Thank you so much for the feedback! And yes I will be editing wording for clarity (and terrain types doh my bad) but you played the game the way it should be.
In resume, yeah you got super lucky. Imagine you are wandering the valleys where there are supposed to be creatures appearing. Bow in hand, attentive. You climb a couple hills and traverse some ditches, but you come empty handed. Bad luck? No. This means this people are safe, but you still need to find these creatures, you owe it to everyone you didn’t protect.
So what do you do? You keep wandering and get to a next location carrying the banner of the shamed hero…