the house that built me
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
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#43

"Mmhm. Pinkish things with splotches of green." Glancing out the window with his eyes narrowed as if trying to see through the gale, Remi looked back at the bard. "You can normally see them flying, though even they've probably taken to shelter by now." He said with a bit of a shrug. "But the merfolk seem...less than keen to have their lives interrupted, so we've been careful about where we explore." The alchemist added, not wanting to repeat the mistakes made when access to the Greatwood had been opened to them.

Grinning at Jigano's surprise, Remi leaned back in his chair. Not wanting to shift given the lack of water, Remi lowered his eyes to the table. Creating an illusion of what his shift looked like, the faux-creature slid its way across the table, arms moving dexterously and independently of one another. "That." He said, with another wolfish grin.

remi
Too long till I drown in your hands
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
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)
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#44
"I need to find a local bestiary," the bard muttered into his wine, trying to reconcile the vague memories of the book on ocean life from his world with Remi's description. He was almost certain there had been no flying involved, or pink for that matter. But what did that matter, a world away from what he'd known? "I'll keep an eye out for them, though. Are they good eating?" It seemed a shame to kill whatever they were just for trophy hunting.

"The merfolk? Like the Fae?" His mind jumped to the same track at hearing of a new inhuman people.

He wasn't given much time to process that revelation before Remi's arm partially shifted into a tentacle and Jigano had to focus on breathing through wine. When he'd finally got the liquid going down the right pipe he looked to the illusion - and shivered, subtly leaning back away from the creation of light and will. "Oh. That," he repeated, a little weakly. "Can't, ah, imagine why Ronin doesn't see the charm of all of those... tentacles. And there are more of those in the ocean?"
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
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#45

'A bit chewy.' Remi replied with a disinterested shrug. He and Ronin ate anything they could get their hands on these days; it all depended on how successful (or not) they were at trading on any given day. 'Not my favourite, but I find I can eat almost anything in my various shifts.' Which was to say that raccoons didn't discriminate quite the same way humans or lions did.

'Well, if by like them, you mean different from us, then yes." Remi said with a slight raise of his brow.

Laughing outright at that, Remi waggled his entirely-human fingers. "No, nor can I. They're quite amazing actually. I can control each sucker individually. It's..incredible, honestly."

Remi nodded at that. "There are, deeper down. None of the locals have seemed surprised to see me in that form, so they can't be too uncommon."

'So, how is Loreseekering these days?"

remi
Too long till I drown in your hands
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
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)
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#46
"Foxes and ravens aren't the pickiest eaters, either," Jigano agreed with a chuckle. "That's good to know. Thanks." A source of sustenance and potentially a way to breathe beneath the waves? That would certainly come in handy.

Remi's raised brow earned a grin from the bard and he waved his hand in silent apology. "Should have been clearer. 'Like' as in an entire people separate from the humans, that have their own society and culture. And also 'like the Fae' as in 'not wanting humans around much.' Have you met any?"

He might have found Remi's tentacle adventures unnerving, but it was still nice to see the other man genuinely happy about something, and a smile kicked up the corner of Jigano's mouth. "It sounds like quite the way to move around underwater," he agreed. "How easy is it to let go of something once you've latched on?" That could make for one awkward handshake. Hearing that they were a normal part of the local undersea fauna did give the bard pause about further watery explorations - something he'd already been hesitating over. What were the chances he'd look like 'dinner' to one of them?

"Rather quiet," Jigano admitted at the question, though he didn't seem too upset by that. "Members of the Guild tend to show up and then disappear unexpectedly from time to time. Our newest addition is an excitable handful. A Natural, but they're young, and the way they approach the world..." He chuckled ruefully. "Well. They make me look at it with new eyes. It's been as refreshing as it sometimes is exasperating." He nodded at the bar around them, indicating the beach beyond. "This will keep us busy for awhile, and there's more to learn in Halo, too. But since the Blight I've been less.... driven, I suppose. More content to take my time and appreciate what we already have, for as long as the peace lasts. It's never long enough." Voices and Mud Monsters and Dragons and LongNights. Caido was many things, but 'boring' wasn't one of them.
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
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#47

"Well then yes, to both, and no to the last." Remi replied. "The locals seem to speak of them like a...distant but unrelated sort of society. I get the impression that trading with them takes an in, if you know what I mean. But no, I've not personally met any. Though in thinking on it, back when we made the memorial it might have well been the merfolk making things tricky for Maea."

Waving his hand so that the illusion vanished, Remi held out his palm and allowed small suckers to appear over his fingers. They each rotated and moved on their own, though this took a strange amount of concentration from the alchemist given the completely alien nature of this new ability. "Very. There is no...risidual anything, as one might expect." So saying, he wrapped his fingers around the side of his glass, lifting it easily. With small pops as he pulled his fingers off, the glass was placed back down with almost no markings to suggest he'd ever held it.

Remi nodded at that, understanding now in a way he never had before, how annoying enthusiasm and exuberance could be. "Halo." He said with a roll of his eyes. "Neron is one to watch, though I'm sure I don't need to tell you that. I've heard Zariah has set up her own little school there for the abandoned. How very thoughtful of her." Taking a sip from his glass (sucker free this time), Remi raised a brow. "Have you joined?"

remi
Too long till I drown in your hands
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
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)
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#48
"At least they're harder to bother than the Fae," Jigano mused, a little amused at the thought of the ocean providing a better barrier to human encroachment than even the Wildwood had, with all its tricks and twists and turns. "Though it's good to know that even an aquatic Attuned isn't welcome among them. A warning well-taken," he said with a nod, and another of thanks for the refilled glass that he lifted to his lips.

He could at least pretend that he was getting over his unsettled twitchiness at the tentacles, even if he winced as Remi made more suckers appear and demonstrated their dexterity. It looked as though the glass might be there to stay at first, but Jigano's eyes widened in surprise when it was released so easily. "Huh. That is an intriguing shift. I think I'd get a headache keeping track of all of it, though. That many tentacles and suckers..." Too many, really. It looked like a full-time job just keeping them all headed in the same direction.

"Not a fan of the place, or just the people in it?" The bard's smile returned, dry and humorless at the warning and he nodded agreement as to Neron, though really that was true of most Launceleyns. The question about the magic school sharpened his grin dramatically as he swirled the wine in his glass and watched Remi through it, turning the world red. "Oh, despite how close she and I are, I can only assume my invitation must have gotten lost in the portal." He snorted inelegantly and lowered his glass to give the alchemist a frank look. "I'm not so desperate for more power that I'll go licking her boots for scraps of it. What of yourself? Any interest in training with her to plumb the depths of your own magical abilities?"
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
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#49

"Mmm. I think as with the fae, just because we're interested in them, doesn't mean they're at all interested in us. I for one, am now very sympathetic to that point of view." Toasting this sentiment with a tilt of his glass, Remi nearly drained it down again.

"Easier to not think about it really. If I focus too hard it does become overwhelming and then I lose control entirely. It's a good way to force yourself into a sort of mindfulness meditative state, really."

Exhaling through his nose in a way that made his nostrils flare, the alchemist rolled his eyes with a dry huff of laughter. "I'm a complicated man Jigano. I can hate things for multiple reasons I'll have you know." Chuckling with proper humour at that, Remi nodded a wry understanding. "Mm, no doubt."

Rather thoughtfully, and with an entirely innocent looking expression, the alchemist shook his head. "After all she's done to me, I think I might just kill her on sight were I to see her again." Neron had once nearly had him thrown in jail. Loren was, well, Loren. Zariah was a domineering menace who needed to be put into her place. Even young Beatrix had tried to strong arm him once into doing her bidding. The only good one had been Peter, and so it made sense that he had died.

remi
Too long till I drown in your hands
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
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)
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#50
Jigano nodded thoughtfully, Remi's words a note of well-learned caution after their bumbled attempts to deal with the Fae. He sipped his wine and reluctantly shelved the idea of going seeking this new people for now. Perhaps he could make enough of a reputation here that one of them would seek him out instead? Unlikely, but something to consider. Curiosity was a powerful lure.

"Ah, that makes sense. Reminds me a bit of learning to fly in my raven form the first few times," he agreed. "Or dragon form, for that matter. Webbed wings and feathered ones fly in very different ways, it turns out." Not something he had considered before, but he certainly did now.

He snorted with amusement at Remi's 'complexities,' raising his glass in toast to the other man's point. "The cold, the giants, the bears, the cannibals, the Launceleyns... it's true, you hardly need to pick just one reason when there are so many to choose from. Though I've found there's a beauty in that place... if you can get past it being the result of some sort of war or accident that locked an entire land in ice eternal." Not a natural beauty, but an unnatural one, cast upon a land that must have been even more beautiful still once, when summer streams had danced through mountain meadows and the highlands had gloried in Flowerbirth blossoms of a dozen shades.

The expression on Remi's face hardly matched his calmly murderous words, but Jigano was the last person on Caido to complain. He drained his glass, setting it down with a fervent pulse of agreement. "I'd pay good money - favors, trinkets, whatever we're trading in these days - to see it." What did you get to reward the man who needed little and wanted less? Especially when it involved attention or the implication that Remi was doing it for anyone but himself.
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
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Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
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#51

Remi nodded at that. It was probably quite similar, and once upon a time he'd have been quite eager to see the Sage floundering about in a new shift. Now though, the alchemist was only reminded of how close they'd both come to being dangerous uncontrolled beasts, and merely hummed a sound of agreement.

"I'm not sure why you'd bother to get past it at all. There's beauty all around us, or so those poetically inclined like to say. Why seek it out in such horrific conditions, when you could stay in the Grounds. Or be here, for that matter." Rory, was presumably the reason why Jigano would never be here, but the point still stood: Why Halo?

"You know, putting it like that almost sounds like the sort of bounty requests Ronin gets." Remi said with a cocked head and a mischievous smile on his lips. "Which is surely not what you meant." The alchemist added with a chuckle.

remi
Too long till I drown in your hands
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
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)
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#52
"This place, Torchline, is certainly one of the most beautiful I've seen yet on Caido," the bard agreed with a wry smile. "It and the Greatwood are both reminders of what the Hollowed Grounds were once... what they'll hopefully become again, now that the barrier is down." He shrugged, tracing a finger around the rim of his glass. "Halo is harsh, yes, but there are parts of it that remind me of winters in Numeria, and the stories and songs of its people are still worth hearing and learning." A pity the Launceleyns had such a foothold there...

Something Remi reminded him of a moment later, and Jigano chuckled darkly at the mischief in the other man's smile. "It almost does, doesn't it? Have you taken up bounty hunting yourself, then? With your new... do you think of them as 'responsibilities?' 'Duties?' it doesn't seem so far-fetched a possibility."
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
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#53

"I wonder how long that will take. I suppose if everyone with earth and healing magic got together the process could be sped up, but.." Remi shrugged, indicating both that he was unsure if this would help, but also his personal unwillingness to try. He was done with the grounds for good, Safrin's ridiculous quest for Ronin aside.

'Are they?' Remi asked with a cold sort of skepticism. "It's all the same, wherever you go. Love, loss, triumph, grief; on and on and on. What does it matter to have it set in a frostier climate." Once he'd have understood knowledge of knowledge' sake. Now though, it simply seemed like an unimportant overstep.

"Me? And step on Ronin's precious toes? Never." The alchemist grinned. "He was cross enough with me that I helped build his boxing ring with Sunjata." He added with a laugh, running a hand through his drying curls. "I think Ludo might find it amusing though. Taking payment for what I was going to do anyway. That, or it might be offended and kill me for it. I never can tell."

remi
Too long till I drown in your hands
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
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
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#54
"All one of me," Jigano agreed wryly. "If there are others with both, I haven't met them. But I'll be doing what I can, as time permits." He'd found that he enjoyed working with the earth, even if it was a new experience for him since coming to Caido.

Jigano just shrugged at Remi's cynicism, no longer quite as shocked by the other man's colder outlook on the world. "The spice of such things is in the details, for me. And you never know what new chords or twists or characters you'll uncover from one land to the next. Halo holds a piece of this world's history... and is a part of its future. That's reason enough to learn what I can of it." It wasn't for everyone, he knew, and it didn't need to be.

Alas, Ronin's poor toes. Jigano tilted his head, bemused at news of the boxing ring. "Cross? Whyever so? He hardly has a monopoly on punching people," he pointed out with a grin. "And I don't think Ludo would kill you... or at least..." Jigano tilted his head thoughtfully. "If the gods could kill mortals indiscriminately, I'd think they'd have killed the Ascended long since. Ludo might be able to trick people into killing themselves, but perhaps can't - or won't - do so directly. It's a soul shepherd, not a divine assassin. ...At least, that's my guess. What do you think?"
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 15 - Strg: 68 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 100 - Luck: 93 - Int: 3
ORIA - Mythical - Spriggan (Ghost)
Played by: Odd Offline
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Posts: 10,723 | Total: 16,193
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#55

Just Jigano. Well, that checked out. If Remi had further suggestions, he kept them to himself, merely nodding and offering the Sage a look that said he didn't envy the position the man found himself in.

Is it? He wanted to ask again, but didn't. Remi wasn't so far gone to think there weren't other points of view just as valid as his own, and he wouldn't belabour the point, no more how futile a project it seemed to him. "Well, good thing you've put on a bit of weight then, to stave off the cold." Remi grinned wolfishly at that, recalling just how rail-thin the Sage had been when first the two had met.

"Ahh Ronin, and I..." How to put it. Remi paused thoughtfully, rubbing absently at the side of his unshaven face. "Perhaps it is better for us when we have our own separate hobbies."

Talk of Ludo made the alchemist sit slightly straighter, clearly considering this with slightly more care. "I've heard they won't if only because the Voice holds their souls. But then, why not kill them all and find their souls after?" He shrugged. "Roanna said once Ludo told her to kill the ascended, so perhaps we're both wrong."

remi
Too long till I drown in your hands
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
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
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Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
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#56
"What can I say? Settled life unexpectedly suits me," Jigano agreed with a grin that was softer than their conversation had been warranting. He was pleased at the observation though. Despite still being lean he had certainly filled out under the loose clothing he generally wore, something that was far more apparent in Torchline's general state of undress than Halo's thick furs or the Grounds's stuffier layers, where his position as Provost and Advisor kept his appearance far more put-together than it was now.

He nodded, a pulse of quiet understanding through the Attuned bond at the notion of having different hobbies. "I know exactly what you mean," he agreed, ruefully but again with that touch of quiet contentment beneath the words.

Ludo had a tendency to bring the conversation back down to earth, and Jigano felt a moment's regret that he had followed that thread, but he was genuinely curious what Remi thought of the god's likelihood of directly intervening. "Yes, Roana," Jigano agreed with a sigh for the dead woman who had caused so much chaos for all the best of intentions. "But why did Ludo ask her to do the killing, instead of doing it directly itself? I wonder if there's some sort of... truce, of a kind," he mused. "The Old Gods don't directly kill the Voice's Ascended, and she doesn't personally kill their servants? Mortals can kill mortals on a more level playing field, but once the gods get involved directly the planet goes to hell in a handbasket?" He tilted his head curiously at the other man to see what he thought of the hypothesis.


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