Ben drops Talashia, grins, and roughs up the hair at the top of her head with a meaty palm. "You got taller, Tal. Hey, where'd Ernie go?" Ben seems to suddenly realize that his comrade in arms has left, which causes him to peer into the fog past Talashia. "C'mon, Tal. Let's go see where Ernie went." Big Ben lumbers down the byway and soon enough rounds the corner around the White Deer, swatting at fog the whole time as if it were a gnat in his face.
At the Gate, the smaller of the pair of guardsman replies to Tac with a shake of the head and a suspicious glance at Elyra, who stoops by the open gate doors in a crouch to hunt for tracks. "No, the watch afore us shoulda had them doors shut fast." With that, Ernie the Small pushes past Tac and, picking up a stout length of wood leaning against the wall to the left of the inside of the Gate, closes the doors and slides the wooden bar into place. "That'll keep 'em out." Ernie declares, brushing splinters and dust from his hands.
[sblock=Elyra]I know everyone's going to read this, but at least if I put it in spoiler tags you have the option of not viewing it and having your PC remain faithfully in the dark. Elyra (Survival +9 to track goblins) has a good look at the tracks passing in and out of the North Gate. The ground here is packed dirt and though it hasn't rained in many days, the damp of the fog rims some of the prints to Elyra's well-trained eye, particularly when the lamp-bearing guardsman lumbers close enough to close and bar the Gate. In addition to the many booted feet of all manner of civilized folk, there are wagon tracks and horse and pony hoof prints. The Gate's been well-traveled the past three days as people arrive for the Swallowtail Festival. Laid over top the tracks of folk and commerce that Elyra would normally expect from a town Gate, however, are the in-bound prints of a band of perhaps 20 goblins. There are no goblin tracks heading toward or exiting the gate--save one, and that pitiless creature looks to be dead where Sandstone slew it. One medium-sized set of booted feet has laid a series of tracks away from the gate, and in several places these tracks have been laid on top of a set of goblin prints, which ought to be a clear indication that these latter tracks were the last set to leave the Gate area--before the tracks here began to get muddied by the stock of present company. Ernie, in particular, steps in and ruins a particularly vital print at the center poitn where the Gate doors meet, right before Elyra has the opportunity to get a better look at it.[/sblock]