The nature of the adamantine coffin hammer can be hidden from other people, but it can never be hidden from the eyes of a god. Even the first time the incarnation of the god came, the goddess of strategy felt the unusualness of the adamantine coffin hammer and the reason.
As for the confusion over the ownership of the Death Priesthood, this is no secret in Faerûn.
There have been three Lords of the Dead in the history of Faerûn, at least so far.
The original Lord of the Dead and God of Death was named Jergo. He was a very ancient god. No one knows his specific identity. We only know that he was once a mortal. He did not die as a god. He still exists today. As the holder of a series of death-related priesthoods such as the supervisor of the order of death, the guardian of the tomb, the official funeral, the keeper of the names of the deceased, and fatalism, he is only a weak divine power.
He was tired of his responsibilities and took the initiative to strip most of the priesthood from himself, including the Lord of the Dead, and handed it over to Melkor, Baal and Bane for management. As a godly servant, he mainly inherited the priesthood of the dead. Melkor.
If Jergal was in charge of the priesthood of the Lord of the Dead through mystery (making the world fear and worship him because they did not understand death), then Melkor, the second Lord of the Dead, used fear to make the world fear death and treat it with fear. He worshiped and believed in him. He, Baal, the Lord of Murder, and Bane, the Lord of Darkness, were called the Three Dark Gods before the Year of Turmoil. They ruled Faerûn for thousands of years with fear and influence. Their inflated desires made them No longer satisfied with powerful divine power, he stole the Tablet of Destiny and tried to tamper with the operating laws of Toril and even the entire multiverse, making himself the god above all else.
This behavior completely angered Io, the god, the creator of the Toril plane, and the guardian. He angrily rebuked all the gods for their dereliction of duty and banished them all from the kingdom of God to the Toril plane. As saints, they can find the Slate of Destiny so that they no longer stand above mortals, but must rely on mortals for their existence. When mortals no longer worship and fear them, they will also die as gods. when.
And all of this happened last year, in the year 1358 of the Vale Calendar. This process triggered a series of turmoils, known as the Year of Turmoil. It all ended with the death of the three gods of death, Melkor, Baal, and Bann. As for The death of the God of Magic, Mystra, was purely due to his own death. He ignored the orders of the gods and tried to return to his own kingdom before the Tablet of Destiny was recovered. He was killed by the guardian god Heim who faithfully performed his duties. , and then reborn as the third-generation magic goddess Midnight.
The priesthood of the Lord of the Dead fell into the hands of Cyric, the god of conspiracy and strife, and became the third generation. He is the most incompetent of all the Lords of the Dead. As I said before, the priesthood, It is compatible with your own personality. If it is not compatible, even if you obtain this priesthood, you will not retain it for too long and will be deprived of it due to your own negligence.
In the hands of Cyric, the Lord of the Dead is just a stepping stone for him, a tool to help him obtain the priesthood of conspiracy and strife. In fact, the priesthood of conspiracy and strife is just his new tool, in order to allow himself to obtain more powerful weapons. He is even secretly creating his own supreme artifact, the Shirui Sutra, and respects himself as the only god in the world who is truly worthy of belief.
He was too greedy and acquired too many irrelevant priesthoods at once, including murder, strife, lies, conspiracy, fraud, illusions, death and the dead. Many of his priesthoods, taken at random, once belonged to powerful gods, let alone Speaking of merging together again, before last year, he was just a mortal. When he suddenly gained such great rights and abilities, it was inevitable that he would suffer from bloating and indigestion.
All his energy was focused on his own grand plans, his own conspiracies, and his own disputes. How could he still have the energy to care about the affairs of the dead? This dereliction of duty directly became a new source of turmoil, and the entire pan There have been huge problems in the operation of the Faerun God System. Countless souls that should have been taken away were not taken away. Countless souls escaped supervision and wandered on the material plane, causing many disputes and killings that should not have occurred. , causing countless deaths that should not have occurred. This did bring divine power to his priesthood of strife, but in the priesthood of death and the dead, he was seriously derelict in his duties.
Gavin obtained the Vizeme Manor and gave birth to the spark of immortality through it. It is also under this premise that under normal circumstances, when the priesthood of the dead has ownership, if the controller has very strong control over it, If it is strong, the spark of immortality will not be so easy to generate. Even if it is generated, the other party will sense it immediately with the priesthood of the dead. Even if they do not come to the door actively, they will send an envoy to retrieve it. Because the spark of immortality is a key and a flame that will shake his priesthood of the dead, it cannot be overemphasized.
So far, Cyric has not taken any action. The only explanation is that he has no way to care and did not sense it.
The reason why Gavin dared to make a big move in this area was because he knew this clearly. He also knew that Cyric's incompetence had disappointed Yerge, and he had secretly abandoned him, and he had re-selected and trained new ones. The Lord of the Dead, and this man is none other than Kelemvor. This man is a powerful warrior. He once took an adventure with Cyric and Midnight in the Year of Turbulence and retrieved the Tablet of Destiny. For the power of Cyric Grams betrayed him with Midnight.
He has now obtained the divine spark of the priesthood of the dead, and is actively dealing with things related to the dead around the world, accumulating faith and connections. However, Cyric seems to be completely unaware, because he has been deceived by Jerek. Although his power is weak now, it is because he is willing. This ancient god's influence on the dead is far greater than the world imagines.
It’s just that if Kelanvor wants to become the true Lord of the Dead, he still needs an important intermediary point, and this intermediary point is not in himself, but in Cyric. He himself made a serious mistake, which led to his complete dereliction of duty, death and the death of the dead. The godhood was completely stripped away from him on his own initiative - otherwise, no one except the god Io could forcibly deprive a powerful god of a part of his priesthood.
But after the Year of Turmoil, Io fell into silence again and did not respond to any prayers. Not to mention mortals, even the gods did not know his whereabouts, as if he did not exist, but all the gods knew He is there, but both mortals and gods are his children. As long as they don't dig their own graves and cause the collapse of the Toril plane, he will not interfere with the operation here without authorization, because he knows that once that happens If he does, he will become the biggest source of danger in the entire plane of Toril. Last year's turbulent year is proof. Although this wave of destruction was brought about by the gods, the source lies with him.
"I know." Gavin's expression showed full of helplessness, "My Vizeme Manor is now somewhat of a kingdom of God on earth, but it does not have the ability to gather faith. If you want to obtain the unique power of shadow, If you want to expand, you can only accumulate a large number of souls. If I rely solely on my immortal revenge field, the efficiency is too slow, so I can only use this method."
How could he not know that this was an act of drawing chestnuts from the fire, but this was the foundation of his rapid development. If there were no Dragon Oak Mother Tree, if there was no Vizeme Manor, he would probably still be in the rocky land of Cormyr, with the kobolds. Although I have worked hard to mine for development, realizing my plan is probably still a distant dream.
The more he came into contact with the gods, Gavin discovered how slim the hope of his plan's success was. Even in the turbulent years, the rules of operation of the Toril plane had changed, and the influence of mortals on the gods had become much heavier, but If you want to fight against the god Zhuan with a mortal body, even if you are a high-level legend, it is like a mantis trying to fight. At best, it is a struggle with the divine incarnation of powerful divine power. Not to mention the strength to stand in front of his body, there is probably no chance.
It is not uncommon for mortals to kill gods in Faerûn, but most of those killed are just a divine incarnation of that god, not the real person.
What really caused the fall of Shen Zhuan was mostly in her own body, as evidenced by the immortal Nemesis. She was destroyed by her own greed, and the person who severely damaged her was not a mortal, but a demon lord who was deeply hated by mortals.
"This time, because the predator Garagos launched a divine war against me, this matter should be hidden." Ms. Strategy revealed her final intention. "It is a taboo for mortals to steal souls, but the intervention of gods is a taboo." It's another matter, especially since the current Lord of the Dead once tried to attack me when I ascended to God. I have the sacred right to fight back. As long as you nod, I can inject my plans and strategies into it. Help you cover your immortal spark.”
"Once I do this, the soul I absorb will no longer be my own, but part of it needs to be given to the lady." Gavin did not use a question, but an affirmative. The emergence of divinity is closely related to the soul. When you get involved, there is no reason to be empty-handed.
Although he is now a voter of Ms. Strategy, the relationship between the two is more like a community tied together by interests. Being on equal footing is not considered equal. If there are advantages, Gavin will definitely put his arms around him first, not Like Catherine and others, everything, whether glory or soul, belongs to the Strategist Lady.
"Yes, since I am helping you withstand the pressure and I am responsible for stealing souls, I will naturally take a share of it. Half of the souls you obtain through this kind of soul will belong to me." The Goddess of Strategy obviously also agreed. He was very aware of this, and knew that this was Gavin's uniqueness, so he did not try to use his identity as a god to suppress him and swallow all the souls. Nor did he try to kill me and nine you like a greedy dragon that eats a big head. The greedy price of one.
As if afraid that Gavin would disagree, Ms. Strategy added: "And this is not entirely decided by me, but by the divinity injected into it. There is only a little divinity in your hammer, and I have to inject it at least." Once a little bit of divinity goes in, after the soul is absorbed back, it will inevitably be divided half and half according to the divinity inside."
After Gavin thought about it for a while, he offered his own price and said: "I will inject a little more immortality into it, one for you and two for me. Now the manor is a booster for my rapid development. The faster I develop, the faster I will develop." The greater the stirred up situation, the greater the size of the enemy that can be faced, and the more souls that can be harvested. However, my soldiers, unless they are willing to stay in your kingdom of God, you have to return the favor. Give me."
He doesn't know how to do charity, and neither does Ms. Strategy. If he wants to take advantage of her, he must give benefits.
The benefits of doing this are obvious. The stealing behavior that I originally took huge risks has become aboveboard. If the owner of the Death Priesthood is dissatisfied, he will definitely not talk to me directly, but to talk to Ms. Strategy.
Judging from Cyric's previous attempt to assassinate and seize Ms. Strategy's newly condensed godhead, there is no possibility that the two of them could sit down and talk calmly. They should draw their swords first.
The Goddess of Strategy alone would definitely not be able to withstand Cyric, but behind her there is the main god Tempus, who will not only stand by her unconditionally, but will even intervene in this matter enthusiastically.
Because for him, there are huge benefits hidden in this matter. The Lord of War will definitely look down on their petty theft behavior, but the deeper possibility this matter represents - intervening in death. The priesthood, war and death are never separated. They don't need to seize the entire death priesthood. They only need to seize one branch of the war death priesthood. How huge are the benefits contained in it? There is no need to say more, and the Dispute Priesthood in Cyric’s hands belongs to the category of War Priesthood. If it can be taken by chance, it will also strengthen the War God System.
Should I ask Ms. Strategy to invite Tempus, the God of War, to discuss this matter together?
After the mind is opened, the pattern immediately opens up.
Before Gavin could speak, Ms. Strategy spoke first: "There are some things we can think about and do, but we can't say that all our plans and strategies are our own and have nothing to do with the Battle Father."
Obviously, just like before, Gavin's plan regarding the Goddess of Strategy and even the God of War did not need to be exported at all. She sensed it immediately.
"Understood." Gavin showed an understanding smile. Once the plan is revealed, it will leave behind criminal evidence. Even if it is done later, it will be left behind, but at least it will not be understood by others before it is done. And develop corresponding prevention plans.
As for the fact that it has nothing to do with Tempus, it is not hidden from him, nor is it really unrelated. Just like Ms. Strategy’s current war transformation, everything is the goddess of Strategy who rushes to the front. If it fails, it is Ms. Strategy’s problem. If If she succeeds, as her main god, he will also enjoy the glory of success with her.
From the start, establish yourself as invincible.
The matter of seeking the priesthood of war death is no exception, and if something really happened, how could he not take action? At worst, he would do his best to protect Ms. Stratagem so that her priesthood would not be taken away by the other party.
This is not only a strategy for fighting between gods, but also for intrigues between human kingdoms. When the lords below are expanding their territory, the kings and princes above just watch from afar.
If the lord who expands the territory fails and the enemy takes the opportunity to attack, if it is profitable, he will intervene and fight back. But if the enemy is powerful, then the occupied land will be returned, and at most the lord will be pushed back. Come out and take the blame.
If the expansion of territory is successful, it will be the new territory of their kingdom. They will enjoy the maximum benefit without having to do anything.
After reaching a deeper consensus, Ms. Strategy readily agreed to Gavin's conditions and said: "There is no problem with the ownership ratio, but the resurrection thing you mentioned needs to have a premise, that is, ten to one, the extra you contribute to me Every ten souls can be exchanged for one from me, mortal for mortal, extraordinary for extraordinary, legendary for legendary, no accumulation, every battle is settled once."
Everything has a price. Even if a god resurrects a person, it will also consume divine power. Especially this kind of large-scale resurrection without consumption, not only consumes a lot of money, but also has many restrictions.
Still for the same reason, when people act as gods, only when people make corresponding prayers and do things that are beneficial to their own clergy, can they have reason to intervene.
If there were no restrictions, the gods could resurrect whomever they wanted. In this world, there would be no more accidental deaths such as death from illness or battle, but only death from normal aging.
It won't take long for the entire material plane to be overcrowded, while the kingdoms of gods will be empty.
When divine grace and divine gifts are cheap enough, the world will no longer cherish them, and will naturally no longer fear and worship the gods. This is extremely detrimental to the gods. Gavin’s change in attitude towards divine grace is the most Good proof.
Human beings as gods should not only be a restriction on the gods, but also a protection of the interests of the gods. It is a balancing mechanism law.
"Okay." Gavin did not bargain, because it seemed like a deal now, but in fact it was not. This matter did not conflict with the goddess of strategy's own interests. Those soldiers who were resurrected by her would do their best in the future. Serve her with all your strength and help her expand her faith. Therefore, Ms. Strategy does not need to lower the price for this matter. The price she gives must be the highest price she can give.
As for mortals replacing mortals, extraordinary for extraordinary, and legends for legends, this is just a price tag. When they reach the extraordinary and legendary levels, they do not need the help of the strategic lady to resurrect. This kind of group resurrection is mainly for those warriors below the extraordinary who died in the battle. The number is the largest. If you follow the ordinary resurrection process, the cost is also the highest. A scale of 1,000 people will require five to six million gold coins. The most important thing is that the resurrection resources (diamonds) are not easy to obtain.
"Are there any other questions? If not, I'll start." Ms. Strategy asked.
"No more." Gavin didn't make too many requests, because even if he did, it would be in vain, because for this kind of finished artifact, even a god can do very limited things, and he can only inject his own into it. The divine power can bring about changes that are beneficial to oneself, rather than making major adjustments.
"Are you sure?" Ms. Strategy asked, with an obvious smile that couldn't be concealed.
(End of chapter)
