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Part of her was tempted to cut cross county, taking the smaller paths and animal trails straight to the witch's mountain, which might cut a half day off her travel time. But then opted against it, choosing to the follow the road taken by Adryn's minions.

There was a chance, of course, that Leo might have escaped her clutches. So she'd be keeping an eye out for signs that there might have been a struggle, which also meant she'd be keeping a slow enough pace for the others to keep up or even catch up to her as she scanned the ground and the sides of the road, sometimes even dismounting to check on something that caught her attention.

She traveled with one hand on the reins and the other on her bow ... just in case.

“I see it leading us northward,” Arun-Ja informed the rest, “we’ve decrypted a bit more of the runes, none of them good; they tell us to head to ‘where sea meets darkened sky, and where men are born to die,’ which may indicate the sea or a mountain overlooking the sea. We’ll continue to discover the meanings of the rest, but for now, that’s all we have.”

The two sorcerers began to study the runes further, following behind on their horses as they did so, occasionally sharing notes and runes, speaking in Ayleidoon, and so forth.

Toyle frowned at the magic statement, adamant to maintain otherwise.

"Magic kills and destroys, it is impossible for one person to cause all that damage and slaughter without magic" countered Toyle

"and I have yet to see it put to go use with an equal amount of benefit. No city in this kingdom was built by magic yet there certainly is at least one destroyed by it.

Still our good sorcerers here shall have ample opportunity to prove your claim of magic as a force for good, no doubt. In which case I shall measure and tame our laws against it accordingly " promised Toyle advancing ahead

"The monastery is not far off, we could shelter there for the night and see what the scholars can tell about the witch and the gruesome ritual she is attempting" proposed Pentre looking at the others for agreement

"We are so exhausted after the ordeal we definitely need food and rest, my lords" agreed Serena right away

"I may be able to buy provisions and some healing supplies, the scholars are very skilled artisans and learned men" agreed Desire looking at Aria weary, due to the dark rumours about her

Sir Arnold came to walk by the women and reassure them that all would be well and no harm would befall them

He listened carefully and quietly at the exchange, without voicing his opinions and when the matter seemed settled he turned to Pentre

"Perhaps we recover the missing ranger at the monastery, rangers are skilled in stealth and escapism and the scholars are great healers. It would have been wise to shelter there" muttered Arn

“I will heal those I can,” Dresala added, “if my lady wills it, I shall even resurrect the fallen, if need be.”

“She means actual resurrection, not necromancy,” Arun-Ja clarified, “She loathes Necromancy; it’s considered blasphemous to bring the dead into your service where she is from.”

"Yeah, I'ed like to see if it was just Vallan or if she had it out for anyone else. Let's see if those monks and craftsmen stood a chance against the witch." Aria says. She looks towards Illumia and Arun-Ja. "Where ARE you two from anyways?" She asks.

After a while of traveling, Toyle's group could finally see some wildlife again. Birds are singing, and even a few deer could be seen crossing the road. It almost like the devastation never happened at all. Until you look down and see all the footprints and hundreds of imprints on the path.

Rook, on the other hand, could see something entirely different being so far ahead. She eventually met the crossroads of the road, with which the right branch continued on, and the left lead towards the monastery... However, the same footprints could also be seen going towards it...

Rook paused the horse, momentarily gripped by indecision at the diverging trails.

She turned to look behind, the others trailing along in the distance. Over the past hour, she'd had time to weigh and consider Sir Pentre's words and they sat no better with her now than they did when he'd spoken them. How she detested the man! How all the others had aligned themselves with him, allowed themselves to be put under his command, she could not understand.

Did the rule of law even still stand? If the population of the Sheer Stone had been reduced by so great a number, surely a realignment of power was coming. Survivors would challenge the existing establishment, coming forth to claim lands of their own. People like Sir Pentre would not simply fall by the wayside in this environment. He would either keep his position of power or would die fighting for it. He was dangerous.

And with that thought she knew she had to know if the Cliffside Monastery had suffered the same fate as Vallan. She turned Hobo toward the monastery and urged him into a trot. "Come on," she said to the yet unnamed dog who followed behind, tongue lolling now for want of a drink. "It's not far."

Lord knight Tron Pentre followed the road that lead to the monastery, often checking the footprints that were clear proof of the noticeable army the witch had managed to raise and command which easily dwarfed that of Vallan and all.

It would be a tiring amount of hours till they reached the monastery but they all looked forward to warm food and shelter

It had gotten later in the day as they traveled. Pentre and his group had finally made it to the monastery crossroads. Now is the moment of truth, will they stay their path towards the monastery, or will they continue on. "It seems they've been here too..." Aria says worried, pointing down at the many old imprints going towards the Monastery.

Meanwhile, Rook was about halfway there. A few lone and old shrines and religious decor had littered the sides of the road as she traveled. Perhaps during another time they would have brought her peace of mind. However, her quick travels are soon stopped by an obstacle. What seem to be wooden spike barricades create narrow passages through the road, and bear traps, stuck arrows, and caltrops litter the path where it's not blocked. It seems the monastery tried to put up a fight.

(nope.)

“Well,” the sorcerer observed, “looks like they got here before us; should we keep moving or investigate the place?”

“I suppose it depends on the actions of the others,” Dresala replied, “but this place reeks of foul magic; I’d not be here longer than I have to.”

"We should make it to the Monastery, even if torn there may be sufficient shelter and food for the night" advised Tron getting a nod of approval from Toyle and Arn who also followed onwards

Rook brings Hobo to a halt, inspecting the barricade before her from a short distance. "If there was a battle, where are the bodies?" she wonders aloud, though of course neither horse nor dog answer her query. "Maybe someone has already collected the dead."

Or, a more disturbing thought, that that someone was the witch, adding to her army of undead.

Not wishing to risk letting either of the animals (or herself) step into a bear trap, Rook attempts to move away from the road and go wide around the barricade.

"Let's be off then. I'm dying to know the fate of those craftsmen." Aria says, following behind Pentre. Pentre's group encounters some of the aforementioned shrines as they travel. Their graces and meaning now lost due to the dire situation at hand.

As Rook makes her way with Hobo around the barricade, the eeriness of the abandoned defenses is ever flowing through the nearby air. Is there nothing left of them? Or did they retreat before they even began their defense? Well, at least there's no visible smoke in the distance...

Rook soon comes across more of the old shrines as she continues along. However, more arrows are stuck in the ground. And a few bodies of what seem to be old armor covered corpses are laying in the dirt and mud...

Ruslan gloomly wandered over to an armored corpse that had fallen face first. Still puffing away at his pipe, the SpellSword inspected the lifeless body carefully, running his fingers across the armor before noticing a few heavy gashes in the back plates. He then grunted, rolling the soldier onto his back and realized it had been a younger man, no older than twenty, whose body lay before him. A great sorrow washed over Ruslan as he once again realized the effects of warfare, just or unjust. He glanced back at his company and placed a hand on the man's forehead, whispering a farewell in elvish.

"These men did not die without putting up a good fight," Ruslan reassured the group as he noticed a severely chipped ax in the nearby grass, hoping it would bring some sense of positivity to his fellow travelers.

"The witch's soldiers perhaps...?" Rook whispered to herself as she spots the old armor covered corpses. She dismounts for a closer look, leaving the bow hung on the saddle while she instead draws her blade, feeling almost silly for being nervous about the muddy corpses. But if they were, as she suspected, undead, she did not wish to be caught unprepared.

She moves in closer on foot to inspect...

The armor on such corpses are unkempt at best, and degrading at worst. No thanks to the mud on the road of course. They consist of having rusted skull caps and breast plates for armor. These are either poorly armored victims of a battle, or some of Adryn's undead. As Rook creeps closer, the three bodies suddenly writhe. The closest lashes out at her, attempting to grab her legs from where it lays!

Meanwhile, Pentre's group is still behind, having now just entered the road to the Monastery.

(EDIT: MEGA OUCH)

Well, the corpse WOULD'VE tried to grab Rook, had it not ripped itself apart horizontally at it's waist trying to get to her. After such a catastrophe, the attacker lies motionless, while the other two try to get up.

The ranger gasps. Even though she had suspected these might be undead from Adryn's army, actually seeing them move was still disconcerting. Hobo, a good 10 feet behind her, snorted loudly at the unnatural site.

As the second and third bodies try to rise, Rook attempts to slice down into the second one before it can get up to attack.