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!
Walking at night was quickly becoming one of Lucas's hobbies, though whether or not it was because he savoured the silence or because he hated being caged was anyone's guess. Even so, with Flowerbirth melting the snows day by day, there was little that could stop him from heading out into the world. He ambled down the streets of the Domiciles, his hands tucked in the pockets of his coat (his coat which had a hole in the lapel, thanks to his new sort-of?-friend).
Around him, lights flickered in the windows from those who lived within, oblivious to his presence outside. Lucas didn't know what it was, but walking like this made him feel as though he might not be trapped in the Hollowed Grounds at all, but back in the familiar bustle and sounds of his city. It was sentimental and pointless, but it was a way to pass the time.
That old celestial circus
With teeth and fingernails I'll carve a place, you'll see.
Bastien was being an artist. What being an artist entailed for that day was sitting on his doorstep and staring up at the stars thoughtfully. The night sky now held less significance for him as he was no longer a disciple of Safrin (had he ever really been?) but it was no less beautiful. The moon reminded him of the mark on his own neck, which he gently touched his fingers to and stroked every so often.
He was drawn from his melancholy by the sound of approaching footsteps. Bastien looked up to see Lucas, the man who had shown up to his party stark naked. Bastien liked Lucas. He raised his hand and waved, patted the doorstep next to him.
"Ah, my bold friend! Will you join me on this night? For we are both creatures of it now." Bastien grinned wide, enough to show off his new teeth.
Movement, subtle but enough to catch his attention from a nearby doorway. Lucas glanced across to Bastien, recognition sparking in his eyes as he diverted his course to meander over to the other man on his doorstep. Bastien liked Lucas and the feeling was most certainly mutual, given that the last time he had checked the other man possessed quite the interesting back room in his... church, was it? "Company sounds grand," he said, dropping to sit on the doorstep next to Bastien.
"It has been a while since I saw you, sir. I was rather hoping the revamping of your business would be underway. Else I'll just be walking aimlessly in the evenings for the foreseeable future." He grinned, mildly surprised to see fangs flashed right back at him. "Well," he said. "That is cause for a celebration, isn't it? Welcome to ascension, my friend. How is it treating you so far?"
That old celestial circus
With teeth and fingernails I'll carve a place, you'll see.
"Ah. Yes. The business." Bastien rolled his shoulders in an easy shrug. "I wanted very much to inject a bit of that kind of joy in this place, but...I could not find enough participants. It is such a town of prudes, this place." From Phoebe's cold words to the absolute lack of interest in his brothel...it was a far cry from the hedonistic heaven he'd found in Venice. "Perhaps I shall begin to wander with you."
Lucas congratulated him on his Ascension and he posed with his hands under his chin and his fangs showing in a toothy smile. "I must say, rather well. The process itself was...ah. Belissimo. And I was given a gift...and pleased a lady friend of mine very well with it. A rather good first few days, I think."
There were still things to work out for his Ascension to be everything he wanted it to be, though. With no trace of embarrassment he pointed to Lucas' crotch. "I understand that ah, attirare l'attenzione can be a little difficult. How did you accomplish it?" If Lucas didn't understand the language he would certainly understand the hand motion, Bastien's finger rising slowly up in a way clearly suggestive.
"Quite," Lucas said dryly, nodding in emphatic agreement. The people here were all concerned with toil and wallowing in their own depression. Nothing that a good roll around a brothel wouldn't solve, in his opinion. Still, Bastien couldn't have an empty place of business, and Lucas smirked at the idea of some company in his wanderings.
"I wouldn't say no, I just hope that we find something to occupy our time," he remarked. Though by the sound of it, Bastien had already found something to occupy his time, Lucas laughing to himself as he listened. "Very glad to hear it," he murmured, though his gaze followed his fellow Ascended's down to his crotch. Neither of them was a bit embarrassed, though Lucas's befuddlement was obvious.
"I thought that was a wonderful side effect of that back room of your church," he admitted. "That flag didn't fly full mast up until then, anyway."
That old celestial circus
With teeth and fingernails I'll carve a place, you'll see.
He nodded, pleased to have a possible companion for the lonely nights but understanding Lucas' desires. "Yes, we do need something...of a goal. Unattached from the fickle deities here. I have learnt my lesson there. The Voice is a wondrous Goddess, but I shall not do a thing without her asking me." Bastien wanted nothing less than a repeat of his experiences with Safrin. His own endeavours were to be his own from now on, dedicated to no one except himself and what he wanted; he just had to work out what it was he wanted.
A...side effect of the church? Bastien tilted his head with a frown. "Well...if it was that room, I do not know why, friend. It was just stone and wood same as any house here. I do not think Safrin is in the habit of giving out erections." Or if she was, she had certainly never advertised that part of her abilities to him.
"I wonder why everyone does not do this, though. True, there is a lack of...reaction, but the drinking, the possibility to upgrade our power, the romance of being a vampiro...ah! It is wonderful. I envy you appearing as one."
03-18-2019, 07:02 PM (This post was last modified: 03-18-2019, 07:02 PM by Lucas.)
"A very wise decision, by the sound of it," Lucas agreed wholeheartedly with Bastien's reasoning on the machinations of the gods. The Voice was wondrous and he had every intention of keeping her sweet, but given how fickle a creature he could be in his own right, he knew better than to push the buttons of beings who had something he wanted. Still, his fellow Ascended's proposal was a good one. "A shame - I liked your old goal, about the brothel." He laughed darkly.
His eyebrows raised in surprise at learning that Bastien was not responsible for the wonderful room in the 'church'. Then again, if he had been he likely wouldn't have asked about Lucas in the first place. "I am inclined to agree with you there... hm. Perhaps we'll have to go back there, and see if the effect is permanent on the building."
A smile curled across his lips as Bastien waxed lyrical about ascension, though he could only shrug his shoulders to the other man. "You wouldn't, if you had known what I was prior to being here."
That old celestial circus
With teeth and fingernails I'll carve a place, you'll see.
"Well. Perhaps one day we can make the finest brothel in the land, once the locals have gotten their testa fuori dal culo." Then again, if he really had had a magical erection-bestowing room in his old church, perhaps he had missed an opportunity. But how had that occurred...? It didn't seem like the kind of thing Safrin or The Voice would do, and those were the only Gods he really had any kind of history with.
Lucas' comment about what he used to be was deliciously tempting to ask more about, and Bastien didn't want to resist.
"Oh? What did you have before here? Were you a real vampiro?"
"The finest brothel in all the land, run by two Ascended. I think it sounds like a marvellous idea." Lucas grinned, seeming comfortable to sit on the doorstep and watch the stars go by. For now at least; talk of the magical erection-room definitely kept the conversation interesting enough to stay. And whilst he had known his comment had been a loaded one, he was less certain about answering Bastien in the same way he had done Adam. Still, though, maybe his fellow Ascended would be more open to the idea.
"Something like that," he muttered, shrugging his shoulder. "I was a devil. A literal one. The literal one." Lucas sighed. "Our lady the Voice advised that was why I was chosen to be dropped in this place."
That old celestial circus
With teeth and fingernails I'll carve a place, you'll see.
"We could charge extra for a bite." Bastien joked, nudging Lucas' side. Really, though...he did wonder if it was possible to get people to do things in return for the bite. Was it commonly known how much joy it could be? Did people see the Ascended and look to their teeth, desire the feeling contained within?
Lucas' confession of his past self made him sat back with a bemused smile for a moment. Did he really mean it? The devil? But Bastien had no reason to assume it was not the truth. He had met Gods here walking among men, after all, had believed Caiside on face value of his divine nature.
"...I see. So I suppose we may already know each other, hm? I was certainly told enough times back home I was playing into the devil's hands."
It might have been a joke but Lucas grinned as he was nudged, seriously considering that idea. Oh, but for them to have a real place of pleasure, where sins could stretch their legs without fear of retribution. Truly, that was Lucas's kind of place. The smile faded somewhat but remained on his face as he gave Bastien time to absorb, believe or disbelieve what he'd had to say, the Ascended leaning his elbows on his knees.
When the other man spoke as if he had seriously taken his words into consideration, Lucas arched an eyebrow and glanced over his shoulder to him. A rich laugh bubbled up in his chest and throat. "Yes, that might well be true," he agreed. "You seem liberal and unafraid of honest expression. Undoubtedly one of my apostles."
That old celestial circus
With teeth and fingernails I'll carve a place, you'll see.
One of the devil's apostles, huh? Bastien liked the sound of that. His face became a self-satisfied smirk and he nodded towards Lucas. "Thank you, then. Though...do you not remember me? Do you not remember those who have served? And...does this mean that Jesus, God, Mary, the whole lot...were they real?"
If Lucas was telling the truth (and he had no reason to assume he wasn't), there was a wealth of philosophical answers at his fingertips, things he had wanted to know for years but had never had the chance to ask. Or at least, had never had the chance to ask someone who really knew.
Lucas snorted gently, shrugging his shoulders. "I was not some beatific deity, Bastien. The Devil serves those who serves themselves. The fact that you followed your own path instead of the one dictated to you aligned you more to me than to any god, especially the Big Guy Upstairs." Besides which, he had been from a time far beyond that where Bastien had come from. Not that he really wanted to go into that - it would hurt both of their heads.
"Real as you or I." He nodded in confirmation. "Though mightily inflated out of proportion, if you ask me." Especially God. "Your coming here and ascending must feel positively godlike, huh." He smirked.
That old celestial circus
With teeth and fingernails I'll carve a place, you'll see.
Lucas didn't really answer his question, so Bastien assumed that no, he did not remember him. Was the devil so impartial on his followers? Or...he supposed he had not been a follower as such, but more of a...accidental companion. Someone aligned with the moral 'wrong' by virtue of the times he had lived in. Either way, there were people all around here with missing memories or partially gone backstories so he tried his best to not take it personally.
He confirmed that the deities of his old world had been real, information Bastien took in with a surprised expression and slow nod. It would surely come back to haunt him later, something to consider in the late of night, but for now he just put the information away.
"Ah, yes. It truly does. When I arrived here, met my first Goddess...to actually see her before me...it made me think. If Gods walk among the same Earth as us, what is to stop a man from becoming a God? And when The Voice transformed me, she gave me a gift. I believe if I prove myself to be a good servant to her...perhaps one day, I can walk among them."
