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!
Halo might have been Tal's favorite place in all the world, but he had a tie for least favorite.
Hak Etme and the Climb vied for the top of that list, with the winner changing depending on whichever one he was closest to the at the moment.
Today, the Climb was the winner!
...But he was uncharacteristically glad for the errand that had taken him from his home this time.
A subdued ourier and dragon had made the trip over the mountains and down to the Crust, dodging Gore Crows and lava wyrms until they could slip into the Burrows. He kept a glumly hopeful eye out for any sign of Melita, but alas her curly red mane was nowhere to be soon as he adjusted his Goggles down to account for the shadows underground. The light of red-hot magma flowing in its sluggish rivers below the Crust gave the scene a lurid glow but he was sweating bullets by the time he left it behind for the tunnels leading for the Roar.
At least he had a corrected map this time. Though the waterfall's eponymous sound made its direction easy to guess, even if choosing the right tunnel was more of a challenge.
Boreal grumbled mournfully as the magma-glow faded behind them and Tal blinked in surprise. "Oh! Yeah, good point, girl. Hold on..." Digging around in his Bag of Holding he pulled out a lantern and lighter and soon a calmer light blossomed in the tunnel to light their way. Already feeling a little better as the heat fell away and the humidity rose, Tal hurried his steps to reach the mouth of the great cavern that held the Mountain's Roar.
Sah glanced up just as Lilly's ears twitched. At first, he reached for his sword but relaxed when his companion gave a yip of greeting. The Abandoned sighed with annoyance once it registered who had just entered the Mountain's Roar. He did not have the time for banter today.
While Lilly happily wagged and dropped into a play bow at the sight of Boreal, Sah glanced at Tal with an exhausted look. "Hey Errand Boy. Who in the world are you delivering to in the Climb?" As he asked his question, the Outlander continued to walk along the side the Roar, inspecting the stones along it. There was plenty of obsidian, but most of it was solidly in the earth. He just needed to find some loose enough to carve out.
09-30-2022, 03:33 PM (This post was last modified: 09-30-2022, 04:25 PM by Talyson.)
Boreal perked up and then bounded ahead as Tal straightened up in surprise and then scrambled to keep up with her. Realizing too late who she was excited to greet, he hid a groan (not very well) as he moved forward to say his hellos to Lilly first, offering her and Boreal each a dried reindeer treat before the dragon bounded off to entice the wolf into a game of chase.
"Oh. What the hail are you even doin' down here?" Tal snorted softly to himself and headed towards the Outlander, though he stopped a little ways back from the waterfall to set his lantern down and dig a heavy glass jar out of his Bag of Holding. "An' I'm not deliverin' to. I'm makin' a pick-up." He slanted a pale-eyed look at his friend fellow Halovian and asked, with his usual tact: "Y'look like shit, Jester. What's goin' on?" And maybe a little genuine concern slipped through in spite of his attempt to sound flippant about it.
The jibe nickname was familiar and for some reason, it set Sah at ease to a degree. "Ah. I'm making a pickup too." For Safrin that was, but he had a feeling that saying that might hurt the courier's pride. The man had seemed proud of his quest and Sah didn't want to rain on his parade by saying he had one too. Fuck, he must be tired if he was being so courteous.
"Just tired." Between taking care of his twins and racing around to fulfill this quest in his free time, the Abandoned was stressed. More mentally tired than anything thankfully, given his endurance. But it was still taxing. "What are you picking up? I'm trying to find some obsidian to carve out.
Just as he said so, there was a slight crunch as he tested another spot. "Perfect." Bending down to a knee, Sah pulled out a knife and placed it into the slight crack in the stone. It was solid for sure. But the slight crack meant it was possible to remove it, if he did so carefully.
Dark brows went up and he snorted. "What, you're tryin' t'be my competition now?" He scoffed, though he wasn't particularly worried. He had a name brand, years of experience, and a good reputation. And Sah might be good at blasting things with lightning, but that didn't make him a good courier!
His carefully crafted nonchalance cracked a little at hearing that the man was 'just' tired and he peered at him more closely, though the shadows of the underground and the spray from the falls made it hard to see anything more. "Oh. Well... hm. Try gettin' t'bed earlier," he suggested helpfully as he stuck the jar in the icy water and let it fill up.
Though he kept sneaking a peek at whatever it was that Sah was there to collect.
"Oh relax, Errand Boy." Sah then gave an exaggerated adoring look, "I could never replace you." His tone was playful but still lacked the usual bite he gave Tal. It was too much effort. He'd make up for it later of course. He had to keep the courier on his toes somehow.
Tal's advice gained an incredulous look, "Sure Tal. I'll do that." Sah watched as the other man collected water all while glanced over at his own actions. Shaking his head slightly Sah added, "I'm collecting obsidian you nosey bastard." As he spoke, the Abandoned got his knife deep into the crack and started to slowly rotate it along the seam, causing smaller fissures to appear.
Slowly but surely, he'd be able to carve out a piece.
Tal blinked at the look of adoration and then wrinkled his nose, holding a hand up as if to ward it off. "Oh wow, okay, never do that again," he protested, laughing while pretending to gag at the same time. "That's just creepy!"
His task was admittedly the easier one, and he lifted the jar free and twisted the lid on, tucking it back into his Bag and ambling over to manage watch Sah without trying to hide it. "Obsidian, huh? Fancy stuff. I got some from Apopo a while back. Woulda saved some for you if I knew you had a thing for it." He grinned teasingly at the hunter, guessing it wasn't that simple. But he also patted his Bag (and the jar within), offering a little tidbit of his own in exchange. "Got a request for some Roar water to be delivered t'someone in Snowcloak. Figure it's probably for a god, but maybe they're just particular about his coffee water."
Tal's reaction pulled a full laugh from Sah. Shoulders till shaking as he tried to suppress it, he grinned at the courier, "Oh never. It felt so wrong." But it creeped the other man out, so it was worth the temporary discomfort.
"Huh. Fancy coffee indeed." Maybe the mineral taste added to it? After contemplating it for a second, Sah pulled one of his water skins form his bag and filled it with the water. "Might as well find out." He was here after all.
Once he'd grabbed his new coffee water, Sah returned to his actual task. The process was slow, and he fell silent as he worked. But soon enough the chunk of obsidian was loose enough for Sah to pry it out. "There we go." Holding up the palm sized chunk up to inspect it he added with a satisfied grin, "That should do."
Hopefully. Safrin hadn't specified size for this one either. Fingers crossed that this piece was enough.
An exaggerated sigh of relief escaped the courier at the reassurance that the teasing had been a one-off and they were in mutual agreement that it had been a terrible idea. "I've never been here before," Tal admitted, eyeing the cascade that they had to raise their voices to be heard over. "So I dunno, either."
Why the hail not. Like Sah, he filled his own waterskin, hoping it would save him from having to come back next time if it became a regular request. If it did, he was definitely charging extra. Fuckin' Climb.
Lifting his lantern to provide Sah a little more light, Tal eyed the shiny black stone curiously as it popped free. "Just the one?" he double-checked with a cocked brow. "Maybe you should get another. Y'know, in case y'drop this one on the way back." He was only looking out for Sah's welfare after all, and not teasing him for being a butterfingers. Nope. Not Tal!
"Me neither", Sah admitted. He snickered when Tal followed his lead and collected his own water for fancy coffee. Or for some other reason, but the Abandoned liked to imagine that it was for coffee.
The Outlander hummed at the suggestion, "Not a terrible idea." Safrin had asked for one but snagging another wouldn't hurt. Pocketing the shard that he currently held, Sah turned back to the spot where the shard had come from. If one piece had come from here, surely, he could pry out another.
It took some elbow grease, and a bit of cursing under his breath. But soon enough there was a slight cracking noise, and another palm sized piece was free. "Perfect."
Sah placed the second chunk safely in his bag and stood up. Stretching his stiff arms over his head till he heard his knuckles crack, he whistled for Lilly to return to his side. As the wolf emerged, Sah glanced over at Tal. "Did you get all that you needed?"
There wasn't room for a second pair of hands down there so Tal just loitered with the lantern, making helpful comments like 'a little to the left, maybe?' and 'twist it the other way,' but even without his directions Sah soon had a second chunk for a backup and the courier made room for him to straighten back up.
"Boreal, let's go," he called to the dragon, who padded over and helpfully shook the waterfall's spray from her scales all over both men. With a grimace Tal wiped the wetness from his face and nodded to Sah's question. "Yeah. Long trip for such a quick task, huh?" With a philosophical shrug - that was literally his whole job - Tal fell in beside the hunter as they headed back into the tunnels. "Now, about that writing practice--" he started to tease as the roar of the waterfall fell away behind them and the heat returned.
But soon enough they were making the ascent back into the mountains and the welcome coolness of Halo, another task done.
