I tell him the whole story about the gallowgale attack and Glint's heroic intervention.

Prota tells Brenelo about the gallowgale attack. Prota characterizes Glint's actions as heroic. 

You tell Brenelo the whole story about the gallowgale attack and Glint's heroic intervention.

Step 111

Brenelo hears tales like this often. His goals include obtaining good rumors to share and making the people he talks to like him. He's had lots of time to practice. [Brenelo is a good listener.] He reacts in appropriately awed and encouraging ways and applauds at the end of the tale. 

It is reasonable to depict Glint's actions as heroic, even though he and Prota negotiated payment afterwards. Glint is unused to being seen in exactly that light, though his stories often make him the center of attention when he visits family or less-traveled acquaintances. He will still volunteer some comments about parts of the action Prota missed. He is fond of giving blow-by-blow accounts of fights he's been in, but he doesn't want to upstage Prota in this conversation. 

Brenelo will not interrupt. After Prota's tale is complete, however, he asks why the gallowgale targeted humans. He would know about their normal behavior, since they are a predator who threatens his flock. Going after a group rather than a lone herbivore is also unusual behavior for gallowgales, but Prota already knows that. 

(Prota's input can be highlighted by mentioning the beginning of the encounter, when it was their idea to get the travelers' attention with a loud form.) 

You relate the story, beginning with how you spotted the travelers and the gallowgale in the distance and asked Glint to get their attention. Your uncle stays silent for most of it, only filling in the gaps when you were occupied with Beldry and the wagon.

Brenelo listens with rapt attention, reacting with gasps and awed exhalations at all the right moments. When your tale is finished, he bursts into applause. "Astounding! Simply astounding! Now there's a tale for the campfires!" He frowns in concentration. "Gallowgale are quite the nuisance for a shepherd like myself, you know. Sheep attract trouble like honey brings flies. But they usually go for lone beasts. Unusual for a gallowgale to go after humans, let alone a wagon-group. Why do you suppose the bird went after the travelers instead of their oxen?" 

None. 

"I don't know! You've never heard of it happening before?"

Prota responds to Brenelo. Prota asks if gallowgale have attacked people before. 

You reply, "I don't know! You've never heard of it happening before?"

Step 112

Brenelo knows that gallowgale tend to avoid humans and go after beasts instead. Humans don't look much like their usual prey animals. It is especially unusual for them to attack groups. Normally they prefer smaller beasts like sheep, and they might go after a lone ox. Their instincts have been modified by Nimue's Rot. The incident is strange in many respects, because gallowgale also don't usually range that far from the Llerwood. Correction: as a flying predatory species that's probably territorial, it should not be that unusual to see gallowgale outside of a specific range. However, Brenelo might remark that there shouldn't be much nesting in the sparsely forested hills nearby, which is new information for Prota. Gallowgale might attack a lone human or child if they were hungry enough, same as a wolf or bear might do. The Pratch would warn their children to be wary of predators and stick to groups. Attacking a group of large animals is dangerous for a flying predator the size of a gallowgale, because they need to land to feed. Even a flock of sheep could be dangerous to them. Fighting to the death is rare. 

Glint has nothing to add at this time. 

Brenelo may also recall a specific incident involving another species. Wolf or bear attacks are common enough to be expected, though still newsworthy. The Pratch have been migrating gree, so they passed the Llerwood in their journeys, though they probably haven't been due rise of the forest for several years. Most of the attacks are more recent than that, so the news will be mostly secondhand. Brenelo might elaborate by describing a rumored deer attack that passed some kind of disease to a cow. (Thus hinting at the nature of Nimue's Rot. The Player has not thus far shown interest in fighting monsters or adventuring towards the Llerwood, but if they obtain an informational magic, it could allow them to learn more about Nimue's Rot and help others resolve it in an indirect way.) 

"Indeed not!" Brenelo shakes his head. "Mind, a hungry gallowgale might go after any lone creature, be they human or beast, but it's rare for them to attack groups, and when they do, they almost always prefer to single out a herd animal on the edge of the flock. Not fond of people - it might be that we spend more time looking up than most animals! On top of that, they tend to give up if their prey is paying attention or puts up any kind of a fight. I've never heard of one fighting to the death like that, and there oughtn't be much in the way of nesting grounds out here - the trees're too short and scraggly. 

"Yes, that's a mighty strange tale. Reminds me of another incident from set of here, a handful of weeks past..." Brenelo explains how, purportedly, a cattle herder saw a lone deer attack a fully-grown cow; though the cow wasn't badly injured, it grew sick and vicious not long after and had to be slaughtered. "They say the meat was half-rancid, too," he adds, shuddering. 

None. 

"- so it had, what, rabies or something like that?" I say.

Prota asks Brenelo if the gallowgale had rabies. 

"- so it had, what, rabies or something like that?" you say.

Step 113

Rabies is a reasonable assumption given what Prota knows. As an experienced shepherd, Brenelo has encountered wild animals and associated diseases before. Glint likely has even more experience with wild animals. Can Glint catch diseases in animal form? If so, it could be a risky power to use. He has already contracted and resisted Nimue's Rot, with treatment, from gallowgale wounds, but Nimue's Rot is a magical disease. Perhaps split the difference. [Glint can catch diseases in animal form, but his already-established rapid healing makes him resistant to most.] 

What will Brenelo and Glint have to say to Prota's comment? Birds cannot catch rabies, though this may not be common knowledge and other diseases exist. Nimue's Rot has a similar mode of transmission, being passed primarily through wounds. It can also travel by sheer proximity, but weakly and only in areas where it afflicts most of the plant and animal life already. Bats are mammals and can have rabies, and an average person in medieval times might think they are more like birds than mammals. Glint is familiar with bats and has turned into one before, so he might notice the differences. Also, Glint and Prota did notice the possible infection and applied woundweal to prevent it. Some of Glint's forms have an acute sense of smell, and he may be able to tell some diseases apart that way. Nimue's Rot doesn't smell like other diseases, but it does cause death and decay and would smell like rot. 

(For the benefit of the Player, Brenelo observes some implications of such a disease.) Most obvious would be increased demand for medicine. The Wellspring Oasis is the largest source of medicine in this region, and it is close enough to the Blue that people are starting to pack up and leave. There may be a shortage in a couple years. Traffic on the Utannic will increase as travelers bypass the Llerwood Way. Brenelo estimates shortages in a year or or so, but that's actually a bit slow; they don't yet know that the affliction is being deliberately spread by Li Voita Nimue. Brenelo will mention this to the Clan Pratchett council while they deliberate about moving. (Brenelo should mention this aloud, hinting to the Player that their actions will impact Clan Pratchett's decision to move.) [Clan Pratchett will decide to migrate sooner rather than later, partially due to Prota's news.] 

"Something like that," muses Brenelo. "I've never known a bird to have rabies, though. Glint, my friend, what say you?" 

"Bats can, I think," your uncle replies, after a pause. "But I've been a bat, and they feel more like flying rodents than birds. That gallowgale didn't smell rabid, either, but it did smell wrong. Almost rotten. And the wounds it made took longer than usual to heal." 

"Even for you?" Brenelo asks. Glint nods. "Worrying, worrying," the shepherd mutters. "If many kinds of animals can catch whatever this is, it could explain the attacks. And with people planning to leave the Wellspring in the next couple years, and all those travelers taking the Utannic to avoid the Llerwood, it could get quite crowded. Might be a shortage of medicine soon, too, when Bluward stops producing so much. I give it a year, maybe less. I'll have to pass this along to the clan council - mayhap they'll make up their mind about moving after all." 

None. 

"Yikes. Maybe we should get Nell to attach hinged sides to the wagon so I can hide under it if we run into another weird-acting animal. And hope the donkey can run for it like last time."

Prota replies to Brenelo and Glint. Prota is making a suggestion, but not yet committing to it. Prota might be only joking. 

You say, "Yikes. Maybe we should get Nell to attach hinged sides to the wagon so I can hide under it if we run into another weird-acting animal. And hope the donkey can run for it like last time."

Step 114

Glint responds to Prota's suggestion. He isn't sure how easy it would be, but Nell can do something like that for a fee. It would take a few days. (Possible plot hook - if Prota decides to get work done on the cart, they might also have an opportunity to work odd jobs in the Clan Pratchett camp while waiting for the work to finish.) Brenelo can note that if Prota wants to stay a while they might find work. 

Would Glint consider it worthwhile to modify the cart that way? Hinged sides might be useful, but they might also get in the way of moving the cart across uneven terrain. Currently the two-wheeled cart's sides do not reach past the bottom of the cart, and only the wheels touch the ground while it's attached to Beldry. This specific idea might be a little complicated to implement, but there could be multiple ways of turning the cart into a marginally useful hiding place. Nell might rig the existing sides to swing 180 degrees downward from the top of the cart to the ground, creating a makeshift wall that is hard for an animal to open. This might cause supplies to fall out of the cart unless there were two layers of side-wall. It's a workable idea, at least, and Glint will support Prota if they decide to try it. 

"That's an idea," says your uncle. "Not sure how it would work, but if anyone can do it, Nell can. It'd probably take a few days, though. We can ask her about it at dinner if you like." 

"If you decide to stay in camp for a while and want to make your purse last," Brenelo adds, "there's always the odd job that needs doing." 

None. 

"Odd jobs like what? I have no idea how expensive Nell's labor would be for this..."