for so it is written

Ronin raised his hands in a placating gesture, but only for a moment given Sugar's trill of disappointment that he had stopped his fussing over her. "Then I will let you judge me by my actions," he said with a gentle nod. "Just... not that one action where I died, if that's alright. I'm trying to put that behind me." With a small smirk, he heard out Jigano's description of Maea and nodded, happy to get directions to the building that was apparently her base of operations.

"That would be good, if you could..." He nodded, before letting out a laugh at the idea of being able to sneak back into his old role without anyone really noticing. "Yes, well... speaking of, I think I might have work for your guild soon anyway, if you're interested?"

"Hmm. It's sort of your most notable action to date, though," Jigano replied solemnly, though the corner of his mouth twitched in an almost-repressed smile. The man had an easy charm, there was no denying that, and if anyone could appreciate someone with high charisma it was a bard! "I suppose you'll just have to do something else to distract people from... hmm. No, never mind," he stopped himself mid-sentence, his wry smile breaking free as he considered the impulsive captain across from him. "That wasn't a challenge and I retract my suggestion, lest you lay the blame on me when you do end up back in trouble." He chuckled and shook his head, glancing at some nearby parchment and a writing stick...

But Isuma wasn't about to be out-fussed and peeped imperiously for his hands to stay right where they were and, like Ronin, he gave in without a fight. There would be time when Ronin left to write up the directions. The mention of work, however, had his ears perking up and his eyes finding his companion again, one pale brow arching curiously. "Beyond trying to look up what it means to be god-touched?" he asked. "Though of course we're always interested. It's why we exist, after all," he said with a chuckle.

Ronin was already grinning as Jigano suggested he might need to do something else for people to remember him by, and he tipped the bard a wink as he wisely altered his words. "I'll not be going and picking on a giant Spire Demon again any time soon, put it that way. I can barely run without collapsing just now anyway." It was something he wanted to rectify sooner rather than later but damn if he wasn't feeling the lack of strength in this new-old body.

"Beyond that, yes," Ronin smiled, shrugging and settling back in his seat again while Sugar sprawled on her back and fanned her wings out over his lap (they were getting to be an impressive size, as she grew). "Before Vanya died, she was a chronicler. She was going to write a directory, of sorts, about the creatures we encountered at the guild. I was going to provide the sketches, since I'd be the one actually seeing them. But then... well, she isn't around any more. Perhaps one of your loreseekers would be interested?"

"I would find that more reassuring if we weren't fresh out of spire demons," Jigano shot back, dryly amused. "As it is, that's an easy promise to keep at the moment. I'm more concerned about you trying to, oh, knock the entire Spire over single-handedly, or call Vi himself down for a one-on-one duel!" Neither of which were terribly probable... but where Ronin was concerned, the bard no longer considered them entirely impossible, either.

Blue eyes softened a bit at the mention of Ronin's late wife, even moreso when he realized she would have been a natural addition to the Loreseekers. The man's suggestion - his request - struck an oddly poignant chord within the jaded bard's heart and he let out a soft sigh as he glanced down at Isuma, who looked up to blink large golden eyes at him. "A moment, please," he murmured, lifting the owlkitten to his shoulder before standing and moving back to his office.

He returned quickly, reverently bearing an old book in his hands that he laid on the table within Ronin's reach, nodding down to the cover with its pattern of constellations. "In there is your directory of creatures and plants within the barrier. From banshees to boggarts and gryphons to gilded lilies. It was a gift from Safrin to my guildmate Amalia." He moved back to his seat, settling gingerly so Isuma could hop down onto the table's surface and sit, curling her long tail around her toes as primly as a princess. "But now that we can go outside... there will be a great many things that will need to be added." His lips quirked into a wry smile. "Technically Caiside is our specialist on Caido fauna, but as he's still, ah 'in training' to so speak, I would consider it an honor as well as a pleasure to work with you on this, with Caiside assisting, if you don't mind?"

"Well I mean... give it six months, yeah? I only just got back." Ronin found it easy to laugh around Jigano, and although the prospect of him knocking over the Spire all by himself was an impressive one, he doubted it would end well for him. Or anyone involved, for that matter. Luckily, it seemed as though they had something more valuable to talk about, and Ronin smiled sadly back at the bard as he spoke of Vanya. It still hurt faintly to think of what might have been, a fray on his heartstrings that might never really heal.

But he had been with her for longer than the time he had apparently been gone from Caido. And those feelings and memories were priceless. Shaking his head slightly to clear his mind, he arched a brow at the book that the lorekeeper produced, intuitively recognising the constellations scattered across its cover.

"A gift from Safrin..." His smile grew softer still. "That is quite something... would Amalia mind if I were to come here and read it, from time to time? It would be useful before a hunt, you see... and of course, I'd be honoured for any help you or your guildmates can give. I've not yet been beyond the barrier, so company would be appreciated too."

"She has left it with the guild, so I don't think she would mind, no," Jigano nodded, reaching out to tickle Isuma's chin in apology for relocating her earlier. "As long as you don't take it from the Hall you are welcome to look through it. I'll check with her just in case, but I think it will be alright." He tilted his head to the side, his wry smile returning as he considered what Ronin had said previously. "Both Caiside and myself have histories of adventuring on our own worlds, as well. I may not be as strong as a proper monster fighter, but I can usually keep myself alive in a battle."

He turned his head to grin at his companion as she reep!ed and began to stalk with lifted rump across the table, catching sight of a twitching, scaly tail. "Company I can provide, and I'd be grateful for a strong arm at my side as well. Even if that arm isn't as strong as it used to be, it's still probably stronger than mine!" he joked with a wink, unself-conscious about his own lack of muscles in comparison. "Given the size of the plants and animals beyond the barrier, I'm wary of running into any of the 'normal' sized carnivores in that book alone!"

Ronin nodded, seeming relieved that was the case. If not he had no issue paying someone to make a copy for him, though he doubted it would be quite as beautiful or detailed as something gifted by Safrin herself. His eyes lit up, too, at the prospect of having companions on a hunt, the guildmaster flashing a grin across at his companion. "I certainly wouldn't say no," he murmured. "Thank you. Perhaps we might even encounter something while we're out there, that would be useful to chronicle as part of the Greatwood's expansion."

Waving his apparently strong-arm in a dismissive gesture, Ronin could only snort and slouch back in his seat. "I never saw myself as much different to anyone else who could hold a sword or wield a bow," he admitted. "Though I'll admit, it's been a bit of an adjustment trying to teach myself the basics all over again."

"That's the hope!" Jigano admitted, pleased to gain another affiliate of the Loreseekers. "For that matter, anything that your own people come across in their monster hunting would be welcome additions to our chronicles - physical descriptions and sketches preferred, but samples of things like claws or fangs for venom tests as well. That's a lesson we don't need to learn twice," he added, obliquely referring to the Spire Demon and the race to come up with an antivenom to its claws. "Our guilds should be able to work together quite handily, I hope!" His people were more about studying interesting flora and fauna than slaying it, after all, though some things were too dangerous to let loose among the farmers and tradesmen of the Hollowed Grounds, and that was where Ronin's people could hopefully step in.

"Perhaps, but you've got the gift of charisma," Jigano pointed out, amused as Isuma inched towards the tables far edge. She streeeeetched her head over it and peered down, and gave a happy squeak upon spotting Sugar lying in Ronin's lap. The little gryphlet leaned down to give her friend a boop on the snoot, purring happily. "Which is going to make you a leader whether you want to be or not. Though I'm surprised to hear that you've had to start all over again? Is your new, ah, body really that different? And in what ways?"

Jigano's suggestion more than made sense, Ronin nodding in ready agreement with his idea. "Samples I can do, providing they aren't too difficult to collect. And I'll be able to sketch and write a description for anything unusual that we find," he confirmed, before snorting out a quiet laugh. "Yes, having been on the receiving end of some of the Spire Demon's venom, I am keen not to let anyone else become a test subject for antivenom."

"Charisma I may have, but you have not heard some of the stories about me." Ronin chuckled, watching as Isuma peeked eeeeever so slowly over the table at Sugar, who was happily curled up in his lap. Her silver slip of a tail flicked at the gryphlet and she let out a chirp at the snoot-booping, her wings folding so she could roll back onto her feet and snort a gust of cold air up at her playmate.

"Well, my old body was... ripped to shreds, put simply. And then it became a star. My understanding is that this is a new one. It's identical enough that I don't really feel any different..." Ronin gazed down at his hands thoughtfully. "But the scars I had, from fights, from the Spire Demon... all gone. It's like this one looks the same, but it has none of the skill that I'd honed in the original."

Jigano managed a graceful half-bow from his seated position at Ronin's welcome agreement to working together. "Stories?" the bard asked slyly, an eagerness to his voice that he didn't bother to hide. "Are they true?" Always an important consideration, given time and distance and the urge to embellish. Not that he was a stranger to a little extra tension thrown into a tale by, say, increasing the size of a beast or the number of opponents his friends had faced. The important thing is that they were remembered as heroes... well.

As much as their reputations would allow.

Isuma fluttered her wings in delight at the gust of cold air, giving a little bounce before flopping down and reaching out to try and pat Sugar gently. Her playfulness was being slowly replaced by a need for a nap but she wasn't quite there yet.

"'And then it became a star,'" Jigano repeated with a grin, shaking his head ruefully. "Just like that. I really do need to set someone to writing up a chapter on you, Guildmaster. It will at least make it easier to keep the stories straight for a little while." He winked at the man across from him, then tilted his head at him in consideration. "I'm more of a rapier man myself, a lighter blade than I recall you using, but if you'd ever like a sparring partner... please, don't hesitate to ask. I, too, have been seeking to hone my skill since I arrived here and found myself without my magic to protect myself."

"Oh yes, all of them. Though a lot of them are not the sort that you are thinking. Less heroic, more finding myself caught in a snare trap whilst wandering the woods in a less than sober state." Ronin laughed cheerfully at the memory. "I awoke upside down with the blood rushing to my head and quite a diabolical hangover, if I remember." The twinkle in his eye alone said that it was true, let alone anything else. "Though I suppose I did do my share of soldier work, too."

Giving Sugar a gentle scratch along her scaly back, the dragonling shrieked softly and wiggled about, butting her head against Isuma's patting motion, soon enough hopping up to join her on the table between the two men.

Ronin actually blushed a little at the thought of someone writing a chapter on him, the guildmaster rubbing at the back of his head. "If you like, I suppose," he said with a gentle laugh. "It was strange enough returning to find that my friends had commissioned paintings of me, to remember me by," he admitted, before glancing up at the idea of a sparring partner, a familiar fire lighting up in his eyes.

"It would be a pleasure," he said. "Though I don't use a blade, as a rule. I specialised in hand-to-hand combat in the military. Although, my brother was a swordsman, so I know how to wield a blade in a pinch."

"Cautionary tales still make for good storytelling," Jigano pointed out cheerfully. "Though the tales of soldiering are always more popular with people who have never had to march off to battle themselves." He shrugged lightly, glossing over the darkness that lay beneath that particular pit trap. It was easy enough when the companions made it their mission in life to be as cute as possible. Isuma sat back on her haunches and raised a talon, stretching it slowly towards Sugar and inviting her to tap it with her own paw.

The bard's grin widened at Ronin's blush, and he chuckled at the news of the painting. "I hadn't heard about that," he admitted, "but I shouldn't be surprised. But you have to admit, coming back from the...err, sky. On account of being a star..." He trailed off, shaking his head in lingering wonder at the impossibility of it all. Well. Clearly not impossible, was it? Simply very, very improbable. "Well. It's the sort of thing that's worth writing down while it's still fresh." Who knew if it would ever happen again? But perhaps if it did and some future generations found the account they would be better prepared.

He had made his offer a little on impulse, but his brow arched at hearing that Ronin was more of a hand-to-hand combatant. Though... hadn't he been wearing some kind of strange gauntlets when he fought the spire demon? "I don't know hardly anything about hand-to-hand fighting," he admitted wryly. "If someone has gotten that close to me I'm in for a world of hurt. Perhaps I should be asking for lessons from you!"

"Ah yes, that is true enough," Ronin agreed quietly, having heard enough heroic songs in taverns full of people who had never seen a battle. Like Jigano, however, he shook away the potential for a darker conversation to watch with unhidden glee as Sugar reached out a claw to tap it against Isuma's talon in what was undoubtedly a fist-bump. "So that just happened, didn't it?" He laughed, wanting to make sure.

Whilst it did make him feel a little flustered, there was no denying that Jigano was right about what he said - about the paintings, and about writing it down. "Well, you are welcome to write down anything I've said here, if you think it might be useful. And if you want to meet again with any more questions, the doors to the guildhall are always open." Ronin nodded.

He chuckled at the bard's remarks about his fighting style, the guildmaster shrugging his shoulders. "In truth, considering that getting too close got me killed last time, maybe I ought to use this opportunity to pick up a different sort of weapon."

Jigano hid his own laughter behind his hand, but his eyes were crinkled with glee at how well the little ones got along. "I suppose it did!" he agreed, still chuckling. "Gods most fortunate, I'm glad they can play together again." Whatever his initial exasperation towards the impulsive leader of the Spire Demon raid, he had found himself thoroughly charmed. Some of that may well have been Isuma's fault, the gryphlet's innocent joy in having Sugar back affecting him as his moods could affect her, but he couldn't find himself being upset about it.

"The more you learn about what it means to be... what you are now. Neither human nor god. Some sort of... demihuman? Demigod, perhaps? the more I'll have to write!" He grinned wryly, finally able to reach for a blank piece of parchment and a writing stick to jot down directions to the new government building with. "But I'm sure I'll find my way to your door sooner rather than later." If for nothing else, than to arrange a date to do some exploring!

"Nothing wrong with a bow," Jigano teased, grinning. "Vervain would be a better teach of that than I, though. But the offer still stands for crossing swords if we can both find an afternoon free."