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!
07-02-2023, 08:46 PM (This post was last modified: 07-02-2023, 08:58 PM by Talyson.)
So, Ludo had said that he had to hang out in his underwear and Vest, but at least it hadn't specified that anyone else needed to be around to see it. Tal thanked... uh... well, he wasn't sure who, but he was grateful that the herald hadn't added any extra clauses onto the task, like walking through a crowded city or something equally embarrassing.
The really embarrassing part was coming tonight at the Hanged Man, but Tal was trying not to think about that for reasons.
Instead he'd snuck out to the Miana Pool and, after making sure that no one else was around, he'd stripped off his trousers and shirt so that he was in his boxers and Rockhide Vest. He carefully folded his clothing and set it on a flat rock well above the tideline, and had just turned to go peer into the lagoon, when he heard a distinctive rustling noise from behind him. He whipped around in time to see Boreal watching him with wide, pale eyes, her blunt muzzle full of cloth--
And then the dragon took one slooooow step back before whipping around and fleeing with Tal's pants firmly in her jaws, chortling gleefully as she took to the air and glided around the rim of the Pool and her human ran barefoot after her, hollering. "Boreal! Bad dragon! Give that back right now!"
Honestly, a dude at the beach with just underwear and a vest on? Not that odd. Koa's certainly seen people with (far) less, and while Talyson's fashion choices may leave something to be desired, it's not his (lack of) attire that catches the soldier's eye. Hell, Koa himself is wearing even less, with his button-down hanging open and the his shorts (flamingo patterned today) landing well above his knee. The sun has done wonders for his complexion, giving his skin a golden glow. Basically, the boy is hot, and has no problems showing it.
No, far more distracting than Talyson's state of undress is the fact that he's running around like a headless chicken, chasing after a dragon about twenty times the size of Pipsqueak and hollering at the top of his lungs.
The sight catches Koa and Pip in their tracks, both parties of the pair tilting their heads in bemusement as the watch the chaos unfold. Emotionally attached to a dragon of his own, Koa can only wince at sympathy at the plight created by a playful companion, and as for Pipsqueak? Well, she's mostly wondering how best to join in the fun.
Ultimately, she decides to go for the shirt. Before Koa can react or grab her the dragonling has slithered off his shoulder and is scrambling across rocks with all the speed one might anticipate from a deranged lizard on a mission of chaos. Her companion is still standing with his jaw hanging open when she grabs Talyson's shirt, trilling and squawking to Boreal for affirmation of her crimes.
Koa, meanwhile, is suitably aghast. "Pip, no!" he calls fruitlessly, picking his way over the rocks that surround the deep pool. "I'm so sorry, she-- Pip, drop it!"
To somehow escape the burning weight, the art of scraping through
Boreal had been too busy taunting her human into a game of chase to realize that they had an audience, but as soon as a smaller dragon's trill caught her attention. The hefty pale lizard let out a - somewhat muffled by pants - carol of gleeful greeting and approval of her new partner in crime, and she swerved away from her path around the lagoon in favor of cutting straight over the top of it. It was the shortest distance to go greet her new friend, after all, and if it left Tal standing in his underwear swearing under his breath far behind?
Well, that sounded like a him problem.
Tal fell silent as his dragon and his pants went off without him, only then realizing that there was someone on the other side of the Miana Pool.
A very hot someone.
He stood there for a few seconds appreciating the view before remembering what he wasn't wearing, and why, and whose fault it was, and he turned around and started heading back around the water's perimeter at his top speed. At least the other man was having the same problems he was - though at least not in his underwear - and Tal waved distractedly as he focused on not losing his footing on the soft sand and sliding stones that littered the edges of the lagoon. "Yeah, I get it. Believe me, I get it!" he called back.
Boreal, meanwhile, had approached Pip with her head held high and one trouser leg trailing through the water as she made happy little grumbles of greeting to her fellow companion.
It's a shitshow, but a beautiful one, with both men slipping and sliding through rock and sand while the dragons meet like long-lost sisters, each with an article of clothing in their teeth. Pip rises on her hind legs as Boreal draws near, Talyson's shirt flapping like a conqueror's banner, her trills and cries muffled by the cotton fabric. She has to flap her wings for balance, her long body being rather ill-fitted for such a grand extension, and for a few moments Koa considers punting her noodle-butt into the lagoon.
But she's too quick for him, and before he can get to her she's bounded off again along the side of the lagoon, chortling for Boreal to follow behind as she flees from her irate companion. Koa has to take a moment to pant, hands on his knees as he catches his breath. "You're a noodle and a terror!" he calls after the retreating Pip, shaking his head and utterly unable to mask his amused grin.
Besides, the stranger doesn't seem particularly put out. Koa straightens as the other man draws close, raising his arm to wave. "I'm pretty they learn it in the egg," the boy complains good-naturedly, reaching up to run his fingers through his mess of thick hair. "How to be absolute pains-in-the-ass. The best ways to rile us up. Mine can't even fly yet." A dramatic eye-roll and sigh is met by what may be a the dragon version of a blown raspberry from the edge of the lagoon.
To somehow escape the burning weight, the art of scraping through
Around you the seas suddenly turn rough. For those in smaller fishing vessels or worse, swimming, things will become quite dangerous indeed. On a large ship or shifted into an aquatic animal is likely the only way one might reasonably expect to see the cause of the disturbance: a sea panther. Only a few hundred years away the beast raises its head from the waves, snarling into the sky, before descending once more into the deep.
You’ve encountered a Sea Panther. This counts as a rare creature encounter for the purposes of levelling, but does not count as a Random Event for levelling or MP. There will be no further admin/re intervention. If you choose to follow this creature, you do so at your own risk, however, just having it in this thread is enough to satisfy your levelling requirements. You may not kill your rare creature without admin permission.
Sea Panther (rare/mythical) - Sea Panthers are rare creatures of monstrous size. As one might think, they have many feline features, including a long tail, paws, fangs, and eyes with vertical pupils. But per their aquatic nature their paws are webbed and wide, everything streamlined, and without fur. Their most notable features are their horns, one on each side in front of their ears. Lore has it these were created by Mort as a gift for Ludo, and as such Sea Panthers are thought to gather the souls of sailors lost at sea. Encountering one is considered an omen of death to come or a blessing from Ludo, depending on circumstance
Ah, a gremlin after her own heart! Boreal was charmed and delighted to meet this scaly furry sister-in-chaos, and chortled through her own prize as she trotted after Pip. Tal had finally made it around the edge of the lagoon to where Koa had stopped, and as he watched his dragon prancing off he heaved a long-suffering sigh of exasperation. "Y'hear that, Boreal? You're a scaly terrorist, is what you are!" Sure, she was his favorite terrorist, but right now he wanted to sit on her until she behaved!
Glancing to the stranger, Tal started to give him a rueful grin when the ocean beyond the Pool's tidebreak turned choppy and something snarled resoundingly into the sky. Tal swore and reached for the knife on his belt--
Oh. Yeah. The belt that was currently bouncing towards the giant snarling sea cat head in the jaws of his companion? That belt?
"Oh, shit," he prayed fervently, quietly willing the beastie to not notice the pair of companions. Boreal had skidded to a sudden halt, alert and tense at the appearance of a much larger predator, and a loud rumbling growl had just started to build in her chest when the sea panther submerged once more, paying no heed to the little lizards or the humans behind them.
Koa's complaints die on his lips as the once-still surface of the lagoon begins to shift and churn, revealing, of all possible things, a giant furless two-horned cat. The young man's eyes bulge out of his head as he stares down the beast, all draconic misdemeanors set aside in favor of wonder and awe and definitely not enough fear.
Pip, on the other hand, is appropriately alarmed. With a screech of alarm she grinds to a halt, claws throwing up plumes of sand as she scrambles to reverse course and hide under Boreal. While the other dragon may still be a mouthful for the massive panther, she's still perfectly large enough for Pipsqueak to use as a shield.
Luckily the creature doesn't seem keen to stick around, and Koa exhales a tight held breath as it sinks back beneath the water. "What in Mort's high unholy hell was that?" he all but whispers to the other man, eyes still trained on the receding ripples, as though afraid that if he speaks any louder he will somehow summon it back.
To somehow escape the burning weight, the art of scraping through
Boreal crouched down to shield the smaller companion, ready to drop the pants and grab up the baby dragon if the sea panther turned towards them. Her mothering instinct with the sled dog pups extended to most other things that were small and fuzzy and Not Food™, and she wouldn't hesitate to scruff the noodle and fly them both to safety if that's what was needed.
Luckily for everyone involved, it wasn't. The Sea Panther subsided and though everyone was now on high alert and Boreal continued to stare out at the water, growling softly around Talyson's pants, the courier relaxed a little and pushed his shaggy hair back from his forehead.
"Sea, uh... cougar? Lion? Panther? ...thing," he answered the other man with a shaky breath. "Never seen one before... don't want to see one again." He shivered, feeling even more exposed and vulnerable than he had a few minutes before. Taking his eyes off the ocean just long enough to slant a glance over at the handsome young man, his brows still raised in awe and lingering fear. "Guessin' you're not from around here either, then?"
Now that the initial shock is wearing off, what remains is awe. Blank surprise gives way to enthused curiosity, Koa inching slightly closer to the edge of the pool. "Sea kitty," he decides, leaning forward to peer into the water, precariously balanced as his feet remain a good foot back from the actual edge. He throws a glance back to the stranger, his face contorted in a grin. "I dunno - I think we could have taken it," he counters playfully, with enough cocky confidence that it's hard to tell whether he's joking or not.
"Nah, we're from Stormbreak." Satisfied that the great sea kitty won't reappear, Koa settles back onto his heels and lets his focus shift fully to the underdressed stranger."What about you guys?" Now that he's giving his full attention, the Dragoon can see some telltale tan lines suggesting that, unlike Koa, this young man isn't prone to sunbathing in minimal clothes.
To somehow escape the burning weight, the art of scraping through
Tal watched Koa sidling forward to get a glimpse of the resubmerged predator and wrinkled his nose. The guy was cute, sure, but the man's next words made him doubt the survival instinct at work behind those pretty eyes. Still, his lips twitched towards a grin before he could stop them and he struggled to hold it back and look aloof with... mixed results. "Sure. Next time I'll let you show me th'ropes," he offered.
The courier looked to his dragon, waiting for her to slowly stand up out of her crouch and indicate that the danger was gone. Then he dropped his butt onto a nearby dry rock and looked back to Koa. Those flamingo shorts were really pretty eye-catching, now that he had a chance to properly look the other man over. "Oh yeah? I've got some friends over that way," Tal drawled with his grin threatening to return. "Boreal an' I are from Halo--" An imperious growl interrupted him and Tal winced, reaching up to rub the back of his neck ruefully. "Ah... right. I'm Tal, by the way. Talyson Seawright, courier, at y'service."
The dragon snorted in satisfaction that her companion had finally remembered his manners, then dropped her head to nose Pip gently, making sure the little noodle was okay.
"I mean, it's a cat, right? Just give him some skritches under the chin and a can of tuna and I'm sure he'll roll right over." He chuckles, mimicking the under-chin-scratching in empty air, copper eyes twinkling and eyebrows raised.
Koa remains on his feet for now, thumbs tucked comfortably into the waistband of his flamingo shorts. "Talyson and Boreal," the boy repeats, broad face pulled back into a friendly grin. "I'm Koa Carpenter. The noodle's Pipsqueak." He juts his chin toward said spaghetti, who has emerged from under her dragon-shield to lay tiny clawed hands alongside Boreal's snout, seemingly captivated by the larger dragon's scales.
Shaking his head fondly, Koa turns back to Talyson. "Sorry about the thievery. I hope we weren't interrupting something, uh, important?" He raises a brow, gaze raking across the boxer-and-vest ensemble (and the wiry figure beneath) before settling back up on the other man's bright eyes.
To somehow escape the burning weight, the art of scraping through
07-20-2023, 04:40 AM (This post was last modified: 07-21-2023, 08:20 PM by Talyson.)
"I can't wait t'see you try that with a molten tiger." Tal couldn't stop the grin that twitched at the corners of his mouth, charmed by the man in spite of himself. Normally he couldn't stand guys like that; good-looking and charismatic? It just didn't seem fair! But even with his guard up against it the other man's easy grin and good humor were worming their way past the courier's envy before it could properly take root.
"Nice t'meetcha," he finished the usual formula, following Koa's glance towards the companions to see--
Hail, he wasn't sure what he was watching. Boreal snuffled Pip gently with her broad muzzle, then suddenly dipped her snout and pushed forward with a snort. Lifting her head - hopefully with Pip now atop it - she straightened her neck for any little noodly dragons to slide down and end up between her broad shoulders.
Tal shook his head ruefully at their antics and glanced back up at the Carpenter, giving a rueful shrug. "Nah, we just came here for. Um. Doin' a task for mmmLudo," he finished on a mumble, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck in embarrassment. "What about you guys?"
Koa would be utterly delighted to know he's charmed his way past Talyson's natural defenses, but alas, without mind reading magic he can only live in woeful ignorance of the courier's defeated guard. Boreal is doing a similar job of overcoming Pipsqueak's more prickly nature; the little dragon is absolutely tickled by this new game of rise-and-slide, squirming her way down Boreal's back and then hopping off and running around to demand to go again. Talyson's shirt has been forgotten; his companion is way more fun.
"A task for Ludo," Koa repeats, brow elevated in confused incredulity while a smile tugs into his cheek. "That's... yeah, that tracks." He laughs, broad shoulders rolling in an easy shrug.
As for them? "Vacation time. Enjoying the sights." He winks (can't help it, might be a medical condition), but the playfulness is slightly offset by the way he unconsciously straightens his spine. "Were Dragoons," the young man explains with no small amount of pride. "So if you need any help with anything, or protection from sea kitties... well. I'm your man."
Never mind that Koa is level 2 and Tal is level 9 and could squash him like a bug. Koa is a creature of unearned confidence. One day it will be his downfall, but today is not that day.
To somehow escape the burning weight, the art of scraping through
07-23-2023, 05:24 AM (This post was last modified: 07-25-2023, 05:07 PM by Talyson.)
Boreal had intended to carry her new friend safely back to the humans, so imagine her surprise when the smaller dragon slid all the way down her broad back and onto the rocks! She had just started to turn around when she was suddenly presented with an excited noodle in front of her once more. A smoky puff of air escaped her nostrils, but she lowered her head obediently, intending to try again to slide the little companion onto the safety of her shoulders.
Tal's shirt was just going to have to wait until later.
The courier in question was currently focused on the smiling hottie in front of him and the wealth of information that was being shared. "Dragoons? I know 'em," he admitted, torn between wanting to impress the young soldier and wanting to put his Ludo-damned pants back on, but he had a feeling he wasn't going to get to do either of these things anytime soon. "I've helped Anju out a time or two, if y'know her," he added, trying to casually name-drop the only other dragoon he actually knew. "But I 'preciate th'offer. Sometimes when I'm makin' deliveries out in the Wilds, things can get a little hairy, y'know?" And if he was a little smoother and a little less focused on his upcoming tragic karaoke night he might have made a quip about always using protection; but alas Tal just wasn't that good at flirting.
