The village head takes a long breath before finally explaining Elyssar's condition. His voice is tired, and there's hesitation in nearly every word, as though he has repeated the same complaints to nobles for so many years that he has stopped expecting anyone to care.
He explains that the village has suffered from what they call a long drought, although the problem isn't truly a lack of water. Water still comes down from the mountain, but it has become undrinkable.
It carries a strange bitterness, and several villagers have become sick after drinking it. They have tried boiling it, filtering it through sand and cloth, and collecting rainwater whenever the sky provides it, but none of those methods can supply enough water for the entire village.
Sienna-Rose's brow furrows as she listens. "Mountain water should be clean."
"It should," Caelum agrees quietly. "Unless something has contaminated the source."
