Chapter 636: Doing Business with God

The nature of the adamantium coffin hammer can be hidden from others, but it can never be hidden from the eyes of a god. Even when the incarnation of the god descended, the goddess of strategy felt the unusualness of the adamantium coffin hammer and the reason.

As for the confusion of the death priesthood, it is no secret in Faerun.

In the history of Faerun, there are three Lords of the Dead, at least so far.

The original Lord of the Dead and God of Death is named Jergal, a very ancient god. No one knows his specific identity. It is only known that he was once a mortal. He did not die as a god, but still exists today. He is just a weak god as the supervisor of the order of death, the gravekeeper, the official funeral, the custodian of the names of the dead, the holder of a series of death-related priesthoods such as fatalism.

He was tired of his duties at the beginning, and took the initiative to strip most of the priesthoods including the Lord of the Dead from himself and handed them over to Melkor, Baal and Bane for management. He served Melkor, who mainly inherited the priesthood of the dead, as a subordinate god.

If Jergal's control of the priesthood of the Lord of the Dead was through mystery (making people worship him because they don't understand death), then the second Lord of the Dead, Melkor, used fear to make people fear death and worship and believe in him. He, Baal, the Lord of Murder, and Bane, the Lord of Darkness, were called the Three Dark Gods before the Years of Turbulence. They ruled Faerun for thousands of years with fear. Their inflated desires made them no longer satisfied with their powerful divine power. They stole the Tablet of Destiny and tried to tamper with the laws of operation of Toril and even the entire multiverse, making themselves the God of Gods above all else.

This behavior completely angered Io, the creator and guardian of Toril, the God of Gods. He angrily denounced the dereliction of duty of all the gods, and sent them all from the Kingdom of God to the Toril plane. He found the Tablet of Destiny as a saint, so that they would no longer be high above mortals, but must rely on mortals to exist. When mortals no longer worship and fear them, it will also be the time for them to fall.

All this happened last year, in the year 1358 of the Valley Calendar. The series of turmoil triggered by this process was called the Year of Turbulence. All this ended with the death of the three gods of death, Mirkor, Baal and Bane. As for the death of the magic goddess Mistra, it was purely her own death. She ignored the orders of the gods and tried to return to her kingdom before the fate stone tablet was found. She was killed by the guardian god Heim who faithfully fulfilled his duties, and then reborn as the third generation of magic goddess Midnight.

The priesthood of the Lord of the Dead fell into the hands of the god of conspiracy and strife, Xirik, and became the third generation. He is the most incompetent of all the Lords of the Dead. It has been said before that the priesthood is compatible with one's personality. If the compatibility is not compatible, even if you get this priesthood, you will not keep it for too long, and it will be deprived of your dereliction of duty.

In Xirik's hands, the Lord of the Dead was 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 was just his new tool. In order to gain more powerful power, he even secretly created a supreme artifact of his own, the Xirui Sutra, and worshipped himself as the only god in the world who was truly worthy of belief.

He was too greedy and acquired too many unrelated priesthoods at once, including murder, strife, lies, conspiracy, fraud, illusion, death and the dead. Many of his priesthoods were once powerful gods, not to mention being integrated together again. Before last year, he was just a mortal. It was inevitable that he would become bloated and indigestible after gaining such great power and ability all at once.

All his energy was focused on his grand plans, his own conspiracies, and his own disputes. He had no energy to care about the affairs of the dead, and this dereliction of duty directly became a new source of turmoil. The operation of the entire Pan-Faerun pantheon had great problems. Countless souls that should have been taken away were not taken away. Countless souls escaped supervision and wandered in the material plane, causing many disputes and killings that should not have occurred, and causing countless deaths that should not have occurred. This did bring divinity and divine power to his priesthood of disputes, but he was seriously derelict in his duties in the priesthood of death and the dead.

Gavin obtained the Vizeme Manor and used it to generate the spark of immortality. It was under this premise that under normal circumstances, when the priesthood of the dead has a master, if the controller has a strong control over it, the spark of immortality is not so easy to generate. Even if it is generated, the other party will sense it at the first time with the priesthood of the dead. Even if they don’t take the initiative to come to the door, they will send messengers to take it back, because the spark of immortality is a key and a flame that will shake his priesthood of the dead. It is not too important to attach importance to it.

So far, Xirik has not taken any action. The only explanation is that he has no scruples and has not sensed it.

The reason why Gavin dared to make such a big move in this regard was because he knew this clearly. He also knew that Cyric's incompetence had disappointed Yeda, and he secretly betrayed him. He has re-screened and trained a new Lord of the Dead, and this person is none other than Klanvor, a powerful warrior who once adventured with Cyric and Midnight in the turbulent years and retrieved the Stone of Destiny. Cyric betrayed him and Midnight for power.

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 him of a part of his priesthood from a powerful god.

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 in the operation of this place 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 was full of helplessness, "My Vizeme Manor now has the nature 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 contact he had with the gods, Gavin discovered how slim his hope of 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. If you want to fight against the god Zhuan with a mortal body, even if you are a high-level legend, it will be like a mantis trying to fight. At best, it will be a struggle with the divine incarnation of powerful divine power. Let alone the strength to stand in front of his body, he probably won't even have a 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 inflicted heavy damage on 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 the gods. I have the sacred right to fight back. As long as you nod, I can inject my plans and strategies into it. Helps 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 sentence. 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 Strategy 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 up all the souls, nor did he try to kill me and nine you like a greedy dragon that eats the 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 bit of divinity is absorbed, the soul will be divided into 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.

Based on Xirik's previous attempt to assassinate and seize the newly condensed godhood of Lady Strategy, there is no possibility for the two to sit down and talk calmly. Let's draw the sword first.

The Goddess of Strategy alone will definitely not be able to resist Xirik, but there is a main god behind her, Tempus, who will not only stand by her unconditionally, but will even intervene in this matter enthusiastically.

Because for him, there are huge interests hidden in this matter. The Lord of War will definitely not look down on their petty theft, but the deeper possibility represented by this matter - intervening in the priesthood of death. War and death have never been separated. They don't need to seize the entire priesthood of death. As long as they seize one of the branches of the priesthood of war and death, how huge is the benefit contained in it? There is no need to say more, and the priesthood of strife in Xirik's hands can belong to the category of the priesthood of war. If they can take it away, it will also be a kind of strengthening of the war pantheon.

Should I ask Lady Strategy to invite the god of war Tempus to come down and discuss this matter together?

After the mind was opened, the pattern was immediately opened.

Before Gavin could speak, Lady Strategy spoke first: "There are some things that can be thought of and done, but they cannot be said. All our plans and strategies are our own and have nothing to do with the Father of Battle."

Obviously, just like before, Gavin didn't need to speak out about the plan of the Goddess of Strategy and even the God of War in his mind. She sensed it immediately.

"I understand." Gavin smiled and said, "I understand." Once the plan is spoken out, it is equivalent to leaving evidence of the crime. Although it will be left behind later, at least it will not be sensed and understood by others before it is done, and a corresponding plan to stop it will be made.

As for it having nothing to do with Tempus, it is not concealed from him, nor is it really irrelevant. Just like Lady Strategy's current war transformation, everything is the Goddess of Strategy rushing to the front. If it fails, it is Lady Strategy's problem. If it succeeds, he, as her main god, will also follow her to enjoy the glory of success.

From the beginning, put yourself in an invincible position.

The matter of seeking the priesthood of war and death is no exception. If something really happens, how could he not take action? At the very least, he will do his best to protect Ms. Strategy so that her priesthood will not be seized by the other party.

This is not only a strategy for fighting between the gods, but also a common plot among human kingdoms. When the lords below are expanding their territory, the kings and dukes above just watch from a high position.

If the lord who expands the territory fails, the enemy will take the opportunity to attack. If it is profitable, they will intervene and fight back. But if the enemy is strong, they will return the occupied land and at most push the lord out to take the blame.

If the expansion of territory is successful, it will belong to the new territory of their kingdom. They don’t need to do anything and just enjoy the biggest benefits.

After reaching a deeper consensus, Ms. Strategy readily agreed to Gavin's conditions and said, "There is no problem with the proportion of ownership, but the resurrection you mentioned requires a premise, that is, ten to one. For every ten extra souls you contribute to me, you can exchange one person from me, mortal for mortal, extraordinary for extraordinary, legendary for legendary, no accumulation, one battle for one settlement."

Everything needs a price. Even if the gods resurrect one person, it will consume divine power, especially this kind of large-scale resurrection without consumption, which consumes a lot of power and has many restrictions.

It's still the same reason. People do what the gods do. Only when people make corresponding prayers and do things that are beneficial to their own duties, do they have a reason to intervene.

If there are no restrictions, those gods can resurrect whoever they want. In this world, there will be no accidental deaths such as death from illness and death in battle, only normal death from aging.

It won't take long before the entire material plane is overcrowded, and the kingdom of the gods will be empty.

When God's grace and God's gift become cheap enough, people will no longer cherish them, and naturally they will no longer revere and worship the gods. This is extremely disadvantageous to the gods. Gavin's change in attitude towards God's grace is the best proof.

Being a god should not only be a restriction on the gods, but also a protection of the interests of the gods, and a law of balance mechanism.

"Okay." Gavin did not bargain, because it looks like a deal now, but it is not. This matter does not conflict with the interests of the Goddess of Strategy herself. Those soldiers who were resurrected by her will do their best to serve her and help her expand her faith in the future. Therefore, Ms. Strategy herself does not need to lower the price for this matter. She must give the highest price she can.

As for mortals for mortals, extraordinary for extraordinary, and legend for legend, this is just a price tag. When they reach the extraordinary and legendary levels, they don't need Ms. Strategy's help to revive them. This kind of mass resurrection is mainly for those warriors below the extraordinary level. They have the largest number of casualties. If they go through the ordinary resurrection process, the cost is also the highest. A thousand people will need five or six million gold coins. The main reason is that 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 ask for too much, because even if he did, it would be useless. For this kind of finished artifact, even a god can only do very limited things. He can only inject his own divine power into it to bring about changes that are beneficial to him, rather than making major adjustments.

"Are you sure?" Ms. Strategy asked, with an unconcealable smile on her face.