As Jigano started speaking, Loren opened his eyes. At first the summoner was quite, quite confused about what was going on; however, his eyes darted through the oasis until they landed on a familiar looking hawk. ”Good morning, Remi!” It was strange that the other man seemed to want to stay in animal form, but the Launceleyn was hardly in any position to judge.
At the mention of their various experiments, Loren nodded, though idly he was wondering if he would have enough magic to sustain him through multiple summons. Well, if not, he’d just have to rest up and try another day; though he hadn’t experimented much, it was keeping the creatures in the world that significant drained him, though bringing them into the world took a chunk of energy too. Hopefully he could get through two here today, so long as he didn’t try to maintain them for long.
Waiting patiently for the bard to finish, Loren glanced between the white-haired man and the hawk a few times. ”Thanks for setting all this up. Although, I have to ask why you think the blight would respond to the antlers?” Even as he asked, Loren’s hand were scabbling in the dirt, pulling up a flower near his feet; normally he’d have probably used magic instead of his hands, but he was conserving as much of that as possible for the summoning. ”Oh, before I forget, Phoebe, uh the healer from the meeting who had been experimenting on the blight, well, she insisted that it was transmitted when the infection got into an open wound on an otherwise healthy person.” The Launceleyn hesitated, but he knew he should probably communicate the woman’s state of mind. ”However, and I hate to say this, she seemed quite paranoid, though that’s not necessarily a reason not to trust her findings.”
He finished digging up the flower and stood up with it carefully cupped in his hands. Kneeling, he scraped a bit of space in the nearest pot with a blighted plant, and transplanted the flower into it. Other than that, Loren supposed they just had to wait: it was hardly an exact science, but he couldn’t think of any other way to test that the plants of the Hollowed Grounds were resilient for some as yet unknown reason.
That task done, Loren rolled his neck to loosen it. He didn’t know if Jigano had an order in mind, but the Launceleyn knew he should go first. ”I think I should start, as I may need to recover in between spells.” Maybe once upon a time the summoner would’ve been ashamed to admit that, but as it stood they didn’t have time for him to have personal hang-ups.
So, with an effort of will the Launceleyn pictured a deer with glowing horns, exactly as it had been described in all the books and by all the people he’d spoken to; it helped that he’d seen a miniature example of the creature at the meeting Remi had held, though Loren hadn’t known what he was seeing at the time.
Perhaps the gods didn’t completely forsake Loren—or maybe his magic had always just been capable of more than he knew—because right before his eyes a luxere, complete with softly glowing antlers, appeared before him. The Launceleyn made it walk in a circle, just to ensure he could, then held it still so Remi and Jigano could examine it. Once they were done, the summoner would banish it; already he could feel his magic leeching away.
At the mention of their various experiments, Loren nodded, though idly he was wondering if he would have enough magic to sustain him through multiple summons. Well, if not, he’d just have to rest up and try another day; though he hadn’t experimented much, it was keeping the creatures in the world that significant drained him, though bringing them into the world took a chunk of energy too. Hopefully he could get through two here today, so long as he didn’t try to maintain them for long.
Waiting patiently for the bard to finish, Loren glanced between the white-haired man and the hawk a few times. ”Thanks for setting all this up. Although, I have to ask why you think the blight would respond to the antlers?” Even as he asked, Loren’s hand were scabbling in the dirt, pulling up a flower near his feet; normally he’d have probably used magic instead of his hands, but he was conserving as much of that as possible for the summoning. ”Oh, before I forget, Phoebe, uh the healer from the meeting who had been experimenting on the blight, well, she insisted that it was transmitted when the infection got into an open wound on an otherwise healthy person.” The Launceleyn hesitated, but he knew he should probably communicate the woman’s state of mind. ”However, and I hate to say this, she seemed quite paranoid, though that’s not necessarily a reason not to trust her findings.”
He finished digging up the flower and stood up with it carefully cupped in his hands. Kneeling, he scraped a bit of space in the nearest pot with a blighted plant, and transplanted the flower into it. Other than that, Loren supposed they just had to wait: it was hardly an exact science, but he couldn’t think of any other way to test that the plants of the Hollowed Grounds were resilient for some as yet unknown reason.
That task done, Loren rolled his neck to loosen it. He didn’t know if Jigano had an order in mind, but the Launceleyn knew he should go first. ”I think I should start, as I may need to recover in between spells.” Maybe once upon a time the summoner would’ve been ashamed to admit that, but as it stood they didn’t have time for him to have personal hang-ups.
So, with an effort of will the Launceleyn pictured a deer with glowing horns, exactly as it had been described in all the books and by all the people he’d spoken to; it helped that he’d seen a miniature example of the creature at the meeting Remi had held, though Loren hadn’t known what he was seeing at the time.
Perhaps the gods didn’t completely forsake Loren—or maybe his magic had always just been capable of more than he knew—because right before his eyes a luxere, complete with softly glowing antlers, appeared before him. The Launceleyn made it walk in a circle, just to ensure he could, then held it still so Remi and Jigano could examine it. Once they were done, the summoner would banish it; already he could feel his magic leeching away.
