The Raven's Tale [SE]

The day was bright and warm, the cold winds of Leafchange not yet striking hard across the land. Still, a cool breeze broke the lingering heat of summer and reminded those out and about that a change was coming, and sooner than anyone was ready for. In the distance a few clouds broke the horizon, a promise of a distant autumn shower bringing life-giving rain back to the Hollowed Grounds after the Longheat drought, and in the Settlement and Sanctuary people moved with purpose and industry to prepare for the coming harvest and the winter beyond – and the Festival of Lights before season’s end.

The Atheneum was a large structure with a domed roof, recently repaired (though the repairs were a rough shadow of the original architecture). It stood within the Sanctuary, near to the Temple, and it was filled with books in various stages of newness and decay. The first floor was a maze of shelves, while the second floor consisted of a platform around the outer wall, and more books on that wall as well.

Beside the wide double doors was a box for Outlander comments and suggestions, and not far away a tall man with long white hair sat at a table, reading a slim book while beside him a blue-tipped white feather quill wrote furiously of its own volition in another open volume. A small gryphon, snowy-owl and snow leopard mixed with blue-tipped primaries and markings on her face napped on the table nearby. Her companion occasionally hummed softly, snatches of song without words as he focused on the task before him.

After his arrival and the chaotic hunt in the woods, Rance had taken a couple days to finally get himself settled in Sanctuary. He was still looking a bit scruffy, lacking a spare change of clothes, but at least he wasn’t still wearing the marks of the forest, dust and grime on his skin. Dark red hair was clean and tousled, blue eyes bright as they looked up at the patched, but still impressive building he’d been directed to. He would have mistaken it for a temple in its own right if he hadn’t been told roughly what the building contained.

It wasn’t so much intimidating as it was another example of how this world was different. How this town — this city — was entirely new. It sent a thrill of excitement through him even as he hesitated on the front step. If he took the time, he was sure he could get answers from the locals at the VladVloed, or even shop owners as he explored. But here was his chance to get his questions answered without having to navigate colloquialisms.

He hoped.

Taking a deep breath, he mentally shook himself and opened one side of the double doors. Hesitation was literally going to get him no where. He noted the table and its occupant, but before he’d even finished shutting the door behind him, he was distracted by a much more encompassing sight. His hesitance was washed away by amazement just as surely as his eyes were pulled from the white-haired man and his companion. As imposing as the building might have been from the outside, nothing could have prepared him for what lay within. More books than he’d ever seen stretched before him. Two floors! Wide-eyed he gaped unabashed at a larger collection than anything he’d ever dreamed.

“Holy fuck.” His awed exclamation wasn’t quiet by any means.

Though the Atheneum wasn't strictly a library, those who spent time within its cool shadows tended to be the quieter type. Rance's exclamation drew attention from more than just the provost and gryphon, but with harvest season approaching the building was mostly empty during the day.

Jigano wore his usual garb of long dove-grey sleeveless tunic over a light green undertunic with wide, flaring sleeves, sewn on the insides with many pockets of small, useful odds and ends. He closed his eyes for a moment and the magic quill beside him stopped writing, waiting expectantly for the order to continue, but he plucked it up and set it aside as he rose. Isuma had been woken by Rance's voice as well, and she hopped to her feet to shake away the remnants of her nap, reep?ing sleepily.

"That's one way to look at it," he said with a wry grin. "You must be new in town. Or... is that you, Rance?" he guessed, trying to reconcile the raven's mental voice with the one he'd just heard.

Then again, the excitable profanity might have been a clue, too.

Either way the man was undeniably good-looking, even if he wasn't the bard's type. He'd be breaking more than few hearts before the season was out, Jigano thought ruefully, even as he reached for a marker to set between the pages of the book he'd been reading and closed it gently. "We can head down to the Guildhall if you want to talk? There's food and drink there as well, if you're in need of a bite."

The moment Jigano spoke — and he did recognize that voice from the brief period he’d shifted to human form in the woods — Rance switched his attention to the pale-haired man. Compared to him, Rance was much less put together. His black leather trousers were worn at the knees, his cotton shirt was charcoal grey, though from time or because it had been dyed that color, it would have been hard to tell. He held his jacket over his shoulder, along with a simple pack.

Jigano’s questioning confirmation of his name brought the beginnings of a smile to Rance’s lips. [says]“Correct on both points. Jigano, right? Swearin’ give me away?” Giving the taller man a once-over was automatic. He was still a bit too flustered to consider even casually hitting on him, so the glance could easily have been mistaken for sizing Jigano up instead.

Rance nodded at the offer. “I won’t say no to any of that, thank you.” He glanced over to the waking gryphon. ”Gotta say, your friend’s a lot less threatenin’ when I’m not the same size as her.” Almost cute, though he could see the wicked talons.

Jigano had a policy of not judging newly-arrived Outlanders on their state of dress. He remembered the frustration and sense of confusion that had accompanied his early days, trying to find supplies and clothing (though he had spent most of his early days in his foxform, living in a den and not needing much that he couldn't hunt for himself). The man cleaned up nice, though, and soon enough they could probably get him set on his feet.

"Jigano, Loreseeker and bard and general busybody," he agreed wryly. "Also Outlander Advisor, as I mentioned, so I'm someone you can come to with questions and concerns." Not that he hadn't done that before the recent government had formed, but it was nice to have a bit of official recognition for it. He was enough of a performer that was used to once - and more than once - overs, and he took Rance's sizing him up in stride.

"The Hollowed Grounds isn't known for its food, I'm afraid, but we do what we can to help newcomers get a solid start," he said instead, leading the way towards the back of the great library as Isuma collected the quill in her beak and flew after them, fascinated by Rance's new shape. "And Isuma is a sweetheart, as long as you aren't a rodent, fish, or beetle. She has an inordinate fondness for shiny beetles..." he mused affectionately as he glanced back and raised an arm for her to land on. She quickly scurried up his sleeve to burrow beneath his long hair and curl around his shoulders, careful with her talons.

"Do you have any questions you'd like to ask me first? Or do you mind if I ask a few of you, to try and determine how similar - and different - your world was to this one, so we have a place to start?"

‘Bard’ caught his attention and meant more than all the other titles together, at least in regards to Jigano’s knowledge and experience. Bards and minstrels, more than anyone else, were responsible for getting news and stories from town to town. He had dreamt of becoming one when he was very young, before he realized that he lacked a lick of musical talent. He had respect for the profession, if not always the individual.

‘Outlander Advisor’ came next in order of importance and and something in him eased. Whether or not the title was earned, there was at least the hope that it meant solid information and a confirmation of what little he already knew. It made it easier to let Jigano lead the conversation for the moment, every fact a new tidbit of information, even if the silver-haired Advisor wasn’t doing it consciously. Rance nodded in acknowledgment of Jigano’s offer of assistance. “Whatever you have to offer’ll be fine, I’m not a picky eater.” While he wasn’t about to eat carrion in his human form, raven’s weren’t exactly known for their delicate digestive systems. Whatever had been done to him when he stumbled through the portal, he hoped that, at least, wasn’t changed.

Jigano’s affection for his companion — an affection that was obviously returned — had a corner of his mouth kicking up a little higher. Even though it wasn’t a sure sign of humanity, it was more reliable than the fake politeness people offered to each other all the time. Rance felt safe enough to let his gaze stray to their surroundings, replying to the questions without hesitation. “Well, a woman named Maea answered my most immediate questions after she found me stumbling around the Great Wood. She said she was a Loreseeker, too. Can I assume her answers were trustworthy?” Part of him hoped they weren’t. ”If so, then yeah, you askin’ me questions first might spawn a few others.”

They reached a thick door sheathed in metal, the design on one side that of an open book in copper and silver with rays of gold radiating from the pages. It looked sturdy and thick enough to withstand a great deal of punishment, but it stood open, leading down to a set of spiral stone stairs. "Mostly rolls and pastries from Devas bakery," Jigano offered with a grin. "And some fruit as well. It should do for a snack, at least."

The Hall was lit with warm autumn light that filtered through the windows in the southern office and reading room, both doors open to welcome the light in and guide it towards the mirrored chandelier so it could be scattered around the main hall. A large table stood near the stairs with chairs along both sides, and at the far end of the hall was a great fireplace, cleverly grated to keep sparks contained, with several old overstuffed chairs arrayed around it. Isuma chortled happily and abandoned Jigano's shoulder to drop the quill on the table before gliding to a cleverly made bed of woven sticks and soft snow moss, the bard following in her wake.

"Mmm. Maea is a former Loreseeker," he corrected with a sigh. "Not a member of this Guild any longer. But other than that, yes, she would tell the truth. Or at least, the truth as she sees it." He glanced back as he began to fuss with the tea caddy, preparing a plate of snacks and fetching water from the nearby barrel for the kettle. "No, we can't go back to where we came from. No, it's not fair. And yes, you seem to be stuck here for the rest of your life - however long or short that ends up being, given how dangerous this world can be." Those were usually the big three, though at least Rance had already had time to grapple with them it sounded like. "That said, can you tell me what your world was like? What sort of technology or magic was common there, what sort of races lived together, that sort of thing?"

The sight of the door — and its armored appearance, had Rance’s brows rising again. Even if they were open now, had this once been a place that saw trouble? Did it still see trouble? Questions for later, as he was distracted by the mention of baked goods, something he didn’t often indulge in. ‘Fruit’ could potentially be more familiar, but…. “Depends if we all call the same things ‘fruit’, I think.”

He hadn’t expected to go down any stairs and was even more surprised to find the large welcoming rooms below, still lit with sunlight. The place had been built to comfortably suit the needs of many and was far from any cold observatory he might have imagined. He tracked Isuma’s path to the table, then what was obviously her nest, unable help the softness that touched his smile. His attention was swiftly drawn back Jigano, his smile dropping on hearing Maea’s current status. He pulled his pack and jacket from his shoulder, resting the first on the table and draping the latter over it. ‘Truth as she sees it’ had his stomach tensing, dreading what would come next. And the first confirmation sank like a stone in his gut. Never going home? Though, as Maea described it, there wasn’t a home for him to return to. The rest of what Jigano said only expanded on the lead and Rance reached up to drag both hands through tousled, dark red hair, jaw tight. He’d dropped them again by the time Jigano continued, resting both on the edge of the table and sucking in a deep breath.

No worse than flying to a new town, right?

“The last to start then. There’s the humans and there’s the Hidden. Humans don’t have magic, as far as I know, but the Hidden, well,” Rance hesitated, glanced up at the gryphon, remembered the way he’d seen Jigano change into a dragon of all things, and continued, “we’re fae, skinshifters, nature spirits, the Sidhe courts. We’re the tales humans whisper to the their children at night, or the warnings as they walk around odd circles of stones.” The last made the corner of his mouth kick up. As a child, he’d set up more than one ‘magic circle’ or ‘mysterious rune’ just to watch humans from above as they gave him and the mark wide berth. “There’s kings and queens of both the humans and the Hidden, but the closest I’ve come to even minor ‘nobility’ are the faces stamped on human coins.”

"The Grounds are particularly known for its apples," Jigano replied with a grin. "And you came at just the right season for them. But also pears, plums, cherries, berries, and the like." He chuckled as he considered the convenience of his own magic, but was content to wait until Rance came up with a request before he employed it, in case the raven-man wanted something they had in more mundane stock.

Scones and biscuits were arranged and set on a small table between two of the chairs by the fireplace. He kept a careful watch on Rance from the corner of his eye to see how the other man was doing as Jigano puttered about, content to give him time and space to come to terms with what he was learning before pressing for more. When he had finished as much of the preparations as he could until the water was heated he leaned against the arm of one of the chairs and listened to Rance's description, nodding encouragement at each piece of new information. "Hmm. A separated world then?" he mused thoughtfully. "You'll find Fae and skinshifters here. Nature spirits as well, of a sort. Kings and Queens are fewer in between, mostly the result of Outlanders trying to carve places of power for themselves." He tilted his head, lips quirking wryly as he considered his own heritage. "What are your skinshifters like?"

Jigano’s good mood would have been infectious had Rance not been soon sobered by hearing Maea’s information confirmed. Not that Rance had a reason to trust this stranger anymore than he’d had to trust a pale woman wearing rags in the middle of a summer wood, but nothing felt like a lie. His gut feelings were far from a sure thing, but he’d been on his own for long enough to know that you had to believe in something. The same ‘lie’, told in two very different ways, wasn’t something Rance could ignore. Luckily, Jigano didn’t try to be sympathetic or attempt to comfort the lost newcomer. It made Rance respect the man a little more; made it easier to move on and answer his questions with the same amount of honesty he’d given Rance.

It was a bit of a relief to hear more the presence about the magic in this world, though he’d already seen more than one confirmation via Maea’s tricks with wind and the shape-shifting of the group he’d met in the woods. As strange as everything was in this world, the familiar was scattered all through it. “Depends. Some are like me and my family. Born a raven, or at least looking like one, and learned to take on human form as I got older. We carried our feathers as a cloak; taking them off changed us into humans and putting it on changed us back. I think there were a few other shifters who were the same, just starting as different animals.” He looked over at his jacket, the coat of dark fabric he’d once worn under his cloak. The pause was brief, no more than a couple of seconds, before he looked back up at Jigano. “There’s other sorts. Sidhe sometimes have magic to change into whatever the fuck they want. But That’s the kind I know best.” He tilted his head, a dark red lock curling near his eye. “Why’d you ask about those specifically?”

Jigano listened, eyes widening a little at hearing about the feathered cloaks. His smile turned to a crooked grin, wry and a little rueful at the mention of 'other shifters' and he might have said something if the whistling of the kettle hadn't distracted him to pouring the hot water into the tea pot to steep the waiting leaves. The scent of apples and cinnamon began to waft through the air as he turned back to Rance in time for a question of the man's own to be lobbed at him. For a moment the bard hesitated, considering his companion thoughtfully before he sighed and reached up to rub the back of his head.

"I come from a world where there are different races, too," he explained, meeting Rance's eyes and seeking some sign of recognition. "Some of those races have aspects of animals and humans but in truth aren't really either. We're our own kind. It sounds something like yours except that we didn't need cloaks to shift and the way we were born, our natural state... well..." He shrugged, but as he did so white fur rippled over his skin. Dark claws tipped his fingers and two vulpine ears unfolded from atop his head as his eyes turned partially slitted. "I can't quite recreate it here. My legs bent differently and my head was properly foxy, with a muzzle and a wet nose, but I had the ability to shift to either fully human or fully fox. Not all of my people could take a full fox-form, but it was something that ran in my family." He let the changes fade swiftly back to his more usual human appearance, looking uncomfortable. "I am - was - a kitsune. I'd have called you some sort of Tengu, perhaps, or at least a relative of them. But the ravenfolk of my world didn't shift forms at all, they were just humanoid corvids." He smiled ruefully at Rance as he leaned against the chair again.

"None of which matters on this world, I'm afraid. Here we've both become human, though at least we're Attuned to the Old Gods. Did Maea tell you about the different races here?"

As Jigano turned to care for the kettle, Rance straightened, sucking in a deep breath and releasing it quietly. Now wasn’t the time to fall apart just because his feathers were missing and that fact ratcheted up his anxiety. Even if he could switch shapes without the cloak, that knowledge wouldn’t eliminate the ingrained need to keep it safe. The scent of hot, spiced apple reached his nose and Rance breathed in, trying to ground himself with the familiar scent.

Rance had asked his question out of curiosity, not suspicion, and he wondered at Jigano’s hesitance. He could understand it, of course. Had he not seen the evidences of magic and shapeshifting already, he would he been quite reluctant to reveal so much about his people. Rance kept his expression as open as he could manage, not bothering to hide his interest in Jigano’s answer. When it came, his eyes sharpened, curiosity focused. He straightened his head and nodded in acknowledgment and encouragement, though it was hardly needed as ‘different races’ was expanded on and Jigano mentioned people who were like Rance’s own only… not. When he altered his shape to demonstrate why and continued to explain the details he couldn’t recreate, that was when blue eyes widened in surprise. “Damn, yeah, definitely didn’t have anyone like that at home….”

Jigano returned to human form and Rance found himself sympathizing with his discomfort. To have one’s own magic twisted in on itself, form and body altered, felt like a violation. And even if Rance hadn’t lost either of his selves, the change itself felt different now, like something was always missing. Hearing Jigano’s names for his own people and the half-human, half-raven folk of his own world was interesting enough that Rance wanted to write it down. Likely would, once he had time to sit with his journal. Before he could truly get distracted by that, though, Jigano turned the conversation away from himself in a way that visibly startled Rance. His eyes widened and his hands twitched, back straight and shoulders stiff. “Wait, human? I — she mentioned that I was ‘Attuned’ and that she was ‘Abandoned’. Named a handful of others and sort of vaguely how they all related to the gods here, but—” A hand came up as if to brush away everything he’d just said as inconsequential, the gesture as sharp as his tone was alarmed, “She didn’t say anything about us bein’ fuckin’ human!”

The bard nodded ruefully at hearing the differences between his world and Rance's, caught as always by the strange similarities and yet jarring differences between realms that others had come from. He dropped his partial-shift with relief, the form one that he usually kept hidden from all but his closest friends. Only Rance's tale of being an animal shifter as well had prompted the uncommon revelation from the Provost, and now that it was settled he returned to the form that he was most used to hiding in.

He had tried to slide the uncomfortable truth in delicately, half-hoping that the other man wouldn't pick up on it, but he should have known such a hope was in vain. He grimaced and nodded ruefully, resigned to the fact though he would never be happy about it. "She wouldn't," he admitted, glossing over the profanity with the ease of long practice gods most fortunate, he still missed Edy. "For the last three hundred years, humans were the only race in the barrier here. They only re-learned about the Fae last spring. Before that..." He sighed, watching the other man for signs of further distress, ready to stop if it looked like Rance was nearing an edge. "They didn't really have a concept of non-human intelligent races, outside of fairy tales and story books. What they did have was humans in four different 'flavors,' I supposed you'd say. Not really races, but the differences were enough to set them apart from each other."

Blue eyes glanced over to Isuma, taking comfort from her presence as she raised her head to watch the two men curiously, sensing the tension in the air. "The portals that brought us here... Most of this is just guesswork at this point, but it seems as though they force the Outlanders who pass through them into a form that fits into this world's rules and limits. Those who were demigods become mortal. Skinshifters become Attuned. Mages become Abandoned... more or less. It's not a perfect system. Mistakes happen. But every one of us Outlanders becomes a human of some variety, if we weren't before." He brought his gaze back, watching Rance steadily as he laid out the facts as gently as he could without shying away from the painful truth.

To say finding out that he had been made human was a shock was a massive understatement. While it was true that could change his body to be functionally human, he’d always been a raven at his core, had felt it in a base, all-inclusive way. Even now, he couldn’t really tell what had changed, only that something had. He wouldn’t freak out in front of Jigano, he’d done quite enough of that in front of Maea. It was comforting to know that, unlike her, the other Attuned really could sympathize. He’d had a part of his identity ripped away from him and it was terrifying to think about for too long. He had to force himself to listen to Jigano’s recounting of this world’s history, his jaw clenched with tension. Without waiting for further invitation, he collapsed into the nearest chair, gaze not leaving his host.

Having humans unaware of the fae wasn’t strange to him, not considering the careful separation of people on his home world, but having them in completely divided locations was utterly bizarre. Then again, one had been walled off from all the rest. He could think of a few Hidden folk who would have preferred that, and the thought might have made him laugh if he hadn’t still been so shaken. He nodded upon learning of the local humans’ enforced ignorance, tilting his head slightly in a not-quite-human listening pose. His hands tightened into fists on the table in front of him as soon as portals were mentioned, knuckles white. Those ‘flavors’ must have been the list that both Maea and Jigano had given him, the different peoples with their different relations to the gods. But to hear that so many had been forcabily changed into something they weren’t, their magic or very bodies changed….

Rance’s gaze was hard as Jigano refocused on him, bright blue lightning trapped inside his eyes. “And one of the gods of this place did this? Even when they were still trapped in that dome that left that fuckin’ scar on the land?”