Chapter 215 The Dwellers of the Lake
The Severn Valley is a place full of life.
At least it used to be.
It is located in the lower middle part of the country. The mountains here are much higher than those in Nanwei City. It has rich jungle resources and a wide variety of wild animals and plants. It is a paradise for hunters.
The melting glaciers in the northwest formed a river that meandered for thousands of kilometers. After reaching the territory of the country, it became the famous Severn River.
This river has a very fierce and rapid flow due to the gradient of the northwest plateau.
In the past, it often caused flooding in the lower plains during the rainy season.
But I don’t know when a huge lake appeared in the Severn Valley.
There are relevant records in a few documents, saying that there were once no lakes in the Severn Valley. It was a valley surrounded by mountains, but a long time ago, a meteorite that fell from the sky penetrated the The crust here broke the ridges and the ground collapsed, and then water from the Severn River poured in, forming today's huge inland lake.
Of course, these are documents without authoritative historical certification, more akin to rumors or a collection of stories.
But lakes do exist, and it is precisely because of lakes and valleys as buffers that the Severn River meanders to the middle and lower reaches, and becomes so "gentle" when it reaches the boundary of Nanwei, which is where this crossing is now. The canal of Nanwei City.
If the canal is as turbulent as the Severn River on the northwest plateau, then there is no way it can become the main water transportation chain of Nanwei City.
There are many legends about the Severn Valley, and lakes and meteorites are just one of the most widely circulated ones.
In this densely forested valley, there are actually many complex and obscure folk stories. These stories and rumors involve the folk culture of the Severn Valley. To some extent, they are similar to those between the Nanwei people and The bonds of Day of the Dead are passed down from generation to generation.
Some people say that the Severn Valley used to be closed, and the people living here had very little communication with the outside world.
Before the civilized era, there were independent ethnic groups, independent social structures, and independent belief systems.
Unlike the Nanwei people who live with water, the valley receives the raging water source washed down from the northwest plateau, and borders on the relatively mild southern plains on the other side. The culture formed here is very complex and very contradictory.
In history, the Severn Valley has become an independent city-state several times, and the people there do not participate in wars and disputes. Miraculously, it seems that the rulers in history have never invaded this place, or in other words, they have not succeeded in conquering this place.
There are rumors that the people here have an immortal army and no one can defeat them.
Of course this is just a rumor...
...
People in the Severn Valley would not choose to trade with outsiders if it was not necessary.
In this era, although the country has been unified, the belief systems hidden among the people have not been abandoned.
In fact, a more mysterious statement is that the meteorite that broke open this valley and opened up the inland lake brought some strange things from outside the sky.
These things that do not belong to this world have settled in the lakes of the Severn Valley. They are living creatures and possess magical powers that humans cannot imagine.
Gradually, they began to have their own followers among the human race.
Believers regard these residents hiding under the lake as saints and messengers sent by God. They fervently beg for the guidance of the residents in the lake and provide them with the precious things they know. Stuff - food, gold, even living people.
It is rumored that there is not only one resident in the lake.
Some anglers once said that at sunrise in the center of the lake, you can see three huge shadows under the water.
It means that there are three extraterrestrial visitors living in the lake in the Severn Valley. They were brought to this land by meteorites and settled here.
It is worth mentioning that the traditional folk belief system of the Severn Valley happens to be divided into three sects.
From the last era, before the slave era, these three religious belief systems have existed, and have been passed down from generation to generation by the people of the Severn Valley and continue to this day.
The smallest of them is located in a tribal group on the lower reaches of the Severn River. This is a tribe whose main livelihood is hunting and farming.
They are entrenched in the land bordering the lower reaches of the Severn Valley and the southern plains. The mountains in the northwest are their hunting grounds, and the fertile lands in the south nourished by glacial rivers are It became their fertile land.
Until the age of human civilization, this group was self-sufficient through hunting and farming.
......
People of this group believe in an immortal creature in the river, at least they think it is immortal.
Because this creature has the ability to bring back the dead, it can make sick and dead villagers come back to life and speak again.
Once a member of the group dies unexpectedly, his family will transport the body to the river, pray to the gods in the lake, offer their most precious tributes to it, and beg the gods to rescue the dead member from the netherworld. bring back the soul.
The most precious things that the hunting and farming people can offer are the prey they recently brought from the mountains, such as wolves and reindeer.
Over time, this special belief system was formed.
Over the long years, people have figured out the corresponding sacrifices, summoning processes, and totems. They have established rules to restrain members of the group, and have sworn to serve the underwater god from generation to generation.
......
Until ten years ago, the law enforcement system discovered the so-called "recalled" dead.
They wanted to get involved in the investigation, but were met with strong resistance from the village, and a hunt began.
In this particular belief system, the returning dead are called servants.
These servants have extremely powerful power, far beyond that of ordinary people.
Not all the dead in the ethnic group are qualified to enjoy this kind of treatment. Only those who are highly respected in the village are qualified to receive the blessings of the gods, gain the power of resurrection, and become servants.
It often takes ten or even decades for such a servant to be formed.
This group of servants accumulated over time are hidden in the mountains surrounding the village, guarding the land.
......
Scholars have tried to contact people from this village group, but this has aroused strong resistance, and many scholars and officials who have tried to study this belief system have died.
When potential hazards are discovered, eradication operations are inevitable.
After a long period of exploration and analysis, a carefully planned encirclement and suppression operation was carried out by the law enforcement teams of the Severn Valley and its surrounding cities.
The fight was sanctioned by the Supreme Court and provided technical support by Miskatonic University.
That is the "massacre" that Charles Winton can never let go of in his memory.
......
The massacre was not as radical as Charles described.
When the residents of this village realized that everything was irreversible, they put the youngest child in the group on a boat and let him flee to the lower reaches of the Severn River and hide in the southern plains. middle.
From that moment on, the seeds of revenge began to take root in Nanwei City.
This child remembered the rituals in the ethnic religion and the cries of the tribesmen before their death. Naturally, he also remembered the figures in black trench coats who killed his blood relatives.
(End of this chapter)