-----He pulls Sarah in briefly for a comforting hug, then disengages himself rather gently. Sol then makes his way towards the site of the skirmish, intending to check each and every body, including the orcs.
-----"Aye," Raven answers to Sol's request in a low voice. He then looks at the huntress. She gives him a concerned but firm nod. With that, both of them start forward through the trees.
-----"Don't look!" comes Romney's voice as the guard suddenly grabs Mirian and pulls the dancer into his embrace to shield her from the grizzly site.
-----"What's wrong?" comes the dancer's muffled voice as Romney holds her close to his chest.
-----Romney gives Garrison a look of concern while the woodsman stares unbelieving at what he sees. After a moment, the woodsman speaks as quietly as he can while addressing Sol as he looks among the bodies. "A troop of elves and men and hardy at that," he begins, "slain here. Do you think we may be in over our heads?"
-----This brings a frown from Lovan. The storm priest simply remarks, "Weren't we in over our heads when we met the green dragon?"
-----For the time being, Garrison and Romney fall silent and the guard from Oakwood actually steps back away from the scene with Mirian.
-----In a few moments, Raven and Rinda return with grim expressions. "We're alone here for the moment," Raven reports. "There are tracks both from the troop and the humanoids leading to the south. We couldn't see the keep; the woods are too thick. More of the troop from Silvergard must be there."
-----Sarah gulps and takes a few moments to steady herself, finally turning around, being very careful not to look down, trusting that Sol would have found anything worthwhile. "Well, let's follow the tracks then." She says, sort of dazed. "But be careful, maybe the orcs took the survivors prisoners. We don't want to make any attacks that will merit their executions."
-----"Yes, we should follow th' tracks." Sol doesn't comment on the idea of prisoners, instead indicates that everyone should circumnavigate the dead. Once more he follows Raven's and Rinda's tracking.
-----The two hunters lead everyone southward and, as it turns out, the progress is not totally difficult. Obviously the humanoids and the troop from Silvergard had done a bit of clearing making a wide path through the jungle-like swamp forest.
-----The journey proves, however, to lack in comfort. The occasional dangling vine or branch is annoying especially when someone accidentally gets batted in the face or shoulder. Though they walk in the shadows of the trees, the temperature and the humidity make the air sticky and hot.
-----The path frequently leads the party past open mires and pools, which draws small flying insects. This slows the adventurers a bit as the pestering bugs cause a bit of scratching from their bites.
-----Strangely, the only one seemingly unaffected by all this is Lovan. The storm priest strides along with a curious smile on his face as if anticipating an oncoming storm.
-----Finally close to the noon hour, the trees thin out and through their trunks can be seen huge walls of gray stone. As they draw closer, the party can see that the forest ends and on its southern side a large shell keep sits in the middle of a flooded marshy plain. Its massive walls are completely surrounded by water except where it faces the trees of the forest. There a bridge extends out to the forest's edge from a lowered drawbridge. Above the drawbridge, a large portcullis is raised revealing nothing in the darkness within.
-----Though the castle is massive, its beauty has long ago left it. The decay is evidenced in its stones and where it has been stained by the changing level of the swamp. Crumbled stone shapes are seen along the bridge that leads to the portcullis. The whole place sitting in the stinking marsh waters looks ominous and depressing.
-----Raven checks the ground and quickly reports, "There's no doubt, Silvergard's troop passed this way. It looks as if they walked toward the bridge although I bet they were trying to move as silently as they could."
-----"I say we rush right in there!" Lovan says wide-eyed and wildly smiling, "Take anything standing by surprise!"
-----"Well, I say we head on inside now. I want t'know what's happened." Sol says as he looks over the keep's defenses.
-----Garrison hefts his battleaxe and stares at the stone bridge that lies in front of them. "Looks like we won't have much of a challenge entering this place," he utters in a quiet voice.
-----"Aye, that is worthy of worry itself," Romney answers as he looks past Mirian to the woodsman.
-----"I have watched the top of the walls," Rinda says, "and the window openings beyond and I have seen no sign of anyone." Her voice still carries a tinge of caution.
-----"May Joren guard us," Romney mutters as he follows everyone across the bridge.