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!
A full moon had brought Hadama back to Stormbreak and the gardens on two legs instead of his powerful mertail. On his last foray here he had met the lioness Ellyra and in their meandering had passed the shrine. Enchanted by its quiet, regal beauty amidst the colorful life of the Celestine he had been determined to return and bring an offering to his lady to lay at the altar.
"Safrin," he rumbled quietly, knowing that he didn't need to speak her name but taking comfort in the music of it nonetheless. "I would ask another boon of you." If the goddess was willing and available. If not, then he would wait patiently once more, treasuring the gifts she had already given him.
Tonight he had removed the armlet from his bicep and set it on the altar beside his offering, hoping to improve its protection. As for what lay with it, he had spent his time in the gardens painstakingly gathering flowers with large petals of deep purple and black into a thick bouquet wrapped in a silver ribbon. Several slender stems were nestled in the middle of them, their sprays of tiny white flowers almost seeming to glow against the darker hues of their cousins.
The starlight pulse that always seemed to fill the Celestine danced and shone brighter for the goddess' arrival. The smell of lavender and petrichor burst in equal measure from a breeze that trickled up along the path and tugged affectionately at the mermanta's hair.
'Don't let Frey see that you've been picking the flowers here.' Safrin chuckles, even as she reaches for the bouquet, clearly not bothered by whatever faux pax might have been committed. Raising them to her nose and inhaling deeply, the goddess turns her galactic gaze to the king through the blooms. "An interesting place to see you, Hadama." She murmurs with a smile. "What can I do for you?"
"I will not," Hadama agreed contentedly to his goddess's warning - playful, he could hope. But since he had never sought out the nature deity before and had no plans to in the near future, it was likely not something that would come up. He was more concerned with Safrin's good graces, and so long as his offering met with her approval the merman would accept whatever other consequences came his way from making it.
He tilted his head to the side in acknowledgement of his current two-legged state and oh, the places he could go with it. Pleasure was a quiet hum in the back of his thoughts at her smile, and he inhaled the petrichor scent that often accompanied her, letting it soothe his soul before he looked up to her galactic gaze and gave his answer.
"My armor," he rumbled, hands resting serenely on his - strange to think about - legs. "Would you make it stronger?" It had come in useful when fighting echo sharks, but not all enemies would so easy to fend off.
Smiling brightly, Safrin's expression turns momentarily coy as she watches the King's fingers place themselves on knees which must still feel to him like a strangely fitting accessory.
"I would be happy to." The goddess replies instantly, though unlike in time's past she isn't quick to offer up the requirements. Instead, she merely focuses on the mermanta with eyes that shift kaleidoscopically from plasma blue to galactic purple. Sucking in on her lip, Safrin straightens as she seems to come to some considered decision.
"Meditate on your future. Not just in the oceans and seas, nor just in Torchline. But consider all of Caido and what you would see your place in it. Would you stay as you are? Would you see Torchline's empire grow? Would you perhaps rise as other's have done and join me in defending the world from all that would threaten it...?" Lifting one shoulder in a shrug, the goddess splays her hands before the King. "What that looks like is up to you. Return to me once you have an answer."
Hadama has been given a quest!
He needs to pick out a future for himself. Stay a king, become a demigod, other? How he accomplishes this is up to you!
A smile creased the mermanta's stoic expression at his goddess's quick affirmation of assistance. Her rewards for those devoted to her were generous, and Hadama was grateful for her gifts and the abilities they granted him. Strengthening his armor would allow him to better protect himself, and to better protect Torchline--
But as he focused upon her melodious voice and the task she set, he quickly realized that this was not a quest like others he had undertaken in the past. He listened with growing awe, even his thoughts slowing to a stunned silence as he words dropped into the pool of his mind like stones into a deep, calm pool. Ripples of shock skated across the surface as he took in what she offered, and what she asked, and Hadama was for once not simply slow to respond but truly speechless.
Most of his words may have failed him but he genuflected deeply before his goddess in gratitude, knowing that the enormity of this meeting would take days to fully process. One word, however, remained, and he whispered it with quiet joy.
"Yes?" Though Safrin's eyes could never properly be said to darken, not given the galactic pulses of energy that seemed to swim around her pupils, certainly they did change somehow, subtly. Lips, perfectly painted, tensed, before quirking up in a crooked smile that quickly bloomed across her face. "Have you already given it so much thought that you would accept without any further meditation?" The goddess raises an eyebrow, though it's gently done, without any of her normal trickery or temptation.
"Tell me then, if you already know. Would you walk the path Deimos has embarked upon? A shining example of my light, but still tethered to the ground? Or would you ascend, as Ronin has, and be my light in the fullest sense?"
Thoughts overflowing with the world of possibilities that the goddess had laid before him and stunned by all that her offer implied, Hadama had felt only the urge to obey his lady's quest: to meditate on what it would mean to rise, to consider his place as king, to question the borders of his seas and land.
And to contemplate what it would mean to change, irrevocably. To swim from the familiar currents of his life into waters far deeper and stranger and more beautiful than he now knew. Or whether to hold to all that he already was and the gifts of his mortality.
He realized too late the error of his speechlessness, and he raised his head as Safrin laid out his options clearly. The mermanta gazed up at her and drew in a deep breath, taking strength from her smile and the beauty that infused her. "I will serve you, regardless," he promised, seeking more words than was his wont to explain the honor and the shock that filled his heart. "I meant only that I will do as you bid me. To consider my future carefully." Her last request had given him a good place to start, and he inclined his head gratefully. "I will speak to Ronin and Deimos as well."
Smiling warmly, the goddess nodded. Splaying her hands to indicate that whatever path he chose to walk swim was up to him, Safrin offered the king a final goodbye. "Take all the time you need." She said, voice sweet and eyes kind before seafoam and lace blurred together leaving a small puddle of rain water infused with starlight to soak into the rich earth of the Celestine.
