The drunken travelers found themselves enthralled with the story that Leo told them. He had embellished and obscured a few details, making it so that he was a passerby and not the one who saved the city. Even then, they were still more than entertained by a city of people that had vanished without a trace.

One of the men spoke up, “Now, you know who probably saved those people? The druid savior, that’s who.”

A few people at the table roared with laughter, but Leo tried to get them back on topic. “So yeah, no one’s got a clue why it happened. You guys heard of something like this before?”

“Maybe they were running from the tax collectors,” one of them called out. “Hell, maybe Bill’s ex-wife just decided to visit and that scared them off.”

The group laughed and helped themselves to more ale, but none of them were able to help Leo with his search. Marem had split off during his story to talk with another table, but the disinterested look on her face made it clear that she wasn’t getting much further than him.

Leo excused himself from the table and headed for the door. They had spent half an hour prodding, but they couldn’t find a soul that knew about any missing towns. He stood outside the tavern, and Marem joined him a few minutes later.

“Guessing you didn’t find anything either?” asked Leo.

“Nothing useful, but I heard that Ryesville had their only tavern shut down. Owner had a secret dire wolf fighting ring in the basement.”

“Where’s Ryesville?”

“It’s thirty miles west of here, doesn’t matter though. Are we going back in?”

“I want to, but that smell is going to drive me crazy. It’s like we were in Aquaman's basement.”

“No clue who that is, but point taken. Well we still need to find a lead, so I’m headed back in. Try to find something out here or in a different tavern.”

Marem made her way back inside The Soggy Salmon. Even though the door was opened for only a moment, Leo had to fight back his instinct to gag at the scent that permeated through. It wasn’t too difficult to power through it at first, but it became worse once he caught a breath of fresh air.

He headed down the streets, following the flow of traffic whether it be strolling civilians or caravans riding through. It was difficult to avoid the fish markets in this city, due to the fact that nearly every single corner held a fisherman’s stall. As if an aquatic poltergeist chased him, he couldn’t avoid the chasing scent of fish.

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Leo decided to take a break from the village and head back towards the entrance they’d arrived from. He may have a better chance later in the day, when the stalls were closed and their stock was put away. But he was quickly finding himself sick at the scent of fish. It was as if his newfound scent ability had decided to focus solely on rotting cod.

He walked out through the town gates, to the sight of a massive precession approaching. It had to be the largest caravan that Leo had ever seen. The cart leading the group was hauled by two enormous beasts. They had fine wool that dragged to the ground, three horns that protruded from their head, and a singular piercing green eye.

To the sides of the carts were dozens of caravan guards. They were adorned in simple chainmail and leather armor, wielding all manner of weaponry. But the foot soldiers were dwarfed by the two golems that walked at the front. Their stone bodies shook the ground with each step, the moss that clung onto them threatening to fall off.

Leo had no idea who they were, but these guys were rich. Most of the carts that had traveled through here only had half a dozen guards at most. They were also pulled by horses, not whatever species these creatures were.

Leo wanted to approach, certain that they had to have some knowledge on all the settlements in the area. But he instead rushed back to the tavern, racing through the dirt streets. When he burst in, the room full of people turned their attention to him.

But he paid them no mind and walked up to Marem, who was currently sitting at the bar talking to someone, and he told her to follow him. She gave a hasty goodbye to the woman she was speaking with and followed Leo out of The Soggy Salmon.

“What was that all about?” she asked, struggling to keep pace with Leo.

“We’ve got a big caravan coming in. I’m talking like, mutated oxen are pulling them and they have stone golems as guards. I didn’t know if they were someone I should know or not, so I came to get you,” answered Leo.

When they finally reached the caravan, which was now entering the town, Marem gasped at the sight of them. “Leo, we must leave. Now.”

“What’s up? Do these guys have horrible prices or something?”

“That’s a royal merchant group. You likely couldn’t see the insignia from the front, but these are people affiliated with the kingdom. If one of them spots you, then our location will be compromised. We can’t risk losing our advantage so quickly.”

“Oh shit, we have to get out of here. Do you know a way out of town?”

“We should just leave through a different entrance. If they just arrived, then they wouldn't have had time to station their guards around the village.”

The two of them ran through the streets, hoping to escape without drawing any attention. The caravan had just arrived at the eastern gate of the village, and the lake was to the west. They made their way to the southern entrance, quickly running into the path through the forest.

The two of them made sure they were a fair distance from the village before catching their breath. Well, while Marem caught her breath. Leo had felt confident that they’d escaped before anyone had noticed they were there.

That was when a blur of dark grey and blue streaked through the air in front of them. Leo barely had time to react before the unknown figure slowed to a sudden stop. In front of them stood an unkempt man adorned in the drabbest colors possible.

He pointed one of his two daggers towards them. “You two are coming with me.”