Well, he'll be done after an hour, if they want a word. He gets up off his knees and everything.

Yeah, they'll chat him up. It's the same guy who thanked him last night.

"We were talking, and we were thinking—that wasn't normal, yesterday. Sand basilisks that size don't show up this far west, and they hunt livestock, not people. There's something wrong, a migration, or something of the sort. We're discussing traveling together, everyone who's headed for Vesep, for safety. I think it'll be safer for you, as well, but we can pay you, too, since you'll be a great boon if there comes a fight."

"You don't have to pay me to travel with you in the direction I was headed anyway."

He nods energetically. "Then we will be pleased to have you with us. But for this, and for last night—if you are ever in need of a favor from the Long Skies Trading Company, say you are a friend of Raimi Gellis, and you will receive it."

"Thank you, that is gratifying to know."

Excellent.

They'll take around an hour to pack up and get moving; they're having to reorganize their inventory because they lost two camels yesterday.

"Good showing yesterday," Tessane will say, coming up to him when he looks free. "Thought your gear looked fancy, but you have the whole deal to back it up."

"I am unusually but not exceptionally powerful as people on Golarion go."

"I've known people who fight that well, but they don't also cast spells and heal everyone in fifteen paces—I think those traders are regretting not shelling out for more expensive security, now, but... they're right, you don't normally see too dangerous wildlife on this route." She shrugs. "Hope it blows over, I guess. We're coming back the same way in a few weeks."

"Maybe Ilique could be convinced to part with some antidotes. How are the people who were poisoned faring?"

"Part with antidotes for? They're fine now; she said it wasn't too hard of a brew. Still fatigued, but that's how it is."

"I don't know what she'd be likely to charge. I have prepared some spells that will help with the aftereffects of poison but only three of them, so those I will sell if there's more than three people who'd like a casting."

"She treated the ones that got got last night, but it'll be bit niche outside, you know, us being in the middle of nowhere and coincidentally being attacked by a monster not native to Germina."

"If it's not worth carrying then it's not worth carrying, I wouldn't know," he shrugs.

Do people want Lesser Restorations?

"Maybe you're right if there really is a mass migration of the things."

Yes, people would love Lesser Restorations! They'll pay up to a couple of silver for it; Ilique said it'll wear off in a day or two, but it kind of sucks and they'll be slowing down the pace otherwise.

He casts Lesser Restorations for the highest bidders, and once they've had breakfast and whatnot they can get on with their day.

Yep, they can have an orderly procession going north.

If anybody looks up to chatting he will mention that he got new Skills last night and name them in case someone will tell him what they are.

"Oh, [Dangersense], that's a good one—gives you a bit of forewarning if you're in danger or about to be in danger, like if you're about to be jumped, or if something's going to collapse on you. You can train it better and it gets stronger as you level. Never heard of [Lesser Resistance: Mental], but it probably makes you more resistant to enchantments and so on?"

"That does sound like what it would do but I'm unused to how Skills work here still."

"I don't have [Dangersense] but I hear it described as —a sourceless sense of fear, or anxiety, and with practice you can learn to identify the direction and proximity, how immediate the danger is, pick up on it sooner, even sense the type of threat, though I half-suspect with the last one they were having me on... Neither of them requires activation."

Oh joy. Just what he always wanted. "Thank you."

Despite the trouble of last night, there's no hint of danger through the day. They see a flock of razorbeaks in migration, but, "uncommon, but not noteworthy on its own," someone says.

By evening, they make it to Vesep. It's a humbly sized town, with a different style of construction than the cities he passed through before. Mud-brick houses, painted with colorful motifs and art. Tarps shade the stalls of hawkers catering to travelers. Not much of a visible watch presence, but the markets have armed men lurking if you can spot them.

The caravaners are staying in these two inns for the night; some of the tagalongs are doing the same; Blai can join them if he wants.

"We're heading for Ger tomorrow, then joining another caravan for—Khelt. You're welcome to stick with us until Ger."

"I think that will suit me, thank you."

The next morning, they'll get on the road again. They're expected to be in Ger by night. It's uneventful, again; the weather is particularly terrible, with howling winds and intermittent precipitation thanks to a convergence of winter storms, but none of the blue sprites feel the need to personally bother Blai or anyone else, and the other travelers find it unlucky but unremarkable.

The weather clears a bit by early evening, which gives them good visibility in the direction they're heading towards. Ger, the capital city of Germina, built on a low plateau and resplendent with color even at a distance, is in sight.

...It's smoking. Dark specks congregate on its walls, and outside them.

"Is it supposed to do that?"