Rain moaned for a moment as she finally came to her senses, reminding her of when she first woke up in Baldur's Gate and met her friends, though as she opened her eyes she discovered that she was definitely no longer in the Marsh of Chelimber, as the trees around her were more like a forest's. They were spread further out than what she was used to, like a force had come through and cut down some to make sure the area wasn't overgrown, or a caravan was in need of wood for their fires, but she had landed in an area that was perfectly flat, so she didn't have to worry about any stumps. The sky was blue, like she was far away from the marsh and the storm that had been unleashed to destroy the Onyx Tower, and the air was clear, as while she could smell a fire going it wasn't as bad as what had been inside Eldrith's domain. As she moved herself into a sitting position, however, she found something that was alarming, she was alone, as Vahn, Kromlech, and Adrianna were nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that she had entered the Onyx Gate mere moments after them.
"Shadow? You there?" Rain called, because she and her displacer beast had entered the gateway at the same time and she didn't see her anywhere, which would worry her to no end if she had been dropped in an unknown part of the world, all on her own, before she heard a growl and Shadow emerged from some of the trees, coming to a stop nearby and kicking her face, showing that the cat had been worried about her, "I'm fine girl... just incredibly lost."
It was times like this that she wished she had taken the time to figure out everything that was on her map, or the various key locations that were important to adventurers, though in that moment she sighed as she stood up, finding that her new weapon, the onyx sword, was still around, which she grabbed.
"I don't know where we are, but we should find a road... should be able to find a marker or sign at some point." Rain said, as that was common sense from what she had learned from her friends, or at least when she recalled what they had told her about their own travels, and right now it seemed like pretty good advice to fall back on, at least until she figured out where she was and if her friends were nearby.
Shadow yawned for a moment, no doubt exhausted due to the fact that they had been fighting in the Tower for quite a while, probably an hour or so based on Rain's reckoning, causing her to sigh as she promised her feline friend that she'd find a good place for them to rest, hopefully an inn if one was nearby. Rain scratched the area behind Shadow's ears for a couple of seconds, causing her to purr, and when she was done the two of them departed, hopefully for an area where they could rest, get a meal, and hopefully relax before figuring out where in the world they were. As they walked away from where they had ended up, after making sure that all of her stuff was intact, as she had her armor, weapon, and her bag with all her wealth, she noticed that there were definitely signs of tracks in the ground, people who had cut down the trees no doubt. From what Rain could tell Shadow didn't seem sure that they were getting close to humans or any of the other races that were friendly, the ones she was used to anyway, which meant the tracks might be kobolds, gnolls, or any number of hazards that would need to be cut down.
Her plans were derailed as she heard the sound of combat, something that caused her and Shadow to rush towards the east, the direction they were heading in, and it wasn't long before she found a well worn road, along with a caravan that had been attacked recently, given the dead guards. She found some goblins attacking what seemed to be the last of the guards, a female fighter who had familiar armor on, as the figure reminded her of the spice guard who arrived back in the Elfsong Tavern, who she and her friends had helped out, and it seemed like she was losing. With that in mind Rain moved down the hill that was in front of her and lashed out at the goblins, who were surprised by her sudden arrival and one fell with a swing of her new weapon, where she found that her inherited strength from the spirits of the Westerning Sun had remained, despite the Tower's destruction. Shadow pounced on two of their foes and tore both to shreds without wasting even a second, shocking the guard for a moment, no doubt because a friendly displacer beast was unheard of, or at least uncommon, before she joined Rain in tearing down the rest of the goblins.
A few seconds later she stopped when she found that the goblins were taken care of, the area was secure, where she let out a sigh and relaxed a little as she turned towards the guard, who was staring at her like she knew who she was, but in the next few seconds she recognized her as well.
"Keaira?" Rain asked, because while she was looking for a familiar face, three of them anyway, she wasn't expecting to find someone they had helped before leaving Baldur's Gate through the Onyx Gate to the Sunset Mountains, though Shadow kept her guard up in case more enemies showed up.
"Rain Shine? By the gods, am I glad you're here. Where are the others?" Keaira inquired, where Rain confirmed that it was the same person she and her friends had helped out, which was actually a good thing since she might be able to point her and Shadow in the right direction, before she noticed something, "What in the world are you wearing? And why is there a displacer beast following you?"
As Rain opened her mouth to say something, especially to question Keaira about where they were and what had happened to her, she was interrupted by the sound of new arrivals, five of them to be exact, causing her and Shadow to turn as they observed them for a time. There was a human in the group, a female cleric by the looks of it, along with a dwarf that didn't seem interested in physical combat, rather he seemed like a ranged fighter, another human who carried two weapons in his hands, plus two elves, the male being a moon elf like Adrianna while the female was, shockingly enough, a drow who had no weapons, a monk she guessed. As Rain stared at them she realized that they were adventurers and that this had to be the road they were following to their first assignment, because none of them seemed outfitted enough to pass for seasoned adventurers, though if that was the case she could get directions and be on her way. While they were drawing closer Rain checked on Kearia, making sure her wounds weren't severe, and when she offered a healing potion the lady refused, saying that while her body was sore from the beating she endured at the hands of the goblins, and would likely bruise later, she had no injuries that required a potion.
"Well met fellow travelers. Are either of you in need of aid?" the barbarian asked, which was unusual since Rain assumed the cleric would have been the first one to say something, though she did walk over to where Rain was standing and checked on Kearia anyway, just to be sure everything was alright.
"No, I'm fine, thanks to the timely arrival of Rain Shine and her companion." Kearia replied, taking a moment to gesture to the pair, where Rain found that the others were glancing at Shadow, worried about the fact that there was a displacer beast near them, a friendly one to be exact, before she focused on the group, "Who are you people?"
"Allessia Faithhammer, at your service." the cleric answered, where she nodded her head and stepped away from Keaira, satisfied with the fact that her life wasn't in danger, only to gesture to the rest of the group as she focused on the barbarian first and moved down the line her companions had formed, "Allow me to introduce Dorn Redbear, Borador Goldhand, Vhaidra Uoswiir, and Ysuran Auondril. We're on our way to Baldur's Gate, to join the many adventurers who are preparing for their various journeys, especially with the rumors going around that Eldrith is still around... some of us are seeking our fortunes or glory, or the greater good in my case."
"Eldrith? She's become a common name now?" Rain inquired, because based on what she was able to figure out the lady had been forgotten by everyone, though if her name was being uttered now it meant that the Harpers likely found out about the Onyx Tower and put the pieces together, though not before someone spread rumors about it and it's Lady, "That shouldn't be possible, since my friends... those being Adrianna, a moon elf sorceress, Vah, a human arcane archer, and Kromlech Bruenghor, a shield dwarf... and I fought and killed her not a few hours ago."
"Rain, you and the others have been missing for six months... Jherek was worried that all of you had died." Kearia stated, which was a statement Rain wasn't expecting to hear during this conversation, causing her to realize that the flickering gateway had been disconnected from where it was supposed to send those who used it, though it only confirmed that the others were somewhere else, "My caravan and I were traveling down the Trade Way when we were ambushed... most of the guards were killed by the Red Fang Marauders, and the prisoners, including the caravan leader, were taken into the Trollbark Forest, which is to the southwest of our current position."
Dorn informed her that they had been talking for days without incident and that he was 'bored as all the hells', whatever that meant, before readying his weapons as he continued down the path, which seemed to be the south direction based on Kearia's statement. causing the others to follow after him. Rain sighed as she decided to follow them, mostly to make sure the new adventurers were capable of holding their own and didn't get in over their heads, though the guard told her that she'd meet all of them in Wayfork Village later, which seemed to be further down the road. With that information in hand, and Kearia told her that she would be alright, Rain and Shadow followed the group down the road, finding more slain guards and dead goblins, all from the ambush based on what she was seeing, before she spotted some goblins that were ahead of them. Dorn used an axe and a sword to cut down his foes, as if he didn't care about taking damage, while Allessia carried a mace and shield into battle, Borador used a weapon that he called a crossbow to deal with foes from afar, Vhaidra used only her fists and movements to crush her opponents, even though she carried a special dagger just in case of emergencies, and Ysuran used a dagger and spells that drained the life of his enemies.
Despite their lack of armor and weapons, which Rain was used to seeing with her friends, they were strong, their skills in combat were good, and the few abilities she could see right now made it look like they could become a good group with enough time and effort.
"So, where did you get that armor? It looks expensive." Borador commented, all while readying a bolt in his crossbow and let it fly, striking down a goblin before it could get the others, allowing Allessia and Dorn to crush the foes that were right in front of them.
"My friends and I killed the dragon Ciraxis in the Sunset Mountains, and the dwarves we aided thanked us by forging this set of armor." Rain explained, though as she said that, but before Vhaidra could say anything, she pulled the onyx blade out and slashed through a goblin who had jumped into the air to take her down, splitting it in half before it could even do anything to her, while Shadow ripped her foe's apart, "It helped that we lit their signal fire and I literally tore the heart out of a drow priestess, who was behind the attack on the dwarven settlement... they felt like they owed me something, hence the armor."
Borador huffed as he and Rain focused on the battle, as there were more goblins coming out of the trees and standing on the road, causing her to swing her blade at those who came at her while channeling a bit of her own magic into small bolts of lightning that struck her opponents. Thanks to her time with Adrianna and the others she had learned greater control over her powers, even though they were uncertain as to what her ultimate potential was, surprising the others as all five of them joined her on the other side of the wreckage of the caravan. She did note that all of the supplies had been left on the wagons, meaning the Red Fang Marauders were only interested in people and left the rest of the loot for anyone who came along later, like a trap that kept on giving in a sense, though she made sure the crates were untouched and left in a safe area for Kearia to collect. What was different between her old group and her new companions was the fact that all of them explored far more than the path that lead towards their destination, as Borador climbed a small hill and found some goblins that he brought down with his crossbow, which brought him to a large blue chest.
Rain found that the items that the others were picking up right now were nothing compared to what she had claimed from the Onyx Tower, where she mentally debated whether or not to actually hand some of it over to make them prepared for whatever else might be ahead of them, but decided not to, since it might ruin their experience of learning and adapting to the dangers of the world.
The interesting thing about the goblins was that they had warriors and shamans, the latter blessing their forces to make everyone else stronger, though Shadow stalked and killed them while Rain and her new companions dealt with the rest of the goblins that were standing in their way. Sure, there were more goblins than what she was expecting to find, but with five other combatants fighting beside her she knew the number advantage that the goblins had was next to nothing, since they couldn't circle around one of them and stab them to death. She also found out that the enemies had a few gold coins between them, as one would have two and another had five, while the potions they carried, which she was sure that none of the goblins could use, were the minor ones, far smaller and less effective than the ones she had claimed from all of the containers in the Onyx Tower. As such she claimed nothing for herself, leaving Borador to collect the meager treasure that was being dropped by their slain enemies so it could be divided when they were somewhere safe, meaning he had a bag of holding, likely made in case he joined an assault on Eldrith's Tower.
After clearing out a few more goblins, and discovering more containers that were still intact, Rain discovered that the path was heading into a much darker part of the forest, which had to be the Trollbark Forest, meaning they were closer to the Red Fang Marauders, the captives, and whatever their immediate futures held for them.