The sky was clear this day. The morning mist shrouded the ground vegetation, making it a bit fresh. A young woman was leaning against an oak's trunk, her legs against her chest, her eyes closed. She was breathing out heavily, she was trying to calm her internal turmoil, a vice-like grip around her heart so strong that it could make her suffocate. A rustling was heard in the bushes. Then, a wild scream. The young woman opened her eyes and came face to face with a deer. She stuck to the tree behind her, but the animal stopped suddenly. They stared, it seemed as if time had stopped for a second. Then the deer fell, shot by a crossbow bolt. An old man came out of a bush.
« Are you alright ? Any wound ?» he asked.
« No » she answered while getting up.
« You are lucky, lassie. A beast which stop suddenly like that, I have rarely seen it in my entire hunter career »
« Really ? »
« Yes, those things usually happens only with elves or feys. »
« Oh » she said after a silence. « Thank you, anyway. »
Whereas the sun was rising on Baldur's Gate, the leaves of the trees rustled gently under the wind. Seamen weighed anchor in the salted air of the harbor. Onlookers began to fill the narrow streets. Inside her cluttered room, a young woman just had open her midnight blue eyes, gold glints unveiling in the morning light. She got her hand out of her bedsheet to grope around for her headband on her bedside table. She didn't find it, so she put up with her sheet on her head to get up. Once arrived in front of the only tiny mirror of the room, she sighed : her dark hair, although most of people found it magnificient, constanty reminded her of her hybrid origin. The sunlight revealed hints of pink among it. They naturally behaved in an organized chaos, and reached her thin shoulders. She hastened to take some hair clips to tie them in two little buns, one on each side of her head. It laid bare her pointy ears, which she considered as enormous compared to those of a human or even an elf. One more hurtful reminder of her past, her present, and without doubt her future.
Once dressed, she took a look at the window : the street had already begun to be swarming with passers-by of all kinds. But she would need to rush into it to leave this city. Her bag was already done, her belongings were packed up : there was not much, only some clothes, a recipe book, and her grandma's doll. She would buy supplies, and she could go.
Barroca slip into her cloak and took a last look at her cluttered room : despite everything she remembered some happy moments, the tense in her chest removed her fleeting nostalgia. She turned the key in the lock and the feeling flew away. Elfsong's tavern had already begun to fill despite the early hour, or those people haven't left yet. Next to it, there was a little grocer's shop which didn't look like much, but wherein one could always find what he needs at anytime.
« Here it is, my doe ! » said the grocer, holding forth a bag of food.
« Thank you, Asphodrida ! » Barroca answered with a smile. « I know I can always count on you. »
« You're welcome ! » the halfling said. « So you are really leaving, are you sure ? »
« Yes, I'm sick of this city. I'm going back to Waterdeep, I felt good here back in the day. »
« More important is that you're happy ! In all cases, I'll miss your music... »
Barroca heard some regret in her voice, but her mind was made up, and she was decided to leave the city within the hour.
« Goodbye, Asphodrida. Take care of yourself, and of the children above all. »
Heading to the city's way out, the bard passed in front of the Stormshore Tabernacle. She decided to go there to offer a prayer.
« Oghma, lord of Knowledge, may you allow me to find the answers I'm searching so much. Put on my path the Idea which would move the mountains of lore. »
She thought again of the meeting she had weeks ago, with the deer and the old hunter. What he said was what made her once and for all leave this city. She had to go into somewhere else, in some lore that she haven't yet dusted off.
She turned back and she stared the city's gate until she reached it. There were countless people waiting there, they had come from far away to seek refuge in Baldur's Gate. In front of this scenery, the young woman dropped her eyes and put her indigo hood. She was keeping in mind her objective : the City of Splendors, Waterdeep.
Her first day of travel passed slowly. Barroca was looking around her, dreaming of her future life. She heard the birds sing, and she sang with them. First they fell silent, then they continued even more, combining their voices with hers. She took out her flute and played the « air of spring ». The sparrows were delighted and one of them came to rest on her shoulder.
« How would I have liked to bring you with me » Barroca whispered, « but you will be better with your own kind. »
She played a long last note and continued her road. When the evening began to fall, she decided to put up camp in a sheltered place, not far from the Chiontar's bank. The night was quiet, even if Barroca didn't sleep a lot. She wasn't used to travels, at least alone. She had the habit to go with caravans of traders which go from one city to one another.
The next morning, she took the road with peace of mind. When suddenly, a deafening noise was heard, making the area trembles. Then, it was complete darkness.
The air was heavy, unbreathable. It was not too hot nor too cold, it was heavy. Barroca woke up, slowly but surely, a buzzing carressing her ear. Sinister lappings made her totally awake. She slowly wagged and realized that something was containing her. As she opened her eyes, she only saw a glassy membrane similar to a gut tighted before her, she gasped of disgust and the tissue opened in a sucking noise. There was a mind flayer. His stare was empty, but his eyes had an eerie glow. Barroca swalloded, terrified. She had read works mentioning these beings, thinking that she would never like to meet a flesh and blood one. His clawed hand was holding what seemed to be a worm, or at least a voracious caterpillar. The more he approached it closer to his victim's face, the more it was wriggling of excitation. Barroca tried to move, to close her eyes, even to scream, but she couldn't. A few centimeters away from her eye, the worm displayed a myriad of tentacles and opened a mouth adorned with sharp fangs. Again, it was complete darkness.
Suddenly, there was a huge smash, such as Barroca was thrown out of her cage. She fell down on her hand and knees on the floor believing she had just awakened from a bad dream. But when she looked in front of her, she saw that the nightmare had just begun : flames were dancing in each corner, bodies lying here and there. The ground was vibrating under her hands, and there was a hot breeze, so hot that it was nearly burning her skin. She got up regaining her senses, she had to flee from this hell. The young woman ran to an open breach on the wall and her sight became crimson : her captor had seemingly turned up into Avernus. The images of the devastated battlefield down below finished her plunge into despair.
« You ! »
The bard jumped : a githyanki warrior had appeared suddenly before her, wielding a sword as large as her. She had dark red hair, braided and upped in a bun, showing her face with black marks. She had big brown eyes, with a pupil similar to a cat's one. When she met her eyes, Barroca felt an intense headache : frames of dragons and silver swords scrolled before her, then she saw herself with the eyes of the githyanki. She seemed to live the same experience, suddenly holding her head, and she finally let her guard down.
« It seems that you are still yourself, at least for now. Come, we must find a way out. »
She had not the time to think and she ran after this woman. They used a wall-less ramp, and there was red dragons twirling around the smoky red sky. Back between walls, they came face to face with imps.
« Time to strike ! » the githyanki chanted.
She directly rushed on one of the fiend. Seeing her fighting so bravely, Barroca brought her flute to her shaking lips and tried to play a heal word. One of the ennemies noticed her and charged. She moved back and fell on her bottom up against a wall, she felt the ground with her hand in the hope of finding something to defend herself and she catched a metallic object. Fortunately, the githyanki jumped on the imp who collapsed in a scream. They continued to run in the ship and soon found themselves in a room surrounded by boxes.
« Help me ! »
Barroca stopped. It seemed that another person managed to survive. The other woman frowned.
« We have no time » she threwed.
« Please ! There must be a mean to get me out ! See the device close by. »
It was a viscous pile, as they had seen some on their path. Above it there was a notch which seemed to be able to contain a little object. Barroca looked at her walk-on who was watching her with a menacing glare. The githyanki was indeed right, but she had not the heart to let someone conscious in this place. She suddenly remembered the object she found a bit earlier. It matched perfectly in the device which started up in a humming. She felt the parasite dancing in her head, answering, and a sensation of authority. She understood that she maybe could use it, she focused and ordered the box to open.
« Thank you, I believed I was done »
It was a half-elf woman with shadowed green eyes. She dusted her legs, her long black braid ondulating.
She took a suspicious look at their companion in misfortune.
« As I see you hang out with dangerous people. »
« Do you have a problem with giths ? » the red-haired answered back. « From now on you will do as I say, and you will follow me. »
« How so ? Who choosed you as the leader ? »
« Kainyank. »
« Hum, calm down » the bard stuttered. « Let's try to get along well. »
They grumbled. The new addition motioned them to wait a minute and she searched something in the box. She put it in her pocket, and the three moved on. It was not long until they were again in front of danger, illithids facing a cambion and his minions.
« Slave ! Connect the neural transponder, we have to flee » the illithid said by telepathy, his stare fixed on them.
« It is our chance » the githyanki said.
She rushed to an infernal boar. Barroca was paralyzed, but the half-elf asked her help with a hand gesture. She did the best she could do besides her showing lack of experience in battles, sending bardic inspirations and some healings. She looked foolish next to her allies, who were fighting like lions. In the battle's chaos, they reached their goal and the githyanki could join the transponder's tentacles. Barroca felt a burning blast, and a huge tremor, the ground shrinked under her feet. She clung on the wall with all her might, trying to not turn over the precipice behind her, but she ended up letting go. She felt the air's pressure on the top of her head, preventing her from breathing, and she lost consciousness, falling in the void.