Lilly fidgeted with a loose knob on her gauntlet. She had intended to tighten that one prior to departing from the last middle-of-nowhere town. There were several things that the Alerian woman had done in the past few years that had been out of her comfort zone. Waltzing around a disease ridden town of plague infested humans certainly ranked near the top of her discomfort list.

The faun made a good point, if this thing could be prevented then maybe it was possible the pair hadn't been exposed yet. If nothing else wrapping the fabric around her face would ease her nerves a bit. With warm eyes and a smile the dark elf replied, "thank you, I think that's for the best." She worked quickly and firmly pressed the torn cloth against her mouth and nostrils before tying it as taut as she could muster.

As Lilthis regained her composure the widow before them re-raised her head. She looked completely dreadful. Dirt was encrusted around frazzled tan hair, her lips had faded in color, and her eyelids refused to fully open. Faintly and desperately she whimpered, "I-I am... Eleanor. I appreciate whatever ye can spare." Eleanor's thought process was interrupted as she hacked out a painful deep cough. Nearly succumbed to whatever sickness had preyed upon this dwelling the tired woman was so resigned to her condition that she did not bother to cover her mouth or tilt her face away from the pair of visitors she had.

Certainly rude no matter the circumstance, the privileged elf thought to herself.

Wiping a bit of bile and saliva from her lips the sickly mother tried to remain helpful, "dunno if there be anyone left here. I not been out of me house in oh... six days? Seven? Lost.... track..." Sniffling lightly and then following that with a long wet intake of oxygen she formed the words, "most had already died, when me Rob... me poor husband... he became nearly bedridden. Still tried to go find he's family a bit of help... what a good man."

It was probably proper at this time to inquire about the children. Or offer up the food that Philomel had rumbled through in her pouch. But ever curious and trying to keep her mind off whether or not the elf and her deer-toed companion were in danger the young Alerian thought instead of the possibilities. Had this been some form of contamination in the village's food supply? An outbreak of some vermin infection? Had somebody poisoned the waterhole? All equally intriguing in their own right but the ebony skinned inventor just had to understand this further. Speaking through her homemade gas mask the elf asked, "what happened? How did everyone start getting sick? Do you know what date or time of day?"

The raggedly dressed woman looked up at the inquisitive dark elf. A bit taken aback by the quick succession of questioning. After her brief shock she proceeded, "I-I don't know exact... but sometime after the explosion, that uh... volcano explosion. There were black smoke or soot or somethin' all around these parts and...", she paused a bit. Despite seeming visibly uneasy she continued, "it started poisonin' folk around here. Me neighbors, me kids, all of us... never seen nuthin' like this and I been here me whole life..."

As Eleanor concluded the younger Lilly's eyes drifted up towards the ceiling. "Fascinating," she thought to herself. Though she did have to stop herself from blurting it out loud. That may be a tad inappropriate right now. Somehow the ash from the volcano must've infected these villagers. Could it still be in the air within and around the village? How widespread would the ash have traveled?

Lilly's shoulders relaxed a bit as she turned towards Philomel and said, "we need to do something for them."