At dawn break we were still chatting. Lea held a lot of valuable information for us even though she didn't know.
At first she was reluctant to talk, but once she started there was no stopping her.
She told us many things about different beasts and about the sacred empire. It did seem like a nice place to visit during peaceful times, but right now they were waging war against the feral beast kin that lived in the wastelands to the east. The people from the sacred empire were under constant attack and even the routes weren't safe to travel.
Of course they wouldn't stand idle and let it happen, they actively hunted for any non human race and enslaved them. Instead of taming creatures with patience, love and a lot of food, they simply crafted slave collars that would either torture or kill the bearers if they refused to follow commands.