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!
He had hoped to never need to fight a sea panther, and the pain of its jaws closing around his fin was precisely why. His jaw clenched and his stoic expression faltered beneath a wince, but he kept enough presence of mind to defend himself and chase the beast off for a few precious seconds.
It was enough to hear Enzo's call and while the merman retreated towards the edge of the canal near the young man offering to help, he decided to ensure the Sea Kitten's approach. "Yes!" he agreed, trusting the human to know what he was about. Calling on his magic he attempted to gather the water behind the beast and push it forwards in a rush, hopefully slamming the predator into the wall of the canal near Enzo - and, if he was lucky, throwing off its next attack in the ensuing confusion.
Hadama moves closer to his human friends and uses Upgraded Water Magic to try and slam the sea panther into the wall of the canal near Enzo.
Water manipulation: Can manipulate water. Must be within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent
Type: Light | Rank: Upgraded
"With language like that, one might think you were expecting to see my other half down here, sweets." Frey whirls in like a fragrant breeze, which - with all the chaos on the air - is a very nice change to say the least. "Now what do we have here... oh, my. Ludo will not be happy with me. But for you, peach, I'll see what I can do."
And beneath the waves, the Sea Kitten will find its playtime interrupted by a rather enormous shark, spearing up through the depths to snap a great chunk out of it. Sure, it narrowly avoids Hadama in the process, but hey, what are you going to do?
"Good luck," Frey says, their voice echoing and fading, even as the shark prowls away once more into the ocean gloom.
Regardless, Frey's assistance absolutely does what it says on the tin, and the water around Hadama becomes a murky scarlet colour. It won't make it easy to see the Sea Kitten, but hopefully the price is worth it.
Speaking of prices and paying them, however, this is where things go really, tragically wrong. By moving forward, perhaps Enzo has placed himself in exactly the wrong position, or maybe it just means that the rock that falls from a nearby building is in his blind spot, because gods... it's as though it's destined for him.
The ground beneath his feet will buckle precisely at the same time as the large bit of debris smashes into him with literal deadly force (also known as critical force). The young Kaliesin twin's story unfortunately ends here, buried in the rubble beneath the ruins of Haulani.
Perhaps it's this terrible moment that makes it difficult for people to continue running; they don't stop, but there is markedly less urgency than in previous rounds.
As for the Sea Kitten? Apparently it is blinded by its own blood in the waves, because Hadama avoids its teeth and claws with a deftness that looks almost like a dance. And he's just as deft in his counter attack; the creature almost mewls as it's slammed into the side of the canal, dazed for a moment.
Welcome to the Torchline PQ+. The region is breaking apart! Buildings are collapsing and being dragged out to sea, and there are ominous shapes in the water.
To ensure that nothing is missed, please include a summary of your actions at the bottom of your post, including the description of any magic/items/feats that are being utilized!
Sea Panth- er... Kitten: 76/232
Your randomly chosen post order is:
1. Enzo 0/44 (Enzo may post one more time as a death post)
2. Flora 92/92
3. Ray 100/100
4. Hadama 83/120
Be warned, this PQ+ will be dangerous and may cause death and/or permanent changes to your characters.
The ruins of the day I've painted with a scar And the more I straighten out, the less it wants to try
Maybe it is made for him. Enzo may have never met the gods or their heralds, but he is Remi's son. Vervain's grandson. What is death, to someone like him, but a coming home? It may be early, it may be unexpected. Hell, even undesired, he's not ashamed to admit that - there is still so much life to live, after all. But it's quick, and it's painless, and that's all Enzo could have hoped for.
There are no parting words, no reaching, desperate hands. Nothing, he hopes, for Flora to see on loop in her dreams. Just falling debris, and inevitable silence. He doesn't regret his inability to tell her he loves her one more time.
She already knows. It's a twin thing you see.
He smells sage and soil, and gentle hands touch his cheeks. Before he even opens his eyes he is smiling, tears streaking from closed lids. As they open, there she is. "Nonna," he chokes, hands lifting to cover hers where they stroke away his tears. Her smile is tender and understanding, as it always was in life. "Hello, sweetpea," she murmurs, a chorusing echo to hundreds of other times she'd greeted him in this way. Enzo stands, though he doesn't remember why he wasn't before.
"I'm dead, aren't I?" he asks, hesitant. Not quite fear, but the beginnings of it. Unafraid of the act, but scared of the beyond. Vai's expression softens. "You are. But there's nothing to be afraid of Enzo. We all end, you know that - from the seasonal plants to the oldest crone - but I'm here to show you the way to what's next, hm?" Enzo's laugh is a bark of a thing, wet with tears as he nods against her palm. "You always did," is more of a whine with how tight his throat is.
"And now, I always will." Her certainty is grounding, and he simply breathes in the hold of her hands for a moment, trying to find balance and calm. "I didn't think I would, but I feel regretful," Enzo admits softly, lifting his eyes to Vai's almost shamefully. There is no judgment there however, only that warm maternal love that had cradled him from birth to boyhood. "Life wouldn't be beautiful if it wasn't fleeting, sweetpea. And you were most beautiful of all. Now, are you ready?" Patient, eternally so now, and Enzo finds more comfort in that than anything the beyond could offer.
Nodding, he moves forward to embrace her, burying his face in her shoulder. "I'm ready."
11-04-2022, 09:18 PM (This post was last modified: 11-05-2022, 03:21 PM by Serendipity.)
i could be the reason you can't sleep at night
With Frey responding to her plea and daggers in her fingers, Flora feels as powerful as she ever has. She and Enzo are going to do this in a way that will make their parents proud and will confirm to the world that the Kaliesin twins are not just their last name. So it is that Flora watches her twin valiantly stride towards the water, powerful and poised, only...
..it doesn't happen at all the way you think it would. There are no screams, no infinitely long moments where you can't help but know in your bones what's going to happen. No, there is only Enzo, brave and handsome and terribly young, silhouetted against a red sky; and then he is gone. The rock that falls on him hardly even slows as it crushes his body beneath it. It's anticlimactic. It's silent. It's swift and unfair, and if Flora just looks away, surely it won't be real.
'..no.' Flora mewls disbelieving as she waits....waits for...for Remi to appear with her twin in his arms and reassuring words on his lips...waits for Frey to come back...waits for Hotaru to appear, or...gods, anything that makes her brother live again. None of those things occur of course, because Flora has decided to be here, away from the safety of the Haven, away from her mother and father.
And now Enzo is dead.
No. No he can't be.
Quite how Flora manages to get to Enzo's side is unclear. Her mind is bubble-wrapped in shock. All she knows is that she has her compass in one hand and Enzo's in the other. "Mom will fix it. Mom will know what to do." She sobs.
Flora runs to Enzo and uses her compass to take them to Halo!
If Flora gets a non-lethal hit on her way out, she'll use: Torchline: Torchline has taught you to survive her weather and her terrain. Once per PQ/PQ+/KQ/Drop, you can 'shrug off' half the damage from ONE non-lethal attack. (In order to use this ability, you must put a clear note in the bottom of your post immediately following the attack you want to 'shrug off').
Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Basic
Capitol Compass | Can travel to the political hubs in all settled lands.
Ray feels a surge of grief and sorrow as the young man dies. Too young. Too young. Too young. It repeats in her head like a mantra. She can't blame his sister for fleeing with his body. She can only hope that the girl makes it out safe.
But now isn't the time. "Go!" Ray yells once more to the citizens as she finally gets close enough to Hadama that he falls into range. Taking her wand, the Attuned points it at the mer in the water, "Heal!" She has no idea if that's what needs to do or not. But it's a want so surely there has to be a spell or something? Regardless, she prays to the Gods that it works.
~
Ray yells at the citizens to go and then tries to use her wand to heal Hadama.
Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Basic
Healer's Wand | A wand that seems organic in structure, crafted from stone, vines and blooming lilies. Capable of delivering Basic Healing to one target
It was Hadama's first time seeing Frey, and he was certainly appreciative of the god's intervention (though the closeness of the shark gave the mermanta more than a little pause). The blood in the water, however, was a chilling warning of things to come as he drew back towards the edge of the canal where the young man who looked so like Flora was there one moment-
And gone the next.
Hadama barely had time to realize what had happened, and how swiftly death had come for the brave soul who had stepped forward with such confidence and authority, bold and strong in the full flush of youth. There was blood in the water and blood on the stones and Flora, bright, playful Flora was there, her heart breaking in the silence between one breath and the next.
And then she, too, was gone.
But not, he hoped, forever.
Not like the young man who was her mirror. A mirror now broken beneath the ruins Haulani was becoming.
There were no oaths. No words of comfort or brave declarations. There was only a grim determination to save those who could still be saved, using the gift of health Ray had given him. With the apothecary backing him up, Hadama swam backwards out of the bloody cloud and gathered his magic, slamming another wave into the wounded, mewling Panther.
Hadama moves out of the bloody water and uses his water magic to pummel the Sea Panther again!
Water manipulation: Can manipulate water. Must be within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent
Type: Light | Rank: Upgraded
Perhaps it is because of the horror of the past few moments, but the rumbling and collapsing of buildings, the splitting of earth, it all seems to happen away from the vicinity of Ray and Hadama, because neither one is touched by the destruction. (Flora, too, makes it away unscathed, blinking from Torchline to Halo with one touch of a compass).
Unfortunately - but possibly very understandably in these circumstances - the citizens of Torchline do not listen to Ray, and chaos reigns throughout the fracturing islands. Some make it to safety, naturally, but others do not. The price of war is a heavy one.
On the plus side, though, she does manage to deliver some succor to the mermanta by way of healing wand. Congratulations, Hadama. You're feeling a bit better.
...Just in time to get bitten again by the Sea Kitten. Maybe the movement in the water helped it to orient towards the mermanta, but either way, that's going to sting.
Let no one say that Hadama does not give as good as he gets, though; once again the water parts and rushes at his command, striking the kitten true and causing it to scrabble and hiss bubbles beneath the water.
Welcome to the Torchline PQ+. The region is breaking apart! Buildings are collapsing and being dragged out to sea, and there are ominous shapes in the water.
To ensure that nothing is missed, please include a summary of your actions at the bottom of your post, including the description of any magic/items/feats that are being utilized!
Flora is gone, Enzo doubly so. The people of Torchline are still panicking and the world is still falling apart. Ray curses her lack of an aquatic shift that would allow her to join Hadama in the fight. But her wand seems to have helped some, even if the kitten had harmed him right after.
As such, the herbalist does the only thing she can think to do. Ray raises her wand once more, "Heal! Come on Hadama, you can do this!" The people aren't listening so their best option is to remove the threat as fast as possible. Then they can put their efforts into evacuation.
~
Ray heals Hadama with her wand again!
Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Basic
Healer's Wand | A wand that seems organic in structure, crafted from stone, vines and blooming lilies. Capable of delivering Basic Healing to one target
Ray proved to be a much-needed ally in the fight. It was down to just the two of them against the aquatic predator and though Hadama didn't want to hurt it he was, at heart, a pragmatist. The Sea Panther was being a little too proactive in herding along mortal souls to Mort's solace. Unwilling souls at that; namely, his.
There would be time for words of thanks after the fight. For now, Hadama gave Ray a grateful nod and stayed near her and her life-saving wand. The cat was giving him more scars to gild (if he survived), but it couldn't be allowed to hunt the canals freely with so many humans falling in or taking refuge there away from the collapsing buildings. The water responded to his call, rising up above the Kitten and then slamming down, pushing the predator towards the floor of the canal in another battering as the King called to his subjects:
"Those who can, sing to the humans near the water and calm them so they can evacuate!"
Hadama stays near Ray for healing and uses his water magic against the Sea Kitten again. He calls on his people who have the Siren Song ability to use it to calm the emotions of humans in reach so they can evacuate:
Siren's Song (Basic/Upgraded) | Can weakly influence the emotions of those within 5-10ft of them
Water manipulation: Can manipulate water. Must be within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent
Type: Light | Rank: Upgraded
Macabre it may be, but it appears with Enzo's death, things begin to take quite an upswing for those left behind. The world beneath their feet (or uh, tails) continues to tremor and break, but none of that debris goes anywhere near Ray or Hadama. The Attuned heals her Merfolk ally without issue, and he is able to lash out once again with his water magic against the Sea Kitten.
And for perhaps the first time, the kitten in question is not able to nip the mermanta in return. Perhaps it's the clouded colour of the water, or maybe it's just beginning to have enough of this fight. 'Tis only a kitten, after all.
The only thing Hadama is unable to achieve is the calming of any Torchline citizens. Unluckily, it does not appear that any of his kin have the Siren Song ability.
Welcome to the Torchline PQ+. The region is breaking apart! Buildings are collapsing and being dragged out to sea, and there are ominous shapes in the water.
To ensure that nothing is missed, please include a summary of your actions at the bottom of your post, including the description of any magic/items/feats that are being utilized!
Hadama was doing much better and seemed to have a handle on the cat. Feeling secure enough in her assumption that the mer could finish the kitten off, the councilwoman turns back to the panicked crowd. You've got this Hadama. I'm going to deal with the people, she sends through the bond as she begins to jog away.
Once she's close enough, Ray takes a deep breath and squares her shoulders. "Torchline! Listen up! There are safehouses at the Miana Poo! Leave your belongings and head over there! Your panicking is making us look bad in front of the mer!" Maybe digging into their Torcher pride would help a bit.
~
Ray channels her inner councilwoman and tries to get the citizens to evacuate to the Miana Pool safehouses.
Be careful of the debris, he warned Ray, not wishing her to suffer the same fate as Enzo had. His own bruise was largely forgotten in the surge of adrenaline and the far sharper wounds that the Sea Panther had left.
And the cat remained, battered and badly hurt but no less dangerous for the damage that had been done to it. Hadama could sympathize with it, but that didn't mean he would let it run wild with so much still at stake. He stared the cat down as he began to swim towards it, flaring his fins wide as he lowered his trident grimly. If he could herd it back out to sea, he would.
But if not, he wouldn't hesitate to defend himself.
Hadama attempts to intimidate the sea panther into running away, but is ready to strike it with his trident if it moves to attack instead.
Type: Light | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
Startide Trident | A trident formed from coral and starlight. Can be used below or above the water. Shoots a blast of arclight water that's infused with starlight up to 10ft.
The world rumbles uncertainly, and the chaos of the situation is surely spilling right across Torchline... but not where you are, luckily. Ray and Hadama continue to be unmolested by falling debris or splitting earth, which is good, because... y'know, look at Enzo huh.
Now that Ray seems to be focusing entirely on corralling the townspeople, they actually start to listen. Assisting Merfolk and Torchers alike begin to flood towards the Miana pool, and the sandy mound is starting to gain quite a few spectators of the destruction befalling their home.
As for Hadama? This mermanta can roll a crit be one scary fuck when he wants to, because as he levels his trident at the Sea Kitten, sense begins to dawn in its feline gaze. It is learning something today - when to fight, and when to flee.
And flee it does, wounded and clumsy, but disappearing into the churning and bloody waters. (Wonder if that will attract any other predators?)
Before they can celebrate too hard, though, a commotion sounds from the recently crowded Miana Pool. Water seems to be sucking in all around it, as if a crack has opened deep in the ocean nearby. You're not sure yet, but you'd swear it was sinking. Or being flooded. Or both?
Welcome to the Torchline PQ+. The region is breaking apart! Buildings are collapsing and being dragged out to sea, and there are ominous shapes in the water.
To ensure that nothing is missed, please include a summary of your actions at the bottom of your post, including the description of any magic/items/feats that are being utilized!
Sea Panth- er... Kitten: 6/232 (Ran away like a good kitty)
