So are you still set on heading to Juniper, to find this beast and slay it? Or maybe just to help the poor folks of Juniper gather themselves together to leave?
After listening to that sodden sap Jiggeri Ajo, I'd think you'd want to stay far away from that doomed town. But no, you're an adventurer. Surely you can survive the beast that has slain dozens of simple townspeople. Townspeople that have defended themselves and their town for many years, many of them seasoned hunters. I'm sure you'll be fine. You'll have a healer with you, right? Like all the other adventurers that come through here, once... and then we never see them again. But I'm sure we'll hear all about your heroic battle with the beast as word comes back through here.
You know, I have a strong feeling there's a group of somewhat competent adventurers will be coming through here in a day or two, and something tells me they'll be headed for Juniper themselves, going after the beast. Mayhap you can join up with them...
Well, you know the way, right? It's not too difficult; just follow the road about a day in that direction. There's only the one fork, and if you go the wrong way you'll run across the chicken farm. That's where the Jolly Pecker gets all the chicken and eggs we serve. Good reliable farm, that. They are just close enough to the tavern to benefit from the... reduced chance of trouble... which seems to center about the place. Beasts and other troubles just seem to stay out of the general area for some miles out from here.
But if you don't want to wait for some more folks to come by and build up a party, at least consult the map so you know where to go. Back there by the fireplace, over the bookshelf - there's a map on the wall of the entire area. Many folks that come through add a touch to it, so you've got some notations that may not be personably useful. There's the Lightning Tree, that's been struck by lightning three times without burning. A cross to mark where some folks have been buried, things like that. If you've got some local knowledge to share, just sketch it onto the map.
The map only covers about a days' travel from here in any direction. Most of that's wilderness, of course, so we focus on local farmsteads and the road in and out. Juniper in one direction, with all that's past there. And in the other direction... well, you came from that way, so you'd know already, wouldn't you? There's a half-dozen towns that are maybe five or six days' walk; I assume you came through one of them. Nothing closer than that except for Juniper. On past those towns would be... the rest of the world, really. All the civilization one can stand. People don't come out this way that enjoy civilization. They come out this way to be in the wilderness, but then they stay close to here or Juniper, all the same.
Well, if you don't know the way to Juniper, you'll want to learn that map and remember what it can tell you. From here, you'll get to that fork in the road pretty quickly, maybe a couple of hours. If you don't go the direction of the chicken farm, you'll almost immediately go through a quick pass into the mountains. The road'll wind from there through rocks and forested areas. Watch for a few small streams for water, and I hear there's some hot springs if you want to stop and bathe. Past that, you'd be hard-pressed not to walk right into Juniper. Assuming nothing stops you along the way, of course - like a big scary beast. Juniper's well outside the no-trouble zone we've got around here, and it seems like maybe they've got more than their fair share right now.
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