Rance enjoyed telling a tale as much as hearing one and Jigano was giving him a reason to indulge in something he rarely had the chance to. The Loreseeker wanted information and Rance couldn’t help but give him the answers he knew. “There’s mixed stories about that. A god gone mad, a monster, or just a great devouring pit. They all pretty much agree that souls were being consumed, though.” He glanced up at the small bird noises, lips twitching in amusement at the sight of the young gryphon. He turned his attention back to his painting as he continued his story. “Whatever the Ghost Queen was before, whether god or not, she died in the fight that killed the creature and became an eternal guardian of all souls from then on.” Of course, that was oversimplifying, but any legends about a god would be. Those were the facts that most stories agreed on and the shortest way of telling them.
The question of what happened to the souls who didn’t make it to the Queen’s realm was a shadowed one. “Ghouls.” Rance’s smile faded into a grim line. “They’re real monsters. Hidden, human, if your soul doesn’t find its way, it stays and slowly rots with your dead body. Stories say a lot of ghouls try to hold onto what made them people in life, even look and act natural at first, but they hunger for what makes other people alive and hate us for having it. So they feed off the living to try and get back some semblance of life.” Rance shook his head and set aside the red paint, picking out a purple next. “Got surprised by one once, when I was campin’ in the Forest. Escaped, obviously, and got the word out in the next town. Not going to miss those fuckin’ bastards one bit.” Being hunted was never fun, but there was something truly terrible about the undead. How they could look almost, but not quite alive, right up until they started rotting and going mad.
Asking about Ludo was as much a grab to change the subject as it was curiosity. He painted a few smaller feathers in purple before straightening, letting paint dry as he listened to Jigano talk about Caido’s gods. The change in the Provost’s manner as he spoke of Ludo was palpable, a quiet adoration Rance had seen only in people who really believed. Rance felt his smile returning a bit, just at the description of the child-like god. “So, in decoratin’ the lanterns like this, are we just makin’ a game for it? Not in a bad way, I mean, but decoratin’ all bright and colorful for its day?” It made him think of bringing shiny gifts for his siblings’ naming day.
The question of what happened to the souls who didn’t make it to the Queen’s realm was a shadowed one. “Ghouls.” Rance’s smile faded into a grim line. “They’re real monsters. Hidden, human, if your soul doesn’t find its way, it stays and slowly rots with your dead body. Stories say a lot of ghouls try to hold onto what made them people in life, even look and act natural at first, but they hunger for what makes other people alive and hate us for having it. So they feed off the living to try and get back some semblance of life.” Rance shook his head and set aside the red paint, picking out a purple next. “Got surprised by one once, when I was campin’ in the Forest. Escaped, obviously, and got the word out in the next town. Not going to miss those fuckin’ bastards one bit.” Being hunted was never fun, but there was something truly terrible about the undead. How they could look almost, but not quite alive, right up until they started rotting and going mad.
Asking about Ludo was as much a grab to change the subject as it was curiosity. He painted a few smaller feathers in purple before straightening, letting paint dry as he listened to Jigano talk about Caido’s gods. The change in the Provost’s manner as he spoke of Ludo was palpable, a quiet adoration Rance had seen only in people who really believed. Rance felt his smile returning a bit, just at the description of the child-like god. “So, in decoratin’ the lanterns like this, are we just makin’ a game for it? Not in a bad way, I mean, but decoratin’ all bright and colorful for its day?” It made him think of bringing shiny gifts for his siblings’ naming day.
