Isuma was almost always happy to meet new friends, but this was the first time she had seen a baby. The gryphlet approached with wary fascination and boundless curiosity as she hopped up onto a chair and then the table itself, creeping slowly across the polished, age-darkened wood as she studied Aoife with ears perked forward and wings rustling in excitement.
Jigano watched her with bemusement, nodding at the list of Remi's experts. "They are far wiser than I in such matters," he agreed fervently. "But if not the child then...?" Patience yielded answers as Remi made a curious statement about the babe but proceeded to a question the bard could actually help with.
Maybe.
"There was an account of the world as it was three hundred years ago," Jigano cautioned his client. "But it lacks a fair amount of detail. We have a general map, and some vague accounts of flora and fauna... the forest to the north is said to have quite a bit of both that are magical, or not as they appear. There are dragons which are implied to be far larger than Sugar, and great whales that swim the sky..." He spoke as Remi shuffled about for his paper, and accepted it with a thoughtful frown.
"Red lichen, I don't think I've heard of," he admitted easily. "These other two, though..." Setting the paper aside he looked at his notes, then began flipping pages in two of the books laid out before him. "Fish, fish," he muttered under his breath, before stopping a at a page in one of the books that held a drawing of a fish. "Dream fish?" he asked dubiously. "I wonder if they're related? They're said to appear - let's see - to... individuals who are conflicted?" He tilted his head thoughtfully, looking up at Remi from beneath pale lashes."I'm surprised half the Hollowed Grounds aren't awash in them," he murmured wryly, sitting back.
"So that's two down. But this third one... A Wicker Woman is a type of tree here in the Hollowed Grounds. Given how much more lively things are supposed to be outside the... mm. Where the barrier used to be," he amended, grimacing slightly at the slip. "I'd imagine if there are ones out in the northern forest, they're far more dangerous than the rare ones we have here. The sap, though..." He tilted his head at the young alchemist, lips twitching briefly towards a faint frown as he looked to Aoife. Isuma finally leaned close enough for the babe to touch, peeping softly in excitement. "I won't ask what your business is with it - though you know I dearly want to," he added wryly. "But it's something to be careful with, especially around a baby."
Jigano watched her with bemusement, nodding at the list of Remi's experts. "They are far wiser than I in such matters," he agreed fervently. "But if not the child then...?" Patience yielded answers as Remi made a curious statement about the babe but proceeded to a question the bard could actually help with.
Maybe.
"There was an account of the world as it was three hundred years ago," Jigano cautioned his client. "But it lacks a fair amount of detail. We have a general map, and some vague accounts of flora and fauna... the forest to the north is said to have quite a bit of both that are magical, or not as they appear. There are dragons which are implied to be far larger than Sugar, and great whales that swim the sky..." He spoke as Remi shuffled about for his paper, and accepted it with a thoughtful frown.
"Red lichen, I don't think I've heard of," he admitted easily. "These other two, though..." Setting the paper aside he looked at his notes, then began flipping pages in two of the books laid out before him. "Fish, fish," he muttered under his breath, before stopping a at a page in one of the books that held a drawing of a fish. "Dream fish?" he asked dubiously. "I wonder if they're related? They're said to appear - let's see - to... individuals who are conflicted?" He tilted his head thoughtfully, looking up at Remi from beneath pale lashes."I'm surprised half the Hollowed Grounds aren't awash in them," he murmured wryly, sitting back.
"So that's two down. But this third one... A Wicker Woman is a type of tree here in the Hollowed Grounds. Given how much more lively things are supposed to be outside the... mm. Where the barrier used to be," he amended, grimacing slightly at the slip. "I'd imagine if there are ones out in the northern forest, they're far more dangerous than the rare ones we have here. The sap, though..." He tilted his head at the young alchemist, lips twitching briefly towards a faint frown as he looked to Aoife. Isuma finally leaned close enough for the babe to touch, peeping softly in excitement. "I won't ask what your business is with it - though you know I dearly want to," he added wryly. "But it's something to be careful with, especially around a baby."
