"HUH," WIL breathed, overwhelmed and a bit shock-stupid as they paused on the ridge, staring out over the camp. "I thought I smelt cows."
There had to be more than a hundred of them--people, not cows--spread out in various clusters below, campfires set in front of tents that fanned out along the riverside in small constellations. It was lighter down there than where they now stood, still screened inside the cover of the trees. Dusk was only beginning to snatch at the fringes of the lingering gold of failing daylight, and shadowed only slightly the various faces of the people below. Torches were only now being lit, a loose circle around the knots of tents and fires.
It wasn't like up at the caves. These people looked settled in, as if they'd been here for a while and planned to stay for a while more. Chickens clucked and scratched down by the strand, several goats wandering among them and bleating irritation at their fusty complaints.