All at once, both Jigano and Arialla turned to Kalynd, and he had the feeling that he imagined a mouse must feel when cornered by two large cats. On the one hand was Provost Jigano, a man he respected who gazed at him with an expression that Kalynd read as intensely skeptical. And then there was the woman, who stared at him with large eyes that looked on the verge of tears. He did not want to be the one to dash the last vestige of hope she had, but he would not lie either.
"I haven't found any notable concentrations of psionic energy to study, no," he said. "Beyond the usual leylines that do not seem to emit the same sort of magic that the Portals emit. From what I've studied of their construction and function, the Portals pull Outlanders in and infuse them with Caido's magic--assimilating their forms and even their lingual abilities to become compatible with this new realm. My theory is that the only way this could occur is if the Portals are a phenomena governed by Caido's rules. This... makes it unlikely, in my opinion, that the Portals can be reversed to return Outlanders to their point of origin."
He gave Arialla an empathetic look and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, hoping to comfort her. "We will all continue to study these Portals, though. In the meantime, perhaps you can find a way to make a home here. Find something to occupy your mind." He'd wasted no time in finding things to study when he had emerged in Halo and learned just what sort of magic he'd discovered in the ruins of Jagtharr in his own world, where he'd opened the Portal hat had brought him here.
"I haven't found any notable concentrations of psionic energy to study, no," he said. "Beyond the usual leylines that do not seem to emit the same sort of magic that the Portals emit. From what I've studied of their construction and function, the Portals pull Outlanders in and infuse them with Caido's magic--assimilating their forms and even their lingual abilities to become compatible with this new realm. My theory is that the only way this could occur is if the Portals are a phenomena governed by Caido's rules. This... makes it unlikely, in my opinion, that the Portals can be reversed to return Outlanders to their point of origin."
He gave Arialla an empathetic look and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, hoping to comfort her. "We will all continue to study these Portals, though. In the meantime, perhaps you can find a way to make a home here. Find something to occupy your mind." He'd wasted no time in finding things to study when he had emerged in Halo and learned just what sort of magic he'd discovered in the ruins of Jagtharr in his own world, where he'd opened the Portal hat had brought him here.
