"More akin to a disappearance than a departure." He'd noticed it as well. "The buildings are overgrown and in disrepair, yet the harnesses on the animals suggest that they could not have been gone for too long, in the span of things - unless the animals are particularly long-lived, or the foliage grows incredibly quickly, or both." They cannot rule anything out quite yet, which means any theorizing will be frustrating until they can find some evidence one way or another.