Chapter 86 City of Blades
The orange fire gradually became brighter with the louder and louder metal echo.
Brian stood at the bow of the ship, looking at the rows of huge stone pillars illuminated by the firelight.
These bright lights come from the various buildings built along the stone pillars.
The bright light allows people to feel that the cold air of the Underdark is warming even from a considerable distance away.
As the keel boat sailed, he gradually saw clearly the various docks on the shore of the dark lake.
They are made of Zeke wood, stone and flat rocks, and extend out to the lake along the edge of the huge cave.
"Relax, don't be so nervous. Everyone, we have arrived at Yuehu Fortress." The haggard-looking gray dwarf Weitz touched his shiny bald head and said to everyone:
"Its main function is to always be alert to visible threats coming from the Dark Lake and to provide security for the Dark Lake Pier."
Brian glanced at the gray dwarves walking over, and looked towards the water gate of the fortress that was approaching. .
At this time, on the big ship, except for the Kuo-Toa monk who suddenly left the team midway, there were only five people, Hesiah, the goblin Copper Nugget, the derro dwarf Jip, and Weitz.
He was not surprised by the monks who left the team.
Because the maze composed of various tunnels, passages and pools in the Dark Lake is itself a kind of meditation for the Kuo-Tao fish people.
They believe that if they travel through this maze long enough, it will not only be a spiritual journey, but also bring great enlightenment to their compatriots.
So, when Brian was about to arrive at his destination, the Kuo-toa monk, whose name Brian still didn’t know, said hello, jumped, and disappeared into the depths of the dark lake. .
Looking at the battlements of Yuehu Fortress, rows of blue-white light sources flashed regularly like street lamps. He was about to check the source of the light - the complex magic carvings on the city wall, when a narrow tunnel suddenly appeared on the tunnel stone wall. seam.
"Stop!"
A rude voice came out of the gap and stopped the sailing keel boat.
"Hey! It's you, hurry up and tell me your name and the purpose of your visit!" The voice ordered in a low dwarf language.
Immediately afterwards, several similar gaps opened simultaneously on the stone wall near the gate, and more than a dozen loaded crossbow arrows emerged.
With a soft sound of metal, a dozen heavily armored gray dwarves jumped from the two-meter-high battlements to the deck, put up strong metal shields, and raised their long swords to confront everyone.
Brian glanced inadvertently and noticed that the derro dwarf Jip looked a little flustered when he saw the gray dwarf guards.
Thinking of the conflict between the gray dwarves and the derro dwarves, he secretly made a reservation.
He used his eyes to signal the sword mage beside him not to be nervous.
As for Copper, this timid goblin has already hid in the shadows in advance, so he doesn’t have to worry about his safety at all.
Because even if Copper Block didn't activate any hiding skills and was just standing in the shadow, if he didn't look carefully, he wouldn't even be able to see his outline.
“Look clearly, Goglak.”
The ragged Weitz took a step forward, motioning for him to look at the emblem on his ragged clothes, and said to the leading gray dwarf The warrior said, "I am Weitz Firehand of the Forge Clan. Do you want to seize my ship here?"
The gray dwarf blew his beard and stared at the guard leader, pointing to his empty keel. Boat.
"Hey! I'm so sorry, it's Waits."
The guard leader took off his metal helmet, scratched his long gray beard, and walked over with a common gray dwarf face, and said to him:
"It turns out to be Weitz from the Forge Clan, my dear Friend, welcome back to King Aldus City. I can see that you must have made a lot of money in Slobudo. I feel relieved to see you living so well, hahahaha."
The gray dwarf leader’s eyes and smile shone with cunning. He glanced at Brian and the others, then lowered his voice and said to Weitz:
“However, although you have brought back a few interesting slaves, , but I am very sorry that none of your crew members and followers came back alive. Now, we must seize your ship and people, and then report it to the Deep King to investigate the matter clearly. "
" They are not slaves, they are all my friends.”
Weitz looked at the guard leader and gritted his teeth and said, "Gorgrak, regarding the investigation, if my brain was not damaged by the Kuo-Toa man's pliers, I think it would still be managed by the Merchant Council now. Your hands are too long.”
“Really? In fact, my hands are not long at all, it depends on how you express them.” The gray dwarf guard smiled and rubbed his hands deliberately. Full of implications.
He leaned close to Weitz's ear and whispered, "Hey, then I won't keep your secret sale of arms a secret."
"You" Weitz was so angry He tugged at his long beard, but he didn't know what to do.
After all, all his belongings were robbed by the Kuo Tao fish, and he was extremely poor.
Brian on the side took a surprised look at the thick palms of the gray dwarf guard. He found a strange little bump protruding near the thumbs of both hands, as if something was about to grow.
"Captain Goglak, right?"
Seeing the dwarf in trouble, he walked up to the guard leader, smiled, threw two azurite gems at him, and said to him , "We are adventurers from the surface. It is our first time to come to King Aldus City. We are not respectful at all. Please take care of me in the future."
"Hey! Boy, who do you think I am? "The guard leader stared greedily at the gem that Brian handed over, then quickly threw it back, looked up at him, and scolded righteously:
"You are insulting my profession, my personality, and the laws of our gray dwarf clan. Don't try to bribe me, and don't try to touch my bottom line. I won't accept that."
"Actually, when I saw these two gems, I suddenly remembered that I have a friend Sauron who lives at the Dark Lake Dock. He just lacks two such gems." The gray dwarf guard finished venting his justice. After the declaration, he said to Brian with a smile on his face:
"I can give you a pass, but after my shift is over, I must see some surprises from my friends. Otherwise, I will notify the guards at the dock that you have hijacked Weitz and robbed his goods. By then, you will be wanted by the entire city."
"Don't worry, since your friend just needs it. , then I’ll just be a favor and give it to him.”
Based on his understanding of Gray Dwarf’s personality, Brian smiled casually with the mentality of doing more than doing less. These two gems worth 50 gold coins were handed to Waits, the gray dwarf beside him, and asked him to hand them over on his behalf.
"What a wise choice." The guard leader looked towards the gate and shouted: "Boys, open the city gate and let them in!"
The ship docked.
After the gray dwarf Weitz cursed and handed the gem to the gray dwarf Sauron mentioned by the guard leader, he came to Brian and said to him:
"I know Gog Lark, he was never like this before, how come he has changed so much after not seeing him for half a month?”
No one took the gray dwarf’s casual complaint seriously, but Brian. But he looked thoughtful.
He vaguely felt that this dwarf was probably influenced by another demon lord and became like this.
Although he knew that the chaos in Aldus King City was inseparable from the Abyss Demon, he did not yet know which demon lord it was.
Then he recalled the abnormality in the guard leader's palm, and he vaguely felt that he already had an answer in his heart.
Led by Weitz, they quickly passed through the sparsely populated pier and arrived at the Dark Lake area.
The Dark Lake area is adjacent to the dock and is an open trade area.
In order to allow merchants' carts and carriages to pass smoothly, the streets here are very wide and the density of stalagmite buildings is not high.
The dark lake flows quietly under the chaotic urban buildings and streets, reflecting the city's hollow stone pillars and stalagmites, as well as the countless firelights shining through.
The moment Brian stepped into the Dark Lake Area, he clearly felt a heat wave suddenly rushing towards him.
The acrid smoke rose, catching him off guard and almost choking out all the air in his lungs.
Although the streets are a bit crowded, it does not prevent them from walking among the crowds of buyers, merchants and slaves.
They are not the only outsiders here, drow, svirfnebli, tauren, earth elementals, derro dwarves, orcs and other races appear in groups.
It is different from the frightening silence of the dark elf city and the drow patrols that are like ghosts floating by.
The lively Dark Lake area was occupied by various shouts mixed with the sound of iron coming from a distance, forming a rhythmic hustle and bustle.
Following the footsteps of gray dwarf Weitz, they did not miss the excitement here too much.
Brian passed through the dense crowd and subconsciously looked up into the city.
He saw countless rooms dug out of huge stalagmites and stalactites that were used as smelting workshops. From a distance, they looked like the bloody mouth of a giant beast full of fangs.
This made him recall some information about this gray dwarf city.
Aldus King City is a solid bastion of the trade culture in the Underdark, and it is also a ruthless commercial city.
It is located on the wall of a large cave on the southwest bank of the Dark Lake. It is the political, economic and cultural center governed by the 'King of the Deep', the beloved gray dwarves.
The city is close to the open shoreline of the dark lake, and the land route connects several caves and passages.
The royal city of Aldus relies on these pathways to connect to other areas in the Underdark and facilitate travel and trade between these cities.
In this city, the most intuitive feeling is the heat wave and the pungent air blowing towards you.
There are also patches of furious and dazzling red light in the distance, like dim lighting areas in hell, as if guiding travelers here to every corner of the city.
In fact, all this red light comes from the red-hot steel when forged by gray dwarf blacksmiths.
Because the never-ending furnaces continuously supply iron materials, this is the reason why Its brilliance continues continuously, and as for those places where the red light cannot be found, it is a dark road area.
It is this unique scene, combined with the constant sound of hammers and grinding machinery, that constitutes the sonorous and pulsating steel heart of this industrial city.
Brian also knew that the entire city's furnace power came from an adult red dragon, which was famous as the 'Dragon Blacksmith'.
The red dragon provides the fire source for the entire city's furnaces, and countless gray dwarf blacksmiths work day and night to follow the rhythm of the city, producing the best weapons and armor in the entire Underdark.
Therefore, the Royal City of Aldus is also called by the merchants: the City of Blades.
(End of this chapter)