The three seemed somewhat less wary about her now that she approached and was visibly vexed by being found out. They might know she was a liar but at the moment she was a liar caught in the act.<br/><br/>The men introduced themselves by their first names. The half-orc was Broos, the long haired fellow who adjusted his mane and Hectavia spotted pointed ears, recognizing him to be a half-elf, was Sand and the hunched human called himself Terrence.<br/><br/>"We had another mate, Dillan who got gored by a horned beast further inland." they explained "The deeper you travel towards the middle of the island, the more dangerous it gets."<br/><br/>Broos led them all towards their makeshift homes and started getting the meat ready for cooking while Terrence began setting up a fire, all close by and within earshot of another, a few paces away really. Sand offered a spot for Hectavia to sit on, a branch that he put an empty sack over for seating.<br/><br/>"I can tell you're fairly new in this place or you'd not think that you can escape easily. Whatever your magic can do, we've got a thing going where we can survive at least. You're free to stay with us, in fact you likely need to. There's no settlement in many days a journey and everything that grows or lives on this island is cursed. The way this place works, you'll go crazy without men." the half elf explained.<br/><br/>"The sorcerers send their servants they find no use for here, monsters and humans alike, as well some of their prisoners. They send women from time to time who appear around the island in certain spots, to be turned into willing slaves and breed new servants, monsters and all kinds of nasty living weapons for them to use in their power plays." Terrence added "As far as we could find out, the women are driven insane if they can't mate or drink male seed every now and then, losing control over time. And once they conceive, their minds are erased and they become thralls to the purpose they were sent here for."<br/><br/>Broos nodded and added his own thoughts:<br/>"Everyone is damned here. You can survive with us and will need us to keep your right mind, and your magic could be beneficial to us so we have no reason to play the sorcerer's game and breed you." he stated matter of factly, a straightforward offer if any. "If you don't like that, you can leave. But your hopes will betray you. There is no escape from the island."<br/><br/>"The best we can do is survive out here. There is a town that the 'civilized' people formed here on the island, but you don't really want to go there. Men have to work hard and pay for anything... and women can get anything for free as long as they offer certain favors, so not so free after all." Terrence explained.<br/><br/>"You should also know that food you find here is not safe to eat. Everything is cursed or poisonous when eaten raw." the half-elf added, indicating the work the others were doing, taking some tools from his bag and handing them over to the half-orc who was still busy with the game they brought back, also producing a waterskin and tossing it to Hectavia. "You can drink from that, I recommend portioning it carefully and drinking slowly. Water needs to be boiled and cooled to be purified, even springwater. Otherwise it will have...effects. It turns men aggressive, and sends women into heat. Mixing it with alcohol works as well, but we don't have any of that here. The town across the island has some booze and equipment to make food and water for safe consumption in quantities." As he ruffled  through other things in the pack, Hectavia could spot items like a pot and kettle, a wineskin, likely used to keep water in, a few metal funnels, and a few tools that looked like they belonged to carpenters or shipwrights. Sand caught her looking at the items and glanced up at her and to her tome. "So, what is it you've got in there?"