"No, I told her I'd be able to Gate back if anything got to be too much for me and promised I'd do it if it did." She did also make Aza endure the sex talk again even though Aza told her like seven times that she is not in fact going to sleep with Ma'ar who, might she remind any nosy maternal influences who might be about, has a physical contact history with her limited to "one hug leading to a weird fight".

"Mmm." 

Ma'ar is distracted now, building the threshold of his Gate. The big archway starts to glow. 

Skan oohs and aaahs appropriately. He's seen Gates before, of course, he does live in Urtho's Tower; his family even went on a trip once through one of the big permanent termini; but he's never seen one of his FRIENDS cast an actual Gate that he was going to go through in order to join them on an ADVENTURE. 

Ma'ar, he thinks, isn't as cool as Azabel, who is the SMARTEST, but he's pretty cool. 

And then it's up! The other end is built on the big doorway of an outlying barn behind one of the farms he remembers passing; hopefully they won't startle anyone coming through, and if they do at least he knows the local language and can reassure them. 

Ma'ar hefts his pack and steps through into...very tall grass, it looks like it hasn't been cut in months or maybe years. Huh. 

Azabel swishes across as quick as she dares so he won't need to hold the gate long. "Wow. The cows are not doing their jobs," she remarks.

"I - think maybe the farm has a problem." He's glancing around. 

"Yeah... at least the barn is still standing, but it doesn't look like anybody's using the land."

"I wonder what happened?" Ma'ar peers around a bit. "- Can't feel anyone nearby. Huh. I...guess the land here is pretty marginal for farming, soil's too rocky. So maybe they got driven out by bandits and no one's bothered reclaiming the fields yet." Shrug. "It's only been two years! I - don't like it. But I guess it's not our problem right now." 

"Okay. Which way do you want to go?"

"We should head to the road. It's that way." He gestures. "And then just a mile or so to the Plains proper." 

She nods and tromps through the swishy grass.

Skan follows, clumsily. Gryphons aren't especially built for tromping, and after a bit he gives up and takes off, flying around and getting a view of the river and road. 

- then, suddenly, he dives, vanishing past some trees. There's a squawk-grunt from some startled animal, and a gryphon shriek of triumph. 

"Congratulations! What'd you get?"

"A feral pig, I think? Or maybe it wass their pig and esscaped."

"...well, I hope it was feral."

"...Oh. I ssupposse it might have belonged to ssomeone. Oops. It - was insstinct, chassing it." 

"If anyone is like 'oh no where's my pig' we can pay them for it I guess... I didn't bring that much but we could go get it."

"I didn't ssee any people on thiss side of the river." Skan is looking with some frustration at the pig corpse. "...I guesss now I have to eat it all or elsse carry it with uss?" 

"I mean, we can cook some to eat ourselves but objectively not very much compared to you."

"I think I won't eat it now, I'm not hungry enough to finissh it and if I sstart it'll be all bloody. - Can you help me get it tied to my pack? I can carry the weight, it'ss not a big pig, but my clawss will get tired if I jusst hold it." 

"Yeah, sure." She lifts it up with magic and attaches it to Skan.

And they resume their trek. Skan isn't noticeably slowed down by the additional forty pounds of dead pig, and flies circles around them as they reach the road and turn left, following it along the river. Past the apparently-abandoned farm is some uncleared land, short scrubby trees that gradually trail off into brush. The river is running low in its banks and the foliage looks half-parched. 

Ma'ar doesn't say much as he walks. 

"Fires must be terrifying around here."

"It wasn't this dry ten years ago," Ma'ar says, distantly. 

They do pass an area where the other side of the river looks recently-burned. The road has already turned into a narrow windy path, and eventually peters out to nothing.

And then Ma'ar stops, looks around. 

"- I think we peel off away from the river now. That way." 

He points. There isn't much to see, just mostly-flat grasslands, occasionally a hint of low rolling hills, as far as the eye can see.