[h2][center]Byron Cauna[/center][/h2]
With the preliminary scouting done, Byron turned towards the (considerably younger) sage and nodded before starting down the cavern. There was no desire on part of the young man to watch what was essentially an old geezer in a young girl's body (implications be damned) figure out a change of clothing, and he had as much a desire as the others to see how the world had changed in the time he had been gone.

"If you want a light, I'd be happy to provide," he remarked in response to the automaton's request, spinning his left hand in the air as he created a glowing orb of light right above it. "We'll be going on ahead, then; I just hope there isn't an ambush waiting for us outside."

Leading the way forward, Byron turned his head towards Malachi and nodded in assent. If the spell had been a failure, then there would at least be a few guards standing by, or possibly some other sign that people had been there in the few hours' time that he felt like he had been asleep. But his nose did not lie, and the scent of life was definitely nonexistent all the way down here.

"I am fairly certain that the spell itself worked, but that only brings up further questions. For example, what became of those that remained in the Alliance after we were sealed away here? For the leaders, death is a certainty, but the people..."

There was a tinge of worry in the young man's voice as he trailed off, but Byron soon shook his head, as if to brush away the worries in his mind.

"No, there's no way they simply killed everyone inside. There would be no point in a conquest without people to rule over, after all. But... Thirty years, they said? My siblings must be older than I am by now," he remarked, a halfhearted smile on his face as the group neared the stairwell out of the cavern. The light filtering in through the exit made his own unnecessary, and the spell was thus dispelled as he began to climb out.

Exiting that long passage would reward them with the sight of a land that had long since been free of war, with their vantage point providing a clear view of the plains and a forest closer to the base of the mountain. The blue sky and bright sun caused the beastman to pause for a moment as his eyes adjusted, but the landscape that he had returned to was tranquil, if not mostly unfamiliar to him. That went double, of course, for the small village that could he could barely make out by the edge of the river that flowed down from the mountain and through the aforementioned plain. As much of a breath of fresh air that the view in front of him was, though, they still had a job to do.

"You know, I don't recall a forest being here when we went in..." Byron said, a hint of unease in his voice as he glanced behind him to make sure that the others were close behind. "And you'd think that there would be someone waiting here to get us up to date on what had happened in the last few years. Should we assume the worst-case scenario?"

[@Rune_Alchemist][@Raineh Daze][@Lugubrious][@Crimson Paladin][@VitaVitaAR]