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!
Not one of them sought refuge. It could’ve been down to who they were, their strength, their stalwart capabilities, or their rage, all coming together in a consuming blaze of motions, weaponry, and magic. Sometimes right below, sometimes just out of reach.
Between Noah and Deimos, with powers of deities and incantations, the fire flared. The Sword’s combination of Air enchantments kept the memories at bay (only a flicker of them out of the corner of their eyes), and snagging, snaking, at the Sentinel’s flames, he utilized them to assault and siege upon the lamplighter.
Well, one of them anyway.
As the sulphuric mist unfurled, it became readily apparent that they were dealing with three.
Noah’s stag chased and rampaged, seemingly delighted to be sent into the melee, charging fully into the second one; untouched as it was. The fish flinched and screeched, before striving to snap at the vision, before becoming distracted by another.
A rush from Darkeye wasn't unexpected, and his axes worked well, hitting into the first lamplighter as it screamed into the rush of pain and torment – one stuck belligerently into the skin and scales of the largest fish. Its brethren, especially the second lamplighter, seemed to unite with its small school, coming near enough to snag and chew upon the cleric's shoulder.
And Hotaru, despite her abhorrence, wrath, and rush of emotions, would only be able to watch her stormy essence scatter off, rampaging into the void of fog and clouds. This would only give opportunity to the third lamplighter, (and smallest of all), to shimmy close, close, closer, biting and ripping at the Valkyrie.
--
Lamplighter One (Big Boi): 87.5/200
Lamplighter Two (Just Right): 122.5/150
Lamplighter Three (Way too Smoll): 100/100
How do I keep myself from fallin' apart when I ain't never felt part of a whole?
Failure admittedly doesn't register because there is ample movement to be distracted by. Especially because she is occupied with forcing herself off the ground, gritting her teeth against the pain in her palms and knees instead of using her magic to heal it. She has no idea how badly this might go, there's no sense in wasting her energy. But beneath all of that, yes, there is rage. Disappointment that morphs and twists into something hateful and animalistic - so when the lamplighter descends upon her with sharp teeth, Ru doesn't hold back.
Half-shifting her komodo fangs and nails she tears into it while it is latched onto her, serrated fangs and venom seeking any entry they can find, heedless of how wild she looks as she tries to use her talon-like nails to pierce its scales and hold it close for her to savage.
- - -
Ru half-shifts her Komodo dragon form and tries to use her venom and teeth/claws to keep the lamplighter in place while savaging it.
HOTARU
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
06-10-2023, 01:05 PM (This post was last modified: 06-10-2023, 01:05 PM by Darkeye.)
Darkeye
Nine strikes
Darkeye gaped almost madly into the beast's eyes. "Those are my memories. Beast your mistake was waking up this morning." The fact that this had bitten into his shoulder seemed to fuel the anger more than instill fear.
He quickly grabs his spear and tries to hit the beast at a vital point without letting go of his axe. He would not let one of these beasts getaway. Right now he didn't care what they were called. Deimos would let these beasts jump over the blade as long as he didn't say anything else.
He notices the blood running over his body. These are the moments he lives for in battle. It is only a good fight when blood flows on both sides.
If one tries to escape, he can use the teleport of his axes. He knew the others were capable of defending themselves. But for now, it was important for him not to break ranks, as much as he liked to play with the thoughts.
The battle was quick and it raged. The monster hunters that had come to look for the lost souls in this swamp were monsters themselves -- or so it seemed. They each attacked with a ferocity that was unmatched even as the lamplighters attempted to strike back against them. The magic that triggered from Noah's emotions did not activate, for as fire and blood and fog all mixed together, the hunter was focused. He did not hold the same anger within him that Darkeye did against the creatures, but he did want to end them all the same.
Pulling two arrows in succession from his quiver, Noah let them fly at the lamplighters. His jaw feathered and after his second arrow flew, the demigod summoned the magic bubbling his beneath his chest. A bright, celestial-light dome arced above them and covered him and his comrades, as well as his enemies. To his friends he gave healing, to his enemies he gave harm.
Noah shoots two more arrows at Lamplighter One then summons his celestial dome!
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
Fire Quiver | A magical quiver that turns any arrow placed within into a flaming projectile that ignites upon impact. (Made by Deimos)
Magic: Divine Opposition | Noah summons a celestial shield dome in a 60ft radius. Any allies within the shield receive Mastered Healing, and any enemies are damaged at an Mastered level. May be used 3x per thread with a two post cool down.
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
A righteous fury – for any number of reasons. Memories, battered and used against them. Lost souls, somewhere out there in the muck and grime, likely senseless victims of the creatures before them. And the monster hunters responded in kind – world weary and bound to desecration in these few, feral moments.
Hotaru would find her rage much more potent now; a flare, an abhorrence, a spark of justice and deliberation twisted and conjoined from claw to venom. The searing, bloodthirsty viciousness countered well into the lamplighter, so much that it screeched and screamed, falling to the earth as the Valkyrie struck again and again. Maybe she’d be more invoked, incited, and stoked: inspired by the fish flailing beneath her wake.
As persistent as Darkeye was, the beast was quicker, faster. It could’ve been his wound. It could’ve been misfortune altogether. Nonetheless, the creatures swiveled and maneuvered around the cleric with appalling ease, landing another blow on the man’s opposing shoulder.
The silence of the Sentinel only meant more potency coming from inward – Noah unleashed just as he’d promised. The arrows flew, descended, marking and chiseling, and the divine opposition following suit seethed and flared. It could’ve been an illustrious beacon for anyone nearby; but for now, it was just them. The largest lamplighter had no way to counter the act, save for screeching, wailing, asking for aid where none would be given –
For Deimos picked it off immediately thereafter, the predacious notions contorting with quiet, unsung wrath. Flames licked and scorched and bellowed until the fish was nothing more than deceased and smoldering on the ground, and the Sword was already moving to his next target. “Darkeye,” he hollered, granting attention to the cleric’s current issues as he unfurled more fog away from them. “You all right?”
Hotaru has hit Lamplighter Three in her Komodo dragon form. It’s now down on the ground and not doing so well (poisoned). It will not be able to move its next turn.
Darkeye has missed Lamplighter Two – and it’s taken the opportunity to bite him in the other shoulder now.
Noah and Deimos have successfully dispatched Lamplighter One.
What will you do next? No post order!
we exhume our enemy's bones we are battling, hungry beasts
How do I keep myself from fallin' apart when I ain't never felt part of a whole?
There is a reason Hotaru is no General, and it is for this reason - as Darkeye is wounded a second time, Deimos checks in on him immediately. Hotaru does not have the same care and concern. Not right now. Not when memories of blood and loss are still like sun after-images in her eyes. Hotaru descends upon the lamplighter she has paralyzed like a woman possessed, bloodlust rising in her throat like bile. Or maybe that's just the acid that flows in her mouth tricking her senses.
Still using her talons and teeth like a brute instead of anything more civilized, Hotaru's sharp, serrated teeth seek any inch of scaled skin they can find. Across her talons she lets her lightning begin to spark, hoping to electrocute and sear its insides simultaneously as she savages it mindlessly. Taking out all her grief and trauma on the creature that had dragged her backwards in time to her worst days.
- - -
Ru continues to use her venom teeth and talons (which she now electrifies) to tear the Lamplighter apart.
HOTARU
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
Between the powers of Deimos and Noah, the lamplighter didn't really stand a chance. Men who had looked dragons in the eye and defeated them. Men who had taken on the very beings that threatened the order to their world and destroyed them. There was little that could stand in their way when they fought shoulder to shoulder.
Fire devoured and Deimos went off running. Noah turned and his eyes went briefly to Hotaru -- she needed no help. She was a savage now, half-shifted and hungry for revenge. His eyes followed Deimos, then, and saw Darkeye. "No one look at me!" Noah called out before the amulet pulsed against his chest and warmth filled him.
His body increased in size and a raging hiss left his massive jaws. His basilisk body uncoiled and his sharp teeth aimed for the lamplighter that kept going for the cleric.
Noah shifts to basilisk form and tries to bite (eat?) Lamplighter 2.
Type: Grey | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
The Atticus Amulet | Contains a mythical shift of a Basilisk, which can be used regardless of character race, so long as the character is wearing the amulet. Mythical ability: Stoneheart | Any caught in the eye of the Basilisk may be turned to stone for 3 turns in combat situations.
06-17-2023, 05:58 PM (This post was last modified: 06-17-2023, 05:59 PM by Darkeye.)
Darkeye
Nine strikes
Darkeye clenched his teeth. "I can take it," he said with a growl, knowing that if he kept this up, he wouldn't be standing much longer. But he had his spear, which he now directed against himself... It must be a macabre picture, he thought to himself...
"The spear has a healing effect, so don't be surprised what's about to happen. " he closed his eyes and still heard the words of Noah as he tried to spear himself....
He ignored the creature completely, trusting the words of Noah and Deimos. Hotaru also seemed to have her situation completely under control. He had to rely on the others and hoped that he was not in the way of the others.
-----
Darkeye try to heal himself and closes his eyes
Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Basic
Karmic Spear | A finely forged weapon with vines engraved along the hilt. When hitting an enemy, the weapon causes Basic damage, but if hitting an ally, it will give Basic healing instead.
Separate adornments and powers combined for a plunge of teamwork, and likely the lamplighters, if they could feel regret, would’ve wished the day could’ve started on a different path.
Hotaru held no misgivings about her savagery – plain to see, as her talons ripped and tore. The poisoned lamplighter could do little more than flop about in its painful outcries. There was no fog to gauge and torment, no mist to antagonize the Valkyrie further. Its lacerated laments hardly seemed to matter to the Komodo dragon, vengeance swift, keen, and justified. There wouldn’t be much left of the creature when she was done with it.
Everyone heeded the Sentinel’s warnings well, and for good reason. In no time at all Noah had activated his relic, twisting, turning, and changing to the mighty and savage basilisk. Teeth bit down upon scales, and the lamplighter did as any would do – chancing a glance at its assailant. A wrong move, for it instantly froze, altering to stone within a breath.
Deimos likely shouldn’t have worried about Darkeye, but old habits died hard. Instead of flinging himself back into the fight, the cleric turned the ax on himself, and in a mystifying exchange, where his shoulder had been torn, ripped, and blooded, began to mend.
Which left the Sword to breathe, shake his head, and close his eyes – following the pathway of sound towards Noah and the lamplighter, unfurling his Life Drain incantations to clasp and grasp and pull over the fish monument. It too, would be cast aside to nearly nothing.
And then there was one.
And a distant, distant outcry, perhaps lost in the melee and chase, that only Darkeye would be able to hear. ”Help!”
Still, with closed eyes, Darkeye tries to sharpen his senses more... Yes, there was clearly a voice. "Deimos to our left I hear calls for help..." He didn't know if he should trust you, but what if there really is someone still alive, you have to take the chance...
It could be an illusion, but Darkeye said that if you could save someone, you could at least try.
The desire was great to open his eyes and see what kind of monster was moving there, the sounds that the creatures made it no better. But he did not want to leave his position.
When the lamplighter turned to stone, Noah did not hesitate to move on. Giant glacier eyes quickly shifted from the stone lamplighter to the only remaining threat. With a hiss, Noah propelled his massive body towards it and struck.
Hotaru, move! Noah called out over the attuned bond, mental voice booming and commanding enough to get the woman's attention even as savagery and bloodlust dilated her pupils and filled the forefront of her mind. Noah had no intentions of harming her today, but he wanted to end the life of this lamplighter swiftly to then be able to continue on in their mission.
The words of Deimos and Darkeye were just faint in the basilisk's ears, and he didn't turn his attention to them yet. First, this final assailant was to be destroyed.
Basilisk Noah tells Hotaru to get out of the way and attacks the last lamplighter.
How do I keep myself from fallin' apart when I ain't never felt part of a whole?
There is only one left, and with her claws in its scales, even its renewed struggles are mere death throes. Her chest heaves with adrenaline as she sinks her serrated teeth into it, a vengeful goddess taking her pound of flesh. She can tell the end is near. The others have dispatched their own foes, victorious in their unity, but Hotaru will kill this one personally so that she might feel she has avenged her own fragile mind.
That is when Noah's command comes over the bond, and he will feel the immediate, animalistic disaccord that flares like wildfire from her side. This is her kill, and he means to take it? To rob her of her vengeance and justice? The harmony and trust she normally holds in their bond is vacant in this moment, and there is only indignation and rage as she considers refusing him. Except she can tell he is immovable, implacable, and with her eyes shut tight there is little she can do to stand in his way lest she risk injuring herself in the process.
Dropping the lamplighter she rolls out of the way, too-sharp nails digging into dirt and muck to slow herself as she stands on aching knees and swallows biles and acid alike. I had it! she spits venomously in the bond at large, more animal than woman still as her hands shake at her sides, betraying her fractured state of mind even as her eyes remain shut tight, listening hard to determine if Noah has dispatched the last lamplighter or if she can intervene. In the meantime she lets her magic begin to mend and correct all the damage that had yet transpired, needing to do something.
- - -
Ru drops her lamplighter and rolls away and begins to heal herself.
HOTARU
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
The battering and discord over the Attuned bond reverberated and scalded; Hotaru with her rage at being forced away from her kill, Noah and his overwhelming need to conquer and destroy. Were it within any other moment, the Sword’s own hackles might have been raised, but then the lamplighter was subsequently destroyed, and the only perils they’d face were one another.
Shaking his head, striving to clear the memories and savagery in tandem, his attention turned to Darkeye. Calls for help? Partially outfitted tiger ears instantly rotated across the top of his skull, and then he heard it too.
”Help!” With another voice to follow, slightly hushed. ”Shut up! What if you lure those gods damned monsters over here again?”
Furrowing his brows, and maneuvering instantly over muck and grime (for they could always return for lamplighter pieces and portions later), he beckoned to the rest of the group. “I hear two voices over there!” Because maybe, just maybe, this rescue mission hadn’t been a complete disaster.
Or they were being lured into something else.
Louder and louder still – until their entire party would be able to catch the distinct noises.
--
The final lamplighter has been dispatched! Ru has healed herself, and there are voices being heard!
What will you do next? No post order!
we exhume our enemy's bones we are battling, hungry beasts
How do I keep myself from fallin' apart when I ain't never felt part of a whole?
Animal fury still crackles in her veins as Deimos' shout forces its way through the smog in her head, and Ru snarls to herself and transforms once more - back to golden wings that soar her high before she dares to open her eyes. Being back out of human form doesn't help the sensation of a stolen kill, but at least it keeps the more human elements at bay, keeping her focused and intent on the commotion of words and bodies.
Without a word - for surely Deimos is tracking all of their locations mentally - Ru begins to peer down from above to attempt to discern exactly where the voices were coming from and if they were being restricted by any natural or manmade structure they would need to be freed from.
- - -
Ru shifts to her falcon form to try and scout the voices from above and determine if there are any physical barriers to the people.
HOTARU
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
