New information obtained during session 1
Reports conflict on form: one villager speaks of a serpent braided from vines; another insists on a stag whose antlers have learned to root and drink; a third swears entire trees leaned where no breeze urged them. Patterns align despite disagreement. When the presence is near, birds forget their errands and insects postpone theirs. Timbers voice a low complaint although the air holds still. Paths seem to move a little the way a sleeping body moves to ease a pinched nerve. Some link the fog's thickening to the week of Pierre's arrival; others call that an easy story. Rowan records correlation without conclusion. His practical advice is unromantic: go softly, spare the bark, do not let fear bargain away courtesy. Until there is clearer sign, he treats the so-called Root and Branch not as a trophy to be hunted nor a parable to be solved but as a boundary the village must learn to approach without losing its shape.