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!
The pulsing, hot toxicity that was Hotaru's mind was hard to ignore over the attuned bond. Her feral, vengeful mind was fueled by a desire to erase the shame and perceived weakness and Noah knew that well. It made him flinch some, even as he aimed to help and protect and aid. He shifted down again to man, the waves coming from his friend washing over him all the same. It made him block his own mind in, and wholly focus his attention on what was coming next.
Noah's eyes went instantly to Deimos as his commander rang out about what he heard. From where he first shifted Noah took up his weapons again. Without hesitation, Noah moved at a quick clip to the Warden's side. "I'll watch the rear." He said, taking an arrow and nocking it in the bow in his hands.
Noah shifts back to human form, grabs his weapons, and says he will watch everyone's backs while they investigate!
After Darkeye heard Noah's voice, he cautiously opened his eyes, gathered his weapons and carefully walked in the direction of the voice he had heard.
If anyone had survived, it would have been a miracle and they would have arrived just in time. If they were wounded, they would have enough healers with them.
But what was with the rest would be revealed only later. He walked carefully in the direction of the voices, ready to defend himself if necessary. But he hoped that a fight was no longer necessary.
The group stumbled upon an entirely different scene – battle forged, some to the air, some to the land, without a lamplighter or threat in sight.
Two men, immersed in mud up to their chests, struggled near a patch of grime. Hands wrapped entirely around long, entangled roots, or firm plants, they’d clearly been there for some time. Exhaustion clouded their features, and then a sign of utter relief. ”Thank the gods!” one shouted, crimson haired and far more vibrant than the other.
”Is this a trick again, eh?” said the other, only discernible due to his short-cropped, black hair, curling his nose, clearly fighting the urge to believe any assistance had arrived.
Deimos was apt to wonder the same, arching his brow, and glancing back at Darkeye and Noah. “We have dispatched the lamplighters,” he said instead, placing careful strides along the edge of the murky pool. “How many of you are there?”
”Well, there were four,” came a quieter response from the ginger, his gaze sweeping towards another pool nearby. The silence thereafter indicated all they needed to know – for a corpse, half-buried in the muck and already picked apart by scavengers, said something of the third.
The fourth would be visible by Hotaru only, as she soared above the skies. Some several yards away, this man would be gathered on one rock in the middle of another pool of grime, curled into a ball, quiet as a mouse.
The Sword glanced back at his party, registering the message via Attuned natures to the Valkyrie. “Time for that rescue,” and he began shifting the earth around the duo, striving to part the mire.
--
The party has stumbled across the merchants!
Hotaru has spotted another stray merchant some yards away!
Deimos has begun to part the earth around the first two. What will you do? No post order!
we exhume our enemy's bones we are battling, hungry beasts
Noah's keen eyes didn't detect any more movement in the muggy forest around them. Lowering his bow and placing the arrow back within his elemental quiver, Noah turned then to assess what their situation was.
Watching as Deimos began shifting earth and mud, Noah stepped as close as he could to the perimeter of the muck without stepping in and getting stuck himself. Then, Noah summoned his celestial dome once more to cover the men (and Deimos and Darkeye, too) and offer them healing and the replenishment of strength. They would need it if they were to journey with them anywhere.
"Once we get them out, can you fly us out?" Noah asked Deimos with a lifted brow, remembering the shift the Sword had carried them on to help the Grounds nearly a year ago. "That way they won't need to carry their own weight, and we can get them to where they need to go quickly."
Noah comes closer and uses his Divine Opposition to give healing to the men and Deimos and Darkeye (if they need any more!) and suggests Deimos use one of his BIG SHIFTS to carry the men out.
How do I keep myself from fallin' apart when I ain't never felt part of a whole?
Up in the sky and half-buried in her animal brain, things are a little easier to focus on. Deimos being the one to relay the information through the Attuned bond only makes it even simpler; with all the history between them, even her shifts register him as family, and working alongside him is as easy as breathing.
The corpse is easily visible from above, but she disregards it. Deimos had told her four, so where - and then she spots the last man. Curled and cowering on a rock in a way far too similar to how Hotaru had been what seems like moments ago. Found the fourth. He's on a rock - I'll get him. None of her magic is useful for such an endeavor, but she can freeze the mud with her projectiles and help him across to solid land. Right now, she'd rather do this alone.
Circling closer until she can ease onto the rock and transform, the first thing Ru does is reach for the any part of the man she can touch. "Relax. Trust me." Her compulsion magic flows easily, hoping to have prevented startling the man and ensure he doesn't topple off the rock.
- - -
Ru reports back the fourth man and descends, using her Compulsion magic to try and keep him calm so she can coordinate getting him to land.
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.
Darkeye was very happy when he saw the survivors he did not know their faces. So they could not be an illusion or?....
"Those who are wounded I can heal a little. Tell me calmly what happened. The monster guild is here and has been chosen to look for some merchants I hope you are the ones?" Darkeye didn't hesitate long and took a picture of the two wounded. With his spear
He didn't know what to make of the fact that the people had left their comrade in the sitch, but maybe it was different. Noah's idea was good, but if Deimos were to lose control, now or in any other form, it would be extremely critical...
----
Darkeye asks for inofrmation and start to heal the to Survivors
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.
Working through the mud, and listening to the merchants grumble amidst one another while the rest of them slid through grime, Deimos heard the Valkyrie’s other call. Turning to Darkeye, he informed the cleric, so everyone would still be aware of ongoing notions. “Ru found the other,” and trusting Noah wouldn’t rush off to take her progress away, they persisted in freeing the ones in their stead.
Healing began for the first two began, between Darkeye’s spear and Noah’s incantations, mending over the brambled bruises, cuts, and lacerations from their obvious run from the lamplighters previously – if the Sword’s presumptions were correct.
We have them out he relayed to Hotaru, brows furrowing at the corpse, and then pondering over transportation. “I doubt I can fly all of us,” at least with the thunderbird aspects – as that would include quite a few. “Maybe my bakunawa shift,” but then his eyes went towards Mildew’s house in the distance, and the cart left behind. “We could always repair their things."
On the Valkyrie’s end, she’d find her merchant effectively…charmed/manipulated, but still trembling, shaken by everything as he began to stumble, trip, and bumble his way through the murk and grime. ”Where…where is everyone?” he murmured; dazed, confused, but in her orbit nonetheless, capable of being molded to her whims.
--
Two of the three merchants are out of the mud, and now transport can be discussed.
Hotaru’s merchant has been charmed and is wandering through to her. No post order!
we exhume our enemy's bones we are battling, hungry beasts
06-27-2023, 05:04 AM (This post was last modified: 06-27-2023, 05:04 AM by Hotaru.)
How do I keep myself from fallin' apart when I ain't never felt part of a whole?
The man falls under her compulsion easily, and though her magic requires physical contact at all times it comes in handy given she has to guide him through the muck and mud, occasionally utilizing her ice spheres to harden sections to step onto or around. "They're waiting on solid land. We're going to see them soon." She isn't sure if he knows one of their original party is dead, so she doesn't mention anything more specific.
As they begin to emerge from the mire, she keeps her hand on him; "Stand here. Let me heal you." Ru doubts he would object even with his wits about him, but she doesn't want him rushing off to reassure himself that his friends are truly okay until she has seen to him. With contact already in place, she lets her healing magic begin to flow through her veins and into him, ensuring any wounds and strains are banished. Coming your way now Dei, she warns, still unable to let go of the nickname with her trauma so close to the surface.
- - -
Ru helps the fourth man emerge from the swamp and then uses her compulsion to have him sit still so she can heal him before trying to regroup.
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.
Once the men were free from the muck and the grime, Noah offered out a strong arm to help if they needed it. ”Where is it that you need to go?” Noah asked the men. He heard Hotaru over the attuned bond but kept his attention on the men before him. Looking to Deimos and then to Darkeye, the hunter nodded. ”I think the wares you were transporting are all but lost.” In the hunter’s mind, that meant go home. When hunts on the tundra went awry, that was the answer.
”Repairing their things could be better in the long run.” He responded to the Sword. He looked around at the broken pieces of wagon, now easily seen that his focus was not so hyper fixated on dispatching the lamplighters and then saving the men.
Noah asks where the men need to go but agrees that repairing their wagon may be a good option
Noah had already given all the necessary information to the people. They now had to figure out how to get out of here. To catch the animals that were seen. If they are still alive. They also had to get the car running again. The people might also need something to eat and drink, it was not clear how long they had been hiding. Therefore, he first handed them his drink hose and something to eat. Darkeye liked the idea of getting the wagon back in order and taking the people to the next village.
Darkeye continued to take care of the two people present and provided them with food and drink.
The group wove back together, all somehow misshapen and traumatized by the proceedings. While Noah discussed things with those remaining, the Sword glanced towards the body in the grime, listening all the while. ”King’s End,” one of them said sharply, hands wrapped around some food and water Darkeye had provided, the other two seemingly numb and silent. "No sense in doing anything but goin’ back,” considering the supplies, upheaval, stress, and cataclysms invoked for them over the past several days.
Eventually, Deimos glanced at Hotaru, preparing for something inevitable, before addressing the other matter at hand. “What about your friend?” And the de facto leader of the merchant’s jaw tightened, eyes turning downward. ”We can take him with us.”
Nodding, for the Warden knew his next task, the determination for next steps was clear. “We can repair their cart, and they can be on their way.” Pausing, shifting his shoulders back into rigid columns, he jutted his jawline towards the figure laden and broken in the muck. “I will get him.”
--
While Deimos retrieves the body, Noah, Hotaru, and Darkeye can repair the wagon. Should they not have any tools with them, there are likely some available in the house.
At its current state:
- The oxen need to be grabbed (they are currently grazing)
- Two wheels need to be replaced
- Hitching the oxen
Feel free to use the merchants to assist (as best they can in their current state). 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?
Hotaru leaves the man in her care with his fellows, healed externally if not within. There is only so much she can do, not just for him but for herself. She's not surprised Deimos takes it upon himself to retrieve the last merchant's body, but her mind reaches for him regardless. Be safe. There is little to nothing that can harm him physically here, but he will know that's not what she means.
As for herself, she focuses on the wagons. This day has been nightmarish enough and she doesn't want to linger any longer than she has already been forced to. Selfish as she is she contemplates making the merchants do it themselves. They've already rescued them, killed the lamplighters, and healed them. Did they have to baby them too?
Still, she discards those uncharitable thoughts for the sake of keeping the peace. For now she focuses on the wheels, using her minimal creation magic to help reattach that which she cannot find or which is broken and utilizing the heat of her fire magic in her palms to bend and shape things into place. When materials grow scarce she silently strides into Mildew's former abode, hunting through the place and its exterior storage to find what she needs to finish this horrible rescue event.
- - -
Ru uses her creation/fire magic to begin repairing the fittings for the wheels and then searching Mildew's house for any replacements that can't be made.
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.
Noah's eyes flicked to the body as Deimos and the merchants talked about it. His stomach flipped and he felt a pang of sorrow for the men. The expressions they made were clear enough to him that they did, in fact, care about each other and weren't just business partners. Nodding, and sucking a breath past his teeth, the hunter turned on his heels.
Hotaru went instantly to fixing the cart. Knowing Darkeye was much more suited to the task than he was, he gestured for the cleric to follow the Valkyrie. "Darkeye, help Hotaru with the wagon. I'll help get their stock." In Noah's hunters pack there was some fried fruits. The hunter took them from the pouch and shook them in his palm. He kept his eyes moving off of the oxen's eyes, knowing how the prey animal might feel with too much pressure on it. "C'mon." He verbally coaxed, moving a sidestep to the right as to help lure the creatures towards him with the fruit as a treat.
Noah helps lure and herd the oxen where they need to be!
Darkeye nods towards Noah and follows the valkyrie.
He doesn't know how to help her. He doesn't have his sword here, and he doesn't have the skills of the other people here.
Besides, the illusion and the images are still in his mind. But while he follows the Valkyrie, he takes a few breaths and helps her as much as he can. He hands her the parts she needs and brings her the tools she needs.
The men are taken care of for now... It remains to be seen whether they will find their way back into life or whether they will become emotionally cold from this experience. But talking would not help much here...
----
Darkeye follows Hotaru and tries to help her with his teleport as good as possible.
