Arcane Journey

Chapter 156 Mourning Ceremony
Mokou Town.

On the second day after the war, the weather was cool and the sky was dotted with pale clouds.

As Brian stepped up the steps on the dark blue carpet, raindrops fell, making the steps wet.

It used to be a bloody arena near the edge of the town, but now he has transformed it into a cemetery, the purpose of which is to house the remains of those who died in battle.

He knew that there would be such a day, so at the end of the war, the transformation was completed ahead of time, and it played its role.

On this day of remembering the dead, Bryan wore a white silk shirt, dark blue breeches, a ceremonial tunic embroidered with purple silk thread, and lambskin gloves.

As a lord, when the territory was first established, he knew that he had to greet those who had lost their loved ones as much as possible and express his gratitude to them.

Of course, he also sincerely hopes that he can bring some comfort to everyone.

Although it was still raining lightly, he didn't pull up the hood to cover his slightly messy black hair. If he wanted to, he could isolate himself from the rain with a sudden thought.

But he didn't do that, but let the raindrops hit his head and cheeks softly, as if the sky had thought of the upcoming ceremony and couldn't help crying.

The two priestesses standing at the door smiled at him, put their hands on their chests, and bowed in salute.

They wore smoky gray robes and cloaks, as well as silver headbands. In a prominent position on the chest of the dark robes, they wore the holy emblem of Kelemvor, the god of death: a bone-white skeleton arm stretching upwards was holding a The balance is firmly balanced by the golden ratio, and the background is an iron-gray wasteland.

It can be seen from their iron holy symbols that these are two lower-ranking clergymen, because official priests wear silver holy symbols, while higher-ranking ones are made of gold.

Kelenvor, the God of Death, also known as: Lord of the Dead, Judge of the Wraith, Master of the Crystal Spire, Great Crosser, a God of Death with powerful divine power.

Kelemvor was Midnight and Ayton's old companion during the Titans' War of the Gods event, and Cyric's series of failures after Cyrik's frenzy caused him to succeed him as the God of the Dead.

The first official act of the new god of the dead was the successful transformation of Cyric's castle of bones into a shining crystal tower.

This action symbolizes that the god of the dead will not hide anything about himself, and that he intends to judge the dead in a fair and impartial manner.

Although he can be harsh at times, Kelemvor is kind, fair, forthright, and sincere.

As a god, Kelemvor wasn't terribly bright, always trying to solve problems he saw as his primary troubles by direct action.

While He acts with good intentions, He often ignores the long-term problems that arise from short-term solutions in other ways forward.

Kelemvor also has an unlikely ally in the traditional League of Gods.

He has a close relationship with Mystra - the previous Human Midnight.

When they were mortals, they fell in love, but did the flame of romance still burn after their godhood?
No one knows, and the two gods strictly guard this privacy.

Kelemvor made many attempts to transform the city of the dead, such as building crystal spires and tearing down the Wall of the Unbelievers (but Jergal stopped them), etc.

In contrast, Jergal also did a lot of things behind Kelemvor's back, such as subtly training the Reaper, whose original alignment was lawful and good, to become lawful and neutral.

The most important thing is that under the guidance of Jaeger, Kelanvor also signed an agreement with the devil. When the devil invaded the city of the dead and robbed souls, the devil would provide assistance. In exchange, the devils could pass through the city of the dead. The means of cheating and abducting, to abduct souls.

The abyssal demons who are also in the evil camp are not treated so well. Kelemvor's revenge on the demons is very direct, usually sending avatars into the bottomless abyss to kill.

Among the four generations of Lords of the Dead, Jergal represents the mystery of death, Melkor represents the fear of death, Cyric represents the madness of death, and the latest Kelemvor represents the justice of death.

Kelenvor believes that death is just a part of life, there is no need to fear death, no need to avoid death, and no need to regard death as evil.

Fear of death will send you to beings who can kill you, and die with dignity, neither rushing to die nor embracing the way of immortality.

The church of Kelemvor, the god of death, considers it an important duty to seek out those who are about to die.

Because the wish of this neutral god of death is to let every intelligent creature that died naturally or unnaturally in the whole continent have a sad song sung by a raven beside him, guiding him to the correct position in the cycle of reincarnation.

It needs to be emphasized that Kelemvor himself is the great ferryman who leads the people to the afterlife.

He believes that death is not the end of the end, but a stopover on a wonderful, never-ending journey.Let every dead person know that Kelemvor is waiting for them, welcoming a new life for them.

But this is just the wish of the god of death. To truly establish a perfect reincarnation transfer station, he needs to face not only demons and demons competing for the souls of mortals, but also gods.

"Mr. Brian." The priest girl on the right stammered slightly, "Please allow me to call you that. Fortunately, you arrived in time. Please, the ceremony is about to begin."

Brian smiled kindly at the pastor. "Thank you."

In fact, before coming here, he also attended a ceremony held by the priests of the Church of the God of Knowledge in a temporary temple.

As priests and knights of the Church of the God of Knowledge, they have a better home.

"Just a moment, please," said the preacher girl, taking out an unlit candle. "Please hold this, sir."

Her smile is genuine, perhaps a bit reserved, for this is a solemn moment.

Brian took the candle and walked into the gate, leaving a handful of gold coins on the tribute tray beside the two priests.

He walked into the cemetery, and a tombstone as straight as a sword appeared prominently in his sight, and the two sides of the steps were full of people waiting in the rain.

Monuments are an important art genre in human history.

As a form of three-dimensional modeling, it takes into account the characteristics of architecture and sculpture. In its development process, it not only serves the ruling class and politics, but also can care for people's inner needs and enter the life of civilians. .

When Brian appeared, everyone's eyes shifted from the monument that made them feel new to him.

He walked slowly along the stone steps to the monument, exchanged glances with a priest of the God of Death, and nodded slightly.

The old man was of medium height, with a strong and strong figure. His whole body was covered by a smoky gray robe, and his face hidden in the hood seemed to be blurred if he didn't observe carefully.

Even though he stood so conspicuously beside him, Brian couldn't feel the presence of the old man at all.

"Death is just a part of the cycle of life. It is not the end of the end, but a wonderful, never-ending cycle. The final crosser of the Lord of the Dead will escort them to the city of the dead."

The old man said to him in a steady and clear voice, he was holding a long-handled sickle in his right hand, holding a mysterious and ancient book in his left hand, and a golden skull emblem hanging on his chest.

For the believers of the Lord of the Dead, Brian kept awe as much as possible, because behind this powerful divine power stood the most mysterious deity: Jaeger, the clerk of death.

In fact, he just asked Graal to invite an ordinary priest to hold a grand memorial ceremony. Who would have thought that such a big man would be invited.

In this regard, while Brian was surprised, he was still very happy in his heart.

After all, the paladins and priests in the "Eternal Knights" of the "Eternal Knights" of the Church of Kelanvor, the God of Death, are the priests who are best at dealing with undead creatures and demons among all the churches under the command of the gods.

Knowing that this was not the time to think about it, he turned his back on the monument and faced the crowd.

Although the rain has slowed down, it hasn't stopped yet, and no one plans to go elsewhere to take shelter from the rain.

Brian's eyes swept over the husbands and wives who lost their partners, the fathers and mothers who lost their children, the orphans who lost their parents, and those solemn and upright purple dragon knights and battle mages.

A little girl tried not to cry, and Brian gave her an encouraging smile. The little girl took a deep breath and returned him a slightly trembling smile.

This girl was Alec's sister, the Knight of the Purple Dragon, and after the war she ran up to him and asked how her brother was doing.

"Son, I can tell you that before the enemy overwhelmed your elder brother with countless undead creatures, he killed a flying winged night shadow by himself and saved many people. Before falling, the people of Shadow City paid a heavy price."

This was his answer to the little girl.

Although he didn't witness it with his own eyes, he knew very well that when a paladin began to "sacrifice" the domain with the belief of death, the power that erupted could not be calculated by common sense.

"My dear friends, you are welcome here, a town that welcomes those with an open heart and a humble spirit. It has seen much joy and much sorrow. Today we all Gathering here is to commemorate the dead, remember them, mourn them, and pay high respect to their sacrifices to the Kingdom of Cormyr and Mokou Town."

Brian organized his words well, making his steady voice clear and powerful, so that even people standing at the farthest distance could clearly hear:
"At the edge of the Ennook desert they met a foe so terrible that no one thought we could win. Yet it was the sheer courage of these heroes, men, elves, dwarves, half-elves Yes, even those brave goblins, ogres, and gnolls who live in Hedge Village, we can win a rare victory.

We defeated the army of Shadow City, and we want to pay tribute to all the heroes who died. The way we pay tribute to them is not to die like them. But to live well, to heal our wounds, to help others cheer up, to laugh, To feel the sunshine on our faces, to hug our loved ones tightly and let them know that they matter every hour, every minute of every day.

Every mourner who came here today was given a candle, and each candle represents someone who has passed away in our hearts.Now, let us light the candles and mourn the heroes who died in the war.For Mokou Town, for the Kingdom of Cormyr! "

Gradually, the rain stopped, the dark clouds began to dissipate, and the sky cast a bright blue.

The crowd cheered, many had tears in their eyes, and Brian felt he had done as much as he could.

He admitted that he was not a very good ruler, but he also secretly promised in his heart that he would try his best to be a good lord.

In his eyes, he never regarded these dead purple dragon knights, battle mages, ordinary fighters, mercenaries, and adventurers as tools to expand his territory.

So, from his first confrontation with the city of ghosts, and then in the battle with the Zhentarim, he seized the control of Mokou Town, and finally defeated the invaders of the city of ghosts.

During the whole process, all the dead people, no matter what their status was in life, are worthy of commemorating these dead people.

He just wants to be a qualified good lord as much as possible.

Let the people in the territory recognize him as the lord, let them understand that no one will sacrifice in vain for this, let them be willing to spend their lives to protect the land they recognize, that's all.

(End of this chapter)