In a musty corner, three grisled men sat lazily around a ale-stained table. Two lithe men with weathered faces and wolf pelt jackets reclined against the wall behind them and shared a pipe, each taking long drags from it in turn. The third was a heavy, bald man had a square face framed by a thick, wiry beard. He torn into the plates of sauced meat and bowls of rice. As Mamoru approached, cords of tight muscle shifted under the man's bulk betraying his overweight pearancece. 

The other two lithe men sitting turned away from their pipes, and regarded him with cordial, if somewhat cautious looks.
The larger man, with his jowls still packed with rice, greeted Mamoru with a boisterous flair.

"Mamoru, Come! Sit with the Great Yama!" 
He gestured to the open space on the floor next to him. 

"Unless my ears fail me, you're hunting bears, no? Dangerous business these days. Haven't you heard the rumors? It's already killed three people." 
He swallowed another mouthful, before nodding toward the two men sitting across from him.

"Nobu and Sei could tell you more. They found just found a mauled corpse on the road, halfway to the next village."
The two trappers shot Yama a scathing glare for a moment, both reluctant to be included in this conversation. After a long pause, Nobu began. 

"There's not much to say. The road north has always been dangerous. Bears, tigers, and snakes.... Pick a season. If you're on the road, guaranteed some beast will see you as its next meal."

Sei shrugged and drew a long breath from his pipe, ambivalent to the topic.