Kaliban seems satisfied with the exchange, appreciative of Alasayn's generosity.
With a nod, the man leads you to the paddocks to retrieve your purchased animals. They baa softly as they're roped up and handed over to Hildeberg who he judges the most capable. After a remind about the price for fresh milk, he looks over the group again. "Do you want something else from me?"
What's the limiting aspect, here... grazing land? Lack of water? Or something else?
He leans against a post, "Both. Field needs watered on occasion. No weathersmiths out here, usually. The well only pulls up so much."
Hmm... so a little more water would go a long way. Deeper well? Any springs?
I'm not used to this, just thinking on it.
"There's a one. Only reason people bother staying out here, aside stubbornness." he looks to the field, watching as his heard meanders about nipping at the scruffy grass. "Rain'll come back one day. Rain you don't need to pay gold for."
He holds up the small pouch of coins handed over to him as a point.
So, feeling is the Weathersmiths... like it this way? Or less directly... if things went back to normal, as nature intended... there would be less need of them, and less payments to them.
Kaliban tries to not put words in the man's mouth or sem accusatory.
Didn't hear it from you, Sir. Again, just trying to understand... and help.
Alasayn furrows his eyebrows. A worrying thought had put itself together.
Were the Weathersmiths complicit in this? And if they sought to end the curse, would the Weathersmiths try to stop them?
Emma Jane just nodded, her eyes distant as if in thought.
Hilde goes quietly about the business of making a sloppy mess of the space the goats are hung in. She'll contain the mess if the tools are at hand to do so (like buckets to catch the blood).
Business concluded at the ranch, Hildeborg having been joined by the rancher to help salt and prepare the carcasses for storage. With the strange air food can take longer to spoil, but it's always best to eat quickly as you can. While thoughts of the troll starting with his own herd of goats may've crossed some of the party's minds, the reality of the situation was the creature would likely have just eaten the beasts whole during the journey. At least now, you had meat you could use for yourselves.
One potential last stop awaits the party before it departs, as the thought lingers to visit the general store for last-minute supplies and to report back to the mayor. It's likely he's not going to be pleased about the monster being shown mercy, but perhaps he could be shown the benefits of it's departure.
"Should we get climbing stuff if we're going up a mountain?" Dawn asked.
Hard to say with the curse... cold weather gear? I usually stick to areas with decent temperatures and don't even have a tent.
Know/Geography:
Emma Jane considers what she knows about the region they're heading to, relating to weather gear, steepness of the climb, etc.