Figures at the edge of the Overgrowth

A tall and lithe figure, weapons drawn and bristling with wards, stood quietly at the jungle's edge. He shifted and fiddled restlessly, never having got over the feeling of pre-combat jitters. He turned to survey the small group beside him, offering a succinct briefing. "Joshua hasn't been present for the last two attacks, yet he has a way of knowing when and where the conduits will form. I hope I don't need to explain why this is troubling. Not to mention the presence of infected Yuan-ti at the last battle. We need to make our way to wizards point and secure the focus again. With any luck Joshua will be there. Any questions?"

Arjay shifted the grip on his sword as he peered into the Overgrowth. "All self-explanatory for me. Let's be quick about it," he said, his own outline indistinct under his wards.

"I think any questions I have can wait till we're not about to get our heads chopped off, or worse." Cadence replied with a slight smirk. She rolled her wrist, feeling the weight of her blade in her hand. Like the other two, her image rolled and ripped under the effect of her protective wards.

The overgrowth is rather calm compared to the last time they battled there. The group travels to wizard point with ease and reach the monument. Obvious signs of battles take place in the vicinity and there is no immediate sign of Joshua.

As the group stepped deeper into the Overgrowth, another silhouette would emerge garbed in assorted greens and browns, trailing behind at a graceful, hastened pace through the underbrush and over logs. Upon reaching them, the hooded being would simply follow beside the elves, approaching the monument at wizard's point with a wary gaze.

"He said he would remain here. I haven't the faintest idea as to whether or not he would lie, but I don't know him." Lhanir stated this calmly while recalling what they saw last time. She approached the monument curiously, searching for anything out of the ordinary.

The man knelt, examining tracks and the lay of some of the nearby bodies, trying to get a feel for how the battle went down. "Arjay, can you check the focus? See if there's any changes, has it been used again, any residual energy? Everyone else poke about and see what's to be seen..." He called all this out, his eyes never leaving the scene of battle

*Arjay would easily notice the residual energy left around the focus*

Cadence looked around, her sword drawn, her eyes sharp. Mostly, she kept her ears focused, her hearing being better trained than her sight. The young blade dancer knew she would hear anything coming far sooner than she would see it.

She took up a point of defense, doing what she could to guard Arjay and Kevros as they looked over the site. After all, the would know more about what was going on than she would.

Nothing out of ordinary can be heard from Cadence, whatever happened here is over with and far away.

Bringing up the rear of the group, Tonan keeps a watch on the shadows and bushes, but comments little. While quite familiar with magic and it's uses, the intricacies are beyond him, so he instead keeps himself ready for anything that may assault them, be it the normal denizens or the unnatural ones from before. Quite relaxed, even in this state, he keeps an ear on the others with no little interest, but maintains his vigilance.

"I feel... At best guess? There was a battle here. I can feel the residual energy like what you would feel from a paladin who's been doing his business, and a darker energy... shadow energy, like someone built a shadow construct," Arjay answered, sounding worried as he examined the focus.

Kevros tore his eyes away from the scene of battle, glancing over his shoulder to inquire to Arjay quietly. "Can you...track, the energies? Does it spill over into the surrounding forest?" There was a long pause before the last question. "Can you tell who won?" He stood, padding over to the Elves side to eye the magical focus warily. "Was this another sacrifice?" He checked for blood and the like.

A closer inspection of the scene would reveal no trace of a sacrifice... however, evidences point toward a battle between two strong beings as deep marks are left in the pillars where swords met the stone.

Looking around, Cadence notices the deep grooves in the stone and frowns slightly. "I'm not certain what happened here, but it must have been something big." She says. "I don't know of many weapons that can do that to rocks, nor of those who'd have the strength to do it."

The man frowned, running his gloved fingers along the harsh grooves in the stone. "Damn...we need to find him, and we need to do it quickly." He snatched his hand away from the focus, glancing about the clearing. "There has to be something here, some clue as to where the man went." He again went back to examining bodies and searching for tracks, trying to get a feel for what kind of battle it may have been, a running one, a last stand, anything along those lines.

Tonan goes over to the stones, examining the placement of the strikes and tries to reconstruct the duel or battle that occurred as well, joining his expertise with Kevros.

The battle appears to have been a duel and no clear winner can easily be determined. However, those attuned to magic AND with swordsmanship expertise would be able to figure out that the battle was short and furious as residual energies are only found around the marks in the stones and the center of the focus.

(( Event IG to find out what happened and where is Joshua - In about 8 hours from now ))