[SE] from these stones

[say]"Oh? Interesting."[/say] Smiling across at Tal, Ronin lends his concentration to a few brief, harder taps of his hammer, and a shower of stone and a few larger pieces of gemstone fall free from the rock face. Thinking that they should leave some of the rubies to other travellers coming through (though perhaps the other man will feel differently), Ronin replaces his tools and gathers up what he's managed to collect thus far.

[say]"Did you not want to go into that sort of thing?"[/say] he wonders, given Talyson's father's career compared the courier. As for Anju, [say]"You know, I think I have,"[/say] he says with a wistful smile that speaks of times too long ago to seem real. [say]"Met her a few times, and trained with her once."[/say] He nods. [say]"You know her?"[/say]

Shuffling back away from the rocks, Ronin lingers by a ruddy stream of light pouring from above to examine his finds. Tal's remarks about the Stormbreak attack are surprisingly apt, and although part of him - a large part, as it happens - rallies against the idea of achieving anything but the absolute best he can, the other man has a point. [say]"Well,"[/say] he mutters, [say]"with any luck that sort of thing will be a once in a lifetime event."[/say]