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!
karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?
Listen. You might be saying to yourself, a party? in this economy these trying times? Which, yes, the weather was fucked up just about everywhere and shit was going horribly wrong with the plants and animals, but you know what? It's still going to be like that regardless of what you do, so you may as well come and drink for free and tell Flora good job or w/e..
Which is basically what the invitations Flora had sent out to everyone had said.
So, after hastily getting her dads to bring enough booze to get the entire island shit-faced and then sending them off to kill something to roast that evening (so much more convenient now that they'd moved back to Torchline) and giving the tavern a cursory clean, Flora had marched off to the Notice Board and post office? to send out her invitations. Luckily with all the magical resources available in this world, she didn't think hearing about it last minute would pose much of a problem.
And should someone not be able to show? Well, Torchline's new Queen might just take that personally.
Ronin is on killing something to roast duty, and he's managed to secure some ramphire and an echo shark or two (maybe he's still got a vendetta from the beach cleanup) for the Hanged Man. Having just arrived back, he ducks into the tavern and offers his adopted daughter a bright smile for her trouble, indicating drinking with an invisible cup to ask for a something to slake his thirst and get him on the way to tipsy.
"I know you don't need to hear it from me of all people, but I'm very proud of you," he murmurs around a much needed sip of liquor, his eyes warm. "Congratulations. If you need me I'll be out by the bonfire getting everything ready." You know, all the less fun stuff like skinning and filleting and whatnot.
It's impossible for Jack to be considered late, given that he believes that any occasion only really begins when he arrives. Regardless, he gets there when he gets there, and fuck him sideways, but the Doubletake has only gone and done it. Given her new status as queen, the captain takes a moment to purposely find her in the growing crowd of attendees, offering her a roguish little bow for her trouble.
"I s'pose you'll be expectin' me to refer to you as Your Highness from now on?" he drawls, snagging her hand to press a brief kiss to the back of it. "Don't get cocky, though. Work's only just startin' from here, remember." And he knows she knows it, and besides, he's contentedly afloat on the bubble of Flora's pride and celebratory thoughts.
They can talk shop later.
And they really, really should.
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
Remi, in order to avoid all the social niceties that come with an event such as this, has opted to be the bonfire upon which @ Ronin roasts the food. Sitting within a circle of stones, the Lullaby burns brightly, occasionally letting his flames dance higher in lieu of waving at someone he knew.
'You know, I prefer this.' Remi advises, turning green eyes made a pale yellow by the fire toward his husband and curling tendrils of flame towards him. "I am going to make an effort now that we've moved back, but this lets me ease into it." Waggling what might have been his fingers over the spitted ramphire, the fire seems to shrug. "Besides, now that Flora is Queen, if we end the night like we did when last we were all here like this, she might decide to throw us both in jail." Fairly featureless as an ifrit, Remi still manages to grin mischievously.
Every shade of hurt you know From the deep blue to the marigold
It's gonna make sense someday lookin' back
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Should'a seen what I wore I had a cane and a party hat
Having begged and bribed (i.e. asked nicely) Everest to fly La Verbena down to Torchline, Mateo is fully intending to celebrate his sister's ascension to royalty with every bone in his body. (And if there are some particularly good looking people about, with one bone in particular, he hopes).
Swanning into the Hanged Man, clad in a mix of leather and a literal fisherman's net, it's true that the botanist looks more as though he belongs in a bondage club than a tavern, but he's nonetheless thrilled to be there. With his dark curls perfectly tousled and lips devil red, he fully intends to smooch a mark onto his sister's cheek if he gets the chance.
"Congratulazioni, sorellina! Te lo meriti," he trills, and if he's already a little buzzed, well, it's an amount of time between Stormbreak and here, okay?
I was the king of this hologram where there's no such thing as getting out of hand
from the mornings you ease to the evenings you quiet I'm always thinking of you, I'm always dreaming of you
Hotaru will only accept the grievous injustice of ‘the least amount of parent of too-many-parents’ congratulating her daughter first because she was not tasked with anything aside from her presence. Then there’s another man stealing her away, and more guests, and ugh. Which, yes, she’s quite proud that her daughter cinched another great turn out but also they need to move now thank you. Hotaru can only entertain herself for so long when she wants something.
The gleam of her eyes as she reaches to envelop her daughter in a hug makes it clear she intends to imprint her natural scent and perfume on the new Queen in subtle territorial marking - which makes it a good thing that Flora won’t notice as a non-Attuned. “So proud of you my love,” she exerts out on a tight squeeze, peppering kisses across Flora’s face as she will never stop wanting to do.
Pulling away, her grin is positively mischievous. “And great taste in title. Much better than Governess.” Her eyes flit over to Sunjata, eyes crinkling unrepentantly as she winks his way.
the valkyrie
say my name, say I'm yours promise we'll never be oceans apart
totally sniped from odd ilu
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
Quite used to the wolf whistles that follow Mateo when he's dressed in this particular style, it's with his hands in his pockets and his mind doing a triple-check that he'd properly secured Le Verbana before leaving her, that Everest follows Mateo.
Having already been to the tavern that morning to help clean before piloting back to Stormbreak to pick up Mateo, it's in the same clothes he'd been in earlier (Everest had declined the bow-tie made up of fishing hooks that the botanist had offered him), that the aviator wishes Flora congratulations once again. "If you need any extra help around here, just let me know." He said politely, before instantly going behind the bar to start filling orders once it became clear that Flora had absolutely no intention of doing this herself.
even if i had to lose you to know you, i'd still be that temporary phase that you grow through
relive who i've been at my worst, every single night, looking for a distraction
So the advice had worked, and Sunjata finds himself feeling particularly free as he enjoys the interior of the Hanged Man as everyone stops to greet and congratul the new queen. Even the fact that Ronin and Remi are here doesn’t damper his mood, evident in the way his scars flicker with a few bursts of lightning. Hotaru’s comment as she envelops her daughter has a playfully offended gasp leaving him. “I quite liked Governor, thank you very much.” He chuckles.
But his attention swings to Flora quickly after, reaching for her to give her a hug that has far less tension than the last time when she’d pounced on him for a hug in this very bar. “I told you that you wouldn’t know unless you tried.” He reminds her affectionately. “I’m proud of you, Flora. Congratulations.” Comes the softer rumble, pulling away to wrap an arm around Hotaru’s shoulders, a hint more openly possessive.
He is quick to grab a drink from a passing waiter, though, one for himself and Hotaru, content to settle in and see just how much inspiration the newly minted queen has taken from the bar in the House of Midnight.
the flood
waiting for the sun to rise pretty sight for some hollow eyes
totally sniped from odd ilu
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
I've done nothing wrong Except for all the atrocities
Melita crash-landed her skyboat directly outside the bar (practicing, okay, and no nothing was broken thank you very much), she brushed her hands together, considered it a job well done, and opted to beeline her way into the party.
Flora’s triumph wasn’t a surprise – it’d been brewing for a while now – but the circumstances meant somewhere along the way Hadama had yielded. If the smuggler was mildly disappointed by a lack of a coup, she didn’t express it, instead cupping her hands around her mouth and loudly shouting “Congratulations!” over the din and roar of the crowd. Before eventually winding around and snagging her own bottle, and waving towards Sunjata and Hotaru.
She still had some things to explain to her uncle, but eh. Later.
This was Flora's party, and Hadama was content to float at one end of the ocean side of the bar with a drink in webbed hand, watching with amiable solemnity as the new queen received the congratulations of her friends and family.
With Remi and Ronin busy at the fire, he turned his attention instead to others that had arrived. A nod to Sunjata, the respect of one ruler to another. A wave of welcome to Hotaru and Melita, both of whom he had seen far too little of in recent seasons. A thoughtful tilt of his head as he watched Jack 's interaction with the new Queen.
He took a sip of his drink, clear as water though it burned like fire, and relaxed into the convivial atmosphere of the background of the party. If anyone wanted to find him, he would be easy to spot, but today all eyes were supposed to be on Flora.
The young Heart of Stormbreak wouldn't miss her friend's party for the world, and she arrived with a small package tucked under one arm to throw her free arm around Flora's neck. "Oh, you look radiant," she gushed as she pulled back, looking her friend up and down. "Congratulations! Queendom suits you," she added with a wink. But as much as she wanted to share in Flora's joy, she also knew that she wasn't the only one wanting to congratulate the young Queen. She handed Flora the small package - which, if Flora were to open it, contained a finely made crown of gold - and slipped away, squeezing Flora's hand as she disappeared back into the crowd.
Everest had somehow been roped into filling drink orders, and Sohalia leaned against the bar as she waited for hers. "Hello, Everest," she said with a smile. "How in Caido did you end up back there?"
And now that you're close I feel like coming undone
Edmund arrives fashionably late against his will, having been trapped under a mountain of paperwork as he finishes his report for Hadama. Hopefully, it'll be on the King's desk by the end of the week. Spotting their new Queen, the Ancient makes his way over. It's no surprise to find her surrounded by faces both familiar and new to him.
"Congratulations, Flora." The smile he gives her is warm, "If there's ever anything that I or the Adventurers' Guild can do to help, please don't hesitate to reach out." Taking a sip of his drink, the Ancient has to suppress a wince at the unexpected strength. Perhaps he should have asked for something weaker instead of simply something grabbing a drink from an offered tray.
I'm bringin' sexy back Them other fuckers don't know how to act
Koa'd been surprised-yet-not to learn about Flora's new title. Surprised, because it's not every day someone's fuckbudy-turned-enemy-turned-kinda-crush-but-it's-complicated announces that they're the queen of a whole region now.
(Except basically the same thing happened with Sohalia. So maybe not as rare as you'd expect.)
Unsurprised, because if anyone was going to decide they wanted to be an queen and then make it happen, it's certainly the Doubletake.
Koa shows up showing out, in his finest set of Dragoon grooming, hair coifed and leathers polished, his copper eyes gleaming in the (Remi?)firelight. He's got a huge bouquet of flowers, of course, but there's quite a crowd around the woman of the hour already, and the Dragoon feels like now might not be the optimal time to squeeze in for congratulations. For now he's content to leave the flowers among the other gifts, a note tucked in amongst the blooms - something for her to read later, perhaps.
Snagging a bottle of rum from Everest and waving to his other friends (not you, Edmund), Koa makes his way toward the fire, and the demigods set up there. "Drink?" he offers to Ronin and Remi, not particularly sure the latter can imbibe. "I've actually been hoping to talk to you, Mist-- ah, Ronin. I think I could use some mentorship and advice, whenever you have time." His grin is bashful and chagrined, a wince creasing his copper eyes. He doesn't know how much the Nova has heard of his various blunders, but he's confident that if anyone can help repair them, it's the former Commander of the Storm.
Koa Carpenter
If that's your girl, better watch your back 'Cause she'll burn it up for me, and that's a fact
Tal didn't get so many invitations that he wanted to turn down any. Or, well, it was nice to have the option to turn them down, but since Flora was being nice enough to offer free drinks and pissing off another region's rulership seemed like a poor survival choice Tal slipped into the Hanged Man after making his last delivery to the region.
Stopping by for a few minutes would be alright. How much trouble could he really get into if he just popped in, said 'hi', and then ran the fuck away?
"Hey, Flora. Congrats on the Queen thing!" he called from outside her circle of friends and family. He gave the new ruler a wave and then ducked back into the crowd to make his way back out.
Maybe he could hide behind Koa and Ronin at the firepit? Yeah. That seemed like a solid plan, and he headed over to the dragoon squad to try and blend in with a nod of silent greeting for them both.
And then a small jump of surprise when he realized the fire was a Remi in disguise!
