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!
It was rare that Raelyn brought any of her dogs away from the farm; most of them were trained to guard or herd rather than to be companion animals. But despite her attempts to keep most of her animals at arm's length - after all, almost all of them were for sale or simply sent to her for training - she couldn't help but fall in love with a few of her many creatures. There were three dogs in particular who had captured her heart and had a forever home with her, and it was these three who accompanied her on her walk today.
They were mostly well-behaved creatures, having been in training with Rae since they were pups, and for the most part, they ranged at her heels or in the nearby underbrush, never straying too far from her side. Or, at least, that was where they were supposed to be. One of her dogs had disappeared through the brush, barking madly at something that had caught his attention. Cursing loudly, Rae followed, calling for him to come back in her sternest you're-in-big-trouble-mister voice.
When she caught up with the dog, he was barking down into a hole in the ground, which gave Rae pause, but she stormed up to him anyway, fully intending to tell him off and leash him for the remainder of their walk. The other two dogs had joined him, too, baying at something in the hole and skirting round the edges. "What the fuck are you idiots - oh!"
I'll be yours until the sun no longer shines until the poets run out of rhyme
Ophelia is in a hole.
Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, all in all it's a very nice hole! A bit cold, perhaps, but most things in the Grounds are cold in their opinion, never as hot as their race desires. But there are a lot of fun bugs to investigate, and watching the sky from the bottom of the hole is equally entertaining.
If it isn't obvious, it has been a few hours.
Ophelia has tried climbing out with little success. They think that perhaps this was an old well, because they had stepped down onto something rotten and gone right through. Whoever covered it up needs to do some better work on signage. Is there a way Phi can report them for safety concerns?
They're pulled from their musings where they're laying on their back at the bottom, legs propped in a 90 degree angle up along the side of the wall, by the barking of dogs. Fuzzy snouts appear at the top of the hole, and Ophelia waves cheerily at them. "Hello, puppies!" They really hope none of them try to come any closer, Phi's not really in a position to catch them, and they'd hate to have a dog land on them or otherwise get hurt. Luckily a woman appears soon after - vaguely familiar, but not enough for a name to come. Ophelia waves at her, too. "Hello! I'm a bit stuck." Spoken far too cheerily and factually for someone in such a bind.
until the mountains crumble into the sea In other words, until eternity
There was a person in the hole, and it suddenly made a whole lot more sense why her dogs were losing their ever-loving minds. Now that they'd attracted their human to the source of the problem, the creatures stopped barking and settled for circling the hole, whining occasionally, their tails wagging eagerly as though awaiting praise for a job well done. Didn't realize I'd trained search and rescue dogs, she thought to herself as she studied the person down in the hole; they seemed entirely unconcerned with their dilemma, lying on the ground with their legs up the side of the hole, waving up at Rae cheerfully. The trainer wasn't sure how they were so calm, but that was none of her business.
Although she supposed she'd better help them out of the hole.
"I can see that," she called back with a raised eyebrow. The hole-person looked somewhat familiar, but Rae couldn't quite place the face with a name. "Hold on - I'll see what I can do." And so Rae disappeared from the hole, removed her bag from her shoulder, and began digging around in her supplies. Perhaps she had a rope with her and could use that to help pul the stranger out of the hole...
Much to her relief, there was a rope in the bag, and she grabbed it with a sense of vague satisfaction that her past self had had the foresight to throw it in with her other supplies. After tying one end to a nearby tree, Rae returned to the hole. "I've got a rope," she called. "I can help pull you up!" And she tossed the rope into the hole.
I'll be yours until the sun no longer shines until the poets run out of rhyme
Ophelia is told to hold on, so they merely continue to tap the edges of their shoes together in a rhythmic thunk of rubber as they wait, not bothering to move or stand just yet. Why bother? Perhaps the stranger will find they can in fact do nothing, and then Ophelia will have moved from their very comfortable spot for no reason.
A few minutes past in which Ophelia begins to hum from the bottom of the hole, enjoying the way the sound bounces around in the narrow, tall space. Likely because it once was a well, it reminds them of a wishing well even now. Only to be interrupted when the stranger returns with a rope, which they throw down immediately - landing straight on Ophelia's chest and prompting a comical oof.
Blinking down at it, they reluctantly abandon their comfortable position to stand and take up the rope. "I think I can climb most of the way," they reassure, so the stranger doesn't have to pull if they're not the strong type. Leveraging their feet against the side of the well, Ophelia begins to climb until their head is just free of the hole - then they look at the stranger for help with a smile. "Can you pull now maybe?" Just enough to get Ophelia belly-down on the grass so they can fully free themself.
until the mountains crumble into the sea In other words, until eternity
You hear a scream that seems to stop time and drain the colour out of the world. In the distance you see what appears to be a woman in a wedding dress, but of course…you know that’s not what it is. Lifting her head the banshee seems to lock her eyes on you and unless you back away now, she is likely to pursue you until she is able to choke the life from your body.
You’ve encountered a Banshee. 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.
Banshees (rare/mythical): They take the form of a skeletal lady wrapped in rags. Some wander the woodlands, singing a haunting melody. Others sit near streams and weep. Either way, disturbing these creatures will cause them to become very aggressive. They can pursue their prey seemingly without need for rest, and will strangle all those that they catch.
With the rope tossed into the hole (prompting a quiet oof from below), Rae stuck her head back out over the old well, looking down at the person trapped there. She watched as the stranger braced their feet on the side of the well and began to climb, the rope taut and strained, until they popped their head above the edge and requested assistance. Then Rae gripped the rope and pulled (her dogs joining in, for good measure, though to them it was more of a game than anything). "You idiots, get off," she growled, but in the end, she succeeded in pulling the stranger out of the hole.
And just as she was about to introduce herself, a horrific scream broke the silence of the wood. Sudden fear spiked down Raelyn's spine as she slowly turned to face the source of the noise: a woman in a wedding dress. A fucking banshee. "We should go," Rae said, backing away from the creature, her dogs suddenly whimpering and cowering behind their mistress. "Like, now."
