The Necessity of Travel

The next morning is like something out of a storybook. The sun is shining brightly, the dew glistens on the grass that grows in among the abandoned buildings of the settlement, and few clouds that are in the sky are far off and unthreatening. After everyone is up and about, and after checking for any signs of movement from the well and finding none, you determine it's safe to go about your day's activities. Someone is going to check the lizards' meal, yes? Is that person going alone or with company? What is everyone else doing while they're away? Do you think leaving a guard is a good idea or a waste of manpower?

Irwin and Johnsan head off to see if they can create suitable bait for the possibly-not-quite-dragons. They follow the tracks out to a small copse about a quarter of a mile away. There's a small pond here, in the process of being buried by time and falling leaves. Trees have grown out into the middle of it. On the bank is the carcass of a young buck, nearly entirely eaten.

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Oxana takes the time to pick through the remains of the battle that happened here long, long ago, and eventually comes away with a small sword that's not too damaged, about the length of her forearm, and a wooden shield. Moss covers the back of the shield, but once she lifts it from the ground, she finds that the front of it is actually iron, or perhaps very old steel. It's barely rusted, and could be cleaned up well.

While the men are gone, Oxana and Tatianna have plenty of time to look around the village. It's a bit bigger than a village, really. They've walked a while before they realize they're not sure how far they've come. There's any number of interesting buildings, though. No two are built quite the same, as if they weren't added in to the town until they were needed and then just sort of shaped into whatever hole was available.

As you explore the village, you do find buildings that could have been used as a forge or a woodworking shop, but this village, unlike Agnon's Wood, was moved out of rather than abandoned. That means there's very little here in the way of useful tools. You're positive that the building that seems to be a forge was in fact a forge, however, because when they left they did not take the heavier items, like the anvil or the slack tub. You're never able to identify an apothecary or healing hut, or anything like that, probably for the same reason.

There is certainly enough here to house your entire village though. By the time you decide to head back, the men are returning from their task.

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Irwin and Johnsan turn the plums into pulp, smearing them across the carcass until the pulp is more or less indistinguishable from the meat. Then, with care not to disturb the scene any more than necessary, they head back to the village, just in time to see the women returning from the other direction.

With the trap set, all you have to do is wait. And so wait is what you do. The hours are filled with small talk. Everyone does have time to go through the battleground and pick up a weapon if it doesn't feel weird to take weapons off of the dead. As the sun sets, you hear the creatures start to stir again in their lair.

This night is cloudy, and you dare not light a torch in case they see you and you disrupt your plan - or worse, they see you and attack. The dark is darker than you can remember it being as you sit, still and quiet, at the top of the watchtower. The lizards are gone longer than usual, and when they return, they're moving slowly, almost lethargically. When they climb down into the well again, one of them slips and falls, tumbling out of view. There's a hard thump a few moments later, and you're not sure if it survived the fall or not.

The rest of the night is full of groaning roars and whines echoing up from the well. In the morning, they're still there, just quieter now. The plums definitely hurt them, but it doesn't sound as though they killed them. You have no way of knowing if they'll recover or not. Do you want to explore more while you wait and find out, or do you want to go down there and take care of them while they're weak?