Since the Claw's son decided to shirk his duties as tour guide, Malice, Caithe, and I took it upon ourselves to get familiar with Harvest Den. It's a quaint town. One could easily forget its location in the treacherous wilds of Janthir. Considering our abrupt arrival, the residents have welcomed us with great hospitality, though an understandable cautiousness underlies their warmth. While out and about, I practiced some spear work and trained with the local warclaw, or "journeykin," as they're called here. Both are cornerstones of lowlander culture, and hopefully my participation will be taken as good faith. From the time they're cubs, lowlanders train in both disciplines, ultimately forging a strong bond with both. A wise strategy for survival in such harsh tundra. One strategy the lowlanders are generally less keen on is the use of magic. Aside from herbalism and some other nature-based practices, their comfort with magic has its limits. Quite opposite to the Astral Ward's approach. Some locals are receptive to the ward's outreach efforts though, incorporating magic into their daily trades. Or at least, the kodan are patient enough to humor the ward's whims. Caithe and Malice have also been busy. For a former rogue, Caithe has quite the knack for getting off on the right foot with people. The locals seem rather taken with her, and her with them. This trip seems to be putting some pep back into her petals already. Malice, ever diligent, immediately set to work collecting intel, aka eavesdropping on our hosts. We've heard whispers of "strangers" troubling the locals. Offering our support to the lowlanders could be just the thing to earn their trust and fortify diplomatic ties. But in order to do so, we'll need to gather more intel on these so-called strangers and their whereabouts. Fortunately, we brought the right people for the job. ***