He looks up at the others, "It has his name on it, J. van Rees. Interesting...."
"Hmm... maybe when we get back, the paladins may have something about who this is in their archives." Sadhana surmises. "The name isn't familiar otherwise. Whoever he is, he died defending the temple."
Roshan nods, "Should we take the Holy Symbol with us? I mean for verification and all that?" Looking around he concludes, "I don't think there's much more around this area, should we continue on to the next?"
Tesia lets out a sigh, "I know...then...why have I been having so many doubts about everything? I don't know what to think about things half the time anymore, and it's getting so I...I feel like I...I don't know." She says, sounding frustrated at not being able to put into words the things that are bothering her. Mostly, she didn't know how to explain to her wife, that she was starting to doubt herself.
Tesia gets quiet as they finish gathering up the wood they need. She didn't know if all of the decisions she had made lately were the right ones, or if she was letting her emotions get in the way of her thinking process. All she knew for sure was, she didn't want to let the others down.
Tesia seems to get a little lost in her thoughts as they head back to camp.
"There's a lot going on love and not knowing who to trust takes a toll on the mind. It's easy to be paranoid." Rhadaya replies, floating up a bit to give her wife a kiss on the forehead as they head back with the wood they gathered.
"I think so. It isn't doing much good here afterall." the magus answers.
Roshan nods and pockets the Holy Symbol, "I guess we'll just go onto the next level then." He says before moving forward.
Tesia nods, "Thanks love."
When they get back to the camp, Tesia sets up a fire ring using rocks and after igniting some tender, starts putting the larger pieces of wood on the fire. Sitting back a little bit, Tesia takes the book she had been studying out of her bag and opens it back up to where she left off.
After going to the back end of this floor, Roshan sees two sets of stairs leading upwards.
Roshan points out the stairs to the others before heading up.
"I...forgot to get outdoor gear..." Mirrin realizes.
"I have a bedroll," Magestreia offers.
"I was planning on being home by now, so I don't have anything to offer," Nolletta says, reverting to her natural form.
Tesia looks up, "Good thing Arista made sure to pack up this bag for us. I've got extra bed rolls and blankets in here if you need some." Tesia says as she passes the bag over, "There should be enough in there for anyone who needs bedding."
"We should stop by this other town the man mentioned and see if we can procure some camping supplies," Magestreia says. "Especially if the weather gets bad."
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Mirrin grabs a bedroll and some blankets. "Yeah, it's not like we get to stay in a magical mansion..."
You reach the top floor of the temple and see ladders placed at intervals that lead to the rooftop. Several smashed-in wooden doors let the dying daylight in. You see numerous skeletons spread out here and its easy to determine that this is where most of the fighting occurred. At the far end of this floor, you see something glinting in the waning sunlight. There is also a large room with a reinforced door nearby.
Tesia nods, "Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't think to get a tent. We can check out that town tomorrow. Hopefully it's not too far away."
Roshan goes to inspect the thing glinting in the sunlight.
"It shouldn't be if those cowardly folk manage to be home before dark each day," Nolletta remarks.
"That makes sense." Rhadaya comments, considering Noletta's words.
Celia whispers a brief prayer, taking in the scene to so much death, wishing the temple's defenders their final rest.
Sādhanā follows after Roshan, searching her vast stores of knowledge for any reference to a battle as major as this would have been.
"That looks promising." Cyna comments.
Roshan thinks back to see if he could recall any details of what could have happened here.
The thing at the far end of this floor appears to have been a monument to Iomedae, specifically a sculpture of her holy symbol. All that remains is part of the polished iron blade embedded in a sizable stone. Whatever else may have been part of this sculpture is nowhere to be seen.
Despite the apparent size of this battle, neither Sadhana nor Roshan can recall any details about it. Not much of the First Expedition's existence was commonly known. However, it is unlikely that the Iomedaens were recluses. If this was the First Expedition's final battle, there must be an account about it...elsewhere. Perhaps a neighboring village would know more.
After looking around for a bit, Roshan sighs. He was hoping to find out more, but he knew starting out that uncovering the answers to his family's past wouldn't be a quick or easy to find.
Looking at the ladders before looking at Sadhana he says, "I don't really know that much about the first expedition, or the first age really. Most of what I've learned has been from the second age on...and there's still missing pieces here and there. I'm going to climb up to the roof and check out the surrounding area. Maybe there's a village nearby or something that might know something? I don't really know how much I could learn from whatever is left of the papers that are scattered all over the place downstairs."
Roshan pauses for a moment as if trying to figure out how to say something. Finally looking over the group he says, "I appreciate you coming in here with me, but you don't have to stay if you don't want to. I know there's probably about a hundred more important things for the Heroes of Zhavroma to be doing than pouring over old stories. I mean....unless your looking for information to Zhavroma's past as well?" He seems almost hesitant to ask, but what if they were looking for similar things? He just figured they had way more important things to do....still.
As he gets ready to climb up one of the ladders he says, "I'll go ahead and check that last door after I take a look around outside. I want to look around before it gets completely dark."
"Considering that part of what we're working toward is finding a way to save all of Zahvroma from what's coming, I have a hard time believing that us being in one of the oldest centers of power on this continent is a coincidence." Sādhanā replies, looking up toward the roof.
Unsure of exactly what she means he nods, "Well, I'm not exactly sure what you mean....but I know that everything happens for a reason....even if we don't understand what it is at the time. I'll be back in just a moment." With that, he climbs up onto the roof to look around.
Emerging on the roof, Roshan sees more victims of battle, but nothing else. There are four watchtowers, one at each corner of the roof.
Thinking that he might have a better view from the watchtowers, he heads for the Northeast corner watchtower first.
The doorway leading into the northeast tower is blocked by debris.
Roshan sighs and goes to the southeast tower.
One side of the southeast tower had collapsed, but the structure can be entered. Roshan sees a set of stairs leading to the top of the tower.
Determined to see what he could of the surrounding area, Roshan proceeds.
The steps leading upward feel unsteady and Roshan is unsure if they will support his weight.
Taking a deep breath, and trusting his magic to take him to a safe place on the roof should the unthinkable happen, Roshan attempts to make it to the top.
Roshan manages to dash up the steps as they collapse behind him.
Looking down he whistles, "Whew....that was close." He says to himself. Taking a moment to let his heart slow down a little, he looks out of the tower towards the south.
"I'll get up to the roof to at least check it out." Sādhanā says to the others before speaking the command word for her boots and flying up to roof level.
Tesia continues to read her book, but shrugs slightly, "Eh...they're just simple folk, salt of the earth, you know....stupid." Sighing she adds, "There's no telling what's out here, and to simple fishing type people...I'm sure it's a scary place. Especially if they only ever stick to their own. If they want to remain recluse and ignorant of the world around them, let them. As long as they don't start $hit with us, I don't care what they do." She knew what Rhy said had made sense, she just wasn't good at reiterating it, plus she was feeling frustrated and tired so that was probably playing into it as well. She didn't care how she came off sounding as long as she got her reading done.
Taking a moment to look up she says, "I still have to stay up for a few more hours to get through this reading, so I can take first watch."
Roshan looks down as Sadhana comes up, "Oh...hey, it's not as bad as it looks. The Northwest tower is blocked by debris, so I thought I'd try this one instead."