Ruin's Gate 22: The Bear, part 1

CONTENT WARNINGS: animal death, detailed description of injury to animals

Wildlife on Antarras was puzzling to the first settlers, who had never known any animals besides those few they’d encountered on Earth, the rare ones left in the wake of a mass extinction on the planet they were running from. Aside from horses, which the settlers had brought with them, they found themselves face to face with creatures the likes of which they’d never seen, and not knowing precisely what else to call them, they gave them borrowed names. An animal what flew became a bird, or a raven, or a vulture. One that slithered close to the ground they called a snake. A dog-sized four legged scavenger was a coyote, or a jackal. And a huge predator with massive teeth and terrible claws became a bear—less a species distinction, and more a warning, like language had a memory that would teach anyone who heard it to keep their distance lest they find themselves prey. 

This week, on Ruin’s Gate: A stranger comes looking for aid.

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