"Immensely," Jigano said dryly, interpreting the slang 'sucks' to mean... something bad? In context it seemed likely. "Especially when two of the remaining band compounded the issue by proclaiming that they would enter the Spire and take down the barrier - and to hell with what the Naturals wanted. More than a hundred locals came together to protect the Spire from the Northhaven aggressors at that point, and the Northhaveners made some very pointed physical threats towards the one who was leading the Naturals. They were outnumbered and were forced to back down, though, and we thought we had bought ourselves some time... we had just learned that the old gods very much did not want the barrier to come down, that they were trying to protect the world from the Voice. I'm assuming that, despite their disdain of her, that she truly has ascended to godhood and that is why they can't kill her, and so they opted for imprisonment instead. But the Voice had her own pawns in play - the Ascended. Not all of them worship her or follow her commands to the letter, but enough do..."
Jigano trailed off as he joined Killian in the corner, looking down at the chest curiously. He brought the lantern closer, attempting to see inside without reaching in - and possibly getting bit by something that nested there. "That night, the Voice used her power to cast a spell of sleep over the people guarding the Spire. Her Ascended worshipers slipped past and managed to enter it. Some went upstairs, some went down... some went in to rescue the daft fools who had charged ahead without thinking," he added with a grimace that made it clear which group he had been in. "But the ones who went upstairs reached... well. I'm not sure how to describe it, in truth. The prison, the power center of the barrier, the body of something that had once been human but no longer was... And so the barrier was brought down and the Gods of the Ascended were freed." He glanced up at his companion with an arched brow and a wry smile.
"The wounds of the liberties taken by the Northhaveners are fading. Luckily most people here have a 'what's done is done' philosophy, but the scars still linger, and some rifts may never close completely after being torn open so violently. Words were said that cannot be unsaid, and forgiveness doesn't mean that people will forget how a few outsiders trampled over the beliefs and desires of the many. And there may well be consequences still to come that we have not yet seen. So. An exciting time, as I said," he finished the history lesson with a chuckle, reaching for a splintered piece of wood to carefully poke into the hole in the chest and fish out whatever was inside.
Jigano trailed off as he joined Killian in the corner, looking down at the chest curiously. He brought the lantern closer, attempting to see inside without reaching in - and possibly getting bit by something that nested there. "That night, the Voice used her power to cast a spell of sleep over the people guarding the Spire. Her Ascended worshipers slipped past and managed to enter it. Some went upstairs, some went down... some went in to rescue the daft fools who had charged ahead without thinking," he added with a grimace that made it clear which group he had been in. "But the ones who went upstairs reached... well. I'm not sure how to describe it, in truth. The prison, the power center of the barrier, the body of something that had once been human but no longer was... And so the barrier was brought down and the Gods of the Ascended were freed." He glanced up at his companion with an arched brow and a wry smile.
"The wounds of the liberties taken by the Northhaveners are fading. Luckily most people here have a 'what's done is done' philosophy, but the scars still linger, and some rifts may never close completely after being torn open so violently. Words were said that cannot be unsaid, and forgiveness doesn't mean that people will forget how a few outsiders trampled over the beliefs and desires of the many. And there may well be consequences still to come that we have not yet seen. So. An exciting time, as I said," he finished the history lesson with a chuckle, reaching for a splintered piece of wood to carefully poke into the hole in the chest and fish out whatever was inside.
