More people? Rosa doubted the concept of "The more, the merrier" was ever intended to apply to this situation, but she wasn't going to complain. She had been quite morbid in her conversations so far, but with these reinforcements, she certainly thought they stood a chance. Best not to say that out loud, though. As she had said, confidence kills.

She worried somewhat about the orc. He seemed frail, particularly so considering his species, and his reliance on that walking stick would not be advantageous, either. Rosa assumed he had more use than was visibly noticeable, or he wouldn't have come on a journey like this.

The human, alternatively, seemed the opposite. Like Voph, Fionn appeared well-equipped and capable, but also had the care to at least learn what he was hunting. Rosa hoped he would live up to his appearance.

On the subject of Voph, Rosa wondered if she'd been too harsh with him. She was used to working alone, and had undertaken this journey under the expectation of having help. Herself, she could rely upon to make intelligent, careful decisions, and she'd be the only one who'd suffer if she failed to. With people assisting her, she'd have to rely on them and them on her. Any mistake could be amplified painfully.

As for Nakreyya, the elf, she was like a halfway point between the other two newcomers. Armoured, yet the armour was sculpted and artful in its design. Missing an eye, yet every other feature implied a lifetime of safety and luxury. Rosa decided to hope for the best with this woman.

Traveller. An strange name, unlikely to be his real one. An alias, maybe? Whatever the case, he seemed useful enough. His armour was made of something exotic, and presumably better than the standard fare, or he wouldn't use it. Rosa was definitely satisfied with what he appeared to be, and, as with Fionn, she just hoped he would live up to this.

[hr]

The assembled group eventually arrived at the Pillar. It was certainly impressive, in a bleak way. A single, unnatural, crow-like creature watched them as they approached. Rosa matched its horrid gaze. She refused to be intimidated by a bird, even one like that. She couldn't help thinking of the old rhyme, the one about magpies. [i]One for sorrow.[/i] And so on.

Rosa had both of her guns with her. She wouldn't normally bring them to Ecetopia, but she considered Karnarouri to be good enough reason. She kept her shotgun drawn on the approach to the Pillar. She had intended to blast anything not quite dead that might be around, but, thankfully, there was nothing.

"I assume that digging won't work. Karnarouri has an ego, that much is clear from the monolith alone. So, of all the excavations here, the entrance to his tomb is going to be in the middle somewhere, it might even be the monolith. The difficulty would be in opening it."