Tal turned his head to glance at her quizzically, but he was starting to get used to the idea that was basically like an Outlander, dropped into modern Caido with no clue about how the world worked. She seemed to know just enough to maybe get herself in trouble, but otherwise...
"Uh, there's no docks in th'Climb," he said slowly, brow furrowed. The lava flows on the coast made it too dangerous to bring a ship near to the shore, and anyways... "No one's really lived here for... well. Long as anyone remembers, least until th'Ancients started wakin' up." He shrugged uncomfortably. "It's part o'th'Wilds these days. Mostly people just passin' through. No civilization, y'know?" Nothing permanent, at least, that wasn't subject to being melted by the lava or destroyed by the dangerous fauna.
He pretended not to hear her whine as yet another change from the time she knew and the time she'd woken up in slid prickling talons of unease beneath her skin, but the question she asked had him sweating more than the local heat as he cleared his throat. "Uhhh... not... not exactly..." Maaaaybe he should have slowed down on the sanity-shattering revelations? Well... better late than never, right? Boreal glanced over her shoulder at him and rolled her eyes expressively. Her snort carried a note of fond exasperation, but when Caelynn commented on the mountain range Tal stayed quiet. He reached up to rub the back of his neck, biting his lip to keep from dropping any more uncomfortable truths on her just yet. She'd find out soon enough when the saw the maps...
He breathed a small sigh of relief as she decided to ask something less upsetting--
And promptly started to cough on a lungful of ash. He had to cough for a minute before he got a cloth tied around his nose and mouth and got a sip from his waterskin to ease his throat before he could answer. "Well, uh... I grew up in Halo. Got three older sisters. Lost my parents... well. Guess it's been awhile now. Mom's side's been merchants far back as th'family history goes, so we've got a shop in Snowcloak. Seawright's Sundries," he stated proudly. "My two oldest sisters mostly handle th'runnin' o' it. My da was a Deepfrost Shield, but I was too scrawny t'follow 'im. No good at followin' orders anyways," he admitted cheerfully. "So I 'prenticed with my aunt, runnin' the courier sled route 'round th'Tundra. That was back before th'Portals started workin' again, so no one really left their regions much." Without magical means of transport, like portals and skyships, travel around Caido had been incredibly difficult and dangerous. The gods had created barriers around some regions to slow the Voice's influence, and certain fauna, like Ghost Whales, made sailing on the sea around the outside of the continent a deadly proposition more often than not.
"What about you?" he asked curiously. "What were things like, uh... b'fore y'fell asleep?"
"Uh, there's no docks in th'Climb," he said slowly, brow furrowed. The lava flows on the coast made it too dangerous to bring a ship near to the shore, and anyways... "No one's really lived here for... well. Long as anyone remembers, least until th'Ancients started wakin' up." He shrugged uncomfortably. "It's part o'th'Wilds these days. Mostly people just passin' through. No civilization, y'know?" Nothing permanent, at least, that wasn't subject to being melted by the lava or destroyed by the dangerous fauna.
He pretended not to hear her whine as yet another change from the time she knew and the time she'd woken up in slid prickling talons of unease beneath her skin, but the question she asked had him sweating more than the local heat as he cleared his throat. "Uhhh... not... not exactly..." Maaaaybe he should have slowed down on the sanity-shattering revelations? Well... better late than never, right? Boreal glanced over her shoulder at him and rolled her eyes expressively. Her snort carried a note of fond exasperation, but when Caelynn commented on the mountain range Tal stayed quiet. He reached up to rub the back of his neck, biting his lip to keep from dropping any more uncomfortable truths on her just yet. She'd find out soon enough when the saw the maps...
He breathed a small sigh of relief as she decided to ask something less upsetting--
And promptly started to cough on a lungful of ash. He had to cough for a minute before he got a cloth tied around his nose and mouth and got a sip from his waterskin to ease his throat before he could answer. "Well, uh... I grew up in Halo. Got three older sisters. Lost my parents... well. Guess it's been awhile now. Mom's side's been merchants far back as th'family history goes, so we've got a shop in Snowcloak. Seawright's Sundries," he stated proudly. "My two oldest sisters mostly handle th'runnin' o' it. My da was a Deepfrost Shield, but I was too scrawny t'follow 'im. No good at followin' orders anyways," he admitted cheerfully. "So I 'prenticed with my aunt, runnin' the courier sled route 'round th'Tundra. That was back before th'Portals started workin' again, so no one really left their regions much." Without magical means of transport, like portals and skyships, travel around Caido had been incredibly difficult and dangerous. The gods had created barriers around some regions to slow the Voice's influence, and certain fauna, like Ghost Whales, made sailing on the sea around the outside of the continent a deadly proposition more often than not.
"What about you?" he asked curiously. "What were things like, uh... b'fore y'fell asleep?"
