Chapter 347 The Three Gods of Death in Action
Baldur's Gate, Upper Town, Viscount Gortash's Manor in the Ramparts.
Yes, that's right. Just by the name, you can tell whose territory this is. As a new noble in Baldur's Gate, Gortash spent a huge amount of money to buy this manor some time ago and used it as his main palace.
From the outside, this manor has all the features that aristocrats need. The solid stone castle and the towering towers pierce the sky. On it is also flying the flag representing the Gortash family, a black fist. If this pattern is used as a family emblem in other worlds, it is not uncommon, but here, in Faerun, the black fist only represents one thing.
Bane, the God of Tyranny.
Such a ostentatious behavior should definitely attract the attention of others, but Gortash seems to be unconcerned. At this time, he is standing in the center of the courtyard, next to a fountain spraying clear spring water, quietly admiring the prosperity of this manor, and at this moment
"Don't you think you are a little too ostentatious, Gotash? You just let the token representing Bane fly in the manor. If you attract the investigation of the Flaming Fist or even the Paladins of the Three Gods of Justice, even you will probably not have an easy time."
The tall white dragon Dragonborn suddenly walked out of the shadows in the corner of the manor. While speaking, Xie Nian licked his bloody claws with his forked tongue until he came to Gotash's side. He finally took a deep breath of the pungent blood intoxicatedly, and then he put his hand into the fountain to wash it quietly with some regret.
"Haha, why hide it? My friend, Baldur's Gate has always claimed to be the most open city in the world. Don't say that I just hung a banner similar to Bane's micro-notes. Even if I openly believe in Bane, what can I do?"
Gotash is so confident for a reason. In this world where gods really exist, no one has the right to stop any god from spreading their beliefs, unless they are ancient gods abandoned by the times, or gods who should not have appeared. Otherwise, even the notorious evil gods such as the Three Gods of Death are no exception, because gods are an indispensable role in the continent of Faerun.
Although limited by their evil deeds, few people will openly worship them, but no matter how much they deny, the spread of their beliefs is so continuous. If mortals really dare to launch an act to completely sever the belief in a certain god, they will inevitably completely anger that god and will inevitably incur divine punishment.
Of course, no matter how you say it, the belief in evil gods is not understood by the life on the side of order, and this is even more true for the three gods of death. However, Bane's belief is easier to accept than the other two.
Because Bane has been slandered in many legends, and throughout history, many of Bane's followers have indeed committed crimes in his name, but in fact, as a member of the Pantheon of the Faerun Continent, Bane, who has powerful divine power, has never lacked true believers, and in fact, most of Bane's believers do not worship Bane out of malice.
His teachings cover too much. Although this god is an absolute evil god, even if he is an evil god, he is also an orderly evil god. At many times and places in Faerun, Bane's believers have also done many things that benefit the human race, and even helped humans to firmly establish their footholds on this land.
They have slaughtered attackers from different races at key points in history, overthrown corrupt rulers, and saved armies on the verge of failure. Bane's believers who do such things will even be regarded as saviors, which makes people have to sigh at the two-sided nature of all things in the world.
However, with the development of the times, there are very few such Bane believers now. As humans have completely established their foothold on the road, those powerful believers of the God of Tyranny have begun to torment their own people, fighting for power, centralized rule, commercial monopoly and even slavery. These are all good things done by those powerful Bane believers, making the already bad reputation of the God of Tyranny even worse.
"Enough, Gotash, I didn't come here to listen to you explain the doctrine of the God of Tyranny. I have completed the task you gave me. The duke has completely shut up. Now tell me, what is the situation on your side? When can we proceed with the next plan?"
The evil thought interrupted Gotash's endless transmission of the message, which made Gotash a little regretful, but since he had mentioned the business, Gotash immediately returned to his posture.
"Oh, you are worthy of being the chief blasphemous assassin of the God of Murder, and an ally of the Chosen Ones of God. But I am really sorry. Although you asked your most loyal men to support me with a few shapeshifters, it was because of them that I finally stabilized those damn Gond believers. However, due to some time differences and changes in the situation, I did not completely gain the trust of those guys." "So unfortunately, the development plan of the Iron Guard has been cancelled for the time being. The Gond believers have clearly told me that unless the Grand Duke returns or Baldur's Gate re-elects a Grand Duke to completely stabilize the current situation, he will never restart cooperation with me. Alas, these guys are really a bunch of damn stubborn people. The initial development process has been almost done, but they have to mess with me at the critical moment." Gotash looked very unhappy, and there was a hint of accusation that Xie Nian did not cooperate at the beginning, but Xie Nian just pulled the corner of his mouth slightly.
"It seems that our great genius has encountered an unsolvable problem, but if your plan fails, are you still qualified to discuss cooperation with me?"
"I think I am still qualified."
Xie Nian's words were already a threat, but Gotash still seemed neither humble nor arrogant, and was not panicked at all, because he knew that Xie Nian was just talking, and the long-term cooperation and tacit understanding between the two would not be directly broken because of these few words.
The reason why he accused Xie Nian in words and deeds before was just to remind them that the two of them are now in a cooperative relationship, and they can only complete the grand plan in their minds if they unite as one.
"My friend, at this time, let's put aside those meaningless arguments. As the chosen people of God, we are naturally on the same front. Although there is a small accident on my side, the loss of progress will not affect our ultimate plan. But if we don't act quickly, we will miss this golden opportunity."
"Hmm? Why do you say that, Gotash, what do you know?"
"A lot, a lot. You know that one of my spies has been lurking in the Supreme Hall, but just two days ago he suddenly sent a message telling me that if we don't act, the Grand Duke may be back soon."