Chapter 116 Banquet
Rather than saying that Mokou Town is a border town, it is better to call it a small town.
Brian stood on the tower of the manor, overlooking the entire town.
Mokou Town was established near the Mokou Mountains in the north of the Kingdom of Cormyr.
Once upon a time, a rocky wasteland between the Stormhorn Mountains and the Desert of Haenorok, the region was occupied by a militarized race of hobgoblins, gnolls, orcs, and evil humans, all known as: Border Invaders.
For nearly a hundred years, the rulers of Cormyr have continuously offered generous land rewards and adventurers who can tame the land and carve out human strongholds to rid it of monsters, bandits and agents of the Sanhedrin.
This policy continued until twenty years ago. A priest adventurer who believed in Ogma, the god of knowledge, led his team and mercenary group to crush the Sanlin Tower Society and the Alliance of Tyranny. God Bane's conspiracy drove out the goblins, jackals and orcs, and successfully established the fortress, which is today's Mokou Town.
In fact, the rocky badlands can be understood from the name. It is a barren land dominated by rock, with many valleys and hills, characterized by knife-edge ridges, deep ravines, caves and overhangs. .
Because of this, there are few adventurers interested in this land.
Strong adventure teams look down on it, and weak ones cannot win it.
Apart from the evil humanoids who were driven away, only the people of the Zanlin Towers had some interest in this desolate land, hoping to use the rocky land to expand their power to the Kingdom of Cormyr.
But with the Year of Wild Magic and the strong return of Shadow City from the Shadow Plane, everything has changed dramatically, and even the rocky wasteland has benefited from this.
As the remnants of Netheril, the City of Shades naturally regards the entire Enorok Desert as its own territory. While guarding their own territory, they are also constantly using magic to improve the environment of the desert.
Water is indispensable for desert control.
Telamante Tanshur, the High King of Shade City, a Nese relic who has lived for thousands of years and was a contemporary of Karthus, fought against the Supreme King due north of the Aenook Desert. Glacier group.
In the ancient Netheril era, before the emergence of the phaerim, the entire empire's territory was dominated by forests and plains suitable for human habitation.
The icebergs in the north of the empire were the navigable oceans in Netheril.
As the Lord of Shade City used the legendary spell "Marvin's World Weaving" to melt most of the ice in the Supreme Glacier, many ancient rivers and inland seas in the Eno Oak Desert became active one after another. Green and lush oases began to slowly dot the sandy desert sky.
The most critical thing is that due to the melting of the highest glaciers, the delicate balance of climate and weather across the continent has been disrupted, and many places have suffered systematic and widespread damage.
The rocky wasteland has gradually become fertile due to decades of abundant rainfall and suitable climate.
It is for this reason that, driven by interests, many powerful adventure teams set their sights on this land, eventually forming today's Mokou Town.
Mokou Town is surrounded by the Enook Desert, the Mokou Mountains, the Stormhorn Mountains and the Distant Sea Swamp. It is also the fastest shortcut to the inland from all countries.
Because various mineral deposits have been continuously explored and discovered, it has attracted countless adventurers and caravans, making this town very prosperous in the past two decades of rapid development, and even belongs to Cormyr. Among the cities in the northern part of the kingdom, it is second only to Arabe City.
Naturally, it attracted the attention of many evil forces.
Ten years ago, during a Red Dragon Rebellion, Mokou Town was lost from the Kingdom of Cormyr and fell into the hands of the Sanlin Pagoda Society.
The reason why Gral, the richest man in Mokou Town, was able to gain a certain say in this town was not only secretly supported by Lord Arabey, but also had to do with his own business talent.
This is why when Yinhun City gradually revealed its intentions, it was the first to attract the attention of the richest businessman in Mokou Town.
Of course, Brian is also trying to get the opponent's attention.
With the support of such a large consortium, his development speed will increase a lot.
Relatively speaking, his method is much gentler.
In fact, through these two days of contact, he has discovered a problem.
The reason why Graal, a businessman who started his business, can survive so carelessly to this day is more like a fat sheep being herded by Sanlin Tower.
When he is fat enough, he will be slaughtered directly.
Yinhun City obviously also took a fancy to this fat sheep and tried to take the lead.
Brian stopped thinking about it. After sorting out all his belongings and magic props, he opened the door and walked out of the room.
He saw the bard Elend Windfall walking out of another room as if he had timed it right when he opened the door.
As usual, the half-elf poet wore a clean dark purple coat and rose-colored breeches. His hair color and eyes were like molten silver.
“You don’t look nervous at all.” Brian looked at the poet, said hello, and said curiously.
“There’s nothing to be nervous about.”
Ellend smiled, “Partying is our nature and can satisfy many of our inner needs. In my opinion, people should I meet up with friends from time to time and have a party together, laughing, singing, eating meat skewers, drinking beer, listening to music, watching dances, and even teasing girls whose skin is shiny with sweat.
How boring would life be if everyone used old methods to satisfy needs or needs without any need, and refused to participate in organized group activities. "
Brian did not reply, but looked at the poet with meaningful eyes.
Feeling the burning gaze of the other party, the half-elf poet smiled a little uncomfortably. , puzzled: “What’s the problem? Did I say something wrong? In fact, festivals and parties were invented for this reason, so when you encounter such an occasion."
"No problem. Brian interrupted him, shook his head slightly, and while speeding up his pace, he threw him a sentence, "I just think you are a bit unhuman." ”
This is just a joke he said casually.
The reason why he said such a sentence suddenly was mainly because he was a little curious to see the other party's not nervous look at all.
After all, he was about to fight with the people from Ghost City. Not only was this guy very active, but he also looked relaxed and at ease, as if he already had a sure chance of winning.
“.”
A look of surprise appeared on Elend’s expression, and then he suddenly came to his senses, so he caught up with him and said with a smile, “Of course, seriously, Neither of us are human beings, because we are half-elves."
"Just be happy." Brian smiled back.
When the goddess Shar cast a starry sky, people in the world covered themselves with the veil of night, and Brian and Elend also arrived at the wedding venue in the cool night.
The wedding venue was the banquet hall of Graal Manor that could accommodate hundreds of people.
The hall is brightly lit, with exquisite crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, which is particularly dazzling.
Many merchant lords from Mokou Town were well-dressed, chatting and laughing while changing glasses.
Brian noticed a burly ogre bodyguard clinking glasses with a troll hunter. The spilled beer just fell on the face of a passing dragonborn warrior covered in black scales. People suddenly became noisy.
In the shadow of the corner, there was a blue-skinned Tiefling with a pair of sharp horns on his forehead, a wicked smile hanging on the corner of his mouth, and a restless look in his cunning triangular eyes, wandering among the rich and luxuriously dressed people. between.
Two mischievous goblins who were chasing each other accidentally knocked over a ghost man's wine glass. The latter's eyes flashed with a frightening red light, which scared the two little guys and covered their eyes. , screamed in unison.
The three orc mercenaries drank happily, their big faces behind their beards flushed red, they kept raising glasses to each other, and ate every dish like hungry ghosts.
What surprised Brian even more was that he actually saw a Thom paladin wearing the emblem of the Iron Fist.
He sat on the chair with a calm expression, his back straight, his hands flat on his knees, and there was a vacuum within two meters around him.
In Brian's opinion, this paladin was probably panicking inside.
He withdrew his gaze from the paladin, because the latter had noticed his gaze.
In the banquet hall at this moment, men are either sitting at the table or gathering in a corner of the hall, holding wine glasses and talking.
The women were dressed brightly and talked in groups of two or three in low voices. When they talked about something happy, they covered their mouths and smiled softly.
Most of the people attending the banquet were prominent businessmen, slave owners and members of the council who jointly managed the town in Mokou Town, as well as the guards and bodyguards they brought with them of all kinds and races.
There is no doubt that since Mokou Town was controlled by the Sanlin Tower Society, the owners of this town with a population of about 5,000 have gradually turned into slave owners and merchant lords.
Thousands of slaves toiled in the hills in the mansions of slave owners and merchants, growing food crops, herding sheep and goats, and mining rock salt and ore.
In the land of Mokou Town, merchants and slave owners implemented a cruel and desperate slavery system in the form of indentured slaves and serfdom.
The slave owners from the Sanlin Tower Society openly exchanged slaves in various forms to extract their value.
Aware of this situation, Brian knew that in order for the territory to develop towards a healthy state, slavery must be abolished after he regained the town.
So after discussing the plan for Yinhun City with Graer, he proposed to the other party that he should invite as many prominent figures as possible in Mokou Town.
In this case, he can use this opportunity to clean them all up smoothly, saving him the trouble of cleaning up later.
After all, with his arrival, the situation in Mokou Town will definitely change dramatically.
In his opinion, short-term pain is worse than long-term pain, so he simply solves it all at once.
The witch’s bare feet on the roadside,
A bite from a venomous snake is a serious disaster,
the snake's life is wasted,
the witch is still alive and kicking.
…………
After the half-elf poet Elend saw a sweet-looking elf mage, his eyes lit up and he immediately ran to chat with her while singing and dancing.
The female elf mage smiled back at him and winked her lovely eyes teasingly.
Brian ignored him and sat alone in an inconspicuous corner of the hall, silently observing everything around him.
He saw that today's protagonist, Graal's son Lando, had taken off his armor and was wearing a formal suit. The bride standing next to him was also wearing an elegant dress.
As the half-elf poet said, this Miss Natasha from the City of Shades is not a transformed Shade.
The beautiful bride has a proud and slender face and long black hair. Her lips and eyelids are sprinkled with sapphire powder, and she wears a black dress dotted with purple patterns.
As she spins, it seems like ever-changing shadows.
Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar figure, Brian couldn't help but recall the information about her.
Natasha Tanshur, the daughter of the ghost prince Desude.
Her profession is level 5 Netherese Arcanist/level 10 Shadow Mentor, and she also works as a 5-level Shar Priest. (Note: Arcanist comes from the name of wizards in Netheril, so whether they are warlocks or wizards, Shade City follows the ancient tradition and calls themselves arcanists.)
Natasha In addition to participating in the shadow wedding in Mokou Town.
The most famous thing is that after the fall of the Kingdom of Cormyr, she and her sister were secretly summoned by the High King. During a communication banquet composed of young spellcasters from Shade City, they transformed another Patience into a lich. The old relic of Thrael, Ravok, an old lich whose strength was comparable to that of the High King, was attracted here.
When the old lich tried to show up to deprive these young spellcasters of their souls and minds, he fell into the trap of the High King and was almost killed on the spot.
Although the Netheril Empire has long been destroyed, with the fall of the floating city and the failure of the immortality spell, many powerful great arcanists died.
But there are also a few who survived by transforming lichs, such as Iolum, Ovo, and Larok. These lichs with a challenge level of 35 or above are still alive today.
When another remnant of Netheril, the Halrua from the south of the continent, predicted that the return of Abel, Toril's twin world, would lead to the destruction of the Halrua kingdom.
In order to avoid disaster, they came to the Eno Oak Desert again. Suddenly, the entire desert became lively.
The three forces of Netheril, the lich, the wraith, and the Halrua, are like a swarm of demons dancing around, engaging in traditional battles in the Aenook Desert. .
Of course, in addition to their competition for orthodox status and territory, the fundamental reason is due to the melting of the supreme glacier. Many intact ruins and strategic fortresses from the Netherese period have surfaced, and even some An ancient city about Saluk, one of the three creator races, appeared.
This is also the reason why Brian set his target in the Eno Oak Desert.
Although he was facing the City of Shadows, he resolutely made his choice.
After all, as a force in the evil camp, Shadow City inevitably has a tradition of involution and intrigue within it.
In his opinion, the level of involution of these ghost princes was only a little worse than that of Sel's red-robed wizard.
There are even some ambitious ghost princes who are trying to replace the High King.
It is obviously impossible to get such a group of people to work together.
He also clearly knew that the ghost forces responsible for the invasion of Mokou Town and Cormyr, in addition to the ghost prince Desud Tanshur, also had the High King's deputy Hajhorna, a shadow mage who had also reached the legendary realm. .
Desud Tanshur's profession is level 15 Netherese Arcanist/Level 10 Shadow Mentor.
He is the most silent among the 12 princes, and his silence has been famous in the City of Shadows for a long time.
Because he rarely speaks directly to others, and when he does, his tone reflects wisdom and insight.
In the royal family, he acted more like a peacemaker, and the other 11 princes often sought his advice on vexing problems and secret quarrels.
He was rarely biased in these problems, but instead analyzed the situation in detail and then proposed insightful and rational solutions.
The High King often appointed him as a member of military or political councils, and among his compatriots he was the second most powerful person after the Great Prince.
This most silent prince has never heard of him stepping out of the City of Shadows.
Hajhorna's profession is level 12 Netherese Arcanist/level 10 Shadow Mentor.
Evil, ruthless, and scheming, although Hajhorna is not the son of the High King, he has climbed to the ranks of power in Shade City by virtue of his talent, decisiveness, and manipulation of hostile forces. the highest peak.
At the same time, he is also the personal messenger and spokesperson of the Lord of Yinhun City.
It can be seen from the two legendary mages sent by the High King to deal with the Kingdom of Cormyr how much they attach importance to this kingdom.
The only thing that makes Brian happy is that these two legendary arcanists are afraid of the chosen people of the Magic Goddess from the Valley of Shadows and do not dare to easily step out of the City of Shadows, which allows him to take advantage of the loophole.
"Dear ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to come here. We also welcome our guests from Sultansa!"
While Brian was thinking deeply, the businessman Gra Er shook his bloated body and said loudly and passionately: "Praise the Lost Lady! Praise the priestesses of the Lost Lady! Your arrival has given us a great honor!"
"Pa! Pa! Pa!."
Whether it was sincerity or falsehood, the thunderous applause instantly drowned out Graer's excited speech.
Brian ignored the noise and secretly looked at the group of people entering from the door of the banquet hall.
A total of thirty people entered the banquet hall.
Half of them were wearing heavy black armor. The light yellow cloaks of these cold-looking dark knights were printed with the black rising sun symbolizing the power of the shadow prince Desud Tanshur.
The other fifteen people were all dressed in black priest robes with purple borders. From the black disc mark inside the purple border, it can be seen that these people are obviously priests of the night goddess Shar.
At this time, faced with the cheers of slave owners and merchants, Graal in the crowd was as proud as a fat peacock with its tail spread wide, laughing heartily.
"Since our most distinguished guest has arrived, I announce that the sacred wedding ceremony will now begin!" Graal raised his hands and cheered with trembling fat:
" Let us praise the lost lady together!”
“Praise the lost lady!”
The shouts quickly spread throughout the banquet hall.
Looking at such a lively scene, Brian sneered. As long as he knew enough about the Lost Lady, it would be easy to see that this was obviously a conspiracy.
Because Shar, the goddess of the night, has a very strong love for secrets.
To put it simply, Shar's priests can please their goddesses through secret affairs.
Therefore, her priests like to satisfy her need for secrecy through behind-the-scenes manipulation and behind-the-scenes conspiracies.
It is the existence of these dark cabals and organizations that arouse people's desire to be part of elites or important matters, and they are also committed to using and promoting such groups to keep secrets.
With enthusiastic cheers, the priest from Shar, the goddess of the night, walked out of the corner and slowly came to the newlyweds.
They all lifted their hoods, revealing their long black hair, and shouted loudly:
"Witnessed by the lost lady Shar, I send you my most sincere blessings to witness our The time has come for loyalty and faith!
The Great Lost Lady
We have emptied our hearts of hypocrisy.
We have defeated your enemies.
In the darkness, we see your truth.
Embrace us, you loyal warriors.
Hide us in your shadow.
Lead us to victory.
Follow the will of the goddess.
It's like night falls. ”
…………
Fifteen priestesses of Shar followed Miss Natasha and chanted fanatical hymns together.
It was indeed a night-covered ceremony!
Just when most people in the audience felt something was wrong, Brian had already guessed the intentions of these priestesses.
The most important ritual of the Shar cult is called Night Shroud, which means the coming of darkness.
The ceremony consists of the following: a prayer, a dance, an accusation from the goddess, a priest, or a black-haired woman, told through the mouth of a believer, or some inspiration language, and a carnival celebration consisting of eating, drinking and dancing together.
Ordinary believers are required to attend at least one Nightfall.
On a moonless night, the fall of night will be known as the Advent of the Goddess, and each believer must perform some major act of revenge or evil in the name of the Lady of Darkness.
In other words, this will be a ritual of horrific slaughter and evil that lasts all night and ends with a feast.
Brian knew very well that these priestesses wanted to use the power brought by this ritual to increase their own strength and at the same time teleport all their men entrenched outside Mokou Town.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for them alone to complete this ritual.
"Come, great lost lady! Your humble followers pray for your attention! Grant me your favor!" All the priests of Shar raised their hands and shouted in unison.
The sound of fanaticism echoed in the spacious banquet hall.
However, a bizarre scene happened.
During the seemingly long but short wait of countless people, nothing happened.
The look of the priestess of Shar changed.
Obviously, they didn't know why the teleportation spell to summon reinforcements had no effect at all.
They each looked at each other, nodded slightly, and repeated their fanatical chants again.
The long but short carol ended just when everyone thought nothing would happen.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!."
In the quiet hall, there was a sudden barking, and the guests looked sideways.
Two dogs fought over a piece of scrap meat. They rolled, bit and attacked on the floor. People saw this scene and couldn't help but howl and cheer.
The expressions of the Shar priestesses suddenly became extremely ugly.
Someone set up a magic circle to block teleportation spells, and Natasha immediately realized the cause of the problem.
"Hahaha, give up quickly. Shar, Bichi, must be busy writing poems right now, crying about why people like her sister but not me. How can she care about it? What about you?"
A drunken orc laughed loudly in a vulgar voice.
The priestess of Shar raised her hand in anger, and a beam of amber light shot out from her palm, hitting the orc's chest. A blood hole appeared on the latter's upper body in the blink of an eye.
He bent his upper body in extreme pain, but was helpless against the rapid disappearance of his body.
In an instant, the orc turned into a pile of minced meat.
Seeing this scene, the banquet hall suddenly exploded.
“Ah!!!”
A certain lady’s hysterical scream came, and the guests immediately reacted and began to crawl towards the exit.
Tables were overturned one after another, and countless wine glasses fell to the ground.
“The situation has changed, take action immediately!”
Natasha, the priestess of Shar, had no time to think about the cause of this problem. She immediately asked the Dark Knight and the Priest Give orders.
The words just fell.
“Boom!!!”
Two vertical sacred light pillars, accompanied by a deafening roar, fell from the sky, accurately covering Natasha's slender figure.
“Bang!”
At this moment, the door burst open.
The warriors led by Zander stepped in, holding swords and axes, and rushed towards the chaotic crowd, heading straight for the Dark Knight with a clear goal.
(End of this chapter)