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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#57

"Apparently it does." Remi agreed, and yet his raised brow seemed to say and yet here you are. Settled, but never in one place. That was probably closer to the truth. One that Remi was finding he too knew very well.

Tugging in a breath, Remi shrugged. "Safrin has told Ronin much the same. That things the Voice does are blind to her. Like where she keeps the ascended souls, what happens inside of the Spire, that sort of thing." If it were merely a truce, the alchemist thought it would have been broken by now. Perhaps it already had. "I think it is raw power on her part, honestly. If she wasn't strong in certain ways we've yet to see, how else would all of this have lasted so long?" Then, with a sly grin, he gave Jigano a wolfish stare over the table. "Or perhaps the heralds are the only ones in this fight. Perhaps the big three simply don't care the way we think they do."
.

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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#58
"I guess it just goes to show that you were right all along," the bard mused. "The more power one has, the more limitations there are on using it... And of course, there's always someone stronger, isn't there?" He smiled crookedly at the alchemist. "Safrin and Ludo certainly seem to have quite a personal stake in taking down the Voice. I haven't really heard much from those who speak to Frey about her, though... and while I can't imagine the big three are happy with an upstart goddess meddling with their creations, I think you're right."

Jigano sat back, slipping his sphere into his hand again and holding it up to the light to wash out its glow. "They care enough to appoint Guardians over her portals, but not to give us further direction on where or how to interfere with the creation of new ones. I suppose all we really need to do is keep the Ascended from shedding more blood in the opening of the damn things, but when we don't even know where they are or how they opened the one between Halo and Torchline, I'm not sure how we can even accomplish that much." He sighed, the frustration of earlier seasons having softened to resignation. "She continues to empower her followers with upgrades, making them stronger season by season while we receive... what? Little glowing spheres that we can't lose. It does feel as though the Old Gods aren't as invested in this as we might expect." He shifted his gaze to Remi again, smile quirking rueful. "Then again, since two of us are 'cursed' with abominable magics, maybe that's why. At least since you haven't been smote by Rae for trying to get rid of your orb and letting the task fall by the wayside there doesn't seem to be any penalty for not pursuing their task."
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
MP: 3059
#59

"I've never known Frey to care about much that we'd deem relevant." The alchemist said, resisting the urge to mention that Phoebe was the only one with a real relationship with them, and that he'd bet everything he owned that she'd likely trade the god for a new boyfriend, than information on their current situation.

Remi looked casually at the orb in Jigano's hand. It was at about half-light it seemed. Half-way towards a new portal. The alchemist merely shrugged. 'Who knows, maybe I have been subtly smitten this whole time and am just too stupid to know it." My daughter is dead, my husband and I are constantly at odds, I've turned away from everyone and live on a beach.

"I don't think they care at all. I think it is just...a bit of plaster. A way when the world goes to hell again as it did before and they encase everyone back in a bubble, they can point to these spheres and to us and say they tried. That it was our failings and not theirs."

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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#60
"I'll take your word for it," the bard agreed easily, having little to do with the god by choice as well as likely from divine indifference. Frey seemed almost more alien than the other two heralds, and he was hesitant to poke that particular wasp's nest without a good reason. Poking any of the gods without a good reason seemed like a recipe for trouble though, as he had learned much to his own regret with Safrin.

The orb had lost some luster since last he'd looked at it, and Jigano grimaced faintly as his point was made visually clear. "Halfway gone, and no idea what has been done or how," he murmured with a sigh. His blue eyes turned back to Remi with an arched brow at the unexpected turn towards self-deprecation. "If you have, it's by some god we haven't met yet," he pointed out wryly. "The ones I know aren't exactly... ah, subtle with their displeasure." They seemed to enjoy the theatrics of a good smiting far too much to let one go unnoticed for so long.

The other man's hypothesis was far too plausible for comfort, and Jigano sighed as he tucked the sphere away again. "Do you think that's what it will come to?" he asked quietly. "I don't know..."
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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MP: 3059
#61

Remi toasted the air sarcastically in agreement. Actually, most of what he knew of Frey these days came from Phoebe, and now that that particular bridge had been burned, it was all hearsay at best.

"Don't even joke about that." Remi snorted. If there were more gods in this world (and honestly, why shouldn't there be?) he absolutely didn't want to know them. When it came to subtly, the alchemist held his tongue, simply offering a tight-lipped smile instead.

"If this was just any other government, would you find it so implausible?"

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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#62
Jigano raised an apologetic hand at the snort, lips twisted in a wry smile of understanding. The gods as a whole had been particularly unkind to Remi, and it was hard to imagine that more deities in the young man's life would do anything but complicate it further. Fascinating as he found the pantheon of Caido, the last thing he wanted to do was drag the alchemist deeper into it when he was already in over his head with Ludo.

A white-haired head tilted at the question, but he barely had to consider it before he shrugged. "A government of mortals? Not at all. But I'm not really sure the gods even have what might be considered a 'government.'" He tapped the edge of the glass with a fingernail thoughtfully. "They live in such a different scale than we do, we must hardly seem more than mayflies to the Older Gods. To the heralds we might be more like... oh, I don't know. Mice?" He smiled ruefully. "Not the best analogy, but bear with it. They seem to treat us like we do our called animals. Before we could compel them, when we still had to ask them for help. I still try to do that when the need isn't urgent. First, ask nicely. Reward good service. Let them go on their way when you're done with them. Compel those that threaten or try to balk you." A slight shrug lifted his shoulders. "In the end, though, if the task fails it's the Attuned's fault for not providing better instructions or recognizing the limitations of the animals they called. So it might be with the gods... or perhaps not. Amalia or Ashetta might know better, having met the Old Ones." Guesswork and fairy tales, spinning gold out of straw and stories out of air. It was what bards did, after all.
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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#63

"But if they are just on a larger scale, why think that makes them any better. It makes them harder to understand, but from everything I've seen, they still bicker, covet, lie. They manipulate, are selfish, and dislike punishment." Tapping a finger against the step of his glass, Remi pursed his lips thoughtfully as the analogy continued.

"You might accept the blame for what your creatures do or don't do, but you still compel them, at the end of day. And others might indeed blame them for whatever shortcomings arise." It had been a long, long time since Remi had seen Loren summon any creatures, but he imagined the same argument might just hold there as well.

Hearing Ashe's name made Remi sight up straighter again, glaring down at the table. Trying to keep his hand from balling into a fist, he instead tapped his fingers harder than necessary on the table to distract his thoughts. "I think i'm good without."

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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#64
"The Old Gods? Or only their heralds?" It was a curious question; he was never sure when Remi would have run across - or afoul of - some new deity, or at least one they hadn't met before. "The heralds are certainly a fascinating mix of divine power with mortal flaws... I say, at the risk of being cursed again." He grimaced faintly, but shrugged. "Still, perfection is boring. Perhaps they have their own journeys to make, just as we do. Perhaps even as the Old Gods do, on that larger scale."

His smile quirked rueful as he reached up to run his fingers through his hair, beginning to tease the rain-tossed tangles from its length. "And I suppose what makes them better is that they had a hand in creating life on this world, including humans and Fae and... and those merfolk you mentioned. Something not even the Voice, for all her power, seems able to do. She can twist what they've made, yes, but not make wholly new life and souls herself." Something he was certainly grateful for. If she had one limit, then surely she had others. A small comfort, but he'd take what he could get.

A brief nod acknowledged Remi's avoidance of Ashetta's name, and the bard glanced out at the storm, trying to determine if it was lightening up at all. "Have you found any of that glowing algae here? The stuff you told me about from your world, that inspired the glowing chemicals we put in the geodes?"
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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#65

The alchemist shrugged at that. "As you pointed out, neither of us have met them to decide for ourselves." Were the old gods flawed the way mortals thought of others as flawed? Or was it simply a matter of whose sandbox they found themselves in, with perfection being decided by the owner of the sands.

'Mmm, perhaps.' Remi made no attempts to smooth his own rain-battered curls, letting them dry like some misused mop atop his head. Following Jigano's gaze out the window and making an impressed hmmp sound beneath his breath that the Sage remembered that fact at all, Remi nodded. "At night, you can see it on the beach. Less so I've noticed now that there's a bit of a chill in the air, but the locals say it is around all year."

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
MP: 10170
#66
"Too true," he acknowledged ruefully with a pretend-toast. "And neither of us likely to anytime soon, unless we slip up and find ourselves meeting Mort the more usual - and permanent - way." That was one way to meet an Old God, he supposed. Not really the ideal way, though.

He could tell that Remi wasn't convinced, but given that it was all just guesswork anyways Jigano didn't particularly mind. Remembering the algae brought back simpler times, when the world was smaller and more of their loved ones were still alive. He smiled a little at hearing that the wonder that the alchemist had once told him of would be something he could finally see with his own eyes, but mention of a 'chill' surprised a chuckle from him. "Torchline's 'chill' is still the Hollowed Grounds's Longheat," he opined, amused. "I can think of far worse places to retire." At least from the heroing life.
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
MP: 3059
#67

Remi grumbled agreement at this. Finishing his wine, he glanced outside with a weary sigh. The storm didn't seem as though it was going to abate anytime soon. No matter; the alchemist wasn't made of sugar. A little water wouldn't harm him.

'I appreciate you talking to me about Ludo, and the rest of it." Remi said, standing and pushing his chair in after he moved aside. "But nice as this has been, I think I'd much prefer to wait out this storm with Ronin."

Turning, the alchemist would gently lob his guardian-sphere into the roaring fireplace, knowing it would appear on his bedside in the morning.

~FIN

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.


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