Chapter 1075: Chapter 284 Material: dnd_2
Since the Ti of Troubles, Lolth has assud additional aspects as two of her many stratagems to increase the ranks of her faithful and thus her own personal power. In the drow city of nzoberranzan, in the Underdark beneath the North where Lolth-or Lloth, as she is known there-appeared during the Ti of Troubles, the Spider Queen has allowed rumors to spread of a new demipower of chaos and assassins, Zinzerena the Hunted. While Zinzerena was once a legendary drow assassin and later an erging demipower of a world other than Abeir-Toril, the Spider Queen recently slew Zinzerena-or at least banished her influence from the Realms-and assud her aspect as a test to see if additional divine aspects increased or decreased the total (albeit fragnted) divine power available. In the Lands of Light, Lolth has long found that the deeply imbued racial antipathy of the surface elves toward the Spider Queen interferes with her attempts to seduce otherwise eminently corruptible individuals. With the death of Moander, always a more comprehensible (and tempting) force of evil to the nature-loving surface elves than the Spider Queen, Lolth has assud the Darkbringer’s aspect and portfolio of rotting death, decay, and corruption and revived its cult in a bid to add elven, half-elven, and human worshipers to the ranks of her faithful.
Although the Spider Queen hates all the mbers of the Seldarine Gods, Lolth reserves her most profound hatred for her forr lover, Correlon Larysian, who banished her into The Abyss and gave her the na Tanari. The Spider Queen particularly despises her long-ti rival, Shanee Moonbow Sehanine Moonbow, for partly thwarting Lolth’s attempt to replace Correlon as the head of the Seldarine Gods. Lolth also vows revenge on Fenmarel starine, who rejected her after initially falling into her seduction.
Rose is a cruel, capricious goddess, and many believe she has gone mad. She delights in having her worshipers throttle each other, allowing the strongest, most deceitful, and most cruel to survive and serve her. Rose roams the realms, appearing in response to the drow priests’ rituals, and will harm the enemies of the drow by any ans possible. (During the Ti of Troubles, Rose appeared for a short ti in the north of nzoberranzan.) The Spider Queen secretly yearns to be worshiped by the humans and other types of elves on the surface realms, sotis traveling among their communities, whispering about the power Rose can bring. Rose’s dealings are malicious, and she is coldly vicious in battle. She delights in personally delivering and inflicting death, destruction, and painful torture. Even more so, Rose is interested in having corrupt elves and humans serve her. Among those she favors, she can be rciful and might offer assistance—but she only cares about herself; her favor and aid cannot be relied upon. The Spider Queen enjoys conversing with all types of spiders.
Lolth is a cruel, capricious goddess, thought by many to be insane. She delights in setting her worshipers at each other’s throats, so that the strongest, most devious and most cruel survive to serve her. Lolth roams the Realms often, appearing in answer to the rituals of drow priests, and working whatever harm she can to the enemies of drow. (During the Ti of Troubles, Lolth appeared in the northern city of nzoberranzan for a short period of ti.) The Spider Queen secretly wants to be worshiped by humans and elves of other races on the surface Realms, and sotis journeys among their communities, whispering of the power Lolth can bring. Lolth is malicious in her dealings and coldly vicious in a fight. She enjoys both personally dealing and causing death, destruction, and painful torture. Even more, Lolth enjoys corrupting elves and humans to her service. Lolth can be kind and render aid to those she fancies-but she really cares only for herself; her favor and aid can never be relied on. The Spider Queen enjoys the company of and can converse with spiders of all sorts.
Near the Sword Bay Region, there are several renowned cities, such as Waterdeep City, Elturel, Neverwinter City, etc. Waterdeep City, built on the forr capital of the Elf Empire Ilfaen—Erin Vier, is filled with nurous temples of the Gods. The Miracle Temple is the grandest of the Magic Goddess Temple in the ga, with magnificent towers embedded with various paintings and magical decorations, rich in baroque style, while Neverwinter City leans more towards Gothic architecture. It was ford after nearly a hundred years of developnt from the earliest human settlent, Aegostor. The main city of the story, Bod Gate, is the largest and most prosperous trading city-state in the Sword Bay Region, a place where nobles to commoner thieves mix. Adventurers call it a “breeding ground for conspiracy”. The na Bod Gate derives from a hero, Grey Harbor Adventurer Bodlan, who once explored beyond the Sword Sea’s mainland and returned with wealth to Grey Harbor, leading a team to establish a city there.
According to the status of its residents, Bod Gate is divided into a Noble Upper City and a Commoner Lower City, as well as an Outer City District scattered around the main city, with Dust Eagle Hill surrounding it. The gate dividing the Upper City and the Lower City is called Bod Gate, and the entire city is nad after it, serving as a monunt to the city founder Bodlan.
Bod Gate is currently ruled by a four-mber council, all of whom are Grand Dukes. One serves as the leader of the council, and if the voting is tied, Grand Duke Elder Ravenclaw decides. The Upper City’s security is maintained by the elite official police force, ‘Watch’, while other areas are handled by a rcenary group known as the ‘Flaming Fist’. Grand Duke Elder Ravenclaw is also the supre leader of the rcenary group, whose headquarters is located at Bodlan Sea Tower, the city’s strongest fortress against sea invasions. Like a crescent embracing Bod Gate’s economic lifeline—Grey Harbor, hundreds of rchant ships enter and exit daily, bringing gold coins, as well as greed and cri.
The Upper City, with a relatively high terrain, consists of the Castle District, the Temple District, the Manoburn District, and the Wide Alley District, featuring nurous religious buildings. The Miracle Hall and the Supre Miracle House are the centers of the God of Craft’s Church in Bod Gate. The Miracle Hall showcases Gund’s great inventions, while the Supre Miracle House also functions as a workshop. Most Lower City buildings are stone houses, spread over six districts: the Sea Tower District, Blonrich District, Steep District, Crowded Side District, East Road District, and Branpton District. The middle class generally resides in Blonrich District, close to the elite of the Upper City, while East Road District, near the Stone Lizard Gate connecting to the Outer City District, is more mixed, hosting many lively bars and inexpensive inns. The Sea Tower District is where the Flaming Fist rcenary Group is stationed, with the group’s headquarters built on the largest rocky offshore island, Bodlan Sea Tower. The Branpton District and Steep District are relatively dilapidated, as living communities for sailors and laborers. The Outer City District spreads along the Chongsar River, gathering temporary structures and slum shanties, marked by a stone bridge—a Flying Dragon Crossroad—spanning the Chongsar River, where many vendors gather, expanding the bridge with planks and constructing many buildings upon it. Law and order are nonexistent there, with the Flaming Fist rcenary Corps barely providing protection, and many of the city’s impoverished or criminal elents gather here.
The moss on the sewer dos gleams with a ghostly green under the dim phosphorescent lights, and murky sewage wades over boot tops with each step provoking a viscous “gurgle.” Purple-black mucus seeps from cracks in the walls, converging on the drains like veins—this is the characteristic neural corrosive fluid of the Spirit Sucking Monster Nest, inhaling which can cause ordinary people to hallucinate, as if countless tiny tendrils are wriggling in their ear canals. Suddenly, a skeletal dislocation “click” echoes from behind a broken cast iron pipe, as if sothing is twisting and squeezing through a narrow space. A Spirit Sucking Monster bursts from underwater, its pallid humanoid body wrapped in detritus, and the tendrils of its octopus-like head vibrate at high frequency, releasing a visible purple mind shock wave. The helt of the guard in front dents inward as eyeballs explode into a bloody mist under the intracranial pressure spike; the second person has a tendril pierce their ear canal before a scream can escape, and the spine is ruthlessly extracted like a puppet’s strings. The sole survivor staggers backward, the thunder of a misfired firearm devoured entirely by the subsonic screech emitted by the Spirit Sucking Monsters in unison.
These Spirit Sucking Monsters are clearly trained in tactics. Two feinting individuals use their tendrils to splash the water, raising a corrosive liquid mist to obscure vision; a third descends inverted from the ceiling, attaching its suckers to the guard’s skull, the tendril tip neatly piercing the foran magnum—not killing imdiately, but rather manipulating the captive like a puppet, using his trembling hands to load ammunition for a companion’s firearm. At this mont, a fourth Spirit Sucking Monster is using the bone blade of its knuckles to dissect the fallen guard’s thoracic cavity, extracting the warm liver to stuff into its mouth, the faint yellow digestive fluid dripping from its jaw and etching wisps of smoke into the ground.
Reviews
All reviews (0)