Valley calendar year 1360.
On February 16th in Dongzhao, the Tukan people fully crossed the lake.
On February 18th in Dongzhao, Shuangxing Town fell and the whole town was slaughtered, leaving no chickens or dogs behind.
On the 21st of February in Winterclaw, the city of Taimar only held out for half a day before it fell completely. All the creatures in the city either became the new murder lord and the followers of Yamen were kidnapped, or they were murdered and transformed into The undead become part of his army.
On the 23rd of February in Winter Claw, the day Tukan’s army arrived, it was when Phishante fell. The Sesk merchants there took the initiative to open the city gate and welcomed Tukan’s army in. Trying to exchange for their own safety only proved once again the cruelty of the Tukan people. The choices they faced were the same as Tamar's, and there was no third option.
On the 24th of February in Winter Claw, when Tukan's army arrived in Fend Town, it was already an empty city. Those who were able had already fled to Teflam in advance, and those who were incompetent also fled into the wilderness, attacking ordinary people. For humans, although the wilderness is dangerous, at least there is a chance of survival. However, if it falls into the hands of those Tukan people who are dehumanizing, it will be a standard death.
At this time, both the Faerun coalition and the Tukan army are still several days away from Tefram. Even the God of Prophecy has no way of determining which of the two armies will arrive at Tefram first. , which puts this golden city in unprecedented turmoil.
The City of Gold.
Literally, gold is flowing in this city, and many businessmen have found their first pot of gold here.
Because it is located at the western end of the Golden Road, it is the distribution center for goods from the Karatu continent, especially the Far Eastern Empire.
A delicate silk that is as smooth as a pure girl.
Colorful and beautiful porcelain of all kinds.
Only a handful can turn a piece of shit-like food into a delicious spice.
Those Far Eastern dancers who have a supple temperament, soft and boneless bodies, and are proficient in the art of enchantment.
No matter what it is, it is very popular in Faerûn, and the price is even more valuable than the same weight of gold, such as silk and spices.
Ordinary people are not qualified to enjoy this kind of delicacy. Only the nobles can afford it, and they will only take it out at banquets.
Many businessmen only need to bring such a cart of goods safely back to their city, which is enough to turn over and embark on the road to success.
In terms of scale, not to mention Waterdeep, even Baldur's Gate, West Gate, and Tevram can't compete with each other. But in terms of development speed, he said that no other city dares to say that. First.
It took less than thirty years for this city to develop from an unknown port city to its current size.
Although the commercial exchanges with the Karatu continent began as early as four centuries ago, due to restrictions on roads and the relatively closed policy of the Xianglong Empire, this kind of trade has been intermittent. Controlled by a very small number of families.
It has been less than half a century since the Golden Road was completely opened. However, the rise of the Tukan people in the endless wilderness caused an artificial blockage on this road. In the past ten years, the trade volume of this trade route has decreased instead of increasing.
Even so, the wealth it brings is far beyond what ordinary trade routes can match. Teflam's position as the fastest growing is still unshakable, and countless businessmen are still sharpening their heads. This city is a diamond.
At least half a month ago.
But now, countless people are scrambling to escape the city.
“The barbarians from the endless wilderness are coming. They are a group of humanoid beasts who only know how to wield swords. Once we fall into their hands, we will be put on the bonfire by them, like pigs and sheep. BBQ.”
"Don't panic. We, Tefram, are not Taimar and Phishante. We have more than thirty meters of city walls, countless city defense equipment, and even 50,000 mercenary troops. Our city is indestructible. Those Tukan people are either Either the cavalry is undead, there's nothing we can do about it. We don't need to defeat them, we just need to drag them for three to five days until the Faerun coalition led by King Asan lands.
Victory will happen. It will belong to us. It is an elite force of more than 100,000 people. There are as many as 800 warships transporting this army. "
"If we are facing only ordinary enemies, what you mentioned can indeed be used as a barrier, but it is a pity that we are here. This is no ordinary enemy.
Their Khan is the new body of Baal, the god of murder. This evil god is more ferocious and evil than before. He has declared war on all gods. He will mercilessly devour everyone's souls in order to regain what he has lost. Everything.
The Faerun coalition is also unreliable. Their first consideration is not the life and death of our Tefram, but to ensure that they can win this war.
If they find that there is little chance of winning in defending Tefram, they may even not land here directly, but move to Uxmail City in the Great Valley. "
"Yes, the new general quartermaster of the Faerun Alliance Army arrived a day ago with a legion of hundreds of super large tanks. They had no intention of entering Teflam. , meaning to strengthen defense, but are busy transporting military supplies.
The Faerun coalition stockpiled military supplies here in advance and transported them to Uxmer City overnight. What does this mean? I don’t need to say more! "
" If Teflam cannot be defended, the safest way is to leave here. I have a merchant ship that will leave tonight, and I can fit a dozen people in it. ”
"Count me in, leave me a seat."
"I want five seats."
"Save eight for me, I want eight."
"There are too many people, we can't squeeze in so many people, we clearly marked the price, one hundred gold coins per person, I We will deliver you safely to Samhail City in the Imbutu Kingdom. "How much? One hundred gold coins? Why didn't you go to Samhail City half a month ago?" The most is three gold coins, and the most expensive one is no more than five gold coins.”
"Why didn't you go half a month ago? The price of the ship changes according to changes in current events. If you don't go, some people will go. Once we miss the ship, when we come back next time, I'm afraid that Tefram will already be in the sea. In hell.”
“One hundred gold coins is one hundred gold coins. , leave me three positions. If the money is gone, you can find a way to make more money. If your life is gone, if you want to be resurrected, the price you need to pay is not comparable to a few tickets."
" This gentleman can see clearly. This time we are facing an evil god who has risen from the dead. , what they want is not only your wealth, but also your soul. Once it falls into his hands, no matter how much wealth you have, it will be extremely difficult to resurrect."
< br>"I'll cover all the remaining tickets for you, which are worth two thousand The gold coins and jewelry are my advance payment. No matter how many positions I have, the money is all yours. I only have one request, and that is that you will set sail as soon as I can with my family on board.”
"I will pay you two thousand five hundred gold coins."
"I offer three thousand."
"I offer three thousand five..."
"It's them, it's them, sir, it's them, hurry up and catch them."
"Everyone, please don't move. Cuff them all."
"Lord Chengwei, what is going on? We are just having normal discussions, why do you want to arrest us?" "Normal discussions? Then you should make it clear first, what exactly are the first two groups of people who boarded your ship? Where were you sent to?”
“Of course it’s Sashayer from the Kingdom of Imbutu.”
“Nonsense, my relatives over there in Sashayer City said they didn’t see your wasps at all. No, you didn't send any Tefram at all. People passed by, but the magic positioning located them on the island in the Falling Star Sea. You are basically the pirates' partners. You directly sent the people on your ship to the pirates' den, plundered all the belongings of the people on the ship, and even the people. Sold by you.”
"You are slandering others. We are legitimate businessmen. How could we be such crazy people and engage in chaos? What if the information sent back to you by your relatives is wrong? Do you know that this kind of behavior of yours, How many lives will be wasted? The Tukan people are about to descend on the city. Forget it if you don't get on the ship. We, the Wasp, will set sail on time at noon today."
"Where are you before we contact the two people you transported earlier? Can’t go either.”
"I see who of you dares to intercept us. Do you know whose ship the Wasp belongs to?"
"No matter whose ship it is, there is no way it can set sail today."
"Okay, okay , okay, just wait, it won’t take long and you will behave "Send us back."
Today's Tefram is simply a mass of demons. There are legitimate businessmen who are taking advantage of the situation, and there are also black-hearted businessmen among them. Those who board their ships can't help them. Forget it.
A ship that originally could only carry 40 or 50 people was forced to cram 200 or 300 people into it, like canned sardines, with no room to even lie down. Many of them were even fishing boats. It's a modified one, and the smell of rotten fish and shrimp inside can kill you.
But as long as this ship can sail into the port they originally promised, it will be considered a conscience.
Afraid of the hype, when you get off the ship, you find that you are not in the city you want to go to, but a group of ferocious-looking pirates, looking at you like a fat sheep.
Those are the real black-hearted businessmen. They may be partners of pirates, or they may themselves be pirates pretending to be pirates.
These days, pirates and merchants are not completely separated. There is me among you, and you among me. Especially for a city like Tefram that is developing at a rapid pace, but lacks a city that can match the strength of the maritime fleet. It is also an area hardest hit by pirates.
At their most arrogant, the bandits in the Sea of Fallen Stars even united to block Tefram's sea transportation lines, trying to extract money from him as a stable source of income for themselves.
It's a pity that the pirates in the Fallen Star Sea are too messy. In recent centuries, there have never been legendary pirates like the Pirate King Imuk. There is no trust and trust in each other. They fight against each other for a little profit. It takes a lot of time to break your scalp, let alone a huge profit involved.
Before the plan could be implemented, they started fighting among themselves over the division of the stolen goods, causing the matter to be delayed again and again.
Until the year before last, when the gods were in turmoil, the saintly incarnation of Queen Shrewdness descended on the Sea of Falling Stars, where she unleashed her anger and rolled up huge waves, destroying nearly one-third of the sea of Falling Stars. pirate.
Not only did it greatly reduce their strength, but it also caused a huge change in their strength, allowing many pirates to see the opportunity to redistribute their forces. In the past year, their main energy was spent on internal fighting and annexation On the sea, there was a fierce fight on the Falling Star Sea.
It wasn’t until the large-scale invasion of the Tukan people that they saw a great opportunity to make money, that they reluctantly reached an armistice agreement and turned their attention to the desperate Eastern Region again, hoping to make a lot of money from it and divide the forces. Let’s talk about it later.
Many pirates transformed themselves into legitimate merchants selling military supplies to Teflam from the west coast of the Sea of Fallen Stars.
But pirates are pirates, and they will never really do legal business in a safe and sound manner, because that kind of robbery and no-cost business is the fastest way to make money.
When Teflam fell into turmoil, they did not hesitate to take advantage of it.
Although the ruling class of Tefram tried their best to maintain it, there were still only a few who were truly capable of taking the stolen goods. A considerable number of them were still exploited by pirates, and a large number of people and wealth were lost to the Sea of Fallen Stars. I believe that after this incident, the pirates in the Starfall Sea will thrive again.
For Tefram, the biggest impact was brought by the chariot army led by Gavin.
"Lord, there is an emergency, outside..." Aiden, the commander of the First Legion of the Chariot Corps, hurriedly walked in. Seeing the presence of outsiders, he hurriedly stopped talking.
Gavin was obviously meeting guests, a man and a woman.
The man is over fifty years old. Even after careful grooming, he still cannot cover up the traces left by the years. He is wearing a gorgeous dress made of silk and satin from the Far East Empire, which vividly displays his beauty and smoothness. , but paired with the big gold chain around his neck and the belt full of jewels, it looks a bit nondescript, and almost looks like a nouveau riche written on his face.
In contrast to the man, the woman next to Gavin is much more outstanding. She is wearing a tailor-made full-body armor. It adopts a composite structure of prefabricated and stacked scales, making this The female outline of the armor is very obvious, which not only ensures defense, but also shows off her tallness and delicacy.
Pressing the sword in her left hand, the helmet was held in her hand, revealing a beautiful young face, visually estimated to be just over twenty. Beauty and force found a perfect balance in her body, exuding a heroic spirit that matched those around her. Commander Gavin is the complete opposite.
He is clearly 1.9 meters tall, which is enough to dwarf the height of most ordinary people, but Gavin does not give people a majestic feeling, but is as well-proportioned as a cheetah, and it seems that his whole body contains an explosive power.
I don’t know if it’s Aiden’s illusion. Compared with when he first came to the desperate eastern region, his lord’s appearance and temperament have changed in some way. Especially after meeting those Xianglong people, I always feel that There was something about him that was very similar to them, and one couldn't help but wonder if he still had some hybrid blood from the Xianglong people.
“If you have any questions, just say it. Princess Yalusel and Lord Parador are not outsiders.” Gavin looked like he didn’t treat them as outsiders.
The woman on his left is none other than Yalusel, the second daughter of King Asan. She led a purple dragon vanguard army and arrived at Teflan first along with the military supplies of the Faerun coalition. Mu.
Her main responsibility is to serve as the front line for the Faerun coalition and protect the military supplies.
When King Asan appointed Gavin as the general quartermaster of the Faerûn coalition, she was naturally promoted to Gavin's deputy. In name, she assisted Gavin in managing military supplies, but in reality, she performed supervisory duties.
Of course it is impossible for King Asan to deliver such important strategic materials to any one person or force. This has nothing to do with trust, but a check and balance of power to avoid various accidents.
This is the inevitable method for every qualified ruler after occupying a high position, and Gavin is no exception. After he settled the Blood Gap City ruled by the hobgoblins in the Giant Plains, he immediately established the The city of Colossus composed of kobolds, and then the human-dominated Ivanso developed on the Dragon Coast.
Both the three parties are different in terms of personnel composition and leadership, the possibility of uniting is very slim. If they want to make any changes, they must consider the reactions of the other two parties. This is the most standard triangle Checks and balances.
They are also in a triangle now, and the other corner is made up of the natives of Cesk. The man beside Gavin is the man named Parador Ryan, the city lord of Tefram, and also The president of the Sesk Merchant Alliance and the initiator of the invitation to the Faerun Alliance. He is the richest man and the most powerful person in Sesk, at least in name.
Like most merchant alliance countries, the Kingdom of Sesk has very weak control over itself and mainly stays in the city. The countryside basically maintains the original ecological self-development model. Rather than being a country, it is more appropriate to call it an alliance of cities. .
All their purposes are to promote the development of commerce, especially the Golden Road, which is related to the entire kingdom. The extension of the road, if there is no golden road, the Kingdom of Sesk will be lost to the public, and there will be no products that can be obtained.
Therefore, Parado can only be called the city lord, not the king of the Kingdom of Sesk, because his decrees are only limited to Tefram, and in most cases, there is no way to implement them thoroughly. .
Because the situation in Tefram is far more complicated than Gavin, an outsider, imagined.
Not only the Shadow Master Guild of the Church of Shadow Lord Mask, is secretly controlling the power in the darkness of Tefram through various covert means, trying to control Tefram, and then control the entire Kingdom of Sesk.
The pirates on the Falling Star Sea also want a piece of the city's pie. Various secret sentries and agents are distributed throughout the city, and some even directly collude with local businessmen.
Although the area of Falling Star Sea is not as large as that of the Endless Sea, it is not small either. There are thousands of kilometers from north to south and east to west, and there are so many waterways. The reason why the pirates were able to find those merchant ships was because they relied on It's just waiting for luck and prophecy spells, but detailed information.
The fate of many merchant ships has been decided from the moment they leave the port, because their waterways have been sold long ago, and there are traps carefully laid out by the pirates waiting for them ahead. (End of this chapter)