Chapter 324: Menzoberranzan
“Damn it! If I had known this would happen, I shouldn’t have chosen to go to Menzoberranzan in the first place, let alone hire a bunch of useless trash like you. "
The original owner of the caravan covered his swollen face and cursed softly through gritted teeth.
Because of this loss, all the wealth he had accumulated over more than ten years of hard work was wiped out, and even he became one of the slaves.
Of course, the gray dwarves were not unprepared for this situation.
After all, when doing business in such a dangerous place as the Underdark, the first thing you do after making money is often to find a way to buy a magic item that can escape at any time.
He also spent a lot of money to buy an amulet that could teleport back to the gray dwarf city instantly for emergencies.
But the problem is that he was too greedy just now and was unwilling to give up so many valuable goods. As a result, he did not choose to escape as soon as he saw the dark elves appearing, but wanted to negotiate through them. to protect his caravan.
You must know that no matter how fierce, cruel, and evil the dark elves are, they can still be traded. This is completely different from the mind flayers who directly use mind control to capture slaves.
Unfortunately, this time the gray dwarves misjudged the situation, and not only failed to save their caravan, but even the amulet they used to escape was snatched away.
As a person with master-level magic item making skills, Zuo Si recognized everything about this cunning businessman that shone with arcane aura at just one glance.
Then the dark elves swarmed up and looted all the valuable or dangerous magic items, scrolls and potions from the caravan owner.
At this moment, half of his swollen face was because he tried to resist, and was slapped so hard that several teeth in his mouth were knocked out.
The dark elves have no sympathy when dealing with gray dwarf slaves.
Not slitting his throat directly, or cruelly breaking his limbs to let him crawl on the ground, is considered quite "merciful".
If Vinal is allowed to exert herself a little, this female drow can even find one hundred and eighty different tortures to teach the other party how to be a "qualified" and "well-behaved" slave.
Compared to the unwilling caravan master, the other captured gray dwarf warriors seemed much more submissive, and their superb obedience could even make people mistakenly think that they were originally a group of slaves.
Of course, this obedience is largely due to the dark elves' fierce reputation in the Underdark.
Almost all gray dwarves believe that if they do not perform well enough, they will most likely be executed in various cruel ways before arriving at Menzoberranzan.
In this way, Zuo Si and his party drove the gray dwarf prisoners and the convoy eastward along the tunnel for more than ten hours, and finally encountered a patrol sent by Menzoberranzan.
In the darkness, several sharp crossbow arrows were suddenly shot out, and they were very accurately inserted into the ground less than half a meter away from the toes.
Following that, a woman came out of the darkness and shouted: "Stop all actions immediately! Show your identity and purpose!"
"Don't move! If you If there is any threatening movement, they will attack immediately," Drizzt reminded behind him in a low voice.
"Don't worry, I know how to deal with it."
Zuo Si responded casually, then raised his hands to show that he had no weapons, walked straight to the front of the team, and charged at the The drow woman who looked like a priest put one hand on her chest and bowed slightly.
"May the great Spider Queen bless everyone. Hello, noble priestess, I am Thos from Eredlin City. As you can see, I am the leader of this mercenary group. I am currently planning to go to Magic Thread. Bly City."
"Eredelin City? You guys have really gone a long way."
The female drow said with strong suspicion and dissatisfaction. Trust does not relax just because the other party is a dark elf.
Because compared to other races, the insidious and cunning compatriots are the most worthy of vigilance.
Zuo Si pretended to be helpless and shrugged: "There is no way, who caused a small problem in my family, so I was forced to leave and find a new city to start over. I I think Menzoberranzan would be a good place. There should be many matrons here who need mercenaries like me.”
When he said this, he also deliberately revealed the spider-shaped emblem that he made with his own hands.
In an instant!
The drow woman captured this emblem and imagined on the spot that a noble family failed in an internal struggle and was exterminated. The young son who went out escaped and fled with a small number of family soldiers and became mercenaries. story.
In fact, similar situations occur in dark elf cities on average every ten years or so, and it is not worth making a fuss about.
In the city of Menzoberranzan, many mercenaries are "refugees" who escaped from other cities.
The matrons will select talented and valuable talents from these "refugees" and then absorb them into their own families.
Thinking of this, the female drow gestured to the others hidden in the darkness.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of fully armed dark elves came out of their hiding place.
Some of them occupied the commanding heights, holding crossbows and aiming downwards, while others were arcane spellcasters such as mages and warlocks, holding spellcasting materials in their hands and clearly preparing spells.
In addition, soldiers armed with various weapons also blocked all retreats from all directions.
Drizzt was right, this patrol had been ready for battle from the moment they issued the warning.
You must know that they are not the humans on the surface world who have lived in a peaceful environment for a long time, but a group of evil dark elves who have grown up in conspiracy and conspiracy.
Especially the weapons and armor worn on the body, which at worst are fine gold products with enchantment level +3, would be worth at least thousands or even tens of thousands of gold coins in the surface world.
Those cloaks and boots blessed with magical power are even more amazing. Even if they step on gravel, they will not make even the slightest sound. They look like a blurry shadow from a distance.
The shadow thieves and assassins of Amn will definitely be willing to spend a lot of money to get one for themselves.
Of course, all of this equipment cannot be exposed to sunlight, otherwise its dark magical power will quickly disintegrate and eventually turn into a pile of worthless adamantine dust.
But the dark elves living deep in the Underdark obviously don't need to worry about this.
"Thoth from Eredlin City, I think you can now explain what is going on with these gray dwarves and their caravans."
Female Drow walking Jumping down from the stalactites with graceful steps, the snake-headed whip hanging from his waist proves his identity as the priest of the Spider Goddess Lolth.
Obviously, she is the supreme commander of this patrol.
To be precise, the priestesses of Lolth hold all the power in dark elf society.
They represent the will of the chaotic evil goddess and firmly control the spiritual world of all dark elves.
As a double elect, Zuo Si could clearly feel the divine grace of the priestess in front of him, so he immediately bowed in a very humble manner, and then replied calmly: "These gray The dwarves and their caravan were all trophies we got along the way."
"Trophy? You mean... they are all slaves?" The priestess's eyes shone slightly.
"That's right. I am planning to transport them and the convoy's goods to the market to be disposed of in exchange for a start-up capital to establish a foothold in Menzoberranzan City."
The corners of Zuo Si's mouth raised, revealing the dark elf's unique evil smile.
"Well-trained gray dwarf soldiers are always the most popular cargo, especially in this sensitive period. Coupled with these well-trained dark elves under your command, it seems that you are in the magic rope Bly City will have a good start," the priestess said pointedly.
"I think so too. After all, the great Queen Rose taught us that chaos is a ladder and a shortcut to power and power." Zuo Si responded deliberately pretending to be ambitious. .
Because he knows that the more he behaves like this, the easier it will be to win the other person's trust.
The facts were as expected. After hearing this sentence, the priestess immediately pursed her lips with a playful expression, walked closer and whispered in her ear: "You know? My favorite You are a motivated man. But before entering Menzoberranzan, I must advise you to act within your ability, because although chaos is a ladder, you will be shattered if you fall down halfway." Zuo Si smiled. Nodding: "Of course! I will keep your advice in mind. If you don't mind, can you tell me your name?"
"You can call me Herman Baenry."
The priestess raised her chin slightly and announced her first and last name in a very proud manner.
If it were someone who knew nothing about Menzoberranzan, they would definitely not hear anything special about this name.
But when Drizzt, who was born in Menzoberranzan, heard the family name "Bare", his face hidden under the hood suddenly changed color.
Because "Bare" is the first family in Menzoberranzan and also the most powerful family. The last old mistress died under his scimitar.
In addition, the ranger also killed the martial arts master of the Banre family, Dendro Banre, in a one-on-one duel, and had enmity with him more than once.
It can be said that the hatred between Drizzt and the Baenre family has reached a level that cannot be resolved at all.
He believed that if the other party knew that he was back, he would capture him alive at all costs and sacrifice him to the evil and chaotic goddess.
"Ah! It turns out that she is the daughter of the first family in Menzoberranzan. This is really surprising and unexpected. Please allow me to express my most sincere respect to you and your family. ”
Zuo Si put one hand on his chest and bowed slightly to express his fear of the name and family "Ban Rui".
Because in the tradition of the dark elves, the number one family often means overwhelming power and strength.
What's more, the existence of the Baenre family can almost be traced back to the time when Menzoberranzan was first established. The clear records alone exceed five thousand years. During this period, there has never been any The family can be a real threat to their position.
Even now that the strength has been greatly reduced after the death of the old mistress, it is not comparable to any other family.
The current matron - Trill Baenre, has served as the matron and dean of the Spider Academy in Soberlei City while the old matron was still alive. Her status is second only to the heads of the major families. mother.
So when she took over the Baenre family in just a few years, she brought the originally chaotic situation within the family under control and re-established the rule of Menzoberranzan with the Baenre family as the core.
Although this rule is not stable at the moment, many ambitious families are secretly trying to find the weaknesses of the Baenre family, and then launch a fatal blow at the appropriate time.
"Stop being so glib here, you self-righteous lowly man. Bring your people and slaves with me. I believe many families are very interested in the gray dwarf slaves you have and the goods on the caravan. Interested."
After saying that, the woman who called herself Herman Banrezhuoer raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
Subsequently, the patrols quickly surrounded the entire caravan from all directions and brought it back to Menzoberranzan in a semi-escorted manner.
Unlike surface cities that often have tall walls and deep moats, the city of Menzoberranzan is built in a cave that is more than 3,200 meters wide and over a thousand meters high.
There are large and small stalagmites and stalactites here, and magic creates relatively independent circular platforms one after another as a place to live.
At the only entrance, a huge steel gate stands there, completely physically separating the inside and outside.
Unless you get permission, don't expect to be able to attack even if there are hundreds of thousands of troops outside.
In addition, this steel gate is not opened and closed by a gate or a winch, but is controlled by magic.
When you walk through the gate and enter the interior, the first thing you see is the huge stone pillar standing in the center of the city - the Narbandel Pillar.
This is a device specially used by dark elves to calculate time.
Since there are no seasons and no alternation of day and night in the Underdark, at the end of the day, the Archmage of the Mage Tower will bless the stone pillars with magical flames.
The temperature generated by the violent burning of the magic flame will make the entire stone pillar look red in the eyes of all creatures with dark vision, including dark elves.
In this way, the dark elves can determine what time of day it is by observing the temperature of the stone pillars.
At the end of the day, the magical flame is completely extinguished and can be cast again by the Archmage.
As a relatively large underground city, Menzoberranzan is home to nearly 20,000 dark elves and almost two to three times the number of slaves.
The main sources of slaves are goblins, orcs, half-orcs and bugbears that can be found everywhere.
As for guys like gray dwarves who are disciplined, obedient, and master certain craftsmanship and metal smelting techniques, they are usually more sought-after high-level slaves.
Normally, if a goblin can only be sold for fifty gold coins in the market, then orcs and half-orcs can sell for one hundred and fifty to two hundred gold coins, and bugbears can sell for three. Between one hundred and five hundred gold coins.
The price of gray dwarf slaves is often at the same level as that of trolls, and can be sold for eight hundred to one thousand gold coins.
Of course, the most expensive slaves are dark elf slaves.
Their origins are very complex. Some of them made mistakes and were demoted as slaves, and some were unable to repay huge debts and had no choice but to let their creditors sell them as slaves.
In short, the status and treatment of dark elf slaves are definitely much higher than those of slaves of other races.
If you perform well enough, you might be able to win your freedom again.
In the market of Menzoberranzan, you can even see mind flayers, Githyanki, and beholders coming to do business.
Especially since the first two were completely mortal enemies, they did not start a fight after meeting, but chose to ignore each other's existence.
At a stall selling goblin slaves, a male dark elf warrior bought six goblins at once, chopped off their limbs at lightning speed, and rubbed salt on the wounds with The method forced it to squirm crazily on the ground, and then made a bet with another group of dark elves next to it to see which goblin would be unable to hold on and die first, and which one could crawl farther.
Every time the goblins let out painful screams, they would laugh loudly and even take off their pants to urinate on the goblins, fully displaying the evil, coldness and cruelty of their natures.
The dark elf who finally lost the money became so angry that he directly raised his foot and trampled the goblin who persisted to the end into a pulp.
When the other dark elves in the market saw this scene, they just complained that the other party should not have made the scene so bloody, as it would be very troublesome to clean up.
In addition to killing goblins, Menzoberranzan also has a very long tradition, which is to drive living slaves to areas where giant spiders live, and then watch them be killed by those ferocious arthropods. Die and eat.
Looking at the visually stunning sight in front of him, Drizzt couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "How do you feel now?"
"Maybe you won't believe it, but I In fact, there is no special feeling." Zuo Si shrugged his shoulders indifferently.
"Don't you feel angry? Among the slaves who were fed spiders, there were many human adventurers." Drizzt showed an unbearable look on his face.
"Angry? Why should I be angry?" Zuo Si asked indifferently. "These human adventurers are not innocent civilians. If they choose to enter the Underdark, they should be prepared to face this kind of situation. As for goblins and orcs, I never think they should be classified as "human". Okay, don’t be so sentimental, don’t forget that our trip is not to save anyone, but to obtain information about the fungus forest.”
Just when Drizzt was about to say something, something happened. A drow woman who looked very proud and led a large entourage came forward.
She first glanced at the goods with interest, then turned her attention to the gray dwarf slaves listed for sale, touched her chin and asked with interest: "Buy all these goods and add How much does it cost to become a gray dwarf slave?”
“If you include the Loth beast, it costs a total of 80,000 gold coins,” Zuo Si said directly.
From the opponent's posture and the noble badge worn on her chest, he could basically confirm the approximate identity of the female drow in front of him.
It's just that I don't know what kind of family the other party is, and what their current position is in Menzoberranzan.
But it would definitely not be those small families with little influence who can directly negotiate for so many valuable goods and slaves.
(End of this chapter)