Well, I actually went to Mappi Village which was what made me realize it was a scam. But maybe you could have the northern village send the letter to Mappi instead of the other way around (assuming the player went to the northern one first)? It is hard trying to keep a story together while letting the player have freedom to explore, but I really enjoyed the freedom I had in the game since it allowed me to progress at my own pace and do some exploration.
A third village sounds really cool! And expanding on the human-beast relationship sounds really neat. But good luck on your other game!