RECAP
First of all, everyone is welcome, no matter how far in we are. Use this topic as reference.

In the timeline, this is the last event before we enter the Passage and slay Gohma.

In Part 1, Orders: Nogare prepared to make his way east from North Castle just before sunrise, but is discovered by a number of fellow adventurers: Shiro; Kamiko; Kalex; and Raru. After a challenging decision, Nogare brought them all along, although he was hoping to go alone. So he explained to them all what his intentions were: he, as Hero, went to damage the odds for the Exiles, as it was arranged in the war room. However, General though he now is, he wasn't trusted by the others, so they sent Kasei to follow him, and to 'test him later', which Nogare is unaware of.

It takes a day to ride out from North Castle to the Underworld Entrance. During that travel, only Kamiko and Kasei didn't depart (or perhaps they had another thing of importance. That remains unknown). As close as their steads dare, they made camp. Since the sun is still not down, they need to search the Entrance now, for Exile activity, for a lead. On their way, they run into Edward, who is oblivious to what's happening. N

ow, they search the grove around the watching Entrance, careful of mines. Kamiko saw something, Kasei is getting close to something, and Nogare still hasn't found anything...

They had been traveling for the whole day on horseback. It was nearly evening, and Rauru was many miles away. Nogare had been leading for a whole, through grasslands, off the road, and through thickets, brushes, and sometimes even marshlands (On . The day would go on for quite a long time. The hours dragged on, and the sun, having reason over their heads and preparing to hide itself from the troubled land once again down in the west behind the Ruto Mountains.

Nogare looked back at the sun. "It is nearly five. In a few hours it will be dark. We must prepare our encampment. We'll make our camp over there..." he pointed ahead, at a large building, looking to the south...

The Underworld Entrance.

"It's only a ten minutes' ride from here. Come."

As they approached the camp, the horses began to slow down, and some refused to get any closer. Dismounting, Nogare spoke some ancient hylian words to sooth the horse. His reluctantly went on. "Reassure your horses. The Entrance is terrified to all living beings, not only us." He trotted on, slowly and patiently. The heroes had not gone far until their horses refused to go any further. "Here."

An hour later, camp was up, and Nogare looked the the eerie underworld entrance off a ways. "We don't have much time. Prepare your things. I have a lantern in my bag, bring your weapons. The threat of the Entrance is our first goal. Come with me. We'll investigate the underworld entrance before it gets dark."

Kamiko shuddered as the horses began getting scared because she knew that they were near an entrance to 'The Underworld'. As they neared she promped her horse till it was sure it wasnt going any further and got off to follow Nogare.

The underworld. One of the few places in Hyrule that noone would truly want to travel to, yet Nogare, somehow, had a desire to go down into that place, that nest of demons and monsters. That was either suicidal stupidity going through Nogare's head, or stupid courage. Either way, Kasei was following the son of grayblade towards the entrance to hell.

The Rebel Flame didn't even understand why he joined this traveling troupe in the first place. He had faster ways of traveling. Heck, he could run faster than most of these horses! Still, something compelled him to join the group. A sense of loyalty? Hardly. His loyalty was to the gods, noone else. Interest, that had to be it. Interest in the Son of Grayblade and how he would progress in this trip. Kasei would be sure to test him later.

For now, though, Kasei readied his scimitar and made sure his magic worked. The underworld was dangerous, he needed to be prepared. . .

"Stop... stop it! Stop this at once! I can not let such an event continue any longer!"
A snobbistic male voice could be heard coming from the vast greens of the thickets.
Edward appeared from behind the bushes running in the direction of the group, nearly tripping on a small stone on his way. And again dressed in a formal suit and wearing a tophat on his short blond hair.

"You...you ! This is all a dark scheme isn't it!? You barbarians were trying to sweep up all the artifacts before I could acquire them... I’m not mistaken, am I !?"
The gentleman threw a fit as he approached the group.
"What is your answer brigands!? You have no idea how long I have prepared to enter that hell hole! And you are not ruining my beautiful plans with your vile presence!"

OOC: lol....you wanted me to reply didn't you Nogare...!?

Kamiko scratched her head and asked; "huh?" before noticing it was Edward and said; "Oh, Edward, its only you. I have the slightest idea what you mean by 'artifacts'." She happened to say the last word sarcasticly to stress out that she really was clueless.

Kasei had joined them earlier on, which Nogare considered unusual, even by the nature of his mission. He of all the followers would know best of what was happening, being a general, but then why stay back with the slow-going mortals? Something was up.

Did he not trust Nogare yet? Were his motivations still so suspicious?

If even an immortal like him couldn't see his goals... that was a good sign.

It's strange and infuriating though. he had thought to himself. He recruits me to be a General, yet he joins us as if he doesn't trust me. The Generals assigned me to this mission. Something's got Kasei fixed, and he should know that I'm no idiot. He wants me suspicious. Heh, kind of like I do for everyone in Hyrule. No one must know my secrets... not yet, anyway. True, an immortal General is always useful, but... I don't think this is about turning the tide for him, and that's what scares me. Considering I'm both half a Sheikah, famous in part for their ability to the truth in the nature of things (and the ability to hide it just as easily), and the fact that I'm a Blade, famous to be able to see into the thoughts of the common folk, it's very unnatural to have a mind which I can't read nearby. Immortals... he thought the last part with an invisible scowl. At least I'm a Blade. He can't see what I'm thinking. Not like Kairos can anyway... He winced at the memory of his meeting with him in his quarters. I have to be on the good side of him... I can't have him telling anyone knowing what I'm doing. He couldn't imagine having to fight a non-Blade telepath. He's too powerful even for me, and he knows too much...

Currently, though, at the encampment, he saw that all were ready. They had to hurry and investigate the gates of hell before sundown...

They walked out from the underbrush which hid them so well, which was well-picked, since few knew of it and it was easy to hide in from good hunters, while still spacious. The Blade, without looking up at the sun or slowing his pace, asked behind him, "It's 4:00, correct?" He never wore a watch, but some did. He didn't care to ask earlier. That seemed right. The sun's light according to where it set this time of year was a shadow about half his size, and they haven't quite gotten behind the mountains yet. He knew he was right, and it was 4 o'clock roughly, but confirming was always worth it. Light enough to investigate hell before it was dark.

Nearer they came... Drawing nearer...

And Nogare halted, locking Belegcam straight in front of him in combat position, aimed for an underbrush. And from it came a frantic, strangely rich-looking fellow. He looked at him for a second, and recognized him from the courtyard of North Castle. "Edward." It wasn't a question. More a sort of a groan merged to sound more like a greeting. He knew he had been following them for a while now, but he didn't care to address it, to prevent from shocking his followers. Had he addressed him it would have wasted time, and if he had let him holler just then without preparing them with a battle position it would have startled them.

Without wasting time, Nogare said, "Walk with us. If we are here for the same reason, which I believe we are, I think you should come with us. The sun will set in a matter of hours, and when it becomes such a time, a place such as the Underworld Entrance is no place for us to be." He didn't wait for them to finish conversing - already, seeming to not care that Edward had just joined their party, he ventured on, knowing that they would follow.

As they walked, Nogare explained to Edward, "I've been planning to go there to... but my mission for now is not quite that... We must investigate what's been happening around here... and get our artifact... But tell me, what brought you here now? How long have you known that we were heading here?"

Finally, after conversing for a short time, they saw it before them, the dead trees giving it enough space to be alone in the center of the small thicket. The light from the sun eliminated the sight, but the dim slits between the trees were more ominous and dreary than welcoming and warm in nearly any other forest. It appeared that even Exiles hadn't been here for ages.

The time they spent observing the sight was short if perhaps only because Nogare got in the way of the image. They had to get to work quickly.

"Be wary of where and moreover how you step: firstly because of traps, as anything could be; and because we need to make sure the footprints they may have left behind are preserved. Walk normally but watch your step, so that we can distinguish old footprints and new. In fact, I can guarantee, there are traps here, unseen by the naked or even Sheikah eye." He had already gone a ways, crawling with guile from one spot to another. "Watch for the lumps on the ground, and other conspicuous things around. Start looking at things you see, and tell me what you find."

He slid up into a kneeling position and smelt his hand, and watched the ground. "Exiles were here less than a week ago. They fought..." he moved over to a moist part of the dead grass. "And was left here to rot until..." he glared over at the Entrance, a cold grimness in his expression. He didn't finish his sentence, dreading the abusive way the Exiles treated the nature of life and death...

"He doesn't trust us at all, you know." Kairos' chilling words ran through Kasei's mind as Edward appeared. Before departure, Kasei had met with King Harkinian and then Kairos. Both seemed to be of the same opinion. Secretly, the king of Hyrule gave Kasei a little mission: observe Nogare's competency during this trip, and try to test his combat abilities, but subtely. If he knew I was going to do, he'd probably trust me even less. Kasei reasoned, but knew he could not turn down an order.

If this were Sovelis or Dogura I were dealing with, both of those orders would be easy. It's the complicated people like Alpha and Nogare who worry me; their fates are so connected to Hyrule, and they themselves are so unsure of their own path. Kairos' report on Alpha's condition is proof enough. I won't just be testing to see if Nogare's a compitent leader; i'll be testing to see if it's even safe to let him live! He mused, approaching other soldiers, who saluted him as Nogare made observations.

He's quite the smart one, but if he is a threat, I will not hesitate to destroy him. I won't make the same mistake I made with Sovelis. He finally decided, and turned to the Underworld entrance. "If Exiles were here, we should try and investigate further." He agreed, and left the main group, and began searching, not even a single speck would go unnoticed . . .

OOC: Sorry if I make Kamiko or Edward seem unimportant. But I don't think Kasei even MET Kamiko before, and he knows full well Edward isn't very dangerous. . .

OoC: You Seen her in my first post just didnt approach her. You remember Master Link/James?(my old account[Despite me not posting much?})If not James(the charicter) was sort of easy going but would give 110% in a battle even if it meant death while in some instances they would try to be causious I kind of based Kamiko off of him.

IC: Kamiko was nervous, really nervous and Nogares warning only made it worst. As she followed she let out a weak laugh with some of the worry showing in it as she cautiously took her cloak off to reveal that she had some stuff to attack with. With her cloak off one could easely notice her hands shaking a small bit.

OoC: Its mostely the influance of the Underworld thats causing the frightened state.

OOC: Okay, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt this one time, but rememeber I'm using stats... Sorry for any inconvenience... as I told Kamiko via PM, however, things are gonna happen more frequently, since I'm organizing stats and such in a little notepad for all of my topics, for what's happening with everyone... ^^

So ignore stats for this one post. Later be sure to use appropriate skills to keep on your guard. Stats from here on.

IC: Every one of Kasei's five senses scanned the ground, checking for clues, and especially mines.... one lump caught his eye, but it only turned out to be... a rock...

Nogare, after a short second of scouring around, both trying to see which way the monster who took the beasts away headed exactly and what kind of monster it was, looked up at Kamiko, whose unconvincing laugh caught his half-hylian ears, and Nogare hide his emotion of disappointment as she shyly flashed her cloak off to show that she was armed... out of everyone who took so much time from him in the courtyard as he headed this way earlier that day ere cockcrow, there was only one who remained, and she was afraid, idle. The rest of the band had either fled from them earlier or never followed from the gate... Spies or cowards one way or another...

And really, he couldn't blame them.

Well, no use in treating her poorly. She's a vassal just like me. Her loyalty to Hyrule goes beyond the limits of her courage... that makes her a good vassal. I have to give her that. Nogare smiled approvingly and politely at her sword and shield, and the points of her bow and quiver that showed. "You're well-equipped. Good... you can make sure no one comes near us... we don't want to be found by enemies at this time for whatever unknown reason... but it's unlikely. Just watch your step if you want to help us look around. If you find anything, let me know." As he finished speaking, his smile twitched a little bigger, then disappeared as he looked down to continue moving around, seeking clues...

"Edward, are you going to help as well? It would be appreciated..." said Nogare at the same time, not in an unkind, sarcastic tone, but more a polite request.

Kamiko sighe's the undeworlds influanced and said; "I'm not normaly like this. It's he influence of the underworld that causes this small bit of fright." She then looked aroundwith her hand grasped around her sword ashat she looked around for anything that might look suspicious. [Awareness check]

OOC: We need to keep this apace... Sorry everybody... <<

IC: Nogare, now quite close to the Entrance, responded to Kamiko with a smile of understanding, then continued to search around, his smile gone as it spotted a growth - a mine.

Kamiko's eyes searched the area, for any clue that may hint of anything out of place.

Kamiko's Awareness: 13 + 1(Dice Roll + INT) = 14
Predetermined Number: 10
Awareness Successful!

There was a movement within the trees, but only a squirrel emerged, then darted away...

... but right beside the trunk of a nearby tree, not too far a wander for Kamiko's eyes from where they'd just been, there was a small shimmer of dim, practically black light, could be seen.


... And Kasei was getting closer...

OOC: Had to add that . I want to keep the pace going, so I don't want us to finally get to a turning point on the third page or something...

Kasei was still unawares, was walking around still thinking to himself. He occasionally glanced around looking for anything out of the ordinary but otherwise was alone in his thought. . .

OOC: Ok i'm really not gonna say anything but that. Sad, isn't it? Still, I feel the need to explain: I posted in 3 other topics today, this one just got the crap end of the bargain, what with my crappy writing skillz and all that jazz. It may not be a good excuse, but it's all I got.

Noticing the dim area Kamiko tightened her grip around the hilt of her sword and stoped as she watched the fim figure waiting for it to make its move. She couldn't tell what she was seeing; if it were an animal or a moblin but the way it looked it wasn't friendly of course she wasn't going to risk attacking a possable friend nor leave it be without full knowlage of what it was so she decided to take a closer look without the othersand whispered: "Shadowmeld!".

OoC - [Innate cheack]

OOC: Let's see if it's even possible to continue this... No more stats. This is leading up the Slaying of Gohma still... I kind of stopped when she was dead, and even before then I was trying to remember what I planned next, because I made no notes of it. So I've got it now. I just hope you guys still want in.

IC: In an instant, the shadowy figure in the trees that Kamiko had seen vanished, heading toward the Rauru Woods to the south. But where was it headed.

Nogare's mind opened and searched the thoughts of Kamiko. Instinctively, he asked, "What did you see," stopping his pursuit.

That is when the item they had been looking for came into Kasei's view.

Upon moving closer, it’s apparent it’s the rare species of Deku Spores, which feed on the burned lands to grow taller.

Deku Spores.

OOC: This is how I intended this. This is the part where we find the Deku spores, find out more about both the Underworld Entrance and that figure Kamiko saw in the trees. I'd like to continue this, so if anyone wants to post at all, I'm game.

Nyre had watched the entire ordeal play out, the small group make their way to the doorway, the other member join the party, the figure in the trees, and now... she watched as the person of her fascination knelled down in the think grass to look at the Deku Spores in which he had found. Nogare.... She smiled.

She had been following them for the past couple days, she looked upon his fellow adventurers, some did not seem to like it here, a young female was with them as well. She looked like a well trained fighter. The others were also very well built, she new that in a group this size almost anything was possible.

Nyre wanted to make herself known to the group, but she decided to keep herself hidden until she felt a necessary need to emerge from hiding and show herself. She looked back to Nogare, his lenient pose was dashing even now, with him and his gang facing the 'Door to the Underworld.'

She decided to fall back for the time being, I will join you soon... you have my word on that.... with that Nyre started back towards the area with her gear, and her horse...