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!
When they hit the platform, the smell was different. Unnatural. Her sensitive nose twitched as golden eyes flickered, shifting her weight and halting at the top of this set of stairs, and... ”Oh for fuck’s sake,” she muttered as the great beast rose to it’s full height and roared.
She didn’t have the chance to shout any warning to anyone, Ashe just dove out of the way on infallible instinct from the sweeping limb of the monster. Ashe immediately had to shift to escape it’s blow, knowing she needed to be smaller, faster, a tougher target -
Only it was not four paws that thudded down upon stone, not yet. The world exploded in size and suddenly it was a set of gleaming blue wings that beat rapidly at the air, carrying her with a blinding speed away and up. ”What the fuck?” she unintentionally send down the bond, her heart racing wildly as she tried to make sense of what just happened, where her furs were. Did she just shift into a fucking hummingbird? The little blue bird darted away with ease, and Ashe forced the questions and confusion from her mind, reminding herself that Remi had gained multiple shifts too. Questions later, right now?
Ashe flew behind the stone beast, dark eyes bright and sharp as she pulled in the scene. She hovered low to the ground and shifted, unsure of how such a small body would carry her lightning, two feet landing nimbly on the ground. It was that second she saw it - Aedion’s immortal body crushed beneath the great beast. It was startling - they had just met, he was supposed to be.. well, immortal. The assassin was no stranger to death, but his loss was registered with regret.
”Zariah!” Ashe shouted., and she set a blasting arc of lightning for the stone beast’s back. Hopefully the other woman got the memo to use her lighting as well. Hopefully the red-haired ascended would know to either stay out of the line of fire or had some kind of trick up his sleeve.
Ashe bared her fanged teeth with a snarl; ”I’ve faced bigger stone monsters than you, you puny fuck.”
Ashe shifted into a hummingbird to dodge and flew behind the guardian where she shifted back to fire mastered lightning at it!
Zariah's comment cut right to the heart of Sam's worries and insecurities, immediately made him feel small and useless. But he couldn't 'go home', not once he'd come this far. He wasn't sure if it would be 'manning up', but he had to keep going. Up to the top, no matter what lay there.
As they reached the platform he knew it wouldn't be anything good, couldn't be, but he still wanted to hope. That hope was quickly dashed as he saw the creature rise from the floor, ancient and huge and terrifying. Instinctively he took a nervous step back, but then Zariah's words, the words of everyone he'd ever suffered, came back. Weak. Pathetic. Cowardly.
He wasn't. He wasn't. They just didn't understand.
Running from the swipe of the creature (closing his eyes tight for just a second so he doesn't see the impact of Aedion against the wall, feeling a pang of guilt for never having known him, as bizarre as it is) he tried to get to the side of it. Once he had, he decided to use the only thing he had. Perhaps, he thought, I should have brought some kind of weapon.
Reaching into his pocket he brought out the metal cube. Easy to lift for him, he knew it was infinitely heavy to others. That meant it would hit hard for them too, right? The creature before him did not seem to be an Ascended. With all of his might he drew his arm back and threw the cube as hard as he could at it's head.
---
Sam runs to the side of the creature and tries to throw his cube at it's head.
If Sam was offended by what she said, she didn't take notice. Mostly because she just could not have cared less about his thoughts or feelings. But also in part because she was busy dodging the attack from the giant golem that appeared before them. Briefly she glanced towards the sad fellow who got crushed (fabulous, now it was her, Ashetta, and Trembly-McGee) almost immediately. Sad as it was she was rather hoping that the crashing noise would bring someone else up the stairs to help her and Ashetta fight. Yes, yes, Sam was there but he didn't exactly count as particularly helpful given his obvious trepidation.
Ashetta might have a specific place in mind for herself to stand, but Zariah was more the mind to keep moving. It was much more difficult to hit a moving target, and frankly much easier to respond to oncoming attacks if she was already in motion. Her steps took her in the opposite direction of Sam, so as not to clump them all together. A hand outstretched and seemed to glow black as she used her Life Drain magic on the monster. Why didn't she use Lightning? Well. It was stone. Not super conductive generally. But if Ashetta was going to try that, Zariah figured it best to try another tactic, to see which worked best.
Zariah moves around the the golem in the opposite direction of Sam and uses her Life Drain magic on it.
zariah
If my strength intimidates you, I hope you realize that is a weakness of yours.
It had successfully swatted one of the insects which had swarmed into its domain, and Rae's Guardian did not intend to let the rest go free. It shrieked another ear splitting cry of fury - one that quickly turned to pain as lightning arced across its form. Lightning was not particularly effective against stone, no. But in a Mastered form, and against nature itself, it would do the job.
A niggling sense of weakness sapped it from somewhere below, too, but before it could focus, a cube? thocked hard into the side of its head, drawing a further scream of rage. With insects on all sides, it growled something in a foreign tongue and plunged rocky hands into the platform. Each combatant would soon find the ground beneath their feet splitting and blazing with a fierce glow, before sharp spikes erupted from it with the intent of impaling or worse.
All members of the party managed to hit Rae's Guardian!
The creature ATTACKS in return but all party members successfully DODGE the spikes!
03-31-2019, 11:30 PM (This post was last modified: 04-01-2019, 12:22 AM by Ashetta.)
ASHƎ
if you think i'm pretty,
you should see me in a crown
Ashe bit back her snarl at Zariah for blatantly ignoring her. Fucking idiot! If they had both paired their mastered element together, the beast could very well have been dead right then and there. True to Launcelyn reputation, she was doing her own thing for fuck all knows what reason. She kept her focus on the shrieking creature however, and she had to let her ears shift back to normal with its shattering sound.
The stone beast then slammed it's boulder-fists down upon the ground, and she managed to keep her balance enough to register something happening beneath her feet. "Move!" she called out in the second before she shifted again. The hummingbird easily avoided the spikes and flew above, registering that this stone beast was quite different from the behemoth stone cat that had nearly crushed their entire settlement back home. This needed to end before it showed whatever other magical tricks it possessed - for surely they had worse to face when they climbed higher.
With the rapid beat of her wings (holy shit - wings), she positioned herself above and behind the creature and dived. A few feet from it, she slipped back into the form of a woman with the lightning that cracked and snapped from within her, unsheathing her shortsword as she landed upon its back. Lips curled and exposed her sharp canines as she plunged her sword into the earthy part of its neck, lightning exploding from where she stabbed.
With that, the wolf buched her muscles and would try to quickly leap off of its back and take Reckoning with her, hoping to avoid being crushed by the monsterous beast.
Ashe flew up above the beast, shifted to a woman and landed with a masterfully electrified stab to its neck before trying to leap away!
Sam was surprised and delighted that his cube hitting actually seemed to take an effect - though she likely wouldn't notice he looked over to Zariah as if to say ha! See? I'm not completely useless.
As the ground split and grew beneath him he quickly losth his smugness as he yelled and jumped as best he could out of the way, pressing himself up against the wall.
Without his cube there was little he could do in way of attacks, but he still wanted to try something. Sam attempted to move in and take his cube back from where it had fallen beneath the creature, sliding on his side.
___
Sam dodges the spikes then tries to retrieve his cube!
Aw, Ashe was mad she didn't follow orders? Tough. Ashetta was a no-one in the heirarchy Zariah adhered to on the best of days. And Sam? Oh she saw the look, and in return he received an unamused stare followed by her mouthing the word 'cute' at him. Baby points for chucking a rock at a rock. She was pretty sure her nine-year old would be about as useful if not more so if that was the standard the redhead held himself too.
All the while jumping from floor stone to floor stone, dodging the spikes that shot up from the floor.
But then - but then - the idiot slide under the fucking golem. Seriously, Beatrix may as well have been here because she and Ashetta were babysitting. She changed tactics and using her mastered lightning shot up at the golem from around Sam. The bolts followed his movement so he wouldn't be hurt, instead protected by them hopefully, while simultaneously hitting the golem from the underside.
Zariah uses mastered lightning to create a somewhat protective shield around Sam while shooting bolts up at the Golem.
zariah
If my strength intimidates you, I hope you realize that is a weakness of yours.
04-01-2019, 05:50 PM (This post was last modified: 04-01-2019, 06:35 PM by Honey.)
key quest
It was a dance of chaos which led to the guardian's demise.
Lightning cracked and the stench of ozone filled the air, even as a small, redheaded figure slipped beneath the impossible bulk of the earthen creature. As Reckoning stabbed into a chink in its rocky surface, raging through the mossy, living mass beneath, the guardian let out a deafening howl. It twisted, best as it could, even as it collapsed - one of its great fists swiped out to swat at Ashetta - and this time it connected.
It smacked her against the wall as it had done Aedion; Ashe, at least, would live through it.
But still, it collapsed, and as the glow died from its eyes it appeared to fall apart completely in an avalanche of stone and flint. Only Zariah's shield would save Sam's life, the Ascended still battered and bruised by the falling debris, but not buried by it at least. Zariah's goodwill would cost, though - it left her open to the falling rocks herself, and she would find herself near-crushed beneath a boulder.
Still, when the dust settles... three warriors still remain.
The door up is clear. More stairs, more climbing...
The light takes on a blue tinge...
Then grey...
Another platform. This one filled with
the
ones
you
have
lost.
They sit or stand, fallen comrades, fallen friends, loved ones, family (or as good as) looking just as they did when they were alive. They fill this chamber, laughing and smiling, drinking or dancing, and they beckon to you. They invite you to join them, to stay with them.
We were here all along, they seem to say. What took you so long?
She braced her arm against the wall and looked into the rubble, taking a moment to catch her breath after that brutal blow and assess the situation. Taking stock of her own injuries, she had blessedly escaped anything more than what would be scrapes and bruises and broken ribs. With a groaning growl, the wolf girl straightened and smeared away the dirt on her face as she approached both Zariah and Samuel. Samuel she helped dig out of the rubble, studiously ignoring the prideful Launelyn at this point but for a mildly grateful glance at helping the Ascended. ”You’re both alright?” she asked, not allowing herself to be bothered by anything Zariah did or said - if she wanted to be an idiot and do shit just for the sake of pride and “hierarchies” that no longer existed, she could dig her own damned grave.
Knowing everyone had gotten away more or less okay, they began their ascent once more. The further they climbed, the higher Ashe’s dread rose. They had lost Aedion… but that could hardly be the worst that was waiting for them. And while some might consider the next trial to be easier than the last, Ashe…
At first she’d paused with knees bent and sword drawn at the sound of voices and people laughing. Seeing them, they were all so relaxed upon this next platform, happy even. She didn’t recognize any faces.. or… No. The assassin went entirely still, her face falling as she gazed upon those who looked back at her:
Jasper, her late fiance, murdered by her Master. (a lake of red, a turned over chair, a severed arm, empty sockets)
MJ, the only bloodfiend she ever trusted. (missing posters, never found, a note from her Master that said he'd never be found)
Trusten, her father who had been killed by her Master before even Jasper. (cold mud and soil, rot, maggots crawling through flesh)
Felicity and Isabella, the little girls she’d dragged from the explosions. (suffocating heat, burning lungs and eyes, the stench of burned flesh from the bodies in her arms)
And…
”Ronin,” she breathed, heart thundering in her chest. That fast, the world slipped, swallowed up by the abyss that lived in her. The people she’d lost... everyone she failed to save and protect despite fighting with everything she had for them. It hadn’t been enough. Ashe’s feet moved of their own accord, and she tightened her grip around her shortsword to hide the way her hands started shaking. She kept glancing at every shadow, as if she expected the ghost of her Master, of Harkon or Vaego to come strolling towards her, to lay claim.
They all smiled at her, as if they’d been waiting for her. ”What… What are you doing here, Ronin?” she asked, her voice distant. It couldn’t be him. He couldn’t.. he couldn’t be right there.
Ashe is freaked the hell out and has approached the ghosts of her loved ones and asked what they’re doing here.
Sam slid right under the beast, successfully grabbing his cube - yet he saw the rocks falling and thought for a second it would be the last thing he saw; then he was surrounded by a crackling electricity, saw it hurt the monster. He barely even noticed his pain for a moment when he made it to the other side, confused and thrilled by what had happened.
The pain did make it's way to him eventually, though. He yelled out a cry and curled in on himself, squeezed his eyes shut as the intensity of it shook through him. It was more than the few paper cuts or tea burns he'd had since the upgrade, it was all consuming and burning.
But there were things to do and he could not revel in it forever. Shakily he stood up, looked to Ashetta and Zariah (and briefly, to the crumpled thing that had once been Aedion) then continued upwards.
When they opened the door, Sam only recognised one of the crowd. He had not lost many he had loved (or at least, that he remembered) and had had very few close acquaintances. But immediately he saw one face among the group that made his eyes widen, instant choking emotion in his throat.
Upon being kicked out of his home after the Ascension didn't work to 'fix' him, he had been taken in as a scared teenager by a kindly old man with a book stall in the market. Cornelius had not expected him to speak, had not asked anything of him at all other than that he watched how the books were made. And one day, Sam had asked to make his own. It had been the start of the rest of his life.
The sunny, wrinkled face smiled at him and he couldn't help the fond look back, but...he had always been a cautious man. Something was wrong here. People didn't just die then show up at the top of the Spire. Sam kept his eyes on his old friend but stayed by the door, watching as Ashetta approached her loved ones nervously.
---
Sam goes upwards, sees Cornelius but does not approach, wary of the 'ghosts'.
Zariah gasped for air as rocks pummeled her into the ground, briefly knocking the wind from her lungs. She winced as her body hit the floor, doing her best to keep from being pinned. Thankfully, after the first hit, the rest hit their mark and she was able to – painfully – get back on her feet. With a small glare towards the redhead she turned and headed for the stairs.
Upon reaching the top her eyes narrowed at the gathered crowd. Many faces she didn’t recognize, but a small group stood out to her. Loren, Astra, Wyeth, Cyton…Neron. Neron. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest as she looked upon the family of Launceleyns from Northaven, but in particular the one with a too-full-of-himself smirk curving his lips. She loved them all in her twisted Launceleyn way – family was family – but Neron had been the one she ultimately trusted her heart to. Unlike Ashetta though, she did not approach.
The dead stayed dead. End of story.
”Ashetta.” she called, her tone a little harsh been when was it not. ”Don’t fall prey to illusion. These aren’t your loved ones, just shadows and trickery. Let’s keep moving.” she said, walking passed all of the fallen loved ones, her own included, to head towards the stairs that would certainly be on the other side of the room. She even jerked her head to Sam to indicate he should follow.
Zariah ignores her dead family members and tells Ashetta and Sam to follow as she heads towards wherever stairs might be.
zariah
If my strength intimidates you, I hope you realize that is a weakness of yours.
They welcome you, these lost souls, whether the party chooses to approach them or not. For those who do, the response is immediate. Warmth fills you, a sense of completeness, of fulfilled wishes. They invite you to sit - please, do sit - for there is so much to tell you, so much they can explain now that you have finally made it through to them. Ushered, coaxed, congratulated and thanked, those who have approached loved ones will be encouraged to sit and relax. Rest is precious, just like memories. And the road has been so long.
For Zariah though, the way is clear. As she heads for the stairs she will find her loved ones quite suddenly there, blocking the way. Shaking their heads. She will have to kill them to get past, and the same will prove true for Samuel and Ashetta. Death is the only answer to death in these hallowed halls.
The intuitive ones in the group, too, may notice the strange weakness that overcomes them in this chamber. There is an impression that lingering here might well be fatal.
04-02-2019, 05:40 PM (This post was last modified: 04-03-2019, 11:44 AM by Ashetta.)
ASHƎ
if you think i'm pretty,
you should see me in a crown
The dead did not answer her, but they welcomed her with open arms. Imploring her to breathe, to sit, to simply be with them. She stood among them in a daze, eyes greedily drinking in the sight of them all moving and smiling and breathing. Stay, they told her, for she was tired, and she missed them.
Zariah’s sharp voice called out, and Ashe ripped her eyes away to find both the Launcelyn and the ascended trying to leave, but their paths were blocked by more spectres of the dead. Her breath grew shallow as she looked back to Jasper, to MJ, to her father, to Felicity and Isabella. To Ronin. Stay they said. And gods.. gods, she felt herself growing weaker, wanting to stay, to hear them and see them all again. Ronin..
Then a firm voice of silver and shadow slipped in between her thoughts: ’Ashe, you’re getting weaker. You gotta get out of there now. It’s not real. Go, you have to get out.’ Kalt. She grasped for the bond then, a grounding tether to what was real. She didn’t let herself think of what she was doing. Her heart surged as she sent lightning forth from an outstretched palm, her eyes wide with nothing short of horror as that power struck and arced through them one by one: First Jasper, then MJ, then Felicity and Isabella, her father, all in a fraction of a second electrocuted and burned - but it guttered out as she looked up at Ronin.
Her lightning failed her, and she hesitated. She couldn’t, not Ronin, not with him smiling down at her. The others, they had been dead for some time, she accepted they were gone, had mourned each of them. But Ronin - ’Ashe, he’s dead! It isn’t real! It will kill you! It’s a conjured figure, not him.’ Her hand shook. Stay, the dead told her, and she felt weak… But Ronin had told her to live. ”I’ll bring you back,” she whispered against the gathering silver that lined her eyes as she tried to summon her lightning, but even her magic rebelled against this. ’Don’t hesitate. End it now!’ Kalt’s command down the bond jarred the assassin so much that she lunged.
With a ragged sob, Ashe plunged Reckoning up and into Ronin’s heart.
Ashe was sure she felt the blade cleave through flesh and bone, and blood - hot and slick - shower her hand. She wept, yanking out the sword, and she thought she felt the reverberations of bones against the blade stinging her hand. Live. She turned to move for the door, for the stairs, to get away and escape the burning image of what she'd done.
The soul bond was used through her magic ring for Kalt to ground Ashe (Kalt dialogue written by Sage) while she used her lightning to strike down all but Ronin, who was stabbed with her sword before she tried to make her escape. (honey you evil sHIT)
Type: Light
Magic Rings | These rings connect the two wearers mentally - meaning telepathically and emotionally, rendering them privy to each other's every feeling and thought when untrained in protecting one's mind. This can cover vast distances. They will only function together if they are both put on with knowledgeable consent from both wearers.
Sam stayed frozen for a moment, staring into the old and familiar eyes of the man who had once become a sort of father to him. But Zariah's words, though not directed to him, cut through the air and made him realise. This was not real. It was like one of Ludo's tricks he'd heard of, the impossibly cruel act of pretending to be ones loved ones.
It hurt, but he pulled his eyes away and began to walk to the door.
Suddenly, Cornelius stepped before it. "Samuel.." He began to say in his gentle tone, the one Sam knew meant that he was about to be told a lesson. The softness in the voice ripped at his heart but as he heard Ashetta commit her sins, he reminded himself it wasn't real. This wasn't his tutor.
With a heavy sob he reached for the cube in his pocket, held it in his hand for a moment. He knew it was hard and heavy enough to hurt a monster, had hard and sharp corners. Cornelius had always been fragile.
Closing his eyes tight, Sam mumbled "It's not real.." to himself as he drew his hand back and drove the corner of the cube hard into the side of his mentors head.
When he opened his eyes and continued, something had died in him.
--
Sam hits Cornelius in the head with the corner of the cube and continues on (but hes like, really upset about it, what the fuck)
