Andraste's Chevalier

Chapter 12- Denerim

               "For all that I have seen so far, this world is much like our own. There are forests, rivers, birds, and bees. Plants and creatures exist here, different but similar in make to the ones we are familiar with. After passing the forest, I came across an unending ocean of grass and hilly plains that reminded me of the Arathi Highlands, minus the marauding troll bands and packs of hungry raptors. I later learned the people of this land call it Thedas, and the country I had stepped into as Ferelden."

- From the Journal of Eratus Riverwood.

"Knight-Lieutenant Riverwood. There is a single entity, consisting of two lifeforms, rapidly approaching our location."

"I know," I mouthed as the "entity", a horse-cart full of supplies steered by a man, wheeled past us. "It is not a threat."

"Understood. I will store such information in my memory banks for future notice."

Judging by the number of times Del had pinged me every time something new or different popped up on the road, he was going to be storing a lot of "information" for some time. Lorekeeper of human society he certainly was not.

It only made sense that we would find other travelers along the road. That was what roads were used for after all. Travelling. Back in Azeroth you would find peddlers, merchants, soldiers, and refugees. Maybe the occasional odd gnomish contraption and, even rarer, an elven hawkstrider. Every so often you'd see the shadows of gryphons and their riders flying above, journeying from city to city to deliver parcels and mail. Occasionally dropping unpleasant white packages of shit on oblivious travelers.

However, now, there was nothing but humans. No flying griffons. No elven hawkstriders. No noisy gnomish machinery.

There was a theme to them. Clothes that looked worse for wear. Families. Carts full of things that looked less like trade goods and more like household items. The solemn, distraught faces on everyone save the children, who were probably too young to give a care.

The same faces, the same things I saw from passing refugees escaping the civil wars that ravaged the cities of Alterac and Stromgarde. I wondered what calamity had befallen the people here.

Nevertheless, it kept me on edge. I kept a hand on the hilt of my sword. Not that I had anything for people to steal, but pickpockets and thieves were common issues in such conditions. I also had Del use his "scanning" ability to get a read on a few of the folks, so I could get a judge of how great of a threat they posed. The result was: not so much.

Still, it seemed they were more scared of me than I was of them. Everyone seemed to give me a wide berth when they passed by. I could feel the glances thrown in my direction. It became obvious the moment I stopped to get water from a nearby stream and got a good look of my reflection. My eyes were bloodshot from days of labor and poor sleep. My hair was a jumbled mess. I was sporting a week's growth of hair that was barely starting to resemble a mustache and beard. I couldn't smell myself but given that it had been several days since my last shower, it probably wasn't too pleasant. My clothes, which consisted of standard-issue Alliance linen pants and a shirt, were nicked and torn everywhere. I looked like a madman, an armed madman. It was no wonder they were all avoiding me.

I couldn't blame them. I was tired. I needed a bath and not just a dip in the river. I needed new clothes, and a room to sleep in. A bed was optional, I just wanted to not wake up freezing cold every morning. I wanted real food. Light knows what the people of this world considered food but they must have some kind of warm meal. The fish and berries were good but I was tired of foraging for it every single day, and hunting was never my forte. The problem was I hadn't the scant idea of going about finding that.