Given how Flowerbirth's end had left so many of them, Jigano certainly didn't blame Loren for keeping his distance. He was just glad his friend had found a measure of healing and was regaining his grace and optimism again. It was good to be able to rely on him again, given how much the bard often took on his own shoulders. With a shrug he accepted the uncertainty over the macabre plant, resolutely turning his attention back to Amalia for the moment, and from there to the mystery of the shrines. "Ah, teenagers," he agreed with a chuckle, the word explaining much. "No relation to Korbin, who you mentioned in your letter, I hope? The silent one, when we were fixing up the refugee rooms?" Not that any of them had been a font of conversation in their flurry of productivity that day!
Neron often seemed to be a touchy subject with Loren, and Jigano broached it cautiously but with great curiosity. How the man ruled as the Grounds's 'neighbor' through the portals mattered to him as a member of the Council. Hearing that Loren had only heard about the expedition third-hand, though, had him resisting the urge to frown as he slowed his eating while he thought. He didn't want to waste the meal that his friend had prepared, and he knew that once he began calling up those memories he wouldn't have much appetite.
Plate cleared, he nodded, taking a composing breath. "We weren't seeking the cannibals there, initially. We were looking for mage glass," he spoke evenly, the memories grim but unfortunately no worse than ones he had brought with him from his own world. "Neron thought the mine abandoned, but given its nearness to Whitebrim we went in cautiously. There were... two paths." He pulled up the image in his mind's eye, focusing on what had been. "The main one, heading down into the mine, and a smaller one off to the side. We chose the smaller, hoping that a lesser-used tunnel might have left something for us to find. 'Lesser used' was a lie." He shook his head, sipping his wine slowly. "There was a bridge, covered in ice, that threatened to give way beneath us. Spikes at the bottom, to impale any who fell," he added with a grimace. "Beyond that, another split. One tunnel seemed to lead to light and voices... a kitchen, I think, though we avoided it once we realized someone else was down there. The other... we traveled a short ways down it and came upon a... a larder, for lack of a better word. Boxes filled with bodies that had been... rendered, like deer or hogs, but these were human." He met Loren's eyes soberly. "I almost turned us back then. Evie and Maea were with us, and I was worried about them, but they decided to press on. We went farther, deeper into the mine, and came upon a cave. There was a fire in it, and six? ...yes, six people - cannibals, I assume - around it. And two ursurs chained to the wall," he cautioned as his tale came to an end. "I wasn't going to risk a fight, so at that point we turned around and snuck out. No mage glass to be be found," he added, disappointed but not surprised.
Neron often seemed to be a touchy subject with Loren, and Jigano broached it cautiously but with great curiosity. How the man ruled as the Grounds's 'neighbor' through the portals mattered to him as a member of the Council. Hearing that Loren had only heard about the expedition third-hand, though, had him resisting the urge to frown as he slowed his eating while he thought. He didn't want to waste the meal that his friend had prepared, and he knew that once he began calling up those memories he wouldn't have much appetite.
Plate cleared, he nodded, taking a composing breath. "We weren't seeking the cannibals there, initially. We were looking for mage glass," he spoke evenly, the memories grim but unfortunately no worse than ones he had brought with him from his own world. "Neron thought the mine abandoned, but given its nearness to Whitebrim we went in cautiously. There were... two paths." He pulled up the image in his mind's eye, focusing on what had been. "The main one, heading down into the mine, and a smaller one off to the side. We chose the smaller, hoping that a lesser-used tunnel might have left something for us to find. 'Lesser used' was a lie." He shook his head, sipping his wine slowly. "There was a bridge, covered in ice, that threatened to give way beneath us. Spikes at the bottom, to impale any who fell," he added with a grimace. "Beyond that, another split. One tunnel seemed to lead to light and voices... a kitchen, I think, though we avoided it once we realized someone else was down there. The other... we traveled a short ways down it and came upon a... a larder, for lack of a better word. Boxes filled with bodies that had been... rendered, like deer or hogs, but these were human." He met Loren's eyes soberly. "I almost turned us back then. Evie and Maea were with us, and I was worried about them, but they decided to press on. We went farther, deeper into the mine, and came upon a cave. There was a fire in it, and six? ...yes, six people - cannibals, I assume - around it. And two ursurs chained to the wall," he cautioned as his tale came to an end. "I wasn't going to risk a fight, so at that point we turned around and snuck out. No mage glass to be be found," he added, disappointed but not surprised.
