Chapter 155 Memorial Ceremony
Mokou Town.
On the second day after the war, the weather was cool and there were light dark clouds in the sky.
As Brian walked up the stairs on the dark blue carpet, raindrops fell, making the steps wet.
This was once a bloody arena near the edge of the town. Now it has been transformed into a cemetery. Its purpose is to place the remains of those who died in the battle.
He knew that such a day would come, so at the end of the war, the transformation was completed in advance and it played its role.
On this day to remember the deceased, Brian wore a white silk shirt, dark blue breeches, a thick ceremonial coat embroidered with purple silk thread, and lambskin gloves on his hands.
As a lord, when the territory was first established, he knew that he must greet those who had lost their loved ones as much as possible and express his gratitude to them.
Of course, he also sincerely hopes that he can bring some comfort to everyone.
Although it was still raining lightly, he did not pull up his hood to cover his slightly messy black hair. If he wanted to, he could isolate himself from the rain in the blink of an eye.
But he did not do this, but let the raindrops hit his head and cheeks gently, as if the sky had already thought of the ceremony that was about to be held, and couldn't help but cry for it.
The two female priests standing at the door smiled at him, put their hands on their chests, and bowed.
They wore smoky gray robes and cloaks, and silver headbands. In a prominent position on the chest of the dark robes, they wore the holy symbol of Kranvor, the god of death: a bone-white skull extending upward. The arm is holding a scale that steadily balances both sides with a golden ratio. The background is an iron-gray wasteland.
It can be seen from their iron holy emblems that they are two lower-level clergy, because the official priests wear silver holy emblems, while the higher-level ones are made of gold.
Kranvor, the God of Death, is also known as: Lord of the Dead, Judge of Ghosts, Master of the Crystal Spire, and the Great Ferryman, a god of death with powerful divine power.
During the War of the Gods event in Cataclysm of the Saints, Cranvor was Midnight and Aydon's old companion. Cyric's series of lapses in responsibility after the Cataclysm of Siren led him to inherit the position of God of the Dead instead.
The first official action of the new God of the Dead was to successfully transform Cyric's Castle of Bones into a shining crystal tower.
This action symbolizes that the god of the dead will not hide anything about himself, and he intends to judge the dead in a fair and just manner.
Although he can be harsh at times, Cranvor is kind, fair, forthright, and sincere.
As a god, Kelanvor is not very smart and always tries to use direct action to solve problems that he sees as his primary troubles.
While He acts with good intentions, He often overlooks the long-term problems that arise from short-term solutions in other ways forward.
Kranvor also has an unexpected ally as far as the traditional alliance of gods is concerned.
His close relationship with Mystra - the previous human Midnight.
While they were still mortals, they fell in love, but will the fire of romance still burn after they become gods?
No one knows, and these two gods strictly guard this privacy.
Kelanvor made many attempts to transform the City of the Dead, such as building a crystal spire, demolishing the Wall of the Faithless (but was stopped by Jergal), etc.
In contrast, Jergal also did many things behind Kelanvor's back, such as subtly transforming the God of Death, whose original alignment was lawful good, into lawful neutral.
The most important thing is that, under the guidance of Jaeger, Kelanvor also signed an agreement with the devil. When the devil invades the city of the dead to rob the soul, the devil will provide assistance. In exchange, the devil Souls can be abducted from the City of the Dead through deception and abduction.
The abyss demons who are also in the evil camp are not treated so well. Kelanvor's revenge on the demons is very direct, usually by sending incarnations into the bottomless abyss to kill them.
Among the four generations of Lords of the Dead, Jergal represents the mystery of death, Melkor represents the fear of death, Cyric represents the madness of death, and the latest Kranvor represents the justice of death. .
Cranvor believes that death is just a part of life. There is no need to fear death, no need to avoid death, and no need to regard death as evil.
Fear of death will send you into the hands of those beings who can kill you. Die with dignity. There is no need to rush for death, nor can you embrace the path of immortality.
The church of Kranvor, the god of death, considers it their important duty to search for those who are about to die.
Because the wish of this neutral god of death is that every intelligent creature in the continent who dies naturally or unnaturally will have a sad song sung by a raven beside him to guide him to the correct position in reincarnation. .
What needs to be emphasized is that Kelanvor himself is the great ferryman who guides the people to the afterlife.
He believes that death is not the end of the world, but a way station on a wonderful, never-ending journey. Let every dead person know that Kranvor is waiting for them to prepare for their new reincarnation.
But this is just the wish of the God of Death. If he wants to truly build a perfect reincarnation transfer station, he needs to face not only the devils and demons competing for mortal souls, but also gods.
"Mr. Brian." The priest girl on the right said with a slight stutter, "Please allow me to call you that. Fortunately, you arrived in time. Please, the ceremony will begin soon."
Brian gave the pastor a kind smile, "Thank you."
In fact, before coming here, he also attended a meeting with the pastors of the Church of the God of Knowledge. , a ceremony held in a simple temporary temple.
As priests and knights of the Church of the God of Knowledge, they have a better home. "Please wait a moment." The priest girl said, taking out an unlit candle, "Please take this, sir."
Her smile was very sincere, maybe a little Reserved, because this is a solemn moment.
Brian took the candle and walked into the door, leaving a handful of gold coins in the tribute tray next to the two priests.
He walked into the cemetery, and a tombstone as straight as a sword stood out in his sight. Both sides of the steps were filled with people waiting in the rain.
Monuments are an important art type in human history.
As a form of three-dimensional modeling, it takes into account the characteristics of architecture and sculpture. In its development process, it not only serves the ruling class and politics, but can also care for people's inner needs. Enter the role of civilian life.
When Brian appeared, everyone's eyes shifted from the monument that made them feel new to him.
He walked slowly along the stone steps to the monument, looked at a priest of the God of Death, and nodded slightly.
This old man is of medium height and has a strong and sturdy build. His whole body is covered by a smoky gray robe. His face hidden in the hood looks blurry if you don't look carefully.
Although he stood so conspicuously beside him, Brian could not feel the presence of the old man at all.
“Death is just a part of the cycle of life. It is not the end, but a wonderful, never-ending cycle. The Lord of the Dead’s Final Ferryman will escort them to the Land of the Dead. City. "
The old man said to him in a calm and clear voice. He was holding a long-handled scythe in his right hand, holding a mysterious and ancient book in his left hand, and a golden skull emblem hung on his chest.
For the believers of the Lord of the Dead, Brian maintained as much awe as possible, because behind this powerful god stood one of the most mysterious gods: the Death Clerk Yeager.
In fact, he just asked Graer to invite an ordinary priest to hold a grand memorial ceremony. Who would have thought that he would invite such a big man.
Brian was surprised by this, but he was also very happy inside.
After all, the paladins and priests in the "Eternal Knights" of the Church of Klanvor, the God of Death, are the most adept at dealing with undead creatures and demons among all the orders under the gods.
Knowing that this occasion was not the time to consider this issue, he turned his back on the monument and faced the crowd.
Although the rain has slowed down, it has not stopped yet, and no one plans to take shelter elsewhere.
Brian's eyes swept over the husbands and wives who had lost their partners, the fathers and mothers who had lost their children, the orphans who had lost their parents, as well as the solemn and upright purple dragon knights and battle mages.
A little girl tried not to cry. Brian gave her an encouraging smile. The little girl took a deep breath and gave him a slightly trembling smile in return.
This girl is the sister of the Purple Dragon Knight Alek. After the war, she ran to him and asked about her brother.
"Child, I can tell you that before the enemy flooded your brother with countless undead creatures, he killed a flying night shadow by himself and saved many people. I can I’m sure your brother made the people of Ghost City pay a heavy price before he fell.”
This was his answer to the little girl.
Although he did not witness it with his own eyes, he knew very well that when a paladin began to "sacrifice" the field with the belief that he would die, the power that exploded could not be calculated using common sense.
“Dear friends, you are welcome to this town, which welcomes everyone with an open heart and a humble spirit. This place has witnessed many joys and experienced many sad moments. Today we are here together We are gathered here to commemorate those who died, remember them, mourn them, and pay high respect to their sacrifices for the Kingdom of Cormyr and Mokou Town."
Brian organized his words and let them. His steady voice became clear and powerful, and even people standing at the farthest distance could hear it clearly:
"At the edge of the Eno Oak Desert, they faced a terrifying enemy whose strength was so great that Strong, no one thought we had a chance of victory, but it was the sheer courage of these heroic sons and daughters, humans, elves, dwarves, half-elves, and yes, even those brave goblins, ogres, and those who lived in Hedge Village. Jackals, we can achieve a rare victory.
We defeated the army of Ghost City. We want to pay tribute to all the heroes who died. The way we pay tribute to them is not to die like them. But to live well. Go down, to heal our wounds, to cheer others up, to laugh, to feel the sunshine on our faces, to hug our loved ones tightly and let them know that every hour and every minute of every day, they are They are all so important.
Every mourner who came here today received a candle. Each candle represents the person who has passed away in our hearts. Now, let us light the candle and mourn those who have passed away. Heroes who sacrificed their lives in the war. For Mokou Town and the Kingdom of Cormyr!”
Gradually, the rain stopped, the dark clouds began to dissipate, and the sky shed a bright blue.
The crowd cheered, and many people's eyes were filled with tears. Brian felt that he had done everything he should do as much as possible.
He admitted that he was not a very good ruler, but he also secretly promised in his heart that he would work hard to be a good lord.
In his eyes, he has never regarded these purple dragon knights, battle mages, ordinary warriors, mercenaries and adventurers who died in battle as tools for his own territory expansion.
So, from his first confrontation with the City of Shade, and then in the battle with the Zhentarim, he seized control of Mokou Town, and finally defeated the invaders of the City of Shade.
Throughout the process, all the people who died, no matter what their status was during their lifetime, deserve to commemorate these lost people.
He just wants to be a good and qualified lord as much as possible.
Let the people of the territory recognize him as their lord, let them understand that no one's sacrifice will be in vain, and let them be willing to sacrifice their lives to protect this land that they recognize, that's all.
(End of this chapter)