There are towns in the Toram River region, at least in the area we are currently passing through. We passed quite a few farms, and soon arrived at a place called Aguna. We approached cautiously, still wary after our experience at Terin and Telin. However, Pelmarco claimed he’d been to the town many years before. I guess the place is civilized enough to include several nearby towns, and a minor trade route with Sehol. However, because of its distance from Sehol, a journey of months, and maybe even a year for a round trip by foot, very little trade actually occurs.
Never has a telef wandered this close to Aguna, or so the inhabitants tell us. I guess the telefs prefer to stay away from inhabitated lands. The sight of the five of us riding toward the town followed by the rest of the herd certainly raised the level of concern in the town, so a group of soldiers met our arrival. As soon as they determined we were not a threat, they let us pass. We won’t take the telefs through the town, since that would probably result in the destruction of many buildings, so we left the telefs on the outskirts and went in by ourselves, leaving Rar and Krista’Mil with the telefs. If we’re not back early tomorrow, they’ll bring the telefs looking for us. We ate at a local tavern, and mingled with the locals. It was nice not needing to prepare our own food. I didn’t need to go hunting, and I didn’t have to eat anything Rar and Krista’Mil managed to find.
There wasn’t any new news of importance, just the random bits of gossip that travel faster through these small communities than a stampede of etagas heading downhill. Pelmarco learned of three possible locations of the Red Exemplars, none of which were probable. I think our biggest problem was most of the talk in the tavern involved the appearance of five people riding telefs. Everyone was asking us questions about the animals and the experiences of our travels. I made the mistake of mentioning my journal. A man named Uram demanded I make mention of him, and ensure that Prince Nomolo and Hudena’Sor know they are very welcome to visit his home.