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!
Seeing everything from above – cosmic intertwinings and disastrous multitudes – only painted part of the picture. So she felt very adrift, anxious, and discontent as she traversed from Stormbreak’s hospitable world to below – eyes peering over edges and looming along the wake of the earth; overwhelmed and flooded waters of Halo, the rush of seas and bays that had never come so close to the Citadel.
Even upon her arrival the anxious edges wouldn’t cease, as her eyes went to the rush of people coming and going along the street. She didn’t know where to begin, except to ask, and gazing upon passersby, she wondered if she was only intruding, the box in her hands full of medicinal herbs, and likely not enough. Biting her lip, she cast about, until finally there were some individuals ceasing long enough for her to ask. “Hello, I’m so sorry, I’m Lena from Stormbreak – how can I help?”
01-02-2024, 02:43 AM (This post was last modified: 01-02-2024, 02:43 AM by Sah.)
Sah
What is knowledge without wisdom?
Sah was with a group clearing rubble and looking for survivors using his telekinesis when he heard a familiar voice. Turning he spotted Lena, "Lena." He gave her a strained smile, "It's good to see you. Thank you for coming." He quickly lays out the most urgent tasks, "There are still people who are unaccounted for and we're searching the rubble. Others are gathering emergency supplies to bring to the Citadel and to distribute to those in need. There's also just general clean-up of the rubble and wreckage."
He takes a breath, "Any help at all would be greatly appreciated." There was so much to do. The destruction hadn't even been fully catalogued and who knew what the final death toll would be. Sah's brow furrowed, "Is Stormbreak, ok?" He had no idea how isolated or far-reaching the destruction was.
Recognizing Sah gave her instant relief, though it was short-lived when he delivered the news – eyes widening, mind going back to a time and place where all of this had occurred for Stormbreak as well. She knew what it was like to lose pieces of one’s self, family, and friends in the wake of disaster, and it was horrific that so many others know how to live through the same experiences. “Okay,” she uttered with a firm nod, eyes no longer so widened, but hardened, determined, ready and eager to help. “I can assist in what you’re doing,” which looked like picking apart the rubble.
Placing the box of herbs down, she snagged at the gloves in her pockets, crouching and snagging at the piles of debris nearby without a second thought. “I’m so sorry about what’s happened here, and in Torchline.” She wasn’t certain about the other regions, and one could hope they hadn’t been hit or pummeled as hard. “Stormbreak is fine. We weren’t affected.” Which made her cringe, slightly, brows furrowing as she pulled away more pieces. “So we’re trying to lend support and aid where we can.”
Sah's smile brightened slightly as he returned Lena's nod. Gesturing for her to join him, he turned back to the rubble as she pulled on her gloves. Using a combination of his telekinesis and manual digging, the Wild Thunder cleared debris and placed it into a pile he'd already been working on when Lena had arrived. When items that were valuable such as family mementos, weapons, or stuffed animals emerged, he set them into a separate pile. He'd find their owners later.
"I'm glad to hear that Stormbreak is ok." Smiling dropping, Sah let out a heavy sigh, "Thank you. Hopefully, we can stabilize Halo quickly enough to send help of our own to Torchline too." The tropical region was in dire need of aid and the Abandoned sorely wished that he could be in two places at once.
The last time Lena had picked through pockets of debris, it had been amidst fallen Towers in the aftermath of the Ascended attack. She’d found her sister within its contents soon after – and though that dreadful thought crossed her mind, she continued and persisted, head down, eyes occasionally wandering to see what Sah was collecting, and what they’d find valuable here – to salvage and save.
Her heart panged at tiny, dusty, sooty stuffed animals, or even a longlost weapon, some family heirloom cracked and damaged. Newfound determination set along her jawline, and her fingers lightly touched along rocks and debris, edges of broken wood, before finding a dagger, and gingerly setting it aside.
At the words though, she nodded. “I’ll be going there soon too.” Then, out of curiosity, and because she figured it would eventually intermingle with the Celestine, her head tilted vaguely. “Have you had any influx of the void creatures here?”
Sah nodded approvingly at Lena as she began to add to the pile. He gently placed a stuffed wolf down with one hand while his magic added an axe alongside it to the pile.
"I haven't personally seen them in Halo but there have been reports." It had been a concern brought up by multiple hunters. Ursur were already dangerous enough, but void ones? If things continued as they were, there would be endless issues, a possible shortage of game being one. Thankfully, there hadn't been signs of such a worst-case scenario just yet. Halo's hunters were adaptable and tenacious, they were making do so far.
Her fingers touched upon a few other trinkets and baubles, ornamental designs once carved or riveted by hand. Her ministrations were careful over the contents, softly dusting them away from debris or refuse, before placing them alongside other fallen and found brethren – hoping their owners would eventually be reunited with the tokens.
The answer caused her head to tilt, but without much more information than that, she’d have to pry. “What was reported? I’ve been trying to compile notes as best I can – in case they come to the Celestine, or others want to know.” Or were aching to encounter…but Lena wasn’t one of them.
As for Stormbreak’s, she nodded slowly, sifting through another pile. “Some Mata Mata, Rock Sliders, ravens, and even books, have become something of an anomaly.”
Sah's brow furrowed as Lena explained the extent of void corruption that was making its way through Stormbreak. "From what I've been hearing, memory snow, fox foxes, and even luxere have been spotted with odd coloring and concerning behavior." He shook his head, "Luxere are usually so skittish and now they've become downright aggressive apparently. According to hunters their meat also appears inedible, though thankfully I haven't heard of anyone trying." Luxere were a major source of food in Halo and he could only pray that this corruption didn't spread to all of them. On a personal note, the Abandoned wondered if they would even shy from him with void corruption in their veins. Normal luxere avoided him like the plague. If the void luxere charged him, it'd be more of a concern than the snow turning purple.
Placing a dagger down, Sah grimaced, "The worst that I've heard is that corrupted ursur have been spotted too. They're dangerous enough already. "
The Abandoned froze when he heard a distant sound after dislodging a broken beam, surging upward to roughly shove another one off of a chunk of debris. A hand grasping outward appeared, and he took it, beginning to pull the person out as he used his magic to move more rubble, "Lena!" He called out, not looking over, knowing she would come help. From a brief look, it appeared that the person had been lucky and had been trapped in a pocket of space within the destruction instead of being crushed.
Her brows notched together again at the notions of so many more - memory snow, frost foxes, luxere, ursur…she wouldn’t be surprised to hear of other lands having the same issues – prey becoming predators, vicious and aggressive. “How awful,” she murmured, placing a metallic comb aside with the other arranged trinkets. “The problem is, I don’t think any of us know what to do with them. What have you been doing here to combat it?” She’d presume hunting and mauling, but perhaps they’d come up with other solutions.
The sudden rush of movement distracted her though, and the hand slipping through beams and debris made her breath catch in her throat. How many years had it been since she’d found Sera in much the same way? Battered, bruised, and soon…gone. So she froze for half a second, mind churning through the distinct and traumatic memories, and then Sah was barking at her, and she regained stature from her crouch, hands shaking all the while. “Hang on, we have to get more of this out of the way.” Without crushing – her jaw clenched, fingers going for another beam.
Sah would have to answer Lena's question later, perhaps even ask her to repeat it. He hardly caught the words as he moved to rescue his fellow Halovian. He distantly noticed her slight hesitation but only in the manner that every second seemed to last an hour when the initial rush of adrenaline hit.
Yet, soon Lena was at his side and working to help him clear the rubble and beams. There was a strained 'Thank you' called out from beneath them as Lena's words reached the survivor. Gritting his teeth and using both muscle and magic, Sah shoved the last two beams away. A young man looking worse for wear emerged, dust coating his clothes and minor scrapes across his skin. He was awake and alert with no obvious major injuries.
Sah crouched beside him, hesitating to pull the man to his feet just yet in case of a head injury. "Are you ok? Can you stand?" The Wild Thunder only knew basic first aid and he glanced at Lena, hoping she would have a better idea if it was medically safe or not to move the citizen to the infirmary.
Lena’s experience with medical aid was often rendered to animals, but she’d offered enough mending and healing towards humans to strive onward. Ignoring the shaking and trembling of her hands, she fumbled through her basket and retrieved her staff. “Can I look you over?” The young man seemed rattled and shocked, perfectly understandable reactions to the horrors he’d just faced, and a rough examination gave the Caretaker a moment to settle and calm herself as well.
This stranger was alive. It wasn’t a repeat.
“I can tend to you a little now,” raising her staff to show what she’d been utilizing, “but you should see someone at your infirmary as well.” Who knew how long he’d been under there – without the proper food, water, and necessities. “Do you have any water?” She asked Sah, while beginning to wave her tool over the youth.
Sah nodded as the rescued Halovian calmed enough for Lena to tend to him, "I can bring him to the infirmary in a moment. It's in the process of renovation but enough has been done to make it functional." As for the water, the Wild Thunder turned his hand and held it out palm up. Water bubbled into existence, forming a ball in his hand.
One of the other people digging through the rubble handed him an empty canister and Sah poured the water into it before handing the cup to Lena, "I can make as much as you need." Procuring another canister of water, he placed it next to the youth to drink once his hands had stopped shaking enough to hold the cup.
As he calmed, Lena waved her staff over the stranger; at best, a form and mode of stability before he could be motioned towards the infirmary. Then she backed up a ways, glancing over the man as drinks were created and given, dragging another deep breath through her lungs and ensuring her fingers ceased their trembling. “Okay. He should be fine to get there then.” If and when there was an opportunity – her eyes glancing down the road. “I can help with that too, if you need it.” One supportive frame under each shoulder could be far more efficient than dragging the poor man further along the cobblestones.
Sah was physically capable of carrying the man alone, but he nodded. "Yes, please." After watching Lena tend to the man, he was slightly reluctant to let her go before at least showing her where the infirmary was. If she wished to stay in Halo and keep helping with recovery, she'd need to know where it was.
Gently, the Abandoned reached down and threw one of the young man's arms over his shoulder, pausing long enough for Lena to do the same. Together, they carefully carried him to the infirmary. Spotting them as they entered, a healer rushed over to help. Briefing them on the situation, Sah and Lena left the survivor in their capable hands before returning to other relief efforts.
