The innocent question earned a wry chuckle, and a glance from bright blue eyes that held a mix of amusement and pain. "I see you go straight to the heart of an issue," he said, not without approval. "And the short answer is... it's complicated." He grinned, a little on the sharp side, as he found the page he was seeking and left the book open to a map of the Hollowed Grounds within the barrier - the one that no longer existed. "Traditionally, no. The Naturals here might significantly outnumber us outworlders, but there aren't many more than two thousand or so of them, and many live in the Outskirts, tending fields to feed themselves and the rest. For those that live here in the settlement, well, they might not know everyone, but chances are good that if they don't know someone, they know someone who does. Oh, the occasional thief or group of bandits crops up now and again, deciding they'd rather take what others have made without fair trade, but for the most part people are too busy surviving or fighting off the dangers of the land to get into too much trouble..." he trailed off, winking at Killian.
"Traditionally, that is. Recently things have changed. A lot more Outlanders have arrived in an unprecedentedly short period of time, with knowledge and weapons and military training. It's tipped balances that held for hundreds of years, and created some tensions between the two groups." Jigano's smile went a little crooked at that. "A council has recently been created, with a handful of locals and a couple of Northhaven Outlanders on it. It's led by a young woman named Maea, who was once my student. They haven't done much yet... but yes, technically, they are the leaders of the Hollowed Grounds now." The bard very carefully did not say that they were his leaders. He had turned down a nomination to the council and still was not entirely happy with how it had come about, but he had promised not to stand in Maea's way, at least.
"Outside the Hollowed Grounds is a completely different matter, of course," he warned, gesturing to the map, and the blank area to the north and west of the delineated areas on it. "We're still learning about the people and powers that be out there."
"Traditionally, that is. Recently things have changed. A lot more Outlanders have arrived in an unprecedentedly short period of time, with knowledge and weapons and military training. It's tipped balances that held for hundreds of years, and created some tensions between the two groups." Jigano's smile went a little crooked at that. "A council has recently been created, with a handful of locals and a couple of Northhaven Outlanders on it. It's led by a young woman named Maea, who was once my student. They haven't done much yet... but yes, technically, they are the leaders of the Hollowed Grounds now." The bard very carefully did not say that they were his leaders. He had turned down a nomination to the council and still was not entirely happy with how it had come about, but he had promised not to stand in Maea's way, at least.
"Outside the Hollowed Grounds is a completely different matter, of course," he warned, gesturing to the map, and the blank area to the north and west of the delineated areas on it. "We're still learning about the people and powers that be out there."
