There was something very familiar about this person. A recognition sparked within Philomel about the flame red hair and the determined personality. For a moment she frowned as she tugged on the bandana around her mouth, but then she nodded, glancing to Lilthis. A doctor would be useful here. Far more useful than Philomel herself could be.

Carefully the faun took a step back, still holding some of the dry trail ration she had offered to the young family. She breathed in slowly, and then began to relate what the woman - Eleanor - had said.

"Something was ill when the volcano exploded," she said in a low voice, hooves uneasily clattering on the ground. "A poison in the air, something in the ash that fell here and seems to have - well poisoned the air and water." She sniffed slightly. "I was riding past on my dragon when I saw the town. The water is black, and it seems like death has been around a while. Eleanor here says that the figure outside," she motioned towards the window where the dead body had been, "is her husband."

She concluded with a murmur. "We need to go carefully here."

The Matriarch considered all she had seen outside. The abandoned streets. The water grey with soot. The corpses hidden but still in plain sight. The carrion crows searching and finding it easy to gain prey. Some doors had been marked with a black cross for death, others had been left open, the wind blowing ash and leaves and dirt into the houses whose occupants were long deceased. It was a town, truly in ruin, and this red head was right. Those few survivors who might be there - they had to find them. They had to search. For though they were likely few and far between it was probable that soon the death would come for all.

The town had to be emptied.

"I will start in the back streets," she concluded. "And find survivors. I can carry easily." Her strength was clear, by her build. She blinked in the dull light, the air thin with a constant hazy mist. Not something one wanted to breathe in, this ashfall. "We can meet back here." She paused.

"I am Philomel. This is Lilthis. It seems misadventure has brought us all here."