Anser racked his brain to no avail and could only set the matter aside for the time being. Without sufficient information to support it, thinking further would be pointless.
He opened the personal items he had taken from the captain of the slave ship and identified them one by one.
Aside from these items, he had not touched anything else on the ship. After all, this had been a group operation— even if he was the main combat core, it would not have been appropriate for him to take everything for himself.
A longsword, a suit of leather armor, a waterskin, and two bottles of healing potions.
The longsword was of Fine quality, rather "plain," granting +1 to Attack Rolls and Damage Rolls, with no other properties, but it was very practical.
The leather armor, however, was quite special, because it carried a curse.
...
[Magic Item: Fungus-Woven Armor]
Category: Armor
Rarity: Rare (requires Attunement)
...
This entirely natural armor is interwoven with the fibers and caps of a purple fungus. This fungus is extremely tough and can continue to grow under the effects of restorative magic.
While wearing this armor, your Constitution increases by 2, to a maximum of 20. In addition, whenever you regain Hit Points, you gain additional temporary Hit Points equal to half the amount restored. During this time, you gain necrotic resistance.
Parasitic Curse: Once you put on this magic armor and complete Attunement, you cannot remove it unless you die or the curse is removed.
When you end Attunement with this armor, your Constitution score is reduced by 2. This effect lasts for 8–18 days, or until you complete Attunement with it again.
'Quite good-looking.' Anser shook his head regretfully. The item was decent, but he couldn't use it.
He had dragon scales; his natural armor was already very high, so there was no need to wear armor that would affect movement or spellcasting.
What satisfied him the most was the waterskin.
...
[Magic Item: Alchemy Jug]
Category: Wondrous Item
Rarity: Fine
...
This ceramic jug appears able to hold 4 liters of liquid, but whether the jug is empty or full, it always weighs 5 kg. Regardless of whether there is liquid inside, shaking it produces the sound of liquid sloshing around.
You can use a magical command word to have the Alchemy Jug produce the liquid you need. The amount produced depends on the type of liquid specified, and each day it can produce only one type of liquid.
Liquid types: strong acid, poison, lamp oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, honey, beer, wine, fresh water, salt water.
'This really is good stuff.' Anser narrowed his eyes, his mood brightening.
Don't be fooled by its low grade—this thing would certainly sell for a high price. To certain groups, such as sailors, it was extremely important.
More importantly, it could generate income. If wine was chosen, it could produce 4liters per day, which could be sold for quite a bit of pocket money.
There were also strong acid and poison—items that were hard to buy and generally quite expensive.
The only regret was that the liquid couldn't be freely customized. The Alchemy Jug could produce only ten formulas, predetermined by its creator.
He returned to the dining hall, found a wooden basin, opened the Alchemy Jug, and poured. A stream of yellow liquid with dense foam flowed out, and a rich malt aroma rushed forth.
'The quality of this beer isn't bad.' He knew his stuff—he'd drunk plenty of beer.
He had no intention of drinking any of this alcohol. After all, someone else had already drunk from it. He planned to pour it all out, wipe it clean, disinfect it, and use it again tomorrow.
The dice spun slightly and popped out the beer's information. Anser glanced at it casually—and immediately felt a chill run down his back.
[Beer containing a deadly poison…]
'Scheming against others even on the brink of death—your heart is pitch-black!' He couldn't help but curse under his breath.
He hurriedly poured out all the beer, to avoid anyone else accidentally drinking it.
However, this minor incident did not affect his mood. He returned to the rooftop and communicated the latest situation with Finn.
The Quesser had continued sailing south for more than two hours without any incidents, after which Salian dropped anchor outside a coastal fishing village.
This place had not been harassed by fish-men and appeared quiet and peaceful.
The location was not absolutely safe, but no one wanted to continue onward. In their hearts, they were still hoping that once the fish-men retreated, they could return to Silver Scale Bay.
Anser and Finn exchanged a glance and said nothing. Based on the information relayed by Grey Eagle, the fish-men… were probably not going to leave.
There was no need for Anser to worry about duty shifts. He forcibly dragged Bratt and Kaleno back to the cabin to rest—no matter what they were going to do, getting proper rest came first.
...
The next day, the sun quietly leapt above the horizon, gilding all things on the land with a layer of gold.
Anser was awakened by his biological clock. Sitting up, he discovered that aside from Finn, who was on duty and sleeping soundly on the bed, the other two were nowhere to be seen.
He quietly went out, closed the door behind him, and made his way to the deck, where he found everyone gathered there, pointing and gesturing at the sky.
Anser looked up and discovered that the sky overhead actually had two distinct colors, sharply divided. Above the fishing village to the northeast, the sky was blue with white clouds, light winds, flying birds—everything as usual.
To the southwest, the sky displayed a strange metallic hue, cold like a curtain of steel.
The two sides seemed like two different worlds, with an invisible gray line forming between them and slowly advancing toward the northeast.
Anser's heart jolted. He hurriedly looked at Salian. "When did this happen?"
"It was like this when I woke up. Maybe last night, maybe this morning." Salian shook his head slightly, his gaze confused. Then he pointed behind him. "Look over there!"
Anser rushed to the other side of the ship and discovered that behind the vessel was not an endless ocean, but a lush, verdant forest, as if… it had always been there.
His scalp went numb, his expression tightening. "Weren't we in the Sea of Swords? How did it turn into a small lake?"
This was far too outrageous— even a ninth-circle spell shouldn't be able to remake the sky and the land, let alone do so without alerting so many professionals.
Salian clenched the shortsword at his waist, talking nonstop. "The small fishing village is still there. The sailors on watch told me everything is normal. Finn says the fighting over at Baldur's Gate and Silver Scale Bay is basically over—Silver Scale Bay is gone…"
Grey Eagle had been circling above Baldur's Gate and Silver Scale Bay, only going to rest near dawn. Baldur's Gate had lost two districts, but at least it had held.
The riverbanks in the Rivington district were relatively high, with few landing points. A new battle group led by the Flaming Fist had deployed defenses in advance, and together with the major guilds and churches, they forcibly drove back the fish-men.
Only Silver Scale Bay was completely finished—already occupied by the fish-men. Large numbers of refugees fled toward Rivington, and the dead and wounded… were beyond counting.
But none of that mattered to them anymore. The environment they were in now seemed even more bizarre. They had to figure out what had happened and leave as soon as possible.
"Look—what is that monster?" an elf suddenly raised a hand and pointed toward the forest.
Everyone turned to look. At the edge of the forest, grass and trees were shaking. Faintly, two enormous creatures could be seen fighting each other. Thinner trees were smashed and broken one after another, the scene extremely violent.
Anser leapt onto the sterncastle and focused his gaze. The dice spun madly at a speed far faster than usual.
Ding—
[Triceratops, Huge Beast, Challenge Rating 5]
'Dinosaurs?' His mind filled with question marks. 'Does Faerûn even have dinosaurs?'
Suddenly, as if he realized something, he looked up at the steel-like sky, his eyes widening.
"Abeir!"
Abeir was Toril's twin world. Originally, both belonged to the same prehistoric world, later split into two independent worlds by the Overgod.
The two worlds shared the same sun and moon, yet developed along their own trajectories in different dimensions.
During the time of the Spellplague, partial planar fusion occurred between the two worlds, resulting in regional exchanges. The dragonborn were one such group that came from Abeir to Toril during that period.
And Abeir… also has an Underdark!
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