He was a bit bemused at his profession garnering so little response, but then, Samuel probably preferred to read his stories rather than have them sung or performed. Jigano could hardly blame him for that, so he simply nodded without losing his smile.
The monsters of Long Night did sound like children's stories, the way his friend described them, but sometimes even children's stories could have a kernel of truth at their core. "Do you ever see any tracks after Long Night is over?" he asked, eyes bright with curiosity as he tucked the last of the snow moss around his side of the window. "Any chunks of strange fur, or scales in the snow?" He paused, forehead wrinkling in thought. "Actually... how do you know when it's ended, if your windows are all closed over? Or does it always start and end on the same date each year, like a solstice?"
He hadn't expected his friendly suggestion to be met with such a fierce frown, and he opened his mouth to apologize, but Sam spoke first. And what he said... Jigano tilted his head to the side, confusion evident at first. A sickness? he thought. A sensitivity to the light? I've heard of such things, rare, but... But then the Gods were involved, and a term he'd overheard murmured in passing without understanding its source. Still he looked simply interested and a little sympathetic at something that seemed to make his friend so unhappy, but the last word...
"Bloodfiend?" he repeated, shocked at the crassness of the term and unable to reconcile the word 'fiend' with the meek bookmaker in any context. "Like some sort of... of vampire?" He shook his head, frowning, though not at Sam. "I'm... I admit, a little surprised but... I suspect there's something lost in translation. Why don't we have more tea and... could you tell me more about what it means to be Ascended?"
The monsters of Long Night did sound like children's stories, the way his friend described them, but sometimes even children's stories could have a kernel of truth at their core. "Do you ever see any tracks after Long Night is over?" he asked, eyes bright with curiosity as he tucked the last of the snow moss around his side of the window. "Any chunks of strange fur, or scales in the snow?" He paused, forehead wrinkling in thought. "Actually... how do you know when it's ended, if your windows are all closed over? Or does it always start and end on the same date each year, like a solstice?"
He hadn't expected his friendly suggestion to be met with such a fierce frown, and he opened his mouth to apologize, but Sam spoke first. And what he said... Jigano tilted his head to the side, confusion evident at first. A sickness? he thought. A sensitivity to the light? I've heard of such things, rare, but... But then the Gods were involved, and a term he'd overheard murmured in passing without understanding its source. Still he looked simply interested and a little sympathetic at something that seemed to make his friend so unhappy, but the last word...
"Bloodfiend?" he repeated, shocked at the crassness of the term and unable to reconcile the word 'fiend' with the meek bookmaker in any context. "Like some sort of... of vampire?" He shook his head, frowning, though not at Sam. "I'm... I admit, a little surprised but... I suspect there's something lost in translation. Why don't we have more tea and... could you tell me more about what it means to be Ascended?"
