Then he started to work again and began to sing softly.
"I rode into the city from the North and it was very strange.
No life though it was still a bright day.
The doors are all locked,
No window was left open.
Went to the next and
Began to throb.
A gap only it was opened,
Saw a hand tugging at me.
"you are too late! he already took,
What he desired.»
I run' back to my steed,
Rode hurriedly out of town — far too little
Time I had.
Look at him, so radiant beautiful,
Steeled by force. he sits high to ross,
Inspired by the courage of death and anger. where
Beast constantly on the hunt for what
It has broken. throughout the country,
Well known as a dragon slayer, the
Dragon Slayer, he called.
Immersed in deep black the gangway,
I could hardly breathe. blind forward
And then I felt him.
A red glow, a loud scream,
He threw flames at me.
I wielded the blade, struck and hit!
The monster moaned,
Collapsed,
Black Dragon Blood me
Netted and released in me the power!
I met again and saw him die.
So I carried customer to the country and was
Henceforth well known.
The dragon slayer he called!
Known as Dragon Slayer!
So he goes all over the country.
The dragon slayer he called!
Look at him, so radiant beautiful,
Steeled by force.
Known as Dragon Slayer!
He sits high to ross,
Inspired by the courage of death and anger."
A old song on killing a Dragon... Sunjata if i get you....
-------
A good part of the way is Paintet good job go on.
Smiling to hear the sound of Darkeye's voice drifting back to them, Isla finishes her vines and moves on to something slightly different. She catches a glance at the white stone and the pot where the ex-dwarf is working, deciding to take a leaf from his book and work from her own memories.
The next few pebbles are each adorned with feathers, stars and small blue veins of lightning; people that Isla either won't or can't see again, or at least not in the same way as she has done previously. "For what it's worth, I think this will do a lot to brighten the place up."
'You're a pretty good singer, you know that?" Flora trills, and whether or not she means this is entirely obscured by the bright smile on her lips.
Continuing to paint brilliantly coloured flowers here and there and anywhere her brush decided to take her, Flora adds a smattering of stars not unlike those that Isla is adding, though certainly not for the same reason. She just likes them, that's all. Not everything has to have meaning behind it; some things can just be pretty to look at. Take Flora, for example.
"So what ever happened to Bastien?" She wonders, glancing from Darkeye to Isla.
11-02-2022, 04:38 PM (This post was last modified: 11-02-2022, 04:39 PM by Darkeye.)
DARKEYE
Darkeye looks closely at Flora, a brief moment of anger turns to disappointment. But it is not long before he touches the stone dedicated to him and then calms down. "He was the first one who talked to me and into this world and showed me that the ascended are the ones who deserve to live. A man of peace and confidence. He could have prevented the war. He could have prevented Sunjata from taking such a step. A man I like to call a friend. There are not many of them in this world." He hesitated briefly. But everything that had happened recently was too much. "He was the man your father should have listened to. But he saw in him only an ascended. he was killed on the borders by a land shark. That's why these beasts always bleed when I see them." He said, his face eaten away by anger. He took a breath and calmed down, looking at the stones of the lost souls. "Yes, I can sing, not well, not badly, but it's a song my people used to sing before we went dragon hunting. Or a great battle comes. Both will happen Flora, unfortunately." then he looked with tears in his eyes at Isla "I hope he is with his love that is more important to me than Voice or the other gods. He should be happy, he deserves that." He went on to carve the stones with the small runes to pay respect to the fallen.
Smiling sadly as she listens to Darkeye explain her friend to Flora, the medic busies herself painting a few larger stones on the pathway now, using pastel colours to brighten the place up. "I hope so as well," she murmurs regarding Bastien, before glancing back at Flora. "He was married to a woman named Rexanna," she explains. "She ruled this region once, but she was killed at Longnight a couple of years ago."
So much death has passed through the Hollowed Grounds, she realises. And there is only going to be more to come. "She would have liked the both of you, I think. Not that I knew her very well."
Not understanding the look of anger directed at her, Flora gapes for a moment as she returns Darkeye's gaze. Frowning deeply, Flora looks awkwardly to Isla as if for assistance, before shrugging apologetically towards the former dwarf. 'Oh...okay.' She hums, not quite sure what to do with this list of accusations, but shrugging it off as Darkeye just being sad about his friend.
"Oh. Well...at least they're together?" Flora says of Rexanna and Bastien. Knowing nothing of either of their aesthetic themes, the girl decides to simply write their names in looping cursive on one of the walls, adorning the letters with stars, flowers, and hearts.
11-04-2022, 01:03 PM (This post was last modified: 11-04-2022, 01:04 PM by Darkeye.)
Darkeye
Nine strikes
Darkeye looks around and tries to understand and think about what has been painted. But slowly the paint became scarce. It could be painted once again. He decided to paint a panther for Kor so that he would continue to keep his vow. In one way or another. But whether he was ready for what would come remained open. Apparent failure in Stormbreak was still on his stomach. Sunjata would pay bitterly if he survived all this. He would need time to think about how to do it but first, he needs to survive the coming war. This will be dirty the hate on each side is very high. It will be a dirty war... Some of that war that Kor like and hate at the same time. With much blood but many people that don't deserve to die.
"The color gets empty its enough for one more of each of you."
---
This is the last round paint one last picture the paint is running out
Isla doesn't realise how scarce the paint is getting until she reaches down for more and finds her can almost empty. "Alright," she says, nodding to Darkeye and moving to one of the blank areas, kneeling down on the cobbles. The paint she has left is a turquoise blue in colour, and she tilts her head as she considers what to put there.
With careful strokes, she eventually settles on an elegant picture of an eye, as if indicative of the Voice keeping watch over all of the Ascended who live in the Hollowed Grounds. She has no idea whether it's true, but it makes her feel a bit better at least. Hopefully it provides the same for anyone walking by.
"There," she says, straightening up. "I think that's all for me."
