The northern part of Waterdeep doesn't have an official name, but most of it is disparagingly referred to as "Savage's Territory". It is a vast grassland, with only a few hills scattered among the grasslands, but other than that, it is mostly flat. It is bordered by the sea to the east, rolling hills and forests to the south, and mountains to the west and north by the walled mountains, so the unobstructed terrain in between causes the weather to change drastically and the environment is difficult. Add to that the fact that nomadic tribes can't cover the entire grassland, so there's plenty of room for wildlife to move around. In the spring, the mountains are full of colorful flowers, and predators who wake up from hibernation trample on these flowers and hunt in all directions, in the summer the grass can reach waist-high but the mosquitoes are infested with mosquitoes and rain pits, in the autumn wolves run in packs to hunt the fat and strong cattle and sheep that eat them, and in the winter the cold wind howls all day long, and the ice and snow bring cold death.

Not to mention the tornadoes and heavy rainstorms that can suddenly fall here at any time.

The nomadic people living on the grassland, they unite to fight with the sky, the earth, and people, hoping to occupy the abundant places of water and grass and live a rich and leisurely life. They did not establish a state, nor did they have lords, but only a tribe of one by one, led by their parents, who were constantly moving across the steppe. They don't believe in God, but in three spirits - the spirit of nature, the spirit of ancestors, and the spirit of war. These spirits taught them the ability to survive and multiply, helping them to survive in this cruel place.

Waterdeep once wanted to expand into the land, building towns or building castles. They did make some initial gains, and many of the pioneers began to move north with plenty of incentives. Over the years, however, these places were deserted - either by changes in the soil and water that deprived the towns of their foundations, or by orc robbers who ravaged and destroyed the settlements. In short, Waterdeep later found that it was a better option to let these nomadic wildlings live in the north, give them the grasslands, and let them block the vanguard of the orcs.

So the immigrants retreated, and only the abandoned towns remained in the vast grassland, telling the history of the past. Many of the ruins are barely sheltered from the wind and rain, and some merchants will use these ruins as a reference for their journey, so that they can determine their position in the vast grassland. Nomads who are grazing cattle also visit the area from time to time to prevent bandits from taking over the camp. Therefore, you can often see campfires and meet fellow travelers here.

Siegel, Janet, and Arriel are taking refuge in one of the ruins, having been attacked by seven wolves, and the kitten's horse has been bitten on the leg, but fortunately it has not hurt its bones, but it can only limp slowly. It just so happened that the three of them saw the ruins here, so they decided to stop and treat.

The elven master taught Siegel a lot of things, including simple bandaging and first aid. And some of the botanical knowledge he had mastered from the Mage Federation, although not enough for him to prepare potions, could help him find some medicinal materials that were effective in wound recovery.

Janet helped him to bandage the horse's wounds, and was also very upset. She had just learned horsemanship, and when she encountered the wolves, she failed to control her mount's emotions, causing the horses to be frightened and run around, and then she was surrounded by wolves. Fortunately, the other two rescued in time to avoid losing important travel tools.

"It's okay, rest for the night, and you can continue on the road tomorrow. You can't run, but the horse can still carry you on. Siegel reassured her, "It's not a big deal. ”

"Even though it's not far from the Jackdaw Tribe, it's better to be careful. "The troubadour had a straight face, and his mood was not high. He thought he had done extra work: in addition to teaching the language to Siegel's Jackdaw tribe, which had taken up a lot of his rest time, the number of travelers was one more than Siegel. What bothered him the most was that he had not succeeded in raising the commission! Whenever he thought about it, he wondered how he had been persuaded by that little woman, and why he was not impressed? This mission had already found a guarantor, and it was actually the owner of the Foam Barrel Tavern, the stubborn but powerful dwarf, and Arriel did not dare to offend him. So along the way, he no longer mentions commissions, always keeps a straight face, and never sings.

"When the threat comes, the horse can't run, and his wounds attract predatory creatures. The troubadour said, "The wolves are actually quite good, but it is a big deal to lose their horses and save their lives." But there are some terrifying and evil creatures that will smell the blood of the wound from afar, and will never stop tracking you, hunting you, and eating your flesh and blood. What are the things you need to worry about. ”

"Do you mean the flock of birds flying over?" said Janet, gesturing to the northern sky.

"What!" Arriel hurriedly looked in which direction, and saw that there was nothing in the sky but clouds. Janet's laughter also made him realize that he had been tricked. He kept the laughter in his heart, thinking about how he could get revenge.

Perhaps the spirits of the land heard their conversation, and it was fulfilled after a while. A group of small black dots flew into the sky, gathering like dark clouds, which were particularly eye-catching in the blue sky. It moved against the wind and quickly caught the attention of several people. Siegel put his hands on the pergola, squinting his eyes and trying to look, but he could only vaguely distinguish that it was a flock of birds. Janet's eyes seemed to be much better, and she looked at it for a moment before saying, "That's a flock of crows." ”

"It won't be any ordinary crow. "You see they hover in the air, swoop down quickly, but quickly pull up and continue to hover with their wings," Siegel said. The crows did not leave, and repeated the state there. ”

Several people watched for a long time, and then saw that the crow flock was about to fall to the ground completely. Everyone waited a little longer, but did not see any more birds flying. Affected by the uneven terrain of the grassland, several people could not see the situation where the crows landed, and could only roughly estimate the distance.

"Let's go take a look, I'm a little curious about what's there. Siegel gathered his gear, hung his shield and scimitar on his body, and retrieved nets and canvas from his backpack. Jenny nodded, and silently prepared. Her mount whispered softly in her ear, stroking its mane with her hand to soothe the wounded horse. The horse bowed his head and obediently let her ride.

"Weird things represent danger, and don't take that risk. The troubadour crossed his arms and said with displeasure in his tone: "Let's go to the Jackdaw Tribe, but don't take the initiative to cause trouble." This grassland is dangerous enough. ”

"Go and see what's going on, or you'll always be bothered by it. "Maybe it's just a deep valley where crows fly away from the bottom so we can't see it," Siegel said. Maybe there's a dead bison on the ground, and the crow is just eating. Maybe neither, who knows?"

Seeing Siegel's resolute attitude, the troubadour also turned on his horse and went with him. He stared at his employer's back, wondering how he could make up for the risks he encountered.

A few people walked for a while, and sure enough, as Siegel expected, there was indeed a deep valley here, about 10 meters wide. This deep, cracked valley is hidden behind a large area of thatch, and it is impossible to see it from a distance. Siegel estimates that it was caused by an earthquake, and judging by the traces of rain erosion, it is very old. The distance from the ground to the bottom of the valley is about 30 meters, and the entire rift valley is half a mile long. There is also a small stream at the bottom of the valley with some shrubs growing around it. The slope is not too steep, and the soil looks fairly firm with no signs of landslides.

They looked above the canyon and found a hidden corpse in the shadows. From a distance, the corpse must have belonged to a human man, who was very strong during his lifetime and occupied a large area after his death. The cause of his death was a spear inserted into his mouth, which pierced the back of his head and pinned him to the ground. Siegel was about to leave, but found a crow coming out of the back of the corpse's head, which happened to be propped up by a spear, creating a hidden space. The bird looked at him with a pair of nimble eyes, and then flew high into the air, whistling in a shrill and hoarse, angry howl.

The troubadour looked bored and waved his hand, as if to dispel the non-existent stench of corpses, and he urged, "Go, it's just a corpse, probably caused by the wild men fighting each other." This kind of thing happens a lot in the grasslands, and there is nothing to see. ”

Siegel hesitated for a moment, then rolled over and dismounted, and began to walk down the rift. Janet followed him without saying a word, a light crossbow in her hand. The poet kept muttering, "What a nasty young master!" but he also drew his thin sword, and walked slowly down from the distance of about ten steps from the two of them.

The shrub next to the rift valley is the purple golden cow, and there are still bunches of small red fruits hanging from it. Siegel didn't know if the thing was poisonous or not, so he used his scimitar to pluck through the bushes and slowly descend for the sake of caution. Janet did the same, but Arriel picked some red fruits in the back and chewed them in her mouth as a snack.

They soon came to the corpse, and it was only then that they realized how extraordinary the corpse was. Although the blood on the ground had long since dried up, and the corpse was about to run out of moisture, there was no smell at all, and there was no fly nuisance. The strong man had been killed by a single blow, his mouth and throat were bloody and fleshy, but there were no other scars on his face. He was shirtless, with blue tattoos on his chest, which looked like the wings of a bird. There was no sign of a fight around the corpse, let alone footprints, just a few pieces of earth that had been shaken apart. So Siegel judged that the guy was killed and thrown down.

He turned the body over to see what the weapon that killed him looked like, but was surprised to find that the corpse was very light, not more than fifty pounds. Siegel miscalculated the weight, which was equivalent to throwing the body out. A cloud of black smoke suddenly burst out from the corpse's mouth and nose, rushing towards its face. Siegel inhaled some, but luckily nothing out of the ordinary felt about it. The smoke then flew into the sky, forming a cloud resembling a crow, and was finally blown away by the wind.

Looking down at the corpse, he found that there were three claw marks on its back, as if this rift had torn apart the earth, ripping off large pieces of the man's flesh and skin, and deep into the bones. The claw marks seemed to be scorched with silver flames, and the flesh melted and rolled. Through the wound, no internal organs can be seen.

"That's weird! maybe it's caused by a spell?" Siegel thought for a moment, then dismissed his own speculation. The cause of this man's death was beyond his common sense.