-----“He’s in fine spirits,” Sol hears the woodsman say lowly as Garrison catches up to him. “Just hope I didn’t make him mad enough to aim a bolt from clouds down at me.”
-----The two warriors struggle on up the incline and Sol gets just a hint of déjŕ vu. It doesn’t come to him immediately why he feels this way until he nearly reaches the end of his climb. Most of his concentration was taken up by focusing his balance so he doesn’t slip and fall in his armor. What a noise and embarrassing situation that could make.
-----As he nears the top, it suddenly dawns on him! This village is fashioned of old Gorian architecture. For one thing, old Gorian villages were sometimes built on hills with the incline modified so that visitors had a steep climb unless they used the main road into it.
-----The buildings within the village were mostly long low buildings with stone foundations. The stone chimneys on the ends of the buildings were smaller perhaps because of the warmer climates the people who lived here experienced. It looks as though more recent people lived here as some of the buildings have been maintained, although the village looks totally run-down and vacant now.
-----Over the tops of some of the buildings, Sol can see the top of a larger building that is perhaps a village hall or temple.
-----"Alright, I want t'try th' main building, but we'll wait fer th' others t'come up so they know where we've gone." Sol decides as he squints at the larger building, trying to make out details. He then changes his attention to down the hill, and a sigh escapes his lips as he agrees with Garrison, "He's in th' mood t'complain. Hopefully we can be on th' move again soon... Whilst we're waiting, can ye see any signs o' tracks heading int' th' ruins here?"
-----Garrison bends down to the ground, but only a moment passes before he rises up alert and scanning the buildings before them.
-----“I can tell they came through here,” he says in a voice now lower than he spoke with before. “They seem to lead toward that end of the village,” he adds as he points toward the eastern end of the ruins. “Maybe they had an easier way of getting into the buildings that way.”
-----Sol wordlessly accepts Garrison's words and rests his hand on the pommel of the Lathanian blade. Idly, he casts his gaze to the horizon and then upwards, seeking to lose himself momentarily in the heavens.
-----Soon this turned into musing about what the weather might hold for the rest of the day.
-----“Well, I hope Raven and the others are all right wherever they are,” Garrison responds. “I would say they would’ve reached that village of Ku by now.”
-----Sol sourly grunts his acknowledgement but doesn't take his eyes away from the sky. He wishes he were able to stand by Raven and Rinda's side at this time, instead of chasing a motley band of goblins through some ruins. He replies to Garrison shortly, "They'd better be. Otherwise we'll have Lovan give 'em a stern lecture..."
-----Whether he found inspiration in what he saw above, or whether it was his usual urge to be doing something, anything, was yet to be determined. Whatever the case, Sol turned his back on the Garrison and began walking towards the large building at the centre of the complex, "Bring 'em when they've deigned t'join us." It was said with a hint of humour, but the large impatient sigh that followed his statement gave away his more prominent feelings on the matter.
-----“Don’t you want to wait?” Garrison begins to ask before seeing the futility of the question. The woodsman then silently watches the Gorian warrior climb higher on the incline.
-----Jeilin ran down into the dark excitedly and gained the large round chamber. Using her infravision, she was able to tell where the open chamber was where they found the woman. As she started across the larger room, a shadow was cast from the light filtering down the steps.
-----“Milady!” Dilton called from the bottom of the steps. “Milady, ye shouldn’ be a’runnin’ off by yerself! Milady, I canna see ye! How fare ye?”
-----"I'm alright," Jeilin calls back. "Come and light your torch then." She waits for Dilton before heading towards the chamber.
-----After a few more moments, the raspy-throated warrior came into view holding a newly lit torch aloft glimmering off his sweat ridden face.
-----Jeilin turned and lead Dilton through to the next room where the girl had been found. There on the floor, she could see the small overturned boxes and, gleaming from the floor, scattered bunches of coins. The Gorian had obviously kicked them about in his impatience!