Foeldar felt the gust blow past him, a tingling sensation sent crawling across his body in its wake. It was a strangely familiar feeling, yet at the same time it was also very foreign to him. The effect soon faded away, however, as he had either become accustomed to the feeling or the effect had already worn off. Foeldar did not know, nor did he really care. An orc's shriek soon followed, and only then did  Foeldar turn to investigate. There was a glimpse of the last few survivors disappearing into the trees, and though he did not recognize them it seemed as if Lily did.

[color=a187be]"Quickly, follow them!"[/color] Lily called out, pointing towards the trees from atop Foeldar's shoulder. [color=a187be]"If we're going to protect them we'd best keep up!"[/color] She continued, trying her best to coax her giant tree-friend into staying with the survivors from Nadska. As expected, Foeldar complied. Though he traveled at a more leisurely pace, he still followed after the others nonetheless. Before long he found himself entering a clearing. There was a woman sitting atop a large skull - that was interesting - and there were also many of the other people he could remember seeing earlier at the gate. However, it seemed that just as he had arrived they saw fit to start leaving. Had he taken that long?

[hr]
Darren looked on at the gathering from a collection of bushes at the edge of the clearing. He hadn't been there for very long, only long enough to know that the woman atop the skull was not of the same allegiance as these others. Those who stood apart from that large skull were of mixed backgrounds, and they did not regard one another in the same way as they did her, and she did them. The woman, on the other hand, was clearly some kind of witch - but Darren had no way of finding out just [i]what kind[/i]. He wouldn't be surprised if the witch knew he was there, nor would he be surprised if she knew who he was. Witches always had a strange way of knowing things they weren't supposed to know, and that included even well-kept secrets. Come to think of it, Darren had never encountered a true witch before. His experience was limited to the stories he'd heard over the years. And if experience lends any credibility, which it often does, word of mouth rarely ever pertains to the full picture.

A rustle of leaves drew Darren's attention to the arrival of three more individuals - a man, an elf, and a rather odd looking girl. [i]What's that there on her eye?[/i] He started to think to himself, but before he could dwell upon it much longer the witch began to speak. Darren remained crouched in the brush, peering through at the scene laid before him as it drew nearer towards its close. There was mention of something the witch, Nona, referred to as [i]"The Resurgence"[/i]. She spoke of it like she had already done so before - which, in all likelihood, was probably before Darren arrived. This 'Resurgence' sounded like something important - but of course it did, she specifically referred to it by name. 

Darren's suspicion was, by now, sufficiently aroused. If the clamor and the number of people gathered here weren't enough, then the content of their discussion definitely was. What could this 'Resurgence' be? Perhaps it was some kind of event, but what could it entail? Was it related to the recent epidemic of monster attacks or some grotesque coincidence? Darren processed a number of possibilities before reaching one that he dared not consider, twisting a look of annoyed disgust upon his face. Darren promptly shook his head clear of thought and rested it against his open hand, feeling the shape of his visor through his gloves. A short moment passed and Darren returned his attention to the clearing, lowering his hand to the ground for stability. He had questions that needed to be answered, though he did not know if this witch would be able to help him. He made a slight movement to stand yet decided against it, opting to wait for as long as he could before revealing himself.