"You would be welcome," the Provost replied automatically, the gracious courtesies too ingrained in his tongue for even the blight to blunt. "Whether you come with questions you want help answering, information that could help others, or books or items for the collection." All were welcome, who sought knowledge... or so the saying on the door went. It wasn't quite true, because Jigano was not a saint and with the blight fueling his darker impulses his pettiness was both amplified and extended beyond its normal bounds, but until Sunjata did something to earn the lorekeeper's ire he was as welcome as most people to the Guildhall in the Atheneum's basement.
The roguish smile was unexpected and welcome, a flicker of sunlight through the snow, however fleeting. Jigano smiled back, taking the answer in stride and finding nothing strange in it. Mercenaries were common on his world, a mixed bag of some very good men and women - and some truly wicked individuals, not to mention all those in between. Still, it was a profession that could be honorable, and he nodded easy acceptance of it. It wasn't that he trusted the other man, but that he saw no harm in taking the information at face value for now, and then adjusting his opinion later as he gained more data.
"It's a big adjustment," he agreed quietly, thinking of his own first few weeks, a year and more ago. "I thought I knew what I wanted and then the blight..." he trailed off, shrugging at the black elephant in the room. "Well. If it has done one thing, it has helped me to see what truly matters. But I've had a year to try and find my place here. I hope that you'll find a place that suits you, too." He paused, tilting his head as he came to the end of the bridge and looked out over the snow expanse leading into the Ruins. He had a thoughtful look on his face as he glanced back to Sunjata, melancholy momentarily waning with the rise of his interest. "You said a mercenary 'of sorts', yes? What did you mean by that?"
The roguish smile was unexpected and welcome, a flicker of sunlight through the snow, however fleeting. Jigano smiled back, taking the answer in stride and finding nothing strange in it. Mercenaries were common on his world, a mixed bag of some very good men and women - and some truly wicked individuals, not to mention all those in between. Still, it was a profession that could be honorable, and he nodded easy acceptance of it. It wasn't that he trusted the other man, but that he saw no harm in taking the information at face value for now, and then adjusting his opinion later as he gained more data.
"It's a big adjustment," he agreed quietly, thinking of his own first few weeks, a year and more ago. "I thought I knew what I wanted and then the blight..." he trailed off, shrugging at the black elephant in the room. "Well. If it has done one thing, it has helped me to see what truly matters. But I've had a year to try and find my place here. I hope that you'll find a place that suits you, too." He paused, tilting his head as he came to the end of the bridge and looked out over the snow expanse leading into the Ruins. He had a thoughtful look on his face as he glanced back to Sunjata, melancholy momentarily waning with the rise of his interest. "You said a mercenary 'of sorts', yes? What did you mean by that?"
