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!
Dragging his friend to the Climb to search for more void creatures to kill was hardly work. Sah was ready and willing to go as Noah was, and for that the Forsaken was glad. Noah carried Sah most of the way on his back in basilisk form, covering more ground much faster than they could on foot. Noah's teleportation magic wasn't enough to carry another, elsewise that would have been their first choice for ease of travel. The basilisk was a viable option, though, and the hunter even found himself more comfortable in the Climb's heat in this form that in any other he held.
Finally they made it to where they wanted to be, and Noah dropped the Wild Thunder and shifted down to his human frame. "Quite a different ride than Deimos' thunderbird, I'd say." He smirked, gauging Sah's thoughts on the travel by the look on his face.
Sah had kept a nearly white-knuckled grip on Noah as they flew. The Wild Thunder loved flight, perhaps too much. The temptation to stand and put his arms out and feel the wind like he would have if he still had wings had been strong. Keeping his hands occupied had been the easiest solution.
When Noah shifted back, the Wild Thunder turned to him with wind-flushed cheeks and a feral grin, "Yes. Just as fun, though." Deimos' thunderbird was a smoother ride, yet with sharper turns. The wide turns the basilic had to make made for a bumpier but entertaining time. Flying was one of the things that the Outlander missed most and the one thing that had him considering becoming a hybrid every once in a while.
While it wasn't the same kind of flying as with wings, it definitely mimicked it with Noah's sheer size in his basilisk form. He had felt his friend's tensed muscles the entire way, but Noah wished he would have been able to feel the Wild Thunder's glee across the attuned bond. While Sah was an accomplished mage, Noah still wished he held the same bond those bound in soul to the gods had.
"Well, you'll get to enjoy it when we go home, then." He said, offering the once-wolf a bright and wide smile. "But for now, I wouldn't mind doing a little sparring before we looked for void creatures. Are you up for that?" The stretching of his muscles as a basilisk had felt wonderful, and the adrenaline and endorphins that pumped through him demanded further attention and stoking. "We could make it interesting. Like a game."
03-19-2024, 02:16 AM (This post was last modified: 03-19-2024, 02:17 AM by Sah.)
Sah
What is knowledge without wisdom?
Sah nodded enthusiastically before his grin sharpened even further. "I like the sound of that." The Abandoned was on the same page. Adrenaline without a threat always welcomed mischief. He took a moment to examine their surroundings, humming in thought. The land around them was nearly barren and undeniably treacherous, but apart from scattered pools of lava, the ground was solid. And the two of them were powerful enough to handle a little danger.
Sah glanced back at Noah, "What about a race where just about anything goes?" He pointed at a larger outcropping of molten rock a hundred yards away stood. The top was flat enough for a single person to stand on, "That can be the goal. First one to race there and stay on top for 10 seconds without the other pushing them off wins." A good-ole game of King of the Mountain.
”Sah, you know I can teleport, right?” Noah said, looking at him with a cocked head and raised eyebrow. He chuckled, remembering a similar race he and Deimos had endured each other in. Noah couldn’t teleport as far then, and the distance that he and Deimos had picked was nearly twice the length that Sah had pointed out. ”But since you said almost anything, I’ll tuck that one away.”
Not giving the once-wolf much more time to consider any restraints, Noah set off. He started running, his arms pumping and his feet moving him swiftly over the solid rocky terrain. He was careful to avoid any of the small, bubbling lava pools as he raced. His glacier eyes flicked to his side, expecting that was where Sah would be, and he let out a string of jesting, taunting smack talk.
04-01-2024, 04:59 PM (This post was last modified: 04-01-2024, 04:59 PM by Sah.)
Sah
What is knowledge without wisdom?
Sah blinked before raising a brow, "In fact, I did not know that. Since when?" He'd never seen Noah teleport, nor had he heard of the Demi-god having it before now. That was an incredibly useful magic and the Abandoned was almost jealous.
There wasn't any time for further questions as the race was on. He was hot on the Demi-god's heels, using telekinesis and air magic to both push himself along and lighten his feet. Dancing around lava was more fun than he expected, and he soon caught up.
Noah's smack talk made the Abandoned laugh and sent his own teasing remarks back as he tried to overtake his friend and gain the lead with a well-placed surge of earth magic to make the ground in front more uneven in an attempt to trip the Demi-god. Not enough to make him fall, but hopefully enough to slow him down for a beat or two.
Noah was surprised that Sah didn't know about his ability. It was one of the first abilities that Vi had given him upon his ascension as a demigod. He would have to tell him later all of his abilities, just to make sure his friend knew the array. He made a note of it, even as he ran and avoided the puddles of lava.
The earth rumbled and surged beneath Noah and instead of trying to get further away from Sah and avoid it, Noah used his momentum to try and escape the erupting earth by overtaking Sah's space. The natural had considerable bulk on his side against the once-wolf, so Noah hoped his counter attack would, in turn, knock Sah off balance.
What Noah hadn't expected, yet should have, was the fully-grown rock slider the men enticed by their games, that then shot out towards them.
Rock Slider (common): an enormous, toothless serpent (no less than three full-sized humans in length), with small, flightless-wings where one would presume its ears to be. This creature hunts along rocky mountain paths where it lies, well-camouflaged, before ambushing large prey. It has no venom, instead coiling its length around the victim and strangling it.
Noah's weight slammed into him just as Sah was making his way over a particularly uneven patch. The result was that he was thoroughly knocked off balance only just barely banged to twist and remain on his feet. It ended up in his favor as the rock-slider appeared and the Wild Thunder was left with enough distance between them to react.
Calling forth his magic and breaking back into a sprint, Sah darkened the sky. A series of lightning bolts rained down in the slider's path. Lightning and earth weren't' the best matchup but it was more of an attempt to startle the creature enough to give the two hunters an advantage.
The rock slider wasn't as deterred from the lightning strikes as the Wild Thunder hoped it would be. Instead, it kept its sights in on the men and hissed with ravenous hunger as it struck towards them. Though it didn't have teeth it still struck with jaws ajar, ready to snap on a limb and pull a body in for constriction.
Sah, the closest, was its target. Noah, however, jumped between the Wild Thunder and the slider. Celestial light wrapped around him and his shield covered -- toothless maw smacking against it with a hiss of dissatisfaction. At that time, another one of the once-wolf's strikes fell true and the creature was zapped into retreating.
Noah let out a barking laugh as his head turned towards Sah, and without hesitating he pushed at his friend as his shield disappeared and he took off sprinting again over the lava field.
Sah threw his head back and laughed at Noah's quick shift from defender to competitor, sidestepping to avoid the push. Still snickering, he turned on his heel and tore after his friend. With a burst of speed, Sah caught up and attempted to return the favor with a hip-check as their goal drew closer in sight.
He kept an eye out, however, in case the rock slider returned, or another beast decided to interrupt their race. The Wild Thunder had visited the Climb on enough occasions to know how unpredictable the place and its inhabitants could be. But short of a dragon, he was confident that the two of them could handle it with ease.
04-21-2024, 12:06 AM (This post was last modified: 04-21-2024, 12:07 AM by Noah.)
Noah didn't have the same fear of dragons as he did before. He had faced them, head to head, in the Draig during the war. They were the fist obstacle in the way of bringing down the Core and the Voice. He had crushed dragons, curled beneath the massive form of the basilisk shift hanging from his neck. He had so much more confidence than the Wild Thunder did about facing even dragons, among all the other things in the Climb.
Sah's hip check came and made Noah stumble slightly. He couldn't help another barking laugh as his arms flailed comically to help him regain his balance. They were nearly there, almost to the point they had set. Still using nothing at his disposal but his sheer strength and stamina, Noah finally let magic rip from him and towards the once-wolf.
His spirit stag rushed from behind, head lowered, with antlers ready to decimate the abandoned. Noah scrambled up to the top point, ready to try and keep Sah from gaining purchase. Ten seconds was all he needed to win.
Sah whipped around when he saw Noah begin to use his magic, taking in the charging stag. "Shit!" There wasn't enough time to do anything but dodge so the Abandoned dove to the side, using his telekinesis and air magic to allow him more mobility to successfully get out of the stag's way.
The moment he landed and rolled to get back on his feet, he sent a bolt of lightning at the creature. The strike connected and Sah relaxed as the stag dissipated. The whole thing took less than 30 seconds, but it gave Noah the time that he needed. Glancing over, the Wild Thunder laughed as he took in Noah on the rock, "Your win, I see."
Behind him everything was cursing and fire and lightning. He heard rocks tumble down as he focused on winning, scrambling to the top of the throne they chose beforehand. Success was in his hand, and as he turned around, he just saw Sah standing. The hunter lifted his hands in triumph, fists curled to the sky.
"Let's get back to Halo." Noah said, sliding down the rockface and back to his friend. He slapped him on the back and offered a bright smile. "That was fun."
Then Noah shifted into the basilisk again, waited for Sah to climb aboard, and went home.
