The young noble is indeed feeling both awe and sadness as he slowly makes his way north together with the expedition team into the Old City, glancing left and right, still wary of threats but also walking with great reverence along these majestic ruins of his people. "Why don't we start our exploration over there?" He says to Raqisat that is leading the team in Rohuzar's absence, pointing over at the Praetorium Magisterium to the left. Aubrey then sends Furvus ahead to scout for a suitable entry point and then to scout just inside it for threats.

Furvus perception: 15
Aubrey perception: 19

     Raqisat grunts and starts angling in the direction that Aubrey points, his eyes scanning the location for hostiles as well as likely entry points.  He would prefer to not walk in the front door but there's not always another option.  As per Greenteeth there should be some others around here so Raqisat has his whip out and ready for anything as he steps carefully towards the building. 

Grugga walks stiffly down the road, pretending that his fresh wounds aren't bothering him. Perhaps its these wounds, the atmosphere, or a mix of the two that keeps him silent during the long walk to the Universalis Vitae. Zap, spinning on its point, travels along a deep rut carved into the stone streets by carts centuries ago. Once, this place was so full of life, and now it is home only to demons, mutants, and incorrigibly hopeful religious and druidic sects.

"I suppose this must happen everywhere, sooner or later." The Orc says, reflecting their bleak surroundings in his mood. "The sun always sets. Everything we toil over will someday be forgotten." Shaking his head to snap himself into a more optimistic mood, he adds, "I suppose we'd better make the best of it while we can."

At the Praetorium Magisterium, Grugga asks, "Is this it? Is this part of the Universitas Vitae? I don't see anyone around..."

[For clarification, this is not the university.  That is another 1/2 mile down the promenade.  You are in the black circle, just having exited the forest.  The university is at the black star.]

Approaching the plaza between the Praetorium and the Cathedral, all is quiet under the mid day sun.  The road and walkways here are all veiled in a delicate cloak of dried silt, testimony to the repetitive dance of the nearby Breitvasser's flooding and receding over the past century.  The dusty residue occasionally kicked up in wisps as you progress toward the huge cylindrical tower of the Praetorium.  

Despite the relatively nutrient-rich soil this silt creates, the landscape remains eerily barren of plantlife.  Nature's feeble attempt to reclaim the city is evident in the form of scraggly vines that stubbornly cling to the remnants of ancient structures.  Their tendrils snake through crevices in the masonry, a desperate attempt at regaining a foothold in this desolate environment.  Oddly shaped mushrooms, their caps casting strange shadows, emerge sporadically, adding an otherworldly touch to the landscape.  Outside of this, and a handful of leaf-bare trees and shrubs, there is very little vegetation.  Its seems only the very large, well established trees were able to sustain themselves here inside the city.

The Praetorium itself has no doors... the base facing the plaza simply has a wide, mawing entryway supported by columns.  It opens into a vast, dark interior of the ground floor.  Peering inside, Aubrey can see a pile of old, tattered skins that looks like it was once a collection of tents, just inside the entrance.

Content to have the others lead the way in both direction and conversation, Cosette stepped along with curiosity. There was something about the juxtaposition of the landscape. Nutrient-rich soil barren of plantlife, scraggly vines snaking their way through crevices within the structures masonry. It was the mushrooms that caught her attention most. Mushrooms. Fungus. It reminded her of natural 'living death', yet this was still only sporadic. She wondered what they 'fed on' and if they'd run into more of this as they went.

"While this is admittedly not where we are heading, please indulge me now and join me in examining the remains of the Praetorium Magisterium." The young noble says with awe as he cautiously and reverently enters the grandiose structure.

Furvus perception: 19
Aubrey perception: 17
Aubrey stealth: 8

     Raqisat grumbles about there being such a hurry to check out the university that they couldn't check out any of the manors but now they can be sidetracked and ignore Greenteeth's mission...  But he does so mostly to himself and otherwise plays his role of front man.

Dim light reaches the interior of the main floor hall of the Praetorium through narrow windows in the outer stone wall.  As your eyes adjust, you see a vast chamber encompassing the entire ground floor of the tower.  Four main pillars stand in the center, connected to the outer walls by great marble arches.  A double set of stairs lead up to a stone stair at the far end of the chamber, while two smaller stair-towers are at either side of the room.  

The exterior wall is lined with pedestals.  Many stand empty, but a few still hold statues, no doubt famous figures from Imperial History, or worthy legislators.

The entire is full of the same silt as the plaza outside, along with bits of garbage and other debris.  There is an overturned, rusted brazier next to an old and battered shield.  Just to the right of the entry way is a collapsed cluster of tents.  8 or 9 tents, it looks like.  It is hard to say how long they have been here... long enough to have collapsed despite shelter inside from the wind and the rain, but not so long that their canvas and leathers have decayed.  

Grugga whistles in admiration as he enters the building. "Boy, they sure don't build them the same in Bardstown." He says, clearly impressed by the architectural splendor and resilience of this building. "I wonder why... perhaps they don't have access to the same stone there? Or did they really lose access to all their building techniques during their flight?" After a moment of reflection, he continues: "it's no wonder the emperor wants to reclaim this city. Imagine all the lost knowledge here."

Although he says no more, it's clear something is digging at the Orc. As he moves into the building, he casually flips over the battered shield to check for any interesting heraldry.

As Grugga kicks over the shield, it bumps into a rock and hollow metal clangs echos throughout the chamber.  It takes a few second for the sound to fade.  Were it not for the sand on the ground, your own footsteps would probably ringing out across this hall as well.  

While the noise perhaps gives Grugga pause, what he sees on the shield quickly grabs his attention... the battered and dented shield has a black field with a single red stripe... the colors of the Red Band.

While his weird familiar keeps vigilant watch for incoming threats, Aubrey follows the orc artificer, using the powers of his talisman to telekinetically examine what is found.

Perception: 8
History: 21

     "We looking for anything specific here?" Raqisat asks as he makes his way over to the collapsed tents.  He pokes around at them with his foot first, trying to get any random small creatures or such to scatter, or larger hiding creatures to move and reveal their presence.  Assuming no such happens, Raqisat then will start poking around to see what else besides the tents may have left behind here.

Leelan goes over to the staircase at the back of the room and climbs up. When he’s sufficiently high up, he surveys the floor where is companions are, trying to get a better look from a higher vantage point.

Cosette would hang in the doorway to watch their backs while others poke about and investigate. She'd make note to check in on Grugga.

Aubrey and Grugga confirm the shield definitely looks like it once belonged to a member of the Red Band.  It is hard to pin an exact age on it, but it doesn't look very old.  You'd both guess it has been here for months or at most a few years, but not longer than that.

Raqisat, you find that the tents, though fallen, don't look to have been damaged or torn up.  A few of them still have (empty) sleeping bags inside them.  There is also a backpack lying inside one, but it is empty.

Outside, Cosette sees only the empty plaza.  She sees only their own approaching footprints, though with this fine silt and the wind, tracks likely wouldn't hold longer than the first rain.

Higher up on the stairs, Leelan gets a chance to take in the scope of this room.  It must have been awe inspiring when this place was occupied and the great room full of nobles, lawyers and scholars.  Now, it is still impressive but also a little sad.  Leelan, make a Perception check, please.

Grugga holds up the shield for the group to see, but mainly for Aubrey and Leelan. Seeing as how this would likely be meaningless to Raqisat and Cosette, Grugga explains, "This is the mark of the mercenary company we were part of before taking up the Emperor's mission. It looks like it's been here a while... I wonder who had a job for them in Amnifortis."

Unless there's something else interesting about it, Grugga drops it back into the silt. He looks up to Leelan. "See anything up there?" He calls out.

     "May be worthwhile to take one or two of these tents before we continue on," Raqisat notes.  "Plan is to return to the ship each night but we may not always have that luxury..."  (I am assuming they are of the portable tent variety, not huge party tents or such...)

Cosette juts her chin towards Grugga as he's about finished with his notes about the shield. "It any different than yer average shield?" She figures it's worth checking to see if it's sturdier than her own. Then she'd nod in agreement with Raq about the tents.

Perception: 11 (in dice log)

The tents look salvageable.  They are full of sand which is impossible to get out, but otherwise they haven't been damaged.

The shield, from what you all can see, is just a regular, metal round shield.

As Leelan looks down from above, he thinks he hears something from the large tower of stairs just above him.  Peering into the gloom, he cannot see anything moving and he doesn't hear the sound again.