The bard merely shrugged at Peter's decision to not get water. If he'd had a way to create it, or telekinetically lift heavy barrels of it, it would have been worth trying. His decision not to didn't make the current situation any worse, and his presence with the shovel made things visibly better as they were able to force the mud down a step and towards the barrelers helping below. "It was still a good notion," was all he said. "But we're making much better progress together than I Was alone."
The question earned a wry smile as Jigano sent a shovelful of goop sailing to the bottom of the steps where it promptly tried to schlorp around a man's boot. "We don't own the Atheneum, even if we work in it. The building and the books belong to everyone... and there aren't really enough of us to maintain the building without help anyways. Not anymore." Their numbers had been greater, once, but that was seasons ago now and those that remained were barely holding together at the seams as it was. Still, he smiled back encouragingly at Peter's reason for helping and the attempted smile to lighten the conversation. He seemed painfully shy and nervous, but he was trying, and that was enough for Jigano. "It's already going faster. Every hand helps with things like this." And every shovel - though Peter would find some tenacious mud trying to cling to his blade and crawl up the handle as the not-quite-sentient stuff grew bolder.
The question that came was one Jigano was usually prepared for, and today was no exception. He shook some grabby mud from his own shovel with a faint grimace as it spattered his already-muddy trousers, then bent his shoulders to scoop more of the enterprising muck away as it tried to reclaim lost ground. "I... well, we, in the guild... collect and preserve knowledge," he panted, tackling the mud with renewed vigor. "From books in the Atheneum... from the memories and stories of the people here... or by going out in the world, exploring and discovering new information to bring back and chronicle here... so people can more easily access it," he explained between shovelings.
"And you? What work do you do here?"
The question earned a wry smile as Jigano sent a shovelful of goop sailing to the bottom of the steps where it promptly tried to schlorp around a man's boot. "We don't own the Atheneum, even if we work in it. The building and the books belong to everyone... and there aren't really enough of us to maintain the building without help anyways. Not anymore." Their numbers had been greater, once, but that was seasons ago now and those that remained were barely holding together at the seams as it was. Still, he smiled back encouragingly at Peter's reason for helping and the attempted smile to lighten the conversation. He seemed painfully shy and nervous, but he was trying, and that was enough for Jigano. "It's already going faster. Every hand helps with things like this." And every shovel - though Peter would find some tenacious mud trying to cling to his blade and crawl up the handle as the not-quite-sentient stuff grew bolder.
The question that came was one Jigano was usually prepared for, and today was no exception. He shook some grabby mud from his own shovel with a faint grimace as it spattered his already-muddy trousers, then bent his shoulders to scoop more of the enterprising muck away as it tried to reclaim lost ground. "I... well, we, in the guild... collect and preserve knowledge," he panted, tackling the mud with renewed vigor. "From books in the Atheneum... from the memories and stories of the people here... or by going out in the world, exploring and discovering new information to bring back and chronicle here... so people can more easily access it," he explained between shovelings.
"And you? What work do you do here?"
