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In the blood and dirt and grass, Cattleya could see a little glint of something shiny. It took her a bit to get ahold of it and clean it off, but eventually she could tell it was a scale, and that there were a few more of its kind. A witness, perhaps?

Of course she kept her ears flicking about as she searched, conscious that whatever had caused this could just as soon return as it had left. So she caught a bit of what the buck was telling Russet Fawn: the resurrection target had been something big. "Excuse me - " she said in response, looking over. "Do you recall who else might have been invited, or any preparations you'd been told to make?" Had this buck handled any of those larger remains lately?

She paused, surveying the activity going out around the hill. Everyone was searching quite diligently. "It might give us a good idea of who else we might need to check in on, or give us an idea of what...what might have transpired. I think...Penna Beetleshell, and all of the lifebringers, really, are important figures to us all. We'll all do our best to figure this out."

Dryxel inspected the feather with a graven look. This really could not be a good thing as it was stained with the same blood the summit was. The spotting the feather and crying out with anguish only confirmed Dryxels worries for the owner of the feather.

Dryxel looked around to see if anynoul else had found anything but no noul was saying they had found anything as of yet. "All just so you know i found a feather and it does not look to be a good thing." he knew this party would have to be very vocal and informative. Knowledge is power Dryxel knew this to be true in all of his patrolling.

With a sullen sigh Dryxel see that some of the nouls are heading to the south to search. In his experience it was always better to stick together, so he decides to follow them to check out whatever it is they have seen.

Dryxel spoke of a blood-soaked feather that the scared youth recognized. Seemed it belonged to his teacher? Interesting. Perhaps she'd find another clue that could hopefully shed light on the morbid surroundings right now.

Nereida inspected her surroundings as the tinge of metallic essence filled her senses with dread. The grass was slick in places from freshly poured crimson where she had to be careful not to tread within. Making her way toward the southside of a tall moss-covered Redwood she stopped immediately capturing an image in her mind. The bark of the tree was gorged with claw marks so intense that the pulp of the tree was exposed like an open wound. Turning her head she inspected the nearby trees, none of which carried this peculiar set of marks. Whatever; whoever did this was either announcing their presence or leaving some kind of warning. Realizing another had spoken she glanced upward to see a doe accompanied by a jackhop. As her mind was configuring her find she responded to Russet Fawn, "This tree... look how it is scratched to the point the pulp is exposed. I can't help but wonder if its a signal or a territory marking from whatever was resurrected. By the size of some of those drying prints I'd say we're dealing with something much more massive then ourselves".

Nereida knew others were probably listening in but, she decided to announce her find incase the others had ideas, "This tree has odd scratchings, claw marks. Those drying prints are telling me this is something larger than even the tallest buck. Be on guard"!

Returning her attention to Fawn she breathed, "Have you found anything yet? Perhaps two sets of eyes are better than one in this situation?" She then paused, "My apologies... three sets of eyes" she noted in reference to Talltale not wanting him to feel left out.

Fawn watched as clues were found, ones that made the youth even more frantic. The feather from his mentor, the prints that were every where. The whole thing was making her nervous. Shaking her head again to snap herself out of it she glanced back at the youth that spoke of the bringing back something bigger then a familiar. This caused even her to have worries. This didn't sound the greatest, but it seemed that there was someone to the east that knew about what was going on. Perhaps there was something there, but it seemed that the interest was here and the safety of others.

"To the east huh?" She had mused before Nereida said something about a tree being slashed up.

Being one of the many Botanics in the group, she went over and looked at the tree and frowned. Who would do a thing like this? It was obvious that they hosted a serious set of claws. Wishing that she had higher magics then Adept. She didn't know what to do about it. Having a better ability then Garden sense would have been nice here.

"Didn't really find anything physically, but the youth mentioned another that was supposed to be here, but didn't show up. Perhaps there is something there, but they live to the east." Fawn told the lilac doe as she looked towards her and away from the tree.

Talltale on the other hoof had dropped to the ground and was sniffing around. He hopped over to the tree and pawed around at the scraps of bark and tree bits that laid about the ground. The scent was obviously new to him, but the carnage wasn't. He had seen catbeasts scratch trees and anything else to scare off rivals. But this wasn't catbeast, these were something more deadly.

"I suggest we don't get too far from the rest of the group." he looked to the does, "Whatever this was, it can rival a catbeast and probably win." Talltale had edged his way back from the tree and crouched close to Fawn's legs. Whatever it was that he had smelt, it wasn't good. Nothing scared Talltale easily, but this had put him on clear edge.

Russet Fawn frowned at her bond before looking back to Nereida with concern. Perhaps sticking with the group would be wise. The fear that rolled off Talltale effected her too and had every hair on her body standing on end and she didn't think they would flatten down any time soon... For now, she would have to try and push them down and comfort Talltale while hunting for more clues. Though the idea of going to Greenstone Plateau was first on her list to head to...

Specterdust

Although Kevin made it up into the trees, he can’t seem to find the source of the squeaking. He might have gotten close enough that whoever was making all the fuss decided to pipe down.

Cinder

Cinder spots a knothole in one of the trees! It’s a good 8 feet up and there are vicious claw marks all over the base of the tree. If she squints, she can just make out the glitter of something moving around in there!

Indira

Indira spots a knothole in one of the trees! It’s a good 8 feet up and there are vicious claw marks all over the base of the tree. The squeaking she heard earlier sounds suspiciously like voices, and there’s definitely more than one!

Lady Cattleya

The perlino swung his head around with a snap as Cattleya addressed him, ears pinned back and eyes wide. The poor thing was nearly shaking out of his legs.

“I…” he stared at the bloody ground. “There were… there were lots… I think… I…”

He seems too frightened to remember!

Havoc

Unfortunately - being shaken out of his gourd - Havoc is too preoccupied with his own worry to spot any other clues down the west side of the hill. Those footprints have to continue around here somewhere!

Dryxel

The trees on the south side of the hill are quite tall, and it seems a few of the noulicorns have spotted something higher up. Dryxel catches sight of a sturdy, fallen log that might make a useful ladder or perch of some sort.

Owlheart

Owlheart spots a knothole in one of the trees! It’s a good 8 feet up and there are vicious claw marks all over the base of the tree. There appears to be some nesting debris spilling out of the knothole. This might be someone’s home!

Nereida

The trees on the south side of the hill are quite tall, and it seems a few of the noulicorns have spotted something higher up. Nereida notices a few branches on the trees next to it that might be sturdy enough for a dexterous noulicorn to climb.

Russet Fawn

Russet Fawn spots a knothole in one of the trees! It’s a good 8 feet up and there are vicious claw marks all over the base of the tree. For a moment, a flash of bright eyes appears in the shadow, then disappears deeper into the hole.

DarkHeartedSorrow

Sweetpea picks up the trail of hooves a few meters down the side of the hill! It’s difficult to tell, but it seems like there’s at least four sets of the strange giant tracks. And… and those are definitely a couple noulicorn prints in them too!

The tracks continue to head further down the hill.

The fear was frustrating, though Cattleya could understand it. He probably knew the participants of the ceremony personally, after all, and it seemed obvious that they had all been involved in whatever this was somehow. And in this case, that meant danger. She took a breath and tried to match her breathing to his. "We can go through them all together, if it helps. I know I wouldn't normally be taking notes on the other attendees for a resurrection ceremony, if it were me."

She kept an ear open for the other nouls' questions as she talked, and kept her voice sweet and slow. "Perhaps recalling your fellow apprentices, and then the other lifebringers - was Penna Brightheart involved? How about...?" She listed a few more names, belonging to some of the other ascended Lifebringers, names she knew from drinking up any hint of gossip about Homewood's VIPs. "Or were there scouts assigned to stand guard, since you knew the targets would be larger? Who do you typically work with?"