Theoretically, just needing to do one of the tasks listed should have broadened the list to include a few creatures that fit the relaxed criteria. Or perhaps 'hypothetically' would have been the better word to use, for teleportation wasn't a skill that Jigano had yet found mention of among Caido's fauna. Back when he had access to his bardic magic he could have handled such a conundrum himself, but those days were seasons and worlds away now. He shrugged carefully, holding to his books as he offered Loren the first truly apologetic look yet. "Not well, unfortunately. I knew of them, but never encountered one myself. I know that they're planeshifters and can pass through solid walls when they are out of phase with the material world, and that they resemble large dogs, but aside from that..." He shrugged again, a little wistfully at the reminder of the world he had left behind.
The brow rose again at hearing that despite past statements to the contrary, the Greatwood was still very much a mystery to the summoner. For a moment something cold and dark flickered in Jigano's eyes, a twist of snarling disdain and anger at being lied to. His jaw tightened, clenching against the urge to snap a snarky - and utterly uncalled for - response, and he swallowed the sharp words down, trying not to choke on them. "Only the Fae truly know the Greatwood," he admitted. "The texts in here are all from after the Barrier was raised, and the only book we have that dates to the very first days of it, when the first generation were recording what they remembered of the world beyond, is frustratingly vague on details." It was also written in a language unknown within the barrier, intriguingly enough, and Safrin had implanted the knowledge from it directly into his and Amalia's heads. "You may wish to seek out one of the Fae, or I can ask when next I see one of my friends among them." The offer was made without much personal enthusiasm, but Jigano was not one to turn down the chance to learn something new and viewed in that light it was an easier pill to swallow. And Loren had enticed his personal curiosity now, and he watched him with more interest and less defensiveness than before as the mystery began to unravel.
It was nice to have a mystery to focus on that wasn't involved with imminent death for a change.
Of course, the first mention of Zariah had him tensing again, eyes narrowing not only at the former Queen but at what she had done to the trusting young alchemist. Remi and Jigano weren't friends; their relationship was a complicated one, fraught with misunderstandings and distrust and bound by mutual friends and loved ones, but they could be oddly close in some ways because of that distance. It was enough that the lorekeeper did not take kindly to Remi's sweet nature being taken advantage of, especially not when he was abused in the process. "If it was on her when she was eaten... then yes, it will never be found again," the bard agreed coolly, firmly reminding himself that Loren hadn't been around in those dark days of Zariah's rule. Had he?
Keys to locked and hidden doors within the Manor? The urge to, as Edy would so bluntly put up, 'fuck up Zariah's secrets' was admittedly an alluring one. He owed the bitch a little payback and if he couldn't take it out on her hide he could--
He drew a shaky breath, turning to put his own books firmly down as he wrestled with the increasingly-common impulse towards physical violence that had never been his instinct before. He took his ire out on white knuckles around one of the thicker books he had been holding, trying to listen to Loren as he pretended to straighten the stack with unnecessary precision. "She was a--" He bit back the snarl, feeling the shaking rise into his shoulders as he forced himself to breathe. "As long as the doors are locked the monsters should be kept out. Ware the windows, though. And... here." He plucked one of the slimmer volumes he had brought, handing it back to the Launceleyn man. It was an older book, written in a spidery hand but still quite legible. Befor Long Nyte Falls had been inked with a flourish on its front. The journal had belonged to an outlander some forty years back, and contained a number of the traditions useful for preparing for the week of darkness. "If you survived last year you probably know, but it doesn't hurt to brush up, especially if any newcomers show up at the Manor." His voice was a bit gruff, but the gift of knowledge helped to ground him as he turned back to look at Loren again, precarious control regained for the moment.
"At the risk of belaboring a dead horse, I'd still suggest the walls, then. People can be zealous about warding and trapping doors, but they tend to forget about the walls around them. Especially if they're stone. Remi could probably open a new hole entirely in a wall, far enough from the existing door to bypass whatever magic Zariah left on it. Transmutation... that is also one of his skills. Rexanna, if you know her? She's about to have a wedding..." An awkward proposition, given how their most recent conversation went. But her newly Ascended status had left her with her magic intact against all expectations to the contrary. "She has transmutation magic as well to turn a stone wall into something easier to break through, though I don't know if she would be strong enough for what you need. All these mystery rooms don't have windows, I'm guessing?" Given Zariah's sharpness he expected those would be trapped, too, but a little bird might be able to spy on what was within, at least.
He barely even noticed how the excitement of a new problem to solve had soothed the savage beast in his blood, letting him look at his fellow scholar with far less wary hostility, even though some aspect of it remained in the lingering tightness around his eyes.
The brow rose again at hearing that despite past statements to the contrary, the Greatwood was still very much a mystery to the summoner. For a moment something cold and dark flickered in Jigano's eyes, a twist of snarling disdain and anger at being lied to. His jaw tightened, clenching against the urge to snap a snarky - and utterly uncalled for - response, and he swallowed the sharp words down, trying not to choke on them. "Only the Fae truly know the Greatwood," he admitted. "The texts in here are all from after the Barrier was raised, and the only book we have that dates to the very first days of it, when the first generation were recording what they remembered of the world beyond, is frustratingly vague on details." It was also written in a language unknown within the barrier, intriguingly enough, and Safrin had implanted the knowledge from it directly into his and Amalia's heads. "You may wish to seek out one of the Fae, or I can ask when next I see one of my friends among them." The offer was made without much personal enthusiasm, but Jigano was not one to turn down the chance to learn something new and viewed in that light it was an easier pill to swallow. And Loren had enticed his personal curiosity now, and he watched him with more interest and less defensiveness than before as the mystery began to unravel.
It was nice to have a mystery to focus on that wasn't involved with imminent death for a change.
Of course, the first mention of Zariah had him tensing again, eyes narrowing not only at the former Queen but at what she had done to the trusting young alchemist. Remi and Jigano weren't friends; their relationship was a complicated one, fraught with misunderstandings and distrust and bound by mutual friends and loved ones, but they could be oddly close in some ways because of that distance. It was enough that the lorekeeper did not take kindly to Remi's sweet nature being taken advantage of, especially not when he was abused in the process. "If it was on her when she was eaten... then yes, it will never be found again," the bard agreed coolly, firmly reminding himself that Loren hadn't been around in those dark days of Zariah's rule. Had he?
Keys to locked and hidden doors within the Manor? The urge to, as Edy would so bluntly put up, 'fuck up Zariah's secrets' was admittedly an alluring one. He owed the bitch a little payback and if he couldn't take it out on her hide he could--
He drew a shaky breath, turning to put his own books firmly down as he wrestled with the increasingly-common impulse towards physical violence that had never been his instinct before. He took his ire out on white knuckles around one of the thicker books he had been holding, trying to listen to Loren as he pretended to straighten the stack with unnecessary precision. "She was a--" He bit back the snarl, feeling the shaking rise into his shoulders as he forced himself to breathe. "As long as the doors are locked the monsters should be kept out. Ware the windows, though. And... here." He plucked one of the slimmer volumes he had brought, handing it back to the Launceleyn man. It was an older book, written in a spidery hand but still quite legible. Befor Long Nyte Falls had been inked with a flourish on its front. The journal had belonged to an outlander some forty years back, and contained a number of the traditions useful for preparing for the week of darkness. "If you survived last year you probably know, but it doesn't hurt to brush up, especially if any newcomers show up at the Manor." His voice was a bit gruff, but the gift of knowledge helped to ground him as he turned back to look at Loren again, precarious control regained for the moment.
"At the risk of belaboring a dead horse, I'd still suggest the walls, then. People can be zealous about warding and trapping doors, but they tend to forget about the walls around them. Especially if they're stone. Remi could probably open a new hole entirely in a wall, far enough from the existing door to bypass whatever magic Zariah left on it. Transmutation... that is also one of his skills. Rexanna, if you know her? She's about to have a wedding..." An awkward proposition, given how their most recent conversation went. But her newly Ascended status had left her with her magic intact against all expectations to the contrary. "She has transmutation magic as well to turn a stone wall into something easier to break through, though I don't know if she would be strong enough for what you need. All these mystery rooms don't have windows, I'm guessing?" Given Zariah's sharpness he expected those would be trapped, too, but a little bird might be able to spy on what was within, at least.
He barely even noticed how the excitement of a new problem to solve had soothed the savage beast in his blood, letting him look at his fellow scholar with far less wary hostility, even though some aspect of it remained in the lingering tightness around his eyes.
