IWUAaDNW: Exploration 2.3, 2.4, Interlude 2.tk, Growth 3.1, Initiative 6.4, 6.6

"Our village will be moving close to here. We have much we can give you--many types of materials, many products as well, and of course our dead. We would offer you those things, in exchange for the wealth you will generate. Your loot, and crafting materials from your minions. We can both help each other grow."

This... sounded like a good deal? I knew what loot was, and assuming they were paying back the mana it took for me to make that loot, I wasn't against making it for them; having a bunch of people with an interest in keeping me safe seemed like a good idea.

—IWUAaDNW: Exploration 2.3



As I stared at the orange and yellow horizon, trying to catch a first peek of my new incoming neighbors and feeling a bit like a lot of trouble was coming my way, I reflected that this whole thing could have been a lot simpler if my info box hadn’t apparently been written by an idiot.

—IWUAaDNW: Exploration 2.4



It would take three more days to finish preparations, but not all of the village needed to wait. Nor, in fact, did the village possess enough beasts of burden to transport everyone's belongings; too many of the beasts were too young to carry loads, and many of those that had brought them here had been slaughtered for food, leather and bones. It had been agreed that a third of the village would leave the following evening, travel during the night and start setting up after sunrise.

—IWUAaDNW: Interlude 2.tk



It was early morning, slightly past the point when the sky took its daytime color, that I spotted the villagers for the first time. To be more accurate, I spotted the cloud of dust their beasts and their carts raised as they approached; there was, by all evidence, a good number of them, but they were too distant to tell more.

—IWUAaDNW: Growth 3.1



“The second announcement I have to make is that we are going to be visited by The Shade.”

Tension rose once again. The villagers seemed to be already aware of him judging from their reactions, which spanned from interested to several flavors of worried.

“We do not want him to learn about Taylor, or any of our newcomers,” Kamella continued. “Information he does not know is something he cannot sell, after all. But for that reason, a certain amount of subterfuge will be necessary. We are going to have to pretend that we haven’t moved from our previous encampment.”

—IWUAaDNW: Initiative 6.4



Also, Puck had a role that fit it much better. While Tyr's Mirabella was a patient and dutiful observer––surprisingly so, for a pixie––it wasn't exactly the strongest fighter around, and couldn't be made to react if I spotted anything of note through its eyes, unlike Puck. For those reasons, my oldest contract was sent out to patrol the area between The Shade's caravan and the real village. It was a wide area, but Puck was fast and far more resilient than regular pixies.

—IWUAaDNW: Initiative 6.6