Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
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The corners of Loren’s lips twitched. ”Well. I am nothing if not forward, in my own way.” The self-deprecating joke came out easily, and he grinned at Jigano. "I'll be sure to drum up interest at Fiat Lux. Soon we'll be swimming in new members." The overly cocky tone was deliberate, and the summoner let out a huff of laughter.
Thankfully ignoring this narrator's terrible editing and reading skills, the two men continued making their way through the Labyrinth. "Sure and sure. Good thing we're professional stall setter uppers now. And I think the biggest challenge would be convincing them to actually participate in something, rather than standing apart and observing." His brow furrowed as he considered the problem.
Dismissing the wolves, the Launceleyn shot the bard a surprised look. "They can use tools?" Loren gave the squirrels a closer look, then shrugged. "If they would eat me, given the chance, not so sure I feel squeamish about eating them." Still, there was a slightly teasing tone in the summoner's voice.
Blush deepening, the Launceleyn's eyes darted to the sky, the hedges, the squirrels, anywhere but the white-haired man. "Yes. We are quite cozy." Again, Loren's tone came out awkwardly, so he finally looked at Jigano. "How's everything at home?"
12-26-2019, 04:13 PM (This post was last modified: 12-26-2019, 07:49 PM by Jigano.)
Jigano grinned back, sending a pulse of optimistic agreement through the Attuned bond. Loren's confidence, however joking, was a breath of fresh air that the guild desperately needed, and the bard was eager to see what they could accomplish together. "Between you and Ingrid, we're off to a strong start to the year," he declared with a wink.
Loren's comment on 'professionals' earned a snort of amusement, though he was certainly right about that after Fiat Lux! "Maybe you can use your water powers to make us a healing igloo?" he suggested teasingly. "As for Kai and his twin, perhaps we can frame it as 'participating in an educational activity'? Though observers who record what they see and hear are also welcome additions to the Loreseekers." They'd find a niche for them, one way or another, or they'd make one. One thing Jigano had intended with his Guild when he made it was the flexibility for people to play to their strengths.
The Speaking Squirrels, unfortunately, had strengths of their own. "Simple ones," he amended with a slight shrug as they walked, following the curve of a hedgewall that seemed to guide them further and further away from the outer edge of the maze. "They've attacked us with the thorns before, thrown as tiny javelins or even shot from crude bows. One or two are barely a nuisance, but the problem is the numbers. It's like the proverbial 'nibbling to death by ducks' but far less amusing when it's those big sharp incisors and three inch long thorns being stabbed into your flesh." His tone was wry, staying light with Loren's teasing, but there was the hint of genuine warning in his eyes.
Talk of the summoner's love life was a far more pleasant topic - at least for the nosy bard, who grinned at the blush but pretended not to notice it for the sake of his friend's pride. "He seemed a bit out of place when I met him," he admitted. "I think he'd but recently arrived. I'm glad he's found someone to, ah, show him the local ropes... so to speak." The tone was completely innocent, even if the words might have a few racier connotations for those that chose to look for them. Given the wicked twinkle in Jigano's eye he was aware of them but waiting to see how Loren would take them. The return question brought a softening of his smile and tilt of his head in acknoweldgement. "Flowerbirth is a busy time on the farm," he said with a chuckle. "Crops to plant, goats giving birth, leaks to repair, fences to mend from winter's snows... there's always something to keep Rory busy, and me as well!" The leatherworker was still reluctant to emerge from his self-imposed exile, but Jigano kept up their social obligations in town, freeing his mate to handle the farm's many responsibilities.
Loren tilted his head, though his eyes glittered with amusement. ”How would that work? Would the ice heal people, or would I just heal people in the igloo?” Tone still bemused, he shrugged at Jigano. ”Honestly, I think just telling them there’s a book about all the flora and fauna in the Hollowed Grounds, and mentioning that if they join the Loreseekers they’ll get to discover similar volumes might do the trick.” Voice only a little uncertain, the summoner glanced at the bard.
At the explanation about the squirrels, the Launceleyn eyed them with a newfound respect. ”I’m curious what world you come from where bows are considered simple tools, especially when wielded by rodents.” His tone was gently teasing, and the corners of his lips twitched and his eyes crinkled.
Again, Loren blushed a furious shade of crimson at the white-haired man’s insinuations. ”The transition from his world to this one was rough, not least because he was blighted. I offered him a place to stay, and nursed him during his illness. The rest was...unexpected. For both of us.” Tone still half-choked, the summoner pressed his lips together.
He calmed a bit as Jigano spoke of Rory and the farm. The Launceleyn even smiled faintly. ”I remember planting season well. If either of you need help with anything, let me know. It’s been a while, but I still remember how to farm.” There was a slightly self-deprecating tone in Loren’s voice.
"Make the igloo with your ice and then we can heal people inside it, rather than setting up a wooden stall," he explained, belatedly realizing that he hadn't been clear. "I'm not sure how much spare wood they have over there, actually. Given the weight of all that snow, stone is probably safe to build with, unless it's a temporary structure." He grinned reassuringly at Loren, tilting his head in a nod. "And it certainly won't hurt to try. Though other people might not be quite as excited by the thought as you and I are," he added a touch ruefully, thinking of how Adam had turned him down.
"Well, simple bows compared to crossbows with gears," he amended with a chuckle. "But ratfolk are a civilized race, though often given to more shadowy pursuits. Still, there are always exceptions, so you shouldn't stereotype too much." His teasing fell a little flat as a pebble bounced out of the hedge to strike his hand, a chittering swell of interest quickly going silent as he reached into the hedges again with his magic and increased the growth of the thorns enough to form an almost solid screen that not even a squirrel could eel through. "These are no ratfolk... for good or for ill," he grumbled under his breath.
"Ah, I didn't realize he'd been here so long," the bard replied, genuinely surprised. "I met him only recently and he seemed... still woefully unaware of local customs and deities," he chose the words delicately. "I assumed he had arrived after LongNight and was still finding his feet." Which was to say, Abasi had been dangerously demanding of the gods and had rubbed the bard the wrong way, but his instinct to wave it off as a newcomer's need to learn may have been premature.
But he'd made a good impression on Loren, clearly, so Jigano just shook his head with a wry smile. "I'm glad you were able to help him recover, though. He was lucky in his choice of nurses," he couldn't help but tease gently. "And perhaps you were lucky in your choice of patients?"
The offer was almost unexpected, so much time had passed since their earlier conversations, but Jigano nodded gratefully. "I'll do that," he said with a smile. Rory preferred being self-sufficient, but it was always nice to have backup, just in case. He looked around, frowning as he tried to get a sense of their direction from the sun overhead, then nodded to his fellow Loreseeker. "Keep an eye on the ground, we should be getting close. It looks a little like grass, but with brown protusions sticking out from it."
Loren let out a huff of laughter. ”I guess that would work. Or I could just blast people with my healing magic.” Waggling his fingers, his eyes twinkled. ”I can run after them shouting ‘let me heal you, damn it!’ We’ll have new recruits in no time.” Smiling briefly, he eventually shrugged. ”We can’t change other people’s preferences. All we can do is make ourselves look as appealing as possible.” His tone was gentle.
Shooting Jigano a confused look, the summoner tilted his head. ”What in the world are ratfolk?” As a stone hit the bard, the Launceleyn sighed. Then he called upon his magic, and a rolling wall of water rose up on each side of them. It would hopefully be enough to deter or deflect any further projectiles.
At the white-haired man’s comment about Abasi, Loren ran a slightly nervous hand through his hair. ”Again, he was blighted, so he wasn’t in the right mindset for learning much during his first seasons here.” Strangely, his tone was equal parts defensive and apologetic. ”I know he is still too set in the ways of his old world. But I also know how difficult it was for him to go from the High Priest of his land to an Abandoned, someone whom the gods don’t even deign to acknowledge.” He gave Jigano a slightly chagrined smile.
Smiling faintly, Loren nodded. ”Certainly lucky, given how...well. Yes, Lucky.” He nodded again at the comment about helping out at the farm, then a third time for the description of the herb. Dismissing the defensive walls, the summoner kept his eyes peeled for any sign of the plant.
'Let me heal you, dammit' would certainly get a reaction, Jigano considered with a snort of amusement. Probably not the one they wanted, but definitely some kind of reaction! ...From the local peacekeeping force, if nothing else! "Ah yes, if we promise we won't chase them anymore they'll be lining up outside the door in no time!" he laughed back, enjoying the joke for a moment before he took things in a more serious direction. He nodded to Loren's maxim to make themselves appealing, considering ruefully that he'd been quite bad at the marketing aspect of running guild up until now, all things considered.
His reminscence into the sentient rodent people of his world earned confusion from his friend. and rightly so. He shrugged, lips quirking wryly as he remembered a different place and time. "More or less what they sound like," he explained. "Give a three foot tall rat the ability to walk on its hind legs, speak the common tongue, and thumbs, and you get an idea. They were generally clever and civilized, though they often had an unfortunate habit of worshiping a dark god. Not all of them did, though, and many were no different than the townsfold you'd find anywhere else, just... shorter. And fuzzier. With prehensile tails," he added helpfully.
Given the relationship between them he wasn't surprised to hear Loren defending Abasi, and Jigano simply nodded equably at his companion's words. "Yes," he murmured at the end, arching a brow at Loren. "He seemed very upset that they did not come when he called, like hounds brought to heel by his whistle. Difficult it might be, but if he confronts Safrin or Frey with that attitude, can you imagine the outcome?" If they were in a good mood they might be amused by his gall. If they were offended, though...
Well. Loren had surely heard the stories of what had happened to Remi. Hopefully he could talk more sense into his lover than Jigano had managed.
The water fell away, and silence rang eerily around them, unbroken by so much as a single chitter. The hedges seemed to grow closer together as they turned another corner, the path narrowing as they drew nearer to the center and the day grew darker as boughs began to arch overhead, casting the path into shadow. Jigano's attention sharpened and he began pausing, kneeling to inspect the grass more closely until he murmured a soft "Aha!" of discovery, motioning Loren down to see what he had found. "This is what we're looking for," he said, running his fingers beneath the brown-studded green blades. "It doesn't look like much... but perhaps get a scent of it in your badger form in case you need to come back after it for some reason?" A mild suggestion only since Loren's Healing magic was second to none. Regardless of what the Launceleyn did, Jigano closed his eyes and began to hum softly, concentrating his earth and healing magic into his fingers and feeding it into the plant so it grew and spread out slowly around them in an expanding patch of healthy Efas herb.
Loren grinned. ”I am nothing if not persistent. They’ll do anything to get me to stop.” The words were perhaps a little too enthusiastic, given the subject matter.
As Jigano explained that ratfolk were exactly what they sounded like, the summoner let out a huff of laughter. However, his good cheer slipped away when the bard warned the Launceleyn about Abasi seeking out the gods. Loren was silent for a long while. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft. ”I’ve warned him. Others have as well, including you. But you can’t change people. Nor should you necessarily try. Sometimes, you just have to let them make their own mistakes.” His eyes were distant.
Thankfully, the discovery of the herb provided a welcome distraction for them. Nodding at the white-haired man’s suggestion, the summoner shifted into a honey badger. Padding forward, he sniffed at the plant, committing its scent to memory. I’ve got it. Shifting to human, he took a step backwards, then watched as Jigano's magic sank into the earth.
"You're starting to make yourself sound like a persistent rash," Jigano pointed out with a snort of amusement. The mage certainly was persistent, which could be a good thing... as long as one remembered to take all things in moderation.
Ah, well. It wasn't as though Jigano was innocent of pushing too hard, too fast.
A warning that came back around with more serious subject matter, and Abasi's obsession with the gods. The bard's lips quirked into a wry smile at hearing some of his own advice (that he was notoriously bad at following) come back around to him from the ex-Launceleyn's mouth. "Aye, you're right on that count. We warned him, and I gave him Amalia's name as one who could tell him more. Perhaps she'll be able to convince him... or to mitigate anything that might go wrong. Safrin was always more tolerant of me when Amalia and I were together," he admitted freely. Still, it was good to hear that Loren was letting Abasi have the freedom to learn and grow that it sounded as though the Launceleyn had struggled with granting others when he'd first returned a year ago.
The Efas Herb was a small, humble plant considering its properties, but it was too useful not to share with others. Ianto and Remi had helped him gather some before, but the more who knew of it - and who could take care of themselves in the Labyrinth's dangerous halls - the better. Jigano used his magic to strengthen the spread the first patch they found, then rose and dusted his hands off as he smiled to his friend. "Two more patches like that, and we can head back. Unless there's something else you'd like to search for in here?" he asked curiously. "I... come to think of it, I don't think I've ever gone all the way to the center, myself."
Loren grinned at Jigano’s analogy. ”More like a burr in the saddle. I’m prickly, no one’s really sure how I got there, and I’m nearly impossible to dislodge.” Tone cheerfully self-deprecating, the summoner let out a huff of laughter.
Tilting his head, he gave the bard an appraising look. ”Thanks for sending him to her. Again, though, while I’m not happy about it, maybe the only way for Abasi to learn is to actually face the consequences of his way of thinking.” Sighing, the Launceleyn ran a hand through his hair. ”I’m also not sure if he’s going to pray to Safrin.” His words were quiet, but also weirdly accepting.
Nodding at the white-haired man’s words, the summoner’s lips quirked up with amusement. ”Let’s see, annoying squirrels, creepy hedges, nightmare boggarts. No, I think I’m good with the panacea plant.” Then his brow furrowed. ”It might not have a true center. I’ve heard rumors that it moves.” He shrugged, though his tone was curious.
"I'll keep that in mind," Jigano chuckled back with a wink for their teasing, even if it was soon to end on weightier subjects.
He nodded at the thanks, considering it was the least he could have done. He was a little surprised to hear Loren admit that he wasn't completely in agreement in Abasi's thinking with how he had defended his lover earlier, but after a moment's consideration Jigano's lips tilted in a smile of understanding, and he nodded in agreement. "He seemed more interested in Ludo and Mort, though... with his focus on the remains of the deceased I wonder if Frey not be a better fit?" he mused thoughtfully. "I don't think Ludo cares what happens to the bodies once the souls depart them." Idle speculation, nothing more, for he didn't expect Loren to answer for his absent mate. Perhaps the next time he saw Abasi they could speak on it again...
And for Loren's sake, Jigano would rein in his exasperation with the undertaker's baffling expectations of the gods. Hopefully Amalia had more patience than he in it, though, and would be a better guide.
Loren's list of the Labyrinth's greatest hits brought the grin back to Jigano's lips as they continued on and turned right again - and then had to backtrack as the path curved around to a dead end. "I'm pretty sure it does," he agreed, oddly cheerful about it (now that he had wings to escape with). "Not fast enough to catch, but I tried the old 'string-in-a-maze' trick once in here and when I tried to follow it back it went under a hedgewall that definitely wasn't on my map before. The squirrels might have moved the string, sure, but the path didn't fit the map I'd been making anymore, either."
12-27-2019, 05:37 PM (This post was last modified: 12-27-2019, 05:38 PM by Loren.)
loren
Loren’s fingers drummed a beat on his thigh. Realizing what he was doing after a moment, he stilled them, clasping them behind his back instead. ”He cares about the afterlife, and what happens to the soul after it leaves the body. The treatment of the remains was simply quite important to the future journey of the soul in his world.” His voice was quiet.
Glancing around at the hedges warily, he bit his lip. "We could try to map it from above. I know for a fact you've got enough room on your back for me to ride, though it might be hard to actually draw." Mostly this was idle speculation, trying to fill the time as they continued to make their way through the Labyrinth.
12-27-2019, 06:32 PM (This post was last modified: 12-27-2019, 06:33 PM by Jigano.)
Jigano noted the drumming fingers but didn't call attention to them, curious about what they might mean. Impatience? Discomfort? Unhappiness? Or merely thoughtfulness? Loren quickly realized what he was doing and ceased, offering a fuller explanation of Abasi's motivations that had the bard nodding acceptance and understanding. "Then Ludo really does make the most sense," he agreed. "Hopefully the masked god doesn't do to him what was done to Remi." It would be too cruel for the memories of two of Loren's lovers to be taken by the spirit guide.
"We could," Jigano agreed with a chuckle as he continued to pick another path at the next intersection. Just beyond it lay another patch of the herbs that he knelt down to 'encourage' while their entourage of squirrels watched from a distance. As he sank his magic into the green stems he grinned up at Loren. "It will be useless within a few hours, though. As I said, the maps that have been previously made won't even last long enough to get you out of the maze again while you're making them. Even if the hedges don't move while we're flying over them, I suspect you'll find that the ones behind us, or whichever ones you're not looking at while you focus on drawing one section will have shifted by the time you look back at them again." He shrugged as best he could with his hands in the soil. "Even if you do manage a cohesive map, what good is it if the maze is already changing by the time we land?"
At Jigano’s concern, Loren sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. ”If Abasi is foolish enough to annoy Ludo, after all the warnings and advice, then there is little I can do about it. And even less I can do about its reaction to such an annoyance.” The words came out a bit more curtly then he’d intended, and he looked away.
Sending a flick of icy hail at the squirrels to encourage them to keep their distance while the bard working on the herb, the summoner crossed his arms. "We could check to see if it moves in predictable ways or in patterns. Or if there are set paths and paths that move, or if everything moves and there's no predicting it." At this point, his tone was argumentative, and he was debating mostly just to debate.
He had pushed too far again, and the curtness in Loren's tone was a clipped warning that he needed to back off, something he did promptly with a pulse of apology through the Attuned bond and a silent nod of acquiescence. It gave him a chance to look for more of the herb, and to focus on coaxing it into flower with his magic as their conversation turned back to the Labyrinth itself. He couldn't help but smile wryly as Loren echoed similar things to what he'd told Remi the first time they had ventured into the maze together. There was a certain poetry in how it all came full circle, and he glanced up at the other man with blue eyes that twinkled merrily in amusement in spite of the mage's attempt to draw him into debate.
"We could," he agreed equably. "You have wings of your own now, of course. We could fly over and compare notes every few hours if you'd like." He rose, then glanced around with a thoughtful hum. "We can also head back now, if you'd like. I'd hoped to find another patch to spread.... but I can come back another day." He tilted his head in a wry smile. "Unless, of course, you want to adventure a little further? As Loreseekers we probably should try to find the maze's center at some point."
