AMNE POV

Well… The Goblin camp had its fair share of intrigue, challenges and moments of 'dear gods are you kidding me?'. Between the Goblin Priestess trying to brand us, the Drow Commander intending to enslave us and the Hob Goblin playing necromancer with an Illithid, it had been easy enough to justify cutting them all down. They were all desperate to serve this new so-called god, this Absolute. And the more we learned of it, the more I feared it to truly be nothing but a ploy by the Illithids for their plans to change everyone. Then again, they needn't be worshipped for their plans to work, in fact, they didn't seem to ever intend that elsewhere. So why… Unless there was more going on here than a Illithid invasion.

But we had done it. It took the whole damn day, and most of our resources, but we had cleared the camp area out completely. No more Goblin raids on the surrounding area, and a few less Absolutist nuts scurrying around trying to convert people. All in all, not too bad a day. We even managed to free an Owl Bear cub from captivity, though I had no idea how the Goblins had got hold of one. Still, the critter seemed grateful as he sniffed my hand and then scurried off into the brush. Hopefully he found his way back to his mother, or at least made it through to adulthood. Such beautiful creatures. I sighed, yet another stupid thing I seemed to know more about than my own damn self.

Still, there was a more pressing matter to deal with. That being the Druid who had just turned back from a Bear, into a man. Or rather, an elf. And even saying that, he was so bloody tall and broad he might as well have been a tree of some kind. Yet, he spoke so softly. The whole thing was incredibly jarring, and as he explained that he was in fact Halsin, the great healer we had been told about, I jolted and recalled why we had been seeking him in the first place. It was ridiculous how much could slip your mind, when the problem at hand is literally in your mind.

I swallowed hard, trying my best not to hope too much. "Your thanks is appreciated, but we hardly did this out of the goodness of our own hearts, I'm afraid."

"Oh?" He looked around the group and raised a brow. "Then pray tell what your motivation was?"

"We need a healer of pretty damn good skill, and we've heard that might be you."

Astarion clicked his tongue. "I'm not sure being coy about this is the way to go…"

"Coy?" Halsin repeated, looking me over again. "What is it you require healed from? You did well in the fight and I cannot see anything more than a scratch upon your flesh."

I shot Astarion a glare and he shrugged with that smirk in place. Yes, he had a point, but that didn't mean entering the conversation so bluntly was the way to go. Not everyone was going to react to this kind of news with a want to help, some might simply chop off my bloody head. Then again, I'm sure the others would object at least a little to that.

My smile pulled back into place and I dipped my head to the Druid. "We've been infected by Illithids."

Halsin's eyes popped wide and he looked to the rest of the group, no doubt lingering on the fact I said 'we'. Was he about to transform again? Would I hear the roar of a bear and then feel its teeth at my throat?

"You poor devils. All of you are infected, I take it?"

Okay… More softly spoken words and cleanly defined edge of genuine concern in his voice. Damn, this was a good man, wasn't it? I pursed my lips and nodded. Yup. He shook his head slightly and looked to the side as he thought, a hand raising to his mouth, fingers running along one of the many scars at his cheek. It was maybe a minute of quiet before he looked to me again, and then explained all that he knew. Which, admittedly, wasn't a hell of a lot.

My heart sank.

He didn't know how to heal us. Not fully. And not without an insane amount of risk on top. But he did have a lead on who might know more, and as much as the road continued to stretch out before us, seemingly never-ending, at least there was more road to travel. We hadn't hit a dead-end yet. That meant more chances to learn, to find something and maybe even for me to discover some memories… The cursed lands were between us and Baldur's Gate, and there was this place called Moonrise Towers. It had come up a couple of times already. But it seemed to be a hot point for information. Hopefully it wasn't just more headaches…

Halsin agreed to meet us at our camp to speak more, but he had to return to the grove first to sort things there. He wasn't all that pleased to find out about Kagha's actions, but that was between them. The Druids could figure it out. Meanwhile, we continued along the road. The group was quiet, and understandably a little tense. All that effort and we hadn't found a way to be rid of these bastards in our skulls. But on we went. They seemed alright, but I knew they shared my frustrations. Astarion was especially quiet, but I had to wonder what else was going on for him – last night at camp I saw him sneak away from his tent, being very careful, but I'd already been awake thanks to… Well, sleep was a bit of a stranger all round at the moment. Where was he going? Why? And the heck was the secrecy about? Then at breakfast he had seemed that little bit brighter, that only being dimmed after our bad news with the Druid.

Oh. Sneaking away at night, coming back brighter in the morning…

Maybe he had a lover out there in the woods somewhere? But then again, why bother hiding them from the rest of the group? It made no sense. Then again, he was a private guy. Personal questions seemed to get his back up more than anything else.

I could also just stop being a nosy bastard.

"That's odd…" Shadowheart murmured, slowing up ahead and looking back at us over her shoulder. We approached and slowed by her side.

Huh. She wasn't wrong. A boar, big as you like, just lying on the side of the track with no obvious wounds, but it was very pale and clearly dead. And no beasties had gone near it, not yet anyway. I stepped closer and looked it over, checking around in case it was some kind of baited trap. But no, no trap and nothing else nearby except the abandoned village ahead, and some poor souls left for dead on the bridge to our right. But those bodies were clearly hurt. Attacked. This boar was different. We were headed towards what the grove had called 'the Blighted Village', and as we understood that was due to the Goblin occupation of it, but this boar hadn't been killed by Goblins like those people on the bridge. They were messy killers. It was only when I peered really closely, that I saw two marks on the boar's flesh, teeth marks.

Astarion huffed. "Are we planning on stopping to study every single bit of carrion we come across? Because I fear that's going to rather slow everything down."

"Not every single one, no, but weird ones might give us insight into what's going on around here. Or what to watch out for." For some reason he tensed at that, his jaw tightened and he frowned. Like I'd offended him or something. I tilted my head. "Do you know something about this?"

"Why the hells would I?"

That wasn't a no.

I stood up and put my hands on my hips. "No idea, but you're acting bloody weird."

Shadowheart nodded. "More so than usual, at least."

A silence took to the air, like he was weighing his options.

He rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Alright, goodness me such scrutiny. Look, it would seem to me that the beast has been attacked by a Vampire. I didn't want to say anything as I didn't wish to worry anyone. They can be vicious creatures, very dangerous."

I looked down at the boar again and suddenly that was very obvious – two puncture marks, body drained of blood. Of course. Vampires weren't exactly common though, so I had to wonder what had brought one out here. Or maybe someone nearby had been turned recently… Maybe.

Astarion gestured to the beastie. "Clearly it was a clean attack, with the lack of struggle. But don't worry, I'll keep extra careful watch tonight, just in case. I doubt they would dare come near our camp anyway, too many able-bodied people to rise up against them if they were spotted."

And as his hand lingered in the air for that moment I was certain I saw a slight shake. Maybe he had past dealings with Vampires. We all had our own experiences. It might be a real point of pain for him, and why he knew so much. Or maybe… Oh. My mind reached back to last night. He snuck away into the trees, determined not to be seen. He was rather pale, for an Elf, and his eyes were that unique shade of red. His teeth even had that pointed effect to them – which I'd just seen as another unique detail before, but perhaps Vampires didn't have to have literal fangs. But how was he walking around in the sunshine? It clashed with everything else. Unless that lore about them wasn't true?

He looked me over. "What? Can we move on or are you planning on building a shrine for the piglet?"

And he was definitely being cagey.

If I was right, then he had done his best to keep it a secret. But he also hadn't attacked any of us. We would have noticed someone going missing, and bitemarks wouldn't exactly be painless either. So if it was him that drained the pig, clearly he didn't intend to feed from us, and clearly he felt the need to hide his nature. And as those eyes searched me, and I caught the merest hint of pleading. And then fear. As little as I knew about Vampires, I knew they were generally mistrusted, feared and hated. He didn't want us to know, and that was probably because he didn't want to be chucked out of the group. That… Made sense. But if he did try to hurt one of us? Well… I guess I could cross that bridge if we ever reached it. Which we might not.

We moved on.

The village itself was mainly abandoned, with a few clusters of goblins here and there. Easily taken care of. The trio of Ogres was a surprise, but also easily taken care of once they'd decided that they didn't fancy a friendly chat. We discovered a useful cache of potions with an alchemist's hideaway under one of the buildings, and freed a Deep Gnome from a rather awkward situation of being tied to a windmill – though he was a bit catty about it afterwards. Still, a productive day with some supplies to show for it. If we were going to travel through the cursed lands to get to Moonrise, then they would be needed.

Finally, as we checked another basement for any extra stuff to either sell or use, we came across a rather large hole in the floor. One covered in webs. Big webs. I stayed clear of it, doing my best to not think about scuttling feet and pincers, but Gale seemed very intrigued. If the Alchemist who had lived here before had used the caverns to gather resources, it might be a useful detour. It was possible – the Alchemist's home was just next door. But that meant going underground again, and this time it seemed less likely to be filled with pretty mushrooms and more likely to be crawling with horrors.

Astarion quirked a brow and smirked. "Not a fan of the Eight-Legged among the world?"

"Not when they get beyond the size of one's hand, no." I hugged myself and looked to Gale. "Are you sure this will be worthwhile?"

"Well one cannot guarantee it, no. But considering a random run-down village such as this has already given us plenty to be working with, this could be quite the treasure trove."

I looked to the others. Karlach looked eager, though I suspected that was just her keenness to explore everything this world had to offer. Shadowheart didn't seem overly keen, but also not overly opposed. Lae'zel wasn't fond of another delay, but admitted the resources could be invaluable. And Astarion just seemed like he was going to be amused by my phobia more than anything else, and that alone was worth the journey. Prick.

"Alright… So do we camp early and set off at first light? Or do you guys feel okay to continue now?"

Karlach jumped up and down on the spot. "Ah c'mon we've only had a couple of spats today. We can keep going. Let's fuckin' do this!"

Gale held up a hand. "Look not all of us are able to simply keep swinging an axe. We have cleared out two goblin nests today alone, let us take camp up here where we can have a solid perimeter, and then we'll descend tomorrow. Alright?"

Agreed.

Cheers!