The distance was too great; even with a telescope, he could not see clearly.
Anser did not dare look for long. If a wyvern noticed him, it would be extremely troublesome.
According to Giant Tail, the Green Dragon Queen's wyvern guard had a dozen or so squads, each with three to five wyverns, scattered across various regions. Their discipline was poor; the tribes around their garrisons were simply part of the menu—whoever they caught, they ate.
A wyvern's Challenge Rating was 6, but compared to dinosaurs—mere brute creatures that relied entirely on size and possessed no extraordinary abilities—it was far stronger. Its extremely fast flight speed and venomous tail stinger alone were exceptionally difficult to deal with.
That was not to say dinosaurs were weak. In nature, great size was the most practical advantage and was highly effective against martial classes. A slash would barely faze them, and ordinary arrows were like toothpicks. But when facing a spellcaster's area-of-effect spells, they appeared quite powerless—unable to evade and lacking resistance…
Anser dove down, landing lightly on the deck like a seabird.
"Dusk City has broken out in fighting. I saw wyverns…" He beckoned to Salian and the others, quickly describing the situation.
He used the Faerûnian Common tongue, deliberately ignoring Giant Tail. There was no helping it. Giant Tail was, after all, a native of Abeir. On one side was a foreign land dominated by humans; on the other, the native Emerald Kingdom. Who knew which side he would choose?
"We'll have to abandon the ship." Salian gently stroked the bulwark, his eyes filled with reluctance.
"This river bends eastward, then follows the edge of the Claw Peninsula south, merging into the bay at Dusk City. Going there directly is out of the question. It would be better to find a place along the peninsula's coast to make landfall," Anser said after a moment of thought.
"There are many people along the Claw Peninsula and the bay. Travelers bound for Beregost and Candlekeep also stop there to rest. It should hold for a few more days. Should we enter the city to organize defenses, or leave directly?" Salian looked at Anser.
"The Claw Bay borders Abeir. The situation may be more dangerous than we imagine. Going inland might be better." Anser wanted experience points, but he did not want to face a dragon.
"Very well. I'll have the crew pack their belongings." Salian made a prompt decision. Then he lifted his chin slightly, gesturing in Giant Tail's direction. "Go speak with him and test his attitude."
"Alright," Anser replied.
No one had expected the situation to change so quickly. Giant Tail had only worked one day as their guide and was already about to be forced out of the job.
Anser pulled Giant Tail into a corner and briefly explained the situation, while quietly observing his expression.
Giant Tail froze for a moment, then hesitated. "Are you driving me away?"
"That depends on your attitude. The Green Dragon Queen intends to kill us. I will inevitably resist," Anser said calmly.
Giant Tail's eyes went perfectly round, his voice bubbling with excitement. "The Emerald Kingdom… will it be overthrown?"
"Uh, hard to say. In war, anything can happen." Anser felt that in the short term, no one would be able to threaten the Green Dragon Queen—unless some Faerûn big shot made a move.
"I'll follow you." Giant Tail grinned, not worried about it in the slightest.
"Good." Anser laughed loudly.
He could tell now: that "benevolent" Emerald Queen was not popular. Her methods were not subtle; most intelligent races only submitted because of overwhelming pressure.
Faerûn before the catastrophe was chaotic, but compared to the disorderly anarchy of Abeir, it was like paradise.
"Go ask the first mate for a hooded cloak. Hide your identity for now, so your tribe doesn't get dragged into this." Anser patted his arm.
"Mm." Giant Tail froze for a moment, not expecting Anser to think things through so carefully.
In fact, the races of Abeir also existed in Faerûn. The Quesser had many races aboard; one more Lizardfolk would not stand out.
Anser went alone to the cargo hold and found the two Microraptors locked in cages.
They were about to leave. A lot of food could not be taken along—let alone two disobedient little dinosaurs.
Over the past two days, his Friends cantrip had succeeded several times, but once the spell wore off, they quickly reverted. They no longer bared their teeth at him, and they did not resist being fed.
'Is it because their Intelligence is too low?' Anser was somewhat puzzled.
The Lizardfolk tribe had tried to tame dinosaurs before, and the results were extremely poor. Carnivorous dinosaurs were highly aggressive; herbivorous dinosaurs were practically brainless, with very low obedience.
Sometimes they would be beaten half to death and still not know why they were being beaten.
'Even if a Microraptor isn't as smart as a parrot or a crow, it shouldn't be that far off, right?'
Anser stood before the cage. Thinking he was going to feed them, the two Microraptors both leaned in, tilting their heads as they looked at him.
"I'll give you one last chance."
After saying that, he cast Friends on one of the Microraptors. It went smoothly, because it… was used to it.
Anser opened the cage, grabbed it, and tried to direct it through words and gestures.
Although it was very stupid, it always tried to understand Anser's intent and attempted to comply.
But as the effect of Friends faded, it became listless again. It even resisted Anser touching it, and after Anser opened the hatch, it quickly flew outside.
With a hiss, the Microraptor dropped straight down out of thin air. By the time it hit the ground, it was already stiff, covered in a layer of frost.
The other Microraptor was so frightened that it covered its head with its wings, shrinking into a corner of the cage, trembling.
Anser had already lost patience. He grabbed it, shoved it right up to his face, and cast Friends. This time it did not even need a check, and was exceptionally compliant.
This Microraptor was a bit smarter than the other one. Its comprehension was spot on, and it was very cooperative.
Several minutes passed, and it still stood obediently on Anser's shoulder, posture perfect, as if this was its home.
"Heh, very good." Anser raised a hand and patted its head, leaving his magic mark on it. "You've got a little cowlick on your head, so I'll call you Cowlick."
Cowlick let out a soft chirp; who knew if it understood.
...
The elven ship continued along the river, but the atmosphere aboard was no longer as relaxed as before—heavy and oppressive.
The crew's gazes kept drifting unconsciously toward Anser and Salian.
From high above, the peninsula looked close; in reality, the distance was still far.
Not until evening did they follow the river to the west side of the peninsula. From here, it was still at least twenty or thirty miles from Dusk City.
Here, the river channel ran into the peninsula's rocky mass and was forced to turn south, surging along the coastline toward the southeast. The current was swift, and the channel was over a hundred meters wide.
In the captain's cabin, Salian pointed at the sea chart and analyzed the current situation.
"There's no good landing point nearby. We might as well keep going south. There's also a small harbor city in the middle of the peninsula called Cliff City. It belongs to an old noble house, and its walls are very high…"
He had been running ships for decades; there was nowhere along the Sword Coast that he did not know.
"That works. The war should have just broken out. They won't be able to push forward that fast." Anser recalled what he had seen during the day and agreed.
"But we can't stay here for long, can we?" Kaleno asked.
"No. We'll rest for the moment and leave the peninsula early tomorrow morning. Night is too dangerous," Salian said firmly.
The Emerald Kingdom's main siege force was kobolds, followed by dragonborn. Their high-end forces were likely wyverns and half-dragons—races with darkvision.
Kobolds did not like daylight, but as expendables, the Green Dragon Queen liked to have them lead the way in everything.
The Quesser kept sailing, and only when night fell did it turn into a bay—no, a river inlet.
Calling it a river inlet, it was actually a small lake that cut several hundred meters into the riverbank. The entrance was only about a hundred meters wide, with sea cliffs on both sides, forming a natural sheltered harbor.
The elven ship extinguished all lights and quietly sailed into the inlet. Scattered lights came into view.
"Good." Salian let out a breath.
"It looks like a mountain city," Anser said with feeling.
Under moonlight, Cliff City had almost no flat ground over a hundred meters. Like terraced fields, it rose in layered tiers, distinct and orderly.
At the highest point sat a small castle. Its mottled walls were covered in patches and repairs, carrying a heavy sense of time.
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