Remi’s addition was a good one, though Jigano grimaced as he nodded at hearing the confirmation of what he had only suspected. It had been happening so gradually that he hadn’t been certain if he was only imagining it, but of course Ronin was further along, and Remi would have taken notes of the changes.
Loren was full of hope and determination, two resources in vanishingly short supply at the Oasis just then. The bard nodded weary thanks as the scholar gave them concrete ideas already underway, but at the mention of summoning something to soothe the blighted he found the energy to raise an intrigued brow. ”I don’t know of any here,” he admitted, ”but I can offer myself as a test subject if you can summon something from your own myths and legends.”
The tale of the lost Ascended wasn’t a pleasant one for any of them. Sam, Rexanna, Bastien… whatever sins their forerunners had committed, many of the ‘modern’ children of the Voice were well-intentioned and would never cause the mayhem the earlier generation was guilty of. Or so Jigano had to believe, placing his ire squarely on the Voice for her recklessness and lack of care in fixing what she had abandoned. ”I’m not sure how physical they are,” Jigano said slowly, thoughtfully. ”If they’re mostly spirit at this point, not even healing magic might have an effect on them. Though… actually…” He blinked and looked to Remi, brow furrowed as he sought his weary memory and came up blank. ”Has anyone tried to Heal an Ascended since we arrived? Does it work on them?” He glanced to Loren with a sober nod. ”Something to add to your list of things to try, if not.”
He caught Remi’s flinch as he looked back, but he wasn’t able to manage a reassuring smile. ”If we can negate their upgrades temporarily, within a certain area, it might offer at least some protection from the Long Night ghouls. Sam’s strength would make it easy to test, though… no, I suspect the Voice will be a bit cranky with us if we do find a way to do it. She could do something to heal or put the ghouls to sleep herself if she didn’t want us meddling, though,” he finished grimly, the shadow of a growl underlying his words as his fingers flexed into fists.
The rage was swifter to rise, but not quite strong enough to break through the shell of weariness that marked his day, and Jigano subsided at the thought of being able to give Rory some protection against him. It was another dead end, though, and all he returned to the alchemist was a pulse of quiet despair. He was not so far gone, no… not yet.
But he was getting worse every day.
The explanation of the amulet was similar enough to something on his world that he nodded thanks to Loren’s explanation, still bemused at someone actually saying that Remi should be more like him. This wasn’t the time or place to dwell on it, alas, not with blighted plants that bit back and sent Remi flying. Loren’s suggestion was a good one, but Remi quickly shot it down. Jigano frowned thoughtfully, opening his mouth to ask a question—
One the alchemist was in no shape to answer. The bard shook his head, looking to Loren with a sigh. ”If the blight is growing stronger you might need to run the tests again, whatever they were,” he suggested. ”I gave Ronin a list of the different schools of magic… I can make another one for you. See how it reacts to life drain versus healing, normal fire versus magical fire, that sort of thing. But if the symptoms I… I was taught to look for,” he corrected himself, stumbling over the name of the lovely medic, ”were right – and they are – a cracked skull and a desire to vomit are nothing to mess with. Remi, will you please let Loren heal you now? At least we know he can summon a luxere, and we’ve learned something new about the blighted plants. Today wasn’t a total waste, and we can just try for a summoned Spark Bird tomorrow.”
Oh, how fleeting such optimism could be.
Loren was full of hope and determination, two resources in vanishingly short supply at the Oasis just then. The bard nodded weary thanks as the scholar gave them concrete ideas already underway, but at the mention of summoning something to soothe the blighted he found the energy to raise an intrigued brow. ”I don’t know of any here,” he admitted, ”but I can offer myself as a test subject if you can summon something from your own myths and legends.”
The tale of the lost Ascended wasn’t a pleasant one for any of them. Sam, Rexanna, Bastien… whatever sins their forerunners had committed, many of the ‘modern’ children of the Voice were well-intentioned and would never cause the mayhem the earlier generation was guilty of. Or so Jigano had to believe, placing his ire squarely on the Voice for her recklessness and lack of care in fixing what she had abandoned. ”I’m not sure how physical they are,” Jigano said slowly, thoughtfully. ”If they’re mostly spirit at this point, not even healing magic might have an effect on them. Though… actually…” He blinked and looked to Remi, brow furrowed as he sought his weary memory and came up blank. ”Has anyone tried to Heal an Ascended since we arrived? Does it work on them?” He glanced to Loren with a sober nod. ”Something to add to your list of things to try, if not.”
He caught Remi’s flinch as he looked back, but he wasn’t able to manage a reassuring smile. ”If we can negate their upgrades temporarily, within a certain area, it might offer at least some protection from the Long Night ghouls. Sam’s strength would make it easy to test, though… no, I suspect the Voice will be a bit cranky with us if we do find a way to do it. She could do something to heal or put the ghouls to sleep herself if she didn’t want us meddling, though,” he finished grimly, the shadow of a growl underlying his words as his fingers flexed into fists.
The rage was swifter to rise, but not quite strong enough to break through the shell of weariness that marked his day, and Jigano subsided at the thought of being able to give Rory some protection against him. It was another dead end, though, and all he returned to the alchemist was a pulse of quiet despair. He was not so far gone, no… not yet.
But he was getting worse every day.
The explanation of the amulet was similar enough to something on his world that he nodded thanks to Loren’s explanation, still bemused at someone actually saying that Remi should be more like him. This wasn’t the time or place to dwell on it, alas, not with blighted plants that bit back and sent Remi flying. Loren’s suggestion was a good one, but Remi quickly shot it down. Jigano frowned thoughtfully, opening his mouth to ask a question—
One the alchemist was in no shape to answer. The bard shook his head, looking to Loren with a sigh. ”If the blight is growing stronger you might need to run the tests again, whatever they were,” he suggested. ”I gave Ronin a list of the different schools of magic… I can make another one for you. See how it reacts to life drain versus healing, normal fire versus magical fire, that sort of thing. But if the symptoms I… I was taught to look for,” he corrected himself, stumbling over the name of the lovely medic, ”were right – and they are – a cracked skull and a desire to vomit are nothing to mess with. Remi, will you please let Loren heal you now? At least we know he can summon a luxere, and we’ve learned something new about the blighted plants. Today wasn’t a total waste, and we can just try for a summoned Spark Bird tomorrow.”
Oh, how fleeting such optimism could be.
