February 19th

Araiguna:
As you are bustling about you notice two people start to approach your area. It looks like they are heading towards the quarry, not you specifically, but their path will take them right by you. They are an Elf and a Moarsman, and both look well armed and armored, but with a rough edge to them. The Elf has an unkempt beard, the Moarsman plenty of scars.

Zeiss:
"Oh, I think if you really track it back you'll get to Atacul of Aggressor, he was a big shot even before the collapse. Basically took control of everything in his region... the entire Yaraq State, actually... declared himself Warlord of the Naverre Raiders. The terms Warlord and Faction just kinda spread, as people started scrambling to follow his example, make their own sects of what was left. By this point I doubt there's any portion of the Undermarket left that isn't a Faction now. Course, that's just a guess."

Araiguna saw them approaching and decided it would be best to hide in the woods with a bolt ready in case they do decide to go in.
he then went to hide in some nearby booshes

Spoiler:

"Well, I guess I'll have to talk to him someday. If the Exchange gets big enough. For now, let's just return to Holtburg."

Spoiler:

Araiguna:
The two whatever they are's... adventurers or thugs or bandits or lord knows what else... walk right by you without noticing you at all, heading down into the quarry without breaking a step.

After they walked past and had their backs to him, Araiguna stepped out of the bushes with his loaded crossbow aimed down as to no appear too threatening.

"may I ask you fine gentlemen what you are doing this fine morning?"

Araiguna:
The two individuals immediately whirl, weapons at the ready. The Elf has an elaborately carved Focus in one hand, a sturdy looking shield in the other. The Moarsman has drawn a large, double-bladed greataxe. They do not respond audibly for a moment, studying you to see if you are a threat. When they do speak, they do not lower their weapons nor cease to glance about the area. "You'll find us poor targets for banditry, I fear! Our business is of no concern to you or yours! We are simply Adventurers, on a Bill from the Guild!"

"you take me for a common bandit?" Araiguna chuckles at the notion. "I am no bandit. simply a wandering adventurer much like yourselves. now, I suggest you cooperate and heed my advice. if it's just the two of you, you have no business going in that cave. There is a tusker down there and quite the big one at that. You wouldn't last 30 seconds."

just to make a point Araiguna goes into quite a bit of detail about tusker hunting and eating habits.

Spoiler:

Araiguna:
The Elf laughs. "You're a bad liar, but then you are a Mite. It's not really in your blood, is it?" He points at you. "Now, we don't want trouble, but we're going to finish the Bill, and if you want to stop us you'll have to use force. And I think we have the upper hand in that regard."

Sethos, after sleeping in like a lazy something or other gets up at about 11 o'clock and ventures into town in search of some sort of novelty food stuffs for him and Taku, who sits in Sethos' hood making a strange chirping noise as they mill through the buildings and streets.

Sethos:
You get a few strange looks from the locals, all of whom are Dwarves of course since the entire town's population is Dwarves. You're not sure if they're looking at you oddly because you're a Burun, or because you have a chirping Ditto in your hood. Regardless, as you are roaming the town casually you notice Caladrius is currently talking with several of the Dwarven elders.

"well, don't say I didn't warn you if you end up dead in a couple of hours. what is the Guild bill for anyway?"

Finally seeing someone he recognises, Sethos wanders over to Caladrius with a wave as he gets close and Caladrius notices him.

"Hey Cal, I see you're making friends"

Araiguna:
The two are eyeballing you extremely suspiciously, especially since they believe they have now caught you in a second lie in the space of a few seconds. However, in the interest of being polite, the Moarsman answers in a low, guttural voice, "An Elf explorer was investigating this area, went missing. That's the Bill... we were conducting searches of the surrounding area, but when we rested in town we heard about these ancient ruins, and put two and two together."

"elf you say? me and my party found a body in the ruins and took it into town to try to identify it. we didn't have any luck figuring out who it was, but if you go into the town of marblerush a little bit up the road i would imagine that the coroner still has the body. you can take it if you want. i have no use for his corpse and it seems you have more use for it than i do."

Sethos:
Caladrius gives a brief start but turns and smiles. "Oh thank goodness, Sethos please help me out here my friend." He gestures. "These...." he is obviously struggling not to say something less pleasant, "stubborn Dwarves are insisting upon keeping the ruins site open, even though they know there's another dig site nearby... Snarg found it, long story... for the sake of archeological findings and whatnot. I've been trying to explain to them how dangerous it is or at least convince them to keep it under some kind of control but..." he shakes his head.

Sethos nods slightly at Caladrius "Okay..." he then turns to the dwarves "Hello, I'm Sethos and this is Taku" He gestures to his right shoulder as Taku peers over it and gives a little wave.

"Why are you so insistent on keeping the ruins site open?"

*Z wakes and comes out of her tent, squinting at the mid-morning sun shinning down on her. Yawning she fries up some juicy strips of Elk from last nights slaughter. Eating one and carrying a plate full of the other she looks around for Rory. She quickly spots him and goes over and nudges him with her boot.*

"Rise and shine sleepy head."

Rory emits a deep, tired groan. After a few minutes, he orients himself and gets a plate of meat and pulls out a bottle of water to go with it. Now and then, he glances at Z, wondering if she'd thought about anything he said the day before. "Seen or heard anything?"

"Yeah if his 'sniffing' was anything to go by. Snarg went through here a while ago headed into the ruins."

Rory cut into the meat, chewing each bite in earnest. "Did he say why?"

"He didn't say anything as he went by. Might be interested in trying out his new knowledge."

*She picks up another strip of meat and starts munching on it.*

"Hmm, maybe I'll go see what he's up to." Rory replied after gulping down some water, to relieve the pressure in his throat from eating quickly. "What do you think about all this? We can't let anybody stumble upon it, especially during a war. We should at least destroy that Tusker transformation thing. Break it up into so many pieces, it'll be impossible to remake."

Araiguna:
The two look at you, immensely suspicious. "The way you speak is certainly odd, little one," the Moarsman crackles out, the first time he's talked that you're aware. He speaks in Serpent, knowing you'll understand him. "You seem intensely interested in preventing us from entering this ruin, and that is suspicious. You attempt to make this happen through lies and deceit, but now insist our prize lies in the very town we just left! So tell me then," and his large round eyes narrow, "How exactly did the Elf die?" His grip on his axe grows tighter, as if he expects you to attack him at any moment.

Sethos:
"Are ye daft, lad?" The Dwarf man you're talking to pats his belly, making a quick bong sound. "Think o' the studies! Think o' the advancements! Think o' what people could learn from such a place!! And think about this town gettin' revived, on tourism and relic hunting, researchers, historians, Mages, we could have a right boom in Marblebush! Why in God's name would we want to close it off?!"

Sethos looks at Caladrius, now understanding his exasperation with the tenacious little fellows before them both, he gives a look that he hopes says "I feel for you brah" before turning back to the dwarves.

"Well I appreciate how important this is to you and this town but unfortunately there are still a lot of very dangerous things in there, you might of heard about our friend who got turned into a weretusker? Well the fact is that that could happen to anybody who goes into that facility, so until we've come up with a way of eliminating that possibility and have ensured the safety of you and all the citizens in your lovely town, then you can by all means do what you will with the site, but until then, please, help us to help you".

Rory wrote:"Hmm, maybe I'll go see what he's up to." Rory replied after gulping down some water, to relieve the pressure in his throat from eating quickly. "What do you think about all this? We can't let anybody stumble upon it, especially during a war. We should at least destroy that Tusker transformation thing. Break it up into so many pieces, it'll be impossible to remake."

*Z looks thoughtful.*

"I dunno it might come in handy."

*You are pretty sure she is joking... at least you sincerely hope she is.*