Blur in the Dim

Well, that seemed to work ok, Dorge thinks, his heart beating wildly as he squats under a massive tree. Followed by: Good lord, don't let that guy follow me in here.
It wouldn't be hard to follow him, he was barely quieter than the horse, ripping through the forest, and leaving a trail of blood at that. If the Paladin wanted to track him down that would be some bad news. Hopefully his Blood Mage ruse would buy him time enough to douse his tracks in a stream, and get his hand cleaned up. The blood was still pouring pretty freely, but he had known he'd have to cut deep if it were going to work. Right now he just needed to calm down and catch his breath, get rid of the gnats-dizzy.
It had been stupid traveling on the road like that. It had been stupid not to open the bag and look to see what the hell he was sneaking out of Banda Cate. He was getting immersed again, forgetting that there had to be a certain amount of meta-gaming involved. What the hell are you hiding from out there, Dorge?
He pulls a scarf from his sleeve and starts to wrap it around his injured hand. He'll have to clean it better later and try to find some clover to bind it with. Finding clover wouldn't be a problem, he thinks. Finding the damn bag of holy relics he just buried was going to be a different animal. Did he even want to find it at this point? What kind of penalty would there be for just leaving it where it was? Dorge winces and ties the makeshift bandage, pulling the end taut with his teeth. There is the option of returning them. But he took a job, and a job's a job. And laying low in Largo Largo for a spell sounded better than hanging high in Banda Cate.
Dorge sighs and takes a sitting position, "Calm down. Ranger. Euclid. Cleveland. Ok, ok." He waits to hear the birds, when they start chipping again he'll know things are settled down. That Paladin would have to strip off all his armor to do any sneaking around here and that's unlikely. Thinking, he checks his status. Still "Under Contract", which meant his sack hadn't been found and dug up. Well, he hopes that's what it means.
He stands and squares himself. Now he needs to find that stream, if there even is one, just to be safe. He'll go back to find the relics tonight if he can make his way in the dark: again, not a Ranger. Watching his footing, be begins to stalk through the forest, stopping to listen ever so often.
Why would the Paladin be adventuring by himself so far from the city. Dorge thought he was pretty close to the answer earlier: that his party didn't know yet that he wasn't very experienced. But that was only a guess based on how the horse was reacting to its rider, and how easily Dorge had duped him. That only brings about the question as to why Dorge was out here by himself. He was trying to find Adver, but weren't there more in his party? There had to be three at the very least, but this was an elusive thought. The sun was going down making the details of his surroundings blur in the dim. This may have been a boon in a different situation, but the Paladin was a half-elf and had night vision, a definite plus in tracking quarry in the dark. Dorge didn't think he was so good at misdirection that he'd convince anyone he was anything other than human, and humans can't see for shit. Which made him stop and bite his lip, how had he known Rolan D'so was a half-elf? Was he able to spot the telltale signs from that far way? Maybe he was wrong? But he knew he wasn't. There is something itching at the back of his mind but he presses deeper into the forest and wonders how cold it's going to get tonight.