"Ascended," he answered quietly, voice almost muffled by his layers. "Earlier... models, one might say. Creations that didn't live up to their creator's vision and were..." he paused, glancing over to Weaver with a wry tilt of his head in acknowledgment. "Abandoned, near as we can tell. They hate, they kill, they seek upgrades and magic in an attempt to... to make themselves stronger, I suppose. Strong enough to masquerade among the living again, beyond the one week a year they haunt the Grounds. But their resentment of living humans is a terrifying and terrible thing." And in three hundred years the Voice had done nothing to blunt their reign of terror during LongNight. Even in the charitable admission that she had only recently awakened, still the Night had been filled with blood and terror.
The Blight was a topic equally grim, and Jigano drew a breath at the memories of its blackness in his skin, his blood, his soul. "Why? One of her children claimed it was an accident. Collateral damage, so to speak. But she denied her part in it for weeks and months, and when the evidence became insurmountable and she was forced to admit that it was of her own making, still she did nothing to mitigate it. Only after sacrifices were made did she see fit to prevent its spread beyond the portals..." He paused, eyes narrowing. "Though come to think of it, that may have been less a gesture of goodwill than a way to prevent poisoning the wells from which she wants to draw new worshipers. Blighting their land a families would quickly turn a world against her. But the Fae and the Grounders? They were already biased against her machinations, so there was no need to be gentle with them." He slanted Weaver a wry look. "Though I'm sure the Ascended would tell the tale differently. All I can give you is my own experience with her." Give or take when she had threatened to kill him.
"The Mathair should properly be explained by a Fae," he admitted with a faint wince. "I'm only an outsider into their ways. From what I've been told, it housed the spirit of a minor goddess and was a sacred tree in the heart of their Greatwood. It still stands, with an Ascended portal in its heart... but the spirit that once called it home was destroyed by the Voice in the making of that portal."
Information on Sunjata's activities was welcome, and Jigano nodded thoughtfully, slanting a wry glance at Weaver. "As he's left this Kraai behind in your care? He must trust you, though, if he's left you in charge in his... extended absence." What else to call Sunjata's abandoning Halo for Torchline at the drop of a hat?
The Blight was a topic equally grim, and Jigano drew a breath at the memories of its blackness in his skin, his blood, his soul. "Why? One of her children claimed it was an accident. Collateral damage, so to speak. But she denied her part in it for weeks and months, and when the evidence became insurmountable and she was forced to admit that it was of her own making, still she did nothing to mitigate it. Only after sacrifices were made did she see fit to prevent its spread beyond the portals..." He paused, eyes narrowing. "Though come to think of it, that may have been less a gesture of goodwill than a way to prevent poisoning the wells from which she wants to draw new worshipers. Blighting their land a families would quickly turn a world against her. But the Fae and the Grounders? They were already biased against her machinations, so there was no need to be gentle with them." He slanted Weaver a wry look. "Though I'm sure the Ascended would tell the tale differently. All I can give you is my own experience with her." Give or take when she had threatened to kill him.
"The Mathair should properly be explained by a Fae," he admitted with a faint wince. "I'm only an outsider into their ways. From what I've been told, it housed the spirit of a minor goddess and was a sacred tree in the heart of their Greatwood. It still stands, with an Ascended portal in its heart... but the spirit that once called it home was destroyed by the Voice in the making of that portal."
Information on Sunjata's activities was welcome, and Jigano nodded thoughtfully, slanting a wry glance at Weaver. "As he's left this Kraai behind in your care? He must trust you, though, if he's left you in charge in his... extended absence." What else to call Sunjata's abandoning Halo for Torchline at the drop of a hat?
