:: Themadale, Savanna Settlement ::

As you approach the settlement ahead on the sweltering, parched savanna, you are met with the sight of a hauntingly roomy collection of buildings. As you get closer you realize that the largest is a clinic, with several duckfolk coming and going, all with head trauma. Near the cairn at the edge of the settlement's boundaries, you overhear a young bórean chastising a leonian cub:

"No more going to the shallow cave, Gwandoya. From here on out, you can go no further than the glen. Just because you run a bookshop doesn't mean you're immortal. Look at the other folk who went looking for the buckler. I know they say it's gold, but who's seen it? And the pendants of protection the clinic keeps passing out clearly don't work."