You feel drawn toward the black lake

Sanity is a... relative thing.

An initial thought that you might seek shelter in the ruins of the farm and then form a plan from there is quickly dismissed. "They already had the same idea!" "I'll be swallowed up..." "Can't keep my back against the wall, have to keep moving..."

They're not voices, not exactly. More like memories of voices. Maybe imaginings of voices. You don't know if the voices belong, or once belonged, to you, or whether they are the paranoid whispers of a treacherous realm.

You squeeze your eyes shut and shake your head to clear the madness. You'll not submit! "Not this time..." You whisper it in defiance. You're not quite sure where those specific words come from.

Self-preservation draws your attention back to the farmhouse, despite your misgivings. A structure is defensible. It's a landmark. It gives you a point of reference to begin searching from. You're not sure what you should be searching for, but it's as good a place as any to try to remember.

And yet, for reasons you're unable to explain, your head turns back toward the direction of the vast lake. "There are places in the mountains, I can hide, I can get my bearings... until he returns..." The words well up in you on their own, but you know they belong to you, or maybe they used to belong to you...

Another meteor - another person - crashing to the ground some distance away distracts you. Maybe hiding isn't enough. You weren't just a warrior. You served your goddess. You were a paladin. You defeated evil, and you protected her innocents.

Regret strikes you. You were a paladin. You threw away that life. That's why you're here now.

A glance cast over your shoulder in the direction of the wastes rewards you with a glimpse of **** - a tremendous worm-like monstrosity gliding through the sand as if it were water. You blink and the vision is gone. Was that a memory? A hallucination? A warning?

Fear prompts you to abandon this place with all possible haste, but you're torn between the shelter of the mountains or the settlement. Your legs choose for you. It's not long until you arrive at the shore of the lake.