Chapter 4 - Gather Your Party

The first thing Del noticed when she awoke was the daylight. The sun was shining down from the sky, happy as can be, with no clouds in sight. The rays had warmed her skin, so she felt rather comfortable despite the fact she was laying on the hard ground. The second was the fetid stench of burning. It didn't smell like firewood. It was sharper and reminded her of cement glue in some ways. She could also hear the sound of water running near her and she had a hazy thought that that was well and good, because then she could easily put out the fire if she needed to.

Rolling her head around experimentally, she found herself surrounded by debris, but that's not what was on fire. It was one of the tentacles. The tentacle that came from the nautiloid. She closed her eyes again. Maybe it would be better if she pretended she was still passed out. No one would blame her for doing nothing if she just never woke up, right? Except, she had one of those damn tadpoles in her head and if she wanted to forgo turning into a mind flayer, she was going to have to play along.

Groaning, she rolled onto her side and pushed herself up onto her knees. Her body ached and her face hurt. She touched her nose just to make sure it wasn't broken. Then she checked the rest of her body. Everything seemed to be in good condition. She was just bruised. Her right knee was starting to pulse with agitation, which wasn't too odd, but the clear sky was throwing her off. Maybe she tweaked it when she was thrown from the ship. She felt the top of her head to find her hat was missing, as well, and sighed. It had been her favorite one, too.

She was facing the water and looked out to the land that lay beyond it. If it wasn't for the wreckage behind her it could have been quite a peaceful place to sit and relax. If only she could. The events of the past day are playing through her mind. To say she was confused, would be putting it lightly. But she couldn't deny it anymore.

She was Tav.

She had gone through that nautiloid ship, letting her vague memory of the game guide her, waiting to run into someone else who would say they were Tav and it never happened. She was in the pod Tav would have been in had they existed. She rescued Shadowheart from the pod. She managed to get the nautiloid back to Faerun and she was saved by the mysterious force inside the Astral Prism when she had been falling to her death. She was meant to be here.

She found herself becoming incensed and she couldn't hold back a scream. Her head tilted towards the sky and she let out all her frustration and anger.

Soon she was standing and she glared into the blinding blue atmosphere that was above her.

"I don't know who you are or why you are doing this to me," she yelled, "But fuck you!"

Del had never believed in any god or magic before her time here. She was a true atheist. But ever since she had fallen through that portal and entered this world she had questioned everything she had believed in.

The portal didn't just appear out of nowhere. It had saved her. It saved her then left her to fend for herself in a strange world. And she had spent years reading anything she could on the gods of this world and their magic, trying to figure out why. Which meant she had to relearn to read and write. So far, she had found nothing that had helped her learn anything new about what happened to her. She had started to question if gods really existed in this realm or not, despite many people and writings stating otherwise.

Now, here she was, in a position that, in all reality, should not be possible. Up until yesterday morning, she had been living her own life, without any presence of any sort to lead her. She had accepted the role she was given and accepted she was on her own. However, she now found herself tracing a more familiar path, one she had been on before. Granted, at that time, it was just a video game, and the world she was standing in now hadn't been real, and there were no real world consequences. But now? Now it was real and very personal. And it was most definitely not a coincidence.

Which meant something or someone was very much involved in her life, moving things around as if on a chess board.

She hated it. She hated the fact her life could be so easily manipulated and controlled. But what choice did she have? If she decided to not play along and continue this journey, the lives of herself and many others would be forfeit. They would either die or be turned into mind flayers and then who knew what would happen to the rest of Faerun, the rest of Toril. It would be a literal game over.

She would not allow that to happen.

Taking a deep breath, she turned away from the river and started making her way up a path through the debris field. She had companions she needed to collect.

She was going to have to meet them and act like she had no idea who they were. Pretend she didn't know the future. She'd have to play it close to the chest, that's for sure. Keep her guard up. They'd probably think she was crazy if she told them the truth, anyway.

She felt bad when she came across Shadowheart. The half-elf had fallen not too far from her and she was surprised her screaming hadn't roused her. She bent down and shook her. When her eyes opened, she looked up at Del in surprise.

"You're alive," Shadowheart said, blinking. "I'm alive." She struggled to her feet and Del stepped back to give her space. "How is this possible?"

Del nearly gestured to the astral prism that was still sitting in Shadowheart's hand, but stopped herself. Instead, she shrugged, "Beats me. I'm not about to worry about it, though. We survived."

Shadowheart thought about it for a moment, "I remember the ship. I remember falling. But after that - nothing."

"I'm more concerned about the passengers we picked up while on the nautiloid," Del told her, trying to move on. She glanced around at the beach. "We might as well take a look around, though. We might find more survivors from the crash. And if not, we can at least try to find supplies. I wasn't carrying much when I was first picked up."

Shadowheart nodded. "We should attempt to find shelter, as well. And a healer, if possible. Maybe they can help us with our problem."

Del acquiesced, knowing a healer wouldn't be able to do anything. But she wasn't supposed to know that yet. She started to move away, but Shadowheart stopped her.

"I wanted to thank you again," she said. "For freeing me. It would have been all too easy for you to run past my pod, but you didn't. I'll remember that."

Del managed a small smile in response, nodding her head, before continuing up the beach. Together they combed their way up the path, checking for anything useful. They found a few empty crates and a couple bodies. Del couldn't tell if the bodies were from the nautiloid originally or if they had been down on the ground and had the bad luck of getting hit in the crash. Either way they didn't need their possessions anymore and she helped herself to their gold.

If they couldn't find enough supplies maybe they could buy them from the trader that should be up in the druid enclave. Of course, she was assuming it was close by.

Taking a good look around her as she crept further up the beach she tried to remember if this place looked the same as it had in the game, but it was hard to tell. Even on the nautiloid, she hadn't particularly known where she was going, but she followed her intuition and had managed not to get lost.

It wasn't a great comparison considering the ship was only so big, and the road that would eventually lead them back to Baldur's Gate was probably several days long, if not weeks. Now that she thought about it, Baldur's Gate hadn't looked the way it had in the game, at all. It was five times bigger, at least. So, no, not everything would be one-to-one with the game.

Up ahead Del could see a stone structure built into a cliff, and she remembered it was a temple of some sort. She stopped to contemplate it.

The main reason a player would want to explore it was to get Withers. In the game he could bring back dead companions and respec your abilities for some gold. Would it really be that simple this time around, as well? The thought of having a retired god around after all she had been through made her uncomfortable. What if he saw through her and noticed she didn't belong? Would he tell the others?

Shadowheart had run ahead upon seeing the door and was beating on it with a mace, after finding it locked. Del sighed and jogged up to her. "I don't think that's going to work. That door looks pretty sturdy."

Shadowheart turned to her, dropping her weapon. "I was hoping we could find some supplies in here." She looked around before glancing further up the cliff. "Maybe we can find another way up there."

"Maybe," Del hedged, remembering the crypt would be full of traps. After her last terrible run in with a tripwire, she wasn't really looking forward to it. And she wasn't really sure she wanted Withers around, just in case. She gestured back the way they had come. "I saw an opening through the wreckage. Maybe we can try going that way."

As they approached the damaged hull of the nautiloid they could see it was still burning in some spots, but enough to block their passage through. The smoke was the worst, but inside the ship it wasn't as bad as the outside. A few intellect devourers were scurrying about inside. Earlier, they had been docile, too preoccupied with the ship being attacked, but now they saw them as the enemy. A few well aimed shots from Del's crossbow and they were dead.

As they walked through the cracked open carcass of the nautiloid, Del remembered she had been badly injured before she had been abducted, but when she checked herself for injuries earlier she had had none. She paused and ran her hand over her shoulder, her fingers catching on the torn sleeve. She looked and couldn't even see any blood. Confused, she ran her fingers over the skin and felt nothing. It was smooth. "Weird."

"Something wrong," Shadowheart asked her, standing a few feet away.

"I had a large cut on my arm from right before the nautiloid picked me up," Del told her, still looking at her unmarred skin. She could see some old scars, but nothing that would have been from just a day ago. "And I had been bleeding a lot. But not only is there no blood, there is no more wound. But my shirt still has a gaping hole."

Shadowheart tilted her head. "Considering mind flayers would want healthy hosts," she proposed, "Maybe the pods heal them when necessary. It probably cures diseases, as well."

"Healing… sure," Del acknowledged, "But my shirt was covered in blood. Do mind flayer pods dry clean, as well? I might need to haul one of these things with us, if it does all that."

"Dry clean?" Shadowheart shook her head. "I'm not sure what you mean by that, but prestidigitation spells can do a small amount of cleaning when needed. If the pods are meant to heal wounds, and cure diseases, it would make sense that they would also clean and perhaps sterilize."

Now Del really wanted one now. Too bad she didn't have any Elixirs of Giant Hill Strength on her or she might be tempted to. She continued to walk ahead of Shadowheart as they made their way out of the wreck and back into the sunlight. Up ahead, Del thought she might have seen some movement, but when she looked again all she could see was more smoke so she shrugged it off. They made their way up a short incline and when they turned the corner they could see a man a short way off.

"Hey," he called out when he spotted them. "I need some help."

Another survivor?

Del exchanged a glance with Shadowheart before they walked closer, finally freeing themselves from the acrid clouds. By then the man had turned away from them, trusting they wouldn't harm him. By then, Del had gotten a better look at him and she took note of his white hair and pale skin. No doubt his eyes were just as red as the last time she had seen him.

Damned gods knew what they were doing when they had put the poor sap in her sight all those years ago. She had thought it would be the last time she would ever see him, and yet here they were. Like it was destined to be.

She paused a safe distance away from him, and put out her arm to stop Shadowheart from getting any closer as well.

"Hurry," he was saying to them over his shoulder. "I've got one of those brain things cornered." He pointed to a vague location ahead of him. "There, in the grass. You can kill it can't you? Like you killed the others?"

Del crossed her arms and cocked a hip. "Might want to get your eyes checked," she told him. "They must be getting pretty bad if you think a boar is an intellect devourer."

As she finished, said boar came squealing out from the underbrush and away from them.

The man turned back towards them in disbelief, but as soon as he sat his eyes on her, recognition dawned on his face. "You!"

"You know this man," Shadowheart asked her, curious.

Del watched as he scrunched up his face in disdain. "Are you here to kill me, then," he spat, reaching for his dagger.

Del rolled her eyes at his dramatics. "No," she told him. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not going to kill you."

"Really," he asked, suspicious. He paused from moving away from them. "Why not?"

"Extenuating circumstances," she responded, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Her hands gestured vaguely around them.

He glanced back behind her to the wrecked nautiloid. "I see your point," he admitted, removing his hand from the dagger. "I guess this means you were just as much a prisoner on that ship as I was."

"I don't see tentacles on my face, so I believe you are right," she told him, walking closer now that his hands weren't itching to grab his knife.

"I-" he began, before he was cut off. His face twisted in pain as his tadpole connected with Del's. She winced, but it definitely was hurting less than it had before. In her mind she can see the streets of Baldur's Gate at night, her face from his eyes pop up briefly before twisting away. As the tadpoles disconnected from each other she felt his overwhelming fear. Fear of the light.

"Ugh," he winced. "What was that?"

She rubbed at her temple, easing the lingering headache. "The tadpoles that were put into our eyes. They can communicate with each other; connect our minds."

"Is that so? Is that all they can do?"

"Mmmmm, no. Eventually, they will turn us into mind flayers."

"Turn us into-" he interrupted himself, bursting out into laughter. Del could almost taste the sad irony laced within it.

"Of course it will turn me into a monster," he continued, bemused. "What else did I expect? Although, it hasn't happened yet. If we can find an expert, someone who can control these things - there might still be time."

"Currently, we are trying to find a healer," Del told him, trying to not let it show how she felt about that plan. "You should come with us. It'll be safer if we travel all together."

He looked at her, a calculating look in his eyes as he considered her. "You know, I was ready to go at this all alone, but maybe sticking with the herd isn't such a bad idea. And I know you are a useful enough person to keep around." He paused. "Alright, I accept."

Del felt Shadowheart shift beside her and she glanced at her, giving her an apologetic smile. "Sorry. Shadowheart, this is Astarion. Astarion this is Shadowheart. We met on the nautiloid."

Astarion gave a lavish bow in Shadowheart's direction, to which she merely scoffed. "Do I want to know why he thought you were going to kill him," Shadowheart asked.

"Oh, he just owes me some money," Del said flippantly. "I take my loans very seriously. Should we be off?"

Del started off, not waiting for an answer from either of them and she must have been walking for a good five minutes before she realized that she was forgetting someone. Because of course, she would. How unfortuitous would it be for her to accidentally leave a companion behind.

"Shit," she muttered before doing an about-face, nearly running into both of her companions. "Sorry, I really think we should be headed this way," she said over her shoulder, leaving them behind, bewildered.

"Why are we going that way," Shadowheart called out. "Isn't that back the way we came?"

"Ehhh, not technically."

"Why not keep going the way we were? We are starting to lose the light."

"There might be more survivors. The more of us there are, the better, right?" She cringed at her excuses.

She could hear them following reluctantly behind her. After another ten minutes going up a trail that moved even further from the beach, she spotted what she was looking for. A purple portal swirled against a cliff face. Del approached it, but upon first glance she couldn't see anything within. She reached out and touched it experimentally, only for it to shock her. She held her hand against her chest, waiting for the pain to pass. That was her bad.

Just then a hand appeared in the middle of the vortex, grasping at the air. "A hand," a voice called out from within. "Anyone?"

"Well, certainly don't see that everyday," she heard Astarion quip behind her.

Ignoring him, she grabbed the arm with both hands and put her back into pulling the appendage out. "That's it," it encouraged. "Keep pulling."

She did as it asked and from the portal emerged a wizard. She fell back and away, flipping awkwardly, as the wizard fell across the dirt on his hands and knees. He rose with a groan from his prone position and smiled at her. "Hello. I'm Gale of Waterdeep. Apologies. I'm usually better than this." He shakes her hand once she makes her way up from the ground, as well.

"I'm Del. And no need to apologize," she told him, catching her breath. "Are you alright?"

"A bit shocked, but friend, it's a relief and a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He paused. "Say, but I know you, don't I? In a manner of speaking. You were on the nautiloid, as well."

Del thought back to her time on the nautiloid in confusion, wondering when he would have seen her. She had been pretty thorough in checking any pods she had come across and she had not seen him, but maybe he had been released from his pod before her and had wandered onto the other part of the ship. "Yes, I was there." She gestured to her two other companions. "All of us were."

"Then I can only assume you too were on the receiving end of a rather unwelcome insertion in the ocular region."

That was a weird way to put it, but, "Ah, yes."

"The inserted we speak of, this parasite - are you aware that after a period of excruciating gestation it will turn us into mind flayers?" Del meant to respond, before he barreled on. "It's a process known as ceremorphosis, and let me assure you it is to be avoided. You don't happen to be a cleric, by any chance, do you? A doctor? Surgeon? Uncannily adroit with a knitting needle?"

She seemed to just now be remembering how wordy and long winded Gale was. She is almost too amused to respond, but then Shadowheart spoke up.

"You seem to know enough about our condition to realize it is beyond most clerics' skills," she said.

"Most, no doubt. But I find myself hoping to be in the presence of the few. You don't happen to be one of them," he asked, hopeful. When no one responded in the affirmative he continued. "We are most definitely going to need a healer, and soon too. How about we lend each other a helping hand once more and look for a healer together?"

"You are very welcome to join us," Del told him, meaning every word.

"Most excellent. A parasite shared is a parasite halved. Or something to that effect." He chuckled. "Oh, but before you think you're about to embark on a journey with most ill-mannered a man: thank you for pulling me out of that stone. It was an act of foresighted kindness I assure you, for I have the feeling ample opportunities will present themselves for me to return the favor."

She had no doubt he was correct in every way about that.

Del made quick work of introducing Astarion and Shadowheart to Gale before she herded her growing team back in the direction she had originally been heading. The sun was making its circuit towards the horizon and they were starting to lose some of the light. She did not want to be stuck out in the dark with no shelter and she wanted as much distance between them and the wreck as possible. The air around it reeked with all of that smoke, and even though she was sure they killed anything still living, she didn't want to leave it to chance. Plus, she was sure they had to be close to the druids' grove.

All of the walking was starting to take a toll on her angry knee, though. It had been throbbing on and off since she woke on the beach, but now it was incessant. Sure enough, as she glanced at the sky, she started to see clouds start coming in and they looked heavy with rain. She begrudgingly noted that it had been right once again. But now, she couldn't disguise her limp anymore and she gave up trying. Maybe no one would say anything. After all, it wasn't like any of them were friends, yet.

"Pardon me," she heard Gale say from behind her. "But, should we take a brief break? I noticed your leg seems to be bothering you."

"Are you injured," Shadowheart added. "I know a few minor healing spells, if you need."

"I am fine," Del told them, refusing to pause. "It's just an old injury that acts up now and again." She pointed towards the sky where she saw the clouds starting to gather. "Right now, it's just telling me it's about to rain. It's useful, like that."

"That must have been quite an injury you received," Shadowheart replied. "Were you not able to get a healer?"

Del shrugged, trying to stay nonchalant. "It was really late at night when I received it. Or early in the morning, I can't remember. I had to wait for the one closest to me to open up for the day. I had a scroll I used on it, but it hadn't been strong enough to heal me completely."

"May I ask how you were wounded?" Gale failed to read from her tone that she didn't want to talk about it anymore.

She tried to figure out a way to change the subject without being too suspicious. It's not that she was ashamed of her injury, but that was a night she didn't like to think about. She had failed in every way that mattered… she had failed to protect the victims, and there had been many deaths that night.

"It was a hunting accident," she lied. "Boar got me."

"Well," Shadowheart asked after a moment, "Did you at least kill it?"

"Oh, yeah," Del confirmed. "It didn't stand a chance."