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!
It creeps in like a thief in the night Without a sign, without a warning
"Careful!" Noah growled. Maea wasn't going to be hurt by the fire, that he knew, but Deimos had said more than once that touching these creatures or being touched by them was a bad idea. Noah had also seen how badly the tangleweed in the Hollowed Grounds had damaged both Alys and Talyson's minds.
At the same time, Noah lunged towards Maea to try and grab her arm and pull her out of harms way. He did not want her to face the consequences of being damaged by the void dude. Summoning his magic, Noah directed his spirit stag to defend Maea from the creature.
Noah tries to pull Maea away and sends his spirit stag toward the void bastard.
Magic: Spirit Stag | Can summon the spirit of a mighty stag; an echo of Noah's former shift. This will last for 1 post per thread and appears to be made of pure sunlight. Noah can direct the stag to charge at a target, dealing fire damage and causing disadvantage on their next roll.
Type: Light | Rank: Upgraded
But we are ready and prepared to fight Raise up your swords, don't be afraid
A machine where your heart once was Slowly takes the place of you
For his part, Liam was pleased when his arrow found its mark - for all the good it did them. Even with a fire arrow embedded in a lower limb, a light arrow making its way into the voidbark dude, and a barrage of flame from Deimos, the strange creature came ever onward, hissing and aflame, this time to reach for Maea. Suddenly remembering his own run-in with a void creature - or, rather, Anju's near-disastrous entanglement- he shouted, "Don't let it touch you!" as he nocked a new arrow upon the bow.
After all, Anju had nearly died from her experience - and if the horrible whispers floating off this creature were any indication, it would be just as horrific.
So Liam kept his distance, dodging quickly away from his comrades in an attempt to get clear of their forms and loose another fire arrow. Hopefully, it would draw attention away from the others, giving them a clear shot at injuring it.
------
Liam shoots another fire arrow, attempting to get the voidbark dude's attention to shift from the others.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
Fire Quiver | A magical quiver that turns any arrow placed within into a flaming projectile that ignites upon impact. (Made by Deimos)
Only hold the memories now Of a love I thought I knew
what tried to destroy you didn't have the strength
It was an influx of chaos and cacophony, from splitting whispers and harsh, echoing refrains of something no one could quite understand, to the enormous amount of power and movement within the shades of timber, groves, and undergrowth’s bones. Perhaps Metacarpal Isle was exactly this way for multitudes, and moments like these – caught in entanglements of bedlam and disaster.
Noah’s actions, while justifiable, added to the confusion and distortion. An understandable nuance of protection and sacrifice, but wholly undone in the process. Maea’s chakram cut and swindled and notched its way through several root tendrils, causing the great beast to hiss amidst its sibilance, but the Forsaken’s long reach had its own perils – notably to himself. In his attempts, he tripped over many of the other things teeming about the pathways – ending up right in the thorned portions of the void creature’s potential again. The Sword thought about yelling at both or either – but had to control and contort his attention on flames and infernos, presuming Noah could heal them if necessary.
The creature reached and reached, and had it not been for Liam and Deimos, it probably would have struck the demigod. His spirit stag went completely asunder, breaking through limbs and columns of other trees. But the flames coursed and presided, and somewhere in between the muddled brambles, and perhaps the Accepted’s design, the Voidbark turned its sights on him.
--
Maea has hit the tree with her chakram, but has been pulled away in the process by Noah.
Noah tripped over some roots and is currently on the ground.
Liam and Deimos have both hit, but the tree is now heading towards Noah and Liam.
It creeps in like a thief in the night Without a sign, without a warning
In his haste to help Maea stay out of the danger of the void bark and all of its nefarious power, the hunter tripped. Over his own feet or over the mass and tangle of roots all around them were both apt to fault, but Noah didn’t care how it happened. Even as he crashed to the earth he felt relief come over him—for the briefest of breaths—as he watched Maea move further from the creature and back into a safety zone.
Quickly, the demigod’s head snapped to the void creature. Again, as if he still had a bow in his hands, Noah drew. Celestial light formed and snapped and surged — aiming to strike the infected creature with all of Vi’s might, rage, and grace given to the hunter.
Noah stays on the ground and shoots the void dude with this magic!
Magic: Vi’s Ranger | Noah may summon a celestial energy bow with which he can shoot two celestial energy arrows (at one target) up to 30ft. Control is excellent.
Type: Light | Rank: Upgraded
But we are ready and prepared to fight Raise up your swords, don't be afraid
She was doing good work with her daggers. They sliced deep through tough roots, searing as they went - until powerful hands hoisted her clean off the ground and sent the Ancient staggering to the back of the group. Baring sharp fangs with a vexed hiss at both Noah and Liam for their coddling, Maea sought to regain her balance and turned back to face the Voidbark Dude, fully intent on resumed combat. It took her a moment, with tail whipping and vision obscured by too many broad backs, and when she finally had a clear view again, Noah was already on the ground.
As she maneuvered herself into position again, Maea brought the handles of the chakram together with a snick of metal on metal, joining them together into one single throwing disc. When the demigod let loose his arrow, Lasracha followed in its wake. A silken hiss of steel slicing through air could be heard - but she didn't pause to see if it would land.
Stepping backwards, she attempted to regain some more space around herself to shift once more, in the case that the opponent did not go down with this flurry of violence. With no other weapons, it was the tiger or nothing - and she had not come here to be useless.
Maea joins her daggers together into a throwing disc and throws it at the Voidbark Dude. She then backs up to get some space, in case she needs to shift back into the Molten Tiger.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
Lasracha | A pair of chakrams. The outer rim of these throwing discs are sharpened to a razor's edge, and glint with a curious crimson. Imbued with fire, they burn as well as they cut.
Maea
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
A machine where your heart once was Slowly takes the place of you
Liam's second arrow found its mark, and the intention to draw the Voidback Dude away from the others was just as successful - which left the soldier with a bit of a conundrum. A bow was far more useful as a ranged weapon, and with the tree-creature's sights set on him, it might, perhaps, have been more prudent to switch to something more suited to close combat. But he didn't have time to put the bow away and draw his sword before the beast was upon him, and he was loathe to toss the bow aside in favor of the sword.
So the soldier scrambled backwards as he reached for another arrow, trying to get far enough away even through the dense undergrowth to fire one more shot. The Voidbark Dude was an unholy fury, its flaming form pressing ever onwards through the brush. If he could only get clear enough to shoot again, this time aiming for an unscorched part of the tree... perhaps they could end this threat.
------
Laim tries to get a clear shot and fire another arrow!
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
Fire Quiver | A magical quiver that turns any arrow placed within into a flaming projectile that ignites upon impact. (Made by Deimos)
Only hold the memories now Of a love I thought I knew
what tried to destroy you didn't have the strength
Noah, despite earlier blunders, made up for the previous acts with a vicious siege and assault, the celestial light blinding, hitting the tree square in the middle of its trunk. There was another mighty roar from their combatant, and while being on fire and struck by light didn’t seem to cease its unending desire to eliminate, it had certainly slowed the vicious cretin down.
Unfortunately, both Maea and Liam had similar outcomes in their round of barrages: chakram swinging wide and landing elsewhere, another arrow tipped with fire settling into the brush nearby (and had it not been saturated, probably would’ve increased another wild bout of flames).
The Sword’s Mastered elements flared once more, covering and contorting over the monstrous heathen, and in only a few seconds later, it fell, roots and tendrils shriveled, its bark burnt and destroyed, the heavy echo of its thud landing upon the crimson and green surface.
For a moment, Deimos remained absolutely still – waiting for it to somehow return to life, crawl away, or anything thing else that could be surmised from something they hadn’t dealt with before. Predictions might’ve been futile, and his senses were on high alert, gaze beginning to trace over the surrounding shadows, the rest of their current landscape. “Everyone all right?” came on a low rumble, with time to assess the situation at hand.
--
The Voibark Dude has been felled! But…is that all that’s around?
Assess the situation – your character can grab their weapons, be healed, look around, study the void creature, etc. No post order.
Her weapon flew wide off the mark followed by Liam's projectile, but fortunately the other men made the process short with their adversary. With a terrible crash the voidling toppled, leaving behind a terrible stillness counterpointed by lingering hissing and snapping of smoldering lumber.
With no more immediate need to shift, Maea heaved a breath and rolled her shoulders to ease the tension. Her heart kept racing as she stepped up to offer Noah a hand up, annoyance and gratitude warring with common sense - she was clearly not used to being in a party of combatants that cared anything for her wellbeing.
"I'm okay. You good, Noah? Thank you, for trying to help." Even if it hadn't been strictly necessary... Maea appreciated it all the same. Or would, when her blood cooled enough that her teeth didn't feel on edge.
Moments later she was headed for the thicket her weapon had disappeared into. It took a moment to find it, aided by the dent Liam's exploding arrow har made in the vegetation. Yanking the disc free from a normal tree trunk - as normal as anything came on this Island - she returned to the others.
"Should we dispose of this thing, or just leave it lying? I don't know if the corruption will seep into the earth as it decays..." Cautious, Maea approached the Voidbark Dude and crouched down uncomfortably close to it for a close up inspection, intrigued and repelled by its strangeness.
Maea retrieves her weapon and inspects the Voidbark Dude
Maea
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
It creeps in like a thief in the night Without a sign, without a warning
After two celestial arrows made their mark, the demigod scooted himself backward. Deimos’ magic came to aid the creature’s demise, and a smirk lay over the demigod’s face. Vi had given him charge to dispose of all of the vile and evil and danger, so he would. His friends would help. Step by step, they would guard this world as they had always done.
Maea’s hand came down and Noah took it more out of politeness than actual need. ”I’m good.” He said, offering the ancient a reassuring smile. Back to his feet, he smoothed down his shirt and looked to the Sword. ”All fine here.” Noah said. He watched as Maea walked passed him and gathered her weapon, and then lowered down to inspect the voidbark dude. ”I say we make it ash.” Noah lifted a brow then to Noah and Liam, respectively, waiting to see which one of them would want to do it — Deimos with magic, or Liam with the arrows.
Noah suggests they burn the dude.
But we are ready and prepared to fight Raise up your swords, don't be afraid
what tried to destroy you didn't have the strength
Deimos too, stalked and wandered along the edges, eyes narrowed and suspicious. Entirely on guard and unyielding, he only came closer to the Voidbark Dude as it remained entirely still, half-yearning to kick it. “I would like to burn it,” he nodded to Noah at the suggestion immediately thereafter.
So he instilled the flames immediately thereafter, surrounding the cretin once more in a fiery, vicious abyss, content to let it persist and smolder and be reduced to nothing.
But that didn’t mean they were left alone – for while the bark crackled and crumbled, something else lingered in the thicket. The Forsaken would be able to hear it first, a darting sound through the maelstrom of grass and debris, off to his left.
--
The Voidbark Dude is being burned, and there is something else lurking out there. What will you do next? No post order!
With Rayo’s permission, Liam has been skipped for this round. He may rejoin whenever she has the time available.
Said and done, the void creature erupted in flame and was reduced to ashes in minutes. Admiring the magical pyre with mingled envy and delight, Maea observed the cremation with rapt attention in case anything interesting would happen to it under the touch of flame. But when nothing exciting occurred, she eventually got to her feet with a sigh. Ready to head out again.
The rustle in the underbrush had her stop dead before ever taking a step. Scarred hands went straight back to the chakram. Barely breathing, she scanned the dense vegetation for any sign of what caused the noise, and made ready to react; either fight or flee, depending on the need. While it was tempting to rush off into the forest, she knew better than to leave the group. Seasoned fighter she was not, but neither was the that green of a recruit.
And a quiet, sensible part of her admitted that it was quite reassuring to have so many broad shouldered men to hide behind, if the need arose. Not that she'd ever admit it out loud.
Maea grabs her daggers to be ready for a fight, and tries to spot whatever is making the noise.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
Lasracha | A pair of chakrams. The outer rim of these throwing discs are sharpened to a razor's edge, and glint with a curious crimson. Imbued with fire, they burn as well as they cut.
Maea
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
It creeps in like a thief in the night Without a sign, without a warning
With the first adversary handled and dispatched, it seemed the crew were well on their way to follow Vi’s mission. Noah did not linger on watching the void-dude burn, for he knew the level of lethal that Deimos’ flames were. With a simple wrinkle of his nose, the hunter turned to continue on their trek.
But his ears, keen with the works of attuned natures, made him stop. Noah’s eyes darted and narrowed into the darkness and he sent a pulse of alert across the attuned bond towards Deimos. Maea stopped, too — Noah could see her still as the Fangs out of the corner of his eye. Predatory instinct rose up Noah’s spine and he simply whispered, ”Don’t look at me.” Towards Maea before shifting.
Where Noah stood was now a massive, hissing basilisk.
Noah shifts to basilisk, prepared.
Type: Grey | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
The Atticus Amulet | Contains a mythical shift of a Basilisk, which can be used regardless of character race, so long as the character is wearing the amulet. Mythical ability: Stoneheart | Any caught in the eye of the Basilisk may be turned to stone for 3 turns in combat situations.
But we are ready and prepared to fight Raise up your swords, don't be afraid
what tried to destroy you didn't have the strength
The Sword relinquished the timber to nothing but ash, before his attention turned and shifted to the other reaches trailing through the underbrush. The semblance of tension rankled and riddled through the cords of his spine, and he had to wonder if all their previous actions had consequences – the crashing and patrolling through the forest had only attracted and enticed more of whatever lurked within.
Jaw clenched, senses attuned, he stepped forward and then ground his teeth as Noah instinctually altered. He knew why the man had done it – any perceived threats could be a menace, a maelstrom, in the wicked eaves they were facing, but without knowing what the cretin could be, Deimos craved caution rather than impulse. Wait, he uttered, far too late, as the basilisk proportions sprang into action.
Only for a horde of small geckos to linger amidst the grounds – yards away from their feet. But while normal lizards might’ve not inspired any semblance of consternation, these were darkened fixtures, absorbing beacons and traces of sunlight, glowing eyes resembling chasms and oblivion. What they lacked in stature, they made up for in numbers – and the Warden sighed through it all. “Aim where you can,” he rumbled to Maea, before immediately sparking a fire beneath their rapidly maneuvering forms.
One, due to Noah’s impact, froze entirely. But its brethren did not.
--
The group had encountered a group of Abyssal Geckoloths! What will you do next?
Noah has frozen Gecko One!
Deimos has set the rest of the contingent on fire (damage has been spread across all four).
When someone says 'don't look', obviously the first instinct of most anyone would be to do exactly that. And given that Maea had no idea why, didn't know anything about basilisk shifts and was tense enough already about whatever was skittering their way... of course she looked.
Fortunately, she only snagged a glimpse of a monstrous backside before she caught herself, and hastily forced her gaze to the ground. Deimos was more helpful, but only a little bit. Aim where she could? That would be about two feet straight forward, or wild flailing about. "Aim at what? A bit more detail would be helpful, if it's not against the code of your stoic brotherhood," she complained, squeezing the handle of her daggers anxiously.
Things were skittering around in her periphery. Flame erupted in Deimos' general direction, but it wasn't until a small purple touched lizard almost made it up her trouser leg that she realized what they were fighting. Shaking the creature off with a sound of frazzled disgust, Maea quickly stomped on it to keep it still, and tried to dispatch the void critter with a slash of the smoldering chakram.
Maea
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
