Kai takes his scouting to the trees, gliding from one tall spruce to another, though keeping to the lower branches. At one point, his talons inadvertently pull off a hunk of moss-covered bark, and he finds himself scrabbling for purchase... but he manages to right himself, and continue toward the temple without further mishap.

As you enter what might be the temple grounds, a chill washes over you unhindered by your cloaks. A wave feeling washes over you, and an intense sorrow fills you.

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Make an average... "fear" check with an appropriate skill, Cool or Discipline.

Kamoa walks down the main path of the temple grounds, feeling the melancholy of the place seep into his bones. He shakes it off though, the sadness of ghosts isn't enough to make him lose his resolve.

"Steady everyone." His tone calm and relaxed. "We've done no wrong to anyone here, living or dead. Don't let their feelings overtake your own."

Zik feels the hairs on his arms stand up, and he pauses and takes a deep breath. He remembers Chadrik's run-in with the irate Twi'lek earlier and says, "The mortar and pestle have nothing to fear from pepper. We are meant to be here."

The chill almost knocks Chadrik over. Despite Kamoa and Zik's reassurances, the Rodian cannot help but feel he is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yet, despite the first flinch, he doesn't show the inner struggle within him. Yet.

Head held high as Bralane always does when facing the unknown, she stops suddenly. A gripping sensation around her lungs and throat; Fear!

"No! I will not give into fear! That is not my way! I never back down from a challenge!"

The fear subsided, and as Bralane took a few breaths to clear her mind, she realized it wasn't fear she was feeling; it was sorrow. A haunting sorrow that reminded her of friends lost. She let these emotions wash over her, and then regained her composure. It wouldn't be smart to lose oneself to emotions in this situation.

Kai's hackles rise, as a chill washes over him, passes through him; the short feathers at the nape of his neck stick straight out. The intense sorrow of this site is impossible to escape. Pulling his cloak closer about him, on his perch, it does little to alleviate the rawness of the night air. Unable to extract himself from the melancholy atmosphere, Kai draws upon the power of the force to aid his vision, to see clearly what may be hidden in the surrounding darkness.

After the others stepped into the courtyard, Takane gave a last look at the forest around them, then turned to join the others. Something...odd came over her. There was something unsettling about this temple, in the chill night.

But Grandfather had taught her well, and fear was an old friend. Other than the chill that ran down her back, wakening her senses to potential danger, she showed no sign of her unease.

"Be at ease, friend," she said quetly, putting a comforting hand on the rodian's shoulder when she noticed he was feeling unease of his own. "There is little to fear here."

The top of the hike is a flat clearing--the apparent temple grounds, marked by another, smaller gate, also dilapidated and fallen. Not much else seems apparent beyond the glow of your lights. The trees and vegetation in the clearing were all young. In the distance, on the edge of the clearing, is what appears to be a collapsed wall that may have surrounded the area. It is exceptionally quiet, and there is a faint scent lingering in the air, almost smokey.

Kai perceives the clearing much easier. There are numerous ruined buildings, consumed by fire and overtaken by vegetation: a large one near the center of the clearing, some towards the back, reduced to nothing but foundations. What might have been walkways are marked by the thickness of the grass on the ground. There is only one building, a much smaller wooden structure off to the left-back of the clearing, that still stands, if only just, and a large tree is growing up through the roof and its roots are reaching out of the foundation.

Kamoa begins to walk across the center of the clearing, humming a song from his childhood, about an old sailor, lost to the seas, his sorrow etched on the waves. It was a pretty song, if sad, and felt appropriate for the location. He moved his glow rod around, shining it this way and that, making his way towards the only reasonably stable structure, off to the left. He shines the light up the trunk of the tree, curious to see how high up it goes.

Kai observes the Mirialan approaching the only remaining structure, humming a haunting melody as he goes. Gliding to the tree growing through the roof, the Sathari alights on a branch arching over the entrance, and awaits the rest of the party.

Zik enters the clearing, the stench of embers singing his nostrils. He swings the lamp at the end of his staff in an arc before him, covering a wider area than the various glowrods others are using but slowing his progress a bit as he examines the area closely. Kamoa's already taken off ahead at a faster clip, so Zik heads in his general direction. The Mirialan's song adds to the deep sense of remorse the Human feels for whatever happened here—What happened to the monks? Were they here when this… fire?… took place?

The storyteller joins Kamoa at the husk of some sort of structure. " When there is a fire in the forest, the soot flies home ," he says to Kamoa, but mostly to himself. "Maybe we can figure out what happened here. And where our mutual friend might be hiding. "

The scent of smoke has a mundane source: a small campfire situated in a dirt patch not far from the remaining shelter. Though the flames have died, the coals are still smoldering. Somebody was here, and very recently.

Uncomfortable as he was, Chadrik kept walking with the rest of the party. His first fear had subsided to be replaced by a strange sorrow. Almost like a burden. He kept his mouth shut as he walked after Kamoa and Zik towards the 'house'.

Kamoa looks down at the fire, and then around the clearing. In a clear voice he calls out. "Hello? Anyone there? " He takes out the bag of jerky he got in town and calls out again. "You hungry? I've got some food here. " He tosses it down by the fire pit, far enough away from them to not be easily reached. "We're not here to hurt anyone." His tone light, relaxed and genuine. "I would like to talk to whomever was using this fire though. We have some questions about this place."

As Kamoa calls out—to whom? To Baak Harrema?—Zik shines his light into the structure with the tree growing through it, looking for any sign of who the former occupant might have been.

56 minutes ago, SavageBob said:

As Kamoa calls out—to whom? To Baak Harrema?—Zik shines his light into the structure with the tree growing through it, looking for any sign of who the former occupant might have been.

It's a wooden structure. Not big enough to be a residence, so likely a shrine of some sort. Despite the wear and tear of time and the elements, you can see the intricate craftsmanship that was put into the construction. It would have been a handsome building, were it still in one piece. The tree itself is an oddity: it doesn't appear to be any tree you've seen in the surrounding area, so it must be either foreign, or exceptionally rare. If it were still in good condition, the tree may have been a centerpiece to the shrine.

2 hours ago, KungFuFerret said:

Kamoa looks down at the fire, and then around the clearing. In a clear voice he calls out. "Hello? Anyone there? " He takes out the bag of jerky he got in town and calls out again. "You hungry? I've got some food here. " He tosses it down by the fire pit, far enough away from them to not be easily reached. "We're not here to hurt anyone." His tone light, relaxed and genuine. "I would like to talk to whomever was using this fire though. We have some questions about this place."

Several minutes pass, and Kamoa thinks that nothing is going to happen. Just as he was about to give up, however, there is a faint rustling sound, seemingly coming from between the roots of the tree, somewhere beneath the building's structure. After another minute or two, something crawls out from beneath the building ( along with a faint whispering? ) and creeps closer. It's a canid of some kind, and decently sized too, like it is some kind of hunting animal. It's hard to tell in the lamplight, but it appears to have a ruddy coat, and a pair of short horns protrude from above its eyes.

It regards everyone with a wariness before approaching the offered food. After a cautious sniff and some pawing, it digs into the food. The creature has a kind of intelligence of a very well trained animal.

Takane inspected the fire, and cast her eyes around as Kamoa called out. She knew that Kai was in the trees above, the literal bird's-eye view better than anything she might be able to offer, but instinct kept her sharp and wary.

When the animal emerged, the sound of steel whispering could be heard as she withdrew the first three inches or so of her blade. But after watching it for a moment, she allowed her sword to glide back into its sheath. The creature was obviously trained, and unless they made threatening moves, it was unlikely to be dangerous.

She approached cautiously, not too close, and then held out a hand as an offering when it looked at her. "Good evening, friend. Where is your partner?"

Bralane silently studied the animal before the party, thankful it is, for now, docile. The ghettos back home were always loaded with stray animals, and Bralane found many of them to be friendly companions when offered the proper treats. She hated the idea of having to turn a weapon on this one if it could be avoided.

Pausing briefly to study the strange tree in which he has landed... it is unknown to him. Kai remains still, slowly moving only his head, as he scans the ground. A rustling from the base of the tree, accompanied by a faint whisper, attracts his attention. As the canid creature emerges from the tangle of roots, Kai focuses on the darkness from whence it came, in search of further movement. A dog did not light that campfire...

As soon as Chadrik saw the tree that rose from the middle of the house, he was intrigued. He racked is brain for some insight as to what it was. Surely his time in the Jedi Temple hadn't been worthless. Unfortunately, he could remember nothing. He shook his head just as the canine figure appeared from the building.

As it walks slowly up to Kamoa and his offer of food, Chadrik walks up with Takane. He walks slowly around the animal trying to remember if he had seen such a beast. Finally he gave up and knelt down to pet the animal along with Kamoa and Takane. The animal looked up at the Rodian, and Chadrik could a see a glint of something in the beast's eye as they peered at each other.

Kamoa watches as the tree shifts and the animal emerges. He watches it sniff at his offering of food, and begin to chow down. He grins to himself a bit at that, and then gets slightly miffed, as he sees the animal warm to Chadrik instead of him, the Food Giver. "Hmmph, " he harrumphed, "I see how it is. Get food from me, pettins' from him. Enjoy that grub pooch, it cost me a pretty credit." He says good naturedly, not actually bothered by the animals reaction, more amused than anything. He continues to look around with the light, for the person with opposable thumbs that actually lit the fire.

After a moment, the animal stiffens, as if noticing something, then it quickly disappears back under the building. There's more scuffling and more faint voices, and then a figure emerges from the shadows.

They're small. The light reveals a human child, wearing dirtied robes. It's hard to tell if they are male or female, but to the near-humans in the group, the child can't be much older than ten standard years of age. They have a defiant look on their face, though they stand tall for such a young child, and they glance around suspiciously at your group.

( There is a faint feeling in the air around the child, an aura that cannot be placed... )

Kamoa blinks in surprise at the appearance of the child, and something in his head clicks into a different mode. "Ah, I see." He gets down on his knees and casually waves at the child. "You hungry too?" He gestures at the bag of food. "Help yourself." He makes no motion to move towards or away from the child, simply sitting in place, apparently comfortable to wait for now.

Zik smiles calmly at the appearance of the beast and the little one keeping it—so much like the children he used to instruct back home! Zik sits beside Kamoa on the cold earth and places the fusion lantern in front of them, its warmth approximating the now-extinguished fire nearby. The Chalactan slips easily into storyteller mode. "Easy, little one. We mean you no harm. You can call me Mr. Zik. I'm a teller of tales. What's your name?"