Surviving the Fourth Calamity

Chapter 2365: The Strategists' Unanimous Argument
This drama seemed inexplicable, but in fact it was a tacit cooperation between two guys with ulterior motives. Although it had not yet reached its climax, Hill had already seen it a little bit clearly.

Bane probably initially only wanted to see if he could do something with this world.

A world like this, where mages rule and demons are in power, is obviously very suitable for his essential priesthood as the Lord of Tyranny.

So, he sent out this Zhentarim, who was a bit harsh in his words and seemed rebellious, but was actually a loyal follower of Bane.

When Zhentil Keep first appeared, it was as a follower of Bane, a rebel who broke the greed and shameless lord and gained a foothold in the North.

Although the rebels eventually became tyrants due to Bane's characteristics and their natural attributes, they were rare rulers in the North, or even in Faerun, who were not descendants of nobles or gods.

Therefore, although they relied on Bane's church, they did not allow the church to override the so-called parliament... until the incident several hundred years ago.

At that time, the saint of Faerun continent came, which means that Bane's power reached its peak and he also lost his self-control.

Although Bane was also very sinister and vicious before he made the stone slab, he never tried to show off in front of others. He always blamed Melkor for doing the bad things that offended the whole world.

But after being involved in the chaos of the Slate of Destiny, he suddenly seemed like a different person, offending people everywhere... Although no one wants Melkor to come back now, there are always people who say that Bane is not as good as Melkor.

Before that, the people of Toril believed that Bane was the only one of the three gods of death with whom they could communicate!
Moreover, at that time, Bane's relationship with the gods was actually quite good.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have deceived so many gods in the end... If it was Melkor, who would go to see him?
But since his reason was blinded by greed, even the coldness of the Styx could not freeze his boiling desire, so this result was normal.

Zhentil Keep suddenly lost control because of Bane's sudden change...Those who were most closely connected with the gods and had to listen to the voice of God every day were not the voters closest to him, but the archbishops who were responsible for conveying his messages.

Some people have strong willpower and can tell whether the sudden greed that arises comes from their inner desire.

But most people still cannot do this, and they may even think that what they do is approved and approved by God.

Zhentil Keep fell into decline from then on, and it changed from a green forest organization that originally had some humanity to an unscrupulous evil group with no bottom line and no rules.

If before that, the hatred between the Harpers and the Zhentarim was only due to their positions, after that, it became that every Zhentarim deserved to die.

Later, with the ups and downs of Bane, the original people of Zhentil Keep also dispersed over the course of hundreds of years, and finally it became the most common inheritance model in the continent of Faerun: kill all those who oppose him, and he will be the boss.

Even if they still claim to be Bane's believers, Bane will never choose his voters from among these people.

Even though he seemed to attach great importance to the later Zhentil Keep and added more and more burdens to them...but the fact that he allowed the Beholder to control Zhentil Keep and only came out to reap the rewards at the end proved some of Bane's thoughts.

But this Zhentarim who walked out of Toril when Zhentil Keep still had some of its original backbone is definitely Bane's most trusted voter.

Even the most radical evil god actually knows what kind of person can go out alone for hundreds of years and remain loyal even when he falls into a deep sleep.

It’s just that they usually don’t show that they know... After all, how can someone who allows himself to be tempted by evil and specializes in doing immoral things talk to you about morality?
Isn't it the same with Shar? She has so many ruthless people under her command who can easily stir up the situation in a country. The voters she finally chooses have many shortcomings, and some even like to play badly, but they are all absolutely loyal to her.

Of course, these people all meet some of their main religious duties.

The less important ones are used to fool greedy fools.

Therefore, when seeing this elect, both William and Hill could immediately understand why Bane could remain sober even though he had done something more evil than Cyric.

Although Cyric caused the disaster of the Mage Plague, everyone knows that he is actually the wicked guy who toyed with Heim.

Cyric's evil is more like an outburst of Toril's negative attributes, but he sometimes goes with the flow. He wants to trick people, but he doesn't have a main and clear goal.

And Bane is a man who has truly and clearly chosen his own path.

Carrying the dark side of the entire world will definitely have an impact on the sanity of the gods themselves, especially those that are mixed with too many desires.

Shar knew clearly from the beginning that the more intelligent creatures there were in Toril, the greater the threat they posed to her.

In other words, this is the main reason why William agrees with her desire to destroy the world and return Toril to its original state... As the original light, Selûne is inherently immune to these negative emotions. No, in other words, these negative emotions cannot reach her at all... They must first go through Shar, who bears the negative laws.

In fact, the battle between the two sisters was, to some extent, the reason why Shar has survived until now... a lot of the evil laws were distributed.

And those evil gods were not as crazy as they are now in the beginning.

Especially Mask.

This guy is actually very smart, and not shrewd...but he just gets crazy very easily.

Therefore, not only Hill, but also some people who are more familiar with the past of gods, suspected that Xi Ruik deliberately gave them the Xi Rui Book.

Although it was obvious that he was crazy, he also made sure that he would not become a different person.

It is better to go crazy while being sober than not knowing what you are doing until the end.

But Bane, although he doesn't have the solid foundation of Shar, has always been able to stay sober... This guy, probably sent these chosen people who represented his true priesthood out of Toril when he found out that something was wrong with him.

And this Zhentarin did not disappoint the trust of his own god.

He has been in this world for so many years, and Hill doesn't believe that he has no power of his own.

This is a member of the royal family of Zhentil Keep!

Although he has no desire for power, he is still someone who has survived that famous meat grinder... and the only one.

Just because he doesn't like it doesn't mean he won't.

However, even though he felt that something was wrong with the task assigned to him by Bane, he still came without hesitation.

However, although he suffered a lot, after really talking to William, his life was obviously saved.

Hill couldn't help but curl his lips...Ban knew William well and knew what kind of people he would show mercy to.

As for suffering a little, Ben wouldn't care.

The evil god's subordinates never have an easy life, even their most trusted subordinates.

Those who can support their subordinates and at least keep their lives are all evil gods with bottom lines.

"Sir..." Lister's intelligence core burned for a long time, and finally combined the cause and effect together, "Bane intends to use Talona as a token of allegiance to establish some relationship with the Undead, so as to avoid the last bit of his power being destroyed, right?
After all, it was obvious that the Undead Archon, Sel, was going to be the founder of a new path of destiny.

Zhentil Keep is gone too. Although Bane looks very prosperous now, in reality, the only thing he can stay with is the goblins...

That does require some friendship with the undead."

There are quite a few undead who would like to vent their anger by beating a few goblins.

Dozens, hundreds, or even tens of thousands of them would not matter, but if a large family came for a family building event, the goblins in that area would be completely finished.

Although Bane found a way out for himself, which may not look good, but is actually the most reliable way out... the terrifying fertility of the goblins, but all of these are nothing in front of the undead.

They are really able to do things like sweeping through the forests that are only visited by low-level professionals as high-level professionals.

Many of Toril's rules had to be changed because of the existence of the undead.

Same with Bane.

He had originally intended to have the Zhentarim secretly rebuild Zhentil Keep after the fall of Cyre, while the goblins were still out of sight of most people in Toril.

In that case, when the goblin army is destroyed one day, he will still have power available.

But... the most likely thing now is that the goblins will die before Sel is finished.

His dream of a future in which the Goblin Lord himself would come and the goblins would multiply in large numbers and sweep across the entire continent of Faerun, attracting all attention while the mainstream forces of Toril had to return home to recuperate after the battle with the undead army of There. This was simply impossible to happen.

A smart guy like Bane must have found a new way out before anything happened.

Then he found William.

"As for William..." Liszt suddenly laughed, "He did it for Shar, right?"

"That's right." Hill nodded, "Sha'er who has stepped to the front must not be as terrifying as the one who hid in the darkness in the past.

In addition, AO has three more Greek gods who will definitely follow him closely in a short period of time and can be ordered around. Some things will definitely not be handed over to Shar, who does half the work and does the other half the work.

Just think about the history of Toril and you will understand. Is Selune not AO’s beloved daughter?
When did those gods and powerful men ever fear and respect her?
What they fear is Shar, who actually represents part of AO's will."

(End of this chapter)