For half a breath Jigano said nothing, surprised at the statement that seemed so uncertain from the quiet man. Then his laughter bubbled up, delight at the joke interrupting his shoveling as he chuckled, and shook his head. "Ah, Peter, good one. The delivery was a little flat, but you've got a fine sense of humor." He continued to chortle a bit as he steadied himself and went back to his shoveling, shaking his head ruefully. "You're no Northhavener, though, thank all the gods for that, and when Edy told me about her family you weren't on the list." Though now that he mentioned it, the name Peter was familiar. Something about Zariah...
The other man might not have believed Jigano about the Loreseekers, but the Provost only smiled. "Then they seek the lore of their choice at the time at their own pace," he said simply. "Three hundred years ago, for instance... well, no one knows the truth. No one who's telling," he amended with a faint grimace for the gods who played so coy. "Somehow the Voice and those like her became gods and used the Ascended to wage a war against the Old Gods. The Old Gods managed to contain her - and presumably all of the Ascended - in the Hollowed Grounds in a magical barrier that even the gods couldn't get through. But exactly who started what... it's still pretty murky." He shrugged as he scraped the last bit of living muck off the stairs. "It's hard information to find, so I gather it as a go, in and around other projects as circumstances permit."
Halo, though... "I haven't decided yet," he said with a sigh. "I want to at least see it with my own eyes, but to stay? No. My home is here now." With Rory, he didn't say aloud. Didn't need to say it, when his heart so firmly knew which direction to turn. "But you should learn as much as you can," he encouraged, slipping back to Peter's interests. "Maybe something you come across will catch you interest and set it afire one of these days. Until then, 'everything' is a good place to start." The bard grinned as Peter learned something new, but the question of the 'water lady' had him tilting his head curiously. "You mean the Undine of the Crimson Cataract?" he asked curiously. "Or mermaids of the ocean?" He'd never seen any himself, of course, being from a landlocked nation, but such creatures existed on his world and on the Plane of Water.
Mud met earth and fell back, momentarily stymied. Jigano flashed Peter a smile, albeit a crooked one. "You'll get there," he assured him. "Time and practice help with almost everything, magic included." He knew a great deal about the magic of Caido thanks to an old journal he'd read, but this wasn't the best time for a lesson. For one thing, the mud was trying to climb out of its container even as the townsfolk hurried to begin scooping it into the barrels. Jigano kept his concentration on the dirt walls, pushing them up wherever it looked like the mud was starting to make a break for it.
"Kalma? Interesting..." Before he could ask more a glop of mud escaped from a woman's bucket and Jigano pointed to it distractedly. "For now, grab that mud! We're almost done!" Indeed, he had to keep shrinking the edges of his earth-box as more and more mud was removed and lids began to be pounded onto barrels squirming with almost-sentient brown goo.
The other man might not have believed Jigano about the Loreseekers, but the Provost only smiled. "Then they seek the lore of their choice at the time at their own pace," he said simply. "Three hundred years ago, for instance... well, no one knows the truth. No one who's telling," he amended with a faint grimace for the gods who played so coy. "Somehow the Voice and those like her became gods and used the Ascended to wage a war against the Old Gods. The Old Gods managed to contain her - and presumably all of the Ascended - in the Hollowed Grounds in a magical barrier that even the gods couldn't get through. But exactly who started what... it's still pretty murky." He shrugged as he scraped the last bit of living muck off the stairs. "It's hard information to find, so I gather it as a go, in and around other projects as circumstances permit."
Halo, though... "I haven't decided yet," he said with a sigh. "I want to at least see it with my own eyes, but to stay? No. My home is here now." With Rory, he didn't say aloud. Didn't need to say it, when his heart so firmly knew which direction to turn. "But you should learn as much as you can," he encouraged, slipping back to Peter's interests. "Maybe something you come across will catch you interest and set it afire one of these days. Until then, 'everything' is a good place to start." The bard grinned as Peter learned something new, but the question of the 'water lady' had him tilting his head curiously. "You mean the Undine of the Crimson Cataract?" he asked curiously. "Or mermaids of the ocean?" He'd never seen any himself, of course, being from a landlocked nation, but such creatures existed on his world and on the Plane of Water.
Mud met earth and fell back, momentarily stymied. Jigano flashed Peter a smile, albeit a crooked one. "You'll get there," he assured him. "Time and practice help with almost everything, magic included." He knew a great deal about the magic of Caido thanks to an old journal he'd read, but this wasn't the best time for a lesson. For one thing, the mud was trying to climb out of its container even as the townsfolk hurried to begin scooping it into the barrels. Jigano kept his concentration on the dirt walls, pushing them up wherever it looked like the mud was starting to make a break for it.
"Kalma? Interesting..." Before he could ask more a glop of mud escaped from a woman's bucket and Jigano pointed to it distractedly. "For now, grab that mud! We're almost done!" Indeed, he had to keep shrinking the edges of his earth-box as more and more mud was removed and lids began to be pounded onto barrels squirming with almost-sentient brown goo.
