He raises a hand, going with that one; myths and legends are often fifth and sixth hand, at best, in most places, and here, well. "Some of the main keepers and tellers of such stories are priests - people with their own stake in the matter." Speaking directly to their gods only made it less likely they'd share anything too accurate outside of people with assurances of loyalty.

"A good number of us have. My own household is split on both sides, and I've watched others have verbal fencing matches about which side has better benefits. It's not quite the war they were hoping for." If the area had more human traffic he'd be more careful, but people had scattered away well; the increased skittishness after Rota had that benefit, and it wouldn't be the first time he'd erred on "less secrecy about it with new arrivals = less odds of something blowing up".