Chapter 659 The Mysterious Curse
It has to be said that Kelben was also confused when faced with Duanmu Huai's sudden request.
It was not that he had never thought that the Inquisition would find a place to preach. In fact, many believers would do such a thing, go to the local ruler and express their hope to preach... Many churches in Waterdeep City were also established in this way.
But......
"I can understand your thinking, but the situation in Waterdeep is complicated. Personally..."
"I don't think you understand me, Master Kelben."
Duanmuhuai waved his hand, interrupting Kelben's excuse.
"I have no interest in Waterdeep City. I hope you can introduce me to a more dangerous place, preferably one where monsters are infested in groups. It is basically deserted and there is no return. The legend is full of curses and death. As the founder of Xingyue, you must be much better informed than me.”
"Uh..."
Hearing this, Kelben couldn't help but be a little stunned, and his eyes when looking at Duanmu Huai changed several times. I have to say that Duanmu Huai's request was really strange. It was more like going on an adventure than going on a mission. But what surprised Kelben even more was what Duanmu Huai said just now. You must know that only a few people knew that Kelbourn broke away from the Harper Alliance and founded Xingyue. However, the Inquisition actually had such information. Got it…………
Well, of course Kelben doesn't know that players have basically dug up all the historical information about this world, even three generations of his ancestors.
Of course, Duanmu Huai made this request not because he wanted to seek excitement. In fact, the closer a place is to this kind of place, the weaker the boundary between subspace and reality. Just like viruses always attack people with low immunity first, if evil gods want to affect the real world through subspace, they will most likely look for this. Plant a place. After all, in an area like this, even if thousands of people die, it's not a big deal. If you try to kill so many people around Waterdeep City, Kelben will have already stepped forward.
Basically, the more people die in one place, the weaker the barrier between subspace and reality. With the help of interested people, it is easy to connect to subspace. This is the case with the plague in Neverwinter City. If Deszell succeeds in the end and sacrifices all the people in Neverwinter City, then the passage to subspace can be easily opened, and then you will not know what is coming out there. What a monster.
That's why Duanmu Huai made such a weird request to Kelben. Monsters appear in groups - killing each other with a high number of deaths. It's deserted - no one will investigate and deal with troubles. It's full of curses and Death - the first signs of subspace erosion are the strange situations that cause all kinds of spatial instability.
Those who basically meet these three conditions are most likely the front lines for the invasion of the evil god's army.
Isn't it natural to build a fort on the front line?
"I have to say that your request is indeed...unexpected."
Kelben thought for a moment, and then carefully looked at Duanmu Huai. To be honest, even as smart as him, he couldn't figure out why the Inquisition asked him to introduce such a place. It would be okay if it were the Paladins of Tyr or Tom, but the Inquisition...well, maybe this is a good opportunity to explore their policy and style of doing things?
Thinking of this, Kelben snapped his fingers, and soon, a map flew over from the bookcase at the back.
"If that's the case, then I can introduce you to a good place."
As he spoke, Kelben placed the map on the table and stretched out his hand.
"Did you know that to the east of the High Forest, there is a wilderness called the Lost Lands?"
"I've heard of it, but I haven't been there."
"That's easy to say."
Hearing Duanmuhuai's answer, Kelben nodded, then frowned.
"To tell you the truth, not long ago, we got some news that there seems to be a problem in the Lost Land."
"Question?"
"The specific situation is unknown. It is a place that has long been forgotten, and no one cares about their existence. But recently, strange things have happened in other cities near the Lost Land. Some people claim to have seen things from hell. Demons, and some places are infected with unknown diseases.”
"Sickness?"
"Yes, according to the situation from Noisy Water City, people in the small town near the Lost Land...are suddenly infertile."
"What does it mean to suddenly become infertile?"
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai showed a hint of curiosity.
"To put it simply, all children born are still babies."
“Didn’t he die from dystocia or from physical weakness after birth?”
"No."
Kelben shook his head.
"According to the current situation, the babies died before they were born. Moreover, the appearance of these babies is very twisted and terrifying, and they indeed look like traces of devils or demons at work."
"Oh, so isn't it?"
Hearing what Kelben said, Duanmu Huai had some guesses in his mind.
"Of course not. In fact, the reason why I know about this is because a lady from Locke Town came to Waterdeep City to seek help from the temple. Most of the above are what I heard from her. She said that there are many people in Locke Town. The girls were dying after giving birth, suspecting some kind of curse, so they came for help, and the temple offered help. Not only did they send priests and paladins to the local area to investigate, they also conducted a special examination for this lady, but... it had no effect at all. Even if she was protected by the priest, the lady only gave birth to a dead baby in the end, and according to the priest The examination results showed that the baby had been dead for many days.”
"This isn't right."
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai frowned.
"If a dead baby stayed in the belly for many days, wouldn't it have rotted long ago? Then the mother might have been poisoned by corpse poison."
"I don't quite understand the reason for this, but according to my investigation, the appearance of dead babies is not the result of some kind of devil's curse or magic, but more like a natural result."
"There are a lot of cases, right?"
Duanmuhuai immediately understood why Kelben was upset about this. Indeed, the level of civilization in this world is low, and it is not impossible for childbirth to be difficult or for some reason to cause the baby to die before birth. But this should be an exception, but once the exception becomes a common number, then it is another problem.
"I heard that a similar situation has occurred in the Silver Moon Alliance, and Ms. Alustriel is also looking for a solution to this. Although we don't know where the problem is at the moment, the root of everything points to the Lost Land. According to some rumors , even the Supreme Forest seems to have encountered problems related to this, but we don’t have enough information to prove this.”
"So you want me to solve this problem?"
"This is your request."
Facing Duanmuhuai's inquiry, Kelben laughed and spread his hands.
"There are indeed products that appear to be cursed in the Lost Land, but we have no way to find the source yet, and it is full of twisted monsters, and few people go there..."
"Okay, I get it."
Duanmuhuai nodded, then stood up.
"I will go investigate and see what's going on. By the way, can you tell me which temple the lady delivered her baby in?" "Of course, it was in the temple of Tyr, the God of Justice... Ah, Miss Emilia. They should be there too.”
Duanmuhuai didn't care about Kelben's unnecessary answer and just nodded.
"That's it, farewell."
Watching Duanmu Huai and others disappear into the magic circle, Kelben's expression became solemn. Although this was just a seemingly ordinary meeting, Kelbourne was not completely without gains. First of all, he found that the Inquisition did not seem to be a fanatical religious organization, and secondly, they did not seem to follow certain dogmas similar to the church. They felt more like an organization of mages, with some kind of cynical and weird treaty, and it seemed No more interest in most things in the world.
So where does their power come from?
The power of the church comes from the gods, and the power of the mages comes from magic.
What about the Inquisition?
Kyle could have felt a strong sense of oppression from Duanmu Huai. That sense of oppression made him feel like he was walking on thin ice, as if he was facing a bottomless abyss if he made a wrong step.
Kyle could have been sure that the problems of the Lost Lands would be solved, and that then Waterdeep, the High Forest, and the Silvermoon Alliance would have to face a new neighbor.
I wonder if this new neighbor will be easier to deal with...
Kelben shook his head, and then he withdrew his gaze. Following Kelben's movements, the entire inside of the mage tower became dim again, with only the light of lit candles shining in it. Kelben walked to the desk and sat down, reaching out to read the magic book in front of him.
For him, there is still a lot to do.
It is not that difficult to find the temple of Tyr, especially with Kelben's introduction, it is even easier. It's just a pity that when Duanmu Huai and others arrived at the Temple of Tyr, they were told that Emilia and the others had already set off on the ship to Baldur's Gate yesterday - well, it was a bit of a pity not to meet everyone by the way. , but Duanmuhuai doesn't particularly take such trivial matters to heart. After all, for him, the issue of the Lost Land is more important right now.
Because it is very much like a precursor to the erosion of subspace, just like the plague in Neverwinter. It seems to be just an ordinary disease at first, but when the number reaches a certain level, it will start to accumulate - the barrier between reality and subspace. It will become weaker until the power of the evil god begins to invade.
If this is the case, then there is a problem somewhere.
Duanmuhuai found the Tire priest who delivered the baby to Ms. Locke Town. She was a middle-aged woman in her forties, with a look of sadness on her face.
"I have received a message from Master Kelben. What do you want to ask?"
"Please tell me about the Rocktown lady. I need a detailed explanation."
"Okay…………"
After hearing Duanmuhuai's inquiry, the priest nodded, and Mary next to her also took out her notebook and tape recorder - now she is getting more and more accustomed to this identity.
"That was half a month ago. A lady suddenly came to our temple and begged us to save her child. She said she was from Rock Town, and said that there was a curse there, and all the children born to women there died. She was also pregnant. She was afraid that she would also give birth to a dead baby, so she came to the temple to ask for our help.”
"I heard Master Kelben say that you sent paladins and priests to investigate... What was the result?"
"Nothing gained."
The priest shook his head.
"It is true that many babies died at birth. Just looking at the small graves makes people heartache, but we did not find any useful clues. There was no sign of magic, sorcery, or curses. Even Tyr No clear guidance was given to us, as if it was just an accident.”
"An accident in which everyone in a small town was born dead."
Duanmu Huai answered, while the priest nodded with a complicated expression.
"We found no clues, so we returned to the church. We prepared the best protection for the lady and let her bathe in the holy light of Tyr until the time of delivery arrived, but..."
After saying this, the priest paused and looked at the girls beside Duanmu Huai.
"It doesn't matter, you can continue."
Duanmuhuai understood what she meant and just shook his head, while the priest continued.
"I was responsible for delivering babies. To be honest, I have done similar work thousands of times. It is not difficult for me to deliver babies. Under the holy light of Tyr, I also have confidence. Do your job well. But that baby is different. The moment I reach out and touch it..."
"You said...it?"
Duanmuhuai was keenly aware that the words used by the priest were obviously wrong.
"Yes, I'm sorry for using such impolite words, but personally, I really can't think of a better adjective... That baby was cold all over, without any warmth, as if he had lost his life long ago. When I took it out, it was livid all over... Frankly speaking, it didn't look like it had just died, but more like it had been dead for many days and was stuffed back into its mother's belly. Baby corpse......"
“Woo…………!”
Hearing this, Gu Leiya covered her mouth, while An also looked pale, and Mary looked shaken, biting her lips, and even stopped writing.
"Are there any signs of decay?"
"No, but... I can't say for sure."
"What does this mean?"
"It looks... very strange."
The priest thought for a moment and seemed to be considering how to explain.
"It looks like a human being, but its body part shows the characteristics of a beast. We also doubt that the lady has been seduced by demons or demons, but... we didn't feel anything from the dead baby. The smell of evil, sorry, although they are very similar to the children of devil hybrids like Tieflings, but I always feel that something is not right.”
Subspace pollution.
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai's face darkened.
"Is the baby's body still there? If it's convenient, can we have a look?"
“………………Of course.”
Facing Duanmuhuai's request, the priest was silent for a moment, nodded, and then she stood up.
"Please follow me."
(End of chapter)