Chapter 309 The deal with the old man Nese

Chapter 309 The deal with the old man Nese

“Welcome.” Iolum, who was sitting on the chair, said in a soft voice. He stood up and nodded to Brian, his gray hair following him. dancing movements.

"I am Iolum, I am very happy to meet you. Although I think it will not take a few years, I still feel very relieved to see you here in person in advance."

There was an illusion that made Brian feel that the great arcanist known as the 'Father of Nese' was not talking politely to him.

So, he straightened his waist even more and looked straight into Iolum's eyes, "Your Excellency Iolum, compared to the civilization of the mind flayers, I am more interested in the civilization of Netheril." Civilization is more interested.”

"Really? Then you have really found the right person."

Iolum said with a smile. Brian felt that there was a trace of sadness in the old man's smile, and his smile made his dim and glowing face Small wrinkles appeared on the smooth and pale translucent skin, like tiny spider webs.

“Then can you tell me about the history of ancient Netheril.” He asked with a humble expression: “As a descendant of the empire, I regret that I know very little about it. The few hours here have made me feel like I have learned more than our surviving people have learned in the past hundred years."

Iolum turned his bright deep purple eyes. Turning to Brian, the look made Brian want to flinch, not because of fear, but because he had never felt so thoroughly seen before.

"Netherese people are never shy about sharing their knowledge, young Brian, but... I think you may be the first person I have met in these thousands of years. The person who came to me. What do you want to know?”

"Everything," Brian said.

Iolum sighed slightly. Brian could not feel the meaning of his sigh. He said calmly:

"Lessons from that era. It is bitter, accompanied by blood, death and destruction, but ironically, the culprit who almost destroyed us later also brought us salvation: a sense of belonging. The owner of each floating city is only loyal to himself. Don't worry about the safety of other floating cities. What united us in the first place and later united us in resistance was a terrible mistake, and we are still atoning for that mistake for generations to come. These mistakes are costly, but this unity itself is great. This is also the lesson I try to draw from the ashes of destruction. This is a valuable experience from the past."

"Come with me, and I will take you for a walk along the corridors of history." Iolum's deep purple eyes flashed slightly, revealing a gentle and comforting smile.

"Young Brian, you will have the opportunity to witness the history of Netheril. Don't deny it. You are familiar with this history. I have no doubt. But now, you will have the opportunity to come into contact with the history of Netheril. A visual history. If you are an expert in the school of illusion, don’t be shocked, these are the masterpieces left by my passionate students.”

He moved his right hand gently across the air, and the room began to flicker, as if someone suddenly threw a stone into the calm reflection on the lake.

Brian saw the scene in front of him flickering more and more fiercely. Suddenly, the room and the mastermind with a light red luster disappeared, and appeared in a bright magic corridor.

The two sides of the corridor are covered with pieces of dark blue crystal, just like the display screens in the square. Following Iolum's simple instructions, all clear pictures are played.

The first image is played in the narrow sea fishing villages of Fenwick, Guise, Guillen, Gustav, and Moran. The residents of Nosef and Janik unite to protect each other. A League of Seven Towns was formed.

To celebrate this alliance, the Nese calendar was put into use.

"The beginning of the Dawn Era," Brian said.

"That's right." Iolum said, "Under the leadership of the elder Nese, the seven small fishing villages in the Narrow Sea united together and named them: Severton. The Saar of the Death God Yaeger With their power over life and death and their mastery of necromancy, the Manchus were at the top of every fishing village. As their power grew, Nese renamed Severton: Netheril. For the 'territory of Nether', his shamans began to teach the talented Netherese people necromancy."

"What is this incident?" Brian asked. To the second picture.

“The Enlightenment of Elf Magic.” Iolum said, “The Netherese people began to study magic and focused on necromancy, which aroused the concern of the senior officials of the neighboring Elf Kingdom Ellan. Ellan sent people to start paying attention to Nese Riel, after extensive discussions, the top leaders of Erlan believe that the best way to curb the growth of the Yeager Church is to provide Netheril with another way to learn magic.

In order to prevent the Netherese from abusing the undead. Magic, worshiping the god of death, the elves of Erlan started the initial dialogue with us and began to teach promising students to learn the arcana. They would take the selected children away from their parents and go to the elven kingdom of Erlan, which is now the High Forest. What you see is that historic moment.

As you can see, all the children were frightened. Only the determined brown-haired boy took the initiative to reach out to the elf for a magic test, with a smile of complete trust on his face. He was Selion, the first great arcanist of Netheril. Yeerlan's strategy was very effective. The influence of the Yeager Church began to decrease, and the Necromantic Department was reduced to just one of the eight major sects. "

"What is this scene full of people? ”

“A turning point in history. "Iolum patiently explained, "Old Nese was assassinated, and young Nese gained the right to rule. The Netherese people chose a form of rule based on loose democratic politics. This loose rule continues to this day. An empire was formed, but in reality it was just a loose and ununited federation of cities, paving the way for future destruction. It was really vulgar and terrible. "

He smiled self-deprecatingly, "Continue, this picture shows the orc army swarming out from the Spine of the World, but the elves of Ilflan and Ellan are in the fledgling Netheril and Lan. With the help of Garth barbarians, they were repelled. The Langath tribe was absorbed into Netheril, but these barbarians still retained a large degree of autonomy, tracing the source of history. The Bedai barbarians are a branch of the Langath tribe. "

"This scene. Brian looked at the Grand Arcanist and said, "But it is the trigger for another war." Finally, several years after the successful expedition against the orcs, a mage lord named Esther bloodbathed the rock gnome territory in the Standing Stone Plains, killing and capturing all the gnomes there, regardless of age or sex. A war began and ended in tragedy for the dwarfs. ”

"Your knowledge of history is impressive." Iolum smiled again, "But you should also remember that these wars did not involve any famous arcanists. Because of this, no student is willing to draw images of related themes. . But I happened to keep a diary about a rock gnome child."

Brian followed his gaze and saw a dwarf the size of a human baby curled up in a cold and damp cave. In the corner, a trembling diary was written:

Storm Moon (April) 15th: I hate living like a mole hiding in a moldy cave.

But there is no way - our underground guards are dead and we have nowhere to go.

The Netherese are here again.

They slew the burrower Gretaum with crackling lightning as she tried to protect us with her pickaxe.

They just waved their hands and took the uncle and aunt away.

Dad said we must pray hard to Gal, so I did, but it was no use.

The Netherese people keep coming back to take our people away.

I thought Gal must be very angry with me, but my father comforted me and said no.

Oh, bastard Gal!

Storm Moon 18th: We have been running in the underground tunnels for several days.

I'm sorry that I cursed Garr, but I really don't know what else I could have done.

I will be an adult next year, but maybe that day will never come.

Storm Moon 21st: Today, I saw my uncles, aunts and some other people who were taken away, but they didn’t look like their original selves.

Their skin became covered with tumors and turned yellow-gray, their hair turned red, and their arms became long and thin.

When my aunt saw me, she cackled loudly and began to grow bigger and bigger - even bigger than the Netherese, and my uncle conjured fire out of thin air.

They started to catch us!

He said that the Undercrawler had allowed the people of Netherese to grant him new life.

Dad and I tried our best to escape, but I think we were the only ones to escape.

Dad was hurt and I became a human being.

Gal, please help us.

…………

“Most people of my generation hope that this period of history can be forgotten forever. The reason is easy to understand. Let this period of history quietly sink into the abyss of forgetfulness. , let it slip into the water of time, until the lake regains its calm, no one will remember the memories buried deep." Iolum's old face wrinkled deeper, and he couldn't help but sigh:

"I'm also ashamed of this history, even though I wasn't born when all this happened, but pretending that this history doesn't exist means forgetting the consequences it has brought to us. We will ultimately become victims ourselves. , rather than admitting that we are personally complicit in our own destruction. We choose to go down this path until it is too late and there is no turning back. Through such a choice, we can understand what is at the end of that dark and shameful road

So I wanted to hear the experiences of those who stepped down the path that nearly led to the destruction of our entire species. I wanted to understand why they took each step they took, what made those decisions seem so logical, appropriate, and right at the time.

I want to understand this so that I can be aware of similar signs when they appear again.

There are two proverbs, the wisdom contained in them is beyond imagination.

The first sentence is: Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat its mistakes.

The second sentence is... know your enemy! ”

"The corridor of history..." Brian whispered, recalling the words of the Grand Arcanist, and walked to the next image, "This one is?"

"A Satan with extraordinary power. Rooklich disguised himself as a human archmage and appeared to the Netherese who began to learn magic from the Elan elves. Although he called himself Arthin'dor, the Netherese granted him the title of 'Seer of the Earth'. 'The title, because his power allows him to see what is happening around the world." Iolum looked at the image and sighed:

"The Earth Prophet teaches us the secrets of the arcana. Appearing to aid them many times over the next few centuries, he never seemed to age. His exploits include translating numerous Netherese scrolls, exploring the northern Sword Coast, capturing the Well of the Old Owl, and being included in his Numerous prophecies and teachings warned that the people of Netherese would be destroyed through the hands of Karthus."

"Arthindor, the Earthseer?" Brian muttered to himself, in his mind. Here, this Saluk Lich will have a chance to reappear in the future.

"That's right." Iolum's eyes that made Brian feel terrible saw through his thoughts, "Through the prophecy spell, I saw in the future fragment that you were very desperate. To have an intersection with this prophet of the earth.”

"So you can predict the future?" Brian looked at him in surprise.

There was an indescribable sympathy in Iolum's strange deep purple eyes. He stretched out a pale hand and put it on Brian's shoulder.

"No, child, the future is not a book that can be read."

Sorrow flashed across his old face, and he whispered, "The future is always changing, just like It's water flow, or swirling sand. I'm lucky enough to get some guidance for the future, but that's all. All I can do is tell you what I just said. The flow of the river can be changed, but only you can. Let it make a difference. That's all I know, how much I've ever wanted my prayers to save my people."

The expression on Iolum's wrinkled face and his. The tone of his voice made Brian understand more things that he had not said: Iolum himself did not actually believe that the prophecy was enough to save his people.

Therefore, when he learned about the future of Netheril and was unable to save it, he chose to leave his floating city.

They continued to move forward, and Brian heard the human ghost of Iolum rustling, and the sound seemed to contain a terrible secret.

In the next nearly five hours, Brian, under the leadership of Iolum, witnessed the dawn of the Netheril Empire, the Mithrian Nuclear Age, the Silver Age, and the Golden Age. and the final Age of Discovery and Age of Shadows.

And the face of this Nese relic that transcended time exuded an aura that made Brian understand that Iolum welcomes any questions he may ask.

"Brian, for you." The two of them walked to the end of the corridor, and Iolum's old shadow turned his back to him, "What is death?"

"The end," Brian answered.

"The end of what?"

"The end of existence." Brian looked at his back in confusion, "It seems that the topic of our discussion will change from history to philosophy."

"Nature does not understand any philosophical concepts, young Brian." Iolum's wise eyes flickered slightly, "People usually think of themselves as trying to understand the sad - or ridiculous - ways of nature. Behavior is called philosophy. They believe that the result of such attempts is also philosophy, just like the cause and impact of the question "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" and the result of thinking is called "the head and the root." "The eternal and mysterious conflict between us," and seeing the rain as an inscrutable force. We arcans don't waste time trying to figure out what nature is, because we know its essence: we are nature."

"I'm trying to understand, but please speak slower, you look like you're talking to an egg." Brian said with a slight headache.

He really couldn't give any explanation for the Grand Arcanist's problem.

“Have you ever thought about what the essential principle of the Mysser Core was when it was invented?” Iolum, the inventor of the Mysser Power Core, asked, “The common view is that Simple: The Netherese have tamed magic, they have forced magical energy to serve them, just as humans have conquered nature and taken control of it... How are your relationships with women, Brian?"

" Ah, I'm sorry, what did you say?" Brian was stunned by his abrupt question.

With the rustling of human ghosts, Iolum turned around and stared at him, a smile appearing on his old face.

“What I’m asking is,” he repeated, “what are your views on the relationship between men and women.”

"Which aspect do you mean?"

"In your opinion, can men force women to obey? Of course, I mean real women, not the general female species. Can real women be controlled by others? Will you be conquered? Will you succumb to your will? If so, how can you do it? "

"..." Brian didn't know how to answer. , "In my opinion, men and women have always been equal, and I will try my best to respect them."

"It seems you have understood." After a moment, Iolum said.

"Perhaps you have known it all along. So you should be able to understand that if the concepts of will and submission, command and obedience, male master and female servant disappear completely, unity will be achieved. The group will become a true whole. One mind and one body. If this can happen, death and destruction will be meaningless. The magic of the Mithron Core will be respected and utilized, and the fate of the empire may be avoided."

"So, I know that what we Netherese people have lost is far more than what we have gained. At that time, our culture had not been polluted and was pure and simple. We were like children, protected and pampered But children need to grow up, and our race is too easy to manipulate. Yes, no one can say that I don't understand that, but we must also be cautious about what lies beneath. With deception, even those we trust deep down can be deceived.

When I imagine the past, I lament the innocence we have lost. It is our innocence that leads us to our corruption."

"We are all lacking in some way, and it has nothing to do with our race. Sometimes weakness is actually a strength that has not yet been expressed. Weakness leads to our total destruction, and sometimes it's both. The wise man understands his shortcomings and learns from them, while the foolish man lets his weaknesses control him and destroy him.

But sometimes... wise men are also foolish.”

The corridor illuminated by magic fell into an eerie silence, with only the dim light of Iolum's human ghost form emitting a faint rustling sound.

In Brian's opinion, this sound seemed to contain thousands of meanings.

From the time he met Iolum, the ‘Father of Nese’ until now.

This wise old man, who seemed to transcend all time, had been telling him the history of Netheril, analyzing the reasons for its demise, and the final conclusion he reached.

It was very detailed and thorough, which deeply touched and inspired him.

After a long silence, Brian met the Grand Arcanist's deep purple eyes that seemed to be able to see through him, and said slowly, "What is the purpose of telling me this?"

"You are asking knowingly."

"I just want a definite answer." Brian replied, "Only in this way can I think of it as a burden or a...mission."

"The mission and burden only depend on your thoughts." The old man said, "If not, why would you take the initiative to find me?"

"But it was you who proposed it." Brian spoke respectfully. Said, "I always firmly believe that any gift from fate has a price tag."

"I admit it." He took a deep breath and said in a sincere tone:

"I am a somewhat selfish person. The real purpose of coming here is just to use my identity to communicate with you. Some kind of deal has been reached, but it is obvious that the unexpected enthusiasm you, the old man of Netheril, showed me made me overwhelmed and my thoughts became confused."
< br>"A sincere answer." Iolum nodded slightly and smiled, but there was a flash of sadness in his deep purple eyes.

“But you have to understand that as long as you regard it as your mission.” He said, “You can get what you want and achieve the purpose of coming here without any other transactions. ”

Hearing these words, Brian hesitated, and his heartbeat could still be seen in his thoughtful eyes.

The old man looked at him quietly and waited patiently.

“Why me?” Brian asked slowly after a long time.

"This is your own choice. From the moment you try to trade with the Stone Giants to obtain the Stone Whisperer Crystal, your fate has been decided." Iolum said softly:

"Dear child, you have always appeared in the battle where you are needed most. Everyone has their own path and their own war. The fate of Netheril is also our fate. Now I want to throw away all regrets. , let there be no room for regret in the desolate and vast Enook Desert, where there is only hope and determination to pursue the arcane. We must follow the guidance of the arcane and bring it to every dark corner where it is needed."

"I found that when I was talking to you, your words always made me feel the same way." Brian changed his tone of doubt and said to the old man:

"But I wonder, since you have this determination, why don't you put it into action? In this case, your soul will be able to be soothed in the desert of Eno Oak. This is absolutely true."< br>
Vaguely, he seemed to have guessed why the other party lived here so deeply instead of appearing on the surface world to fulfill his ideals and make up for his regrets.

“Do you know the history of the Mind Flayer?”

Hearing Brian’s question, Iolum looked much older, even the ghosts around him had the unique characteristics of The hazy brilliance then became dim.

“Of course I know.” Brian’s heart suddenly trembled, and he looked at the human ghost standing in front of him in disbelief. Obviously, his idea was confirmed.

It is said that the mind flayers may come from distant lands.

What is a distant country?

Scholars in the world of Toril have three hypotheses about the shape of the multiverse they live in.

They are multiverse ring theory, multiverse tree theory and world axis cosmology.

No matter what the theory is, it is believed that outside the universe model, there is an outer world, which is what they are used to calling: the distant country.

It may be a completely independent universe, and even have its own physical and magical laws, where 1+1 may not equal 2, and the straight line between two points may not be the shortest. Even a living person can infect a zombie by biting it. Become a living person.

The mind flayer may come from such a country.

The mind flayers rule over a vast empire that spans all realms.

Through the crystallization of their psychic technology, the magic ship called the shell ship travels through the desolate universe, the star realm and the sea of ​​burning elements, sailing between planes, spanning more than a hundred worlds, and acting unscrupulously Capture various intelligent creatures from various worlds for experimentation, enslavement and consumption.

This empire was built on the enslavement and domination of all other races at that time, and was enough to despise everything at that time.

But at the end of this unimaginable realm, the mind flayers fell into near-extinction due to some unknown crisis.

With their capital and academy destroyed, the surviving mind flayers hatched a desperate plan.

They sacrificed countless powerful and ancient masterminds and used them to create an unimaginably huge psychic vortex.

Such a huge amount of energy is even enough to tear apart the established laws of time, allowing them to travel back to a certain point in the past to find a solution.

There is no doubt that this desperate plan did not go as smoothly as imagined.

They did not return to their own world at this point in time, but traveled to other worlds. Even the powerful power they once controlled was greatly weakened due to the failure of the plan.

It is said that in an unimaginably distant future.

When the stars dim and red embers drift coldly over a dying world, the mind flayers will rise from their underground lairs to face the twilight of decline and rebuild their lost empire. , they will be stronger, crueler and hungrier than ever, and at that point, all hope will be over.

Although their current power has been greatly weakened due to accidents in the plan, they are still terrifying monsters that cannot be ignored in the world of Toril in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Brian suddenly recalled a group of mind flayers of different shapes he saw in the city, which made him realize that Iolum was probably studying the true form of the mind flayer race.

The idea that just occurred to him was confirmed instantly.

“As you think, it is indeed the case.” Iolum’s ghost said slowly:

“Since I merged with the mind flayer’s mastermind, I have been in thousands of Over the years, I was gradually assimilated into this race and became more ancient than many masterminds in the world of Toril. Although I can completely avoid this sequelae with my strength, I also know a lot about the secrets and mission of the race. Who has reached a level of strength like me who doesn’t want to move to an unknown realm and reach a higher level?”

In Brian’s impression, Iolum’s level is: wizard level 35. / Archmage level 5 / Netherese arcanist level 5, multi-purpose psion level 20 / Chaos scholar level 10.

Obviously, this Nese relic wants to move forward in the direction of high legend or above.

"So, I have been secretly observing the world, trying to find someone who can inherit my arcane heritage." Iolum's deep purple eyes made him feel like he was being seen through, even if he didn't notice Brian. Terrible feeling, he said in a gentle tone, "...and inherit my legacy and restore Netheril to make up for the regrets I have left."

After listening to this sentence, Brian suddenly remembered something.

In the game world, his strength stops at mid-level legends. He still has some experience on how to break through high-level legends. However, the non-god and non-god-like realms above high-level legends are beyond the reach of any mortal. An unknown realm that has never been touched.

It is said that breaking through this realm involves something similar to the 'karma' of the ancient dragon 'Echo'.

This also explains why Iolam, as a relic of Netheril, has spent thousands of years, and the blood in his heart has long been worn away, and still wants to revive Netheril. .

"If you are willing, just promise me, and then complete my last regret." He said, "I will be able to devote myself to the great mission of another race without worries."

Brian Taking a deep breath, Iolum's words made him hesitate.

If as a player, the main thing is to pursue interests, he will nod his head and agree without hesitation, and get the benefits first.

But it’s different now. He appears in a real world. If there are too many ‘karma’ involved in his life, it may also affect his chances of breaking through to high-level legends in the future.

He knows that as long as he verbally agrees to this old man of Netheril and helps him complete his mission of reviving Netheril, he will be able to get everything he wants, such as: the method of making Mythor Core, Iolum left behind magical tomes, psychic knowledge about the mind flayers, and even the scrolls of Nese he kept.

In this case, this 'cause and effect' about Netheril will fall on him, and Iolum can sit back and relax to specialize in the destiny of the mind flayer.

Brian remembers one thing vividly.

When he and Helist entered the floating city of Azuma in Opas, the great arcanist who specialized in the field of creation also said this to him, and his answer was reject.

"I'm very sorry, but I can't accept your mission." Brian said again in a firm tone, "I'm very grateful that you shared with me the complete history of Netheril from its birth to its destruction. That’s why I feel that there is no need to revive this sick empire.”

“I want to hear your reasons,” Io said after hearing Brian’s firm refusal. Lem was not surprised, but looked at him curiously, his deep purple eyes surrounded by wrinkles, as if he wanted to see through everything about him.

"While the magical achievements of Netheril are indeed based on the Netherese Scrolls, they are not just copycats, but the knowledge of a new generation that transforms theoretical knowledge (magic theory) into practical knowledge (spells and magic items) Creators. In this regard, they have indeed achieved a level that no one before them has reached." Brian thought for a while, sorted out his words, and expressed his thoughts to the old man who was listening.

The fact is that there are actually no specific spells in the Nese Scroll, but the principles of magic.

To use a loose analogy, the Nese scroll is equivalent to Newton's "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" or Maxwell's equations.

The Netherese arcanists are equivalent to the later generations of scientists and engineers who have obtained Newton's equations and Maxwell's equations, and established an industrial system based on them.

“This is undeniable.” He continued, “And the reason why I call it ‘morbid glory’ is mainly for the following reasons:

First, Nether's power is highly concentrated in the arcanist class, while the lower classes are enslaved like cattle and horses.

Second, Nese is not essentially a unified regime, but a loose alliance of mages composed of many arcanists. It is not a unified country, which means that there is no unified ideal. The entire 'country' Their fate is actually determined by the selfish desires of a very few great arcanists.

Thirdly, Nese implemented a narrow human supremacy. This racist system led to Nese actually becoming enemies of the whole world. From their magic ship, they were expelled from the deserted universe by many races. , we can see the consequences of this policy.

Therefore, although I acknowledge Netheril's great achievements in magic, I also despise their political, philosophical, and moral despicability. "

"Ask me to recover such an empire, I can't do it. "He followed his heart and said truthfully:

"Although I cannot accept the mission of recovering Netheril, I can assure you that I will use my best efforts to turn the yellow sand-filled Aenorok Desert back into a verdant forest plain. To re-establish a new civilization on the territory, an arcane empire with no exploitation, no oppression, self-liberation, and a high degree of ideological consciousness."

After saying this, Brian suddenly felt that he had something. This feeling of enlightenment and enlightenment made him realize that this must be because of the reason he set the goal.

If you fail to achieve this goal, it will affect your life like an inner demon.

After a long silence, Iolum smiled, and the wrinkles around his dark purple eyes gradually dissipated, revealing relief and appreciation. He said in a gentle tone:

"I I can give you everything you need: arcane tomes, a complete Mysel core and how to make it, scrolls of Nether, and psychic knowledge about mind flayers, but I also have a small request."
< br>

"I've prepared it for you."

Brian took out a psychic crystal that Helist had specially asked to leave for him. "This crystal contains the world of Atas." Psychic knowledge, as well as the secrets of extraordinary beings and dragon transformations”

…………

(End of this chapter)