Jigano didn't say anything, but a little vulpine grumble of agreement might have escaped as Ludo found an itch he hadn't realized he had and clever fingers slid through silken fur to scratch it away. But as the hand slipped away he sighed silently and regathered himself and the wits the god had just subtly warned him to keep about himself.
Returning to the world of the present wasn't like what happened with the sentient books, and it was a far gentler transition than his initial fall into the vision of Ludo's past, for which he was grateful. It took him a moment, still, to get his bearings and his body sorted out when he realized he was no longer seated on four paws but needed to walk on two legs again.
"Ah... well," he said, a little abashed as he rose and caught his balance against the desk before moving to the corner where the little shrine was. "If I'd known then what I know now, I might have chosen differently..." He hesitated, but gave a wry shake of his head, lifting the masks from the wall and turning to present them to the mass of rags with a deep bow. A smiling mask of gold, a sad mask in silver, and a neutral mask most similar to Ludo's porcelain 'face' in precious platinum, all of a size with the mask the raggedy deity always bore. "But it is too late to change what has been done. I retrieved the raw materials from the lair of a stone golem," he explained, remembering how Edy had subdued the beast with her fire magic while he'd distracted it. "And then bargained with the finest smith in the settlement for the work to be done to my designs." A slight frown came over his lips then, and he tilted his head up at the god curiously. "He did the work under the promise that they wouldn't be used for any 'cult things', whatever that means. But I thought..." He trailed off, looking searchingly at the masked god who served the gentle Mort. "Well. I wanted to give you something beautiful, as thanks for keeping your bargain with me over Deepfrost. The more I have learned of you, the more I have wanted to carry through on that." Ludo was not an easy god to deal with, none of them were, but the soul guide could be noble and it was rarely easy being a god of death among the living. Of all people, one who was born an Oracle could understand that. "I hope they are acceptable, Chosen of Mort, or at least that the intention behind them is."
Returning to the world of the present wasn't like what happened with the sentient books, and it was a far gentler transition than his initial fall into the vision of Ludo's past, for which he was grateful. It took him a moment, still, to get his bearings and his body sorted out when he realized he was no longer seated on four paws but needed to walk on two legs again.
"Ah... well," he said, a little abashed as he rose and caught his balance against the desk before moving to the corner where the little shrine was. "If I'd known then what I know now, I might have chosen differently..." He hesitated, but gave a wry shake of his head, lifting the masks from the wall and turning to present them to the mass of rags with a deep bow. A smiling mask of gold, a sad mask in silver, and a neutral mask most similar to Ludo's porcelain 'face' in precious platinum, all of a size with the mask the raggedy deity always bore. "But it is too late to change what has been done. I retrieved the raw materials from the lair of a stone golem," he explained, remembering how Edy had subdued the beast with her fire magic while he'd distracted it. "And then bargained with the finest smith in the settlement for the work to be done to my designs." A slight frown came over his lips then, and he tilted his head up at the god curiously. "He did the work under the promise that they wouldn't be used for any 'cult things', whatever that means. But I thought..." He trailed off, looking searchingly at the masked god who served the gentle Mort. "Well. I wanted to give you something beautiful, as thanks for keeping your bargain with me over Deepfrost. The more I have learned of you, the more I have wanted to carry through on that." Ludo was not an easy god to deal with, none of them were, but the soul guide could be noble and it was rarely easy being a god of death among the living. Of all people, one who was born an Oracle could understand that. "I hope they are acceptable, Chosen of Mort, or at least that the intention behind them is."
