#both villages have other less destructive/intrusive ways to grow and harvest food

[incendiorum]

dragon io is, as I've mentioned, just... stupidly, ridiculously territorial and their valley certainly falls under that in its entirety. there have been many, many settlements over the centuries, and each have succumbed to various fates (usually dragon-related). currently, there's two villages that io currently allows to inhabit their valley, but they are always, always watching them with a critical eye. the moment they get too into the idea of growth is when io will rid the valley of both and call it a day. they do the work to make sure both villages properly understand the relationship: so long as they are quiet, make no moves against the dragon living above them, and don't start tearing up the valley for crops or homes, then their local watchful super-predator will (mostly) leave them alone. every movement into and out of the valley is tracked, and the presence of groups of armed people is something that they will not stand - said groups get chased out or straight-up attacked depending on the mood for the day. the presence of other dragons always results in the latter of those two options. the villages are... sometimes liable to get caught in the crossfire, though. an attack on io is nothing short of encouragement to make themself known as dangerous and pissed, and they will burn great swathes of their valley and the villages, too, just to make that point. mostly, though, io really isn't inclined to mess with them much and the two (three) live in relatively tense peace. there's also the fact of the matter that io is lonely, and can pass through both villages in their most human of forms as disguise and fulfill social requirements (be an asshole, buy some fruit, etc.)