Bloodsong: The Unsung

Wooga sees that the gate is guarded by two soldiers.
"Hail!" Marco calls out, holding his silver holy symbol above his head, letting what dim torchlight there was reflect off the surface. "I am a Paladin of the Platinum Dragon. What is going on at the ruins beyond?" He asked the soldiers, admiring the armor--

((Gather Info +2))
The fact that the Orcs were actually investigating the ruin doesn't seem to have occured to the guard in question.

"Uh, they-- the Orcs-- are marching towards the city," he said, a little puzzled. "I didn't hear about any ruins. All they told me was to guard the gates, because the Orcs were coming closer than ever before. I think there some soldiers sent to intercept them, but they came back to tend to the wounded."
"..." Marco took all this in, wondering why there was a lapse in details between the two accounts. "Wait, so there is currently no one engaging the orcs?"

((Again, Gather Info +2)
"I, uh, I think another bunch of soldiers are on their way now," says the guard. "Anyway, there weren't that many Orcs, so they just sent out a few soldiers, but they retreated when things started looking nasty. Say, I bet they'd pay you a pretty penny to take care of them all. I bet you could take them all by yourself!"
"You don't say..." Marco sighed, as the ridiculousness of the situation became more and more evident. The capital in an uproar--over a scouting party.

Barking mad, the lot of them. "Mind opening the gates so I can take a look, then?" He asked the guard with as much patience as he could muster.

((Diplomacy +4, Ask Guard to Open Gate))
"This doesn't seem to be a good idea dude. Orcs, one of you, what kind of odds could those be?" Wooga said, moving his head rapidly. "I may not get what your looking for, honor, pride, but don't go die!" Wooga knew his words probably weren't going to touch the Paladin anywhere logical. So he had to do something he seemed would be the right thing.

"If you go, at least give me the honor of being an accomplice in this manner."

((Rolls you see fit))
"Well, okay," said the guard, more than a little reluctantly. "But come back at the first sign of trouble. You're a Paladin, yeah, but it's still my ass if you get killed because I let you through."

Marco ignores Wooga, even going so far as to "accidentally" plug his ears with a yawn-like motion.
"My god shall see me through." Marco declares sagely, as he strodes easily through the gate, his gauntleted hand resting lightly upon the hilt of his rapier.

Each step was measured. With each breath, Marco gathered strength--for even though it was a mere scouting party, they must have been scouting for a much larger force--

((Step through gate, Spot check for Ruins, move to Ruins if possible))
get the rest of the players in here and drag them along, please.