Five, huh.
Kind of a significant number in Creation, that.
They almost certainly want to talk to Aindriu; depending on how much trust is granted, those two escorts could be considered to be doing a favor or taking hostages.
Interesting question in why they want to talk to our heroine, though.
Are they looking for a Celestial Exalted in general, and Aindriu's just the one who's practical to locate, Blasphemy and all? Or are they trying to make contact with the Yozis for some reason?
They probably know more about Creation's cosmology than Aidriu does, regardless - and gods can have many and varied opinions on history.
You can definitely assume they're looking for something 'in the area' - it's not necessarily specifically 'an Exalt', but it's probably a person, with a specific site of interest a little north of where they are now. They don't know
who, but they know that between the region and what they picked up about Aindriu from interviewing the refugees it
might be what they're looking for.
They may not actually want a conversation - it's a reasonable thought, but Fionola's fears aren't baseless. They've sworn their word of honour that they'll get her back to the group safely, and that carries
meaning in a premodern culture like this. But there are always people willing to break that word, and they haven't actually specified what happens
after she gets back (whether that's 'look I didn't think I had to clarify I was gonna breathe' or 'exact words, she doesn't have to live longer than a minute after she gets back' is open to Fionola's paranoia).
So it's a question of how much of what they've said you
believe, and what it means if it is true.
just you wait until the disguised druid dragon-blooded kill team reveal themselves
This is what Fionola fears - not specifically 'Wyld Hunt', but 'god-sent kill team'. I will say it's probably not a Wyld Hunt. Fionola radically overestimates Heaven's reaction speed.
This is a pretty meaningful distance out from the most developed regions of Creation. Aindriu Exalted about a week ago. The
closest Yu-Shan gateway is about a month's travel away. By, like, airship, not walking. The Realm and Wyld Hunt resources are even farther out. 'Something happened' is known in Heaven, but Infernals are Outside Fate so it's difficult to get details on 'hey it was a Celestial Exaltation yo'. Even if a team was deployed to act or investigate, it'd be quite some distance away as of yet.
So, basic story: Heaven and Bronze Central
may be semi-aware of what's up here and have a response on the way, but it's a long ways off from Pretannia. Any opposition Aindriu is dealing with right now is local, whether from direct observation (her dustup with the Rokan-jin), or from some kind of sensors over the region. The fastest things she's gonna see from the big guys are responses to
completely different issues that just happened to be in the area and stumbled across her, no response to
her from Heaven or the Realm is at all likely to be in Pretannia before she's gone to Hell. It's just too far out.
With that in mind, 'probably not Wyld Hunt' doesn't necessarily count out 'godblooded kill team'. They likely weren't dispatched by a central agency, but they could have been dispatched by their
local divine parent/s (or ancestors, Malessan beastmen are basically swirling with divine blood so the divine ancestry doesn't have to be
recent to recombine into a proper godblood), if said parent had senses or devices that indicated something of concern happened. Those would be pretty substantial senses or devices for a place out in the boonies like this - even Heaven's toys have a hard time telling what's going on with Infernals especially, though proximity could help - but it's not an impossibility.
