A voice broke across the Glade, broken glass sliding across the bard's raw and weary nerves, but his raven watcher's warning at least kept him from flinching in surprise. He cracked an eye, turning his head to watch Loren's approach, and gave the other man a weary nod. Isuma was more lively in her greeting, perking up to watch the Launceleyn with bright, curious golden eyes. His crooning was met with a happy Reep! of greeting, though she didn't leave her companion's shoulder. Still, the compliment to the gryphlet brought a hint of a smile to the bard's face as well, and he tilted his head up towards the sun as if noticing it for the first time. "Yes... I suppose it is," he agreed, though not with much conviction. Not because Loren was wrong, but because it was hard to find enough energy to care about the weather. It was better than the anger that flared and raced through him more often now, at least, as if the rage took all his energy and burned him out in between episodes of vicious temper and all-encompassing grief.
Oh, what a difference two days could make.
He settled back down as Loren took his meditation pose, the pair waiting in silence only a short while before a hawk landed nearby. For once, Jigano's shielding through the Attuned link was weak, ragged at best. Where Remi had darkness the bard had shadow. Where the alchemist had despair, the lorekeeper had an absence of hope. Remi felt things more strongly, where the white-haired man was a washed out mirror.
He sighed and rubbed at his temple, glancing to the raven with a small nod of distracted thanks, releasing the bird from its duty. It croaked, a subdued sound as if infected with the beastmaster's lethargy, and flapped away to rejoin its brethren as the bard pushed himself slowly to his feet. Remi had called their meeting, and it was the alchemist who should have led it, but that seemed unlikely in his current form. Two days ago it had seemed like an excellent idea to bring the three of them together. Now... Now Jigano sighed and reached up to rub Isuma's head, asking her for strength which the small gryphlet did her best to give.
"Alright, we had some ideas we wanted to try. Loren, you were going to test your ability to summon luxere and work your way up to a Spark Bird, I believe?" He waited to get confirmation before looking to Remi, pale brow arched - but only slightly, as if the effort was too much. "Remi, we were going to see if you could make items to ward off the Long Night monsters. Luxere antlers that don't lose their glow, like Amalia's red ones, or a necklace like the one Aoife wears."
He bent down slowly, feeling twice his age and then some as he untied the bag he had brought and revealing its contents: three small pots, each containing a blighted plant dug up on the Greatwood and transplanted, living, into the Hollowed Grounds without touching the barrier-land soil. "Loren, if you haven't already, I brought a plant for you to try and force infection of something local." A result of their discussion in the Atheneum, though for all the bard knew, the other man had already performed those experiments.
"Remi, if you haven't had a chance to try transmuting a blight-plant to something less corrupted, now's your chance. Two of them, at least." His voice never lost its exhausted tone, and his hands shook fiercely as he leaned back against his rock, looking from man to hawk. "Since the point was to help each of you refine your magic with feedback from each other, we should focus on one task at a time to start. I know we won't be able to test the antlers today... and given what we've learned about the Long Night monsters I'm not sure we'll be able to do so at all before Long Night," he admitted, wincing as he glanced to the alchemist-turned-hawk at the mention of their meeting with the Queen. "But we can see if I - or my blighted blood - reacts to them, maybe." It wasn't quite the same, but it was the best his tired brain could come up with at the moment.
Oh, what a difference two days could make.
He settled back down as Loren took his meditation pose, the pair waiting in silence only a short while before a hawk landed nearby. For once, Jigano's shielding through the Attuned link was weak, ragged at best. Where Remi had darkness the bard had shadow. Where the alchemist had despair, the lorekeeper had an absence of hope. Remi felt things more strongly, where the white-haired man was a washed out mirror.
He sighed and rubbed at his temple, glancing to the raven with a small nod of distracted thanks, releasing the bird from its duty. It croaked, a subdued sound as if infected with the beastmaster's lethargy, and flapped away to rejoin its brethren as the bard pushed himself slowly to his feet. Remi had called their meeting, and it was the alchemist who should have led it, but that seemed unlikely in his current form. Two days ago it had seemed like an excellent idea to bring the three of them together. Now... Now Jigano sighed and reached up to rub Isuma's head, asking her for strength which the small gryphlet did her best to give.
"Alright, we had some ideas we wanted to try. Loren, you were going to test your ability to summon luxere and work your way up to a Spark Bird, I believe?" He waited to get confirmation before looking to Remi, pale brow arched - but only slightly, as if the effort was too much. "Remi, we were going to see if you could make items to ward off the Long Night monsters. Luxere antlers that don't lose their glow, like Amalia's red ones, or a necklace like the one Aoife wears."
He bent down slowly, feeling twice his age and then some as he untied the bag he had brought and revealing its contents: three small pots, each containing a blighted plant dug up on the Greatwood and transplanted, living, into the Hollowed Grounds without touching the barrier-land soil. "Loren, if you haven't already, I brought a plant for you to try and force infection of something local." A result of their discussion in the Atheneum, though for all the bard knew, the other man had already performed those experiments.
"Remi, if you haven't had a chance to try transmuting a blight-plant to something less corrupted, now's your chance. Two of them, at least." His voice never lost its exhausted tone, and his hands shook fiercely as he leaned back against his rock, looking from man to hawk. "Since the point was to help each of you refine your magic with feedback from each other, we should focus on one task at a time to start. I know we won't be able to test the antlers today... and given what we've learned about the Long Night monsters I'm not sure we'll be able to do so at all before Long Night," he admitted, wincing as he glanced to the alchemist-turned-hawk at the mention of their meeting with the Queen. "But we can see if I - or my blighted blood - reacts to them, maybe." It wasn't quite the same, but it was the best his tired brain could come up with at the moment.
