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!
He'll wrap you in his arms
Tell you that you've been a good boy
Gods but it was a glorious afternoon.
Given the height of the mountains, it was difficult to tell precisely what time of day it was, if only because the sun seemed eternally visible. Conveniently Dorian had an instinctual notion of movement when it came to that particular star, and though its rotation seemed slower all the way up here, still he knew they couldn't be much past midday.
A dragon lay dead and steaming at Dorian's feet, and though there was a gross amount of blood scattered freely upon the vast stones of the amphitheater, none of it appeared to be coming from the man who stood barechested overtop of the creature, breathing in the crisp air by the lungful.
He'll rekindle all the dreams It took you a lifetime to destroy
Gone fishin'. That's what Ronin has written in a note to Remi, but it could mean all manner of things, really. On this particular occasion, Ronin is fishing for alpina. And by fishing, it's more like trying to catch and shear the little fuckers for wool before they right to headbutt his kneecaps off his body. Either way there's a lot of prancing from all parties, and the Nova is having an altogether wonderful time.
Until he smells the blood, that is.
Appearing on a ridge a few feet above the massacre with an alpina lamb wriggling beneath one arm, his face falls at the sight of the dragon, and instinct alone has scale plates, black as night, appearing down his throat and across his shoulders. "Hey," he calls to the figure standing amid the carnage. "Is... is everything alright?"
It's not an exaggeration to say that no one comes up to the Cordillera. This is new, and given that Ronin hasn't run into this man on a jolly mountain trail, it's ominous.
He'll wrap you in his arms
Tell you that you've been a good boy
Perhaps Ronin will have noticed the flash of purple that blared across the sky, or perhaps it will have occurred while his eyes were closed (to help defend against an oncoming headbutt, of course).
Heat roars up from the dragon's body with enough intensity that it has the air shimmering and distorting in thick slices. Basking in the intensity of it, it's only as a voice echoes down from a higher vantage point that Dorian straightens, his bare shoulders tensed, as he turns his head swiftly over one shoulder. In the blink of an eye, he appraises the man above him, dragon scales and unmistakable blue eyes marking him as one of Safrin's chosen. The savage snarl of victory on Dorian's face transforms into one of abject horror and sadness in an instant.
"I...I tried to save her, but..." Dorian's breathless and devastated voice echoes. "..the other dragon, it was far too large. It went over that way.." He turns and points down the mountain, conveniently indicating the direction of the Taliesin's home. "I've never seen anything like it. It looked like it had fallen from the stars."
He'll rekindle all the dreams It took you a lifetime to destroy
Ronin sets down the wriggling alpina, letting it prance its way to safety - because animals, unlike humans, can absolutely sense when there is Very Big No Good happening, and scarper as soon as they are able. Ronin, meanwhile, feels a twist of horror in the pit of his stomach that mingles with his confusion, and for a hot second his blue gaze is spearing across the Cordillera towards home. Leathery wings unfurl from his back, casting shadow over the man and the corpse of the dragon, and it seems that he'll be taking to the skies without another thought.
Of course, that would imply that there isn't a man at home who is more than capable of taking down any variant of dragon, one whose temper is much more easily riled than his own. And so instead of leaving skywards, Ronin drops from the ridge to the rocky sprawl where the stranger stands. "It won't get far," he assures him. "Wh... forgive me, but what are you doing so far up here?"
He'll wrap you in his arms
Tell you that you've been a good boy
Alright. So Ronin hadn't taken the bait and followed the dRaGoN down the mountain. Whether that said more about him or Remi, Dorian wasn't entirely sure just now, but make no mistake he'd not fall victim to this oversight again.
Though Dorian's smile remains precisely as it had been, there is a sudden sharpness to it that hardens his features for just a moment, before the man covered in dragon's blood beams up at Ronin. 'Well thank the Gods for that.' He calls out, sounding clearly relieved, before lacing into place a rather befuddled if not overly polite expression. "Me? Oh! Well you know, the adventurers guild keeps saying they want to come up here and so I thought to myself if I could just map it for them, maybe they'd see it isn't worth all the fuss, you know? It's always the lure of the unknown and all that." Chuckling welshily heartily, Dorian moves away from the dragon's corpse with some (intentional) effort.
"But then..." Hissing in a breath, Dorian looks forlornly down at the slain dragon and gives his head a heavy shake. "I thought perhaps I had reached her in time.."
He'll rekindle all the dreams It took you a lifetime to destroy
Close enough now to see the carnage of the dragon in greater detail - and the blood that covers the stranger - Ronin's brows knot into a frown as bemused as it is worried. "The adventurer's guild?" he echoes, trying his best to pay attention to the other man's explanation even if his focus is almost entirely snatched by the visceral scene draped out before them. "This wasn't a clean death," he mutters.
Coming back to himself as if realising he's also bordering on rude, Ronin straightens up and turns, holding out his hand. "Ronin," he introduces. "And you say you came up here to map the Cordillera? How did... I mean, what did you do about all the dragons?" he asks. There's a reason, after all, that he and Remi are so gloriously alone up on their mountain.
He'll wrap you in his arms
Tell you that you've been a good boy
"Mhmm." Dorian replies calmly and brightly, smiling such that his cheeks grew into rosey little mounds. Blinking, he looks down at the dragon carcass, head tilted to the side slightly. "No? How can you tell?" He wonders, sounding genuinely curious. It absolutely wasn't a clean kill, and in fact there were still burning bits of the dragon still smoldering from where a certain purple blast of void energy had scored through it.
"Oh!" Glancing down at his hand, bloody and sticky, Dorian holds it up apologetically. "Dorian. A real pleasure to meet you." He nearly sings, adopting the tone of the sort of idiot only too pleased to bump into one of Caido's real heroes.
Reaching into one of his pockets, Dorian produces what is actually just a rock, only he's carved a dragon's talon very convincingly into it. "This. Given to me by Frey for precisely this task, actually."
He'll rekindle all the dreams It took you a lifetime to destroy
"Instinct, perhaps," Ronin murmurs, the leathery wings shifting and tucking in against his shoulders as if in silent explanation. "But I've also just seen a lot of death..." Stepping around the carcass, he gestures to the more violent lacerations, the charred flesh, the evidence of violence beyond the mere need to kill. "The creature that did this didn't go straight for the throat. Dragons usually do," he admits, sounding curious as well. "It toyed with it."
The bloody hand is explanation enough, Ronin reaching into his jacket and withdrawing a handkerchief, holding it out for Dorian. "The pleasure is mine. I'm just glad you're alright," he murmurs. If there was any suspicion in the Nova (and given the ups and downs of his life so far, there was), it melts away at the mention of Frey and the production of the rock.
"Oh - well," he says, a warmer smile blooming across his face and a few of the draconic plates morphing back beneath his skin. "How far have you gotten? If you keep following this ridge up, you'll come across Caido's Lighthouse."
He'll wrap you in his arms
Tell you that you've been a good boy
Dorian's eyes sparkle with feigned innocence as he taps the side of his nose and shoots a charming grin at Ronin. Stepping aside with an almost theatrically casual gesture, he gives the Nova room to inspect the dragon's remains. Adopting an air of scholarly curiosity, Dorian gestures toward the mutilated creature. "Why do you think it did that? And what do you make of this?" he inquires, nodding toward the lingering violet pulse on the dragon's flesh.
Expressing genuine gratitude as he reaches for the offered handkerchief, Dorian meticulously wipes the blood from his hands. He releases a relieved exhale and nods. "Me too. I really thought I was a goner, but then it just... fled down the valley. Maybe it sensed you coming?"
Glancing up at the ridge and squinting against the sunlight, Dorian clucks his tongue and shakes his head. "That's where I was headed, but I think I might have bitten off more than I could chew! That said, I suppose I could just mark it out on the map, unless, of course... No, what am I even saying? Of course not, you're a busy man." The words tumble out with an almost musical lilt. "I mean...you wouldn't have time to give me a lift up there, would you?"
He'll rekindle all the dreams It took you a lifetime to destroy
And thus Ronin falls into the role he's been accustomed to taking throughout the war and even before it; happy to help and eager to put wrongdoings right. Except of course in this case it's a trap rather than a role - not that he's aware. "I can only think it has something to do with Safrin's disappearance," he murmurs of the veins of violet that stain the dragons remains. Flexing the hand that holds the starry bracelet, he lets out a sigh through his teeth.
"If I didn't know better I'd say this was done for fun, or at the very least out of curiosity," he admits, making himself step away from the dragon's corpse before he becomes to absorbed by it all. "Cruel, either way." Clearing his throat, he glances back to Dorian and smiles.
"I can't see why not," he says. "It won't take long - then I ought to follow the trail down the valley. I'd suggest not staying up here too long, though. If it's not dragons, it's alpina. Last thing you want is to be headbutted off the Cordillera. Just one second..."
Dark, draconic wings melt back into his shoulders, and scale and plate are replaced by the downy gold and crimson of a phoenix's feathers. With a sweep of one arm morphing into pinions, Ronin sets the dragon's corpse alight so it might at least have a peaceful pyre to rest upon. And if nothing else, it won't attract other creatures. Once that's finished - and Ronin has shaken the feathers back into fingers again - he whistles for his nimbus.
11-28-2023, 08:52 PM (This post was last modified: 11-28-2023, 08:52 PM by Dorian.)
dorian
He'll wrap you in his arms
Tell you that you've been a good boy
A look of profound and utter fascination graces Dorian's features as Ronin speaks, the play of expressions dancing across his face like a well-practiced performance. "Safrin's disappearance, you say?" He echoes, leaning in slightly as if to share a secret. The revelation seems to evoke a sense of genuine curiosity, but beneath the charm, there's a glimmer of something more calculated.
"Indeed." He watches Ronin step away from the dragon's remains, still maintaining the veneer of charming curiosity. "Fascinating, though. From a purely academic point of view, of course."
The smile that spreads across Ronin's face is met with an equally charming one from Dorian, his eyes sparkling with a mix of interest and delight. "I'll heed your advice. One must always be wary of unexpected headbutts, after all." He agrees, before applauding the sudden appearance of the phoenix.
Then, with a casual tone that belies the gravity of his inquiry, he turns the conversation back toward Safrin. "That bracelet you wear, is it a gift from your goddess?"
He'll rekindle all the dreams It took you a lifetime to destroy
"Mm," Ronin says, almost distractedly, before realising that there has been an underlying question in Dorian's comment. "She has been gone for almost a season and a half now," he explains. "I had thought the word had spread through most of the regions by now, sorry." Rolling his shoulders and turning his back on the smouldering corpse - and smiling a touch bashfully at the applause - he gestures for Dorian to take a seat on the nimbus.
"Death and academia are more my husband's purview," he admits, the smile growing warmer and more crooked simultaneously. "I do wonder what he'll make of all this." Sitting beside the other man, the nimbus takes to the air quite easily, allowing them to sail over the herd of (watchful, grumpy) alpina and to see the sprawling horizon overhead. He doesn't see any sign of the dragon Dorian had mentioned, but then again that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
"Oh, this? Yes. Well, sort of." Pulling the sleeve of his jacket back, he shows the star studded bracelet, softly pulsing with (he's sure) more light than even when he'd last checked. "I was given it to mark the passage of time that Safrin has been gone. And the proximity of the danger she left to try and prevent..."
He'll wrap you in his arms
Tell you that you've been a good boy
'"That's quite alright." Dorian replies with a gracious smile, his eyes glinting with genuine curiosity. "I've only just begun to settle down. I've been sort of traveling around up until recently." He listens attentively to Ronin's explanation, nodding with understanding.
As Ronin gestures for him to take a seat on the nimbus, Dorian does so with the grace of someone accustomed to luxury, seemingly unfazed by the fact that it's a cloud carrying him. "Death and academia, you say? Quite the combination," he remarks with a chuckle, wanting to subtly highlight his familiarity with Ronin as a celebrity demigod rather than his husband.
As Ronin reveals the star-studded bracelet, Dorian's gaze flickers to it with polite interest. "A beautiful piece. And a thoughtful way to mark time. I can't help but wonder about the danger Safrin sought to prevent, though surely—" Chuckling under his breath, Dorian gives his head an easy shake as he glances over his shoulder to Ronin. "There can't be much she isn't able to handle, mmm?"
He'll rekindle all the dreams It took you a lifetime to destroy
"No better time to settle down somewhere," Ronin admits - with an impending potential crisis on the horizon, wandering can often be more dangerous than beneficial. "And he certainly is." Quite the combination, he means, and if the Nova's gaze lingers somewhere off on the horizon in the direction of a certain waterfall, so be it.
He sits aboard the nimbus, of course, as if he was born to travel upon it, and it takes no time at all for them to come upon Caido's Lighthouse. Brightening at the sight of the landmark - and for Dorian's remarks about Safrin - Ronin nods easy agreement. Your faith is showing, some might say. "I'm sure things will be fine," he murmurs. "Though it's best to overprepare and not need it, I think."
Landing the nimbus before the lighthouse, the Nova stretches his arms above his head. "I'll leave you to your map making, then. If you need somewhere to rest on the way back down the mountain, I live close to the Weightless Waterfall. If I'm not there, tell Remi you know me. He might be bristly, but he wouldn't turn you away."
