Chapter 330 Artifact: Archmage’s Staff!
In the hazy night, Brian used invisibility to evade waves of patrols and arrived at the gate of the manor where the Witch of Shadow Valley, Shiron, lived.
At this time, he had to secretly lament that this legendary purple dragon seal ring, after being re-strengthened by Myrcella, was simply a must-have artifact for murder, arson, and sneak attacks.
Otherwise, he would not have been able to stroll through the Valley of Shadows so easily without being noticed.
The purpose of his coming here is naturally to find the Archmage's Staff.
If he could obtain this artifact before the battle with the City of Shadows and the Zhentarim, his chances of winning in repairing the Demonic Network would definitely increase.
Standing in front of the door, Brian did not go in immediately. Instead, with the help of the soft moonlight, he carefully looked at the doorframe covered with cobwebs.
Most of the manors in the valley plant acupuncture plants to serve as the outermost fence, and Hillen's manor is no exception. After opening the metal fence gate, what appears in sight is a road full of unevenness. cobbled quiet road.
The Witch of Shadow Valley is known for her diligence and simplicity, but her manor is naturally far from spectacular.
Of course, if you can ignore the vague gloomy atmosphere in the environment, this place can also give people a sense of refinement and elegance.
There are rumors that there are hidden portals in Shiron's manor that connect to other places in the world of Toril, and even other planes, but so far, no one has found such a thing here.
After Shiron's sacrifice, the ownership of this land and the surrounding area was transferred to Lord Moglin. He never allowed anyone else to acquire this land, build houses or farm. application.
Of course, things were different after the fall of Shadow Valley.
Her manor was recognized by the priestesses of the Lost Lady as a sanctuary for the goddess Mystra, so the Zhentarim's 'Dark Judgment' Manrathon decided to use the Dark Judgment just in case. In the name of Lord Bane, the Evil Residence Technique was used here.
Evil magic was cast here, causing this seemingly ordinary manor to turn into a haunted house that no one dared to approach. The negative energy inside was even several times richer than that of the cemetery. many.
Brian would definitely feel out of breath if he were in the manor if he didn't have the legendary favor. One can imagine what kind of damage Ban's followers have done to this place by using the evil habitation technique.
Feeling the strange situation here, Brian couldn't help but become more cautious.
He first walked around the manor, continuously releasing detection magic, and walked around carefully. After discovering that the manor was rich in negative energy, there were no undead and other filthy creatures, and then he decided to push away. The door, walked in.
Under the fading moonlight, weeds grew thickly beside the path that was wet with night dew. The dewdrops on the grass tips shone with crystal light. The sound of insects from far and near could be heard faintly, and the scattered miscellaneous things scattered along the path. The trees swayed slightly in the night wind and made a rustling sound, which looked eerie and disturbing.
At this moment, faced with this weird atmosphere, even a big-hearted person like Brian couldn't help but feel a little hairy walking alone in this haunted house.
He tightened the cloak around him, opened his psychic detection field, and carefully observed everything around him.
Just when Brian was about to enter the room in the manor, his whole body seemed to have encountered something terrible, and his expression and limbs instantly stiffened.
"Pa, pop, pop..."
Under the bleak night, a strange sound echoed in the empty manor, and the sound sounded like it was coming from through the crack in the door.
At the same time, waves of sounds like whipping and lashing the flesh were faintly heard in the ears, mixed with a few strings of evil and charming laughter from time to time, and there was resentment in the coldness.
"It seems like something dirty is hiding in there?" Brian took a deep breath and his expression became serious.
Just now, after hearing the weird laughter, he was caught off guard and made a 'fear' saving throw.
Fortunately, his will attribute is very high and it did not affect him.
This made him realize that some kind of evil thing hiding in the rooms of the manor might be born with the ability to spread 'fear'.
Any creature that hears this weird sound must pass a Will save, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous.
It’s no wonder that after the occupation of Shadow Valley, the residents here called Shiron’s manor a haunted house, and it was not without reason.
After adjusting himself, Brian suddenly kicked open the door to the manor room.
"Boom!"
Along with the crashing sound, dust spread everywhere, and the messy manor hall gradually unveiled its terrifying veil in Brian's field of vision.
The pale moonlight shines into the room from the fully open door, giving the surrounding a white and terrifying atmosphere.
However, even with the moonlight as a backdrop, Brian's half-elf vision could only vaguely see the outlines of decaying furniture and other dusty decorations in the darkness.
Feeling the air he breathed into his heart and lungs, exuding a bone-chilling chill, he realized that there was definitely a layer of negative energy like black mist surrounding him, permeating the hall, such as ghost creatures. Released darkness or deep darkness.
Brian cast a 'deep dark vision' spell without expression. This spell can see through all darkness caused by magic.
As the spell was cast, the supernatural shadows around Brian suddenly dissipated in front of his eyes, as if a layer of fog had been lifted away, showing him a clear picture.
After his vision returned to normal, he immediately locked his gaze directly on the wall inside the hall, where the sound came from.
A display counter that was supposed to be there had fallen over, and debris was scattered all over the floor. What surprised him was that on the fallen cabinet, there was actually a blurry and twisted shape, like many A huge figure composed of individuals.
This is an ugly figure that is larger than the average human being. Its head and shoulders are floating in the darkness, and the coldness revolves around it, as if it is constantly absorbing heat and life from the surroundings. .
It also has an unimaginably terrifying face, with twisted lips, from which you can see a bright red tongue and strange black teeth. The most terrifying thing is its eyes, which are shining with the light of the devil. Full of hatred and destruction.
Brian was surprised to see that on its raised right hand, a long black whip covered with barbs suddenly appeared in the void, and then it aimed at the wall next to the cabinet and whipped it away fiercely. .
"Giggle..."
The black whip covered with barbs was like a swift lightning. The moment it landed on the wall, a woman with her hands and feet tied, naked and with disheveled hair suddenly appeared on the surface of the wall, letting out a sweet laughter and twisting. Moving her plump body, she let the whip hit her with a look of enjoyment.
Brian did not take action immediately, but chose to observe first.
Except for other aspects, this is indeed a beautiful woman. Whether it is her slender waist, plump chest, or perfectly proportioned hips, everything is far above the standard. And for such a woman to be willing to enjoy such torture, she was obviously performing some evil ritual.
“Pah! Pah! Pah!…”
Bloody whip marks fell like raindrops on her pale and bloodless body. Strands of blood actually seeped out from the shadows on the wall and flowed to the ground.
However, the shadow of the weird woman being whipped on the wall actually contained a moan of enjoyment in her laughter in the face of this torture.
"Is it Shar's dark ritual?"
A doubt appeared in Brian's mind, and then he ignored the naked woman on the wall and looked at the black figure holding a whip.
He instantly recognized that this terrifying black shadow was not a human being, but a spirit-binding lord from the shadow realm, whose strength was around the fourth level.
When Brian looked over, the spirit-binder leader's hand holding the whip froze in mid-air, and he turned his head with difficulty, grinning with a ferocious sneer.
Faced with this situation, Brian raised his hand and pointed. Before the terrifying-looking spirit could react, blue-white flames rolled up its body, making a sizzling sound all over its body. Balls of gas,
it struggled for a moment, then condensed into a thumb-sized soul crystal, which fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
After taking care of the spirit binding, Brian was about to leave the place and walked towards the depths of the hall. He seemed to have remembered something and instinctively looked towards the wall.
Then he saw, in the shadow of the wall, the disheveled woman slowly turned her head, revealing a pair of deep purple eyes in the black hair and black shadows.
"Damn you bastard!"
The naked woman broke free from the binding ropes, stood up angrily, and walked out of the wall with a strong momentum.
"Under the witness of the great goddess of the night, you dare to destroy my 'Dark Night Ascension'. Very good, then use your body as a ritual sacrifice!"
The delicate face of Priestess Shar became distorted due to the interruption of the ritual. The long black hair flying in the wind was like a devil, and the deep voice seemed to come from the flames of hell.
The dark night rises?
After hearing this name, Brian realized what the Shar priestess in front of him was doing. It was said that this was the bloodiest ritual in the Shar church.
Under normal circumstances, this is a ritual that the fourth-level model priestess will perform when she is promoted to the legendary realm.
They will find an extremely secret area on a dim moonlit night, endure bloody torture and pain, in order to secretly please their goddess, and finally achieve their goal.
Since the Lost Lady Shar is the goddess who keeps all secrets, the period during which the 'Dark Night Rising' ritual is held must not be discovered by anyone. Even just a glance will most likely lead to the failure of the ritual. .
After Brian figured out the cause of the problem, the priestess, whose ritual had been interrupted and the sacrifice failed, completely lost her mind.
It really echoes that sentence: In the continent of Faerûn, any man must protect himself when he goes out. The goddesses here are crazy, even their believers.
"Go to hell! Under the witness of the night, disappear into the secret of the Night Goddess forever!"
Priestess Shar screamed angrily, without thinking at all. How easily Brian killed the spirit lord he summoned from the Shadow Realm. Not even realizing that he was naked at the moment and without any magic equipment, he launched a fierce attack on him without any fear.
In an instant, as the powerful-breasted priestess raised her hands, energy spheres shining with dark purple light condensed and formed, pouring out and hitting Brian.
Facing the irrational enemy, Brian waved his hand calmly and easily blocked these attacks.
Then, he stretched out his hand, and several lightning spears condensed from the force field energy roared through the air, smashing the temporary shield put up by the priestess with great force, causing the strong-chested priestess to fall to the ground on her back. Blood spilled on the spot.
After taking care of the enemies in front of him, Brian disposed of the bodies and walked towards the depths of the manor.
This time without encountering any obstacles, I found the bedroom where Hiren once lived.
However, to his surprise, this bedroom was very clean. It looked like it should be the room where the priestess he had just killed lived after occupying Shadow Valley.
He did not enter the room immediately, but carefully observed everything around him with the help of the faint moonlight cast into the room from the large window on the left.
Because his opened psychic field had told him that there were many traps in this bedroom.
The wall behind the bed is decorated with a bronze-plated mural, which depicts the story of a strong warrior's life and death. The plated metal above constantly emits a rhythmic banging echo, just like the human heartbeat.
In the bathtub a few steps away, the fragrant bath water is stirring rapidly. Among the breathtaking elegant murals, there are also magic-blessed weapons hanging. None of them are It was just a deliberate arrangement to show off wealth.
The moonlight outside the window was pale and frivolous, seeping in from the light purple curtains. Although the windows were closed tightly and there was no breeze, the curtains still floated slightly.
Obviously, like other furnishings in this spacious and luxurious bedroom, even the curtains have been cast with several protective spells. It is the magical energy flowing above them that makes them swing lightly.
Even if the intruder is able to break the glass, the curtains will turn into countless tentacles that will wrap around the unlucky guy.
Faced with this situation, Brian could only carefully clear all these traps through dispelling magic one after another.
Time passed in the flash of magic light in the room. Nearly half an hour passed. He finally dispelled the magic trap and magic alarm set by the priestess.
The next thing he needs to do is to find the Staff of the Archmage stored here by Xiron.
Brian was about to turn the entire bedroom upside down through detecting magic to find the spatial nodes hidden here. The giant hand manifested by the mage god Azuth appeared in his body for the third time. before.
"You have been recognized by the Witch of Shadow Valley, young arcane seeker."
Azus's old voice emerged in Brian's mind, revealing a trace of exhaustion, sounding better than before , "Naturally qualified to obtain the items she left behind during her lifetime."
(End of this chapter)