The Swordsman of Faerûn

Under the siege of the flames, I don't know how many monsters that are not human have been burned to ashes, let alone how many vicious things have been wiped out. Even William has already prepared for those suffering people who are stranded in the dungeon. The psychological preparation of being burned to death, rather than letting them suffer in the dark hell, perhaps it is also a kind of happiness to be directly purified by the flames.

Fortunately, William had a brainstorm and developed a function of the curse fire. He integrated his consciousness into the curse fire and flames, and linked it with the sea of ​​flames in the entire town. Whether it is above ground or underground, as long as He can sense the place occupied by Lie Yan, he is like the god of thunder Enilo who opened his heart, it's really cool to play with the full picture and play Shao Shao Shao.

Where there is danger, the flame will open the way!Where the situation is unknown, the flame will open the way!When you encounter a place that is unbearable to look at, the flame will open the way!Burn all the way!

When you meet poor people, add a fire shelter, and when you meet undeserving monsters, add a fire shelter. When you encounter places or goods that match you, such as food, treasures, etc., you need to add a fire shelter.

Lord Raging Flame's fire control ability is so arrogant, there is no problem that can't be solved with a fire, if there is, then William's fire control ability is not enough.

At least 90.00% of monsters and evil things were burned to ashes by the flames, but there are always some lucky ones who avoided the inevitable killing, either because of their own strength, or because they have strong resistance to flames, or simply It was luck enough that they escaped from the dungeon, or hid in the vast underground dark area, or climbed to the ground in reverse.

Needless to say, the lucky ones who escaped to the dark underground area, but those survivors who ran to the surface, before they had time to rejoice that they escaped to the sky, they found that they were surrounded by countless people on the ground. Armored dragon warriors, hovering in the sky are groups of flame griffins.

A tiefling pyromancer whose brain is not clear enough just beeped a few times, and was dismantled into parts all over the floor by a few fire dragons with battle axes and hammers. The remaining survivors, monsters or non-monsters, immediately behaved. surrendered their freedom, they voluntarily surrendered to those in charge here.

William didn't have time to pay attention to these fish that had already fallen into the pot. His main consciousness was searching underground for other fish that slipped through the net.

However, William didn't have time to talk to these captives, but it didn't mean that other people didn't have the same thoughts. Baird and Cheval Starcloak recognized the identities of some of the captives almost at a glance.The two of them, as public figures on the bright side of Falls Town, know something about the dark side of the town, especially the half-elf female mage, who knows a lot about the underground world, because the study of magic cannot avoid these things. Deal with monsters.

Of course, Cheval Starcloak also has more irresistible reasons for the dark side world. She rushed to a well-dressed weirdo and asked anxiously, "Larouche! Where is my sister? Where is Irgana?" ?”

LaRouche is a broker in the dungeon. It deals in many things, ranging from various magic items, materials, knowledge, to various livelihood goods, population, slaves, and various commissions, information, and secrets. As long as you have If you can afford the equivalent price, LaRouche can serve you and relieve your worries.

It was known to be a doppelganger, a doppelganger that could legally walk on the surface of the Vale, hated and feared by most of the surface towns who knew it, but couldn't live without it.

This is a fucking world!

When Larouche saw Cheval Starcloak, his uneasy heart suddenly settled down. The half-elf and it are "old friends" who have known each other for many years. The exchanges between the two parties are too numerous to enumerate. Even not so long ago, Cheval had begged for its help.

It's just that Feng Shui turns around now, it seems a bit unfavorable!For being a prisoner, LaRouche didn't feel embarrassed, it was even a little secretly happy.

As long as he has a familiar face as a reference, coupled with his own talents and abilities, as long as he is allowed to meet the person responsible for this great tragedy, Larouche believes that he will definitely be treated more decently.

That's how confident the shapeshifter broker is.

However, Larouche had a headache for Cheval Starcloak's question. It didn't know how to answer the half-elf. Could it be that you told her that your sister was taken away by the vampire lord? , Most of them were burned to ashes by the fire all over the city? !

The doppelganger's gaze wandered around for a few moments, and there were many familiar faces, including the child from the veteran's family, a delayed warrior seedling.

Then LaRouche decided to tell the truth, it knew the good and the bad of many things, and it was doomed when it began to make some inconspicuous choices.

And honesty is a noble quality that all brokers must have in front of their clients.

Chapter Sixty-Three Heart Changes

There is a kind of honesty called the honesty you think, because honesty is just a strategy. Of course, if there are other circumstantial evidence around, then you'd better say something real.

For example, Larouche had to spit out some dry goods to satisfy the half-elf protector's questioning. After all, even if it didn't say anything, there were alluring little bastards who wanted to flatter and fill the position.

The monsters that can escape from the sea of ​​flames have all means, wisdom, and luck. The only thing they lack is an opportunity. The tragic experience of the poor tiefling pyromancer tells his companions not to think about creating opportunities. You can only passively wait for the gift from heaven.

Are tieflings really stupid and arrogant?I'm afraid not, maybe he just wants to make some noise to attract the attention of the person in charge, and then show his value and get a decent treatment. It is really a perfect plan.

It's a pity that the fire dragon man's violent temper and rigid personality turned everything into a joke of self-control. Without the permission of the master, whoever dares to be a monster will die!

The arrival of Baird and Cheval Starcloak gave these lucky survivors a rare opportunity.The broker LaRouche got the first bite because of his professional problems, and now the most important thing for him is to seize the whole opportunity and give the star-cloaked lady a real answer.

In fact, LaRouche wanted to make up some honest words with nine truths and one falsehood to whitewash his image, but he didn't dare, because if there was anything untrue in what he said, the competitors around him would show no mercy The one that dismantled its lies to pieces and visualized them with a magnifying glass or even a microscope.

Don't say that monsters are not afraid of death, they are actually very afraid of death, a lot of them.

The answer Xieval Xingpao got was very detailed, but the content was not the answer she expected.In layman's terms, her older sister, Iljana Starcloak, was betrayed by the broker LaRouche to the vampire family that ruled the dungeon at a price that he couldn't refuse.

The only thing that makes Larouche fortunate is that it is not the party that initiates the transaction. When the vampires fancy a certain item, they usually grab it back first. Offer a high price compensation that the cargo owner can hardly refuse.

Of course, no matter how many twists and turns there are, in short, Cheval Xingpao lost her sister, and she left sadly.The half-elf neither made Larouche angry nor gave it any preferential treatment, but it still made the shapeshifter broker feel inexplicable joy.

This is a good start.

But before Larouche was happy for a while, he received a heavy blow in his heart, from Baird's habit of revenge.Fortunately, the position of the shapeshifter's heart is not fixed, otherwise LaRouche might be shocked by the sudden cardiac arrest caused by this sudden attack.

Baird retaliated against the shapeshifter broker a little, but did not continue to retaliate against these monsters. He sneered and warned the other captives: "I know the origin of you monsters, and I also know how rampant you were before. But now it is my lord who controls the situation, I advise you to wait for the lord's final ruling."

After that, he turned around and left gracefully. In fact, Baird also had some secrets to ask, but after hearing what happened to the half-elf, he felt that it would not be too late to ask after the lord came back.

"He likes that half-elf!"

"Maybe he likes the sister who was sold by Larouche?"

"Aha, no matter which one the veteran's son likes, Larouche must be in trouble!"

Several sympathetic fellows gloated and discussed with each other, taunting the shapeshifter broker who took the lead, but their restlessness was quickly interrupted by the dragon guards in charge of guarding.

For William, saving people is a very troublesome thing. Once out of the envelope of the flames, his personal fire-avoiding barrier will not be very useful, because the energy of the curse fire needs to suck the energy of the flames anytime and anywhere to Maintain the vitality of the protected person.

Otherwise, not to mention the deadly high temperature, just a lack of oxygen is enough to kill all William's efforts.

Fortunately, there are too many people under William who can go under fire. Well, literally go under fire.With the help of these men who almost brought their own dry food, one after another the poor people trapped by William were dragged to the ground by the soldiers walking through the sea of ​​flames on a flaming cart. No fire monster dared to carry people with their own hands. , unless it wants to be sucked into a ball of obsidian ashes by the curse fire.

How many monsters were burnt to death in the dungeon, almost no one could count. After all, in Faerun, even the simplest arithmetic can be regarded as a very advanced knowledge.However, the number of survivors dragged out of the dungeon by William's flames was beyond everyone's expectations. 570 people, most of them are humans, a few are elves, dwarves, and a very small number of halflings.

Even those monsters who escaped from the ground did not expect that there are so many mortal servants hidden in the seemingly inconspicuous dungeon.

Not to mention the number of monsters and demons who were burned to death, the population of these people at the bottom of the dungeon alone is already one-tenth of the total population of Dagger Falls in its heyday. , In the eyes of many monsters and even people with brains, it is incredible.

The reason lies in a dungeon law that prevails in almost the entire world.

Theoretically speaking, it is difficult for the population of underground residents in a relatively closed city to exceed one-tenth of the total number of above-ground residents, otherwise order will collapse due to insufficient resource supply.

Of course, this rule is not absolute. For example, there are mines underground (dwarf cities often do this), and the geographical location can enjoy trade bonuses (such as Waterdeep City, Ximen City). These unique advantages can break the restrictions of this rule. of.

It's a pity that the town of Dagger Falls does not have such good conditions. It used to rely on the steel and ore trade of the Kingdom of Tethama for a period of time, but it could only be regarded as a bit of trade bonus leftovers. , Falls Town is almost a lot cooler.

In recent decades, the total population of Waterfall Town has been in the range of more than 2000 people. It is impossible to support the consumption of five to six hundred mortal servants in the entire underground city, let alone almost the same number. monster demon master.

With a population ratio of almost two to one, even if all the above-ground population of Dagger Falls Town were torn apart, and oil was boiled in the bone marrow, it would not be able to support such a large number of parasitic populations.

Of course, the actual situation is that the existence of the underground city in Falls Town is actually supported by the population of the entire Dagger Valley. This point was later confirmed by William from the mouths of those captives and rescued.

The fire in Dagger Falls town burned for seven days and seven nights. At the beginning, the fire monsters still fished out a lot of valuable loot in the depths of the dungeon, but in the later stage, even the fire dwarves who like to drill magma were reluctant to go there. Explore the subterranean streets filled with glazed mortar and ashes.

Of course, the most heart-wrenching thing was the underground granary once protected by William. When the fire dwarf opened the door, he found that there was only a pile of choking plant ash left inside.

The servants who were rescued from the dungeon were overjoyed to see the sun again. Most of them gave their loyalty to their savior, the new lord of this land, William.

Of course, there are still a few "high-class people" who are used to being slaves, and don't want to pay themselves to this group of mortals who are obviously mud legs.In their opinion, the king of vampires has not yet shown up, and who will win the battle is still unknown, so it is more reliable to wait and see.

Of course, these overly smart people—the traitors obviously won't get any preferential treatment, and they were imprisoned like those monster captives.This includes the elf blood slave who survived in the vampire palace, who is also the sister of the half-elf Xieval Xingpao, Irjana Xingpao.

They are half-sisters with different fathers and mothers, but they have different feelings towards each other. For example, Cheval has an almost mother-like attachment to his sister, but Iljana has never been half-way. Miss Elf faked color.

Iljana has a better appearance than Cheval, which is one of the capitals that allowed her to survive in the vampire's palace and get a certain status and preferential treatment.

At the moment, the beautiful and beautiful Iljana is like a runaway shrew, cursing her sister in extremely vicious words: "Mixed bastard! Get out of my sight! I don't need your hypocritical charity!" ...%￥#@" followed by a series of incomprehensible Elvish curses.

The humiliated Xieval Xingpao had tears of grievance in her eyes. She hastily put a bowl of stewed venison and two fruits in front of the cage, and then ran away covering her face.

Larouche, who was also imprisoned next to him, said with a flattering smile: "Well, Ms. Irgana, since you don't want to accept Ms. Cheval's alms, you might as well give them to me. I haven't had a real one for many days. Have a full meal!"

Irjana rolled her eyes when she heard the words, spat viciously on the doppelganger, and said, "You disgusting amoeba! What a dream! Even if that little bitch Cheval is so annoying! I hate it, at least her intention to pay tribute to my old lady is commendable! Also, don’t think that I will forget your betrayal of me. Shameless fool! Even if I throw the food to the dogs, I won’t give you a cent! "

After all, the former elven blood slave grabbed the food that was placed on the ground, and then swallowed it, but the greedy prisoners around couldn't stop their saliva from flowing out.

LaRouche, on the other hand, was furious. For doppelgangers, the biggest insulting word is to confuse them with amoebas, although the two do have a little bit of connection in terms of blood evolution.

It stared at the elf bitterly, and while drooling uncontrollably, it murmured in a low voice: "Yes! You just fed the food to the dog! You greedy elf bitch! Eat it! Eat it! You'd better eat it to death You greedy dog!"

But there was a monster next to him shouting: "Good-hearted Ms. Irjana, don't you want to feed the dog food? I am a dog, a loyal and good dog! Bark bark! Give your dog some food !"

The self-indulgence of this monster brother did not get the pity of the elves. Irjana even licked the wooden bowl cleaner than the dog bowl, and even the cores of the two wild fruits were chewed and swallowed by her go down.

No wonder these prisoners were extremely thirsty for food. William and his men never thought of feeding these prisoners, because their own food was not enough. After all, the population almost doubled at once, and the consumption of food was natural. Also doubled.

Of course, there is also good news. After experiencing a baptism of flames burning the city beyond ordinary people's imagination, even if they were just watching from a distance, the camp that was originally full of thoughts immediately became stable. The dissatisfied crowd changed their positions almost without any obstacles. They became the most loyal subjects of the lord again, and expressed that they would dedicate 12 points of loyalty to their lord.

There are indeed many people here who are really grateful and loyal to the lord from the heart, because a large part of the people rescued from the dungeon are local missing persons, and many people who have reunited with their lost relatives All were overjoyed and grateful to their savior, Lord William.

More people have to show tameness to their lords because of the fear of power and mystery.

William was not surprised by this. He didn't need to think about people's hearts for the time being. The food crisis has become the top priority that everyone needs to face at this moment.

William sent many hunting teams into the wilderness to hunt. Of course, this can only be regarded as a drop in the bucket. Unless William personally takes action and conducts a large-scale extinct killing hunt, it will be difficult to supply food for more than 1000 mouths.

Fortunately, the Dagger Beach below the Dagger Falls is a good place. This is the final place for the salmon to migrate and spawn in the Sea of ​​​​Moon. Because the terrain of the Dagger Falls is too steep, it completely blocks the salmon from going further. Ambition to advance upstream.

And this season is the season when salmon start to migrate.

William and his fire monster subordinates were not good at working in water. They all hated water, including William, the fire lord, who also began to have an inexplicable sense of repulsion to diving.

Therefore, ordinary people in the camp are the main force in catching salmon. William sits on the bank of the river as a supervisor. Need to be careful.

After Xieval Xingpao suffered a wave of mental blows from her sister, she ran up to William and said in a low voice: "Your Excellency William, Iljana has promised to find the whereabouts of the vampire lord. It is said that Only the doppelganger knows how to find the Bloodlord's sleeping place."

William nodded and said: "Very good. I really didn't expect that this land has been trapped under the rule of an ancient monster. Cutting off its threat is one of our most important tasks at present, otherwise it will be difficult for people to truly be stable. come down."

The half-elf said worriedly: "But, I am very worried about Irgana's safety, she always likes to take risks too much."

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Question, the theoretical lifespan of humans is about 120 to 400 years, dwarves can live for about 800 to 1000 years, and the theoretical lifespan of elves is between [-] and [-] years, and some long-lived ones can even live up to [-] years. So among these three races, who prefers to fall into the arms of vampires in order to obtain a nearly infinite lifespan?

The answer may surprise you, it is elves.

That's right, as the longest-lived species among the three races, the elves are the most sought-after race for the first embrace of vampires, not one of them.

This involves the differences in the ethnic culture and habits of the three races.

There is such a misunderstanding in the human world. Since the theoretical lifespan of dwarves and elves is several times longer than that of humans, will their cubs have a proportionally longer lifespan?In fact, this conjecture is either right or wrong.

In terms of the physiological structure and development of the cubs, this statement is wrong. The physiological growth rate of elves and dwarf cubs is almost as fast as that of human cubs, and even the system structure for producing the next generation is the same. Only seeds The maturity period needs to wait (that is, the early self-contained birth control properties).

It is their psychological development that really limits elf and dwarf cubs from their warm nursery huts.

The cubs of the dwarves are simple (stupid) like imbecile children in the early days, and they need enough time to gain experience and enlighten wisdom.No matter how honest and reliable a dwarf is allowed to go out of the house by the clan, if you take him for a fool, then you are the real fool.

The dwarves' racial concept and their way of thinking determine that they will become more and more cunning as they grow older, but they will also become more and more stubborn, and they will end their lives in this almost irreversible stubbornness. Few dwarves ever really get the chance to die.

But the growth of elf cubs has gone to another extreme.The cubs of the elves are born smart, which is the blessing of the elves gods (from the comment of the elf master), but the cubs are smart and smart, but it also brings a lot of unnecessary troubles. They are paranoid because they are smart, they are oversensitive because they are paranoid, and they tend to go to extremes because they are too sensitive.

A glance, an action, or a word between the cubs may inadvertently form hostility or even hatred that is difficult to resolve, and they also have enough intelligence to turn these hatreds into substantive revenge.

Elminster was deeply hostile and persecuted by elf cubs when he was studying in the elf country in his youth, and he barely learned how to learn about elves after experiencing many regrettable tragedies. The way the cubs defuse their hatred.

In the world of William's previous life, there was a unique primate, the bonobo.If there are conflicts and conflicts between bonobo individuals, some kind of indescribable movement is the most effective means for the two parties to resolve their differences, and this means is regardless of gender and age.

Elf cubs also have very similar social habits. If there is an irreconcilable conflict between two cubs, then a communication aimed at balancing the conflicting focus of both parties will occur at an appropriate moment, and Older elves and elders also encourage this communication.

Usually this kind of communication will quickly resolve the conflict between the two cubs. Of course, if a cub is too paranoid and refuses to accept the result of this communication (or refuses to communicate), then he (she) will directly To be sent away, a primitive jungle or a grassland full of beasts will be the best growth and education area for this paranoid cub.

The growth of an elf is a process in which the state of mind grows over time and gradually sees through the world. When an elf no longer becomes mad and angry because of some inexplicable etiquette error, and tolerates provocations from other cubs, it means This means that he (she) is eligible to leave the safer parenting area and go to live and take risks in areas with more complex social environments.

A mature elf means that he (she) has adapted to the requirement of keeping his or her mind still or less in the face of complex external environments.The habits of the elves are adapted to a long life, and they also enjoy all the advantages and conveniences brought by longevity, but when the long life of this advantage comes to an end, it will completely break the elves' seemingly otherworldly state of mind.

There is great terror between life and death.

No one can understand the truth contained in this sentence better than the elves whose lifespan is about to end. They will really do anything unimaginable in order to prolong their lifespan.

The lie that "pious elves can return to the kingdom of elves after death, and then reincarnate as Eladrin in the elf world" has harmed many ignorant elf believers. It is also because of this lie that it was debunked, which led to the Seldarine pantheon ( Elven pantheon) great schism.

Although it is impossible to verify who the earliest ancestor vampire is, what is certain is that the vast majority of elves who are about to end their lives like to join the embrace of the Nightborne, even if they will be subject to the blood lord Orcus.

On the contrary, as short-lived human elites, most of them are more willing to continue their uncontested will in the form of another undead creature-the lich.

Of course, because the human population base is large enough, and human beings always like to use the short life to bloom the most brilliant flowers, based on the selection of survivor bias, human vampires are still more common than elf vampires.

What?You mean dwarf vampire?A group of squat guys who only know how to swing a rough hammer and have no elegance or temperament at all, let us despise the idiot who gave them a first hug together!

The other party paid?A very large sum of money?It's so exciting!That's okay, I think I can also contribute to my initial quota, although it's not about money, but the share that belongs to me can't be less!

Although vampires can live for decades just by sleeping in the coffin board under the ancient tomb, how can the cold and desolate coffin board come from an underground palace filled with all kinds of delicious lambs? Fragrance, mellow wine, a beauty (male) in his arms, drinking warm and fresh blood, isn't this kind of life delicious for him?

fragrant!It's really fragrant.

However, if one wants to maintain this kind of extravagant life, the expenses involved are huge, and it is difficult for even a small kingdom to support such terrifying consumption.

And when this happy model that was built with endless painstaking efforts was completely shattered by a sudden outsider, the terrifying shock it caused in the underground world circle is by no means summed up by the loss of a city.

Even before the fire in Dagger Falls Town dissipated, countless guys with unknown origins were already appearing everywhere in Dagger Valley.Among them are Asmo (celestial hybrid), lone paladins representing kindness and beauty, various fine creatures representing neutrality, and various strange monsters representing evil. Of course, there are also those from Zhentil Castle Or some spies in other parts of the valley.

Some of them headed directly to Dagger Falls Town, while others inquired horizontally, asking for information from some well-informed people who were rooted in the local area, and some even found an inconspicuous little place to get up and mingle with the local civilians. Then encourage everyone to migrate to Dagger Falls.

A big raven hovered above William's head, and it also screamed twice from time to time to show its presence.For such an overly rampant guy, William will definitely give it a good face. He first gave Mr. Raven a big middle finger, and then sent Misha and her little friends to ride Mo Xiao to expel the annoying peepers.

In the evening, the fishermen returned to the camp with baskets of salmon on their shoulders. After many days of fishing, the whole camp almost turned into a big fish market full of fishy smell. After the internal organs are cleaned, they are wrapped in a layer of rock salt and then hung on wooden racks for smoke-drying.