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!
champagne, cocaine, gasoline and most things in between
Something something Mateo woke up late. It's his excuse and he's sticking to it; it's probably why he looks close to ordinary as he yawns his way beyond the city gates. If anyone notices that he's wearing his t-shirt on backwards, though, please kindly tell him before he dies of embarrassment.
With dark curls being tousled by the Leafchange breeze, he squints out at the Righteous Climb and wonders how many handmines are actually lurking out there. He didn't see any when he was training with Everest. Oh well.
Once his stalwart comrades arrive, he greets them with a sleepy, dimpled smile and holds up a few empty sacks, handing them out to both Everest and Koa. "For keeping hands in," he tells them. "Shall we?"
PQ to fulfil this RQ requirement:
A PQ collecting the hand-mines around the gates of the city.
Sadly, Everest will not be the one to save his friend. Given how little he knows (or cares) about fashion, it's the aviator's assumption that Mateo having his shirt on backwards is some new trend, and though he absolutely doesn't understand it, as he comes to stand alongside the botanist, he only mumbles a tentative hello before glancing out across the dry expanse.
"I...suppose I could shift and see if the handmines smell any different to the surroundings, but otherwise I'm not sure how we're going to find them all." Though some were poking ominously through the ground like strange twisted flowers, a good deal more were hidden below, reading to poke up at any time and grab the nearest abandoned.
"Do you remember when we saw that woman get grabbed when we were boys?" Everest wonders, biting at the inside of his cheek and wondering if they shouldn't have brought an abandoned with them to try and trip the mines.
If I told you that you'd do nothing with it I'd still be that cigarette that you couldn't finish
Don't take this the wrong way You knew who I was with every step that I ran to you
"Shirt's on backwards." Don't worry, Mateo, Koa has your back - even if it is said in a ribbing tone, a grin and waggled eyebrows suggesting surprise that the Dragoon's friend would be so unfashionably disheveled.
The tall young man got here early, all his soldier's training directing him to be punctual and prepared, dressed in Dragoon fatigues and armed with shovels for each of them. He's positively chipper, his copper eyes sparkling when he takes a sack from a sleepy Mateo.
Everest's thought that they might smell different isn't terrible, though Koa, with his human senses, doubts very much it will work. "Maybe they do?" Koa eyes the road dubiously, nudging a boot tip at one already slightly visible mine. "You could always see? Or maybe one of your clever devices can sense them - like, I dunno, tell that they're a different material than the rest of the dirt?"
Only blue or black days Electing strange perfections in any stranger I choose
champagne, cocaine, gasoline and most things in between
"Wh-- oh, fanculo," Mateo hisses under his breath, though its with a grateful glare at Koa that he wiggles out of his shirt and turns it the right way. It doesn't make him look any less dishevelled, but he feels a bit better. Accepting a shovel in exchange for a sack, he smiles to Everest and nods. "I do remember," he says, reaching into his pocket to pull out three small jars of pale powder.
"I have been trying to make an artificial hand mine bait," he says, handing them out as well. "If we sprinkle this on the ground, the mines should pop up." Should being the operative word. "It might be better for us to get the more obvious ones first, though."
Alright, let's dig up the more obvious hand mines! Mateo has also given everyone some powder to sprinkle to attract the hidden mines.
No post order!
I roam the city in a shopping cart a pack of Camels and a smoke alarm
bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones.
You've encountered the OG random event! This allows you to skip one levelling requirement with the character in this thread. (Unfortunately does not count for characters over level 10, how sad.)
'Hello Koa.' The aviator offered, one hand half-raised in greeting. Something about the three of them out here like this only further reminded Everest of when they were young. It made him feel vaguely uncomfortable and nervous for reasons he couldn't properly articulate, but which turned the expression on his face into one that neared constipation.
'Oh?' Nearly Everest says without me? before biting his tongue. "That sounds fascinating." Reaching out for his bag before looking down into it as if he might be able to deduce how his friend had done it and with what, Everest nods a touch skeptically.
A powder that could mimic whatever intrinsic qualities made one an abandoned?
Frowning, but keen to try any experiment, Everest sprinkles some of the powder onto the hand mine that Koa had just kicked with the toe of his boot to see if it had any effect.
If I told you that you'd do nothing with it I'd still be that cigarette that you couldn't finish
Don't take this the wrong way You knew who I was with every step that I ran to you
"Hey, Ever," Koa greets back with a wave, offering his fist for the other man to bump. He, too, is reminded of when they were young, but with more fondness and enthusiasm perhaps than Everest - childhood adventures are bright in his memory, and the potential to engage in another one has him feeling chipper indeed.
Having absolutely no understanding of what would go into making abandoned-mimicry powder but absolute faith in Mateo's ability to pull it off, Koa takes the whole thing on face value, peering curiously into his vial. "Cool," he intones, taking out a pinch of it and kneeling to the ground. With the powder on his palm the boy blows, hoping the wind will help to spread it and thus maximize the effective range.
Then he rises and grasps his shovel, eager to get to work.
Only blue or black days Electing strange perfections in any stranger I choose
champagne, cocaine, gasoline and most things in between
Furrowing his brow as both men completely ignore the initial instructions and opt to go straight for sprinkling powder all over everything, Mateo is far too sleepy to offer any corrections.
Instead, he takes his own shovel and proceeds to dig up the hand mines that are immediately obvious, plopping them into his sack. Everest will find the mine he has experimented on wiggles its fingers and grabs at the air, while Koa will see other hand mines pop up from the ground as expected.
Well, at least it works.
"Alright, let's keep going!" Mateo calls, continuing to dig up the Abandoned-hating creatures(?).
Keep going! Mateo is continuing down the Righteous Climb.
One person can collect mines to the left, the other to the right. Take your pick!
I roam the city in a shopping cart a pack of Camels and a smoke alarm
07-21-2023, 03:54 PM (This post was last modified: 07-21-2023, 03:54 PM by Everest.)
Everest
To the left to the left, all the handmines in a bag to the left.
Opting to shift that he might dig more easily (and, dare he say, more enjoyably), the shepherd picks up the bag of Mateo's dust and trots down one of the pathways. Shaking his head to douse the ground with the powder, Everest then deposits the bag (so he'd know how far he'd come), before retracing his steps at a sprint that was very unlike human-Ever.
With his tail raised and his blue eyes keen and focused, the canine lunged at the wiggling fingers that began to emerge from the ground. Digging with clear enthusiasm and spraying dirt behind him, he was able to quite efficiently unearth the hand mines that Mateo's powder had coaxed to the surface.
If I told you that you'd do nothing with it I'd still be that cigarette that you couldn't finish
07-21-2023, 07:59 PM (This post was last modified: 07-21-2023, 07:59 PM by Koa.)
Koa
Don't take this the wrong way You knew who I was with every step that I ran to you
Koa hasn't seen Everest shifted all that often, but the site of the man as a great black dog always fills him with inexplicable delight. It takes a great deal of effort for him not to drop his shovel and kneel down to pet the shepherd, but luckily the young soldier has been trained well enough to resist his urges.
If only just.
Instead he sets about digging for the hand mines that have risen to his bait. With Mateo in the middle and Everest on the left, Koa, naturally, takes the right path less traveled, humming cheerfully as his shovel bites into earth, his bag growing heavier as more and more fingered monstrosities are added to the collection.
Only blue or black days Electing strange perfections in any stranger I choose
champagne, cocaine, gasoline and most things in between
Mateo does not have any of Koa's self-control, and given that he hangs out with Ever as a dog just as much as he does a man, it's no surprise that he's laughing cheerfully as he lopes after the shepherd. Plucking up the mines the Attuned unearths and stuffing them into his bag, as well as digging up his own where he can, it's almost like they know what they're doing! Almost.
Just as it looks as though the area is clear to the left, Everest will come across a particularly stubborn hand mine tangled between the roots of a tree that has long given up growing. He'll have to either use dexterity or brute force to yank it out of there.
As for Koa, he finds great success (yes, that gif) in gathering up all the hand mines to the right. There's only a couple more left, but they're out on one of the floating bits of rock that aren't quite attached to the main body of the Righteous Climb. Surely this is nothing to the dashing soldier though!
The last hand mine Everest needs to pull out is entangled in some tree roots and stubbornly refuses to move! He'll have to either work it free or yank it out with force.
The last two hand mines Koa can see are stranded on a floating bit of rock that isn't attached to the main body of the Righteous Climb. He'll need to hop across to get them!
I roam the city in a shopping cart a pack of Camels and a smoke alarm
Don't take this the wrong way You knew who I was with every step that I ran to you
It's something to the dashing soldier, who would rather not miscalculate his jump and go yeeting out into space, thanks all the same.
On the other hand, he's had a great deal of good luck thus far, and he's not not athletic. What could possibly go wrong?
So being young and full of misplaced confidence, the boy does what idiot boys must. Settling his shovel in one hand and bag in another, he calls back cheerfully to his friends: "If I die doing this, make sure it sounds heroic as fuck, yeah?"
Affairs thus in order, Koa takes a running start and leaps onto the floating island, very much praying to any god who might be listening that he please in the name of all that's holy not meet his end today.
Only blue or black days Electing strange perfections in any stranger I choose
Barking, the shepherd is not about to be bested by a tree root; not when this has ramifications for how the entirety of Caido sees Stormbreak and its new pro-abandoned policies, and certainly not least of all because his instincts are suddenly provoked.
With a growl, Everest snaps his teeth against one of the branches, gnawing off bits of wood in large chunks. Kept moist below the soil, the roots are shockingly strong while still being bendy, such that the canine reaches a point where even his sharp teeth will have to work to properly gnaw them apart. So, like any good dog (and Everest absolutely is a Good Dog), he lowers his shoulders and raises his haunches before gripping the weakest point and yanking again and again for all he was worth.
If I told you that you'd do nothing with it I'd still be that cigarette that you couldn't finish
"I will ensure that it is a story for the ages," Mateo tells his friend, before waving Koa off to his fate, whatever it might be. For the botanist's part, he busies himself collecting together the final, stray hand mines while Everest works his little doggie butt off trying to play tug of war with an entire tree. And you know what - Ever does win, in the end. The only problem is he doesn't unearth the root so much as it snaps at last, sending him fuzzy ears over fluffy tail and directly into Mateo, who also goes down like a sack of shit.
All of this means nobody even sees Koa's acrobatics, so if he had been yeeted off into space, it would have been without an audience at all. Luckily, as a mighty soldier, he lands on solid ground and is able to collect his last hand mines with no trouble. All the better to laugh at his friends from on high, right?
"I think that is all of them!" Mateo calls from the ground with a furry, canine lump atop him. "Well, apart from that one Ever uncovered. But I will fetch that in a second!"
And we're done! CONGRATS GUYS, TEAM WORK!
~FIN
i've told you time and time again i'm not as think as you drunk i am
