The Ascended made it back alive, for better or – most likely – for worse, thanks to Remi’s assistance – and no thanks at all to the numerous other people whose enmity he had earned, no doubt how he’d earned Jigano’s ambivalence to whether he lived or died. Still Remi gently chided the predator, showing him fondness for some reason, in spite of all of his friends (and family?) treating the vampire like, well, a dangerous beast.
Suppressing a sigh, the bard turned his attention instead to the assassin’s watery attack. That was a fascinating response, and he jotted down how the water seemed to be repelled. Would it do even more damage than fire, if it hit the shield? He opened his mouth to ask Remi about what controls he was using for his experiment when instead the boy moved blithely onwards, leaving the lorekeeper blinking in surprise. But of course, the rest of the mages obeyed him without hesitation, following his orders without a thought for what was missing.
Jigano grit his teeth, but witnessed the effects of the group attack, determined to gather as much information as he could. The cracks were new, but the shield had weakened and grown less opaque under the assault of just one earlier. One or three, the Barrier didn’t seem to mind in the long run as it held firm in the face of the attack.
For a moment he thought that they were done, but Remi pulled something else from his bag instead. At first it seemed like it might be an invention – at last, the controls! – but… no, it just a—
--mask?
”Oh… fuck,” the lorekeeper breathed. Remi had said he’d gotten a mask from Ludo as a gift, and having seen the god for himself there was no doubt that this was what it was. Remi explained to the rest exactly why what he was doing was a bad idea, and then went ahead and did it anyway – something that Jigano felt was probably a distressingly common occurrence with him. He took a step closer, worried in earnest now, and not just for Remi’s sake.
What the young man said would have been more interesting if what he did wasn’t so foolish. Three quick strides and Jigano still would have been too late if the haughty princess hadn’t been standing close enough to grab him. The bard stopped besideVervain, looking from Remi to her and back again, blue eyes bright and hard with a bleak frustration. ”This is the second time,” he growled. ”He told me Ludo tricked him this exact same way before he gave him the mask – tried to get him to kill himself against the barrier by making him think he saw a friend there. The third time now that I know of that that mask has nearly been his end. Twice on the god’s face and now this.” His hands clenched around his journal, white-knuckled as he struggled with his helplessness – and more than a smidgen of misplaced guilt.
Suppressing a sigh, the bard turned his attention instead to the assassin’s watery attack. That was a fascinating response, and he jotted down how the water seemed to be repelled. Would it do even more damage than fire, if it hit the shield? He opened his mouth to ask Remi about what controls he was using for his experiment when instead the boy moved blithely onwards, leaving the lorekeeper blinking in surprise. But of course, the rest of the mages obeyed him without hesitation, following his orders without a thought for what was missing.
Jigano grit his teeth, but witnessed the effects of the group attack, determined to gather as much information as he could. The cracks were new, but the shield had weakened and grown less opaque under the assault of just one earlier. One or three, the Barrier didn’t seem to mind in the long run as it held firm in the face of the attack.
For a moment he thought that they were done, but Remi pulled something else from his bag instead. At first it seemed like it might be an invention – at last, the controls! – but… no, it just a—
--mask?
”Oh… fuck,” the lorekeeper breathed. Remi had said he’d gotten a mask from Ludo as a gift, and having seen the god for himself there was no doubt that this was what it was. Remi explained to the rest exactly why what he was doing was a bad idea, and then went ahead and did it anyway – something that Jigano felt was probably a distressingly common occurrence with him. He took a step closer, worried in earnest now, and not just for Remi’s sake.
What the young man said would have been more interesting if what he did wasn’t so foolish. Three quick strides and Jigano still would have been too late if the haughty princess hadn’t been standing close enough to grab him. The bard stopped beside
