Ashen Dragon

Titus nodded with satisfaction, waved his claw, and stored the equipment in the space, then said, "Your Majesty Zeen, the Justice Camp will remember the contribution of your Dwarves."

"However, this time I am here for another matter that affects the situation on the Fianso Continent, and I seek your help."

Zeen patted his chest and said, "Lord Titus, you are forever a friend to us Dwarves. Your matters are our matters!"

The Ancient Gold Dragon, looking pleased, leisurely recounted, "I believe you also know, the Shield Dwarves once signed an ancient contract with the Silver Moon Elves, forming a sacred alliance, agreeing to jointly resist the southward invasion of the Orcs."

Zeen nodded and sighed, "It's a pity that Serinia's Elves betrayed the contract. If it weren't for Lady Rhea, we would see this group of Silver Moon Elves as nothing more than a bunch of treacherous liars."

"No, this wasn't the idea of the Silver Moon Elves themselves, but a decision by the Elf Council." Titus, with a serious expression and a heavy tone, said, "I just received a letter of plea for help from the current Elf Queen, Catherine Moonchaser."

"She claims the Elders of the Elf Council have been corrupted by darkness, fallen into degradation, and Her Majesty Catherine will unite all forces pursuing justice and goodness to launch a holy coup, to bring Serinia back on track."

Zeen slightly frowned, "You mean to say..."

Titus, gazing intently at the young Dwarf King in front of him, his golden vertical pupils extraordinarily deep, said in a solemn tone, "Your Majesty Zeen, are you willing to lend a hand to Serinia in this critical moment—in the name of the Master of High Mountains, the Shield Dwarf King?"

Near the Sword Bay Region, there are several famous cities, such as Waterdeep, Elturel, Neverwinter, etc. Waterdeep was built on the old site of Ilfaen, the capital of the Elf Empire, with numerous temples of various gods. Miracle Temple is the most magnificent Magic Goddess Temple in the game, with splendid high towers, adorned with paintings and magical decorations, full of Baroque style, while Neverwinter leans more towards Gothic architecture, formed after nearly a century of development by Aegostor, the earliest Human settlement. Meanwhile, the main city of the story, Baldur's Gate, is the largest and most prosperous trade city-state in the Sword Bay Region, a melting pot from Nobles to Commoners and Thieves, known to adventurers as the 'Cradle of Conspiracy'. The name of Baldur's Gate comes from a hero, Bodlan from Gray Harbor, who explored beyond the Sword Sea and, after returning with wealth, led his team to build a city here.

According to the status of the residents, Baldur's Gate is divided into the Upper City for Nobles, the Lower City for Commoners, and the Outer City District scattered around Chenyi Mountain. The gate marking the distinction between the Upper and Lower City is called Bod's Gate, from which the entire city takes its name, also serving as a monument to its founder, Bodlan.

Currently, Baldur's Gate is ruled by a council of four Grand Dukes, with one serving as the leader of the council. If the council vote ends in a tie, Grand Duke Elder Ravenclaw makes the decision. The Upper City's security is handled by an official police force of the elite class called the Guard, while other areas are maintained by a mercenary group known as the Flaming Fist. Grand Duke Elder Ravenclaw is also the highest leader of the mercenary group, headquartered at the Bodlan Sea Tower, the strongest fortress against maritime invasion for Baldur's Gate. Surrounding Baldur's Gate's economic lifeline, Gray Harbor, hundreds of merchant ships come and go daily, bringing wealth along with greed and sin.

The Upper City, located at a higher elevation, is composed of the Castle District, Temple District, Manoburn District, and Wide Alley District. It is replete with religious buildings; Miracle Hall and the Supreme Miracle House are the worship centers for the God of Craft, Gund, in Baldur's Gate. The Miracle Hall showcases Gund's great inventions, while the Supreme Miracle House also serves workshop functions. The Lower City, mostly comprised of stone houses, has six districts: Sea Tower District, Blonrich District, Steep District, Crowded Side District, East Road District, and Branpton District. The middle class usually resides in the Blonrich District, adjacent to the Nobles of the Upper City, while the East Road District, near the Stone Lizard Gate leading to the Outer City, is more of a mixed bag, filled with lively bars and affordable inns. The Sea Tower District houses the Flaming Fist Mercenary Group, headquartered on the largest rocky offshore island in the Sea Tower District, with the mercenary group's headquarters, Bodlan Sea Tower, built on it. The Branpton District and Steep District are relatively rundown, serving as living communities for sailors and laborers. The Outer City District spans along the Chongsar River, gathering temporary buildings and shanties as slums, with a landmark stone bridge across the Chongsar River called the Flying Dragon Crossroad, crowded with vendors who have even widened the bridge deck with wooden planks, adding numerous constructions above it. Law and order almost don't exist here, and even the Flaming Fist's protection is limited. Some impoverished or criminal individuals who can't be accommodated in the city gather here.

The moss on the ceiling of the sewer glowed with a ghostly green in the dim phosphorescent lantern light, the murky sewage lapping over the boot soles, creating a sticky 'gurgle' with every step. Purple-black slime oozed from the wall cracks, converging like veins to the drain—this is the special neuro-corrosive substance of the Spirit Sucking Monster Nest. Ordinary people inhaling it would experience auditory hallucinations, as if countless tiny tendrils were writhing in their ear canals. Suddenly, a cracking sound of dislocated bones came from behind a segment of a broken cast-iron pipeline, as if something was twisting to squeeze through the narrow space. Three patrolling guards just lifted their lanterns when the sewage suddenly burst open! Four Spirit Sucking Monsters jumped out from underwater, their pale humanoid bodies covered in humus, the octopus-like heads' tendrils vibrating at high frequency, releasing visible purple Mind Shock Waves. The helmet of the guard in front dented, his eyeballs exploding into a mist of blood under increased cranial pressure; the second didn't even have time to scream as tendrils pierced into his ear canal, his spine extracted from his body like a marionette; the sole survivor staggered backward, the gunfire booming but was completely swallowed by the subfrequency screech emitted collectively by the Spirit Sucking Monsters. These Spirit Sucking Monsters were evidently tactically trained. Two decoy individuals used tendrils to slap the water's surface, raising mist clouds laden with corrosive liquid to obscure vision; the third dropped from the ceiling, using its suction cups to adhere to the guard's skull, the tendril tip precisely piercing the foramen magnum—not instantly killing but manipulating the captive like a puppet, forcing him to turn and load ammunition for his companions' firearms with trembling hands. At this moment, the fourth Spirit Sucking Monster was slicing open the chest cavity of a fallen guard with a dagger, and pushed the warm liver into its oral cavity, where pale yellow saliva dripped from the chin, etching streaks into the ground. Pupils dilating into a cloudy milky white, he grabbed a dagger and stabbed it into the back of a former comrade, pushing out a phrase in an inhuman synthetic voice, "The skull... for the elder brain..." And the real horror was only just beginning—further away, a sewage pool started to boil, and more pale figures surfaced, their bodies slathered in detritus, their screams echoing in the sewer, while floating tattered uniforms and still pulsing neuro-corrosive mycelium leaving trails on the ground of the massacre's proof. The Spirit Sucking Monsters, dragging the captives, vanished into the depths of the drainage pipes, with occasional twitches from the mucus cocoons, producing faint echoes of inhuman screams, and the ultimate terror was just beginning—a huge, pulsating shadow started to appear beneath Bodur's Gate.