Ash and Fire (PM for entry)

[Elias]

Ostia oh Ostia, you never change. If you aren't dead, you're dying. If you aren't dying, you're a smoldering heap of rubble. If there's one thing you can depend on in this crazy world, it was that Ostia was always destroyed. He hadn't been here since. Wow, all the way back when Wyatt blew it up. That was quite a time ago, now Wyatt was hanging around Sacae with his girlfriend Mana playing kissy face and wobbling around on his bad leg. Meanwhile Elias was digging around in the ruins of a land not once, not twice, but thrice destroyed. He wouldn't be surprised if they didn't even trying to rebuild it a fourth time. The last time only lasted like five years. What good parts of Ostia remained was basically devoured by Laus, all that was left was stubborn little towns that refused to die. Filled with ash and grey, it was a land of corruption. It was completely grody.

He sat atop his horse as it trotted forward, Demon didn't usually like carrying any extra people. The horse will simply have to live with it however, it wasn't like it couldn't. It was just a lazy horse. He once carried two people at full gallop out of an exploding city, it was quite impressive. That was right after he started riding demon too, it's been like infinity since then. That was Ostia back then too though. Somehow Elias found himself with an annoying connection with this land. If it wasn't the city blowing up, it was that damn ruin of scrying. Which, by the way, Elias learned WASN'T as lost an art as he thought. Good going DAD.

He looked around. It was clear the further in, the more decayed and messed up Ostia was. There was ash everywhere. It covered the ground in a thick blanket almost like snow, and dark blackened soil hid below. The earth had crusted over in thick dark volcanic rock like a scab atop the world. If you picked at it, no doubt you'd see the bubbling flames that hid below. The air looked almost as black as the earth, and Elias was legitimate concerned he was breathing in ash and such. It's only been a relatively short time since the eruption, and the worst had passed, but it was clear the earth was still struggling to heal. Any signs of a civilization once resting here was gone, it was as if man had never set foot on this land. Virgin, but tainted all the same.

There was once a city here. A grand city. Ostia, one of the largest cities in all of Elibe. He once lived here, for a time. He couldn't recognize it. There was once a city here, but now there was nothing.

"Drink it in friends." Elias said with a smile. "This is Ostia."

[Oya]

"What in the world", spoke Oya to himself as he looked at the tattered landscape. He had heard Ostia was destroyed along his travels, but he had no idea it was like this. It was almost as if there was never a city here to begin with. How in the world did this happen Oya thought to himself. Sure he had whipped out a village or two in his time as a pirate, but he had never done anything likes or on this scale. This was not slaughter or destruction. This was annihilation."

"So this is the beginning", spoke  Oya as he looked at Ostia. "After this, happen to the land all the monsters started appearing. If there was any place to find the source of the scourge then this would be the place." It was the epicenter of it all. All the monster sightings radiate from here and spread out across the rest of the continent.

"Well I can at least collect a soil sample", spoke Oya as he pulled out a silver container from his bag and scooped a bit of the ash into it. The pirate closed the container and wrapped the top with rope. He then etched the letter o into its side and put it back into his bag. The soil would prove useful for understanding what happen to the land. Maybe it might even prove to be useful, but Oya seriously doubted it. The pirate kept both eyes open as they traveled through this land. He was not sure what monster lurked around the corner

[Reid]

The capital of the Lycian League, a large booming city that housed not only the important people of Ostia but all of Lycia. It was more than the capital of Lycia, it was a symbol. It showed the rest of Elibe that no matter how many times you knocked them down they got back up, they weren't some type of push over. That was Ostia, what laid in front of Reid is what it was reduced to, ash and rubble. You can build walls to keep people out, you took up arms to protect your home, but there was nothing you could do when Elibe attacks and the remains of Ostia was proof of that.

There was something out there that was the key to solving the mysteries of the reappearance of the undead, most of the sighting started shortly before the city was reduced to rubble. Could have it been Elibe's way of fighting back against the unnatural? Too many unanswered questions, so little time.

Reid took his first step from the normal grass into the ash, the sight was terrifying but in comparison to his desire to study the land it was just a mere shadow. He kept walking into the barren wasteland without waiting for the others. "The undead appeared here before this happened, there has to be something more to their appearance." He knew if they were going to find anything it wasn't going to be sitting at the edge of safety, it would be in the heart of the destruction.

[Edrick]

Wow, just wow. The once great city that he had visited many times when he was younger was no more. Sure it had been destroyed before and rebuilt, but this, this didn't look like something that could be come back from. It was just. . . Gone. Apparently the ground itself split open here and completely destroyed the place. Well, according to rumors, but who knew how reliable those were. It was best they were taken with a grain of salt until his own judgement was made on the matter.

Maybe, just maybe, they would be able to find the cause of this natural disaster and with it maybe the cause of all these monsters that appeared here. Then maybe they could banish the monsters and rebuild the city once more. Hopefully this time they would embrace Kraft and the light that carries him.

Edrick reached down and grabbed a handful of ash and rubbed it between his fingers feeling out the texture, it didn't seem too special. He could very well be wrong though. it could have hidden properties that remained inactive until a catalyst was added. Unlikely, but possible.

He followed next to Reid as he advanced towards the crater,"I think we should start at the center and preform a sweep outwards in a spiral pattern. What say you guys?" The pattern seemed highly efficient, but it would take time to search through all of this. Good thing he had plenty of that at hand right now.

[Elias]

"Ostia is a land of strife, falling three separate times. The first nearly a decade ago, I was just a child at the time myself. Living in... Santuraz I think. Bern, under the command of their king who was but a mere puppet of the Bandit King Hargus sent their forces to take Ostia. Uncovering a weakpoint in their defenses, and the heroes of the bandit war fought fiercely to defend the city. The fight was chaos, I've heard a thousand different retellings of the same event. Some even rumor dragons were there, that Kenshin was nothing more then just a demon who turned on his own men, that the heroes fought amongst themselves more then they fought the enemy. I can't say what I believe for sure. What is known is the legendary duel between Alan and his father, set to determine the outcome of the fate of Ostia, a battle which Alan won. Everything appeared calm but.." Elias' voice fell, taking in a deep breath. The smell of sulfur in the was strong in the air that filled his lungs, he let it out gradually. His eyes closed as he shook his head lightly. "It was merely a ruse." He looked over at the destruction that littered the landscape beyond.

"Roland. A man we all revered, a hero of the scouring. A man who died over a thousand years ago, a swordsman with no equal. No one knew how he did it, to this day we still don't quite understand. Somehow Hargus awoke him from his grave and returned him to flesh. Stories tell of him appearing in a collumn of brilliant light, as if judgment from the heavens themselves. Ostia was the home of Roland, and with Durandal he tore it apart. Brick by brick." It was a tale he heard of as a child, his father did his best to prepare for the worst. It was for this that he created the magic seal upon the homes they held, he could have assisted in the war effort but instead he did his best to protect his family. Elias included. It was something he didn't understand at the time, but now he realized just how much he did to protect them.

"Of course that isn't what everyone thinks of when they think of Ostia's destruction. That was nothing compared to what happened later. Roland's destruction of Ostia was repaired, Ostia recovered, Ostia thrived. I've seen it, a glittering gem of a city. It was a symbol of not only Lycia's tenacity, but of the recovery of Elibe from Hargus' war. Etruria opposed this, and they made it yet another symbol. A symbol of their ferocity and cruelty, they annihilated Ostia. Hundreds, thousands of mages. Countless blasts of fire, endless hail of light, catapults ballistae assassins galore. Ostia fell in moments, crushed under the unrelenting power of the Prophet." He furrowed his brow for a moment.

"The spirits are still restless from that." He trailed off, shaking his head. "However something about that attack though. Something happened. It triggered these monsters, they began to pour from the ruins of the fallen city. Wolves, walking dead, creatures from beyond our ken. Ostia became a nest of monsters. The survivors of Ostia fled to Laus, and Ostia fell silent. Not even bandits would touch this place."

Elias held up a finger both hands, winking with a grin. "Here's the part most people don't know. That wasn't the end. Ostia would receive one extra blow. It's the reason for the black volcanic rocks that cover this land. Ostia was baptized in fire and ash about... I'd say it's been a year and a half now, maybe two years. I came back to Ostia to meet with my father. He had been studying the ruins, trying to find the source of these monsters. I assume, I actually never had a chance to ask him. Perhaps he was searching for the tomb of Roland that legendarily resided in Ostia? It's beyond me, but as I traveled the dilapidated ruins a fissure opened in the earth. My friend Wyatt fell into the fissure, and was lost in the caverns below. He did... something down there. It was like he broke whatever was keeping Ostia from collapsing. The skies were filled with inky ash and geysers of flame erupted from the earth. All that remained of Ostia fell into a sea of fire, vanishing forever. All that remains is this crater, and the ash and stone it left behind."

"So I would watch out, who knows when you might fall into another fissure. Don't want to destroy Ostia AGAIN now." He finished with a laugh.

Girl was collecting the soil while Tallguy and Coolguy were deciding how to explore. "There's a lot of land to cover. I hope we find some sign of the source of the monsters however. I don't know what Kraft did, but it felt like he... he... broke something. Like the monsters were being held in, but something he did let them loose." He looked around, straightening his hat and brushing off his cloak.

[Oya]

"So the city was destroyed not only once, but three times before it finally went down", spoke Oya. "Truly a pity. Maybe one day somebody will be stupid enough to come back here and rebuild it", spoke Oya as he looked at the place with sadness in his eyes. "Still I think our hooded friend is right. We should probably start from the center and then move out in a spiral motion. If we start there I am sure we will find something. Besides most of the good stuff is always in the center of a ruin", spoke Oya from his experiences as a pirate.

Oya waited for the rest of them to add their opinions and the group to come up with a firm solution. While they talked Oya was cheeking his axes making sure they were easy to pull out. He did not want to get into a scrap and then not be able to get to his weapons. The words coming out of Lycia is demon wolves and zombies and Oya was sure they would run into some of them here. Ostia was the epicenter of the hole monster plague. If there were no monsters in the center of this city then everyone had their facts wrong. In truth the pirate was a bit excited. He would finally be able to get some action. It had been a while since he actually cut anything down. Hanging around a bunch of scholars that was to be expected. Still his blood boiled to swing his axes and to taste the blood of the creatrues in this land. "I wonder if they trully bleed black blood", Oya whispered to himself in a sinister tone.

[Reid]

Reid had slowed his pace when Elias had began to go into detail of each time Ostia fell, he had over looked the fact that Elias had lived not too far away so he may know something that didn't make it's way to Illia. The first two times it was attacked nothing out of the ordinary, outside of Roland's appearance, happened, the third time is what caught his attention. Etruria had attacked using magic, it fell, then the undead showed up. There had to be some type of difference than Roland being revived from the dead, there was mind control over him as well so it had to be some sort of sinister magic behind that. Reid stopped in his tracks, folding his arms in front of his chest he raised his right hand to his chin stroking it.

From the way Elias had made it sound, the magic used was to assault the city with no mention of Kraft's army raising the dead. Again, the monster sightings had began shortly after that attack, what made that different than Roland's attack? There was too many unknown variables and Reid had nothing to even attempt to piece things together, wait a second. Elias had mentioned something he never heard before, that this Wyatt guy fell into a fissure that lead to some caverns. He didn't doubt they weren't the first group of people searching for answers in this barren wasteland, nor will the be the last. It could be quite possible that nobody else knew of these caverns since it just simply "opened up" when Wyatt was swallowed by the land.

Reid knew it was going to be a long shot, with the flow of magma and the earthquakes the caverns could have collapsed. But if they were still intact, even partially, the group could find something out, even if it was just a little bit of information it could point them in the right direction. "You said Wyatt fell into a fissure that lead him to some caverns right? Do you think it's possible we can find them if they still exist?"

[Edrick]

Edrick kept quiet as he listened to Elias recall all of the times that Ostia was destroyed, however he disagreed with some of the reasonings but it was best to keep his mouth shut as not everyone would agree with his opinions on this slight matter. It was obvious that Ostia was a pit of sins and that was why Kraft came to destroy it, or maybe Kraft even knew what was going to happen to the area so he destroyed it trying to prevent the monsters from appearing. Who knew what was revealed to the prophet. Well it failed whatever it was none the less, though it was sad to see that such a heavenly being failing in an attempt. They would make up for it here. Just for Kraft.

He snapped back when Elias started talking about another time that Ostia was destroyed, one that Edrick had never heard of before. Apparently a friend of his, Wyatt, fell into a cavern and caused a dormant underground volcano to erupt, covering the area with stone. Wait, Wyatt? Hadn't he heard a man by that name before? The name clicked around in his head a bit with some other words before two finally made a match. Wyatt and Volcano. The person that eliminated him from the tournament went by the name of Wyatt the Volcano, was it possible that the two were related somehow or was it just some gross coincidence. Hey, um.What did this Wyatt look like? Was he about this tall, a bit stockier, red hair, wields axes?" There wasn't much else he knew about him other than those, but maybe it might be enough if they were similar. Probably not though.

Reid asked a question that also made him want to respond."If we know the cave entrance we should start from there and do the pattern, although the cave directly around might have filled up with Lava if we could get into a cave at a later point in the line we may be more likely to find stuff down there." There was so much to do and so many possibilities for things to be found, they would probably be there a while.

[Elias]

Wow their reactions were... lackluster. Oh well. It seemed people just didn't appreciate a nice bit of exposition like they used to. Oh well he enjoyed telling it, so he was happy enough. He liked feeling smart, it made him feel smart. Girl just seemed anxious to explore in a slightly creepy fashion with whispering to herself, not that Elias could hear it, but still creepy. Coolguy was thinking and said something about Wyatt. "Yeah, a fissure opened up in the ground right near where we were standing. I'd point out where we were, but all things considered there isn't really any landmarks to work with. I mean I dunno where it lead since I wasn't with him, but considering he found his self in Etruria after a while of wandering, I'm assuming it was some sort of natural cavern system. I mean I wouldn't bet on them still being around, there was Lava everywhere so they might have just blown up or something. It wouldn't hurt to look though, it isn't like there's anything else to see around here."

The Tallguy mentioned something about Wyatt as well, curse you Wyatt, even in passing you manage to be the most interesting thing in his explanation. Edrick explained the guy pretty well, surprisingly, but considering how Wyatt made a splash in the arena of Bern it wasn't like his appearance was shady and hidden. After all Elias had to teleport halfway across Elibe to fix his booboos. "Yeah that's him, I take it you've met? He carries a big rock looking axe that is waaaaay too heavy, I tried lifting it once and my baby arms basically snapped. It shoots fire and junk, it's part of the system that caused Ostia to blow up if I believe his story. Which I do. Wyatt's a cool guy, he wouldn't lie like that." Elias smiled, feeling a bit happy. He missed Wyatt, and Mana too. Maybe after this was all done he'd visit them in Sacae?

"Anyways we seem to be doing patterns of searching. I mean I've never searched anything before, other then the library for books, so excuse me if I don't do great." He said with a smirk. "We should keep a lookout for monsters though, since this is basically their house. Demon can keep watch, can't ya Demon?" He rubbed the annoyed looking horse on the head with a grin, the creature nickered weakly. Considering it was just an animal with very little facial muscles or any vocal system capable of complex communication, it was surprisingly expressive. He pulled out his staff and shook it a bit, the glittering golden gold item was quite impressive looking. "If we run into trouble, I can warp us with this."

[Oya]

"Wait a minute", spoke Oya as he seemed to be the only one disturbed by this. "Your friend blew up Ostia, again, and he is bragging about it", asked Oya with a puzzled expression. It was not that Oya really cared about the fact that Ostia is gone ,but he found it weird that nobody cared that he blew up Ostia. I mean that was not a small feat. During his days on his mother ship they whipped out a town or two, but they never blew up a town and left it in a ravaged state like this. "I am sorry, but am I the only one here who finds the fact that this Wyatt destroyed Ostia again a bit disturbing. Sure there was nobody around to die, but to go around bragging how you destroyed countless relics of history and possibly good sources of information should not be a thing you take with pride. Well it could just be me", spoke Oya.

"Still I guess trying to find those ruins should be our next goal", spoke Oya changing the subject from Wyatt and turning it back to their mission. It was never a good idea to criticize people friends. They usually end up getting defensive and that usually ends up getting in the way of their goal. Seeing that everyone else around him was a magic user he pretty much going to have to take point eventually. Though right now he was just trying to find out where they were going and trying not to reveal the fact that he was a guy. Pretending to be a girl was really annoying at times like this. Keeping his voice at the right pitch and keeping his facial expression soft was no easy task. Though this would not be the first time Oya had done this.

[Edrick]

"Yeah, I did meet him, though it was pretty quick. He was my last opponent in the arena, and he knocked me out of the tournament right before the dragon showed up. It was pretty bad." He didn't bother mentioning that Wyatt beat him without even touching him, that would just be embarrassing And no one would want to hear him retell his arena story. Eli then mentioned something about warping them with his staff if they got into trouble. "I've never seen a stave like that before. where did you get it? It looks pretty cool." The stave shure looked different but it was also interesting, not that he had much experience with staves. It was golden and reminded him of his eyes. It was fun to learn new things, and the more yo knew the more situations you could survive and be helpful which got you more experience and wisdom which just snowballs bigger and bigger! Until. .. Until? Well, He didn't know what would come after that. But knowledge and wisdom are good for now.

The girl seemed to go on about Wyatt blowing up what was left of Etruria. "If you think about it, most of the stuff should have already been removed or scavenged from the area, and there isn't any real proof that what Wyatt did, if anything, had a direct relation to the eruption after." Could Wyatt have destroyed what was left of Ostia? If so what power did he posses to cause it? IT seemed that it was more of a chance thing than Wyatt actually doing it. "Sooooooo. . . Wanna get started?"

[Elias]

Elias sort of scrunched his face at Girl with a grimace, he didn't really like him her talking bad about Wyatt. She didn't know him, and she didn't understand the situation and rarely did Elias ever actually get upset over stupid things like this but he's never particularly had a friend before so he was starting to get why some people got so upset sometimes. He didn't quite glare, since his face was more or less incapable of such an emotion, but his eyes lost their usual Crimson luster. That twinkle of life and love for adventure was gone for a moment, and instead he just looked... annoyed. He crossed his arms and sighed, taking in a deep breath of bitter acrid air. It tasted like soot. A taste and smell he knew well. He also know how to clean it out of clothes easily, he'd do the laundry later. Girl can walk around in her sooty rags though. "No one was hurt, nothing of importance was destroyed that hadn't already been destroyed, and honestly he didn't 'cause' the explosion him self in my hypothesis. Instead he set about the actions that caused the reaction to happen, a complete mistake, and considering no one was hurt in the end it was one of the more benign mistakes in Elibe's history." He spoke, a frown on his face.

He took in a deep breath, smiling again. "Regardless, it happened and how it happened isn't as important as the fact itself. Ostia is gone, and it's not coming back. We could debate the specifics, but it's more important we search for information pertaining to the monsters. That's our reason for being here after all. Coolguy is right, the caverns themselves should still exist, considering Wyatt wasn't drowned in molten lava. However, the cover might have been occluded by rock and stone. That's why I brought... wait a minute." He talked casually, moving around as he spoke, looking at the land before stopping and digging into the pack of Demon. Who looked... thrilled to be here. He rummaged for a few minutes, making some grunting noise before pulling out a dark brown tome.

"Ah, here we go, this. It's a special tome called "Gaea" relatively rare, my father has one of the few original copies. He helped translate it you see, only just recently has it been put in circulation by scribes." He gently traced his fingers over the earthen cover. "It has the ability to move stone and earth itself. I've... never used it myself actually, so I'm hoping it works well. It should help here though, if we find the entrance covered over, I may be able to reopen it." He smiled, the thought of new magic making him giddy.

He turned to tallguy with a grin. "I heard about that dragon, totally messed Wyatt up. He can't even walk properly now, I had to use my healing magic on his legs for like a few months solid to return any functionality to them." He mentioned this staff Elias was holding, he cocked it slightly. The golden staff glimmered a brilliant glow in the light. "It was a gift, by a friend. You'd have to ask him where it came from." Elias simply said.

"I was here when it happened, I saw the eruption first hand. Then I saw Wyatt using his axe again later, the difference in power isn't even in the same range. The axe has powerful magic imbued into it, spirits of fire and flame reside within giving it a powerful flame, but it wasn't what caused Ostia to fall. Like I said, I think it was a chain reaction. Like removing the axe caused something else, more violent, to occur." Elias cheerfully spoke, he was a rather chatty person all in all. He liked to speak while he worked.

"This is gonna be boring, I'm so excited." He said with a smile. "Let's get started."

[Oya]

There he goes again. Oya let his mouth lead before he used his brain. The pirate was talking off his head and seemed to have damaged the working relationship between him and the crimson man. Well he would get over it, thought Oya to himself. It was more of a prayer than a thought, but there was nothing he could do now. However Oya's new point in interest was this Tome the crimson mage spoke about. He had never seen such a thing, which was obvious considering his father was the one who translated it, the power to bend the earth to ones own will. It was a tantalizing thought, but well beyond Oya's means. Still the pirate was very interested in magic and how it worked. Seeing him use this tome in person however would be a enlightening experiences.

"Well I love to talk and speculate as much as the next guy, but I think we should probably get moving", spoke Oya as he began to walk in front of the other members. The pirate drew his twin axes from his side and started to walk in the direction of the inner city. Oyad did not even bother to sheath his axes. Danger could be around every corner. Oya would rather have his axes already out in order to react to it than to simply walk into a trap and then have to draw his axe.

Still Oya had no idea what they were really looking for. It would be nice if the world had a giant arrow on the ground pointing to your goal, or if they knew where the information they wanted was. In truth the group was just moving around all willy nilly in search of something they did not know even existed or what it looked like. This was research, and as pain staking as it was the process was needed. Oya just prayed they found something interesting before night fall. A discovery was a good way to boost moral and from the dwindling number of potential scholars they have moral boost was something he thought they needed.

[Mila]

Another mage was investigating the area. She had her cloak and hood on to hide her frame. She kept silent as she watched and listened the crater that was now Ostia. There was a small cloth tied around her mouth in a vain attempt to filter the bleak air and stench of sulfur. My gods. The mage thought as she scanned the horizon for any signs of life among the remains.

She had never seen Ostia the city, in her lifetime at least not physically. Mentally she could recite very word about the once grand City of Ostia from the books at the Academy library. She would let her imagination fill in the blanks for what the books didn't detail. As a child she would imagine being a princess to what was a glorified version of what it once was. She heard stories about Ostia's destruction, all of them conflicting accounts. She wanted to find the truth and how it connects to the monsters.

She quietly took a sample of the ashes. Then pulled out a journal and wrote with some graphite, what she could see. She quickly flipped a page and began drawing the landscape. Taking into account any strange cracks in the ground and specific patterns the world around them provided. The books she carried with her are all self made journals of her expeditions. They detailed everything from monsters, plants, animals, and places she has been. She was quite proud of her impressive note taking skills.

Normally she'd be quite cheery, happy, and even excited to be on any thing that related to monsters. But the sheer scale and destruction of this place left her feeling somber. This is ground zero for the monsters. Got to stay vigilant. Spoke the tiny voice of her thoughts in a rather excited tone.

Mila pulled out from her bag a tiny pair of makeshift binoculars. They were two small telescopes fastened together inside a custom leather, with a piece of wood for support. There was a large crack in one of them, but that did not bother her. She started to look around towards the distance hoping to see something.

From the distance she saw movement, and various shades of color. She adjusted the focus of the binoculars and noticed a horse, a man on the horse, and several other figures. They don't look like the undead. With some more focus she could make out color to their skin and flesh.

"Oh they are alive. They are people. Wait.. why would they come to this barren place." She whispered to herself. Probably the same reason why you're in this barren place.

The small group was heading into her general direction. I wonder if they can see me. She took a quick look at herself. She was probably the only thing that wasn't colored in black for miles. I'm going to assume yes. Shoot.. do I say hi or do I run?

[Edrick]

He listened as Elias told off the girl on how nothing could have been in the area when the volcano. The fact that Wyatt got away from the lava was some pretty strong proof that he didn't do it directly. It was a bit. . . unsettling that his normally cheerful demeanor just kinda dropped. Hopefully that didn't mean anything bigger, maybe he just didn't like people accusing his friends of doing possibly bad things. Well who would like that? Friends were a nice thing and if one of his went to jail over something like that, or even executed, he would not be happy at all. He understood it completely. "Could the axe have been suppressing something? Could magic do that sort of thing? Like, suppressing nature? I know it can manipulate it, but suppressing it? Is it the same?" Asking questions was so much fun, too bad some people didn't like them. Elias seemed to like them though. They should get along great.


"This won't be boring, it will be mind wrenching! That's even bet--" He stopped mid sentence when he noticed a lone figure standing in the distance. Had it saw them? It was unlikely to be a traveler, no one in their right mind would travel through here without a armed convoy or such, it was too dangerous. It could also be a bandit trap, sending one out to lure them in and then strike. That was assuming it was even human. It could be a ghoul for all he knew, and if there was one there was sure to be more around here.

He moved ahead of the girl and stopped, making sure the group went no further. "Um, guys, ready yourself. This could be bad, just don't make it TOO obvious." he said that last part looking at the girl who already had her axes drawn. "We don't want to appear the hostile ones here. But be ready none the less, I may be being cautious over nothing." He began to walk towards the lone figure waving his right hand above his head in a greeting fashion. He didn't want to yell to the figure, who knew what else it might draw out of the surrounding area.