Chapter 267 The Fallen Ranger
The name of this book is "The Amazing Legend of Wisteria Valley".
Wrapped in green leather, carefully burned leaves and vines are placed in the corners of the front and back covers.
The title of the book on the front of the cover is embossed in gold, but there is no author's signature either on the outside or inside of the book.
The book is six inches wide, nine inches high and one inch thick.
The thick cream-colored pages exude a faint fragrance of flowers and plants. The handwriting is neat and steady, and each line is written with skillful calligraphy.
Although the design of this book is simple, the quality of workmanship and materials are top notch.
There is no doubt that this is a book of magic items.
Brian only found out after reading the contents of the book.
Wisteria Valley in the magic demiplane is actually the name of a village.
It was originally located along the Tesha River in the north of Cormanthor Forest in the material world, west of Zhentil Keep, the headquarters of the Zhentarim. It had been destroyed more than ten years ago.
Dove Hawkhand, the chosen one of the Goddess of Magic, her only son, Azara was fostered in Wisteria Valley since she was a child, and spent a complete childhood carefree.
The book tells that Azala is a boy who likes to tell stories. He inherits the bloodline of his ranger parents, which gives him outstanding hunting talent.
Azala helps her foster parents on the farm during the day and performs in the tavern at night, making all the villagers happy.
When Azara was about to come of age, a lord from Zhentil Keep, the cruel Rathmore, came to Wisteria Valley and asked the villagers for drinks, food, and a place to house him and his of the entourage.
Because the lord did not like the hospitable attitude of the villagers of Wisteria Valley, he burned the village and carried out a brutal massacre.
However, Lord Rathmore only allowed Azara to live as a witness to the massacre of the villagers.
But before that, the cruel lord used a crystal dagger to slice open Azara's face.
This incident changed Azara forever, and he vowed to overthrow the ruthless lord and never let him hurt anyone again.
Azala used her ranger talent to follow in the footsteps of Lord Rathmore and came to a busy city called Tesway.
The young ranger didn't know how to proceed, so he started asking around the city for information.
A wizard came to him and told him that she was from a secret organization that wanted to bring down Lord Rathmore and others corrupted by evil.
The wizard invited Azara to join this secret organization, and he agreed and became a member of the Harpers.
With the help of the Harpers, Azara disguised herself as a performer and infiltrated Lord Rathmore's manor during a banquet, banishing Rathmore once and for all.
Although he has completed his revenge, Azara still firmly believes in the fact that there are many other people corrupted by evil in this land, and only those like him and the Harper Alliance can stop them them.
As time passed, Azara, who inherited his parents' talents as a ranger, grew more powerful and used his magical and espionage talents to single-handedly take down many corrupted lords and evil lords within the Zhentarim's domain. Mages.
Although Azara is a legendary figure both within and outside the Harpers, he remains humble and sees it as his duty to protect others.
As expected, an unexpected surprise occurred.
Azara fought in Zhentil Keep with an archmage who had been corrupted by an ancient crystal that the evil god Cyric had touched.
Although Azara killed the evil archmage, his long-term contact with the crystal actually corrupted the ranger whose strength had reached the legendary realm, causing him to believe that his former allies were too powerful. Powerful and must be destroyed.
Until a cure can be found, the Harpers come up with a solution to prevent Azara from harming others: banish him to a magical demiplane.
Wisteria Valley is a demiplane once created by the elf mage Silinxi.
Azaara was placed on the demiplane for one purpose: to imprison him here until they could develop a cure for his corruption.
Everything in the books describing Wisteria Valley is bright and colorful, tailored to make Azala feel comfortable and happy.
The weather here is always sunny and warm, and there is only enough rainfall to grow crops.
Wisterias are always in bloom amidst verdant green leaves, and the air is filled with the soothing sounds of nature, from birdsong to chirping crickets to the gentle breeze rustling the leaves.
The story of the book ends with a short monologue from the Harper Alliance Wizard, who befriended Azara many years ago, saying that although Azara's final fate remains unknown, one day, the Illuminati Banish the darkness.
In order to reverse Azara's corruption, his parents asked the Harpers to create a dagger infused with several purifying magics.
This magical dagger is carved from a single piece of amethyst, with leather wrapped around the handle and tiny runes inlaid on the flat surface of the blade.
When light hits the dagger, the blade of the dagger seems to glow from the inside out.
The dagger resembled the one that scarred Azara as a child.
To activate the magic within the dagger, the weapon must pierce the flesh of a specific target. After the purifying magic is released, the dagger will lose its magical properties.
Unfortunately, before the plan was implemented, Azara's parents died in a sneak attack ambushed by the ghost princes in the Misty Valley.
The magic dagger fell into the hands of Storm and was eventually handed over to Brian.
The purpose of Brian’s trip to the magical demiplane ‘Wisteria Valley’ is to find Azara and pierce the magic dagger in his hand into his body to purify the soul of this legendary ranger.
In this case, after the reformed ranger Azara returns to the material world, he can use his perception to call back his mother's soul wandering in the Misty Valley.
As a result, Brian can use the silver fire energy of Dove and Storm to complete the fusion of arcane source and arcane fire, and step into the legendary realm.
After sorting out the clues for this mission, Brian studied the book while patiently waiting for the arrival of the drow girl Santila.
In fact, his original plan was to go alone, but the Harper leader claimed that this magical demiplane was so special that once inside, the only way to leave the demiplane was by healing or killing Azara Destroy it.
Besides, a group of beholder tyrants also broke into it.
Therefore, in order to prevent accidents, let Santila follow him.
About ten minutes later, the beautiful figure of the drow girl appeared in the room.
As usual, Santila wore traveling boots, tight leather pants and a silk top popular among drow elves, as well as a fine chain mail vest and an elf magic cloak draped around her body.
Of course, the most eye-catching thing is her unfettered, wild-looking and thick white hair, and her energetic azure eyes.
"Brian, where are we going?" Santila came to him happily, lying on the table, asking curiously. "Go to a demiplane." Brian didn't look up and studied the contents of the book carefully.
This book was obtained by Storm from Dove. She did not know how to open the demiplane. She only knew that the method of opening was hidden in the contents of the book.
In this case, he can only do his own research.
"Demiplane, I haven't been to a place outside the material world." Santila's eyes lit up, she stretched her neck and leaned in front of the book, and said with expectation, "That must be very interesting. It's fun."
"We are here to save people, not to play," Brian looked up at her and said.
"You can also save people and have fun at the same time." The drow girl said nonchalantly.
"Let's play and play, but little princess, you have to know that rescuing people is a very serious matter."
Brian emphasized in a slightly serious tone : "And whether the rescue can be successful this time is also related to whether we can defeat the City of Shadows. Therefore, I don't want you to treat this adventure as a casual trip."
He There is some truth in saying this. If the rescue is successful, not only will there be one more ranger in their camp who has reached the legendary realm, but he himself will also be able to advance successfully.
Invisibly, two legendary professionals appeared directly.
"Don't call me little princess. I have severed ties with Ancient Orens City and my family a long time ago." Santila glared at Brian and said in a dissatisfied tone, "It's so hard for people to leave the Dark Territory completely. I won't Go back."
"But don't worry, Brian, I will protect you." Then she straightened up, patted her plump chest with confidence, and assured him.
Brian ignored her and continued to search for clues in the books.
“Oh, by the way, Brian.” Santila’s small hands were twirling around the hair hanging on her chest boredly, as if she remembered something, and then continued chatting with him, “Do you remember Did you tell me the story when we were in the Underdark? It sounds interesting. Tell me a few more."
"Miss, you didn't see that I was busy. "Really?" Brian raised his head and glanced at her angrily.
When he saw the cute look of the drow girl who was so aggrieved and about to cry, he softened his heart even though he knew that she was pretending to be so aggrieved. He quickly smiled and said to her, "Wait until I find someone who can enter the demiplane." Let’s talk about the method.”
“You haven’t found the method yet, do you need my help?” Santila made a face at him and came to his side with a smile, her thick white hair hanging down to cover it. His sight.
Brian reached out to brush away the girl's fragrant hair, and finally found a strange sentence in the book: We hold high the light, the secrets have no escape, and the darkness is forever expelled.
Santilla also noticed this sentence. Her eyes lit up and she immediately said to Brian, "This is a puzzle that requires a literal interpretation of the motto. The Harpers of Shadow Valley like this. This is such a fascinating thing, I have seen it many times from Teacher Storm.”
She directly snatched the book from Brian’s hand and said: “This sentence means to hold this book high and welcome it. Let the light shine and let the darkness have no place to hide.”
After saying that, the drow girl came to the window with her books and faced the bright sunshine.
Brian stood up and walked over, looking at Santila's actions curiously.
In fact, when he saw this sentence, he thought about it for a while and came up with this method.
When the sun shone on the page, Brian immediately saw a phrase written in magic ink, emerging at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"The Alliance of Harpers is with the light!" Santila read the words that emerged in front of the book in the sun.
As she spoke these words, the book fluttered into the air, its pages turning automatically, detaching from their bindings, and then rearranging to form an oval magical portal.
"Brian, did you see that the mystery is solved?" Santila walked up to Brian and said happily.
Brian smiled and rubbed the girl's thick white hair, and stepped into a portal made of book pages with her.
After the two passed through the portal, the pages of the book were automatically arranged back to their original appearance and restored to a book, which appeared in Brian's hand.
When Brian opened his eyes, he found himself in a desolate and dilapidated world. Contrary to his imagination, wisteria flowers were always blooming among the verdant green leaves, and the air was filled with the soothing sounds of nature. , from the chirping of birds to the chirping of crickets, to the gentle breeze blowing the leaves, the gap is not as big as usual.
"Where are we going now?" Santila asked while walking on a desolate gravel path.
Suddenly, thunderclouds rolled in from the dark sky, and the surrounding space suddenly became dark. Silent lightning flashed continuously in the clouds, as if a heavy rain was brewing.
In the blink of an eye, the sky returned to clearness, and nearby objects suddenly lost their color, turning into a single gray and dim color.
Feeling strange phenomena appearing one after another in space and weather, Brian knew that this magical demiplane was probably about to be destroyed by the beholder tyrant.
He looked around thoughtfully and said to the vigilant girl beside him, "This demiplane is not big. Let's first find a place called 'Wisteria Valley' and learn more about it. Then make a decision.”
"Is there anyone still living here?" Santila looked at Brian and asked like a curious baby.
"That's right." Brian nodded slightly and explained to her: "However, it is not a real life form, but a constructed creature."
According to what the storm told her about half Let him know the specific situation of the plane.
This Demiplane In order to enrich the demiplane's population without endangering any innocents, the Harper wizards created constructs out of wooden mannequins to impersonate the villagers.
Magic makes them look like flesh-and-blood humans, and the constructs themselves are convincingly real humanoids that only live in Wisteria Valley.
Detect Magic spells do not reveal their true nature, as each construct is protected by a spell that makes it appear to have no magical effects.
Although these artificial villagers can physically interact with their surroundings and hold long conversations, there are still some clues to their true nature.
The purpose of making the construct is to simulate a real world for the fallen ranger Azara, trying to allow him to gradually find his true self in this peaceful and peaceful life.
"If the area is not large, it will be easier. Let me help you locate the village." Santila pondered for a while and volunteered to tell Brian.
Then she closed her eyes, lightly opened her jade lips, and quickly recited a string of magical spells.
Waves of light green spiritual energy spread out from Santila's body at an extremely fast speed.
After a while, the drow girl slowly opened her eyes, as if recalling the scene in her mind.
Brian knew that the other party was using the ranger magic "Line Detection", which allowed her to accurately detect nearby rivers, lakes, villages and towns, or some caves and nests within 50 kilometers.
"Go southeast from here for about 15 kilometers, and there is a forest. Through the woods, we will reach our destination: Wisteria Valley." Santila said to Brian.
Brian gave her an appreciative look and followed the direction she pointed out.
At this moment, a meat ball with tentacles suddenly appeared from the nearby rocks and floated in front of the two of them. It grinned and shouted:
"Hey! Brian, you idiot Old Six. Even Victor is hiding here, you can still find Victor, and you are still thinking about Victor’s treasure.”
(End of this chapter)
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