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Duran brightens. "Well, lass, ''that'' I can tell you something about."

Apparently, Lord Ruairi lives on a large plot of land which is mostly wild forest. You ask if it is a forest with magical beings, but Duran cannot say. 

"It probably has as many as any other forest," he says with a shrug. This isn't very helpful, as a forest can be saturated with magic or filled entirely with non-magical flora and fauna. From the earlier rumors about weird events happening inside and around the forest, your guess is there's quite a bit of magic present in those woods. You'd like to verify, but you let it pass for now, as it is obvious that Duran doesn't have much knowledge about magic in the first place.

It also contains the village Ruairi's men are supposed to meet up with us, and a couple other almost-isolated villages. But otherwise there aren't many people. Lord Ruairi's manor is located on top of a mountain which forms a small island in the middle of lake Aurora. A large, secluded lake. You can only get there by boat, but except for Ruairi's keeper, no one knows how you're supposed to sail there.

"Sounds like a recluse," you remark.

Apparently, he likes to conduct magical experiments at that location. tho that's just a rumor, but where else do you think rumors about fire demons walking the island and weird flashes of light from the mountaintop come from if they're not caused by magical experiments? 

You ask about the defensibility of the area. Duran replies that, While the location itself is easily defended, it isn't a good place for an army as there's nothing to indicate food can be grown on the island, so if it were to be besieged, defenders would soon have to surrender due to a lack of food supplies. Holing up there with a small number of men and enough food however, you could probably hold off an entire enemy army for a long time.

Also, people do not like to approach a mage of Lord Ruairi's caliber. You nod, thinking this makes sense, especially if he is strong enough to set fire to things or summon demons. Although it's only a rumor he's a fire mage. 

The talk evolves into a debate on the pros and cons of defending an area such as Lord Ruairi's land. The casual conversation about a familiar topic puts your mind at ease and you're a lot calmer by the time you 

[[Arturia/Ruairi/Inn on the border of Lord Ruairi's lands *Light_Dress_2*|Arrive at the inn on the border of lord Ruairi's lands where you're supposed to meet with his people]]



{{Princess Status|Equipment=''Light Dress, Fine Longsword''|Health=100|Stamina=85|Mood=Calm|Gold=109|Silver=789|Copper=3185|Possessions=''Valuable jewelry, artful dagger''}}

[[Category:The life of a medieval princess]]