You're Acting Strange

Noronos wasn't very intelligent, at least not compared to humans.

Its intelligence was about on par with that of a ten-year-old child. It was also naturally quick-witted, so Anse didn't need to direct it at all.

Anse was glad to have some peace and quiet, and silently brought up Noronos's Character Sheet.

It was the most unusual thing about Noronos: it had its own Character Sheet on the Dice!

"He has experience and levels. Does that mean he can level up?" Anse stroked the stubble on his chin, deep in thought.

He tried to give Noronos some experience, but its Character Sheet didn't budge.

"There must be something different about it."

After several more attempts, he still had no clue, so he gave up for the time being and focused on the road.

The weather was hot, and the road was difficult to travel. Afraid of tiring Noronos out, he stopped to rest several times.

He also used Freezing Ray to make some ice, wrapped it in a waterproof tarp, and used it to help everyone cool off.

Noronos was a fairy and could draw energy from magic or nature spirits. It didn't need much food, but it still got tired and needed to rest and eat from time to time.

At lunch, it took a liking to raw crab meat and polished off more than ten pounds by itself. After that, it seemed much friendlier toward Finn.

After Anse fed it its first ice cube, it took a liking to ice, too.

As they traveled, Anse had to feed it a few pieces every so often.

The man and horse enjoyed interacting so much that neither of them felt tired, and time flew by.

The wilderness was vast. At first, they still saw groups of refugees and the occasional corpse, but the farther they went, the fewer people they saw. By afternoon, they could hardly see anyone at all.

After more than half a day on the road, Brat and Finn were exhausted and listless. Only Anse and Noronos remained full of energy.

Riding a horse didn't tire him, of course, and now that they were out of mortal danger, everything he saw seemed interesting.

Unfamiliar plants and flowers, strange beasts and birds, unusual landscapes...

He'd only been in this world for a few days, and everything still felt new. He wasn't bored at all.

Brat glanced at the sun, no longer so glaring, and asked weakly, "How much farther to the West Coast?"

"We're more than halfway there. At most another twenty li," Anse estimated.

The "li" he referred to was a unit of distance in Faerun. Twenty li was about thirty-two kilometers.

Baldur's Gate sat on a natural bay, about sixty or seventy kilometers from the river mouth. Even a medium-sized sailing ship would take more than ten hours to get there.

Brat pointed to a patch of green to the south. "Haven't we gone off course? Is that Cloakwood Forest?"

"It might be an extension of Cloakwood Forest." Anse took out the map, uncertain.

"We should've stayed in one of the villages we passed," Brat said regretfully. They'd seen two villages from a distance along the way, but hadn't stopped at either.

"There's a village ahead called... Giant Red Deer Village." Anse pointed to the map.

"Mm." Finn nodded. Gray Hawk had spotted it, too.

"How far?" Brat perked up.

"Just past that patch of woods."

"Let's go."

Following Gray Hawk's directions, they headed southwest for more than ten minutes, passed through a sparse patch of woods, and saw a village ahead, with perhaps a few dozen households.

"Good terrain," Brat remarked.

The area was flat and dry, with no standing water. The ground had clearly been paved, making it a good place to rest.

"Why isn't there a single person?" Anse frowned slightly. The place was far too quiet.

"This is an abandoned village, right?" Brat looked closely at the dilapidated, collapsed buildings.

"Look." Anse shook his head and pointed to the messy tracks and wheel ruts around them. "It might be abandoned, but a lot of people have definitely been here."

Finn crouched to study the ground for a moment, then said with certainty, "Some are old, some are new. There are tracks from today, too."

"Maybe refugees," Brat guessed. "The village is marked on the map, after all."

Anse looked at Finn. "Are there any monsters or beasts nearby?"

"No monsters, and no large beasts." Finn shook his head.

"Let's take a look inside."

Anse and the others readied themselves and entered the abandoned village in formation.

But apart from the mess and the dust covering everything, there were no corpses or other things strewn about.

Still, for some reason, Anse couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

They had only just ventured deeper into the village when a dark head poked out of a window in a wooden house in the distance. It had a long snout, curved horns, and black scales...

The group was startled and immediately took up fighting stances.

"Looks like a Dragonborn," Brat warned them.

There were plenty of Dragonborn in Baldur's Gate, and everyone had seen them before. But they looked so different from humans that seeing one appear so suddenly was still a shock.

Just then, the door of the wooden house opened, and several people came out. Other than the black Dragonborn, they were all human.

Every one of them carried a weapon and wore armor, mostly Studded Leather Armor. The colors and styles were similar, but there didn't seem to be any spellcasters among them.

The holy symbol hidden against Anse's chest suddenly grew scorching hot. His heart tightened, and he immediately gave the others a warning glance.

Perhaps afraid they might misunderstand, the black Dragonborn approached them empty-handed while the others stayed where they were.

"Hello." The Dragonborn's voice sounded like metal striking metal, low and powerful, with a rumbling echo at the end.

He looked Anse and Noronos up and down, his eyes widening in surprise. "We're from Aralon and are headed to Baldur's Gate. We stopped here to rest for a while. Are you coming from Baldur's Gate? I heard something happened there. How are things now?"

Aralon was the largest island in the Moonshadow Isles, facing Baldur's Gate across the sea.

Anse remained calm. "The river mouth breached its banks last night, and the Livington District flooded. We left in a hurry, so we don't know what things are like now."

"I see." The black Dragonborn's eyes shifted. It was hard to read any expression on his lizard-like face. "I heard the city proper in Baldur's Gate collapsed and a large number of Underdark Creatures appeared. Is that true?"

"I heard about that, too, but I haven't seen it myself, so I can't say for sure." Anse gave a faint smile and continued playing dumb.

While they talked, he had already seen through the other man's information:

[Amnian **Elite**, Dragonborn, level 3 Barbarian (Berserker)]

Clearly, the other man had been lying!

The black Dragonborn had hit a wall with Anse again and again. He clearly knew Anse was deliberately avoiding the question, but couldn't do much about it.

He casually glanced around and pointed at the house behind him. "We're staying in this wooden house. The others are all empty. Pick one for yourselves."

With that, he waved and turned to leave.

Anse narrowed his eyes. He'd wanted to see more of their information, but hadn't expected the other man to leave so quickly and decisively.

"We're leaving, too." Anse waved. Noronos strode off, turning onto another village road.

The group hurried through the village without stopping.

"That Dragonborn had an odd accent. It sounded like one from Amn," Brat said thoughtfully.

"How can you tell?" Anse slowed his pace. He knew Brat was from the Dragon Coast, which wasn't close to Amn.

"I've been there. Amn is wealthy, but they charge you for everything." Brat shook his head ruefully.

"You're very perceptive," Anse praised him. "The people and the place both feel wrong. We're not camping here."

"I was thinking the same thing," Brat replied.

"Mm." Finn agreed.

Outside the village was a modest lake, its surface sparkling in the light. Thick vegetation surrounded it, and the scenery was pleasant.

Anse noticed clear signs of cultivation around the lake, though for some reason the land had been abandoned.

They followed the lake's north shore and crossed a tall grassy slope. A temporary camp suddenly came into view.

Two or three dozen tents were scattered along the lakeshore, and dozens of people were busy at work. Some were clearing land, some were fishing, and children and elderly folk were playing.