Hidden amongst the foliage of Bagu's Forest near the river of Saria stands a large stone building, almost built into the side of the elevated land blocking passage to the region where Mido Town lies. But the place looks like it's seen better days; the wooden stairs heading up to the elevated entrance have been torn apart, leaving only the barest of steps up to the porch. The windows, one to each side of the thick wooden doorway, have been shattered, and now are completely boarded up.

On the right side of the door is a sign, which, while covered up with graffiti, you can still read: Raik and Gabora's Rockhard Forge.

[size=0]time to add a few lines in here![/size]

OOC: Hm... i think I know what the purpose of this topic is XD.

IC: Nogare finally had reached the forge of Raik and Gabora... he remembered that it existed when he was growing up in Saria... he knew one thing now, however - that it would be an idea place for refugees to hide from Exiles... that is, if the Exiles hadn't stormed it and taken its weaponry... at any rate, that forge was important, and he needed to get in...

carefully he appraoched it from the trees, watchful of any activity that he might need to counter, and when he reached the doorway, he would begin to take the boards off and explore inside...

Nogare picks up nothing threatening as he approaches the building. Every now and then he hears a slight amount of scuffling, but nothing that couldn't be attributed to the soft breeze blowing across the Lowlands. All the same, there is a definite sense of being watched that covers the entire region. He is not alone; wherever the onlookers are watching him from, however, it appears they have decided to remain hidden for now.

As he approaches the entrance, the Hylian can see that the boards have been heavily nailed on there - it could take several hours to remove them, unless he wants to resort to using a Fire spell. Of course, that would probably burn the entire building to the ground, and whether or not that affects Nogare now, one could be sure that if and when Raik and Gabora returned they would not be terribly pleased with the man.

He could waste his time taking he nails apart... but there had to be a better way...

I know for a fact that there's something in there... why would it be boarded up by the Exiles unless they had something dangerous in there, and it would be smart for there to be refugees to board the place up... perhaps it's armed... I have to be careful, no matter who's behind the boarding up...

Silently he approached, and ready for any sudden movement... and he examined the rust on the nails, the moss growing around the doors, and any other way into the building...

[Awareness check]

[Dodge check]

Nogare's checks are both successful (16+4 vs. 15 Pass, 15+4+5 vs. 20 Pass), though the latter seems unnecessary. As he continues to look about the place, no one opts to show themselves, but merely to continue to wait and watch from afar.

In this case his Awareness Check is the more useful of the two. Although the windows and door are all boarded up tightly, a quick look around to the side of the building discovers a tree that has collapsed and fallen into the side wall. It apparently happened a long time ago, as the trunk has already started to decay - but the hole it created on impact with the Rockhard Forge remains, and looks to be just big enough for Nogare to duck through.

OOC: Hehehe, sweet ...

IC: Perfect...

Spear at the ready, he advanced into the darkness of the Forge, drawing out his lantern (OOC: Finally I have a use for that...)... he made a quick check, and saw that there wasn't much lantern oil left... He had to finish his work here quickly...

He extended his mind to any life nearby [Awareness Check], [Dodge Check], for anything nearby.

... He had heard about the forge... and had looked forward to at least visiting it some time during his life when he was a kid... now he was, and it was not as impressive as it could have been... he sighed... if Raik and Gabora were still alive, they would be of great use to Hyrule for making weapons, if they were as fine as they were rumoured to be...

OOC: I hope that counts as foreshadowing... ^_^

OOC: And the award for almighty patience goes to one Nogare Blade. You've been eagerly awaiting this post for a while, I hear...I'm sure glad to finally put it up.

IC: Nogare's Awareness Check fails (2+4 vs 15 Fail), as does his Dodge Check (6+4+5 vs 20 Fail), but at least for the latter it does not seem that it was necessary at all. Once again, the creatures he had sensed earlier refrain from attacking. The vassal is free to squeeze through the hole in the side of the building without any trouble.

As he'd suspected, it's rather dark in here on its own. But the lantern he holds lights up the large room and allows him to take in a few quick details. It's a large chamber divided into two sections by a short counterspace: in front of it, the side the locked entryway, sits a small seating area, likely used for conducting business. A few sofas and chairs line the walls, bordered by coffee tables or small desks. A larger desk sits off to one side, probably for exclusive use by the owner. All the furniture looks worn, unkempt, and covered in dust -- seems that this place has been locked up for quite a while.

The other half of the room, the part which Nogare has entered into, is home to a massive furnace and a litter of anvils; he'd probably have stubbed his toe by running into one without the lantern to see by. Heavy hammers -- far too large for even a Goron to use without two hands -- hang on the opposite wall, and a few more blacksmithing tools sit on a workbench beneath them.

Unfortunately, it seems the weapons or people Nogare was hoping to find are not here. At least, not at first glance.

OoC: Whoa! I totally didn't even know this topic existed!!! Joining now

IC: Leth's journeys through the lowlands appeared to have finally yielded something interesting; an old boarded up house, apparently that of the weaponsmiths Raik and Gabora. He heard some rustling coming from within, and after a few moments of searching found the source of the noise. After ducking into the hole created by the fallen tree, Leth almost ran smack dab into Nogare, who was luckily holding a lantern, which kept Leth from said collision.

“Hey there, Nogare.”

Leth wrote:“Hey there, Nogare.”

"Shh!"

Came the hush from nowhere in particular. "Leth... Keep your voice down," came the whisper from the shadows. "Something isn't right here." Dogura melded halfway out of the woodwork. "Sorry for not speaking up earlier Nogare. I was just keeping an eye on you in case you got ambushed by anything..." He assured the man, not wanting him to think that he was being spied on. "We must be quiet. My 'this is strange' senses are tingling all over." He closed his eyes, searching for any trace of thought other than the current trio's. Creatures could keep quiet if they wanted to- but keeping a silent mind required intensive training.

[Awareness Check]

Duh. Leth hadn't been using his brain; he should have gotten the 'something-isn't-right-so-be-quiet' vibe the second he found Nogare carefully sneaking around an abandoned building. Leth almost whispered, "Sorry", but decided against it. That would just be more noise. Instead, he opted to do the same thin Nogare and Dogura appeared to be doing - examining his strange surroundings. [awareness check]

OOC: And i give you guys a patience reward for waiting a month for me to get time for this post. Btw, ZV, keep track of Deku Woods >)

And RG, please, sub my toe? As Nogare? Please. It's okay though.

IC: In a split second, realizing that two presences were nearby, he immediately put his lantern down, and directeed Belegcam in the general directions of the voices, and prepares to kill any aggression. "Who's there!"

He saw Leth there first. "You... What are you..." then the second presence spoke; Dogura.

Rangers. Go figure. Especially two still needed to be trusted by him. Or perhaps vice versa. Trust wasn't something that came by him easily.

"What brought you two here? You two travelling together? ... Or tell me when we're done... I'll dash the lap. Two hybrids* will be enough to see through the dark for now without a lamp. But we're not alone here. Something more than that fallen tree trunk caused this place to go dead. It could easily be a base for the Exiles, someplace safe and quiet. If you two want to get yourselves involved, just keep your heads about you." He gave a quick glance to Leth. "We need to keep moving. And with caution. Eyes open. Weapons ready. Let's go."

[Awareness check] [Dodge Check]

OOC: Sorry about that Leth >.<. Anyway, I'm looking forward to at last see where this thing is going

While Leth and Nogare fail to notice anything worthwhile in the building (3+3 , 4+4 [Roll+INT] vs. 15 Fail), Dogura's sharp mind and prowess over telepathy are easily able to pick up on the creatures hidden in the forest (19+9 vs 15 Pass). Most of them seem fairly mindless, though -- there is very little activity in their beastly brains. One, however, does stand out. There's no sign of what this creature is, but its aura holds a great deal of power...far more than any of the monsters they have encountered since...well... Gohma.

Okay, so it's not nearly that strong, but the beast's potential power should not be underestimated.

And yet, oddly enough, while Dogura can't hear any thoughts of the monsters, he is able to pick up a strange sense: one of watchfulness and patience, rather than the standard aggressive urge to kill. They seem content to watch the building from a distance, and show no sign of coming any closer to the Adventurers who have happened upon the place. Which makes Nogare's Dodge Check (17+4+5 [Roll+INT+AGI] vs. 20 Pass) seem pretty pointless...

One might wonder what the beasts are waiting on...

Nogare reads Dogura's expressions as carefully as we could. Well at least SOMEONE is attuned to things around us. And it's also a good thing that he showed up when he did... AND that we're connected mentally. Quickly, he sent a thought, staring back at the Samurai, no doubt causing confusion for the pure Hylian with them as well (whom Nogar was also grateful to have along, now that he was in the thick of it... but they were just tools to reach his goal, nothing more. He would have been fine solo...). "Dogura... What do you see? You've found something big. And quickly..."

Calmly, Nogare breathed in the stale air of the compressed little room. One breath in, another out. There was a certain thickness to it all... Whatever it was, he had to find out on his own... no point in making Dogura do all the work, this was his own mission after all. Calmly, he rose his lantern, and realized that the light was flickering.

"Din..."

The fire whispered a last prayer and was gone. Complete darkness consumed what little light was left.

"Open your senses..." the hybrid hissed to his companions.

He closed his eyes, and ran his thoughts over the whole area. [Awareness Check] Something was here...

What really caused the smithy to become so abandoned...?

We're not alone...

OOC: OKAY! I had my fun, back to class with me ^_^. Peace!

"Uh... Nogare?" Leth whispered. "Not all of us are as in-tune with our spiritual sides as you. I can't figure out a darn thing with the light out." He said in hopes that Nogare would turn the lantern back on so he could see again.

Leth, apparently, is not the only one hampered by the disappearance of a decent light source. Nogare's attempts at sensing the creatures ends up fruitless (1+4 [Roll+INT] vs. 15 Fail). The mysteries he was trying to solve would remain unanswered for a bit longer, it seemed.