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!
11-01-2022, 02:08 PM (This post was last modified: 11-01-2022, 08:41 PM by Odd.)
kingmaker
The skies over Torchline are screaming.
As if painted by a shaking hand, lightning fractures through dense cloud cover, and whether it is night or day is no longer entirely clear.
Beneath the troubled horizon, the Arclight pitches and moans, and the stench of ozone lays heavily on the air.
Again, a flash ignites the sky, but this time... gods, this time, you could swear there was something up there. Backlit by the storm, its silhouette is hideous and mismatched, its limbs lurching and enormous, it's head... it's heads--
With a ballooning, keening sort of screech, the creature drops from the clouds on white wings, slamming onto the sands of the Ahi Coast. Electricity jumps all over its form, and the ground beneath its paws seems to rumble uncertainly.
The Kingmaker is no longer contained by King's End.
Welcome to this KQ. The Kingmaker has made its way to Torchline and is now on the Ahi Coast. It will be at Haulani in approximately 4 rounds!
Please post your characters arriving/acting and in your summary list whatever non-items they are bringing with them (anything on your profile is automatically assumed to be with you). Items not listed cannot be used later).
Remember to include a summary at the bottom of your post with all action taken. If weapons/upgrades/abilities/items/shifts/etc are used, please include their desc. from your profile at the bottom of your post as well.
REMEMBER: KQs are rewarding but dangerous. They may cause death and/or permanent changes to your characters.
The sound of whatever the fuck that thing is drowns out even the noise of Torchline breaking apart. Jack has been heading for the Ark, wondering whether the storm counts as starlight enough to make a quick escape.
But whilst the captain might be all for tactical retreats, he knows what lightning might do to a mast. And he knows what churning oceans can do to sails and rigging, too. In or out of the water, his vessel is in trouble. The land isn't faring much better, either.
Speaking of land, Jack stands upon the docks, dwarfed by the sheer size of the creature that has just slammed onto the coastline. He gazes over his shoulder at Haulani in the distance, hissing a curse under his breath.
And he hops down onto the sand. "Well, fuck," he mutters, already whipping up the beach with Air Manipulation to try and batter against the creature to blind it. Today's as good a day to die as any, he supposes.
Jack uses his Air Manipulation to whip up the sand on the beach, trying to blind the Kingmaker!
He brings everything on his profile, but that's about it.
Air manipulation: Can create and control the air. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
like a secret or a sin
JACK
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
the echoes of the thunderclaps reverberation of the dead
They’ve been preparing for this. He had seen his fiancée off to the highest peak of dragons and destruction, had seen his children off to the Haven, and now Harper stands as the last member of their little family, face to face with the Kingmaker.
There is no time to lose, to hesitate. “Soldiers to the docks! Medics to the Fountain - begin running bottles for any injured or fighting at the shore!” He carries the cry on repeat as he runs through town, ensuring it is being spread by other mouths before he turns into his Gore Crow form and flies straight for the Stargate. Broadcasting once more as an Attuned, hoping it will reach Ray as he flies low over the city; I’m heading for the Stargate now. We need to strike hard while it’s away from the shoreline. Landing at the Stargate he immediately transforms back, and activates it seconds later to send out to create the defensive bubble near Jack and the fighters at the docks.
Harper comes with everything on his profile and a standard bow.
He commands NPC soldiers to the shore, and healers to the Fountain of Stars to begin sending out bottles of the water to the KQ fighters. He then transforms into his Gore Crow form to fly to activate the Stargate. He targets the 60ft sphere around Jack/the docks.
** Fortis Patera Constellation | If activated by a member of the TL council, the star gate can target 1 60ft sphere anywhere within TL. Protects those within for 2 posts. Requires a 5 post cooldown between uses. Must be deactivated by two members of the council.
** The Fountain outside the Court of the Stars possesses Mastered-Level healing waters (these waters do not work on ascended). If bottled, this water can be used to heal while in Torchline. Once removed from Torchline's borders, it becomes regular water.
provides the tempo for the song describing how all things went wrong
they should have checked the ashes of the women they burned alive
Melita is neither soldier, nor medic, but she ran anyway – hastening across docks and ports, following after brethren as soon as she heard the tremors, the screeches, the nuances of doom heading straight for them. Because that was who she’d always be – emboldened and audacious, always willing to try, no matter the danger or the cost.
“What the fuck,” she uttered though, as she drew up besides Jack, mouth agape, staring at the Kingmaker. That was all she needed to process the moment, already drawing her bow, and snagging at any icy fixture.
From there, it was only an instant after that she fired, intending to pierce the monster with the elemental arrow.
--
Melita draws close to Jack and shoots at the Kingmaker with her bow and ice arrow.
She has everything listed on her profile, except the companions.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Mastered
Fire/Lightning/Ice Quiver | A magical quiver with two compartments. In one, it turns any arrow placed within into a flaming projectile when shot. In the other, the arrow becomes imbued with electricity. (Made by Remi)
Type: Light | Style: Offensive | Level: Mastered
Bowstring Bracelet | At first this bracelet appears only as a length of intricately braided bowstring, adorned with vinelike patterns and tiny, fanged charms. But with an arrow in hand, upon miming the action of knocking and drawing it, the user will feel a bow beneath their fingers, as if it was there all along.
because it takes a single wild ember to bring a whole wildfire to life
Now Jackeline.Language. Although if any situation calls for a well-placed fuck, it's absolutely this. Though perhaps if he paid a bit more attention to his magic than his well-timed curses, he might have been a bit more successful. As it is, the captain's efforts are about as successful as a child throwing a handful of sand at a tornado.
Harper, you are a clever lad. Unfortunately, time is against you in this. As the soldiers and healers run in opposite directions, Harper is able only to just shift and begin to fly towards the Stargate. He'll be able to reach it and activate it on his next turn.
Melita, whose mouth has been fouled by Jack apparently (or just Torchline), draws her bow and fires. Sailing cleanly through Jack's sandstorm, the arrow strikes the breast of the chimera, right where white swan feathers bleed into grey elephant skin.
Charing forward, the Kingmaker aims an attack from its middle head--the swan--at Melita. Though it kicks up quite a bit of sand (that's how you do it, Jack), the Honeybee is able to evade it, though the creature is nearly ontop of the pair now.
Remember to include a summary at the bottom of your post with all action taken. If weapons/upgrades/abilities/items/shifts/etc are used, please include their desc. from your profile at the bottom of your post as well.
REMEMBER: KQs are rewarding but dangerous. They may cause death and/or permanent changes to your characters.
Jack HP: 147/147
Melita HP: 432/432
Harper HP: 150/150
they should have checked the ashes of the women they burned alive
“I don’t fucking think so,” she hissed as it came closer and closer, meandering its way towards town, the Honeybee dodging, swindling, swerving amongst the sand. This might’ve been all about timing, fortune, and some amount of kismet, but the youth was going to take it as she always did, grasping and greedy, mercenary and seditious.
Gritting her teeth, clenching her jaw, and grabbing another arrow from her quiver, the youth notched the icy fixture onto her bow’s strand, pulling it back, and releasing it once more. Rinse and repeat. Destruction and damage. Potential and prowess, hoping it’d be enough.
--
Melita shoots another ice arrow at the Kingmaker.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Mastered
Fire/Lightning/Ice Quiver | A magical quiver with two compartments. In one, it turns any arrow placed within into a flaming projectile when shot. In the other, the arrow becomes imbued with electricity. (Made by Remi)
Type: Light | Style: Offensive | Level: Mastered
Bowstring Bracelet | At first this bracelet appears only as a length of intricately braided bowstring, adorned with vinelike patterns and tiny, fanged charms. But with an arrow in hand, upon miming the action of knocking and drawing it, the user will feel a bow beneath their fingers, as if it was there all along.
because it takes a single wild ember to bring a whole wildfire to life
the echoes of the thunderclaps reverberation of the dead
He’s slower than he wants to be, and the Kingmaker’s approach is inexorable, but he makes it to the Stargate eventually. The delay is still worthwhile. That healing water will be woefully needed at the frontlines, and Melita’s recognizable shock of hair - while comforting and inspiring - only hardens his resolve.
Ray’s words reach him, and though he worries for what’s going on inland, there’s relief - and trust - that his friend and fellow councilman will keep everyone safe. Slamming his hand on the Stargate, Harper activates the protective barrier: right around Jack and Melita. “Give it hell,” he urges, even though they can’t hear him. It will take too much time to fly there and back, so he compels as many birds as he can - other Gore Crows, with their deadly beaks and talons - and commands them to fly down to try and peck out the eyes on all three heads.
- - -
Harper activates the Stargate around Jack and Melita, and compels 5 Gore Crows to try and blind the heads of the Kingmaker.
Can call like-minded animals for assistance (1 large, 3 medium, 5 small, from the same animal family)
provides the tempo for the song describing how all things went wrong
Oh well this is fucking brilliant, isn't it. Swiping at his eyes - and he definitely wasn't responsible for that blast of sand, and he'll die on that hill - Jack is able to clear his vision in time to watch Melita strike at the enormous creature, and move closer to it as well. "Fuckin' insane," he mutters to himself, even as he finds his legs moving to do the same idiot thing.
He's not entirely stupid, though, and the Kingmaker is already practically on top of them, so Jack lets Melita go forward as he prepares his magic. He's never used it in earnest like this, but fuck it, there's no time like the present. Extending his willpower, he attempts to create water - right inside the throat of one of the three heads (let's say the angry swan) to choke and drown it.
Jack uses Water Manipulation to create a torrent of water inside the throat of the swan head, trying to choke and drown it!
Water manipulation: Can create and control water. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
like a secret or a sin
JACK
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
Again Melita 's arrow shoots true, nestling nicely next to the first. Ice spiderwebs outwards against feathers and skin at the same moment that light dazzles nearby. One might think that it's Ronin for all the celestial energy, but it's the Stargate opening, compliments of Harper. Spheres of near blinding white descend in a pattern that can only be identified as a constellation from above; for those below it merely looks like a ring.
Unfortunately, given that gore crows are not native to Torchline, there are no birds available for Harper 's compulsion, though a few coastal finches do flutter around to try and help.
As the bear-head opens its jaws to attack Jack, it finds itself suddenly choking on...well, not its own spit, actually, but a torrent of liquid. Appearing to vomit a geyser of water onto the sands, the elephant-head lunges forward to try and attack Jack only for a barricade of starlight to prevent it from doing so.
Remember to include a summary at the bottom of your post with all action taken. If weapons/upgrades/abilities/items/shifts/etc are used, please include their desc. from your profile at the bottom of your post as well.
REMEMBER: KQs are rewarding but dangerous. They may cause death and/or permanent changes to your characters.
Jack HP: 147/147
Melita HP: 432/432
Harper HP: 150/150
Kingmaker: 148.5/401
2/4 turns away from the town.
they should have checked the ashes of the women they burned alive
Melita couldn’t hide her glimmer, her smirk, of satisfaction as the arrow struck true, and the barrier came up. From the safety of the threshold she gave a malicious, seditious grin, an utterance of revolution. ”Take that, fucker.” Because there was more to come.
Snagging at another ice arrow, the youth opted for the success she’d already had, figuring rinsing and repeating at this point couldn’t be bad. Notching it on her quiver, the Honeybee fired off the armament straight towards the Kingmaker again. If their luck held for a little more, maybe this portion would be over, and the town would be safe.
—
Melita shoots another ice arrow at the Kingmaker.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Mastered
Fire/Lightning/Ice Quiver | A magical quiver with two compartments. In one, it turns any arrow placed within into a flaming projectile when shot. In the other, the arrow becomes imbued with electricity. (Made by Remi)
Type: Light | Style: Offensive | Level: Mastered
Bowstring Bracelet | At first this bracelet appears only as a length of intricately braided bowstring, adorned with vinelike patterns and tiny, fanged charms. But with an arrow in hand, upon miming the action of knocking and drawing it, the user will feel a bow beneath their fingers, as if it was there all along
because it takes a single wild ember to bring a whole wildfire to life
the echoes of the thunderclaps reverberation of the dead
Finches? Well, he can work with that. Or at least he can try; from such a distance (and with only one more post before he can use the Stargate again) he can’t risk coming down. It’s agony. He feels useless doing absolutely nothing, though seeing the barrier rise as the Kingmaker strikes down makes his knees weak with relief.
Harper continues to compel the finches to try and peck out the eyes of the three heads, and fists his hands against the activating mechanism, praying harder to his Goddess than he ever has before.
- - -
Harper commands the finches to attack the eyes of the Kingmaker, waiting to re-activate the Stargate next round.
Can call like-minded animals for assistance (1 large, 3 medium, 5 small, from the same animal family)
provides the tempo for the song describing how all things went wrong
Rinse and repeat might work fine for Melita, but Jack isn't having any of it, and even though the starshield prevents him from getting mauled by an elephant (very cool, by the way), he's still skittering back out from under the Kingmaker's feet. And, er, heads.
Unsure if he's even seen an elephant before (he'll look into it later if he's alive), the captain reaches this time for the air that so often fills the Ark's sails, whipping it out in a cutting arc. He's hoping to strike the elephant head this time in particular, given that it's after him.
"It's gettin' close to the city," he barks out, just in case no one has noticed. And quite what will happen when it gets there... well. He doesn't want to fucking know, that's for sure.
Jack uses his Air Manipulation to strike at the elephant head!
Air manipulation: Can create and control the air. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
like a secret or a sin
JACK
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
Perhaps dazzled by the constellations, for the first time so far, Melita 's arrow misses. As for Harper, this is the crucial difference between calling and compelling animals for assistance. Bless them, Finches are prone to die if things get a bit too drafty, so there's no way they will attack a beast as large as the Kingmaker. Alright Jack, it's all on you to not make this round a bust...!
Jack's air magic wooshes very ominously, but..that's about it.
Years of having been by Caido's side has made this creature incredibly clever. While the line of stars shimmers around, it guesses that no matter its efforts, it won't be able to attack the trio nearby. But that's fine, and do you know why?
Because three heads are better than one. Or something.
With a loud HONK HONK HONK, the swan head flails about, and though it isn't immediately obvious what has happened, Melita might notice that the wounds her arrows have opened up are healing. Advancing forward, the beast continues to stomp towards Haulani, just waiting for the stars around them to disappear.
Remember to include a summary at the bottom of your post with all action taken. If weapons/upgrades/abilities/items/shifts/etc are used, please include their desc. from your profile at the bottom of your post as well.
REMEMBER: KQs are rewarding but dangerous. They may cause death and/or permanent changes to your characters.
Jack HP: 147/147
Melita HP: 432/432
Harper HP: 150/150
Kingmaker: 248.5/401
3/4 turns away from the town.
they should have checked the ashes of the women they burned alive
Melita had felt dread before. Her worlds had fallen apart at the seams. Her mother had sacrificed herself to save her children. She’d risked life and limb hundreds of times with only the barest minimum of tension searing through her fingertips.
And she’d been so confident, until now.
She missed, and this inspired a grit of her teeth. “Bitch,” was a whisper, until she realized, part from the loud honking proportions of the swan head…that the wounds on the beast were closing. “It’s fucking healing!” She shouted, because the dismay was trickling down her spine, and this wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought, and Haulani was right there…
Gods. “Not today, you fucker,” trickled from her lips. "Ludo, can you help?" And perhaps, if she channeled correctly, her favored deity could nail that damned thing.
--
Melita informs everyone that the beast is healing, and channels Ludo to hit the Kingmaker.
Accepted Channeling: Allows an Accepted to channel a deity/demigod/lesser spirit during a time of crisis (1x a season)
Type: Light | Rank: Upgraded
because it takes a single wild ember to bring a whole wildfire to life
