-----Sarah walks around in the room, checking things out. "I wonder what this place was." She muses looking around for some sort of clue. "Do you guys know?" She asks the Seekers.
-----Remembering that the hobgoblins that he dealt with were coming up the stairs when Sol came across them, the warrior holds his magical lens in the area near the foot of the stairs, in an attempt to determine which part the hobgoblins of the ruins the humanoids had come from.
-----"Ah!" Kantar answers Sarah with the excitement barely contained in his voice, "I would say that this small stronghold was an 'entrance' to the swamps to the south as it were. No doubt in earlier times, this was used in the defense of the northern regions and, at the same time, a means to secure and claim more lands." After his characteristic pause, he adds the familiar, "But, . . . that is purely speculation on my part."
-----Quade simply nods, but otherwise maintains his silence as he too looks about the surroundings.
-----As she walks, Ursulena quickly takes an inventory of her vial of troll's blood and her pieces of gargoyle horn.
-----In the meantime, Sol stands from his investigation and looks toward the two rooms beyond their position. He then points down this new corridor and says, "Let's check down this way." Promptly he follows his own lead.
-----Everyone moves behind him, as the afternoon light filters in through the collapsed area at the end of the corridor. No sound is heard here, so everyone remains quiet except for the occasional whisper or excited exclamation from one of the Trinity Seekers.
-----Garrison thrusts a torch into the first room as Sol and Raven enter with swords drawn. Here, they see a fair sized spacious room though the contents have been diminished to a few broken pieces of wood thrown about the place.
-----Lest the chance of surprising something unexpected is gone, the company quickly turns its attention to the last room. Here they find much of the same; a spacious room with barren stone walls and debris strewn about. The only difference is in this last room a large mantelpiece takes up much of the south wall.
-----Sarah walks over to the mantelpiece and begins to examine it carefully. "Bring your lens over here, Sol." She requests politely, and looks to see if there is any evidence around or on the mantelpiece of who was here and why. "An 'entrance' to the swamps, you say? I would think more of a door blocking the way out for all the nasties inside the swamps, making it a little safer to live nearby. But why was it abandoned? And why is it down here? A cave-in? Poor construction? An earthquake." Sarah theorizes with the Trinity Seekers.
-----"We've seen a fair few ruins, stands t'reason considering th' various empires that have fallen. Maybe it's just a keep dating back t'one o' those." Sol adds in an attempt to be helpful, as he moves to do what Sarah asked. He uses the lens to try and work out if anyone has passed near the mantelpiece lately, even checking for handprints on the mantelpiece itself.
-----The mantelpiece appears to be made of a combination of stone and wood. It has obviously seen its share of abuse as the old rotted wood looks eaten and scarred. Some of the stones have been broken.
-----"Very true," Kantar hypothesizes, "I would guess this old moathouse would date back to the old Gorian Empire. Very likely, they abandoned it when larger strongholds were built, but then, . ."
-----"That is purely speculation on your part," chimes in Quade.
-----"Exactly," answers Kantar seemingly not missing a beat.
-----"Have we searched every inch of this place?" Garrison asks, shouldering his axe. The woodsman looks grimly about the upper parts of the walls.
-----Raven checks about the floors before striding over toward the mantelpiece. The hunter then examines the notched wood of the structure before motioning Garrison over with a torch. Gaining a closer look, Raven grunts lowly as if in deep thought and sudden recognition.
-----"Look at this," he says, pointing out some distinctive marks scrapped in the wood. There in the dark worm eaten wood, a series of lines arching downward in a point are seen.
-----"Could be a ranger's mark, though I'm not familiar with it," the hunter says lightly blowing dust from the impressions.
-----Rinda stands behind him, staring intensely with interest.
-----"Raven, what does this mean t'us?" Sol asks as he comes up behind the trio to try and see what the three hunters are looking at.
-----"Well, it could be a warning or a simple message about this place or the area," Raven answers, "I'll ask Roderon or Lord Howrun about it when we catch up to them. It could be a mark common to those here in Silvergard."
-----Quade excitedly pulls forth a piece of parchment and approaches the group observing the scratches in the wood. "May I?" the young mage asks. When it is apparent no one is quite sure what he wants, Quade explains, "If I can make a tracing of the impression, we can show those who might interpret for us the meaning."
-----"By all means," Raven allows, though he frowns as the mage sets about placing the parchment over the wood and rubbing over it with a piece of colored stone.
-----"Can I ask," Ursulena asks quietly beside Sarah, "what is the significance of the yellow color of your dress. It is very beautiful!"
-----Raven turns with a rather amused look on his face towards Sol. "Well, is it about time to escort our young friends out of here?" the hunter asks.
-----"We might as well. Whether there is anything more here or not, we could spend the next month making sure. Let's get out of here." If all are in agreement, Sol leads the mob out of the ruins, intending to follow Lord Howrun's troop once remounted.