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!
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
She tilted her head vaguely, pausing from the artwork and details, to regard the child thoughtfully. Ignoring the youth’s request, because it would ultimately be up to Lena to decide if such an inquiry would be launched towards Frey (and she was perfectly content in just knowing she was chosen), she paid more attention to the notions of this individual being a creation of Ludo.
She was familiar with Remi, of course, given how many circumstances had intertwined. But she hadn’t been aware of any other machinations by the trickster herald – and perhaps that was just so, considering her loyalties. But all the Old Gods were held in her high beliefs, so she unfurled a breath, eyes paying more attention in a quick, rapid study, much like she would with any being in her care. “Are you a demigod of Ludo?”
and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all
Trinket met the woman's eyes, unmoving, unblinking. It was the first time the woman had drawn her attention away from the bird to pay attention to the girl. Curious. Where all else had failed to prompt a reaction from the caretaker, mention of Ludo had.
Trinket tilted her head to the side, pondering this. Uncertain of the answer, she simply filed the information away for later use.
"Yes," she replied, her tone flat and emotionless. "Ludo created me, and set me out into the world. I can go wherever I want. I came here to see the forest. But you are more interesting."
She considered the woman for a long, silent moment. Questions tumbled around in the young girl's head. She discarded most of them as uninteresting. But one stood out.
"Have you met Ludo?" Trinket asked, the slightest touch of curiosity marking her otherwise emotionless black eyes. She awaited the answer with a perfectly still, porcelain-like face, almost as if it were a doll sitting there in front of the caretaker, rather than a demigoddess.
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
“I doubt I am more interesting than all those places,” came on a small grin, placing the collection of pencils and colors back into her basket, hands brushing over the drawing, eyes going back to the assemblage of plumes, content with the work. “What’s your favorite so far?” Maybe Ludo had given the child some means of transportation, or she’d simply found a means elsewhere, like the skyports. Lena frequented them when she had the time, but it’d been well before the war since she’d traversed anywhere.
At the question, the Caretaker could only shake her head. Her sister had gone to Mort amidst those terrible incidents leading up to pandemonium and skirmishes, but the woman had never seen Ludo outside of any events, personally or privately. “No.”
and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all
The tiniest frown touched her lips. She didn't have the answer to that question. She knew the word, "favorite " She knew what it meant. But to know was not to understand. And she didn't truly understand what it meant to have a favorite place.
"Why does one place need to be my favorite?" she asked. "There's lots of places in the world. I haven't been to all of them yet. That will take a long time."
She tilted her head, studying the caretaker. More thoughts tumbled around behind her glassy eyes. One drifted to the surface.
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
For what Lena considered an innocent question, the reply gave her pause. “No, you don’t need to have a favorite.” But most people did, regardless. A world they loved and cherished, some portion of lands that brought them joy and contentment, peace and repose. And that had been so difficult to find before the war, that now seemed like the right time to angle and start anew.
Her hands reorganized the odds and ends in her basket, head tilting back as she crouched along steps and stones. “I haven’t been everywhere either.” She’d yet to venture into Halo, Hollowed Grounds, or the Greatwood, and certainly had no place in the Draig. “But I’ve been to The Climb, Oerwoud, Feverlands, Hak Etme, King’s End, and Torchline.”
and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all
"That's more places than I've been," Trinket said. "I've been to Torchline. There were lots of things to see there. Could you how me The Climb? I can only travel where the ships go. I don't know how to climb a mountain."
She considered all the places yet to explore. She would need to see them all. There were too many things to learn, and if she didn't travel to all of the places, she would never learn everything.
"You are done drawing," she said, watching as the woman rearranged her basket. "Are you going to draw more birds? There are lots of kinds of birds here." Birds weren't very interesting to her. But watching the woman draw had been interesting. It was a curious skill, using one's hands to create something that looked like something else. She had never done that, and it didn't seem that the woman was going to let her. So at the very least, she would watch, should the woman continue her drawing.
"That's more places than I've been," Trinket said. "I've been to Torchline. There were lots of things to see there. Could you how me The Climb? I can only travel where the ships go. I don't know how to climb a mountain."
She considered all the places yet to explore. She would need to see them all. There were too many things to learn, and if she didn't travel to all of the places, she would never learn everything.
"You are done drawing," she said, watching as the woman rearranged her basket. "Are you going to draw more birds? There are lots of kinds of birds here." Birds weren't very interesting to her. But watching the woman draw had been interesting. It was a curious skill, using one's hands to create something that looked like something else. She had never done that, and it didn't seem that the woman was going to let her. So at the very least, she would watch, should the woman continue her drawing.
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
Another hum resided under her breath, soothing and assuaging, as she rose from her crouch, stepping down lightly from the stones. Leaving the newfound birds to their own devices, keeping them in the back of her mind for further research, she stood beneath one of the more towering trees, adjusting her basket along her arm. “While we call it The Climb, it isn’t really a mountain. It’s a network of caves, with some higher summits near the waterfalls.” She pondered over the pragmatics of everything now – especially with the alteration in landscapes. “I’m not sure it’s very easy to access anymore either.”
At the other inquiry, she allowed another slight smile. “I drew that one because I’ve never seen it before. It has yet to come into the Celestine. I believe it’s a new species.”
and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all
Trinket rose and followed the woman, carrying her doll with one arm against her chest. The gentle wind tousled her hair, but it got no reaction from her. She followed down the stones, her bare feet chilled as they touched the bare rock, though while she noted the sensation, she showed no signs of concern for it. Her eyes focused only on the woman, the subject of her latest curiosity.
"Are there many new types of birds?" she asked. She'd been created with full knowledge of all of the flora and fauna of Caido, but she now considered that this knowledge might, in fact, be incomplete. If new creatures were arriving in the world, then there may be many species that she simply knew nothing about. "What about other animals? How many new species are there? Where are they coming from?"
She was curious about these new possibilities. Anything new was interesting. And this caretaker, so it seemed, was the ideal person to educate her in this matter. So she followed along, neither knowing nor caring where the caretaker was leading her. Wherever the woman was going, Trinket would follow.
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
Lena had every intention of pressing and wandering her way back to the Celestine, intending to return to her duties before settling in for the evening. If she was surprised at the youth following her, she didn’t show any of it, pushing her basket further up her shoulder as they began to walk across rock and stone. “I’m not sure yet. There could be a whole new variety of animals with the lands changing.” New ecosystems. New climates. New situations. New adaptations. A world of wonder before them, should people yearn to glance around.
Humming once more, she stepped lightly down from the winding trail, long strides extending further. “Rae. They believe in evolution and change, and Frey is their herald.”
and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all
"Rae," Trinket said with a slight nod. "They made the birds. They will probably make more." The knowledge she'd been given taught her about Rae, the God of Nature. But she had never made the connection between that and the actual birth of new animals into the world. These pieces of knowledge floated around in her head, but they were not connected to each other, until she asked questions and learned new things to make the pieces of her knowledge fit together.
She followed along as the caretaker left the trail, her bare feet, already dirty, picking up more dust along the way. She held her doll against her chest, the doll's head swiveling back and forth, its lifeless eyes scanning the land and the trees, perhaps for a glimpse of more birds.
"How does Rae make the animals?" Trinket asked. It was one thing to know that Rae did this deed, but the how and why of it remained a mystery to her. "Is it magic? Does a new bird need to come from an egg, or does Rae make the bird first, then the bird lays eggs to make more birds?" She knew of the lifecycle of birds and beasts, but if a species was brand new, she had no idea how the new species first came into the world. Maybe the caretaker would have the answers.
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
Winding around a familiar corner, the youth tilted her head, listening. How and why the creatures came into being had never been an inquiry Lena mustered – most of the time the animals showed up within enclosures, needing to be mended and healed, and she applied the best of her knowledge to the task at hand. Some required finagling, and others simple kindness, generosity, and tender, loving care, but she’d never questioned their existence.
“That is probably something to ask Rae,” she uttered with a faint smile, not willing to give broad assumptions or lead the child astray with falsehoods. The Caretaker could imagine either situation – and perhaps both were utilized – some brought into the world by figments of imagination and creation, and others permitted to evolve, adapt, from eggs and thresholds.
and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all
"I will do that," Trinket said. Speaking to the gods was a fairly straightforward process, at least, according to the knowledge she'd been given. Though she was sure that there were additional complications that she didn't yet understand.
She looked around the path they followed. She was certainly quite lost, but since she never cared where she was, it didn't much matter. She could go where she pleased. For the moment, she chose to follow the curious woman.
"Where are we going?" she asked from mild curiosity. She was unfamiliar with the area, but the caretaker seemed to know her way around. Perhaps she would lead them to something else interesting. This seemed to be the sort of place that might hide many interesting things.
Her glassy black eyes never searched the woods, finding no interest in mere trees and plants. An animal might be more interesting, if only for the possible reactions it might give. Though people were usually the most interesting of all. She could usually get a great many reactions out of them. Though not from this woman.
"Why are you...?" she started to ask, though she didn't know how to finish the question. There was something about this woman, something about her nature, that Trinket wished to learn. But she did not know what it was she sought to know, so she could not find the right question to ask.
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
“I’m going to the Celestine,” Lena remarked with a touch of a smile; uncertain if the child was following, wandering, or a little bit of both. She had ample amounts of tasks within the gardens at all hours, including placing the newest recording of the bird within her journals for safekeeping and future correspondence. “It’s feeding time for many of the animals.”
Winding her way through stones and forest though, her head tilted vaguely at the young demigod, brow arching as the inquiry seemed to cease entirely. Maybe a little nudge, for curiosity’s sake, uncertain about the particulars in question. “Why am I…?”
and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all
