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!
life shivers, melts, moves on the pain says I have come for you
Catching rainbows had never been on Deimos’ initial thoughts – he was much more likely to dive into mischief and antics, while avoiding sentiments of bright hues. Regardless, the mission had been instilled, and even if he took it on begrudgingly, it was a change of pace from worrying about changes in weather patterns, meteor-crash sites, and plants.
Glancing back at Sah as he took long strides across the marked hunter paths of the tundra, he nodded towards where he figured some amount of light could be snagged across the sunlit expanse. “We can try here. Could probably even make one with our water magic if we cannot find anything,” through snow, or a distinct little halo. Just enough to alter some particles, much like when one caught it in the right luminescence while they amused themselves – perhaps by spraying friends. “What would you like to snag them in?” His thoughts had leered more towards something tangible, like nets, but their hands would be suitable too - he’d wait on input from the other Abandoned.
Catching rainbows has been an unexpected part of their instructions. Light could be collected via reflection and harvested as warmth. Rainbows however were far less tangible and Sah couldn't fully wrap his mind around what they would be providing in their harvest. The novelty of it wasn't lost on him though.
As such, he gave Deimos a mischievous grin. "Let's try with our hands. I want to see if they can be thrown." Picking up a rainbow and tossing it into a jar seemed impossible but perhaps it'd be a fun challenge. As he spoke, the Wild Thunder tracked the light around them, searching to see if the melting ice had formed any rainbows.
life shivers, melts, moves on the pain says I have come for you
The Sword was equally confused by the measures, but figured since it was Frey’s dominion and task, he wasn’t one to question it. The tangible aspects, however, seemed much more concerning, and he had to wonder if he simply didn’t engage in enough merriment as a child, to have never chased after rainbows.
Gulls, sure. Weapons training soon after.
Arching a brow, he snorted at Sah’s mischievous grin and the implications behind it. “Worth a shot.” But first, they’d have to find such auras – and he did much the same, eyes flickering downward over portions and pieces of ice, over looming snow remaining despite the alteration in weather. “I am not certain I have ever seen one in the snow.”
Deimos brought up a point, "I haven't either." Sah had seen rainbows in water and reflecting in ice before, but never snow. Perhaps an indirect method would work then. Letting out a hum in thought the Wild Thunder channeled his magic. He quickly created two small sheets of glass to act as mirrors.
Handing one to Deimos he explained with a small shrug, "We can use the first one to create a rainbow and the second to reflect the rainbow onto the snow. I don't know if it will work but it's worth a try. What do you think?" If rainbows generally didn't appear on the snow, this might be their best bet. Once the rainbows were on the snow, they could then collect them.
At first it looks like a few piles of snow. But as you approach it becomes clear these piles are deliberate. Someone has taken a copious amount of memory snow and dumped it here to create a message on the ground. BITCH That’s it. That’s the message. Someone very petty and very dedicated can clearly hold a grudge.
You’ve encountered memory snow. This counts as a common creature encounter for the purposes of levelling, but does not count as a Random Event for levelling or MP. There will be no further admin/re intervention. If you choose to follow this creature, you do so at your own risk, however, just having it in this thread is enough to satisfy your levelling requirements. (You may not kill your rare creature without admin permission. )
Memory Snow (Common): When shaped, the fallen snow seems to retain a memory of that shape and will reform if disassembled (snowmen who are knocked over or who melt will immediately reform when possible)
life shivers, melts, moves on the pain says I have come for you
The Sword’s brow arched at the creation of the mirrors, but shrugged, accepting one on the opportunity and chance they’d be able to contort and manifest one on their own. “We can try,” and he nodded, opting to walk further, intending to find a spot where they could perhaps lean one against a rock, while the other individual strived to catch the rainbow with their hands…
Though he was distracted momentarily by the patch of memory snow they began to meander by. One clear outline gave him pause, brow arching – usually not one for curses or oaths; much more inclined to other nefarious ways of vengeance. It struck him as humorous though, and he spent a good moment muffling some laughter through his lungs, before shaking his head and moving on.
Eventually though, there was a decent sized boulder, and he propped his mirror against its side. “Here might work?” Though he was entirely open to suggestions – a bit out of his elements with rainbow formations.
Sah snickered as he spotted the snow, "Classy." Whoever did this have the Abandoned's respect. Pettiness was wonderful and he was all for it. Stepping over the message so as not to damage it, though it would reform, he fell into step with Deimos. The Sword placed his mirror down and the Wild Thunder glanced at the sky.
Judging the location of the sun he held his mirror to focus the sunlight onto the other mirror, letting the light reflect onto the snow below. "I think so." Using his water and air magic, Sah built up a mist in between the mirrors, hoping that a rainbow would form. This was a new endeavor for him as well, but he'd made rainbows in the air before to entertain his children.
life shivers, melts, moves on the pain says I have come for you
Deimos waited for Sah to place his mirror nearby, watching as more elements formed between the reflecting images. Then, it seemed to be much of game amidst patience, and he settled into silence, narrowed eyes striving to catch motions of bent light and rainbow hues. Fortunately, he’d learned the art of forbearance long, long ago, and could be an individual settled amidst silence and concentration for a while –
But –
Bits and pieces of blended colors began to emerge, and he remained close by, crouching down until more took shape, reaching outwards to “catch” them with his hands, snorting all the while. Glancing at his palms, he shook his head, glancing back to Sah. “You can try this time,” and conjured more mist amidst air and water as well, granting opportunities for the foolishness.
The overall strategy seemed to work, but rainbows were clearly hard to grab. Adjusting the mirror so that it would maintain the rainbow while still freeing his hands, Sah renewed the mist. Colors flickered to life across the snow, sloping into arcs as they aligned themselves with the icy ground.
Reaching down with his free hand, the Wild Thunder attempted to gently pick up one of the rainbows. Thinking of them as existing just above the snow, he imagined scooping under them to lift them into his hand. For a brief moment, the rainbow appeared on his hand with an odd tingling sensation. "This is such a weird feeling."
Hesitantly closing his fist, Sah lifted his hand. Pausing for a moment he opened his fist, unsure of his success. Somehow a little rainbow swirled in the palm of his hand. Baffled, he grinned at Deimos with a chuckle, "Got one." Glancing at the jar he paused with a furrowed brow, "Do I pour it in? Or try to place it?"
life shivers, melts, moves on the pain says I have come for you
Deimos, ever the observant and diligent cretin, watched as Sah managed to snag and catch at the elemental fixtures. Briefly baffled and perplexed himself, and pondering over other opportunities missed, he snorted as the rainbow seemed to flicker and remain along the Abandoned’s palm – clearly tangible. “Bizarre,” he laughed, maintaining the balance of incantations and fixtures. As for the other notions of methods, the Sword could only shrug his shoulders and shake his head. “I say whatever way works best.” If something slithered or fell away, they could always snag another.
Which led him to trying again, because he was a patient, forbearing monolith too, and crouching further, he reached for another brief glow of the blending hues. Careful, methodical, and purposefully slow, he reached as if it might dash away into the day, hoping it somehow managed to stick to his palms.
Sah let out a small snort and opened the lid of the jar, "Alright." He angled his hand and let the rainbow slide out and land in the glass with a 'plop'. His expression contained the glee of a child helping their parent bake cookies. If he were the kind to giggle, he'd be doing so uncontrollably. The rainbow left residue on his hand as if it were made of slime and the Wild Thunder shook his hand gently to get the rest of the colors to drip into the jar. Somehow the rainbow's colors remained distinctive instead of mixing as one might expect of any other substance. "So weird."
Securing the lid on the jar, Sah watched as Deimos attempted to collect a rainbow himself. This might have been the strangest quest-related collecting that he'd ever done. Perhaps it was the same for the Sword.
life shivers, melts, moves on the pain says I have come for you
The Sword had concocted and contorted many actions for multitudes of quests; most ranging from onslaughts, beacons, actions pressed and manifested in building or constructing. This one was so particularly odd and strange, without rhyme or reason for its clarity, that he couldn’t help but be amused.
While Sah’s slid into his jar, Deimos took longer to parse through the strange feeling along his palm. Wet, slimy, slippery, something akin to grabbing hold of a fish, he waited until it had stilled long enough for him to grab hold of a jar. Needing an extra hand and having none to do so, he allowed his Air magic to firmly grasp the mirror in place, while he gently and carefully tipped his palm towards the container. It slid in with some semblances of gravity, while some stuck to his skin and he had to shake and pry it off before it ultimately loosened and fell too.
Lifting it up to inspect, he snorted. “How many more do you think we need?”
Letting out a chuckle, Sah adjusted his mirror to catch the light more effectively as Deimos finished collecting his rainbow. "Maybe five total? I don't know how they play into the quest but that accounts for the cardinal direction and up." It seemed logical for a dome, not that harvesting rainbows was a logical endeavor at all. But surely there was some method to the madness. Hopefully.
Opening his jar once more, Sah watched as another rainbow danced across the snow. Scooping his hands under the rainbow he shivered as his palm tingled again. Snickering he let his second rainbow fall into the jar, "Why does it feel like a strange slug?" It was the best way he could describe the sensation.
life shivers, melts, moves on the pain says I have come for you
He didn’t know how they fit into the quest either, and hadn’t deigned to ask Frey when they’d been kind enough to grant the request. Nodding at the insinuation, he continued to enact incantations in steadfast movements and motions, aiming for another as the light bent and blended again.
Barely lifting his eyes from the scene, for he craved to maintain the utmost concentration on the task, he still furrowed his brow at Sah’s statement. “Do you pick up slugs often?” Deimos didn’t – but the notion struck him as funny, and he stifled a laugh as his hands went for a broader scope of rays. Much like before, they stuck steadfast to his skin, but he’d already figured out some measures for peeling it away, and lifting it from light particles, he gave one hearty shake as it fell into the jar amidst its brethren with an audible plop.
