Cold as Ice

"Vervain has air magic," Jigano offered. "She used it to blow poison gas away from us when we were trying to rescue the Tulmhainar. The only time I've seen water magic, though, the mage had to have water close at hand to control. That seems to be true of all the elemental schools though, at least in their apprentice stages." He quirked his lips a little higher at hearing the open curiosity in Loren's voice again, glad that something seemed to have finally shaken the man out of his spiraling ennui.

"Why not four? Or six? Or two?" He shrugged, smile quirked at the bit of whimsy to the question. "That might be a question for Rae, should you ever meet them. And perhaps the information is wrong; it was written in the notes of others, though it matches what I've seen with my own eyes so far. As for comparing them... the elemental magics can be easily compared against each other, but it's harder to compare, say, Water Manipulation with Summoning, or Creation magic with Illusion magic." He shrugged again, though it was because he had no easy answer rather than a lack of interest. No, his interest was very keen, but there was much study still to undertake. "The previous scholars seem to indicate that they progress similarly in power, though. As for fast or slow, the notes said nothing. I can only offer my own observation that it seems to depend on the individual, as with anything requiring learning and practice." Diligence might play a role, but so too did necessity and the vagaries of spirits who might offer gifts of power in exchange for amusement.

He and Ronin had had quite the interesting talk shortly after the Fallen Star's return, and Jigano nodded agreement about the demi-human's unusual placement in the list. "His might be innate now, too," was the bard's only caution. His divine magic had been innate once as well, before the portal, though he agreed that the division between arcane and divine was usually clear. "Remi lives up to his vocation as 'alchemist' both with and without his magic." There was a rueful snort behind the words, a paradoxical mix of exasperation and fondness, though more the latter than the former now. "But yes, he combines his schools of magic. Or at least, I've seen him combine his transmutation magic with his earth magic on several occasions. Then again, he's also both a mage and an Attuned, and there are few enough of those on Caido. He and Ashetta are the only two I know of."

loren

Loren frowned, trying to place the name. It sounded vaguely familiar, but then again it was also a plant, so he could just be thinking of the herb. ”Vervain?” As for water magic, well, the summoner hadn’t seen any since Northaven, so he couldn’t exactly speak to how it worked in Caido. Still, he filed away the information about elemental magics not being able to create their elements; for earth and air, that didn’t seem to be much of a problem, but he could see how it was a severe detriment for fire and water.

As for Jigano’s source, well, the summoner thought it was more true than not. ”That all sounds right to me, honestly. It...tracks with my own experiences.” At the very least, his healing had improved in bounds, not in increments. Seeing as they had insufficient information, though, they probably shouldn’t even be speculating. Still, it was the most energy he’d been able to muster about anything in a while so there was that much, at least. As for pitting magics against one another, well, the Launceleyn had done enough of that for many lifetimes. No more.

”I haven’t really spoken to Ronin.” It came out a bit too quickly, but given the circumstances, that was understandable. ”I don’t even know what magic he possesses, though when he attacked me he seemed to project an illusion of himself and call down a cloud he could ride.” As for whether it was innate versus imbued by the gods, well, obviously Loren couldn’t say. ”And I’m not an expert on the gods, or their favored ones.” Far from it: he was learning a lot about the higher powers, but the more he learned, the more he realized how totally inscrutable they were.

As for Remi, well, the bard’s words actually jogged the summoner’s memory. ”He said that turning into a manticore might be because of his hybrid status, but there are so few of them, as you said, that it’s impossible to test. And...well, he displayed the ability to animate plants. Not just manipulate them with earth magic, but give them at least the semblance of sentience. Plus he mentioned something about his vision? Being able to see in color, and see people in the dark, but I couldn’t exactly understand what he’d been trying to say.” Because the Launceleyn had been busy breaking the alchemist’s heart even as Loren’s own had shattered into pieces too small to repair.

And that was before Remi had tried to kiss the summoner.

Never judge a book by its cover.

"Vai, yes," Jigano amended with a flicker of a warm smile for his formidable friend. "She was the mistress of the Rathskeller when I arrived last Leafchange, and when Isla died... well, Vai took over the running of the Infirmary for a time, before Felix was born." Her family took most of her time now, he thought, for he hadn't seen her in far too long.

It was reassuring to hear that Loren could confirm at least some of what Jigano had read and seen himself, and he nodded gratefully. At least it wasn't a note of something else strange, something that didn't fit, that would send all the notes and hypotheses out the window again so that they'd be starting from scratch.

A pale brow arched with a little more energy thanks to the invigorating direction their conversation had taken, not even the blight able to dull Jigano's interest in conversing with a fellow scholar. Loren's hurry to move past Ronin's name was curious, but given the King's blighted state not unexpected. "It's not an illusion," Jigano murmured with a slight shake of his head. "But the 'cloud-riding' is new to me." And fascinating. He really needed to speak with his dragon-bonded friend again sometime soon... if they could ever find the time. "And if we want an expert on gods, that would be Amalia." Her name was spoken with obvious fondness and pride, a faint smile flickering at the bard's lips. "She knows them better than anyone, I think." Her piety was legendary, after all. "But Ronin is, as far as all research I've gleaned from the Atheneum, the only person blessed by the gods in such a way, and even then only because of a unique confluence of events and people."

Jigano knew that Loren and Remi had once been lovers; he had learned that the first time he had met Remi all those seasons ago in the Atheneum when they had been researching their first Long Night... and had their first disagreement that ended with frayed tempers. That had been before Sam and Ronin though, before Aoife and stolen memories and wedding rings. He listened intently to Loren's words, but it did not occur to him that he and the alchemist were anything other than friends now, or that anything more than conversation had passed between them since Loren's return. "Mmm. It's possible," Jigano said cautiously. "But he had the powers of mage and Attuned both for a long time before he became a manticore. And Ashetta... as far as I'm aware she has no such power or rare animal shift." Not that he knew the assassin well, in truth. Something he had learned the hard way recently, and was still trying to swallow. "I didn't know he could animate plants, though. That's... incredible. Could you describe what he did? What happened?"

loren

Vervain, or Vai, sounded great, but she also didn’t sound like anyone Loren knew. Still, he’d keep an eye out for her on the off chance she popped into his life. However, just then the summoner had much bigger concerns: Ronin and Remi were the last people the Launceleyn wanted to talk about, and Jigano was probably one of the last people Loren wanted to talk to about the other two men. However, the summoner felt bad about how he’d initially treated the bard, and how the Launceleyn continued to close himself off when the white-haired man kept making overtures.

Maybe if they kept the conversation strictly to magic it would be okay. ”What do you mean it’s not an illusion?” As for the cloud-riding, well, that was just about all Loren could say about it. It wasn’t like the king and the summoner had a long conversation; the Launceleyn had visited once, fucked it up, and then been attacked by a blighted Ronin. So yeah, not a lot of talking involved. As for Amalia, well, Loren had absolutely no idea what the baker thought about him. Although it seemed Jigano was fond of her, the summoner would try not to impose on her goodness too much.

He’d try not to impose on anyone, really, moving forward, given what a mess he tended to make everyone's lives once he entered them.

And again, when it came to the king, probably the less Loren knew the better (though he knew a bit of the tale of Ronin’s resurrection). As for Ashetta, well, the Launceleyn hadn’t really talked to her either, so he couldn’t speak to her abilities. Finally, Remi. The summoner had no idea how the alchemist’s magic worked. ”I don’t know how to explain it, and we didn’t get into the mechanics of it. I think it works similarly to my summoning, in that I’m not sure how much independent thought they exhibit and how much is at Remi’s direction, but he can make plants that already exist come into a semblance of life, complete with eyes and mouths.” It really was almost impossible to explain without a demonstration.

Never judge a book by its cover.

"As I understand it, he can see and hear through it. What the seeming-illusion senses, so can the real Ronin," Jigano tried to explain, as Ronin had explained to him. The Fallen Star had been new to his powers then, still exploring his ability and control over it, and any distraction to his real body risked the breaking of his concentration and the shattering of the projection. "We had talked about using it during Long Night, as a way for him to look outside and see if what was on the doorstep was man or monster." That had been back under the baking sun of Longheat, half a lifetime ago it felt like sometimes.

He leaned forward eagerly at the description of this newest ability - near enough to a miracle - that Remi had manifested. It sounded bizarre, like something from a fever dream...

Like something from Flowerbirth. "Eyes and mouths? There were similar... things... last spring," the bard mused, taking the information so well only because he had a frame of reference for it. "Plants with unusual attributes. And, ah, appetites. Carnivorous flora with teeth and a taste for, well, anything they could reach. And able to move after their prey, at least to some extent." He grimaced a little at the memory, remembering a bloody til tip from a nip by one of those plant monsters. "I wonder if they were the runaway creations of some previous mage with a similar ability? Though, nothing like it was listed in the journals... I suppose I'll need to start updating them," he added wryly, hefting the half-empty bag of snow moss and gesturing towards the Temple.

"Shall we continue? Or do you think we've done enough for one day?"

loren

Huh. Interesting. Loren could definitely see how that differed from regular illusion magic. ”I can see how that would be useful. However, I thought the monsters could take the shape of men?” Maybe the summoner had just been misunderstanding how the monsters worked the whole time. ”Also, how far can he send the uh...seeming-illusion? It would be useful to be able to reliably communicate between the two LongNight locations.” There had to be a better word for seeming-illusion. The Launceleyn frowned as he puzzled through the issue.

However, he was distracted from his musings by Jigano’s explanation of the Flowerbirth plants. ”Not like that. Or...at least not exactly like that. And not like the vampire gourds either.” Loren struggled to find the words. ”Again, I’m not sure how independent these were from Remi, so that might’ve explained the differences. But you should probably just ask him for a demonstration.” As for the journals, well, that was the bard’s prerogative. However, the summoner’s brow furrowed. ”Have any of these abilities ever been duplicated?” He couldn’t think of any, but he didn’t know if that was because there were so few with said abilities or if they were truly unique. ”It might be best to start a separate list, seeing as we don’t know how related to the regular magics these are.”

Loren looked up, surprised at the offer; he’d been expecting the white-haired man to want nothing to do with him. Biting his lip, he nodded. ”Let’s continue. Lead the way.” Obviously the Launceleyn didn’t know how to prepare for LongNight properly, so Jigano was in charge. For now.

Never judge a book by its cover.

”That… I’m not sure about,” Jigano said slowly. ”But it’s possible they can use a type of illusion magic or similar Ascended ability to mask their appearance. They don’t do so consistently though. Or at least, everyone who went out in the dark last Long Night had a different experience with them. Wessex met with shadows. Kiada and Sam ran into a small black creature that had taken over a luxere.” And had subsequently killed Isla. ”I’ve never heard a clear account of what Phoebe experienced, but the monsters I met with never showed a physical appearance at all. They stayed hidden and twisted our minds and emotions from the shadows… not unlike the blight,” he added quietly. ”But far more abrupt and violent in the ebb and flow of their effect on us.” He gave a light shrug to the other question about Ronin’s limits. ”When we first trained with his soultwin, not far. He’s had more time to practice with it though, and it sounds as though he has picked up some new tricks since we last spoke, so perhaps he has extended his range on it.”

The bard listened intently as Loren struggled to explain what he had seen, but it seemed so incredibly strange that it defied description. He nodded with a crooked smile at the suggestion to ask Remi, but the smile faded back to a thoughtful frown as he considered the question. ”Not in the records I found. Or at least, the ones that are duplicated have been arranged according to their types or schools. The only reference to things that don’t fit easily into those are that sometimes the spirits of the land grant unusual new magics, or that some people spontaneously manifest something new. But I haven’t found any list of what those new and unusual abilities were in the past. All the more reason to start now,” he added with a wry smile. He hadn’t been intending to try and lump them in with the existing schools, but Loren was trying to be helpful at last, fortunate gods attend him, and even the blight in Jigano’s blood couldn’t budge his tongue to be needlessly snarky.

The bag was a little light as Jigano lifted it again, and he frowned thoughtfully down at it. ”I think we have just enough to do the windows near the Shrine,” he said a little dubiously. ”But the Temple will require a lot more than we have at the moment… When you have time one of these days, I can show you where to gather it, though, and we can finish the Temple’s main room then, if you’re amenable.”

loren

They didn’t know enough about the monsters, that was for damn sure, but it wasn’t like they could study them. ”Are they hybrids, then? Of Abandoned or Ascended? Or just Ascended with access to an illusionist? Or something else entirely?” It was frustrating, not knowing, but Loren didn’t think this was an answer anyone but The Voice knew, and he wasn’t going to bring that goddess up in front of someone who’d been blighted, not after Phoebe’s reaction. And given how the summoner had a lot of experience being on the receiving end of emotional manipulation via illusion magic, he could picture it all too well. Best to keep his glasses handy, then.

Ronin’s soultwin wasn’t really the Launceleyn’s concern. ”Should be easy enough to test that.” Just not with him around: as far as he was concerned, he was giving Ronin and Remi a wide berth until one or the other sought the summoner out, preferably the king. Of course, Loren wasn’t holding his breath for that to happen, since in their shoes, he wouldn’t want to see him ever again. At least it sounded as if the Launceleyn was mostly correct in his hypothesis about the unique magics a few people in the Hollowed Grounds seemed to possess. He tried to tamp down the spark of annoyance he felt that he himself didn’t have such abilities. He had more magic than he’d ever imagined he might, and that had to be enough. ”Well, I’ll let you know if I see or hear about anyone else with strange abilities.” At the very least, it would give the summoner something to do that wasn’t painful in any way, shape or form. Although he supposed that depended on how he found out about the abilities and who possessed them.

At Jigano’s suggestion, Loren nodded. ”Sure. That sounds good to me. Feel free to call upon me any time.” The Launceleyn was technically busy, but on some days, it felt like he had all the time in the world. Granted, that was just because he had nothing to fill his hours with but work.

Never judge a book by its cover.

"Some Ascended upgrades seem able to mimic some Abandoned abilities," Jigano answered with a shrug. "Similar effects, at least, though from a different source." Whether that was what was happening with the monsters, well, he had notes from a different and far older journal that seemed to indicate that was the case with the Ascended Remnants, but unless they could capture one this year there was no easier way to confirm it.

It wasn't like the Voice was offering any assistance, and she was the one who would know best.

The bard nodded gratefully at hearing that Loren would stay in contact with him. They both had scholarly minds and a fierce desire to learn and know more that he hoped would build a bridge between them at some point, from colleagues to friends...

In spite of Loren's family ties and Jigano's own corrupted blood.

"Thank you," he said, sincerity cutting through the darkness that lingered tenaciously in his heart, finding a weary smile for the mage as they rose to finish their current task. There would be time enough another day to complete what they had begun...

He hoped. LongNight was coming on far too fast to count anything certain anymore.