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!
At the outskirts of the Domiciles was a little cottage that sat on a few acres of rolling pastureland. Several horses grazed on the green grass surrounding the home, while cats basked in the sunshine nearby. A few dogs roamed free, never straying too far from home, knowing that their mistress would be displeased if they wandered. Altogether, it was a quaint image, though it hadn't always been; these same fields had been ravaged by war, once upon a time, and it was only the love and care of their owner that had brought them back from total destruction.
The owner of the little cottage was a woman named Raelyn, and on this particular afternoon, she exited the cottage with a basket of carrots braced on one hip. She wore long pants, even in Longheat - a little warmth was better than the bug bites and scrapes she might pick up in shorts - and a tank top, her hair piled in a messy bun atop her head. She had chores to do, but first, the horses.
She'd trained several of them already, earlier in the day before it got too hot, and she liked to reward her charges when they had done particularly well (or to cheer them up when they hadn't). Rae spoiled her animals, and so it was that the afternoon sun found her offering carrots to one horse and then the next, a soft smile on her face as she wandered from animal to animal. Her dogs frolicked in the fields nearby, and the cats did nothing save roll over in their sun rays. It was a normal day on the farm, and life was good.
Granted, these might not be Raelyn's chickens - and that's probably a good thing, really - but it doesn't stop them from clucking and squawking and flapping up a cloud of feathers as they try to chaotically escape through her field of pampered ponies. Most of them are successful, too - the operative word being most.
On the outskirts of the pastureland where she's feeding her charges their well-earned treats, Danta sits victoriously, covered in bloodied feathers and licking at his fingers. Bloodlust does as bloodlust wants, and he's no different to a fox getting into the coop, he thinks. With blond hair stained red at the tips, a ruddy leather coat half slipping off one bare shoulder, and red smeared across one sharp cheekbone, he looks absolutely pleased as punch with himself.
And when he glances up, sated, and finds he's not alone, he even offers a jaunty wave to the stranger across the field. Always nice to be polite, hey?
'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
It was not normal for Rae to have company on her little farm, and it was stranger still for someone to approach from any direction besides the road. So when a figure caught the corner of her eye and she turned to find a person on the edge of her property, her brows furrowed together and she set her basket of carrots aside. The horses went back to grazing as she approached the stranger; her dogs ranged around her, panting in the heat and, once they saw the stranger, barking the alarm. "Hush," she told them, and felt the usual satisfaction as they listened.
As she approached, she took note of the stranger's rather disheveled appearance: blood in his hair, covering his fingers, on the feathers stuck on his body; a leather coat that hung from one shoulder; a red smear across a cheek. But her gaze lingered most on the diamond horns protruding from the stranger's head, marking him as an Ancient. You didn't see many of those in these parts.
So Rae stopped a short distance away, a hand motion settling her dogs in a 'down' position - all except one, who crept closer to the stranger and the smell of blood. She snapped her fingers sharply, and the errant creature looked back guiltily before lying down, his head on his paws, looking forlorn. With that handled, Rae called a cautious hello to the stranger: "Hello. Are you alright?" It didn't seem like any of the blood was his, but you never know.
She'll be seeing a lot more of his kind if he has his way, not that Danta is aware of the sway of her thoughts. With his bloodlust taken care of, he's about as docile as he's ever going to be, and it's with a satisfied gaze that he watches her pack of canines swarm and settle around her. "Very impressive," he drawls, considering for a moment before rolling to his feet in a flurry of bloodstained feathers.
"I'm very well," he says. "And all the better for meeting you. I didn't realise the Grounds had an animal tamer present." There's a dirty joke there somewhere, about him having an animal she can tame, but even Danta knows to give it at least two minutes into meeting someone (and gauging their propensity for such humour).
"I'm terribly sorry - those weren't your chickens, were they?"
'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
Rae's heart swelled with pride in her animals at the compliment, and she glanced with affection at her dogs, all of whom seemed to be transfixed by the Ancient despite their obedience. She wondered if it was that Ancients just smelled different, or if it was the chickens' blood they were attracted to. Maybe it was both.
She raised her brows at the flattery - all the better for meeting her, was he? - and promptly shook her head at his question. "No, they were my neighbors. Damned pesky birds, if you ask me." Rae had never been a fan of chickens - except for as a potential meal. "But if the neighbors come blaming my dogs for the kill, I'll have to hunt you down to make amends," she added with a wolfish grin.
Brushing the feathers from his clothing, Danta is merely left a little bloodstained and as chaotic as ever, the Ancient offering a sunny smile in response to her chicken opinions. "That's very good to know," he says. "Perhaps I'll have to accidentally find myself near their coop again some time." As for her hunting him down, there's definitely something in his expression that suggests he might enjoy that, but he chooses not to comment on it.
"My name is Danta," he says, introducing himself and holding out a hand for her to shake. "Are all of the Hollowed Grounds like this? Green farmland and things like that?" Boring, if so, but he still can't help but be drawn to the place. Who knows, maybe he'll find something worth sticking around for? Nudge nudge, wink wink.
'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
Rae took a few steps forward to shake the Ancient's hand. "Rae," she offered in return. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but so far Danta had been anything but. "Do you want to clean up a bit?" she asked, gesturing towards the cottage in the background. "You might scare people, walking around covered in chickens' blood." As if they wouldn't be equally as nervous because of the horns.
In response to Danta's question, though, Rae perked up a bit, happy to talk about her home. So many people had fled and never come back after the barrier fell, and she heard tell from the few travelers that she'd seen in the Grounds that things were going poorly here in comparison to other regions, like Halo or Torchline - places she'd only ever heard of, but never seen. "The Inner Quarter is a lot of farmland, but we used to have markets and guild halls and all sorts, back before the barrier fell. Then you've got the Outer Brambles, which is mostly woodland, and the Outer Islands, which are what they sound like. Fertile, but limited space, since they're smaller islands.
"Why? Are you looking for anything in particular?"
"Rae," he repeats with a slant of a smile on his lips. "Like the twins." The god(s?) of nature - or Frey's boss, as Danta likes to think of it. As for cleaning up, he offers a nonchalant sort of shrug that suggests he's neither here nor there about it, but if it will stop people running and screaming from him (not that he minds that sort of thing) then at least he'll be able to explore the region a little more easily.
"Sure," he says in that case, spaded tail flicking at his heels as he follows Rae back towards the cottage, head tilted to listen to her speak about the Grounds. "Sounds empty," he remarks. "I like the sound of that Inner Quarter, though." Of course he does. As for what he's looking for, his smile only grows at that. "A reason to stay, more than anything," he says.
'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
At the comparison, Rae made a face. "Yeah, it's short for Raelyn," she explained. She was unimpressed with her name, for all that it matched the god's. At least it was the God of Nature. Still, it made her uncomfortable to share their name. She often wondered if she should stop using a nickname, if she should just use her full name, but at this point in her life, she'd been called "Rae" so often that it seemed it would be impossible to stop now.
As they walked back toward the cottage, Rae whistled for her dogs. Some surged around their feet, excited to make a new friend, while others ranged ahead or off to the sides, exploring, as befit their natures. "I hope you don't mind them," she said, indicating the dogs who now sniffed at Danta's heels. The dogs were too well-trained to jump on the man, but they were very interested in him - and the smells coming from him.
They arrived at the cottage, and Rae led the way inside; the dogs stayed out, returning to their guard duties. Inside was surprisingly neat and clean for as many animals as Rae owned. She gestured towards a small bathroom off the main living area. Once Danta had cleaned up and returned, Rae regarding him with her head tilted to one side. "Do you need a reason to stay?" she asked, raising a brow. "You could just... I don't know. Decide to?" Then, more curiously: "What kind of reason are you looking for?"
"Oof, apologies. Didn't mean to touch a nerve," Danta says, fluttering a hand to his chest as if aggrieved by the idea. "Raelyn is much better, if you ask me." Maybe she could even be a Lyn if it bothers her that much, but those thoughts disappear as they head towards her picturesque little cottage, the dogs ranging around them. "I very much don't," he assures her; half wild at the best of times, the pack of canines are as much in his company as she is, though he appreciates their (wise) decision not to approach too closely without invitation.
The cottage is exactly how Danta expects it to be, truthfully, and though he longs for maximalism and clutter, he nonetheless finds it welcoming. Slipping off into the bathroom, the Ancient takes a few moments to clean up his face and bare chest, and while the red leather of his coat will soak up the rest of the blood, his fair hair is damp around his shoulders as he returns. There, a 'respectable' member of society once more.
Just deciding to stay has his nose wrinkling, Danta shrugging his shoulders as if to say it's too mundane for his taste. "An interesting one," he confesses. "Heard a lot about the place, but it seems like a really blank slate. And I bet it gets cold at Deepfrost."
'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
"You can call me Raelyn, if you prefer," she said nonchalantly, though she still thought it would be difficult to change a nickname this late in life. Still, maybe she would give it a try, see how it went. It was something to mull over while Danta cleaned up in her little bathroom, at least, as she went to the kitchen and put on a kettle of water to boil for tea.
When Danta returned, she nodded at his assessment. "I suppose it is, now." she mused aloud. "There's a lot that's changed over time. After the barrier fell, everyone left, and nobody ever came back. It's a shame, since the Grounds really has a lot to offer." She sighed. They were barely holding their region together; most of it had grown wild and untamed in the time since the barrier had fallen, and with no leader in place to guide their people towards fixing what was wrong with the region...
The kettle whistled, stirring Rae from her thoughts. "Can I offer you some tea?" she asked, turning to the stove and preparing a cup for herself - two, if Danta wanted one. "As for interesting things, we've got a little bit of everything. Honestly, what we really need is somebody to step forward as leader." She shrugged. "A lot of the Grounds needs cleaning up, but nobody seems to know where to start."
"Raelyn it is," Danta confirms, taking in her little cottage with fresh eyes, lingering at the window to gaze out at the various animals going about their business. "Mm, it's one of the biggest regions I think I've visited," he agrees; surprising that no one has taken advantage of the land. Maybe that might change yet.
"I wouldn't say no," he says to tea, finding a suitable patch of wall to lean up against. "And if that's the case, someone should really just do it." As if it's that easy, right? Danta thinks so, and the cogs in his mind continue to whir and spin. "But I suppose your animals keep you busy enough, hm?"
'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
The land was arguably the best thing about the Hollowed Grounds: abundant and fertile, there were myriad uses for it, if someone was so inclined to do something about it. Still, since no one had come forward as leader, it was going mostly unused save for independent farmers and ranchers like Rae. She often wondered what could be done with the region, were it to be united once more under a singular direction, but...
She poured Danta some tea and waited for it to steep before delivering it to the Ancient. At the implication that she might be someone to do something about their leadership situation, Rae snorted. "They do that," she said. "Mostly I train farm animals - the horses for plowing and driving, and the dogs for guarding and herding. They keep me busy enough, but it's getting harder to find clients with so few people left here. I've been meaning to branch out to other regions, but..." Well, she'd never been beyond the borders of the Grounds. She wouldn't even know where to start.
She shook her head. "I'd be perfectly happy to help someone who wanted to take charge, but I wouldn't know the first thing about it myself."
Accepting his tea with a murmur of thanks, Danta (of course) doesn't need to blow on it or wait before taking a sip, enjoying the beverage as hot as it comes. "You should try training some of the monsters out here," he suggests with a fanged grin. "I heard there are banshees and echo sharks and tangleweed..." Imagining a place guarded by such creatures feels right up Danta's alley, and if he does ever find himself in charge of the Grounds, maybe that's something he'll look into.
Alas, for now it's merely a pipe dream, and he takes another drink of tea and straightens up from the wall. "Well, the Greatwood isn't too far if you did want to branch out. Speaking from experience, there's plenty of reason to want to bring some order to the place." Even the woods themselves were feral in his experience. (He'd thoroughly enjoyed it, to be honest).
'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
