The deep forests outside Baldur’s Gate, under the cover of darkness, were a welcome reprieve from the bowels of the city’s criminal underworld. Trees and shrubs to dart behind, the path illuminated by pale starlight, the company of only beasts… it was all Melinoë needed.

Their boots were nearly silent against the grass as they crept along the familiar trail, dire raven by their side. It was all wonderfully still, undisturbed by man— the very essence of peace.

But the raven interrupted it. It squawked in alarm, flapping its wings. Melinoë shushed it and darted to the forest floor, feeling for a presence. Another soul lingered nearby— they could hear the footsteps of someone unused to the forest. They stalked closer, rising to their full height as the stranger’s silhouette came into their view, just a few metres away.