Loren's sympathy was unexpected but Jigano accepted it with a lopsided smile, appreciative nonetheless. "Thank you, though I brought it on myself. I'm luckier than I have any right to be to have survived as relatively uharmed as I did, given the choices I made." Others had not been so lucky, obviously. Others had nearly died because of him and the madness the monsters had kindled in him. It wasn't something he could be proud of, only thankful that no one had died - and even then, only due to Vervain's direct intervention.
Loren's words brought that into crystallization, and Jigano tilted his head at the other man, considering. "Mundane means would not have saved Amalia or Rory," he said softly. "I have some training, both from my world and from Isla here, and I can guarantee that no amount of sutures or bandages would have put them back together in time to keep their souls in their broken bodies. The medics will have their hands full, yes, but in the end it will be the magical healers who make the difference between life and death for those that cross the threshold of Guild and Temple once LongNight falls."
"Amulets?" the bard asked curiously; his time among the blighted had left him out of the amulet loop, and this was the first he had heard of them. But he did grimace faintly at the mention of 'storing magic' in Ascended. Loren had been bitten, then, leeched for his magic. It was utterly pragmatic... and absolutely abhorrent to Jigano, whose world had vampires and worse, creatures of uniformly ill intent. Blood might not have been sacred to him, but Loren's willingness to sacrifice a part of himself to give the Ascended in edge during LongNight was noble.
Possibly stupid, if some of those Ascended kept that powerful magic to use on the Voice's deadly errands in the future, but what choice did they have? They couldn't worry about the Voice until they'd survived LongNight, and Loren was doing his best to ensure that as many people made it as possible.
"What sort of development?" the bard asked, instantly curious given their previous conversations about unique magics and their mutual intent to learn more about them.
At the listing of dangers though, Jigano only shook his head with a faint smile as they headed down for the next load. "Any magic that you give is more than we had last year," he said gently. "And we'll be grateful as hell for it. Or at least, I will be." He paused thoughtfully as he grabbed another of the bigger carpets, waiting for Loren to grab the other end. "Though, if you're going to summon a Spark Bird, you'll want to do it here in the Sanctuary, where the perch is. If I remember the lessons from last year, the point of the Perch is that the Spark Bird tends to set buildings around it on fire, so the only safe place for her to land is the perch in the middle of the Sanctuary square, where there's enough stone and space that she doesn't start accidentally lighting roofs on fire."
Loren's words brought that into crystallization, and Jigano tilted his head at the other man, considering. "Mundane means would not have saved Amalia or Rory," he said softly. "I have some training, both from my world and from Isla here, and I can guarantee that no amount of sutures or bandages would have put them back together in time to keep their souls in their broken bodies. The medics will have their hands full, yes, but in the end it will be the magical healers who make the difference between life and death for those that cross the threshold of Guild and Temple once LongNight falls."
"Amulets?" the bard asked curiously; his time among the blighted had left him out of the amulet loop, and this was the first he had heard of them. But he did grimace faintly at the mention of 'storing magic' in Ascended. Loren had been bitten, then, leeched for his magic. It was utterly pragmatic... and absolutely abhorrent to Jigano, whose world had vampires and worse, creatures of uniformly ill intent. Blood might not have been sacred to him, but Loren's willingness to sacrifice a part of himself to give the Ascended in edge during LongNight was noble.
Possibly stupid, if some of those Ascended kept that powerful magic to use on the Voice's deadly errands in the future, but what choice did they have? They couldn't worry about the Voice until they'd survived LongNight, and Loren was doing his best to ensure that as many people made it as possible.
"What sort of development?" the bard asked, instantly curious given their previous conversations about unique magics and their mutual intent to learn more about them.
At the listing of dangers though, Jigano only shook his head with a faint smile as they headed down for the next load. "Any magic that you give is more than we had last year," he said gently. "And we'll be grateful as hell for it. Or at least, I will be." He paused thoughtfully as he grabbed another of the bigger carpets, waiting for Loren to grab the other end. "Though, if you're going to summon a Spark Bird, you'll want to do it here in the Sanctuary, where the perch is. If I remember the lessons from last year, the point of the Perch is that the Spark Bird tends to set buildings around it on fire, so the only safe place for her to land is the perch in the middle of the Sanctuary square, where there's enough stone and space that she doesn't start accidentally lighting roofs on fire."
