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[rowan_narrators]

Midday on Sunday, the group reaches the Tombstones, long rows of naturally rounded rocks emerging from the desert sand. The shaman announces that they're clear of the siren's curse, and for the first time, the caravan forges on ahead, not bothering with the twists and turns of their prior route

Comments

Exploring; feel free to join.

[mutestronaut]

Guy can't rest.

He slips out of the fort -- no one stops him, not the human guards at rest in the barracks, not the sentries patrolling the top of the city wall outside. He pauses, in the middle of the empty street, in silence.

The city is silent like him. He likes that.

And he wanders away, down one of the narrow alleyways, keeping a ready eye out for possible building collapses, rock falls. He doesn't want to get trapped.

[itworks_bitches]

Hood isn't exactly tired; far more energized by the strangeness of this city and the questions it raises. It doesn't look like Jhelbor, but it doesn't seem Elvish. And lacking further context, he's left wondering the same things he thought about the first city: who built it, and more importantly, where did they go, and why did they leave?. Especially with so much agricultural development so near. A human city, perhaps? The elves don't farm, and he suspects the demons wouldn't have nearly enough patience or foresight. Of course, the fields could have come later

[mutestronaut]

Guy glances up, and if there was a total utter opposite of 'startled', that's him. If it's possible, he's even calmer than the usual. Just sort of quiet, abstract, drifting through the abandoned city.

He nods, once, eyes flicking away from Hood, down the alleyway, dimly lit by the sorcerer rock that Cho made for him, in the palm of his hand. It's towards the center of the city; he figures anything important would be there.

He tilts a head towards his destination, an invitation for Hood to join him.

[itworks_bitches]

And Hood is suddenly sharply reminded of his exploration with Bret. An adventure that, in a very real sense, started a lot of this mess. How might things have turned out if they hadn't discovered Devorah that day?

What might this exploration set in motion? Not as much, likely, dead city and all; but you never know.

"All right," he says, though he doesn't need to, and falls into step beside the man.

[mutestronaut]

Guy nods, and waits for Hood to fall into step beside him before continuing on. He takes a bit of a windy route through the city, adhering to less the main roads and more an innate sense of direction that seemed to transcend the crumbling stone walls.

This district seems to be residential, and every once in a while Guy pauses, glancing over a building's method of construction, the materials used, what has survived.

[itworks_bitches]

This city may be as old as Jhelbor, though it's hard to tell from initial observations. The construction here doesn't quite lend itself to the same kind of endurance, but it has survived well, nonetheless.

As they work their way slowly toward the center of the city, Hood is stuck by a sudden feeling of... contentment, almost. It feels good to have something concrete to investigate again.

[simply_resume]

Robbie was doing what he always did in new territory -- getting a feel for the place. Quickest way out the city, best place to hide, most defensible positions. All invaluable information in the event of an attack, and there was no reason not to expect one.

The fort, at least was reassuring. Presuming that the attack came from outside of it.

Robbie wasn't particularly expecting to see another person, but he wasn't surprised either. He'd seen this man before, travelling with the caravan, but he'd never spoken to him. He halted several feet away from him, cautious, and gave him a nod of greeting.

[mutestronaut]

Guy turned the brick over in his hand, noting the kiln marks on part of it. He was no history major, but it seemed to him that this place had disparate building styles, no consistent theme, really, and differing levels of technology; there was what seemed to him like basic concrete, then brick, then the stone blocks that made up most of it.

He clearly wasn't preparing for an attack, or being particularly militarily cautious. More curious than anything else.

He glanced up, to Robbie, a little surprised at Robbie's presence. He hadn't sensed the other man's approach. He raised a hand, in greeting, eyes narrowing. He didn't know this man, not yet.

[simply_resume]

Robbie noted the man's caution, and also the brick in his hand. He didn't come any closer. For a moment, he considered just walking away, but some some vestiges of the manners he'd been raised with still clung with him. "Robbie," he said, indicating himself. "You must have come while I was... away."

[mutestronaut]

Robbie.

Guy nodded, setting down the brick in the pile he found it. Dusted off his hands on his pants -- some dirt, some red clay -- and extended a hand, to Robbie, for a handshake.

[simply_resume]

He didn't look particularly dangerous. Which didn't necessarily mean anything, but you couldn't live your life not trusting anyone the tiniest bit on the off chance they might hurt you. Robbie refused to be that sort of man. He stepped forward and grasped Guy's hand, giving it a solid shake.

[mutestronaut]

Guy took Robbie's hand with the gentle precision of someone strong but trained, drilled in accuracy and economy of movement.

Good handshake from Robbie, though. Guy's father used to say that you could learn a lot about a person from their handshake. Guy didn't know what he believed, on that front.

Oh, right --

He slipped a hand into his jacket and pulled out the journal. Flipped to an entry and pointed out his own name, displayed next to one of his sketches. Guy. And then he pointed to himself.

[simply_resume]

Robbie looked at the writing, looked at Guy, and nodded. He didn't talk, then. That was all right. Robbie had known a few people who stopped talking during the war. He didn't feel much like doing it himself these days.

That left the burden of the conversation on him, though. That ought to prove interesting. "What do you make of the city?"

[mutestronaut]

Guy paused. How to convey this?

He picked up the brick, again, and headed off, down the street. A block down and at the next corner was the base of a stone building, a big one, some of the vaults of the roof still standing. Four stories, at least.

He set the brick down next to the base of the building. Knelt, and brought out the journal. Quick sketch:

The buildings made of brick were small, basic. (A brick, then a drawn arrow to a squat little building.)

The buildings made of stone. (And here a rough drawing of a larger building, like a cathedral.)

And between the drawings: =/=

They weren't the same level of technology. It seemed unlikely that they would coexist.

[simply_resume]

Robbie frowned down at the drawing. Bricks and stones and concrete, yes, not the same thing -- Was that significant? He wasn't terribly well-versed in architecture. Most of the buildings he had been familiar with at home were simply stone. The mixture itself was what was significant? Unusual, certainly. "It's seen a lot of rebuilding over time?" he guessed. Fire would do that. So would war.

[mutestronaut]

Guy shrugged. Wasn't exactly what he was going for, but it would do. Maybe the city did undergo construction, destruction, reconstruction. It wasn't the kind of thing he analyzed. And his material science expertise was from a long time ago.

He turned his gaze on Robbie, and the look in his eyes wasn't calculating or appraising -- not really. It was curious, and there was a little bit of a reflexive dart of Guy's eyes over Robbie's form, making sure he wasn't injured.