Fr. Rys hands Sir Pedivere his torch

Fr. Rys follows Sir Pedivere as he goes back into the tower.

Fr. Rys tries to gather his bearings and looks around to see where the tower lies.

This is an interesting ruffle

Turning around and looking to the top of the hillock, he can see the tower directly behind him and looming above.  The man-sized door was obviously another way out of the tower, but it was concealed by the sod and overgrown folliage....

Calis followed his friend, of course, and once the sun came through the door he squinted. After getting his sight back, he to also looked around, shrugged, and then looked at the others while enjoying the light and being outside.

Colm stood in the brightness, and relaxed his bow string.  He squinted from the suddenness of the whole thing.  As soon as his eyes adjusted to the light, however, he began looking about for tracks.

  Colm kneels down, running his hand over the tops of the long grass, scanning for signs of passage.  He finds no broken blades of grass, no disturbed flowers immediately outside the doorway, but his instincts carry him forward.  Carefully walking, kneeling frequently to check what his instincts are telling him, he traced his way around the hillock.  After a few minutes of searching, he found the source of the bend tops of weeds and broken shafts of grass.  He found a set of tracks, he found them moving about the doorway and back to where the donkey tracks were, before they disapeared and the donkey tracks deepened, heading off in the direction in which the party came...

Colm looked up from his tracking.  dinnae the fool ride a dahnkey? said Colm gesturing the way they came Somone lef' here and went back t'ard our camp ridin' a dahnke.  We 'as best follow the trail. with that he continued following the trail.

This is decidedly odd...and disconcerting. The wizard we were sent to find is, more than likely dead and the fool sent to guide us has disappeared. And we still need that dragon scale for the antidote.

Sir Knight, this quest was charged to you by the King. What do you suggest?

  Gripping his bow, Colm jogged along after the tracks, the passage of the donkey quite obvious to his trained eyes.  He trots across the green meadow for several moments, the trail leading back into the woodlands.  The others remain behind on the hillside, considering what to do next.

Colm looks at the tracks and gestures in the direction of the hermit's home, along the path he's found for the donkey tracks Hmmmm... Seems as the fool 'es gone back the way we come towar' the hermit's house.  Dammed fool thin' 'ta do an' not tell us!  Still, he may be in dangr' or mayhaps he jus' returned to the hermit

OOC - have we searched the entire tower now?  I'm a tad confused, not hard to achieve btw... Once I know that, I'll post.

OODM  I haven't read any posts recently that indicated a character was searching anywhere in particular since Colm found the garden tools and clothing.  The common room, entry room, workshop and antechamber all remained largely unexamined. :)

OCC:  MY opinion.  It appears that the fool has returned back home.  Assuming he is safe, there is no reason we should not explore the rest of the tower.  We've found no clue about the dragon we were looking for, and I'm sure our brash young knight would not leave until we are sure there is none to be found.  There were a couple of unexplored chests, as well.

Chrissa is quite fatigued, but she is quietly dragging herself around as best she can... :)

Calis did the same as he watched the others.

OCC:  Sorry, team.  I'm not catching the hints.  Are you saying that you still feel we should rest, cause your spells are low?  Since we feel the fool is likely safe, I have no problem with that course of action.

"It is still hours before dark.  We should give this tower one last look before we bed down.  If there are those of you that are too tired to continue, then we will return to set up camp and I shall investigate the remains of the tower alone.  Unfortunately, duty demands I continue."

"Of course I shall continue with you, my friend. I just hope we don't run into anything that we need magick to attack or have more wounds that need healed."

"'So likewise yee, when yee haue done all those things, which are commanded you, say, We are vnprofitable seruants: wee haue done that which was our duetie to doe...'"

Chrissa gently smiles through her evident weariness.

"If you proceed, then I shall as well."

"'God girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way vpright...'"

Colm nods. Aye, I'm right a rain.  Lets go. he grins.

 The intrepid band of adventurers re-traces its steps into the antechamber through the secret door on the hillside. It takes a few moments for the group's eyes to readjust themselves to the shadows. The sunlight is helpful, but torches are still required to see the interior. After their eyes adjusted a familiar sight re-appeared before them.

Beside the door was a wooden closet, standing upright and closed, and made of the same dark, oiled wood as the door.  The handles were simple upon it, and it had no lock.

   Next to the closet was a chest similar to the one that rested at the end of the wizard's bed, large and wooden, it is otherwise unremarkable.

   Across from the other two pieces of furniture, is a simple wooden bench.  An empty torch scone is nestled into the wall above the bench, presumeably to provide light for the room....

OCC:  Dungeon Mistress, huh?  OHHHH MYYYYY

BIC:  Colm moves over to the torch sconce and looks at it... could there be a secret lever here?

Colm tries the torch scone in various directions, lifting, tugging, pushing, twisting, and nothing occurs.

Colm frowns a little at somethign he thought was a sure thing.  He then figures, at the least the sconce is convenient, and goes to find a torch to put in it to help the searchers by freeing their hands.

Heaving a sigh and shaking his head as he looked at the closed closet door, Calis stepped towards it, looked it and the handle over, and finally shrugged again before grabbing the handle. As he pulled on it to open it, he muttered, "Here goes nothing. Please, Old Ones, watch over me and don't let me turn into a living torch!"