Arakan merely looks at Djal and shakes his head slowly, "Nope, no such luck. I'm guessing that whatever it is we may be looking to find in here, we're going to find it there." He indicates the taller buildings toward the center. "We may want to leave the mounts near the entrance. They tend to spook easy, and could make it harder for us to travel undetected."
Jaryx looks around, wide-eyed. Dead or not, this is by far the largest city he has been able to wander around in. His wonder overwhelms the potential for fear, but he notices Grea's tight grip on her spear, so he keeps his tonfa at hand.
Grea starts sliding down the flank of her kank, then kicks herself clear of the insectoid's legs. Her knees bend with the landing and stay bent as she scurries forward a few steps.
"Plenty of good homesites here. Cover from eyes. Cover from wind. Cover from sun. But it's empty of hunters or prey. Maybe something strong and hungry lives here."
"Are we here to investigate, or to get through and to a sensible place to attack the village from?" Jareen looks to Arakan for leadership.
Grea shrugs at Djal's comment. "There are mounts in the bandit camp. We could take them if ours die."
On Arakan's suggestion, they find the empty shell of a building to keep their mounts while they explore. They continue on to the centre of the city. Here the buildings are in a better condition. One is a large, square tower, made of the same grey stone as the city walls. Facing it across a large plaza, largely free of sand, is a hulking edifice with several dark entrances.
Jaryx looks across the plaza. "Not so much sand here. Someone clean it up?"
Marching through the streets Grea drifts out to the party's left flank. She keeps an eye out for anything unusual.
At the plaza she gazes across the plaza to the hulking edifice.
"Not much sand," she echoes Jaryx. "Maybe the winds die so far into the city."
She looks back along the street they've traversed.
In response to Djal concerns, Arakan offers additional reasoning. "If there's a hunter about, leaving our animals behind may also save us. The thought of an easy meal of kank may just keep the hard meal of armed travelers off the hunter's mind. Besides, the noise and draw of them could bring the hunter down on us if they were with us. Either way, they are a target I'd rather not be associated with."
As they make their way through the abandoned streets, Arakan's silence is somewhat forced, mainly to calm his own nerves. He has no issue telling others what to do, or feeling like they should listen to him, but now he has to make them think he isn't scared shitless so they'll keep doing what he says. "Were here for two reasons. We want to find what this place has that scares or kills the bandits, and then, we want to use that against them to scare or kill them off." Looking at the courtyard, he worries, "There, we investigate the tower first. From that vantage, we may be better able to see the layout of the camp, and also try to spot any hidden dangers lurking in the other building across the way or in the courtyard itself." He hunkers down into the shadows as best he can near the building leading to the tower. "We would be better off if we travel with the intent of remaining unseen. Even a bad attempt is better than none at all." He adds to the two half-giants, fully expecting them to whine about how bad they are at hiding their immense bulk.
Cahel, not being one for stealth but also not being one for defying the group's leader, crouches down and places his arms on the ground in front of him before changing his body into the shape of a medium reptilian animal of some description.
Jaryx scratches his head, "Jaryx can hide, but dead boss always say Jaryx better distraction for important warriors."
He crouches down, actually making a passable effort to be less obvious.
Jareen nods at Arakan's plan, obviously not entirely happy, but unable to come up with anything better.
An empty doorway yawns - it seems to be the only entrance, at least that's visible. Inside the tower it is pitch black.
Seeing the dark beyond is the final straw for Arakan's nerves. His bravado wears off, and his voice is shaky as he begins to speak, but he clears his throat and continues. "With the darkened depths, I suggest that those with night sight should take the lead. Followed by us that need light. I believe Morthak and Djal, that your dwarven blood affords you that benefit? Can anyone else create light?"
Grea shakes her head.
"I should be able to help illuminate, but those who can see without my aid should stay forward of me."
Grea nods at the arrangements and steps into line beside Jareen.
As they begin to move into the building, The head of Jareen's staff begins to glow. "It may not look like much, but there is more to this staff than meets the eye, as you can see."
The group move gingerly inside the tower entrance. The doorway is at least twenty feet high, and although there are holes for the hinges, there is no sign of the doors.
As they step into the dark, it gets much colder. Jareen's staff gives off a steady glow, but even so it is hard to make out the far walls in this enormous chamber. There seem to be doorways leading off to either side, but the end of the room is invisible in the dark ahead.
Arakan rolls his eyes at Djal's request, "Don't worry, I won't be far from the group if at all." Stepping into the expanse of the tower, he doesn't like the options. "It's never good to leave your flank open, let's check these doorways first." He moves in to have a listen toward each one, while looking for any signs of danger.
Jaryx remains near Grea, as usual, peering into the darkness in the dim glow of the staff.
Grea cocks her head at Arakan's actions. "The clever man outsmarts himself. Surely it would be simpler to just open the doors and see. "
All Arakan can hear is the beating of his own heart. And Jaryx's whistling nasal passages.
Arakan gulps in the silence of the place, "We should... we should... hug one of the walls as we move around the interior. We present too easy a target across the middle. Let's go... uh... along the right wall." His sureness wavers a little as he considers the options, but he makes a quick decision for no other reason than to keep them moving. The longer they are still, the more things the mind conjures.
Jareen moves closely to Arakan, ostensibly to give him better light to see by.
The small saurian creature follows as well, the sharper features of his face seeming somehow more intelligent than the half-giant's dull face once looked.
Grea moves closer to Arakan too, but she is just following the light source.
The group move cautiously along the margins of the room. The walls seem to be covered in stucco, and while most of it has faded and fallen away a few show largely indistinct shapes of people engaged in various tasks. On reaching the back of the chamber, they find a tall doorway. Either side of the the doorway stand two imposing statues of warriors, one holding a mace and one an axe.
Jaryx is attentive because of the group's wariness, but does not appear to be overly concerned about their surroundings.
Morthak examines the warriors with interest.
"Come on, lets keep moving."