#1236 - The extraordinary things about the Church of Woking

The convoy looks plain and unpretentious, but what is inadvertently revealed is very interesting, including the commercial vehicles themselves.

The commercial vehicle itself is not special. It still has a traditional wooden structure with a double-layer structure. It can be used as a chariot or a truck.

The most attractive thing is their tires, which are made of steel structure and covered with thick rubber. They are wide and thick, have strong adaptability to terrain, low wear, and can greatly reduce the load pressure on livestock.

Using a small horse to pull a big cart, this huge contrast is the best advertisement and immediately aroused the interest of countless businessmen.

This fleet has taken similar advertising effects to the extreme, firmly capturing the hearts of countless people and also making them remember their names.

It’s hard not to remember them because there are memory projection advertisements of them in every street and alley.

Compared with the former, the current commercial vehicle parade is inferior and is just the icing on the cake.

I believe that as memory projection advertising becomes more and more popular, it won’t be long before this kind of commercial vehicle parade is banned.

Even if it is preserved, it is probably no longer for advertising purposes, but to preserve traditional customs.

The merchant car parade is just an appetizer for the Textile Festival; the real main course is in the Trade Square in front of the golden spire.

When the morning light penetrated the gold-foil dome of the Golden Tower of the goddess of commerce, Waukeen, the whole city had turned into a flowing tapestry.

Banners woven of silk and mithril hung from the spire of the Council of Six, and eternal torches lit the streets brighter than day. Even the air was tinged with the scent of incense from Calishite and madder from the dye workshops of Waterdeep.

The convoy of commercial vehicles parading through the city of Ascatla arrived at the central square at this moment, where a suspended exhibition stand had already been set up.

During the merchant car parade, brand new goods from the New World and the Conqueror's Road took the lead and attracted most people's attention, but that was not all.

When it came to the suspended exhibition stage, some traditional traders began to show their advantages.

The elves of the Moonshadow Islands weave translucent cloth with moonlight spider silk. In the night, star patterns emerge and sparkle with rich magical light.

Even though the selling price was equivalent to the same weight of mithril, the platform was still crowded with spellcasters who came here for this purpose. This magical cloth had many uses. It could be used to make invisible rope weapons that could kill people, as material for wizard robes, and even as a navigation tool.

Every year, the supply exceeds the demand and it is sold out in less than half a day.

The dwarves of Icewind Dale display warm cloaks woven from the hair of frost giants, with tiny fire runes inlaid on the lining to keep the wearer warm in blizzards.

The dwarves' craftsmanship is impeccable, but their business acumen is not commendable. In the spring when the harsh winter begins to fade away, promoting warm clothing in southern cities, no matter how unique it is, will only cause relatively limited response.

Only a very small number of merchants and spellcasters with special needs gather here. The sales speed is not fast, but it is progressing slowly. After all, the quality of the goods is there.

The most eye-catching was the booth of the Red Robe Wizards. Their animated cloth flowed like liquid metal, changing back and forth on the body of the beautiful slave with an incredibly beautiful figure.

One moment it was a tight fitting suit that clung to the slave's body so tightly that even the bulges and crevices on her body were clearly visible.

After a while, it turned into a gauze, and the graceful figure was looming inside, dancing along with the beautiful slave.

After a while, he changed into a suit of cloth armor, looking extraordinary and heroic.

This makes people who have special needs for clothing, such as thieves, assassins and spies, including those shadow thieves who are famous in Amn, linger here, wanting to take the opportunity to get one, preferably at no cost.

The Uthgar barbarians from the north, with bare backs and bronze-like strong muscles, carried bundles of monster skins and bargained with interested merchants in their broken common language. During the process, they always held their purses tightly with one big hand.

Halfling chefs pushed food carts around and hawked their wares. The aroma of grilled skewers seasoned with dragon's breath peppers and the honey wine brewed by the elves of Evermeet Island intertwined together, making people involuntarily open their wallets and fill their stomachs.

Under the glamorous exhibition stands, spies from the Shadow Thieves Guild disguised themselves as porters. Hidden in the compartments of their carts were assassination threads soaked in drow toxins, which could paralyze the target's heart with just a light stroke.

However, in the city of Athkatla, they did not play the role of villains, but were secret police who maintained the order of the entire trade, and their peers were their targets.

The climax of the trade fair was brought by an individual businessman, a Shar priestess whose entire body was shrouded in shadows. She was selling a piece of leather armor called [Hymn of the Night], which was a legendary leather armor made from the skin of shadow creatures.

Even under the scorching sun, this leather armor is still wrapped in thick shadows, as if it could blend into the shadows in the next second. And this is only its most basic ability. There must be many other wonderful uses that have not been shown.

This is the equipment that those professionals walking in the shadows dream of, and it is hard to come by.

The Shar priestess did not introduce it at all. She just showed it to the public, and someone could not wait to offer a price: "One hundred thousand Nord gold coins, I'll offer one hundred thousand Nord gold coins!"

"I'll give you 120,000!"

"I'll give you 150,000!"

The original exhibition turned directly into a live auction, and bidding began one after another.

This bidding not only attracted more people's attention, but also a Woking believer in a silver robe came over after hearing the news. He was a silver coin priest.

If it is placed in the local area, it is the bishop of a small church or a small temple, responsible for the overall affairs of this church or temple.

But here, he is just a senior service staff, taking advantage of every opportunity to help those merchants maximize the value and profits of their goods.

The silver coin priest came to the owner of the goods and asked, "Dear lady, your goods are rare and expensive, and are eligible for public auction. If you need this service, I am willing to provide it to you.

During the auction, our church will be responsible for evaluating the goods and the value of the buyer to ensure that the goods are genuine and the price is reasonable. I wonder if the lady is willing to do so?"

The words of the silver coin priest were concise and clear, expressing his purpose and describing the core elements clearly.

It was obvious that he had received special training and this was not the first time he had done this.

"Okay." A cold and hoarse voice came from the shadows.

The silver coin priest added, "Because the auction process requires casting spells, our church will need to take 10% of the auction proceeds as a service fee afterwards. Do you agree, ma'am?"

"Okay." The shadowy female voice responded again.

"The agreement has been reached, and the temporary auction begins!" The silver coin priest stopped talking nonsense, solemnly took out a light golden monocle from his arms, prayed for a few sentences, and then put it on.

Golden light immediately shot out from the monocle, like a scanning device, scanning the legendary leather armor named [Ode to the Night].

At the same time, golden light bloomed on the golden spire, and a huge light and shadow screen appeared, which was large enough for everyone in the entire central square to see. The parts of the legendary leather armor scanned by the monocle appeared on it bit by bit.

"It's a temporary auction! It's a temporary auction! Only legendary magic items with a starting valuation of one hundred thousand can enjoy this treatment!"

"It's really a nostalgic scene. The last time I saw this was half a year ago. I remember it was a command fire element ring. The starting price was 150,000. What was the final transaction price?"

"Five hundred and eighty-eight thousand!"

"Yes, five hundred and eighty thousand. That's simply insane. Legendary equipment is precious, but it's not this expensive. Under normal circumstances, you can buy two command element rings. If you know a powerful spellcaster, you can probably order three!"

"You said it yourself, that's under normal circumstances. Now this is an auction hosted by those Woking believers. They are the masters who can win people's hearts for money. Who can stand this kind of situation where everyone is paying attention to them?"

"That's right. It's worth spending a few more gold coins just to stay on the Golden Dome for a few more seconds. This is a great opportunity to show off your strength!"

"Verification completed. It is a genuine legendary equipment."

"Is the other party crazy because of poverty? He actually put out legendary equipment for sale?"

"Do you think someone who can sell legendary equipment will go crazy?"

"Of course not, then why would she sell it?"

"There are many reasons. Maybe she has other purposes, or maybe there's something wrong with the equipment. Maybe there's something she needs at the trade fair, so she needs to raise money urgently. Who can tell? After all, anyone who can come up with equipment of this level is definitely not an ordinary person."

"Is there something wrong with the equipment? Impossible! This equipment has been certified by the Church of Waukeen. There is absolutely no way it can have any problem!"

"The Church of Waukeen only certified the possibility that this equipment is legendary equipment, but there is no way to ensure that this equipment is not cursed, especially this kind of shadow equipment, which was made by the priest of the Lady of the Night. The probability of problems is even higher!"

"Ah... cursed equipment? The kind that eats people without leaving any bones and drives people crazy? Wouldn't it be crazy to spend money to buy such equipment?"

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"This is not something you and I should worry about. We can't afford it anyway, so let's just wait and see the fun. It's already started."

Amid the discussions of countless people, the silver coin priest had already finished scanning this legendary equipment, and it appeared completely on the golden dome divine screen.

As the largest temple of the goddess of wealth Waukeen in the continent of Faerun, the Golden Tower naturally has various magical functions, and the one in front of us is one of them.

The Hymn of Night, which looked very dark in appearance, was coated with a layer of brilliant gold on the golden dome, which increased its beauty by several times and also proved its weight.

Only genuine legendary equipment is eligible for this color. This is an official certification from the Church of Waukeen. If it is fake, the compensation is three times that. It is well documented and highly credible.

“Three hundred thousand!”

As soon as the picture on the golden roof screen froze, quotations were heard from below, and the price doubled based on the original highest quotation.

At the same time, a golden light shot out from the golden-roofed divine curtain, covering the bidder and directly coating him with a layer of golden light. The number one composed of countless gold coins appeared above his head, and the bidder's portrait also appeared next to the auction item.

He was a wealthy businessman with a big belly. He was very excited to see his image appear on the golden roof. He waved his hands and moved closer to the goods around him, trying to let the golden light on his body touch the goods so that they would also appear on the golden roof and be seen by more people.

It is not difficult to see that this is not his first time to participate in such an impromptu auction and he is very experienced.

Rather than saying that he was interested in the legendary item, he was more interested in the Golden Summit Divine Curtain, which was a natural advertisement.

It not only shows the world your strength, but also shows them your products.

"Three hundred and ten thousand!"

But he was not the only smart guy. Less than a second after he appeared on the golden roof curtain, he was suppressed by another businessman.

However, the golden light of the golden-domed divine curtain did not fall on the central square of Castra City. The businessman who appeared was very unfamiliar. Judging from his background, he seemed to be in another commercial square.

"This is the most valuable part of our temporary auction, because the golden dome is not only aimed at the central square of Castra City, it is also connected to other Woking churches, where the Textile Festival is also being held at the same time, and the golden dome will also appear synchronously." Barasta explained to Gavin very considerately.

They were now in the room at the top of the Golden Tower. The decoration here was luxurious, either inlaid with gold or plated with silver. All the ornaments were full of ancient flavor, and many were even filled with obscure magical fluctuations. Most of them were antiques, and the furnishings exuded the joyful and comfortable atmosphere of the Goddess of Joy.

It would not be an easy task for the Church of Woking to completely get rid of the Goddess of Joy, both in terms of customs and ideology.

The reason is very simple and can be summarized in one sentence: it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but it is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

Having enjoyed the joy of extravagance, if you want to return to that simple lifestyle, it is not enough to be self-aware, but also requires corresponding supervision and regulation.

After personally being in the luxurious and comfortable environment, Gavin felt it even more deeply. When it comes to enjoying happiness, Lady Joy and her priests are absolutely professional, and the treatment he enjoys here is definitely that of an emperor.

The moment his body sank into the peacock velvet couch, the activated clouds filling the velvet immediately fit the curve of his spine.

This is no ordinary fabric - every thread is soaked in the mucus of rainbow jellyfish raised in the Temple of the Goddess of Joy, which continuously releases soothing pheromones with physical contact.

The fruit bowl, shaped like a miniature altar of joy, is filled with fragrant Evergreen cherries pickled in ambergris.

From the outside, the top of the Golden Tower is cast in gold foil.

Looking out from the inside is another scene, as if everything is under your feet. With a thought, you can go to any corner, stop at any person or product.

As long as his attention stays on that person for more than three seconds, a large amount of text descriptions will pop up on the other person's body.

These texts detail the man's origins, the estimated value of the goods he was carrying, and even his overall wealth.

His divine power can provide convenience for his believers, and so can the goddess of wealth Waukeen.

With these auxiliary capabilities and tools, the merchants of the Church of Woking will naturally be successful in the process of doing business, rarely suffer losses, and can stop losses in time when necessary.

"You mean, this auction is continent-wide?" Gavin asked.

As soon as he stretched out his hand, the young Archbishop Shangjin immediately handed over the wine tray in his hand. She looked like a maid, but there was no displeasure on her face, but happiness and honor instead.

Because they are the servants and maids of the gods, serving the gods is their most sacred duty. In the past, this was the job of the Archbishop of the Holy Coin.

She had this opportunity because the other party was a new god.

The moment Gavin touched the crystal glass, soft hymns praising free will rang out around him, making people's mood become more joyful invisibly. Countless tiny tentacles grew out from the foot of the crystal glass and wrapped around his fingers, trying to force him to sip in the most ergonomic posture.

Gavin couldn't help but shake his head slightly. Although the Goddess of Joy represented joy and happiness, imposing this feeling on others would be counterproductive.

The divine light surged in his hands, and everything immediately returned to normal.

"Yes." Barasta showed her extraordinary business ability, "But this situation is only limited to the twelve major festivals of the lady, and it can only be performed with the help of her divine power. Because this matter is very costly, and requires the auction item itself to have enough magic support, it can only be performed on magical creations above the legendary level."

"I see." Gavin nodded in understanding, swirling the elven mead in the crystal glass, and fell into deep thought.

Those who know him well know that his thinking has become divergent again.

When he saw the golden-roofed divine curtain, the first thing he thought of was naturally the memory projection. After Barasta's explanation, he thought of the dragon oak dream.

If the two are linked, can they replicate the scene before their eyes?

The current technology is indeed lacking, but as Dream Spirit equipment becomes more popular, it may not be impossible in the future.

At that time, auctions across the entire continent can be normalized as a unique industrial chain - a part of the dream industrial chain.