"You won't, I assure you," Jigano said, amused though there wasn't much humor in it as he remembered the first time he'd gone near the Spire... helping a friend dig the belongings of a slain companion from the snow. "Nor should you try and get too close. There's a creature that attacks any who intrude on its... lair, for lack of a better word. It's a killer but..." he hesitated, lips tugging into a slight frown as he remembered the news from the meeting he'd snuck into. "It is... very strange. Not a normal beast but perhaps some sort of construct. Local legend has it that it neither eats nor sleeps, only kills and drives off any who approach the Spire."
He glanced up at Caiside, smile returning, albeit a sharp one. "Excellent questions, and ones I've asked as well, though no one yet has answers. Though..." he tilted his head to the side, watching the newcomer thoughtfully. "Consider that it might not be keeping someone in, but something." The beast that had risen in the night to swallow a wolf whole, with room for more, still haunted the bard, but his seeking through the Atheneum had found nothing quite like it mentioned so far.
Caiside's distress was not what Jigano had intended, and he winced at how thoughtless he had been in his wording. "I don't know how many, if any, of us Outlanders chose to come here," he said gently. "Many of us simply fell through portals that appeared at our feet or in front of us. One minute we were walking, the next-- Here." He spread his hands to encompass the teahouse and so much more beyond it before taking another sip and savoring the fruity herbal flavors. "And... perhaps there is someone trying to find a way back, but if so I do not know who they are. Many of those brought here have found it to be better than what they left behind... for whatever reason."
He watched the other man, blue eyes softening with compassion. "Most have only been here since autumn - Leafchange, they call it - and have put their efforts into surviving the winter and trying to escape the barrier that walls us in. Whether that will ultimately prove good or bad, only time will tell. But, for now, it provides a welcome focus to my studies. My world... has no more need of me. If given the chance to return... no. I do not think I would, now." He sighed, not knowing how to comfort his companion's distress. "I am sorry, for what it's worth. After this, perhaps I can show you the great library? Perhaps the answer you seek will be there." So many answers Jigano sought had proven elusive, but that didn't mean they weren't there hidden behind a dusty shelf or trapped beneath fallen rubble.
He glanced up at Caiside, smile returning, albeit a sharp one. "Excellent questions, and ones I've asked as well, though no one yet has answers. Though..." he tilted his head to the side, watching the newcomer thoughtfully. "Consider that it might not be keeping someone in, but something." The beast that had risen in the night to swallow a wolf whole, with room for more, still haunted the bard, but his seeking through the Atheneum had found nothing quite like it mentioned so far.
Caiside's distress was not what Jigano had intended, and he winced at how thoughtless he had been in his wording. "I don't know how many, if any, of us Outlanders chose to come here," he said gently. "Many of us simply fell through portals that appeared at our feet or in front of us. One minute we were walking, the next-- Here." He spread his hands to encompass the teahouse and so much more beyond it before taking another sip and savoring the fruity herbal flavors. "And... perhaps there is someone trying to find a way back, but if so I do not know who they are. Many of those brought here have found it to be better than what they left behind... for whatever reason."
He watched the other man, blue eyes softening with compassion. "Most have only been here since autumn - Leafchange, they call it - and have put their efforts into surviving the winter and trying to escape the barrier that walls us in. Whether that will ultimately prove good or bad, only time will tell. But, for now, it provides a welcome focus to my studies. My world... has no more need of me. If given the chance to return... no. I do not think I would, now." He sighed, not knowing how to comfort his companion's distress. "I am sorry, for what it's worth. After this, perhaps I can show you the great library? Perhaps the answer you seek will be there." So many answers Jigano sought had proven elusive, but that didn't mean they weren't there hidden behind a dusty shelf or trapped beneath fallen rubble.
