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!
Longheat ensures Ophelia is at their most comfortable being home in the Grounds. Winter often finds them slinking away to the Climb for a reprieve, but these days it's easier now that they can keep the fire roaring in their hearth at home. The Grounds are quiet, yes, and lonely. But given Ophelia had been sheltered and restricted to their family farm their entire life, it is not an existence unfamiliar to them. It also means they are quite adept at finding entertainment on their own.
Today, that means lounging around the Black Lake in their Lial form. Their rocklike hide absorbs what little heat that lingers around the dark, inky expanse of the lake given how the earth swallows up the summer rays above ground. They lounge in the shallows, shrouded only by shadow instead of water, the cracks of their stony scales showing vibrant red lava-veins beneath that make it easier to perceive them in all this darkness.
Half-snoring as they doze, Ophelia only blinks awake when a particularly stupid lizard comes near their snout, the movement-driven brain of their animal form alerting them to lunch. Lunging for it the moment it pauses, they snap it up in sharp teeth and swallow it nearly whole, the cacophany of disrupted water and the sound of rockfall as they move echoing in the cavern.
Noah still didn’t know how he was going to help the Hollowed Grounds. There were many ideas bouncing around in his head nad things he could do. But, he knew one thing for sure: he couldn’t do anything unless he developed a relationship with the Grounds first. They didn’t need an arrogant man with a savior complex coming in for them. They needed the strength of Vi, certainly, but from all the ways Noah influenced Halo it was all based on relationship. Thus, he would need to do the same in the Hollowed Grounds.
First, getting to know the Grounds meant he needed to get to know the land. So, he set to exploring. Little bites here and there, when Cordelia could spare him away from their twins. It only look him a blip of a moment to get where he was between his compass and his magic, and in the same amount of time he could be home. It was the only thing that gave him the confidence to be able to leave.
The black waters caught Noah’s attention, a similarly dark liquid held in a vial in his breast pocket. He walked along the shore, only stopping to watch as a lial went for a meal.
Given the fact Ophelia has scarcely interacted with any sentient being in two years, it's understandable that the sudden - and by that they mean sudden - appearance of a random man in the cavernous lake is quite surprising. And also waved off as a hallucination inspired by bloodlust. Except once the lizard is in their gullet, he doesn't disappear.
Curious now, Ophelia shifts back without a care for the fact they remain in the shallows of the inky liquid. Near-white hair and skin makes them easy to see even in the dark - and it's clear that head is tilting. "I know you," they say simply in their dreamlike voice, unaware of how creepy this all must seem. They'd worked together in a group admittedly, but Ophelia doesn't forget a face. Names hadn't been exchanged during the skyboat port construction however. "What is your name?"
Noah was startled when the woman shifted. He hadn’t thought she was an attuned, but as his eyes focused in on her and recognition hit his mind, he realized she was an ancient. ”I didn’t expect anyone else to be here.” He admitted. The Grounders, it seemed, kept close to the more settled parts of their territory these days.
”My name is Noah.” He reminded her, though, as he searched in his own mind for her name he realized he didn’t have it. Perhaps she hadn’t had his, either. ”I’m sorry — I don’t remember catching your name either.” Even though they had worked together — indirectly together — to build the sky port.
Noah let his eyes move from her near-white complexion and bounce across the ink dark water. ”Is it cold?” He asked.
Ophelia tilts their head back the proper way, curiosity now sated, and shrugs their bare shoulders easily. "Not many come down here. You are correct." They find it rather obvious as to why. Dark, gloomy, hard to swim in the dark - take your pick.
"Noah," they parrot back as if tasting the vowels, committing it to memory. "We did not exchange names. We merely worked." A stated fact, yes, but it's clear they're at least trying to absolve Noah of any guilt or doubt he feels. They just...suck at it. "My name is Ophelia." Emerging from the water, Ophelia extends their hand to shake in a way that makes it plainly obvious they learned this late in life and it clearly isn't natural to them yet despite the eager way they perform it.
Glancing back at the lake now that Noah has brought attention to it, Ophelia shrugs slightly. "It is for me, that is why I come in my Lial form. But Longheat makes it bearable." Turning back to Noah they look him up and down before smiling. "But for you it will be mild." Certainly not warm, but not as frigid as the oceanic waters not far beyond the cavern's mouth. "Why? Did you want to swim?"
Noah nodded -- they had worked, and Noah had done it mostly with his head down and chin tucked. It was before Vi had said that the Hollowed Grounds might be a good place for him to focus his efforts, and the skyport task had only been done out of loyalty to his warden. "Is the skyport doing well for you and your people?" He asked, tone neutral and calm and somehow still kind despite the way his glacier eyes clung to the ice of his homeland.
Noah crouched some, then reached out and touched the ink dark water. It was hardly tepid at the shallows where he touched, and her words solidified in him that it would only be colder as he went deeper. "I thought about it, for a moment. Just to catch a reprieve from the heat." He rested his forearms on his knees as he balanced his body weight on the balls of his feet. "I have a polar bear shift, but that might not help me cool down at all if I swam in that."
It makes sense he would ask after the skyport, though Ophelia is perhaps not the best person for these types of questions given their staunch inability to lie or sugarcoat things. "It operates perfectly, but we do not receive visitors. Grounds citizenship is at an all time low!" It is said perkily, like an advert, but Ophelia merely finds it to be an interesting fact worthy of such exuberance.
Ophelia crouches down next to him, though they merely hug their legs and rest their cheek on one knee, watching him plainly. He is more interesting than the water they have already fully explored. "Hm, likely not. Though if you want to swim, you should. If you go in with your clothes they will be uncomfortable to wear but you will be cooler for longer." Or he can go in nude, Ophelia doesn't care either way.
Noah gave a pained smile and an equally pained laugh. While his homeland was thriving, the Hollowed Grounds were suffering. The touch of the Voice, all of her corruption and wickedness, had marked the land beyond repair it seemed. Despite her downfall, and the defeat of her followers, many people scattered away from the lands.
It was most likely why Vi wanted Noah to help them. To wipe away the touch and memory of the Voice.
”I’m sorry.” He finally said, shifting uncomfortably as they came to sit beside him. He didn’t know what else to say, so instead, he opted for asking questions. ”What do you think the GRounds needs most?” Giving them time to think of what to respond, Noah moved to enter the water.
While his polar bear shift might not give him the most relief from the heat with its insulating fur and incredible bulk, Noah felt most comfortable in that shift with the unknown, inky waters. So, after Ophelia spoke, Noah took a moment to shift. His body increased and white fur covered him. Majestic and massive, the white bear stepped into the water — a stark white burst floating on the wine dark water.
07-20-2023, 08:12 PM (This post was last modified: 07-20-2023, 08:13 PM by Ophelia.)
Ophelia
You'll scream out for your father
Ophelia tilts their head back, if only because they hadn't anticipated an apology. What was there to be sorry for? "It is simply the current state of the world. You either die or keep going," they impart with a little smile and a shrug of their shoulders. That old pious outlook from dying farmhand life would never truly leave Ophelia.
As for what the Grounds needs, the ghost glances upward as if in search of inspiration. "The things we need to thrive can only be granted by a god, and therefore a leader." So unless someone steps up, they're likely doomed regardless. "Such as reintroducing nutrients to the soil, which still can barely grow things after so many years in the barrier - many of us in the Grounds are no longer Ascended, and the lack of food is more problematic now." They share it freely, unaware of held prejudices. Besides, Ophelia had equally been concerned about this topic even as an Ascended, as not every Grounds citizen had been so lucky as to not feel hunger even when the region was ruled by them.
He shifts not long after, and Ophelia spins to stick their bare legs back into the water, merely watching. There is no point in shifting anyway, they won't be able to talk regardless. His form is quite majestic to watch as a form of entertainment instead.
While OPhelia rolled over what they were to tell Noah, the demigod took his time swimming. He moved out in a great arc and then dove beneath the waters. Massive paws carried him far with each stroke until he felt he had comforted himself enough. Surfacing, the bear shook his impressive head. Water droplets flew everywhere. Then, he moved to the edge again and crawled from the water. He was far enough away from Ophelia at that point that when he shook out his white fur he hoped none of it would spray her.
Shifting back, the only evidence of his swim now the dampness in his blond hair, Noah closed some distance between them. He leaned against a rock, its surface warm from the sun beneath him. He had taken in all that they had to say, and as he settled back near them, his face was unreadable. Us? No longer ascended? Did that mean that they had been a follower of the Voice? There was no mistaking which god they followed now. No, not with the tail that twitched and the horns that displayed. Not to mention the shift.
”Which god do you think would best suit this place?” He finally asked coolly, passively.
Ophelia merely watches him swim, big blue eyes unblinking and passive, a tiny smile on their face. He looks quite interesting in this form, one Ophelia is not familiar with. They don't think twice about their 'slip up' given they have never hidden their past as an Ascended. Nobody has ever given them grief about it, and it seems today won't be that day either, as Noah's face is impassive enough that Ophelia does not register anything wrong.
"I don't know," they cheerily respond. "I've never met any of them. My family prayed to Nature Frey, but they died hungry all the same. So I don't think it matters." Wiggling their legs below the water, Ophelia hums a pleasant note, considering and clearly unaffected by the dark sentence they'd just spoken. "The heralds all have the same power. Life, death, nature, sex, chaos - their core virtues don't matter if the leader is the one with the specific request for aid. Then it's all just human desires." And humans are far more fickle, so in Ophelia's mind the leader is more important than the herald they devote to.
Noah tilted his head some, "You've not met Dygra?" He was interested in this, with their features and the tellings of a past life (one that drew sympathy to his eyes, at the mentioning of her family). Although, he hadn't remembered the details of Vi meeting him as a child and attuning him until the experience of being called to the deity's order as his demigod. Perhaps their changing had been a similar experience -- quick, bright, rebuilding. Perhaps the blood goddess had worked too quickly for Ophelia to keep her and bend her ear. Perhaps it had been a desperate cry for the ascended to save themselves.
Noah took in a breath, then, and looked out to the dark black waters again. Then, he stepped out on a branch and tested his weight on it. "Vi has asked me to help the Hollowed Grounds." He paused, but he didn't expect much from the fairly stoic ancient. "I want to do what is best for the people here, before I just decide for them all."
Ophelia lifts a hand and wiggles it in a so-so gesture. "Only to become an Ancient. It was very brief." To some that may count, but to Ophelia it does not. After all, what do they truly know about Dygra from that one meeting? Ophelia had merely wanted to continue living, to adapt, and Dygra had been the way forward for that.
It would be quite awe-inspiring to hear Vi's name invoked, to be told Noah has met one of the Old Gods, but Ophelia merely blinks their eyes curiously. "That is quite the task for one person. I am surprised Vi thinks you alone can create change." It can very easily come off as quite insulting, but Ophelia is completely oblivious to that. "Talking to the residents is a good first step. Grounders are quite protective of their lifestyles." Ophelia is decidedly not, and therefore likely not the best person to source information from, but that would be a revelation for Noah to have in time.
Noah nodded some. So far, of the ancients he had at least spoken to about their goddess, only Dantalion seemed to have a deeper relationship with her than just a transformation experience. Perhaps, like his own relationship with Vi, it would come with more time and more dedication. He knew, though, from his history as an attuned, it may not. When he was transformed as a child he never sought the gods again until he was well into adulthood. He supposed there could be others that followed a similar path.
Noah dipped his head some, his face softening. ”I think Vi holds great hope over the potentials of his demigod.” He admitted, eyes watching the ink-dark water as the words left his mouth. His voice was soft, kind, each word full of the humility of heart Noah truly held. ”I think Vi wants to see his creations — all peoples — live the greatest and fullest lives they can.” Which was why he sent him here, he concluded. The Hollowed Grounds had not hosted people with abundant lives in quite some time. The shadows were too dark and the scars too deep — but, with the celestial and loving touch of Vi, Noah was sure this place could thrive as well as any other.
”Thank you for helping me, Ophelia.” He said, finally letting his glacier eyes travel back to their’s. ”I know what my next step should be.”
