"Y'climb," Tal said smugly and without further explanation as to how one boarded a skyboat, feeling quite clever for his little wordplay. She'd see soon enough; their conversation was doing a good job of passing the miles and they'd be at the Peregrine before too much longer.
As for the Climb's habitability, the courier could only shrug, giving Caelynn a brief look of disbelief, as if unsure whether or not she was being sarcastic. Sure, there was no rain, but the ash storms hid the sun pretty regularly and the remnants of the active volcanoes spewed ashen debris into the air no less often. A case in point soon followed as he realized too late that he'd failed to raise his face covering when they'd left the Burrows and he had to fight for breath. By the time his Ancient companion offered a cloth to him he'd already pulled his own into position, and he waved her off with a grunt of thanks.
As she watched him, so too did Tal steal glances at Caelynn. He'd met other Ancients and so far they'd been just like anyone else. A little funny-looking with those horns and tails, but otherwise just... people. Weirdos like Danta and normal guys like Fox, and the ones in the middle, like Maea. He wasn't quite sure where Caelynn fell yet, but when he asked his questions hooo boy did the floodgates open.
Which honestly suited him just fine. It was way easier to listen to her life story than to try and keep up with small talk, so he focused on following Boreal over the tricky landscape of the Crust while she chattered on behind them. He didn't really understand the whole falling asleep and waking up three hundred years later like it had been a short nap thing, but some of the other things she'd said resonated uncomfortably in his chest.
"Sorry 'bout your parents. An' your friend," he said gruffly when she wound down again. "It's... rough. Frankie's safe an' happy in Mort's Halls, at least," he added in an attempt to be reassuring. All souls went to the god of death after they'd passed, never returning without the direction intervention of a god to plead their case with the kindly lord of the afterlife. "But, uh... look, are y'sure y'don't want to... I dunno... go pray t'Dygra for answers afore y'leave? Far as I know, th'only other shrines t'her in Caido are in th'Hollowed Grounds. Might be your last chance for awhile, is all I'm sayin'." She seemed pretty devout, after all. And he didn't want to mislead her into thinking it'd be easy to call on her goddess once she was outside the Climb.
As for the Climb's habitability, the courier could only shrug, giving Caelynn a brief look of disbelief, as if unsure whether or not she was being sarcastic. Sure, there was no rain, but the ash storms hid the sun pretty regularly and the remnants of the active volcanoes spewed ashen debris into the air no less often. A case in point soon followed as he realized too late that he'd failed to raise his face covering when they'd left the Burrows and he had to fight for breath. By the time his Ancient companion offered a cloth to him he'd already pulled his own into position, and he waved her off with a grunt of thanks.
As she watched him, so too did Tal steal glances at Caelynn. He'd met other Ancients and so far they'd been just like anyone else. A little funny-looking with those horns and tails, but otherwise just... people. Weirdos like Danta and normal guys like Fox, and the ones in the middle, like Maea. He wasn't quite sure where Caelynn fell yet, but when he asked his questions hooo boy did the floodgates open.
Which honestly suited him just fine. It was way easier to listen to her life story than to try and keep up with small talk, so he focused on following Boreal over the tricky landscape of the Crust while she chattered on behind them. He didn't really understand the whole falling asleep and waking up three hundred years later like it had been a short nap thing, but some of the other things she'd said resonated uncomfortably in his chest.
"Sorry 'bout your parents. An' your friend," he said gruffly when she wound down again. "It's... rough. Frankie's safe an' happy in Mort's Halls, at least," he added in an attempt to be reassuring. All souls went to the god of death after they'd passed, never returning without the direction intervention of a god to plead their case with the kindly lord of the afterlife. "But, uh... look, are y'sure y'don't want to... I dunno... go pray t'Dygra for answers afore y'leave? Far as I know, th'only other shrines t'her in Caido are in th'Hollowed Grounds. Might be your last chance for awhile, is all I'm sayin'." She seemed pretty devout, after all. And he didn't want to mislead her into thinking it'd be easy to call on her goddess once she was outside the Climb.
