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!
And I feel like my castle's crumbling down And I watch all my bridges burn to the ground
Left to take Tal's word for the Heart of Stormbreak's aptitude for the role, Liam merely nodded noncommittally. Time would tell. Perhaps he would be surprised. Truth be told, if she lasted longer than a few seasons, she'd be ahead of several of their past leaders.
Not that it was his problem anymore. But that didn't mean he wouldn't worry.
"The Greatwood and its inhabitants have been kind to me," Liam agreed, staunchly determined to remain in good cheer. He'd already spent far too long wreathed in grief, and his family wouldn't have wanted him to mourn forever. While he could never replace them, he also knew that they would want him to live on for them, and so he soldiered ever onward. "It's been peaceful. It's very different from Stormbreak. Much less grey," he added with a smile. It was certainly a far cry from the city out here in the woods, but he'd grown to appreciate the difference.
And you don't want to know me, I will just let you down You don't wanna know me now
Silently relieved that Liam didn't share anything more about his dead family, even if he felt a smidge of guilt at the unworthy emotion, Tal went back to working in his lantern with fingers gone cautious and a little clumsy until the mood lightened. Not much but... hail, it was better than nothing.
"Yeah... seems pretty nice here," he agreed. "More green'n blue an'... well. 'Cept for the Will o' Wisps it's not too bad." He wrinkled his nose in rueful memory of the weird hunt he'd gone on, even if he hadn't gotten very many of the nasty lying light-orbs. "An' the Glotters," he added darkly.
Though thinking about the Greatwood's people brought a more pleasant memory to the surface and his fingers steadied as he made the final adjustment's to his lantern's top and worked on screwing it into place. "Actually... first time I met Soh - er, th'Heart - was here. Well, not here," he gestured with the little screwdriver at the riverbank. "But in Sidhe Village. At a little teashop there."
Lifting his finished lantern he checked it over, then grinned in satisfaction. "I think I'm done! How's yours comin'?"
And I feel like my castle's crumbling down And I watch all my bridges burn to the ground
Just as Tal was relieved, so, too, was Liam. Some people might press about his family, but the courier seemed just as willing to leave the topic behind as the soldier. When he mentioned the Will o' Wisps and the Glotters, Liam raised an eyebrow. It sounded like there was a story there. "I will do my best to steer clear," he said, making a mental note to look up more about the creatures when he made it back to the village.
For now, though, it seemed that talk of the Luminary wasn't quite done. He talked of the girl so fondly that Liam had to wonder if there wasn't something more than friendship between the two of them. Not that it was his business. But Phoebe and her son might be interested, if that was the case. "Really?" he asked, eyes firmly on his lantern. "Was she from here? I only heard that she's new to Stormbreak."
As for his lantern, it was close to being done. "Almost done," he said with a smile, holding up the last pane of glass, which he promptly slid into place. "There." And with that, today's mission had been accomplished. "They look just like they're supposed to," he said approvingly, holding his lantern up before looking Tal's over. "Thanks again for bringing those supplies all the way out here."
And you don't want to know me, I will just let you down You don't wanna know me now
Blissfully oblivious to the thoughts sparking through Liam's head, Tal gave an easy shake of his head as he worked on his lantern's final, finicky touches. "Nah," he said confidently. "She was a Grounder, originally. Started travelin' after th'War, an ended up here for a little while." On her way to Stormbreak, as it turned out, though she hadn't known it yet. It was still a little hard to believe someone so young was leading an entire region, but Tal believed if anyone could do it, Sohalia could.
Tal finished his work and, a moment later, so did Liam. He looked almost surprised that both lanterns had turned out according to plan, but a brief scrutiny of the diagrams proved the ex-dragoon's words to be true. "Huh. How 'bout that." He sounded pleased as he rose, dusting off his butt and managing to grab one of Boreal's horns right before she could take a bite out of the instructions. She gave him a look of wounded innocence but allowed herself to be pulled away. "Hey, thanks for lettin' us build one, too. Can never have enough lights with LongNight comin' up!" He managed a lopsided grin in place of his more usual scowl.
"We better get back t'work, but if y'need anythin' delivered, just send me a note." Business suitably plugged, Tal gave a final wave and headed back to his ship to fly on to the next customer.
