Arcane Journey

Chapter 262 Magic Kingdom Halua

The wind blows from the sea, and the sails flutter with the wind.

The needle rain hit the face like fine hailstones, bringing bursts of pain.

The water pouring in from Lake Harua is oily and undulating in the wind and rain.

"Dear guest, this way please, the boat is ready."

Hearing the captain's call, the ranger Puranda from Mokou Town sighed. He was already tired of traveling by sea, as long as he could step on a stable embankment and a stone paved road, even for a short while, he would be overjoyed mad.

But the thought of being back on the wobbly deck again made him sick to his stomach.

He set out from Dragon Lake in the Kingdom of Cormyr, took a boat along the Sea of ​​Falling Stars, passed through many chaotic seas and canals ruled by pirates, and passed through the vast Sea of ​​​​Glory and the barren coast successively.

For most of the year, he spent on various ships, facing wild storms, giant monsters in the deep sea, and even many dangers that were enough to drag the ship into the deep sea.

But he had to do this, he had to deliver the letter that the lord gave him, and personally deliver it to the Mystra Temple in Halrua, the Magic Kingdom.

Haligad, the former capital of the Kingdom of Harrua.

Unlike other capitals in the world, in the port of Haligad, travelers arriving by sea will immediately take the next ship after disembarking in the port. It is a kind of ship with a high bow and a much lower stern. The slender boats are driven by pairs of oars magically.

Puranda went aboard, and was greeted immediately by his captain, who was waiting.

Their boat left the port and headed for Harayah, the new capital on the shores of Lake Harua. The oars cut neatly through the water, and the boat began to move, gradually increasing its speed.

Puranda stood at the bow of the ship, staring at the skyship passing leisurely in the sky from time to time, keeping silent.

Since the next stop would be the destination of this trip, he began to recall what the lord told him about the Magic Kingdom in his mind.

Halrua is located in the southeast of the continent, a mysterious area full of magic, rumors, and legends.

For Puranda who was not aware of it.

The myths and stories of the South are unbelievable. Is every resident here a wizard?Halfling Kingdom?A surface kingdom ruled by dark elves?
But in the South, these are not only real facts, but also more unknown things.

Even so, in the impression of the world, the southernmost part of the mainland is still a remote, remote, harsh and hostile country.

In the kingdoms of Cormyr and Sembia, someone would say "Go to Chult and Tyndor!" instead of "Go to hell!" The master would say to the disobedient apprentice: "If you don't like me, go away!" Go to Halruah and be a wizard, no one is stopping you." The professor will reprimand unruly students: "Don't bring the etiquette of the Dambras pirates here!" Even the son of a farmer criticizes his ancestors for plowing When using the fallow system, you will often be hit back: "You are so capable, why don't you go to Haruah to be a wizard?"

All in all, whoever doesn't like tradition can go to the south of the mainland.

In Puranda's mind, the magical kingdom of Halrua, a group of kingdoms established by the remnants of Netheril, was once a magical kingdom that lived in seclusion.

They are militant and old-fashioned, very conservative, and very defensive against outsiders.

However, in the introduction of their lord, let him understand what is called the real magic kingdom.

In the last century's "Offa catastrophe", the Halrua Kingdom was once thought to be destroyed in this disaster.

In fact, the fundamental reason why people in the world think so is that the prophets of Harua foresaw this disaster in advance. After the death of the goddess of magic, Mystra, the wizards of their own country used the raging blue fire to destroy their own country. Safely teleport to Abel, Toril's twin world, and other smaller worlds in the realm of the universe.

After the end of the 'Olfah Holocaust', the Halrua who returned to their homeland wanted to understand what happened to the world during the century of their disappearance.

They are no longer closed to the outside world, and the famous Harua skyships and water-borne vehicles have set sail from their homes again and again, looking for other forces and races, and actively establishing commercial routes and political connections.

It is also for this reason that the reformed and open Magic Kingdom has gradually become stronger and richer.

The most obvious sign of the improvement of their national strength is the increasing export trade volume.

In the last century, people always said that "the only wealth in Harua is sand and sea water".

But after wizards established salt factories through alchemy and magic technology, this joke was no longer a joke: the Kingdom of Harua almost monopolized the glass and salt markets in the south and center of the mainland.

Tens of thousands of people, of all races, began to use the glass containers with the logo of Harua's magic workshops, and seasoned the soup with the fine salt they produced.

There are also many spellcasters who adhere to the so-called 'unrealistic' and 'crazy' theories in this magical kingdom.

There are artificers and inventors who firmly believe that they can break the stereotype of mainstream opinion and create revolutionary new machinery and equipment; A wizard businessman who abandons complacency and short-sightedness.

There are even farmers and ranchers who believe in other people's sayings and believe that barren land can be turned into fertile land through magic, and that in hot climates, they can also raise large quantities of livestock.

Even Halrua's miners and geologists believe that since the exterior is so barren, there must be treasure hidden within, since nature is known for its balance.

It was so, and the Wall of Halrua that encircled the Kingdom, and the barren hills and hills that surrounded the Kingdom, were proof of it.

There indeed lies the treasure.

A quarter of a century has passed, and Harua's benefits from using mineral resources have exceeded the sum of the southern countries of the entire continent.

They use mechanical puppets, this highly efficient construct creature, to mine and process iron ore, second only to the gold dwarves in the Great Rift Valley.

However, even the dwarves of the Great Rift import Halrua's precious metals to make alloys.

Just like the slogan of the Wizard Tower in Mokou Town when recruiting apprentices: knowledge changes destiny, magic creates the future.

The root cause of Halruah's ability to become powerful and wealthy is their large group of spellcasters.

Harua receive public education from an early age, at least until the age of 13.

At the age of five, there will be a screening for magic talent, and the students with magic talent, those with the worst talent, will also master the most basic zero-ring tricks around the age of 15.

While practicing magic is not necessary to live comfortably in Halrua, it helps.

Because people who can cast spells are considered 'talented', even if they don't use their talents.

It is this kind of education system that enables one-third of the Harua people with a population of about 160 million to have the ability to cast spells, and about two-thirds of them have some magical knowledge.

So, life in the city of Harua, in many ways, is touched by magic.

Their houses have at least some built-in magical enhancements, such as enchanted street lights, and coastal cities' favorite practice is to create 'walls' of magically spawned coral via coral growth spells.

Mantras that produce flashes and melodious sounds, are often woven into fine fabrics to enhance their beauty.

Exotic forms of travel, such as flying carpets or airships, are commonplace.

In Harua, there are people everywhere who go out of their way to flaunt their abilities and wealth.

"You should pay attention to the route, captain, not the spaceship in the sky, otherwise your small boat should sail to the shallows." A young wizard dressed as a scholar interrupted Puranda's deep thinking.

"Oh, we are already close to Harayakh. Look, you can see the big wooden barrel!" The wizard hugged the book and shouted.

The mist of Halua Lake had thinned a lot at this time. Puranda followed the eyes of the little wizard. He saw the hills and swampy meadows on the river bank on the right, and a higher part called the "big wood" Barrel's Aqueduct.

"Gentlemen, that is a set of magical experimental sewer purification equipment and automatic sediment trap." The Harua wizard holding the book boasted:
"It is a great success in magic science, and it is an important achievement of our Arcane Academy. We invented magic purification devices and sediment automatic traps, and placed them on lakes and canals. These magical devices have begun to be used by the academy, The sewers of towns, surrounding villages and farms are popularized, and this magic device that looks like a big wooden barrel is an automatic sediment trap, which is a great success in magic science..."

"Hey! Little guy, stop showing off, bow your head, bow your head!"

The captain hid at the door of the cabin, shouted loudly to the guests on the deck: "Last year, that thing exploded, and the feces collapsed onto the Mouse Island in the middle of the lake. The mutated rat plague that caused headaches for wizards on the small island has been wiped out."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the barges made their way across the lake and the turret-like automatic sediment traps disappeared into the mist.

After about an hour, they finally arrived at the port.

Stepping into the capital of the magic kingdom of Harua, Puranda was shocked in place.

The streetscapes of this city, completely shrouded in magic, are unbelievably bright.

More than a dozen tall towers with dignified manners are straight into the sky. The bases of the towers are made of pure white rocks, and the violet spires are surrounded by gold borders.

Glittering stones swirl and dance around many of the minarets, and large mosaic-glass windows bring bright sunlight into the interior.

The flowers in the garden were in full bloom, and all kinds of exotic flowers and weeds exuded bursts of strong natural fragrance, which made him almost dizzy.

Or was it the strong pulse of magic in the air here that made him feel this way?

As soon as he entered the city, Puranda immediately felt that he was so ordinary and so dirty.

He also saw the most famous arcane academy in the magic kingdom.

Surrounded by high walls of the college, the vast, noisy and busy city is centered on the college and built around its walls.

It is a colorful and magical city with narrow streets and pointed roofs.

The kingdom's capital, Harayakh, relies on the Arcane Academy, on its students, lecturers, scholars, researchers, and the twelve most powerful Elders of Harua in the Council of Elders.

And those people rely mainly on magic and knowledge, and everything related to the magical learning process.

In Harayakh, it was the by-products of those magical theories and experiments that brought business opportunities and huge profits.

Puranda walked on a bustling street, heading towards the temple of Mystra, the goddess of magic, passing by magic workshops, research rooms, stalls, and large and small magic shops.

There is no doubt that thanks to the magic of the Arcane Academy, tens of thousands of wonderful commodities that are hard to find in the world are produced and sold in these places, and their functions are either incredible or meaningless.

He passed hotels, taverns, stands, magic huts, counters and portable magic barbecue grills. Those places were full of exquisite dishes with excellent color and fragrance. All are unique in this world.

This is Harayah, the capital of the magical kingdom of Haruah.

The shrewd and wise wizards absorbed the seemingly boring and useless theories of the Arcane Academy bit by bit, and built such a colorful, cheerful, noisy and pleasant magical city.

It's also a city of entertainment of all kinds, with never-ending celebrations, never-ending festivals, and never-ending revelry.

Here the streets resound day and night with music and singing, and the clatter of goblets and tankards, for as we all know, there is no work that thirsts more than the acquisition of knowledge.

Although the headmaster of the Arcane Academy strictly forbids students and mentors from drinking and reveling before dusk, the Halrua continue to drink and revel day and night, because it is well known that if there is anything thirstier than the acquisition of knowledge, it is probably the A partial or complete prohibition of alcohol consumption.

Puranda continued on, past the towering 'Slim Priestess' whorehouse, which he knew would offer exquisite magical services that simply weren't available—or popular—anywhere else.

For a moment, his reason clashed with his hedonistic instinct.

In the end reason prevailed.

Puranda, who spent most of the year sailing, sighed, and continued to walk in the direction of the Arcane Academy, trying to avoid the tavern where the laughter came from.

The beliefs of the Halrua Magic Kingdom are mainly based on Mystra, the goddess of magic, and Azuth, the god of mages. The huge group of spellcasters makes it the largest temple of Mystra in the world.

But Puranda learned from their lord that the largest temple is not in the Arcane Academy, but Mount Talas on the Wall of Halrua.

It includes a majestic place of worship designed to inspire awe, and a complex of vast caverns where the magical knowledge of Halrua wizards has been safely stored for centuries.

It is said that this compound temple has a certain degree of organization - any wizard, when conducting research on any magical things, only needs to stay in a certain mysterious cave in the temple and conduct diligent research for no more than five years to find himself wanted answer.

However, Puranda has no intention of going to Mount Talas.

Because according to the task arranged for him by the lord, he only needs to hand over the items to the priest of the Harayakh Temple to complete the purpose of his trip.

He went straight to the Arcanist's Gate, which is the main entrance of the Arcane Academy.

According to the lord's instructions, he quickly completed the formalities and stated that his purpose of coming to the Arcane Academy was mainly to go to the Temple of Mystra and pay homage to the goddess of magic.

He walked through the Arcanist's Gate, and a completely different world appeared before his eyes.

The college is completely different from a city made up of ordinary buildings, and it is not like a town, where you compete for every inch of land and gold.

Everything here has an air of magic.

Wide alleys lined with colorful glowing gravel are flanked by delightful little mage towers, and openwork fences, walls, hedges, canals, bridges, flowerbeds and green parks.

Everything looks clean, peaceful and dignified—trade and paid services of any kind are forbidden here, let alone entertainment.

Students strolled through the alleys, intently reading tomes and parchment scrolls.

Others sat on benches, lawns, and flower beds, discussing their magical homework or deliberately playing mind-boggling games like Odd or Even.

The professors of magic roamed about, chatting or arguing eagerly without losing decorum, though some gave away their demeanor by gazing their eyes at the girls' rears.

Puranda wasted no time, navigating through the labyrinth of alleys and hedges to her destination: the temple of Mystra, the goddess of magic.

The temple is located on a cliff to the west, and to the east is the rushing river.

From a distance, the colonnade-style temple is magnificent in shape, and the north and south sides are built against the mountain wall, as if being sandwiched between the mountains.

Puranda followed a cobbled path to the entrance of the temple, a huge oak gate.

To the left of the gate is a large, modest statue of a woman.

The female figure wears a hoop with a round emblem inlaid on its head, and seven blue and white stars surround a central mist.

As soon as he stepped into the temple, a low-level priest who was about 30 years old took the initiative to greet him, with a kind and friendly smile on his face, friendly and charming.

"Good day, friend, may Mystra's blessing be with you."

"If you want to follow in the footsteps of the mother of all magic, you can know the goddess' abode anywhere on the earth."

"Are you coming to the temple to seek treatment? Or do you want to alleviate the suffering of the disease? Compared with the dedication required to pray for the blessing of the goddess, it is very competitive." As he said, a smile appeared on the priest's face. A smile that might be called 'knowing'.

"I am an envoy from the Kingdom of Cormyr." According to the lord's instructions, Puranda said to the pastor, "I have a very important token that needs to be handed over to Allah, one of the Council of Twelve Elders in Harayakh. Elder De."

"Elder Allard of the Council of Elders?" The pastor put away his amiable smile and said hesitantly, "I'm very sorry, the affairs of the temple are too busy. You must know that it is difficult for a goddess to be distracted by ordinary things..."

Puranda quietly handed the pastor a purse containing about 500 gold coins.

"Oh! It turned out to be Elder Allard, I remembered." The pastor took the purse and quickly changed his words, "Have you heard of his name too? That Haru of the Necromancer School known for his wisdom and perseverance Elder Ah, is a great figure in Harayakh."

"Praise Mystra, I beg you to deliver this item to Elder Allard in person." Puranda looked at the statue of the goddess of magic and said reverently.

"No problem." The pastor took the token solemnly and smiled, "May Mystra's blessing be with you."

Puranda left the temple, found a nearby hotel, and began to wait patiently.

Because he knew that it was impossible for the mysterious Elder Haruah to reply to him so quickly.

During the long wait, about half a month passed, a black kestrel appeared in his room flapping its wings.

"Messenger from the Kingdom of Cormyr, please follow me."

The little bird with amber eyes said to him in a crisp voice, "My master has received the token you sent, and is preparing to transfer magic to Mokou Town."

…………

(End of this chapter)