Arcane Journey

Chapter 304 Elder Halua

Brian carefully looked at the guests who came to his study, wanting to know the real age of the wizard in front of him.

He knew that the vast majority of wizards could keep the traces of time at the age they most wanted after their strength reached the legendary realm.

Generally speaking, for the sake of fame and prestige, male wizards will tend to be at a more mature age to show wisdom and rich experience.

However, female wizards, such as the female lord Myrcella of Arabe, pay more attention to their own charm than their prestige. In order to keep their beauty in the most perfect moment, she uses the life-extending ceremony and even borrows the power of the Fairy Wilderness. The blood of the ancient Eladrin.

Arad, a wizard elder from Harua, looks in his prime, no more than 50 years old in appearance, with fine wrinkles all over his forehead, corners of his mouth and around his eyes.

Although he specialized in necromancy, his gray eyes looked gentle, deep and wise, and he didn't exude the kind of negative energy around him that strangers shouldn't get close to.

Seeing this face he had seen in the game world before, Brian couldn't help recalling some information about this Elder Haruah.

Arad, one of the twelve members of the Supreme Council of Elders of the Kingdom of Harua.

In Harua, their form of rule is mainly based on oligarchy.

It is a small number of absolute rulers headed by Elder Harua who share power, and then divide the territory into separate regions for ruling.

Therefore, in the Kingdom of Harua, the number of elders whose strength has reached the fourth level and above has remained at least around 400.

And one of the indispensable conditions for them to join the Supreme Council of Elders, which is composed of twelve elders, is that their strength must reach the medium legendary realm.

Each elder has a wizard group, or wizard organization.

The Elder Harua in front of him is the leader of the Silent Wizards Association. This group of spellcasters are mainly necromancers and illusions, two schools.

According to the information that Brian had obtained, the experience of this elder named Arad is quite legendary.

Of course, it is undeniable that every professional whose strength has reached the legendary realm will have more or less admirable legends in their careers.

In the Kingdom of Halrua, wizards like Arad, who had good magical talents and were born in ordinary civilian families, developed according to the normal historical trajectory without the support of financial resources and relationships.

His life will be around the first level of strength. After graduating from the Arcane Academy, he will fall into making magic scrolls, potions and magic items, and even go out to take risks for a living, just to save money to buy more advanced magic knowledge to improve In the endless loop of its own strength.

If there is an opportunity to make one's strength reach the third level or above, then he will join the Council of Elders and become the existence of a master.

Otherwise, even if the strength reached the second level (around level 5-10), it would be difficult to find a life that is not life-threatening and very easy in Harua, a society with serious introversion. (Remarks: In the Kingdom of Harua, more than 90% of the death rate of spellcasters died from spell research experiments and magic production, 8% died from going out on adventures, and the remaining 2% died from other accidents.)
In the end, like most wizards, like a leek, he will continue to pay his own unequal labor, and be harvested bit by bit by the upper class.

The fact is exactly the same. As his strength and age continue to grow, Arad's life is indeed moving towards a three-point lifestyle.

But the world often says 'knowledge changes destiny, magic creates the future'.

And this sentence is vividly reflected in Allard.

As a wizard who graduated from the Magic Restriction Branch of the Arcane Academy, he has a very high talent for magic restriction and magic protection systems.

And he was obviously very clear about his ability and development direction, so in order to collect magic materials for research and experimentation of spells faster, he finally committed the crime of theft and was arrested by the law enforcement team on the spot.

But in the magic prison in Harua Dongbishan Township, within half an hour, he used his ability to open the magic shackles, and then through the disguise spell, he lied that he was here to do business, and walked out ostentatiously .

After escaping, he tried to use his magic skills to crack the airship's protection system and magic prohibition, and stole it. As a result, he was arrested again and sent to the town's magic prison.

Surprisingly, during the three-month prison life, he and his inmates successfully broke through the magic restriction and space lock of the cell, and successfully escaped for the second time by teleporting spells.

After he was released from prison, he devoted himself to practicing for a year, and his hard work paid off. Finally, he used his knowledge of restraint and protective spells to successfully steal an airship in a small town.

Who would have thought that the owner of this airship belonged to the Harua Law Enforcement Team, the ruler of the town, and immediately contacted his relatives far away in the capital, a legendary strongman, and successfully arrested him by using prophecy.

With previous experience and Arad's many criminal experiences, the town's law enforcement team sentenced him to death without any surprise.

After learning the result, in order to save himself, he began to study magic with great concentration. Finally, on the day of execution, he successfully researched a three-ring spell called "Arad Breaking the Forbidden Technique", and was awarded by the Magic Temple of Mount Talas himself. Silver Star Badge.

Because of his major meritorious service, the entire town of Dongbi Mountain became famous, so the council of elders in the town decided to exempt him from the death sentence and change it to a suspended sentence, and put him in prison, and continued to support him in his research on magic.

It took 20 years in a flash. When Arad developed the fifth spell and attracted the attention of the magic temple again, he was finally released from prison.

It is said that in order to thank the Council of Elders in Dongbishan Township for its support for his magic research, he also personally helped the town's magic prison to re-upgrade the protection system.

From then on, in the magic prison of Dongbishan town.

Whether it was the pirates from Dambrath, the rune dwarves of the Great Rift, the halflings of Ruren, or the centaurs, mantis and lion people of Shaar, no one could escape from prison.

"Please sit down, Your Excellency Allard." Seeing that the guests had entered the room, Brian, who was sitting behind the desk, came back to his senses and extended his hand in greeting, "You can talk freely here."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Elder Harua sat on a chair and said softly and politely, "Thank you very much for bringing me the news of my mentor. So, Your Excellency Brian, the young mage of the Kingdom of Cormyr Lord and Lord Protector, your openness has won my approval and the opportunity for us to continue talking."

Brian nodded slightly, did not speak, but waited for him to continue.

In the "Arcanian catastrophe" of the last century, Haruah's prophets predicted the disaster in advance and made adequate preparations.

When the goddess of magic fell and the magic net collapsed, they used the power of the mysterious blue flames that raged due to the collapse of the magic net to send all the people of the kingdom to other worlds outside Toril through the spaceship and the wizard tower.

And the small world where Brian was reborn is one of them.

If you look into it seriously, he is indeed a Harua.

The main reason why he approached Arad was because Elder Halrua, who was responsible for leading the people to teleport into the small world, was not only a lich who survived the Netheril Empire, but also Arad's son. tutor.

It was the Lich mentor who noticed his extraordinary talent, not only secretly sent someone to imprison him in a magic prison, but also fully supported his magic research.

Brian also learned from the game world that Arad has never given up on finding his mentor and the branch of the Wizard Tower.

Unfortunately, it was a closed world located on the edge of the crystal wall system. After the 'Arcane Catastrophe' was quelled, and under the influence of ancient evils, even the magic net could not cover it.

The most important thing is that the flow rate of time is also different from that of the main material world. Ten years in the small world is equal to one year in the material plane.

That is to say, from the "Arcane Catastrophe" a hundred years ago until now, a thousand years have passed in the small world, and almost all the wizards of this lineage who lost their magic nets have disappeared in the dust of history.

The unequal time flow rate in the small world. After Brian temporarily deflected the ancient evil and let the magic net perceive this world, he learned from Helisite that the gradually stable world has a time flow rate close to the material world.

"Now, I have made a comprehensive understanding of the stories about Mokou Town and the lord, and even anything that happened in the Kingdom of Cormyr recently. Out of caution, this is what I have to do, please don't mind." Ala De continued:
"I can agree to your request and lead all the members of the Silent Wizards Association to join you, but at the same time, under the premise, you also need to agree to a few conditions from me."

"I like your frankness, Your Excellency Allard."

Brian obviously had expected it long ago, and he said indifferently, "You saved us a lot of time on insinuations. Now, you can state your conditions."

Arad looked straight, and without thinking, he said seriously and seriously: "With all due respect, since your Excellency can find me directly, you must have a better understanding of the situation in Haruah."

"Of course I understand." Brian said, "Otherwise, I would not have extended an invitation to you."

Although the Harua Kingdom is ruled by the Council of Elders, which is dominated by oligarchy, it is also divided into three major factions within the Council of Elders.

The most powerful faction is the belief faction dominated by the goddess of magic, Mystra, and the god of mages, Azuth. They occupy 6 seats in the Supreme Council of Elders.

This faction has been gradually established since the remnants of Netheril settled in the southern territory of Halrua.

This is a conservative. They advocate loving magic, not as a weapon to forcibly change the country with their own will. As the strength continues to grow, they must learn to use magic as little as possible. The only way to learn to restrain yourself is to use it The impulse of magic is the only way to learn true wisdom.

What follows is a new faction that was born after the 'Arcanian Catastrophe' ended and all Harua mages and people returned to the territory one after another.

Due to the disaster of "Arcane Catastrophe", most of the spellcasters in the magic-based kingdom were infected with the magic plague, and a few people died because of it.

Therefore, the elders of this faction believe that we cannot rely too much on the magic net, we must research the skills of casting spells away from the magic net, and benefit from all low, middle and high-level spellcasters, even legendary spellcasters.

This group of spellcasters has begun to focus on researching the essence of magic, instead of probing the deeper mysteries of the magic net, and binding themselves to the magic net, so as to prevent the goddess of magic from falling again, leading to their own inexplicable death.

This faction occupies 4 seats in the Supreme Council of Elders, and their main research topic is the spellcasting skills of 'Get Out of the Magic Net'.

As a time traveler and having experienced nearly ten years of adventures in the game world, Brian is naturally the most qualified to speak about the future of these two factions.

Because this faction has indeed succeeded in re-emerging the seeds of the Arcane Empire.

Whether it is the mana-powered constructs they researched, or the elemental fission and elemental reactors, they all contributed to the re-emergence of the Arcane Empire, making changes no less than the invention of the steam engine in the real world.

And Brian's method of making Austrian fire also borrowed from the off-network skills of the Harua mages.

In a sense, Brian is indeed the wizard of this faction.

The third faction is the shadow faction, certain haughty Halrua elders, silently corrupted by the whispers of the Lost Lady Shar's emissaries, transformed into shadow mages.

This faction holds two seats in the Supreme Council of Elders, and is also home to two powerful and ambitious shadow mages.

They believe that Mystra's magic net is the key to hindering the growth of their own power, and because the shadow mages are very united because of Shar's belief, they intend to promote the shadow magic net spellcasting and the Lost Lady in this place where magic prevails. Belief.

Brian dared to invite Allard precisely because he knew that he belonged to an independent faction, because his goals were indeed close to those of the conservatives.

"Since we have the same goal and long-term vision, we naturally share a common language." Allard said slowly, "Then I will speak out about my conditions."

"First of all, when the time is right, I need Your Excellency to go to the Harua Kingdom in person, fully support our faction, and occupy an absolute right to speak in the council of elders."

"I promise you this condition." Brian said without thinking.

For him, in the Council of Elders, the views of the conservatives did not get his approval. They were like a group of salted fish, without even the dream of turning over.

Moreover, he not only had to support the independent faction and occupy the absolute right to speak in the council of elders, but also became the real ruler of this group of people.

After all, in the future time node, the world of Abel, where the gods are everywhere, will definitely merge with the world of Toril, and the kingdom of Harua will bear the brunt of it.

Their homeland will be completely destroyed in the collision of the two worlds, and finally they have to return to the Ennook Desert to compete with Felin Mokui for the right of residence.

"It's really a clean nod." Seeing Brian's agreement, Allard's serious face showed a slight surprise, and he couldn't help asking curiously: "So, is this a kind of confidence, or is it blind?"

"It's what you think it is." Brian replied, "It depends on how you think about it."

"This is really an ambiguous answer." Arad smiled, without going into details, and continued: "The second condition is my personal request."

"If I'm not wrong, it should be about the Chult Forest." Brian met Arad's gray eyes and said firmly, "Am I right, Your Excellency Arad?"

Silence fell quietly in the study.

The elder of Haruah avoided Brian's deep and bright eyes, moved his body a little uncomfortably, and then broke the silence, and said slowly, "How much do you really know about this matter?"

"The Ring of Winter and the Scepter of the Forsaken." Brian said the names of these two pieces of magic equipment clearly, and said with a smile, "Is this enough understanding?"

The two pieces of magic equipment he mentioned were actually two artifacts.

In the big expansion pack of the Chult Jungle, a Mad Lich tried to bring the Abomination under his control, but his plan failed, and the pieces of the Abomination fell apart and returned to Chult , to be used in yet another nefarious plot.

And deep in the bottomless rift north of Chult, a shard of abomination was sent back to Toril under the auspices of the outsider.

These creatures are called obyris, and they are even older than time itself.

One of these was Dagon, Lord of the Deep.

From his slimy throne in the Sea of ​​Shadows (a layer of the Abyss), the Secret Gatherer directs his minions to wreak veritable chaos on the worlds of Toril.

To thwart the gods and other demon lords, Dagon attempted to bring about the end of the world by summoning the Great Old One, Dendar, the Night Serpent.

In addition, there are some things that even Dagon doesn't know about, and they are quietly brewing.

For example, some of the secrets of creation used by Ubtao, the father of dinosaurs, are also hidden deep in the bottomless cracks of the Chult Forest.

This is another large-scale expansion after the rise of Tiamat, the queen of the five-color dragon. The bosses that appear include: Abomination, Obiris Demon, which is older than Tanari Demon, Father of Dinosaurs, Domination of the Old Ones There are many evil forces that are old enough to be completely forgotten by time, such as the gods, the wild gods, and the nine ghost gods.

The most important thing is that in this large-scale expansion, there are three artifacts that can be obtained directly, namely the Ring of Winter, the Scepter of the Forsaken, and the Sapphire Forge.

"It seems that we have more common language than we imagined." The elder from Haruah sat up straight, put away the slight contempt in his eyes, and said solemnly, "Maybe we can really have a good time." Discuss matters about cooperation."

"No." Brian shook his head slightly, "I think you must have misunderstood me. What I need is not to cooperate with you, but to get your allegiance."

"Allegiance?"

A smile floated on the lips of Elder Adela, "I don't think I will hear it wrong, so is this another kind of confidence, or blindness? Or an ambiguous answer?"

"You can think that it stems from a kind of self-confidence." Brian said slowly, "Because between the two of us, I have the absolute right to speak."

"Really?" Elder Harua gave him a suspicious look and said, "I don't think so."

"That's because you haven't realized your situation and the coming crisis." Brian said calmly, "I'm correctly guiding you how to save yourself. Do you need me to elaborate?"

Elder Harua paused, then said slowly, "I... am all ears."

…………

(End of this chapter)