Jigano sipped his cider, nodding in pleasure at the spicy sweetness of it as it rolled across his tongue. The invitation to continue reclaimed his attention and all hint of pleasure faded to a faint grimace as he met Neron's eyes squarely. "The mine is occupied," he began, simple words that held a wealth of trouble. "We took a side tunnel that looked unused at first, thinking that if there was anything as rare as mageglass to be found, it would be in an area that had seen less focused mining for other minerals. It led us over a precarious bridge, underneath which were sharpened metal stakes, and past that the passage split. Down one side we could see flickers of light and hear distant voices. Thanks to your warning about the residents of Whitebrim, we opted to avoid encountering them - my companions were brave explorers but not necessarily warriors by training or inclination." Hotaru could have stood her own, he was sure, but Maea and Evie? One was a Loreseeker, the other a Healer. Each had their reasons for coming along, but neither was ready for the sort of bloody close butcher's work a battle in the mining tunnels would have been. He paused to sip his drink again, wetting his throat as he frowning faintly at the next part of the tale.
"We took the other path, into deeper darkness. At first it seemed promising, but we came across some boxes being kept cold in a little side chamber..." He trailed off with a grimace. "Opening them revealed body parts. Human body parts. Cut up and sectioned to fit in the boxes as if meat for storage. It appeared to be a sort of cold-locker for... food supplies." There was a grim set to his face as he shook his head, trying not to dwell too much on the memory, hardened though he was to such sights. It had been 6 years since he'd seen anything similar, and he could have gladly gone a life time without seeing it again. "Hoping that they had only gone that far to store their... meat... we continued on, hoping to get to a less-used section of the mine. Instead, we eventually came upon a gathering of six huddled around a fire in a cavern, and two Ursurs were chained to the wall. We managed to pull back before we were seen. We hadn't come prepared to be outnumbered by that many people with unknown abilities, so we opted to retreat at that point." He gave a wry smile and took another sip of cider to warm the lingering chill his bones. "Danger is danger, as you said."
"We took the other path, into deeper darkness. At first it seemed promising, but we came across some boxes being kept cold in a little side chamber..." He trailed off with a grimace. "Opening them revealed body parts. Human body parts. Cut up and sectioned to fit in the boxes as if meat for storage. It appeared to be a sort of cold-locker for... food supplies." There was a grim set to his face as he shook his head, trying not to dwell too much on the memory, hardened though he was to such sights. It had been 6 years since he'd seen anything similar, and he could have gladly gone a life time without seeing it again. "Hoping that they had only gone that far to store their... meat... we continued on, hoping to get to a less-used section of the mine. Instead, we eventually came upon a gathering of six huddled around a fire in a cavern, and two Ursurs were chained to the wall. We managed to pull back before we were seen. We hadn't come prepared to be outnumbered by that many people with unknown abilities, so we opted to retreat at that point." He gave a wry smile and took another sip of cider to warm the lingering chill his bones. "Danger is danger, as you said."
