It was early evening by the time Rohaan really began his search in earnest, though he did sort of stand there for a while, scratching his head and wondering what he should really do. He'd tracked people before, but he'd always had either a specific location to find them, or a piece of clothing or something to track a scent. He had a vague description and eye color...and that was it. He wished he could have asked for something to scent-track with, but the Emperor likely wouldn't have anything recent enough. He supposed a quick flight over the fortress would have to do for a first-step. 

Rohaan changed to an eagle and took to the air, gaining some altitude before he made for the fortress. The closer he got, the more he could sense something...odd. At first it was like a vague phantom-waft of a hot metal smell, and then he imagined he could almost taste metal. That was imagined, there was no metal in the air, but he recognized the sensation immediately as magic. Strong magic. Berlin was a magical man, and whenever the man used his ability on Rohaan, he always imagined a metallic tang in his mouth. It was faint, but there. Berlin and the other magic-using crew members never sensed it, but then again, they were human and not inherently a magical creature like he was. The air felt different to him, too, something like barometric pressure but...wrong. Whatever was causing that signature, it was strong, and Rohaan wasn't sure he liked it. 

The city was mostly dead. That wasn't what he'd expected at all, and he thought to himself, [I]most impenetrable fortress! Hmph![/I] There were no guards out on patrol to mark him, even if a circling eagle was anything to note at all. For a moment he thought maybe they were hiding, but there'd be small fires for off duty soldiers, or any fires at all. The chimneys were all just as dead as the--

Movement caught his eye, and he swooped down, landing high on a watchtower to peer down at a cluster of people in the square below. They weren't milling about, some were standing huddled together, others were gathered loosely around something, but in a rather ordered fashion, he thought. The ground seemed darker than the gray cobblestones surrounding the group too...it seemed almost...red. A figure in odd clothing picked someone from the huddled mass and somewhat forcibly guided them to the focal point of what the people were gathered around. There was evidently some to-do or speech or something that went on, and then the oddly clothed man did something to the cowering person, and they dropped. Rohaan caught the glint of something wet catching the sun.

[I]Moon and stars![/I] he gasped inwardly as he realized to some degree what was happening. He was unfortunately somewhat experienced with mass executions, and there seemed to be a ritual going on here. No wonder there was a magical tang in the air. His mind raced. Was she down there? He had no way to really know without getting down there himself, and if he did that, he'd get involved. There'd be blood and fire, and he couldn't guarantee that any of the captives wouldn't get caught in the literal crossfire. [I]Damn! Damn![/I]

He thought back to the Emperor's description of the girl. He did mention that she often slipped out of the fortress to go adventuring. Maybe she got wise and skipped town. He had to try that first, had to see if anyone at all was wandering around outside of the walls. He flew overhead, circling a perimeter around the fortress and scanning for any movement. After what felt like an age, he saw...something. He couldn't be sure of what he saw, so he landed near where he'd thought he'd seen movement and shifted to a bloodhound. He might not be able to identify her scent in particular, but he could identify human versus animal easily enough, he was familiar with those. He paced, nose to the ground and occasionally up to the air, methodically scanning the landscape for a scent trail. He found one quickly enough, and it was human. Rohaan followed it as quickly as he could manage, hoping against hope that he'd found his mark. 

The person he followed turned out to be a young woman, and she looked just a bit more rugged than your average lady, which made his heart leap in hope. She seemed like the sort. She was going into a tunnel, which he automatically noted and saved that information for later, just in case. Why, by the moon, would she want to go in there? Did she know what was happening? 

Rohaan shifted to his natural shape, pulled up his hood to shade his eyes a bit and took a few steps forward. "Wait!" The sounds of underground shuffling stopped. He called again. "Wait, don't go in there! You don't know me, but you have to trust me. [I]Do not[/I] go in there. If they find you..." Even if this wasn't her, he wasn't a cruel man and didn't want to see those people gain another victim. He'd at least make sure this girl got far away from here and continue his search. He kept a little distance from the tunnel entrance; if she came back and ran smack into some grubby, strange, rogue of a man, she'd probably turn and run the other way. Even worse if she saw his eyes. "Look, I'm trying to find someone. Make sure they're alright. Maybe you can help me. Just...don't go in there. There's all this magic in the air, and these people...it's gotta be some kind of cult, or something, but you want no part of it." He was speaking fast, obviously a bit rattled.