Arcane Journey

Chapter 88 Gray Dwarf Prince

The thick and spacious stone hall has only a few ventilation openings, and in the middle is a huge Zeke wood table, on which are several brass candlesticks that have begun to turn green.

The flickering candles covered with lumps of hard wax added a little light to the dark hall.

Under the guidance of two gray dwarf guards, Brian and Sisaiah stepped into the hall.

He casually glanced around the empty hall, and finally locked his eyes on a wall.

It was full of weapons, shields of steel, crossed swords, hammers and axes of gold, heavy swords and javelins.

Another wall is occupied by a massive fireplace.

Above the fireplace are trophies of prey—the heads of tauren and griffins, their horns casting wild shadows on the grinning faces of marshmen, basilisks, and direclaws, alongside crafted Stuffed Ishi Rays and Lurkers.

In the most conspicuous place, there was also the head of a giant dragon, which was dyed the same off-white color as the gray dwarf's skin, and the skull cavity was filled with dried fungal plants.

But the dragon's swept-back horns, protruding snout nostrils and the outline of the crown of thorns still let Brian clearly judge that this is the head of a red dragon.

He carefully looked at the red dragon's head, and guessed from the size that it was a red dragon that had reached adulthood.

This unexpected news further confirmed a guess in his heart about the relationship between the red dragon and the gray dwarves.

"That was when my father became the King of the Deep."

In the empty hall, a majestic gray dwarf took the initiative to speak with a glass of wine. He was fully armed and wore a unique badge. Behind him stood two gray dwarf guards in black cloaks.

If you don't observe carefully, you may even think that these are just two shadows.

"This is an adult red dragon, according to the tradition of our Steel Shadow Clan."

As the gray dwarf said to Brian, he stuffed a huge Zeke wood mushroom handle into the fireplace, "Only if he has the strength to challenge an adult red dragon, can he be qualified to become the King of the Deep in the city of Aldus."

"A tradition that is enough to intimidate people." Brian turned around, looked at the gray dwarf warrior in front of him, and said with a smile on his face, "I pay tribute to the King of the Deep who is both wise and brave."

He saw that the gray dwarf in front of him had a long walrus-like beard, his head was as bald as a newborn baby's butt, and almost every piece of clothing was stained with wine stains.

Most duergar, including female duergar, share some common physical features: baldness, and grayish-white skin.

Their earth-toned attire and simple jewelry reflect their rigor and utilitarian demeanor while allowing them to blend in with their rocky surroundings without being noticed.

While observing the gray dwarves, Brian secretly used telepathy to tell the sword mage beside him to be more vigilant.

Hesaiah nodded slightly, with his right hand resting unconsciously on his slender waist, and a pair of bright silver-gray cold eyes quietly locked on the two guards behind the gray dwarf warrior.

"Let me introduce myself, a human from the surface. I am Eddie Steel Shadow, the supreme commander of the Kavola cavalry." The gray dwarf commander was also looking at the two of Brian, and he continued:

"Let me tell you first, people on the surface, you are nothing in the city of Aldus. I can sell you two as slaves and let you work as the cheapest labor."

"However." The gray dwarf commander took a sip of the dark beer and added: "I think you two are very interesting. Tell me, what can you do for your own freedom?"

Erdie Steel Shadow, the sole heir of the Deep King.

Brann recalled something about the duergar prince.

Because the King of the Deep was corrupted by demons, the entire city of Odus was in chaos.

Therefore, the gray dwarf prince wanted to imitate a certain death knight holding Frostmourne, and stage a grand usurpation drama of "father's kindness and son's filial piety".

The end result is naturally complete defeat.

After all, the backstage of the Deep King is the incarnation of the demon lord of the bottomless abyss, so how could he, a little gray dwarf, be able to challenge successfully.

However, that will only happen three years later.

At this time in the city of Aldus, the plan of the demon lord is still brewing, most of the clans and the rebels of the Dilro dwarves are still forbearing, the gray dwarf prince and the deep king are still filial fathers and sons.

If he expected it right, the King of the Deep at this moment has been tempted by a succubus who turned into a gray dwarf, and he has fallen into a land of tenderness and cannot extricate himself.

Before the incarnation of the demon lord arrives, he must help the gray dwarf prince in front of him to wipe out all the evil forces and demons in the city of Odus.

"I can bring you power and status." Brian smiled slightly, and slowly spit out amazing words, "Don't you want to be the new King of the Deep, Eddie Steel Shadow VII?"

Silence fell suddenly.

The candle flame kept jumping in the darkness, reflecting a little bit of light in the crystal clear beer glass in the hand of the gray dwarf, and the wax tears flowed on the candlestick like a small waterfall.

"Hahaha"

After a long silence, the gray dwarf Eddie's laughter seemed to overturn the roof, and he even sprayed out the dark beer he just drank, coughing and gasping for air while being choked.

After he finally recovered.

He raised his head and looked at Brian with mocking gray eyes, "Tall surface man, tell me honestly, did you hit your head when you just came in?"

"I'm not kidding you." Brian replied calmly.

"Since you're not joking with me, then don't blame me for being rude, arrogant surface people." The gray dwarf Eddie threw the glass in his hand towards the ground and shouted: "Do it!"

Accompanied by a crisp sound of 'bang', more than 30 heavily armed gray dwarves appeared in unison in the empty hall.

A duergar is as strong and stocky as his dwarven kin.

In addition to their strong bodies, the gray dwarves have also developed extremely strong minds due to the enslavement of illithids.

The Underdark is full of powerful magic.

Since the time when they were enslaved, the gray dwarves have been constantly absorbing these strange magic powers, which finally gave them some strange abilities.

They can increase in size for a short time, becoming a powerful warrior the size of an orc.When facing a strong enemy or monitoring creatures that have invaded its territory, it can also operate stealthily in the dark.

Because of this, the duergar's ability to invisibility plays an important role in their society.

Unseen spies are everywhere, and the potential pressure they create keeps the duergars honest.It is precisely because of this invisible monitoring that the slaves have hardly tried to disobey their masters in words and deeds.

Feeling the oppression brought by more than 30 powerful gray dwarf fighters, Brian stood there calmly like an outsider, watching with cold eyes.

Almost at the moment when the gray dwarf warrior appeared, Hesaiah pulled out the sharp rune sword at his waist, and the raging arcane flames suddenly engulfed the criss-crossed blades with mysterious symbols.

——"Flame Wave Assault!"

The sword mage with a beautiful face reddened by the flames, with long red-brown hair fluttering, and silver-gray cold eyes locked on the enemy, his graceful figure turned into a flame, appeared behind the gray dwarf Erdie at a dizzying speed A guard in a black cloak.

The gray dwarf guard looked startled, and hastily prepared to draw out his weapon to resist.

"Pfft!"

Unfortunately, it was too late, and the rune sword wrapped in arcane flames in Hesaiah's hand cleanly pierced the chest of the gray dwarf guard.

In the blink of an eye, raging flames burst from the screaming gray dwarf's chest, engulfing his struggling body mercilessly in the sea of ​​flames.

The companion next to the gray dwarf guard looked at the sword mage with fluttering hair in horror. He forced himself to remain calm and concentrate.

——"Psionic arbitrary door!"

Waves of psionic energy emerged in the air, and the gray dwarf guard hurriedly stepped into a translucent portal that just appeared in front of him.

Looking at the fleeing guards, Hesaiah lowered his eyes and sneered.

——"Lightning hook!"

With a whisper, a crackling bolt of lightning suddenly appeared in her left hand, and quickly ejected into the portal that was about to disappear.

"Zizzi"

The jumping lightning hook engulfed the gray dwarf guard, and a white light connected to the caster's left palm.

Hesaiah raised his left hand and pulled the white light. The guard caught by the lightning hook appeared uncontrollably from the portal that just disappeared, suspended from the ground, struggling in midair.

I saw his thin strands of hair standing upright, twisting like a snake on Medusa's head, and his bony body convulsed and trembling.

With a wave of lightning, the duergar died in howling in pain.

Hesaiah dispelled the magic, raised the sword and retreated behind Brian, letting the body scorched by the explosive energy fall to the ground.

Brian nodded to the sword mage, and with an inadvertent movement, he took out the weapon he had taken out to make up the knife, and put it back again.

Obviously, even he didn't expect the other party to be able to complete the task he gave her so well that he didn't even have a chance to grab experience.

He secretly whispered in his heart that he had picked up the treasure in the dark area, and looked coldly at the stunned gray dwarf commander Eddie Steel Shadow not far away.

"Now, our audience is gone, does it mean that you should also end your performance."

"How do you know they are black-handled agents sent by my father to spy on me?" Erdie the gray dwarf looked startled, and waved his hand in disbelief, signaling his subordinates to retreat.

Brian didn't answer, but secretly mobilized a bit of spiritual energy, glanced at Eddie, and let him feel this unique wave of spiritual energy.

Agents of the Duergar Blackhandles are psychic agents of the Deep King's secret army.

Their main purpose is to travel around with the gray dwarf merchants in the city of Aldus, or to appear in the family territories of the major clans.

The true intention of these psychic agents is to carry out the work of supervisors and spies.

Because the King of the Deep, Holga Steel Shadow VI, is a ruthless and shrewd ruler. In order to consolidate his powerful rule, he will hold secret talks with the council and clan in the city, and make them suspicious of each other.

The existence of the black handle agent is to make him unexpected and unprepared when he makes a move.

Even in order to consolidate the power of the kingdom in hand, they will use unscrupulous means to hire assassins from the "Empty Sheath Killer" organization through middlemen to solve those potential troublemakers.

Apparently, the duergar prince had realized that he was being watched by his father.

Therefore, at the moment when Brian expressed his intention for coming, although he was secretly happy, he couldn't express it directly because of the existence of psychic agents.

So the scene just now appeared.

Brian could even guess that when he sent his men to arrest himself and Hesaiah, not only would the other party not kill them, but they would also secretly meet with them to discuss their plans.

However, Brian naturally would not choose to be so passive.

He asked Hesaiah to directly kill the spy of the Deep King, in order to let the gray dwarf prince in front of him forcibly break with the Deep King and express his position.

In this way, he can quickly carry out his next plan.

"I see."

Feeling the fluctuation of psychic energy, the gray dwarf Eddie suddenly realized and nodded. He touched his bald head and looked at Brian in disbelief. "I didn't expect that you are not only a wizard, but also a psion."

"Get out, all of you!" Erdie the gray dwarf gave an order, signaling all the guards to leave the hall.

"Now, allow me to introduce myself."

Seeing that everyone retreated, Brian deliberately kept a distance from the other party, took out the purple dragon seal ring he had obtained from Hesaiah in advance, showed it to him, and said:

"We are the Battlemage Legion from the Kingdom of Cormyr on the surface world. My name is Brian, the colonel of the Battlemage Legion. This is my deputy, Hisaiah."

Seeing Brian lying seriously, Sisaiah rolled her eyes depressedly, and her vivid thoughts began to come to her mind.

"Please sit down, two friends from the surface world." After listening to Brian's introduction, Erdie greeted the two to sit down, and then said in a slightly dignified tone, "Your Excellency's intention and purpose of coming, Weitz has already told me everything .”

"I'm looking forward to you making the choice you think is the most correct." Brian didn't choose to do it, and he said in a calm tone while remaining vigilant.

After all, the gray dwarf prince in front of him is a fighter of the fourth rank, and he doesn't even know whether the other party has a part-time psychic job, so he still can't take it lightly.

"Of course, I will make the most sensible choice." The gray dwarf Erdie wiped the wine stains from his beard, and greeted the two, "My two new friends, are you hungry?"

"Indeed, respectful master." Brian nodded, and sat down at the Zeke wooden table in the hall with Sisaiah.

"Very good, then let's talk while eating." Erdie nodded, and gave an order to the guard outside the door.

Work in a while.

Tin and silver utensils and plates were brought up one after another by the halfling chefs, and the smell of food began to fill the air.

"Your Excellency should be able to feel the current situation of Aldus King City."

During the chat with Brian, the slightly drunk Erdie abruptly changed the topic, "The root cause of the rift between me and my father is the disagreement on the city system."

Hearing what the other party said, Brian's expression changed, he put down the wine glass that was about to be handed to his mouth, and became interested.

"In fact, I have lived on the surface world for nearly 50 years."

Erdie glanced at the two, and continued, "It is because my vision is wide enough that I really realized the huge flaws in the city of Aldus.

In the highly hierarchical city of Aldus, the landlords of each clan controlled their own territory, guided their clan members, and operated their own trade and crafts.

In order to greatly develop the economy, they pursue the surplus value with the greatest desire.In my opinion, this system with huge flaws is a kind of sick prosperity, and it is impossible for our gray dwarves to develop and grow in the Underdark. "

After the gray dwarf finished speaking, he took another sip of wine, and continued, "When I heard about the Kou-tao Murloc town, I immediately associated it with many strange things in the city.

Obviously, those damned demons are also affecting this place, and my father, King Shendi, was addicted to female sex two months ago. value. "

"Although I want to change this situation, the Kavola cavalry in my hands cannot fight against the coalition forces of the major clans, as well as the stone guards and Saron spearmen in my father's hands."

Eddie looked at Brian expectantly, "If your Excellency can transfer the Purple Dragon Knights and Battle Mage Legion from the Kingdom of Cormyr to assist me in fulfilling my wish to rule the city of Aldus, I am willing to form an eternal cooperative ally with you." .”

Hesaiah looked at Brian with interest after hearing this, waiting for his answer.

Although she did not believe that he would agree to this condition, she still wanted to know how Brian would respond to the dwarf prince.

"The gap between the surface world and the underground world is too large. An operation of this scale will definitely be discovered." Brian waved his hand, rejecting his idea, and said: "Compared to the Battle Mage Legion and the Purple Dragon Knight, in fact I have better options."

"A better choice?" The gray dwarf stared at Brian with two big eyes.

"Have you forgotten the guardians of the flames of the 'Dragon Blacksmith' and the stone giants of the Smoky Crystal Cave?" Brian put down his wine glass and smiled confidently.

"Of course I know." Eddie said to him slightly disappointed:
"How could I not know about these forces, but the dragon egg of Lord Argotus, the 'dragon blacksmith', has been lost, and he has already become hostile to our gray dwarves. As for the stone giants in the smoky crystal cave, it is even more impossible, because from They start here and stay neutral."

"I don't need to bother you, I will convince them." Brian took out a sheepskin scroll, let it fly to Eddie, and said to him:
"If you agree to these conditions I put forward, I will persuade the 'dragon blacksmith' Argotus and the stone giants of the Smoke Crystal Cave to help you gain the right to rule the city of Aldus and drive away the abyss entrenched here. demon."

(End of this chapter)