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!
07-27-2023, 02:21 PM (This post was last modified: 07-27-2023, 02:27 PM by Odd.)
It's taken a lifetime to lose my way
All the wasted time on my hands turns to sand
It'd been a long while since any of them advanced within the Fangs for mageglass – not since before the war, or when the mountains had been intact, and not wide open to the skies. Halo was much more prepared now, stronger, capable, but it didn’t mean they couldn’t be stronger.
Advancing along the paths he’d learned from previous attempts, he glanced back at his constituents frequently – ensuring they were following, a torch in hand at the ready, just in case they ended up in here until nightfall – long strides carrying them along rubble, ice, and snow. The discomfort and apprehension in his bones didn’t come from impending danger, but the notions of what could potentially lay before them, and how they could utilize their minds to improve their land yet again. “Should be about here,” he rumbled as they neared, pointing towards the familiar, long hall of stone.
--
This is a KQ to find mageglass! Please post your characters following Deimos in. No post order.
07-27-2023, 02:30 PM (This post was last modified: 08-01-2023, 03:13 PM by Talyson.)
Maybe Tal couldn't use the stuff himself, but he had friends who could. He had someone in particular that he wouldn't mind presenting with a little chunk of the stuff, as a matter of fact, and when he'd heard that Alys and Noah were also going? Well, he figured he could take a couple days off from courier duty to tag along and maybe lend a helping brain cell.
Just the one, mind. He didn't have a lot to spare.
Luckily Boreal was along as well, the pale dragon trotting along from person to person to snuffle at pockets and push her broad head beneath empty hands as it to remind them that their clever fingers could also be used for scratching around the base of dragon horns. She kept her nose up to sniff the air for danger, but mostly she was enjoying being on an adventure with so many friends!
Tal fell in beside Alys, walking beside her in amiable silence as they approached the former cliffs and caves wherein their goal lay.
Tal arrives with Boreal, high hopes, and everything on his profile except his boat!
In his Bag of Holding he also has snacks and drinks for brain fuel.
I was born into the light
Under wide and open skies
Deimos had brought up the venture for mageglass in their last council meeting, and Noah was ready and prepared to search for it. While the mineral did not help him in particular, it was something that could certainly strengthen their people and their home in turn. If not to be used personally like Sah's amulet, Noah had wondered if mageglass could help something if crafted with some of the materials the Halovians had been harvesting from all parts of the tundra.
Noah followed at the group's rear, ears half shifted and listening for dangers behind them. Though the Fangs were not the same formidable range of mountains they had been before, danger still lurked behind every turn the adventurers took. He scratched idly at Boreal's head when the dragon bumped against his hand, but his focus was on the tundra around them. The wind howled, and as Deimos slowed, as did he.
Lifting his chin to look around where Deimos had gestured, Noah's body tightened some. Spear and bow and quiver across his back, he surveyed the area.
Noah is here with everything on his profile, except companions, including a bow and 12 arrows in his quiver. (Dunno if I have to list stuff for this type, but thought it would be wise!)
You made yourself a bed At the bottom of the blackest hole
Alys had heard of mageglass, but she'd yet to see any for herself, so when she'd been invited to hunt some down, she was excited by the opportunity. Especially when she heard that Talyson was going. She liked Deimos and Noah, of course, but they were mentors more so than friends; Tal, though, was perhaps her dearest friend, and he always made outings more fun.
So when he fell into step beside her, she smiled over at him, twitching her fingers to call Boreal over for scratches. They stuck close to the rest of the group as they made their way through once-proud mountains that had been reduced to an endless labyrinth of tunnels and abandoned mines. It was a place of sadness, in Alys's mind; there was just something about the energy that made her feel a nbit wistful. But that had nothing to do with anything, and she shoved the unhelpful emotions from her mind as she surveyed the land that Deimos had indicated.
------
Alys arrives with, uh... herself and her magic? Also a bow and a quiver holding 12 arrows, a single dagger, and a bag containing a water skin, a tarot deck, and some snacks.
And convinced yourself that It's not the reason you don't see the sun anymore
Alys
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Down you go, past all the other barriers that have been bested in the past, until finally you reach a stone wall which hasn't been opened. A blank space by what appears to be a door knob seems to suggest that a password is required, but what is it?
Looking around, it seems someone has left a hint as to what it might be.
TO ALL READING THIS: while puzzle-KQs are fun to try and figure out, please do not try and help those currently in the KQ. Not only does this defeat the purpose and make things less fun, but should the group fail and you know the answer, you can initiate a mageglass KQ of your own and succeed where they have failed! If I catch anyone sharing hints or answers OOC, there will be consequences c:
KQ Group -- there will be 4 puzzles in total. Please follow the posting instructions given per puzzle. Questions can be asked in your discord chat. You can get 3 wrong answers total before you fail the KQ.
You have 48 hours to complete this puzzle. Only one member of the group needs to post your answer.
The group descended and Tal tapped his fingers against his thigh with nervous energy as the stone walls closed in. Boreal rumbled happily at Noah's pats and Alys's scratches, ambling between the two for attention and occasional giving Deimos her best big dragon eyes for the cadging of treats.
It was a welcome distraction for the courier, and soon enough they reached the first obstacle.
"Hey, that kinda looks like a hand mine," he said to Noah, pointing to the first picture on the wall. "An' that third one's a wine spider..." They worked their way down the pictures, everyone chiming in to identify one or another, and then they sat there staring at the numbers until someone pointed out that there were six numbers, and six pictures and maybe they were connected?
They took the second letter of Hand mine, the fourth letter of Moonshroom, the fifth letter of Winespider and worked their way down until they had their answer.
Tal's nose wrinkled and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Huh. What're the chances?" But he stepped forward and took out his dagger, carefully scratching the word "ANSWER" into the blank space beside the door knob.
The answer to the riddle is "Answer"!
The letters glow blue before unseen hinges groan and then open revealing yet another descending corridor.
On and on you go until you reach yet another impasse. There is the carving of a vial, with the following etched into the stone below.
As you walk along, you see a ball just to the right of the path you're on.
To the left you see an empty well near a tree growing straight as an arrow.
From its branches dangles a hanging snake silhouetted by a full moon.
Behind you, an unlucky horse shoe.
There is a question mark next to the vial and a space to indicate an answer.
TO ALL READING THIS: while puzzle-KQs are fun to try and figure out, please do not try and help those currently in the KQ. Not only does this defeat the purpose and make things less fun, but should the group fail and you know the answer, you can initiate a mageglass KQ of your own and succeed where they have failed! If I catch anyone sharing hints or answers OOC, there will be consequences c:
KQ Group -- there will be 4 puzzles in total. Please follow the posting instructions given per puzzle. Questions can be asked in your discord chat. You can get 3 wrong answers total before you fail the KQ.
You have 48 hours to complete this puzzle. Only one member of the group needs to post your answer.
Getting past the first door was a hurdle that set him only slightly at ease. The new one gave them some pause, however. After some delegating and conversing amidst the group, the Sword stepped forward, brow furrowing, then arching, at their next impasse. His fingers traced over the carving of the vial, and then the words etched into the stone, following over the intriguing juxtapositions of wells and trees, of paths and branches, of dangling snakes and full moons, and finally, to the turned over horseshoe.
But, perhaps, he’d be able to gain some insight and knowledge from the inscriptions.
You made yourself a bed At the bottom of the blackest hole
This whole puzzle-solving thing was right up Alys's alley; she was fascinated by their existence here, of all places, and besides, who didn't like a good game of logic? But, more interestingly, who had put them there, and why? Was mageglass really this precious, to hide behind old doors with secret passwords?
In any case, Alys stepped up beside Deimos to read the inscription again. As she looked over the riddle with an artist's eye, she constructed an image in her head of first one section, then the next. A path and a ball, well, that could make a 'p.' A well could be an 'o.' A straight tree could be an 'i.' And so on and so forth until she reached the last line. "Oh!" she said. "It's poison!"
------
The answer to the riddle is "poison."
And convinced yourself that It's not the reason you don't see the sun anymore
Alys
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
With a moan, the door slides down, and down, and down, allowing you to go further.
At your next impasse Deimos will see something quite familiar...but...well, surely it can't be that easy..
TO ALL READING THIS: while puzzle-KQs are fun to try and figure out, please do not try and help those currently in the KQ. Not only does this defeat the purpose and make things less fun, but should the group fail and you know the answer, you can initiate a mageglass KQ of your own and succeed where they have failed! If I catch anyone sharing hints or answers OOC, there will be consequences c:
KQ Group -- there will be 4 puzzles in total. Please follow the posting instructions given per puzzle. Questions can be asked in your discord chat. You can get 3 wrong answers total before you fail the KQ.
You have 48 hours to complete this puzzle. Only one member of the group needs to post your answer.
That sinking weight of recollection caused his nose to wrinkle and curl the moment he began to read the inscription. Though the words weren’t all the same, the air of familiarity, and the remembrance of failure, was enough to cause a molten sigh flooding through his chest. Clearly not craving the same results as the last time quite a few of these terms and statements appeared, he drew closer for another look.
Perhaps there was something else delving into the system. Beforehand had been syllables, phrases, and a clear-set pattern, even if they’d botched it. And for that reason alone, the Sword sought further insight.
Given the granted insight, and past experiences, the apprehension still resigned, remained, in the interim of his mind. After much discussion between peers, back and forth over possibilities, fragments, images, and if this puzzle was much like the one years before – the Sword sighed, and went to place in their initial response.
The fact that they would have more opportunities for trying left him a little more comforted, but not by much – and he suddenly longed for the feeling of combat, rather than these multitudes.
Regardless of any fleeting emotions, he steadied and steeled his notions, continually persistent until the end.
--
Deimos puts in the following:
Luxere: Can
Qilin: Can’t
Deimos: Can
Noah: Can
Talyson: Can’t
Alys: Can’t
"I don't get it," Tal admitted, scowling at the words on the stone and running his fingers over them. "It's all just... gods an' critters an' stuff, y'know? ...But... maybe..." He squinted harder and chewed his lip, fingers sliding to the cracks in the rock around the words. "Safrin, if y'could give us a hint, I'd sure appreciate it." He figured it wouldn't hurt to ask for a little help. It was that or give up and go home, and the courier wasn't ready to admit defeat just yet. Neither was Boreal, the dragon snuffling helpfully at the word for 'luxere' before giving it a lick. Tal is using his INT to get a hint!
