The Chronicles of Dorgnad's Creek

[KoyiTar]

"Its sortave nice to be in a forest again." Rell said to break the silence. She figured that Briel was right children usually responded to noise especially if it was friendly sounding. She wasn't sure what had killed the guards without seeing them or there wounds to place what sort of weapon or animal did it. Though she was more for figuring out if it was a weapon mark that killed someone and not for figuring out if an animal did it. She was actually having and easy time keeping up with the taller folk much better than she normally would have. Of course most being taller than her ran off ahead forgetting about her till they got themselves caught in a trap or worse.

Being near ruins she was keeping an eye out for traps just in case there were some old one near by that could possibly be triggered. It could be what had killed the guards and caused the kids to get lost. Traps were not things to play near or around with and in ruins they could be very hard to detect unless you were trained to look for them. "Of course I have never been near ruins in a forest before." She added keeping the conversation as light as possible. She was also trying not to show that she was looking for traps even this far out from the ruins. Of course traps were tricky and could be set up almost anywhere you just had to know what to look for before you sprung it.

[Atraea]

"Neither have I," replied Halyth, trying to keep the conversation moving. "But I suppose I can see the appeal of playing in one, if I were a child. It is big, with many interesting looking structures to climb on, jump from, and hide behind. I imagine playing a game of hide and seek in such places is far more interesting than simply playing in a town or city like I did as a child."

She chuckled lightly at the memories of her hometown and childhood friends, hiding in various places about the town. Homes had always been off limits, but shops and markets were free game and a favorite of the children, as such places were usually crowded with people.

"I was always caught first because I hid in the same place: the bakery. I loved the way it smelled, and the baker was very nice to me, and would always give me a little pastry of some sort when I went in there." She looked around at the group. "What about you all? What were some of your favorite hiding spots?" She decided that addressing them all at once was the best way to get them talking. She understood that starting conversations with strangers can be difficult, especially when actively trying to keep it as innocuous as possible.

[Keylaleigh]

Jinks listened to the conversation as the lights drifted around the group. On the mentioning of hiding spots, she smiled. The games of hide-and-seek that they were talking about were nothing compared to the ones that Tibbits played. A single round could take almost two hours, because they were masters when it came to hiding in plain sight.

"Hide and seek has always been one of my favorite games." Jinks smirked. "Nobody could ever find me." This was also true. Out of all the kittens in the family, she was the best when it came to hiding, usually revealing herself around dinnertime because nobody had found her yet. "I was the smallest of the group, so I could always fit into some pretty tight spaces. And it was different every time."

[Maeve]

Briel smiled, remembering the games she played with her brothers. Of course, they were older and often preferred going hunting with their dad instead of playing with their little sister, but she still had plenty of good time with them and the other kids from the grove. "I grew up in this forest, farther to the north though, so me and the other kids from the grove used to hide in trees, hollowed stumps, or near the rock at the bottom of the mountain. I preferred the high trees though," she said with a smile, remembering the few times she had fallen of one of the said trees and hurt herself.

She looked at a nearby stone as they passed by, probably and old piece of a column at some point, that was now covered by moss and snow. She had never explore the ruins much as a child, living farther to the north, but she had came here a few times since she started to guide people into the wood. She was always amazed by the size of the stones used. No one really knew much about this place, but the ruins in themselves were already interesting enough to bring a good number of tourists in the small villages, treasure hunters and scientists mostly.

((For the main part of the ruins, think of the Parthenon, but smaller, with no roof and with most columns laying on the ground. And a forest around too ^^
The columns and remains get sparse as you get farther from the center. There's only a few near us for now.))

[killerkitty]

Aena looked at the lights with a vague interest. She did not really feel like talking, especially not of playing games with other children, as she had been the only one in her home village. Though she was very good at hiding.

She looked around at the trees, and listened, though all was bleak and silent, to be expected in winter. Then she started looking around, looking for more parts of the ruin, and some clue to the disappearance of the children and guards.

[Tsemara]

Peter followed along, watching the rear. If whatever had dispatched the guards was still out there, he'd rather not have them sneak up on this party. Even though there were more people in this group, than there were in the guards' it didn't hurt to keep an eye out. He listened to his companions, talk about different things, grinning when he thought about his own childhood.

"I enjoyed hide and seek, when I was younger. I wasn't as good as the other kids, when it came to hiding," Peter stated. "I'd usually mess up when someone tromped through the leaf pile I was hiding under, or what have you." He would usually squeak in pain as he was kicked in the side, or had his apendages stepped on, even by the light footed elf children. But a good time was had by all. And that was all that mattered then.

[Maeve]

Briel listened to the others, smiling softly. I reminded her of her family, of the good times she spent with them before... She shook her head, chasing the sad thoughts that were inevitably coming when she thought of her family. Doing so, she also stopped and took a little time to look around. "Here we are!" she said, making a movement with her arm to show the ruins. "make sure you don't slip on the stones. They are old and covered in moss, which can be really slippery." They were now at the bottom of a few stairs going up a rather large platform. Somewhere in the past, it must have been a large temple, or a palace maybe. Now however, only the large platform it stood on was still intact. Most of the columns had fallen to the ground, pulling down the few walls as they did.

The druid moved her torch in front of her to light the stairs and started to climb slowly, not wanting to slip on the moss and snow-covered stones. Once at the top, she waited for the other to do the same, lighting their way. She took the time to look around while she waited, looking if she could see anything strange, traces maybe. From where she was standing though, most of the platform just look like a large flat surface, untouched by any kind of living creatures for centuries. She sighed and turned her attention to the group. From what she could guess, they had took less then an hour to get to the ruins. If the kids were around and had found a good shelter, they were most likely fine. Now they just needed to find them...

((For your information, traces can be found on the other side of the ruins, indicating a good-size group of human, or similar size humanoids, passed there recently. No traces of the kids, but a badly wounded guard is laying on the ground close to the traces, partially covered by melting snow. He's too dead to be healed, but could give some information if reached in time. The traces then leave the ruins and headed to the west, toward the mountains.
Just make your character act and I'll tell you what happens, what the guard says and all ^^))

[KoyiTar]

"Oy be careful." Rell said still looking around for traps." What I mean is ruins can be tricksy even if played in often by kids or freaquented by explorers. You never know where a trap might be." She said to Briel as she made her way up the stairs she had kept herself close to the guide just in case. Looking out she couldn't see much of anything do to her height."What's that over there?" She said pointing to another side of the ruins, she saw what looked like could have been aigns of some sort of struggle but her height couldn't tell her much. "Looks like some sort of fight went down over there but I can't really tell to short you see." She said to her taller companion standing next to her.

[Atraea]

Halyth scanned the area as they entered, heeding the halfling's words. Though it didn't appear as if there were any traps laying about, through her low light vision she caught sight of a wounded figure. He appeared to be badly wounded, painfully so. "There appears to be someone over there. It might be one of the guards. He looks hurt, but he might still be alive, so he may have some information as to the children's whereabouts." She started to carefully make her way over to him, scanning the floor for any thing. As she got closer, it became apparent that the guard was beyond the point of health.

...We are too late. At the very least I might be able to give him a painless death. She called back to her companions, trying to to be too loud. "Quickly, he is badly wounded!" She turned her attention to the guard, who was still lying a few feet away from her. "Sir, please hang on. Can you speak at all?"

[Keylaleigh]

Jinks looked up at the ruin. "Oh my... would you look at that?" She mumbled, walking up to one of the pillars, putting a hand on it. "I wondered what it must have looked like before being... well... ruined?" She questioned aloud.

As Halyth looked went over to the wounded man, Jinks searched in her bag for something that may be useful. Unfortunately, there were only rocks, coins, and a few caltrops in it at the moment. Nothing that could be used for healing. Not finding anything, she decided to hang back. No use going over if she couldn't help. Jinks still neded to pick up some first aid skills. Maybe she could do some mousing in an infirmary in the future...

[killerkitty]

Aena gazed at the wounded man sadly, wishing she could do something to help him, but her magic was not healing magic. She knew several herbs that could help, but it was too late, and it was unlikely to find any of them here, especially in the middle of winter.

She walked over to the dying guard. 'Don't worry,' she said, 'You will be released from this body soon. But you must hold on a few moments longer. Can you please try to tell us what happened?' she asked.

((I'm not going to be online almost ever for at least a week. Please don't post too much and leave me behind, okay? ))

[Maeve]

Briel followed the others to the wounded man while Mercane went on to inspect the site. As soon as she saw the guard, any hope she had of being able to heal him vanished. Judging from the wounds and the amount of blood he had already lost, he would be dead in less than an hour... and probably unconscious very soon. She knelt down beside him and the other asked questions, wanting to be sure to hear his answers, if any came.

Johan, the guard, coughed harshly, a little trail of blood falling from his mouth down his chin and on the cold ground behind him. He was dying, he knew it. And he was sure to die alone, until he heard the faint noise of steps in the snow, and the voices of what appeared like a group of people. He was now surrounded by a small group of people, women probably, from the voices he heard. His sight was too blurry to be able to see anything properly.

As he heard their questions, the reasons why he had came here made its way into his hazy mind. The kids, the ambush, the monsters... I must tell them, he thought, trying to gather his strength to make his mouth move. He coughed one more time, before he tried to spoke, his voice shaking but still audible behind the frequent cough.

"We... came hear, me and the other guards," Johan started, "to find a group of lost kids from Dorgnad's. And then... the orcs... large, fully equipped for fight, orcs. They came out of nowhere, just on the side of the stairs there," he said, his head slowly turning towards the steps on the nearest side of the platform. "They attacked us. I heard them said they were looking for something... Can't remember what..."

He was then shaken up by another spasm. Although he was still conscious, his mind seemed to be leaving him slowly, and he knew it. With a last burst of energy, he added: "You... must find them... the... kids..." Then, Johan fainted, life slowly leaving his body. It might have been possible to wake him up once more to try to get more answers, but his minds would most likely be quite blurry.

Briel shrugged. She hated seeing people die in front of her, even if she knew it was inevitable. She was used to healing them, and every death was like a failure, another reminder that her powers were limited. She shook her head and looked up to the group, wondering what they thought. Sure, they now knew what had attack the guards, but it didn't tell them where the children were... Unless they were what the orcs where looking for? It made little sense in her mind, but since one of the kids was the son of the lord, maybe they wanted a ransom of some sort...

She got up slowly and looked around, wondering where Mercane had wandered. She heard the she-wolf as she saw her, not that far from the group, on the side of a large column - probably the only intact one. The wolf was scratching the ground, like if she was trying to dig into the stone. She lifted her head and let go a small yelp to tell her mistress that she had found something.

The druid walked up to her companion and looked at what the large beast was pointing on the ground. A small piece of... blue cloth? She pulled it up. One of the ends was caught on the border of the thick stone tile that covered the ground. Mercane must have pushed it when she dug, she thought as she gently removed it from the ground and lifted it up to the light to be able to see it properly.

[Atraea]

Halyth listened intently to the guard's words. at the mention of orcs, her expression hardened. This was not going to be easy. but she refused to let those brutes near those children. When the guard passed out, she knew he wouldn't have much longer. She reached into her pocket pulling out a small vial of a strange liquid, like an extract. She opened it, and put a few drops in one of the guards open wounds, to let it seep into his body. "Thank you. You have been a tremendous help, and you sacrifice will not be in vain. This should numb the pain so you can go peacefully." She placed the guard's hands over his chest, and rose from his side. She walked over to Briel, still ever-wary of her wolf companion. "What is that? Did she find something?"

[Keylaleigh]

Jinks blinked. Orcs, huh? She wasn't used to fighting, and once again went into her bag for things that might help. The caltrops she had picked up would make excellent sling bullets when push came to shove.

She walked over to see the piece of cloth that Briel was holding. "I can keep that safe, if you want." She offered, patting her bag. Mostly she was offering because that was a nice piece of cloth, and could most likely be used for something later on.

[Maeve]

"It's... just a piece of fabric," the druid said, rubbing the torn cloth between her finger. "Blue wool, a piece of a scarf or something like that probably," she added, handing the piece to Jinks so she kept it safe. Blue dye was rare in the region, and the only items people who buy or make with blue-tainted materials were small things, scarfs or hats mostly. It was possible that one of the kids was wearing those items.

Briel distractedly scratched Mercane's head to thank her, thinking about what had happened and what they could do next. "Chances are one of the kids was wearing something made of that material. It seemed to have been torn off, when they played around... or when the orcs tried to grab them," she said. It wasn't a very pleasant thought, but since they couldn't find traces of the children around, it was one option they couldn't rule out.

She shrugged. "maybe we could just go around and try to call, to see if the kids answer or if we can find other clues. Once we make sure they are not around..." She didn't really need to finish her sentence. They would either have to return to the village, or try to follow the trail the orcs left in the snow. She would have preferred the second option, seeing as she didn't like to have creatures like orcs running in her woods, but she would let the group chose when time came.