"Eor was supposed to know a way out of here ... but I'm guessing one of these was him."  Roth stands over the strange corpse, trying to sort the pieces of this puzzle out.  He kneels over the remains and carefully grabs the dagger and pulls it from the ribs.  The young elf inspects the blade for anything of interest before pocketing it--hoping that one of the other guardians would be able to identify it.  He then turns to Shirok and asks, "How long do you think this one's been dead?"

Neya stayed close to the summoned wolves, silent communion passing between them  until they faded away. After that she stayed with Shirok as they inspected the area, up until she discovered the flying ball. Curiously she padded up to it, blinking in surprise when the thing gently floated away. She snapped at it once, and the ball flew away even faster. Within a few minutes she was barking happily and wagging her tail frantically as she chased the thing around the area, a massive wolf chasing a firefly.

Shirok couldn't help but smile as he felt her joy, running around after it, nearly catching it and then letting it go just to continue the game. In response to Roth's question he approached the fallen Eor, kneeling beside the body.

20:49, Today: Shirok Rezkala rolled 25 using 1d20+11. Heal check - studying the body.
20:49, Today: Neya rolled 19 using 1d20+5. Ref save - playing fetch.

Porto spent a little time patting his dog before he let it fade away. When he saw the orb he wanted to try to catch it. But he saw the wolf having fun so he let it play it's game. When Neya was done playing, Porto got out his rope and let it snake up around the orb. Hoping that it only shied away from living things.

Stan ducked and weaved in his effort to get away from the little creatures. When the battle was over, he took the time to thank, individually, each of his companions.

Of course the magical ball of light held his attention. Despite a thorough working knowledge of magical creatures, he was having a hard time coming up with any information regarding this one.

11:34, Today: Stan Fetchin rolled 11 using 1d20+10. Arcana.

Neya jumps and snaps at the orb and nearly snatches it in her mouth, but it is too fast for her to catch.  Meanwhile, Stan, Porto, and Garret stare at the orb and wrack their brains, trying to figure out what it is.  After a moment of watching the wolf toy with the strange object, Garret snaps his fingers loudly.
“It’s a memory!” he exclaims, but can see by the look on everyone’s face that he will need to further explain.  “Something happened here, and the area is marked—imprinted if you will—with its memory.  Sometimes, according to legend, those memories can take physical form—especially if strong magic is involved.  If one of us were to catch it, then he would be able to witness the memory.”

Shirok and Roth examine the remains.  It isn’t hard for the druid to conclude that the remains are from a single individual, although they appear to be from a man and donkey at first glance.  The man must have had the head of a donkey.  The area is a prime location for decomposition, and signs have been long lost due to the lack of flesh, tissue, and personal effects; however Shirok is able to see by the weathering on the bones that they have been here a long, long time—several years at the very least.  If he had to assign them a number of years exposed, he feels confidently in his guess that they’ve been here for 10-years.

Ilsa watched the glowing thing as Garret explained what it was. She was unimpressed and turned back to him. "Memories. Great. Now heal me," the barbarian demanded. "Consider it thanks for absorbing the black beasts' fury."

“Of course,” Garret replies not trying to hide the faint disdain in his tone.  He found that he did appreciate the barbarian, but he couldn’t quite get over the crudeness of her behavior.  Perhaps he would again attempt to engage her at a later time.
He offers a blessing and Ilsa's wounds close.

Porto tries his rope idea.

OOC:Sorry for being a one trick pony

"YEARS?" Roth stresses with genuine surprise before digging Owl's journal from his pack and flipping through some of the pages.  The young and ever-more-stressed elf shakes his head and replaces the book as he stands.  "We should talk to Rabbit to figure things out.  Heck, maybe we're even free now."  He walks over to the 'memory' and makes an attempt to snatch it up.

23:46, Today: Roth Daos rolled 23 using 1d20+8. Reflex Save.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:53, Thu 29 July 2010.

Stan watched Garret as he lectured on the memory-creature, and as he healed Ilsa's wounds. The young wizard was impressed with his elder's knowledge and skill in magic. He even had the power to heal, something which no wizard had ever discovered, despite the efforts of many fine mages.

Stan moved close to the Cleric and spoke in low tones. He wasn't particularly concerned of being overheard, but he knew the rest of the party had more important things to listen to.

"Garret, I know now is not the best time, but... I would like to learn your ways. I no longer have any wizards from which to learn. I am running out of things to teach myself. Your own knowledge of planar creatures amazes me, as does your ability to heal the injured.

"Please, when we are out of this strange place, teach me of your magic and your wisdom."

Stan didn't ask for healing. If offered, he would refuse it. He needed the pain to teach him caution in battle, and he was far from mortally injured.

"None of the others mentioned this Eor; perhaps his death will be nothing new to them," Shirok said with a bit of a sigh. "But if this is so, then why has this," he motioned vaguely towards the rapidly decomposing monstrous black beast, "taken his home and place? And perhaps more importantly where," he reached out and gently pulled out the small dagger from between the skeletal ribs, holding it up and examining it closely, "did this come from?"

Meanwhile, Neya happily ignored everything that was going on as she continued to chase the glowing ball, snapping at it playfully despite it seeming to be far too nimble for her.

23:59, Today: Neya rolled 8 using 1d20+5. Reflex Save.

Ilsa grunted her approval and appreciation to Garret and let Stan kowtow uninterrupted. She now took the time to clean and hone her blade. At the rate they were going, it was only a matter of time before they would have to defend themselves against the tiger and she wanted to be ready.

Garret regards Stan for a long moment.  He doesn’t wish to embarrass the young mage, but simply isn’t sure how to handle the situation.  He had heard of men attempting to learn both the Arcane Art and the Divine Power, and he also knew they rarely—if ever—succeeded.
“I don’t know if I have anything to teach you, Stan,” he says quietly as to protect the young man’s pride.  “I do not wield any power you yourself could not also command.  It is through my convictions and my beliefs that I am able to do what it is I do.  No holy text or tome can grant that.  This is my spell book,” he says as he jabs his finger into Stan’s chest, indicating his heart.  “If you truly wish to walk that path, you will remember that always.  Now, we can speak on this again at another time,” he offers with a smile.

Porto attempts to capture the memory with his rope, but is unable to.  In fact, he finds that the rope moves so slowly, he will never be able to catch it using such tactics.  Roth, on the other hand, effortlessly plucks the orb from the air!  It expands and erupts in a flash of bright light before disappearing entirely.
“What did you see?” Garret inquires.

Roth stands dazed for a moment, trying to blink away the spots in his eyes.  He thinks for a moment, running over the memory again before responding, "Eor was killed by the creatures ... and someone else in a cloak.  It's ... fuzzy.  But before Eor told the Owl that the Pig held the key to escape this place.  Owl killed Pig but didn't find it.  But Owl's notes also said that Eor had him poison Bear..."  He trails off, the puzzle pieces not fitting in his mind yet.  "Maybe we could find something at Pig's ... or maybe we should find out how Rabbit died..."

"If pig had the key, then pig's is where we ought to go."

Should we talk to Cris first? Porto asks. Feeling that perhaps pigs could be dangerous and it would be best to get all the information they could.

"I don't think he has much more to tell us. Still, if the others think it best I care not either way."

"How many rations do we have? How long until we have to kill one of us for food?" Ilsa asked. If they did not find their way out of these accursed woods, it might eventually come down to cannibalism. And then her thoughts drifted and she made a conscious effort not to look to the halfling.

The biggest would be best for that. The rest eat less and there would be more food from the bigger ones. Sooooo.... Shirok would you be, now stop me if I cross the line, totally unwilling to eat Neya? Porto said it with a serious demeanor but was one hundred percent joking.

Shirok frowned slightly, considering the implications of this memory. "Does it seem as if Eor was setting Owl upon the other guardians? Perhaps Owl was not the only one who wished to be free of this place.

"We should search Pig's. If there is something there, perhaps we can use it. If not, then we should try to find out what part Eor played in all of this."

He gave no indication of having heard Porto's suggestion, or even entertaining the notion. Neya, already a bit disappointed from the loss of the shiny ball, turned to look at the halfling with a considering gaze, apparently sizing him up as a possible replacement.

After quickly discussing where to go next, the party decides that Pig’s is the next logical choice.  Shirok retrieves his magical map from his belongings and notices a new drawing on the map—a stick hut in the middle of the swamp, “Eeyore’s Gloomy Place.”  This must be EoR’s hut.  He taps the picture of Pig’s house, but nothing happens.  It is then that the druid remembers Ishmael’s earlier explanation into the map’s limitations.  The map must remain in its case for 24-hours before being used again in order to update itself.  Because of the new area, Shirok concludes that this is the case.  He checks their position before returning it to it’s gilded case, wanting to have it updated as soon as possible.
Without further ado, the party sets out for Pigs, making the trip over-land.  The woods wouldn’t be too difficult a journey; however the swamp is another story all together.  In fact, much of the day is lost making the short trip from EoR’s hut to the river.  They don’t encounter much during their trek, save the twin sun’s oppressive rays, deep pockets of mud, and bugs, bugs, bugs.

After the sun begins to set, the party begins to discuss setting up another camp or continuing throughout the night.

Guys let's take a rest. I doubt the little black things will bother us now that the big one is dead. Then again we probably won't get much sleep anyway. Porto says with a glass half empty tone.

"I hate to say it, but I don't think I can walk all night." Roth says as he looks about for a dry spot to start making camp.  He pulls his pack off his shoulder and adds, "Maybe we should just wait for the map anyway.  Save us some trudging."

"That's what I said hours ago!" Stan was whinier than usual.

"I'm all for getting into nature, but this swamp is just taxing."

Ilsa snorted. "Snake Tongue fought hard to stay out of swamp. Humans and elves tried to push us there. We refused." She would prefer to press on, but knew it wasn't going to happen.