Chapter 94 Stone Whisperer Crystal
In ancient times, the world was once filled with giants, and the shadow of their empires stretched far and wide.
These towering figures were extremely active in those bygone days. They were dragon slayers, dreamers, craftsmen, and even kings of a country.
Now the prosperity of this race has faded away, and until now, there are only some secret giant clans scattered around the world.
They live a quiet life and have maintained ancient traditional customs.
Among the giants, stone giants are the most isolated giants compared to storm giants, fire giants, frost giants, and cloud giants.
They value privacy and like to live a peaceful and quiet life.
The secret cave is the home of the stone giants, the connected cave network is their town, the rocky tunnel is their road, and the flowing underground river is their water source.
The isolated mountains are regarded as oasis by the stone giants, and they can hardly cross the two continents separated by the sea.
The stone giants live in the deepest chambers, far away from the chirping bats and heavy footsteps of their cave bear neighbors on patrol.
In the quiet and dim cave, they carved the rocks in silence and listened to the echo of water droplets falling into the pool to record the passage of time.
While following the footsteps of the stone giant, Brian recalled the information about the stone giant family.
Soon, they arrived near the stone giant's settlement.
The entrance to the Smoky Quartz Cave is a long open tunnel in Gounan District. The tunnel extends several hundred feet before entering the homes of the stone giants of the Smoky Quartz clan.
The name of the stone giant tribe in Aldus King City comes from the ‘Smoky Quartz Crown’.
Their ancestors swore an ancient oath to the Crown's owner, and it remains a traditional symbol of the kings of the Deep Kingdom.
"Sir Brian, please." The stone giant Lockhan, who was carrying his companion, stretched out his hand to invite.
Brian nodded slightly and entered the Smoky Quartz Cave with the sword mage.
He knows that stone giants value privacy, so gray dwarves are never allowed to enter the Smoky Quartz Cave.
The only exception is the Deep King, who will come here to hold talks with the leader of the stone giants, the Stonespeaker Hegram, when necessary.
But on the way to the Smoky Quartz Cave, Brian had already elicited a piece of news from the upright stone giant Lorkhan.
Let him know that the Deep King Hogar has not had talks with their leader for more than two months, and even the necessities promised in the covenant have been cut off.
This made him realize that the King of the Deep was really, as his son Erdi said, completely controlled by the Succubus of the Abyss.
The moment he entered the cave, Brian felt a sense of enlightenment.
He also found that the noise of steel outside the cave suddenly disappeared and became extremely quiet and peaceful.
The faint sound of running water coming from deep in the hall made them accustomed to the noise made by the gray dwarves and seemed particularly soothing.
Sisiah on the side could not help but close her beautiful eyes, relax wholeheartedly, and quietly enjoy the atmosphere.
Brian looked up at the high ceiling, which was engraved with quite regular runes. These magical runes shone with a light blue luster, like a bright starry sky.
In addition to the runes, there are also beautiful stone walls and ingenious carvings on the surrounding walls.
The exquisitely carved stone walls and sculptures are so lifelike and seemingly made from nature that they would put even the legendary dwarf masons to shame.
It's not surprising that stone giants are natural sculptors and seers.
In their eyes, artistic attainment is the greatest virtue. They create exquisite and magnificent murals on the stone walls of caves and indulge in various artistic fields.
Among them, stone carving art is most favored by stone giants.
Because when creating stone sculptures, they will try their best to bring out the original shape characteristics of the stone, and regard this persistence as revealing the creative meaning of their god Scoreus.
Because of this, the stone giants usually designate the best sculptor in the clan as their leader, shaman, and prophet.
These outstanding giants use their sacred hands to perform the work of the gods.
Brian also took a fancy to the stone giant's talent and prepared to poach the gray dwarves.
Following Lorkhan's footsteps, they walked towards the depths of the hall with light and silent steps.
Although the stone giant with a skinny face and sunken eyes looks extremely tall and carries a companion on his shoulders, his huge body and strong muscle structure can still maintain elegant and graceful body movements. When walking, it makes almost no sound.
The entire hall looked empty, except for the three of them, there was no stone giant coming and going.
This is not surprising, because the total number of stone giants in Aldus King City is only about a hundred.
The population seems to be small, but their outstanding racial talents allow them to reach at least level 7 even without any training as long as they reach adulthood.
As for the stone giant Liwood who was knocked unconscious by Brian, he is not only a third-level warrior, but also has a warlock talent of about level 10.
As they left the hall and headed toward a deep corridor, Brian noticed a huge stone giant carved from granite.
The god of stone giants, Scoreus Rockbone.
The stone giants fear the 'King of Rock', the god of buried objects, whose priests are close to the realms of knowledge and life.
The god’s values and creed say: Beauty is truth, knowledge is power, outside influence will only distract believers’ attention from what is truly important, secrets are the ultimate power, and The Underdark is the secret of the world.
The powerful spellcaster Stonespeaker Hegram they were about to meet was the only priest of Scoreus in Aldus King City.
Obviously, this hall is a sacred place of silence and darkness for the stone giant family. Every sculpture and stone wall in the temple represents the most sacred quality.
When the stone giant Lockhan brought them to the door of Stone Whisperer, he bowed slightly, saluted Brian, then turned and left with his companions on his shoulders.
Brian pushed the door open and entered the house. Hesiah looked around cautiously and followed closely behind.
According to the size of the stone giant, the stone house deep in the tunnel is not big. A bed and books scattered around occupy almost the entire space.
An old stone giant sat cross-legged on the bed, his white beard dragging on his knees.
What surprised Brian a little was that this old stone giant with broad shoulders also had a pair of silver-rimmed eyes hanging on the bridge of his nose.
This is a gadget tinkered with by an alchemist. Almost everyone in the surface kingdom has one of these gadgets, but it is very precious to the stone giant tribe in the Underdark.
It can be seen from this that this old stone giant has most likely left the Dark Territory and traveled in the outside world.
Although the aura of the old stone giant didn't seem to be strong, Brian knew that as the priest of the stone giant god, he led the entire clan, and his strength was at the fourth-order paragon level.
In the game world, although this wise and knowledgeable old man sensed that some powerful force had broken into the Underdark, he did not survive the fight against this dangerous force.
Because he had no idea where the evil power lurking in the city was, so by the time the cultists completed the ritual, it was too late to save it.
"Hello, guests from the surface." Stone Whisperer Hegram put down the book in his hand, slightly squinted his astigmatic and cloudy eyes, and looked at the two of them.
The old giant's voice was soft and soft, sounding like he was on a calm lake. It was completely unimaginable that it was spoken by a giant more than four meters tall.
"Excuse me, Your Excellency Stone Whisperer." Brian bowed slightly and saluted the old man.
“It’s not an intrusion.”
Stone Whisperer raised his hand and smiled, and said to him with a slightly heavy heart, “I haven’t left Aldus King City for a long time. Therefore, I can only interpret the changes in the Underdark through the whispers from the rocks."
"Young adventurer, the stone answered my prayer. It told me that there are many things hidden in your heart. The unusual secrets in the city." The Stone Whisperer looked at the mysterious runes on the wall that even Brian couldn't understand, and whispered solemnly:
"It also says:
An evil presence has disturbed the royal city of Aldus.
The rocks cry out in fear, and madness is spreading from the dark depths. Watch for signs around you .
A cave has two sides
The rocks are worn away and the ground is overgrown.
Pebble only believes in his own flesh and blood.
The land resists its protection and the tunnels tremble with fury.
All these signs have revealed to you the face of this evil existence.
This is what the stone told me. ”
The old man's voice was so soft that one could not tell whether it came from his mouth or not. His words, combined with the shimmering mysterious runes on the stone wall, seemed to be a whisper from the rock.
Brian looked at the old stone giant who was sitting peacefully on the bed, and then he looked at the mysterious runes flickering on the stone wall.
He knew that these mysterious messages mentioned many demon lords and the madness that spread due to their existence, but Stonespeaker Hegram did not decipher the real answer from it at the moment.
"Since you have noticed the danger, you should know how terrifying the evil power is." Brian thought for a moment, looked at the old stone giant, and said to him truthfully in a solemn tone:
"Because soon you will realize that the power of the demon lord has threatened this city. Believe me, this is just the prelude to the madness of the bottomless abyss, which continues to spread corruption in the underdark."
"When disaster strikes, no one can stop it!" In order to exaggerate the solemn atmosphere brought by his words, he deliberately lowered his voice and made the final addition.
Unless someone can kill the spider wizard hiding in the Vicious Cave of Ancient Orens City at this time, he thought to himself.
Obviously, with the current power and personal strength of the Underdark, no one can do it.
Even the legendary team encountered in Kuo Tao Fishman Town did not dare to pat their chests and guarantee that they could kill a wizard in their own secret room.
Hesiah looked at Brian in surprise.
She originally thought that the arrival of the incarnation of the demon lord Demogorgon was just the result of the joint efforts of the Ixi Rays and the Kuo-Toa people, but she did not expect that the problem had become so serious.
Does this mean that if the Underdark cannot stop this power, the next target of the Abyss Demons will be the Kingdom of Cormyr in the surface world?
She felt unbelievable at her amazing idea.
But her subconscious told her that she must make preparations when she returns to the surface world.
“That’s it.” The Stone Whisperer looked up and stared at the glittering runes on the stone wall, muttering to himself:
"No wonder Leawood, who has always been calm and down-to-earth, has undergone such a big change. It turns out that this evil force has slowly penetrated from the rocks into the depths of our hearts."
"Although the demon lords caused The madness has not completely affected Aldus King City, but some evil entities hidden in the city have begun to make early preparations for the arrival of madness." Brian appropriately picked up the words of the old stone giant and said to him. He said:
“They began to worship demons and used corrupting rituals to accelerate the spread of madness symptoms in the city, in order to expand the area and social class touched by the influence of the demon lord, because these cultists had already planned to destroy the entire city. The city is dedicated to the coming master."
Brian has encountered two incarnations of the demon lord, and he has to admit that this demon lord's approach is obviously better.
He was not in a hurry to show up, but instead used the surging energy radiated from the earth's veins to let the cultists who believed in him take advantage of the chaos in the city bit by bit, slowly infiltrating until all the people in the entire city Everyone was affected by this power and completely fell into madness.
He is worthy of being called the demon lord who is most like the devil king, he thought to himself secretly.
"Then how should we fight against this force." The wise and knowledgeable old stone giant sighed softly and sincerely asked Brian for advice.
“The cultists hiding in the dark have corrupted the King of the Deep.” Brian met the old man’s turbid gaze and said to him, “Their next target is you. I don’t need to tell you this. You should be able to feel that the only way now is to find the hiding place of the cultists and destroy their corrupting rituals."
"You know their hiding place." The old man looked at Brian.
"Yes." Brian nodded.
"So, you need my help." Stone Whisperer pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and looked at the calm-looking surface man.
"To be precise, you should need my help." Brian shook his head slightly, corrected his words, and then said:
"Because you should have felt this a long time ago. This force is corrupting your people. Although you can still resist with your current ability, Leawood's madness has shown me that you are starting to lose strength. So, instead of passively defending, why can't you take the initiative and directly Uproot the cultists hiding in the darkness. "
"Tell me your conditions, fugitives from the surface." The old man was silent for a while, and then said meaningfully: < br>
“Although I cannot leave the Smoky Crystal Cave in order to resist the spread of evil forces that affect my people, the strength of my stone giant clan is such that no landlord clan in the entire Aldus King City dares to underestimate it. .”
"I can destroy the evil ritual used by the cultists to corrupt the entire city, and you stone giants must, under the command of the gray dwarf prince Erdi, forcefully break into the Deep King's fortress and kill this king who has been completely corrupted by the devil. Kill all the demon messengers."
Brian weighed the plan in his heart, briefly informed the old stone giant, and then said: "As you think, there is no free lunch in the world. There are two main conditions for helping you. "
" Please tell me." The old stone giant looked at Brian thoughtfully and nodded without surprise.
“First, I need a Stone Whisperer Crystal.” Brian calmly stated his first condition and stated his intention, “Because this crystal is going to the Engraved Valley. Key. ”
The Inscribed Valley is a legendary library.
Carved from the skeleton of the world long ago by stone giants, protected by ancient and powerful magic, it also possesses a sense of self.
The mission of the three stone giants who live in the library is to record and maintain the knowledge of their race, as well as the echoes of the past, present and future that permeate the halls.
The reason why he wanted to go to the Engraved Valley was not only for the rich knowledge there, but also to find the whereabouts of an illithid mastermind lich with a challenge level as high as level 68 during the Netheril era.
Of course, with his current level, he would not dare to try to enter this legendary library.
Only when his strength reaches level 4 paragon or above can he withstand the chaotic echoes of time and space in the Engraved Valley and find the person he is looking for.
However, to enter the Engraved Valley, apart from joining the Guild of Light, the simplest way is to obtain a Stone Whisperer Crystal personally made by a priest from the Stone Giant clan who believes in the God of Stone Giants.
“You actually even know about the ‘Engraved Valley’, the holy land of our stone giant clan.” Hearing Brian mention the ‘Engraved Valley’, the old stone giant man was moved, and his eyes looked at him, full of joy. Shock and disbelief.
"I agree to your request." He thought for a moment, weighed it in his heart, and nodded slightly.
"Originally, I only had one condition."
Seeing the old man nod, Brian thought about his words and said to him, "But seeing your current situation, I think Once the threat of abyssal corruption is resolved, you can completely move your family to other places to completely avoid the disasters caused by the abyssal demons.”
"Smart surface people."
The stone giant old man said to Brian with an inexplicable smile in his cloudy eyes, "Thank you for taking so much trouble to think about our tribe. It seems that you must have helped us find a better solution." It's the right place to go, right."
"That's right," Brian replied calmly, his face not reddening as his thoughts were revealed.
“In the north of the Kingdom of Cormyr, in the rocky wasteland of the Stormhorn Mountains and the Mokou Mountains, there is a new town, Mokou Town. I think this town is strong enough to withstand the fierce winds of the Enook Desert. The Mokou Mountains are undoubtedly an oasis in the desert for the development of your stone giant clan."
"Of course I know the Mokou Mountains." The old man nodded lightly, recalling the past and said to him. Narrated:
"The former dwarf kingdom of Tesyama once occupied the entire Mokou Mountains. Unfortunately, seven hundred years ago, it fell into the hands of orcs, ogres, evil wizards and demons, and the demons are still lurking there today. Among the mountains. The last king of Tethyama died in the city of Arabel in the Kingdom of Cormyr in 1369. Before his death, he still dreamed of regaining his lost kingdom. "< br>
After the stone giant old man finished recalling, he shook his head slightly and looked at Brian with suspicion, "Similar to the fate of the dwarf kingdom Tesyama, Mokou Town was no longer Cormyr ten years ago. A small town in the Kingdom."
Brian reached out to stop Hesiah, who was a little annoyed by the old man's words and was about to answer, and took out the purple dragon seal that had not yet been returned. Ring, showed it to him, and said firmly:
"As long as the flag of the Purple Dragon is still flying, it will always belong to the territory of the Kingdom of Cormyr."
Hearing this, Hesiah He looked at Brian with a complicated expression.
Although she had hinted to Brian many times about Mokou Town, the tone of his words always made her feel like he didn't care about gains and losses.
So, she didn’t know whether what Brian said to the old stone giant in such a firm tone at this moment was sincere.
Recalling his lofty goal of conquering the Anorak Desert and his actions to win over the gray dwarves and stone giants, she vaguely felt something.
Hesiah secretly looked at Brian from the corner of her eye.
She felt that if it was as she thought, she wouldn't mind making the decision she had already begun to consider when she returned to the surface.
"In that case, it won't be too late for us to discuss cooperation after you capture Mokou Town." The old stone giant narrowed his astigmatistic eyes, looked at Brian, and said softly.
“I think so too.” Brian secretly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled slightly, “Without further ado, let’s start taking action.”
Thanks to the boss: Life lies in losing weight and getting old. Onion Knight, Walking in the Rain to catch a cold, Po Muhun, thank you for your support! ! !
(End of this chapter)