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!
Having never given her father's Capitol Compass back, it was easy for Flora to flit back and forth from Torchline to Halo so that she could visit her mother. Despite the heavy furs Hotaru had given her, Flora was still unused to Halo's climate even with the magical barrier above the Citadel that kept everything above freezing. When you were used to a tropical climate, anything less than hot felt completely devastating. Even so, the Doubletake had taken to wandering the streets before heading home, rather entranced by the shiny ice-like spires of the Palace.
"Ewwwuhh." Wrinkling her nose in complaint, Flora pawed at a floating cloud of spider silk that was gayly bobbing on the breeze in her direction. "Even here?" She wondered with a huff of annoyance. As if wine spiders in her bar weren't bad enough, now she had to contend with cloud spiders and their weirdly strong silk on everything? Tugging the furs around her body all the more tightly as if she could ward off the chill by sheer force of will alone, the Doubletake glanced up one last time at the Palace before reaching into one of her coat's large pockets for her compass.
Ah, Alys remembered the days of freezing her ass off all too well, those days having been not so veyr long ago. When she'd first arrived in Halo from the Hollowed Grounds, she had been determined not to stay for very long. It was cold, and barren, and cold. And the people were standoffish and rude. But, weirdly, she'd fit right in, and now - between the magic of the Academy keeping her warm and a healthy investment into Halovian garments made for the snow - she was perfectly comfortable, even on a chilly Leafchange day like this.
What she was not comfortable with was the damned spiders everywhere, and as she walked down the street, a look of disgust was clear on her face. Ugh. Spiders and silk. Where did they come from, and why?
But it seemed she was not the only one braving the strange, silky weather on this particular day to explore the Palace: a pretty blonde meandered through the icy spires, too. She didn't look like she was from Halo - for one, Alys was pretty familiar with the faces of her region by now, and for another, the poor girl seemed to be absolutely miserable with cold - and Alys wondered if perhaps she was lost. She looked like she was looking in her pocket for something, anyway. So Alys bit back a resigned sigh and called out a hello. "Excuse me, but are you looking for something?"
Alys
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Glancing over her shoulder at the sound of the voice, the Doubletake offers the other girl an immediate smile. Flora was flirtatious by nature, but she'd long since realized that even if other women were straight, almost everyone liked having a bit of attention cast their way. "Cuuute jacket." She trilled, eyeing Alys' choice of attire and letting her aqua gaze drink in the abandoned's clothes for a moment before giving her head a little shake.
"No, not really. I mean, other than trying to see why these stupid spiders are everywhere." Wrinkling her nose and nodding toward the cobwebs, Flora huffs. "I mean, here? With how cold it is? I'm surprised they haven't all just...become little spider snowflakes by now, you know?"
The stranger was cheerful and perky - two words that Alys was not in the least familiar with. She tended towards a more... dark and brooding vibe. Still, she'd been trying to be better about meeting new people, so she smiled in response to the girl's compliment. "Thanks," she said. "They sell them in the market, and all kinds of other clothes. I'd be happy to show you the way."
As for the spiders, Alys's smile turned rueful. "They are a bit of a nuisance," she admitted. She wasn't particularly afraid of spiders - they normally didn't bother her in the slightest - but in these numbers, they had grown a bit more annoying than anything. "You'd think they'd freeze, but they just keep coming. Perhaps there is warmth in numbers?" Shaking her head, Alys offered a hand. "I'm Alys, by the way."
Alys
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
'Oh really? Well, I'm just about to head back, but another time for sure.' That she didn't know this woman at all or the fact that they seemed to have absolutely nothing in common didn't seem to bother the Doubletake at all.
"I mean...maybe?" Pulling a face and looking at the thick webbing affixed to the ice, Flora grimaces. "But why not just...float their way back home. Or-" Suddenly brightening, but only to contrast what she was about to say, Flora adds: "You don't think they're like..laying a bunch of eggs everywhere, do you? And then next year the world is going be taken over by spiders?" Gods, what a horrific thought.
The Doubletake's smile instantly turns warm as she reaches out. "Nice to meet you, I'm Flora."
Can Alys do a bit of illusion magic for Flora's quest? MWAH.
Alys was not what one might call a social creature, but she had learned some tricks from spending time with Ru. At the very least, she could hold a conversation now without wanting to carve out her own tongue. She could even be nice, and so it was that she offered a smile to the young woman, shaking her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Flora."
As for the spiders, Alys sighed. "Perhaps we could just... imagine they were elsewhere?" she suggested, raising a hand and using her illusion magic to momentarily obscure a few of the creatures closest to them, turning them instead into shimmering snowflakes. "There," she said with satisfaction. "Much better."
Alys
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
'Oh?' Eyebrows raised, Flora turns her aqua stare back to where the spiderlings were flitting along the ice, surprised to see them become small snowflakes instead. "Damn!" The Doubletake cheered approvingly, reaching out a finger to capture one of the snowflakes before realizing that, in all likelihood, she had not stumbled upon a powerful alchemist who could turn spiders into snowflakes, but a clever illusionist who only made it seem that way.
Grinning, the girl pulls her hand back before shooting the other woman a wry smile. "Much better, Flora agrees, waggling her eyebrows.
'Well, I should get back. It was super nice to meet you though.' Flora says, taking a last look at the shimmering palace before offering Alys a lingering and bright smile. So saying, she thumbs at the compass in her pocket, smiles mischievously, and vanishes.
