Okay, I like the idea of being able to look through the telescope up on the hill, but I don't like that it shows you the burning inn. The dragon flying around and the burning nautiloid is fine, though I think that the nautiloid should stop burning after you long rest for the first time. I could maybe see it burning for a few days, but that thing never goes out. Can we at least have it stop burning after 2 or 3 long rests.
Either way, the main point I'm trying to make here is that if you let me look through the telescope at the burning inn but I don't actually get there for several more days, that is hugely immersion breaking. I would rather spy on something else then on something that I may or may not get to for a couple of days.
What about having me look at a couple of things that are more interesting? The dragon is cool and I like that. Don't change that. But how about when I look at the nautiloid I see maybe a goblin milling about picking through the debris. Then suddenly, an intellect devourer jumps out of hiding and possesses the goblin. Something like that would be really cool. I don't ever have to even run into that goblin, but watching something like that happen would be way more interesting.
And then maybe when you look to the right, instead of seeing the burning inn, what if we instead saw the gnolls attacking some random traveler on the road? You could even make it seem like maybe it was Scratch and his master. The image could be somewhat blurry like the Dragon when you originally look at it so that the player can't be quite sure if it is Scratch and his master. That way, regardless of whether you reach that point in the game on that same day or not, it doesn't matter because you aren't quite sure if it was them or not. It could have been them or it could have been another traveler with a dog attacked by the gnolls.
Something like this would be way more interesting and less immersion braking. Most of the time, I don't get to the end for several days after I first arrived at The Grove.
