[SE] Stick in the Mud
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#15
Jigano blinked in confusion as Kaimana's questions turned on a Numerian copper and fired off swift as a trained archer, not waiting for an answer to the first before dashing on to the fourth. He shook his head as Kai focused not on the 'perhaps' but on the 'trade,' rushing off towards some worst-case assumptions that had the bard sighing, good mood fading as he saw the other man's joy and energy drain away to anxiety and unhappiness.

It was so much like a certain baker that he knew that his heart twisted painfully in his chest and he looked away. Words pressed against the back of his teeth, explanations and answers he might once have poured out without a second thought. Now he swallowed them down, remembering how those words did little but hurt those he had only wanted to protect. The Guild had been largely empty after LongNight, Caiside's death echoing in a hall where the remaining loreseekers rarely came anymore.

Because of the choices he had made, and the words he had spoken.

"Well," he said quietly, wondering if he should adopt Deimos's terse nature instead and avoid such mistakes in the future, "it might not be around much longer, given how things are going. But I'll answer questions as long as I can." He pulled his boot on and wiggled his toes to settle them in place. "And they trade what they want, for the most part. What they think the information will be worth to them, or what they can spare. Sometimes it's skills or favors, helping us fix up the Atheneum or loaning tools or wagons and the like. Often it's food, since while we're looking for their answers we aren't farming our own produce or caring for animals. When possible we try to trade knowledge, recording family stories or personal anecdotes to expand our collections so that if someone else comes along looking for that information we have it already at hand." Everyone had something they could trade, even if it was just their time. And if they didn't? Well, there were always future favors that could be called in for projects like repairing bookshelves.

Given that he had offered Kai and his sister the opportunity to make copies of the records, which would give plenty of chance for writing, Jigano wasn't sure why the young man felt the need to counter his words as though it was a conflict. He was tired of every conversation becoming a battle, but since he was the only common denominator it wasn't as though he could place the blame on anyone else. Kai's answer was sensible, but Jigano thought the assignment had been about the Hollowed Grounds specifically. Well, if the man had memory issues the bard could hardly blame him for something beyond his control.

"I'm sorry I interrupted your work, then," he said quietly, subdued as he offered him a small bow. "Though I thank you for your help." If this really was an agent of Rae then Jigano could hardly afford to offend the Nature God by delaying him in his duties. One angry deity was more than enough. He didn't think he would survive the wrath of another.
Scientist

Age: 26 | Height: 5'8 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 3 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 15 - Int:
Played by: shark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 262 | Total: 4,577
MP: 0
#16
"What might not be around? At the rate what things're goin'?" Even in your befuddlement your curiosity knows no bounds, and your confusion and unhappiness means you somehow fire your questions off with less thought and more speed than normal - a truly impressive turn of events.

But you do have some modicum of self control, sometimes, when you really have to. Slowly you nod your head as the Jigano's explanations make things a bit clearer. The amorphous value of information (which still, to you, seems like something nobody should have to barter for) at least makes things less perplexing in terms of how one decides what should be traded, but you still aren't super sure. "Well, I know I know some things, but I dunno if the things I know are the things you wanna know, y'know?"

Chances are he doesn't know, because you chose the most convoluted way possible to phrase that, but that's neither here nor there.

"You didn't in'erupt," you correct automatically, relaxing again slightly now that things have been clarified somewhat. "Observin' people interactin' with the natural environment is part'a my assignment. I learned a lot from watchin' ya fight with the mud."
there's no time to be bored
in a world as beautiful as this
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#17
Self pity was not his best look, but that didn't stop him from having a good wallow in it like a (handsome) pig in the (metaphorical) mud from time to time. He paused as he regarded Kai thoughtfully, taking time to consider his words more than usual as a way to slow the other man down. "The Guild might not be around much longer," he said quietly at last. "Loreseekers are curious by nature but... sometimes - often, really - that means seeking knowledge in dangerous situations. Several members of the guild have died, and others have gone missing. There are only three of us left, now, and if Sam and Amalia choose to leave, well...A guild of only one or two people isn't much of a guild at all."

Kai knew things that might be useful, but he wasn't sure if they would be or not? Probably? Jigano parsed the accidental riddle as best he could, tilting his head as he chased the words until he thought he had the meaning down. "If they're things I don't already know, then I do want to know them, if you'd like to talk about them," he said at last, hoping he'd understood the other man right. "And I can tell you things about the Hollowed Grounds in return, if you'd like." Though since the young man had lost much of his memory it would be interesting to see how much of what he remembered could be trusted.

Fighting with the mud? Sad but true. Caido didn't leave many egos unbruised and Jigano sighed as he looked at the mushroom-encircled boot-thief. "Then I'm glad I could be of assistance to you as well. This is an unusual new... thing. I didn't see anything like it last year. It reminds me a bit of memory snow, but with more gumption."
Scientist

Age: 26 | Height: 5'8 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 3 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 15 - Int:
Played by: shark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 262 | Total: 4,577
MP: 0
#18
Personally you prefer to wallow in the actual mud, but that's neither here nor there.

It's a shame the guild is dying. For all its rather avaricious nature, it seems like something pretty useful- Oia would have loved it, you think. "Why do they keep leaving?" Loreseeking sounds like an excellent pursuit to you. Why anyone would want to give up on it is a mystery to you.

"How do I know if you don't know them?" you counter lightly, wrinkling your lips in consideration, eyes dim with unsure thought. Another call back to the earlier misunderstandings: how does he know what the Jigano will value, without knowing what he already knows or what he wants to learn?

Sighing a little, you reach down to grab another handful of mud, the feeling of it between your fingers comforting, somehow. What to tell him, what to do-

-Aha!

"I know!" you declare abruptly, springing back upright, your freckled face awash with the triumph of your idea. "How about I ask you somethin' an' you ask me somethin' an so on, so it's an easy trade? I go first. How'd'ya change when you came to Caido?"
there's no time to be bored
in a world as beautiful as this
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#19
"Some became too ill to continue," he said quietly, thinking of Maea. "Others simply disappeared. Whether through another portal or being eaten by a landshark or captured by a Wicker Woman... we just don't know." Killian and Seiji came to mind, the latter also a man without a memory. "Still others chose to pursue the raising of children and tending to their families over the activities of a Guild." Vervain, who had once expressed interest in joining and now spent her days raising Felix, for instance. "Of those who remain? Both are beloved by different gods, and their duties to those deities take precedence over their loyalty to the guild. I don't want to lose either of them but... it's not like a mortal can compete with the gods." He tried to summon a wry smile to add a little lightness to the dreary direction the conversation had taken, but he was only partially successful at best.

At least the other man seemed to be perking up again, though, and Jigano ceased his prepartions to leave, finding a smooth-barked birch to lean against as they talked and he split his attention between studying how the mud squelched around the mushrooms and Kaimana's ponderings. He had just been about to suggest that Kai ask him if he knew the specific things that the other man did when the demigod reached a similar conclusion, albeit one a bit more equal in trade. He'd played a similar game with Eliza once upon a time, and a tired smile flickered over his lips at the memory.

"Alright," he agreed, thinking about the question that came first. "On my world I was an Oracle and a bard, capable of casting both divine and arcane magics. That magic was lost to me when I came through the portal - along with all of the magic items and enhancing enchantments I had." Being able to turn into a fox, though, had remained the same... mostly. "What is your earliest memory?" he asked in turn, curious in spite of Kaimana's judgment over the Guild's barter system.
Scientist

Age: 26 | Height: 5'8 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 3 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 15 - Int:
Played by: shark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 262 | Total: 4,577
MP: 0
#20
So he lost something when he came here. But had he gained anything? You feel like that ought to be part of the answer, but he's already proven to be very frugal with information and you do not want to push too hard. Oracle isn't a term you're familiar with, either, and you would very much like to know what magic he lost, and what the items were, and why they mattered, and-

Well. Maybe this isn't such a good plan after all.

The man, in turn, certainly starts with a difficult request. Earliest memory. You tilt your head in studious thought, clearly working hard to nail down the answer to this question. Earliest thing you currently remember? Earliest impression of memory, without distinct definitions? Earliest thing you know you know?

The answer is the same in every case, you suppose. "My sister. Oia'i'o."

The uneasiness is back, and you let your mud drop back to the ground, looking around in the darkening woods. Which, for clarification, you are certainly not afraid of. "Can I ask you more another time, maybe? I... I wanna write 'em down. An' maybe you can tell me the rules. So I don' mess up again."
there's no time to be bored
in a world as beautiful as this
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#21
Family... something Jigano has long been without. His smile was a little sad as he nodded at the simple answer, and all the questions it spawned in his own mind. What was Oia'i'o like? What did they have in common? How were they different? But they had spent longer than he had realized playing in the mud, and he glanced around at the lengthening shadows with a start. He would have to hurry to make it to the Mathair by dark if he wanted to ask his questions of the Fae, and he would certainly be returning home after by moonlight. It wouldn't be the first time, though, and foxy paws would move swiftly through the night-cast shadows when he did.

Kaimana's innocent earnestness had the weary bard blowing a loose tress of white hair back as he gave the other man a gentle nod, feeling a pang of regret for his earlier lack of patience. He would make a better effort the next time, then, he promised himself. "Of course," he said with a smile. "I didn't explain things very well today, and I'm sorry for that. I'd love to talk with you again, when you have time. Come look for me in the Atheneum, in the Loreseeker Guildhall, and I'll answer what I can for you." It was the least he could do, and usually his joy. Hopefully he would be better rested then, and would speak with greater clarity. "Bring your sister if you want. You're both welcome in the Hall." He'd have to look to restocking the tea caddy, and seeing if Amalia had been by with pastries recently. It would be nice to have new faces in the Hall again, even if they only visited for a little while.
Scientist

Age: 26 | Height: 5'8 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 3 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 15 - Int:
Played by: shark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 262 | Total: 4,577
MP: 0
#22
You are grateful for the forgiveness and the willingness to give a second chance. Nodding at the invitation to visit the atheneum and bring Oia, you find your smile returning a little, your good nature rarely chased away by clouds for very long. "Okay! I'll bring somethin' t'trade for the information, too. An' Oia. An' my questions. An' hopefully that'll be ok."

Waving broadly you turn back the way you came, disappearing once more into the woods which easily part to let you through, child of Rae that you are.
there's no time to be bored
in a world as beautiful as this


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)


RPG-D