The crowd surges back together at the tortoise-kin woman's words, murmuring amongst themselves in tight little clusters, nodding, arguing, nodding again, torches passing hand to hand as the discussion spreads outward through the square in ripples.
It reaches an agreement fast enough, a matter of minutes, not the hour Lucien might have expected, that he starts clapping before they've even properly finished, the kind of speed that suggests this isn't the first time this particular village has needed to summon a goddess on short notice.
"Excellent idea," he says, beaming, already striding over to the old woman. "I've been hoping to meet the Beast Mother anyway. Ever since I first heard her name, actually." He turns to her fully, offering a small, genuine bow. "Thank you for believing in me."
She squints up at him, entirely unimpressed, leaning on a gnarled walking stick that looks older than the village itself. "I'm just trying to get the demon lord lynched, mister."
