Arcane Journey

"Welcome." Yoon Olem, who was sitting on the chair, said in a soft voice, while standing up and nodding to Brian, the gray hair danced with his movements.

"I'm Yin Aureum. I'm very glad to meet you. Although I don't think it will take a few years, I still feel very relieved to see you come here in person in advance."

There was an illusion that made Brian feel that the great arcanist known as the 'Father of Nether' was not talking politely to him.

So, he straightened his back even more, and looked into Yoon Olum's eyes, "Your Excellency Yoon Olam, I'm more interested in the civilization of Netheril than the civilization of mind flayers."

"Really? Then you really found the right person."

Yin Aureum said with a smile, Brian felt that there was a trace of sadness in the old man's smile, his smile made small wrinkles appear on his dimly glowing face, on the smooth and pale translucent skin, as if Tiny cobwebs.

"Then can you tell me about the history of ancient Netheril." He asked meekly: "As a descendant of the empire, I regret that I don't know much about it. After a few hours here, Already I feel like I've learned more than our surviving people have learned in the past hundred years."

Yoon Aureum turned his bright deep purple eyes to Brian, and that gaze made Brian flinch, not because of fear, but because he had never felt so thoroughly seen.

"The people of Netheril have never been shy about sharing their knowledge, young Bryan, but... I think you may be the first person I've seen in thousands of years to come to me .What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Brian said.

Yoon Aureum sighed slightly, Bryan couldn't feel the meaning of his sigh, so he said calmly:
"The lessons from that era are bitter, accompanied by blood, death and destruction. But ironically, the culprit who almost destroyed us later brought us redemption: a sense of belonging. The owner of every floating city Only be true to yourself, and never care about the safety of other floating cities. It was a terrible mistake that united us in the first place, and later made us united in rebellion. We are still atoning for that mistake. Future generations of Nether The people of Riel will still pay for these mistakes, but the unity itself is great. This is also the lesson I am trying to draw from the ashes of destruction. Unity, harmony. This is a valuable experience from the past, and I have already learned about it. I have a deep understanding."

"Come with me, and I'll take you for a walk along the corridor of history." Yin Aureum's deep purple eyes flickered slightly, showing a soothing and gentle smile.

"Young Bryan, you will have the opportunity to witness the history of Netheril. Do not deny that you are familiar with this history, I have no doubt, but now, you will have access to a vivid visual history. If Don't be shocked that you are an expert in the School of Illusion, these are the masterpieces of my once enthusiastic students."

His right hand flicked gently across the air, and the room began to flicker, as if someone had suddenly thrown a stone into the calm reflection of the lake.

...

Brian saw the scene in front of him flicker more and more intensely. Suddenly, the room and the mastermind with reddish luster disappeared, appearing in a bright magic corridor.

Both sides of the promenade are inlaid with dark blue crystals, just like the display screens on the square. Following Yoon Aureum's simple instructions, all of them play a clear picture.

In the first video, the residents of the narrow sea fishing villages of Fenwick, Guise, Gillan, Gustav, Moran, Nosev, and Janik united to form an alliance of seven towns in order to protect each other.

To celebrate this alliance, the Netherian calendar was introduced.

"The dawn of the age of dawn," Bryan said.

"That's right." Yin Olem said, "Under the leadership of the elder Nether, the seven small fishing villages in the Narrow Sea were united together and named: Severton. The shamans of Jaeger, the god of death The power of life and death, as well as the mastery of necromancy, are at the upper echelons of power in every fishing village. As power grows, Netherer renames Sevington: Netheril, which means 'Dominion of Netheril' ', and his shamans began to teach the gifted Netherese the arts of necromancy."

"What about this one? What event is it?" Brian looked at the second one.

"The enlightenment of elven magic." Yin Olem said, "The Netherese began to study magic and focus on necromancy, which aroused the concern of the high-level neighbors of the elf kingdom Yeerlan. Yeerlan sent people to start Netheril. After extensive discussions , Ye Erlan senior management believes that the best way to curb the development momentum of the Jaeger Church is to provide Netheril with another way to learn magic.

In order to prevent the Nether people from abusing necromancy and worshiping the god of death, the elves of Yeerlan started the initial dialogue with us and began to teach promising students to learn the arcane arts.They will take the chosen children away from their parents and go to the kingdom of the elves of Yerlaan, which is now the High Forest.What you see is that historic moment.

As you can see, all the kids are terrified except for the determined brown hair who reaches out to the elf for the magic test, a smile of utter trust on his face.He was Selion, Netheril's first great arcanist.Ye Erlan's strategy was very effective, the influence of the Jaeger Church began to decrease, and the Necromancer was reduced to one of the eight schools. "

"What is this crowded scene?"

"The turning point of history." Yin Olem explained patiently, "Old Netherese was assassinated, and the younger Netherese gained the right to rule. The Netherese chose a form of rule based on loose democratic politics. The rule has continued to this day, forming an empire called an empire, but it is actually just a loose and ununited city federation, laying the groundwork for future destruction, it is really vulgar and terrible."

He smiled self-deprecatingly, "Continue, this picture shows the army of orcs swarming out from the crest of the world, but the elves of Yin Erfan and Ye Erlan, with the help of the fledgling barbarians of Netheril and Rangas, attacked Withdrew them. The Rangarth tribe was absorbed into Netheril, but these barbarians still retained a large degree of autonomy, and traced the source of history, the Bedai barbarians are a branch of the Langath tribe."

...

"This scene." Brian looked at the great arcanist and said, "is the trigger for another great war. In the end, after several years of successful expedition against the orcs, a mage lord named Esther bloodbathed the Standing Stone Plain The land of the rock gnomes, and killed and captured all the gnomes there, men, women, and children. And so began the war, which ended in dwarf tragedy."

"Your knowledge of history is impressive." Yin Aureum smiled again, "But you should also remember that these wars did not involve any well-known arcanists. Because of this, no student is willing to draw images on related topics .But it just so happens that I keep a diary about a rock gnome child."

Brian followed his gaze and saw a dwarf the size of a human baby curled up in a corner in a cold and damp cave, writing in a diary tremblingly:

Moon of Storms (April) 15th: I hate living like a mole in a musty cave.

But there's no way - our underground guard is dead, and we have nowhere to go.

The Netherese are at it again.

They killed Gretaum the Burrower with crackling lightning as she tried to protect us with her pickaxe.

They just waved their hands and grabbed the uncle and aunt.

Dad said we had to try to pray to Gal, and I did, but it didn't work.

The Netherilians keep coming back to take our people away.

I figured Gal must be mad at me, but Dad reassured me that he wouldn't.

Oh bastard Gal!

18th of Moon of Storms: We've been running through underground tunnels for days.

I'm sorry I cursed Gal, but I really don't know what else I can do.

I will be an adult next year, but maybe that day will never come.

21st of Moon of Storms: Today, I saw my uncles and aunts and some other people who were taken away, but they didn't look like their original self.

Their skin became warty and yellow-gray, their hair red, and their arms long and thin.

When Auntie saw me, she giggled loudly and started growing bigger—even bigger than those Netherese, and Uncle conjured flames out of thin air.

They're starting to get us!

He said that the creepers had made the people of Netheril give him new life.

Baba and I ran away as hard as we could, but I think we were the only ones who got away.

Dad got hurt and I became a human being.

Gal, please help us.

…………

"Most of my generation hope that this history can be forgotten forever, and the reason is very understandable. Let this history quietly sink into the abyss of forgetting, let it slip into the bottom of time, until the lake calms down again, no People will remember the memories buried in the depths." Yin Aureum's old face wrinkled deeper, and he couldn't help but sigh:

"I am also ashamed of this history, even though I was not born when this happened, but pretending that this history does not exist means forgetting what it has brought to us. We will also end up making ourselves victims , instead of acknowledging that we have personally participated in our own destruction. We have chosen this path ourselves. We have chosen to walk this path until it is too late and there is no turning back. But it is also because we have made It is through such choices that we learn what lies at the end of that dark and shameful road.

...

So, I want to hear the experiences of those who have walked down this path that has almost led to the destruction of our entire species.I wanted to understand why they took each step, what made those decisions sound, appropriate, and right at the time.

I want to know this so that I can be aware of similar signs when they reappear.

There are two common sayings, the wisdom contained in them is beyond imagination.

The first sentence is: Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

The second sentence is... know your enemy! "

"The corridor of history..." Brian murmured, recalling the Grand Arcanist's words, before walking to the next image, "This one?"

"A Sarukh lich of unearthly power disguised himself as a human archmage, and appeared before the Netherese who began to learn magic from the elves of Eerland. Although he called himself Alcindor, the Netherese The Er people gave him the title of 'Prophet of the Earth', because his power enabled him to see what was happening all over the world." Yin Aureum stared at the image, sighed and said:
"The Earthseer, who taught us the secrets of the Arcane Arts and appeared to aid them many times over the centuries, never seemed to grow old. His exploits included translating numerous Netherian scrolls, exploring the northern Sword Coast, Occupation of the Owl's Well, and the warning contained in his many prophecies and teachings that the Netherese would perish at the hand of Karthus."

"Ashindor, the Prophet of the Earth?" Brian murmured to himself. In his impression, this Saluk Lich would still have a chance to reappear in the future.

"That's right." Yin Aureum's eyes that made Brian feel terrible, saw through the thoughts in his heart, "Through the prophecy spell, I saw in the future fragment that you will soon be with this earth Prophets intersect."

"So you can predict the future?" Brian looked at him in surprise.

There was an indescribable sympathy in Yin Aureum's strange deep purple eyes. He stretched out a pale hand and put it on Brian's shoulder.

"No, boy, the future is not a book to read."

Sadness floated across his old face, and he whispered, "The future is always changing, just like the current of water, or the whirling wind and sand. Occasionally I am lucky enough to get some guidance for the future, but that's all. What I can do Only to tell you what I have just said. The course of a river can be changed, but only you can make it change. This is all I know, how much I have longed for my prayers to save my people .”

The expression on Yin Aureum's wrinkled face and his tone of voice made Brian understand more things that he didn't say: Yin Aolemu himself didn't believe it, and the prophecy was enough to save his people.

Therefore, when he learned of Netheril's future and was powerless to save it, he chose to leave his floating city.

As they moved on, Bryan heard the rustling of the human ghosts in Yoon Aureum, sounds that seemed to hold terrible secrets.

In the next five hours or so, under the leadership of Inolum, Brian witnessed the dawn age of the Netheril Empire, the age of Mithr energy nuclear, the silver age, the golden age, and the last age of discovery and the Age of Shadows.

...

And the aura emanating from the timeless face of the Nether old man made Brian understand that Yin Aureum welcomes him to ask any questions.

"Bryan, for you." The two walked to the end of the corridor, Yin Aureum's old phantom, with his back to him, "What is death?"

"The end." Brian replied.

"The end of what?"

"The end of existence." Bryan looked at his back suspiciously. "It seems that the topic of our discussion will shift from history to philosophy."

"Nature doesn't understand any philosophical concepts, young Brian." Yoon Aureum's wise eyes flickered slightly, "People usually call their own attempts to understand the pathetic—or absurd—behavior of nature philosophy. They think that the results of such attempts are also philosophy. Just like the cause and effect of the question of "which came first, the chicken or the egg", and call the result of thinking "the eternal and mysterious relationship between the head and the root." Conflict', and the rain as an unfathomable and inscrutable force. We arcanists don't waste time trying to figure out what nature is, because we know what it is: we are nature ourselves. Do you understand?"

"I'm trying to understand, but please speak slowly, you look like you are talking to an egg." Brian said with a slight headache.

He really couldn't explain anything about the Grand Arcanist's problem.

"Have you ever wondered what the essential principle of the Metherian core was when it was invented?" Yin Olem, the inventor of the Metherian core, asked. "The common view is simple: Netheril Man has tamed magic, they've forced it to serve them, just as man has conquered nature and taken control of it . . . How's your relationship with women, Brian?"

"Ah, sorry, what did you say?" Brian was stunned by his sudden question.

Accompanied by the rustling of human ghosts, Yoon Aureum turned around and stared at him with a smile on his old face.

"I'm asking," he repeated, "what do you think about relationships between men and women."

"Which aspect are you referring to?"

"In your opinion, can a man force a woman to obey? Of course, I mean real women, not the general female species. Will real women be controlled? Will they be conquered? Will they bend to your will? If so, how do you do it? Answer me."

"..." Brian didn't know how to answer the question for a moment, he said, "In my opinion, men and women have always been equal, and I will try my best to make myself respect them."

"Looks like you've figured it out," Yin Aureum said after a while.

"Perhaps you have always understood. So you should be able to understand that if the concepts of will and submission, command and obedience, man and female servant are completely eliminated, unity will be achieved. The group will become a true whole. One heart. If this can happen , death and destruction will lose their meaning. The magical power of the Mithr energy core will also be respected, and if we make good use of it, we may be able to avoid the fate of the empire's destruction."

"So, I know that what we Netherese have lost is far more than what we have gained. At that time, our culture was not polluted, pure and simple. We were protected and loved like children .but kids need to grow and our race is too easily manipulated.

...

Indeed, trust is important, and no one can say I don't understand it.But we must also be cautious.Deceit can lurk beneath those rosy exteriors, and even those we trust in our hearts can be seduced.

As I imagine the days gone by, I lament our lost innocence.But it is also our innocence that leads us to depravity. "

"We are all lacking in some way, it has nothing to do with our race. Sometimes weakness is really a strength not yet manifested, sometimes it leads to our total destruction, and sometimes it is a combination of both. The wise understand Its faults, and will learn from them, and the foolish man will allow his weaknesses to control and destroy him.

But sometimes... wise men are also stupid. "

The corridor illuminated by the magic radiance fell into an eerie silence, only the dim gleam of Yin Aureum's human ghost form emitting a faint 'rustling' sound.

In Bryan's view, this sound seemed to contain a thousand meanings.

From the time he met 'Father of Nether' Yoon Olem until now.

This wise old man who seems to transcend all time has been telling him the history of Netheril, analyzing the reasons for its demise, and the final conclusion.

Very detailed and thorough, which deeply touched and inspired him.

After a long silence, Brian met the arch arcanist's deep purple eyes that seemed to be able to see through him, and said slowly, "What is the purpose of telling me this?"

"You're asking knowingly."

"I just want a definite answer." Bryan replied, "Only in this way can I consider it a burden, or a kind of...mission."

"Missions and responsibilities are only in your thoughts." The old man said, "If not, why did you take the initiative to find me again?"

"But you are the one who proposed it." Bryan said respectfully, "I always firmly believe that any gift of fate has a price tag."

"I admit it." He took a deep breath and said in a sincere tone:

"I am a somewhat selfish person. The real purpose of coming here is to use my status to reach a certain kind of deal with you, but it is obvious that you, the old man of Netheril, have shown me that I was overwhelmed by an unexpected enthusiasm, and my thoughts became confused at the same time."

"A sincere answer." Yin Aureum nodded slightly, showing a smile, but from the deep purple eyes, it was difficult to hide a flash of sadness.

"But you have to understand that as long as you take it as your mission." He said, "You can get what you want without any other transactions, and achieve your purpose of coming here."

Hearing this sentence, Brian hesitated, and there was still a hint of heartbeat in his thoughtful eyes.

The old man watched him quietly, waiting patiently.

"Why me?" After a long time, Brian asked slowly.

"This is your own choice. From the moment you tried to trade with the stone giants and obtained the stone whisperer crystal, your fate has been decided." Yin Aolemu said gently:
"Dear child, you have always appeared where the battle needs you most. Everyone has their own path and their own war. The fate of Netheril is also our destiny. Now I want to throw away all regrets and let the barren and vast In the Ennook Desert, there is no gap for regrets, there is only hope and the determination to pursue the arcane, we must follow the guidance of the arcane, and bring it to every dark corner that needs it."

...

"I found that during the time I talked with you, your words have always resonated with me." Brian changed his tone of suspicion, and said to the old man:

"However, I am very puzzled. Since you have this determination, why don't you put it into action. In this way, your soul will definitely be comforted in the Ennook Desert. This is absolutely true."

Vaguely, he seems to have guessed why the other party lives here, instead of appearing in the surface world, to fulfill his ideals and make up for his regrets.

"Do you know the history of mind flayers?"

Hearing Bryan's inquiry, Yoon Aureum seemed to have aged a lot, and even the hazy brilliance that was unique to ghosts around him became dim.

"Of course I know." Brian's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at the human ghost standing in front of him in disbelief, apparently his thoughts were confirmed.

It is said that mind flayers may come from distant lands.

What is Far Country?

Scholars on the world of Toril have three hypotheses about the shape of their multiverse.

They are Multiverse Ring Theory, Multiverse Tree Theory and World Axis Cosmology respectively.

No matter what kind of theory, it is believed that there is an outer world outside the universe model, which is what they are accustomed to call: a distant country.

It may be a completely independent universe, even with its own laws of physics and magic, where 1 1 may not be equal to 2, and the straight line may not be the shortest between two points, and even a living person can infect a zombie by biting it. people.

And the mind flayers may have come from such a country.

Mind flayers rule a vast empire that spans the worlds.

Through the crystallization of their psychic technology, the magic ship called the conch ship travels through the barren universe, the astral world and the sea of ​​burning elements, sails between planes, spans more than a hundred worlds, and unscrupulously captures various creatures from all worlds. An intelligent creature used for experimentation, enslavement, and food.

This empire was built on the slavery and domination of all other races at that time, enough to despise everything at that time.

But at the end of this unimaginable realm, the mind flayer race has been driven to near extinction by some unknown crisis.

Their capital and academy were destroyed, and the surviving mind flayers hatched a desperate plan.

They sacrificed countless powerful and ancient masterminds, and created an unimaginably huge psychic vortex.

Such a huge amount of energy is even enough to tear apart the time laws that have been built up, allowing them to travel back to a certain point in time in the past to find a solution.

There is no doubt that this desperate plan did not go as smoothly as expected.

They did not return to this point in time, their own world, but traveled to other worlds, and even the powerful power they had mastered was greatly weakened due to the failure of the plan.

It is said that in the distant to unimaginable future.

When the stars dim and the red remains drift coldly over dying worlds, the mind flayers will rise from their subterranean lairs to face the decaying twilight and rebuild lost empires. Stronger, crueler and more powerful than ever before, when all hope ends.

...

Although their current strength has been greatly weakened due to accidents in the plan, they are still terrifying and strange monsters that cannot be ignored in the Toril world of the kingdom of Tianyu.

Bryan suddenly recalled a group of mind flayers with different shapes that he saw in the city, which made him realize that Yin Aureum was probably studying the true form of the mind flayer race.

The thought he had just flashed was instantly confirmed.

"As you imagined, it is true." Yoon Olem's ghost said slowly:

"Since my fusion with the mind flayer masterminds, I have gradually assimilated into this race over thousands of years, becoming more aware of race secrets and missions than many older masterminds in the world of Toril. Although I can completely avoid this kind of sequelae with my strength, at the same time, whoever has reached the level of strength like me, who still wants to go to the unknown field and go to the next level."

在布来恩的印象里，尹奥勒姆的等级为：巫师35级\/大法师5级\/耐色瑞尔奥术师5级，兼职心灵术士20级\/混沌学者10级。

Apparently, the old Nether wanted to move forward in the direction of higher legends.

"So, I have been secretly observing the world, trying to find someone who can inherit my arcane heritage." Yin Aureum's deep purple eyes made him feel a sense of being seen through even if he didn't notice Bryan. He said in a soft tone, "...and carry on my will and restore Netheril, so as to make up for the regrets I have left."

After hearing this sentence, Brian suddenly remembered something.

In the game world, his strength is limited to medium legends, and he still has some experience on how to break through high-level legends, but the non-god and non-god-like realms above high-level legends are unknown realms that no mortal has ever touched .

It is said that in order to break through this realm, something similar to the "cause and effect" of the ancient dragon "Echo" is involved.

This also understands the reason why Yoon Aureum, as Netheril's elder, has spent thousands of years, the blood in his heart has been worn away, and he wants to revive Netheril.

"If you want, just promise me, and then complete my last regret." He said, "I can devote myself to the great mission of another race without any worries."

Brian took a deep breath, Yin Aureum's words made him hesitate.

If he is a player who mainly pursues profit, he will nod his head and agree without hesitation, and he will get the benefit first.

But it's different now. He appeared in a real world. If there are too many "causes and effects" involved in his life, it may also affect his chances of breaking through the high-level legend in the future.

He knew that right now, as long as he verbally promises to this Netherese elder to help him complete the mission of revitalizing Netheril, he will be able to get everything he wants, such as: the production method of Mither Energy Nucleus, tomes of magic, mind flayers' psionic lore, and even scrolls of Netherir that he kept.

In this way, the 'karma' about Netheril fell on him, and Yoon Olam could sit back and relax and specialize in the fate of the mind flayer.

...

Brian remembers one thing vividly.

When he and Helisite entered the floating city of Azuma in Opus, this great arcanist who specialized in the field of creation also said this to him, and his answer was to refuse.

"I'm very sorry, but I can't accept your mission." Bryan said again with a firm tone, "I am very grateful that you shared with me the complete history of Netheril from its birth to its destruction. It will make me feel that there is no need for revival of this sick empire."

"I want to hear your reason." Hearing Bryan's resolute refusal, Yin Aureum was not surprised, but looked at him curiously. His dark purple eyes surrounded by wrinkles seemed to see through him everything of.

"Although Netheril's magical achievements are indeed based on Netheril scrolls, they are not copycats, but a new generation of knowledge that transforms theoretical knowledge (magical theory) into practical knowledge (spells and magic items) Creators. In this regard, they have indeed achieved a height that no one before them has reached." Bryan thought for a while, sorted out his words, and expressed his thoughts to the old man who listened attentively.

The fact is just like this, there are no specific spells in the Nether Scroll, but the principle of magic.

To use an imprecise analogy, the Nether scroll is equivalent to Newton's "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" or Maxwell's equations.

The Netheril Arcanist is equivalent to the junior scientists and engineers who have obtained Newton's equations and Maxwell's equations, and established an industrial system on this basis.

"It's undeniable," he continued, "and I call it 'morbidly brilliant' for a few reasons:

First, Nether's power is highly concentrated in the arcanist class, while the lower classes are enslaved like cattle and horses.

Second, Nether is not a unified regime in essence, but a loose mage alliance composed of many arcanists. It is not a unified country, which means that there is no unified ideal. The fate of the entire 'country' is actually determined by It is determined by the selfish desires of very few great arcanists.

Thirdly, Nether implements narrow human supremacy. This racist system has caused Nether to become an enemy of the whole world. This can be seen from the fact that their magic ship was expelled from the barren universe by many races. The consequences of a policy.

Therefore, although I recognize Netheril's great achievements in magic, I also despise their political, philosophical, and moral inferiority. "

"Let me restore such an empire, I can't do it." He followed his heart and said truthfully:

"Although I can't accept the mission of restoring Netheril, I can assure you that I will use my best efforts to turn the yellow and sandy Ennook Desert back into a verdant and lush forest plain. A brand-new civilization will be re-established on the territory, an arcane empire without exploitation, oppression, self-liberation, and a high degree of ideological awareness."

After saying this, Brian suddenly felt a sense of understanding and enlightenment, which made him realize that this must be because of the goal he had set.

If you can't accomplish this goal, it will affect your life like a demon in your heart.

After a long silence, Yin Aureum smiled, and the wrinkles around the deep purple eye sockets gradually dissipated, showing relief and appreciation, and he said in a gentle tone:
"I can give you everything you need: arcane tomes, a complete Mithr energy core and its production method, the scroll of Nether, and the knowledge of the mind flayer's psychic powers, but I also have a small request."

"I'm ready for you."

Brian took out a psychic spar that he had specially asked Helisite to leave for him, "This crystal records the psychic knowledge of the world of Atas, as well as the secrets of superhumans and magic dragons. "

…………