Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 348 Statue of Gods
Only then did Zhang Yuan realize that what Barras wanted him to see was not the old man Nash, but the half-elf female paladin in front of him.

And also the main character they were talking about earlier—Eribes.

I didn’t expect that the other party was also one of the Nine Guards. But then I thought about it and it wasn’t surprising. Since he was Nash’s right-hand man and even had a certain degree of military command, it would be difficult for him to be someone other than one of the Nine Guards.

As for the other man,
What's so interesting about men? Master Zhang glanced at it and then ignored it.

crunch~
With a sickening scraping sound, the gates of the Temple of Tyr were flung open, and the two doors were pushed against the back wall.

The person who stepped into the temple was led by Bishop Holon, and behind him was a group of guests whose armor and clothing were clearly different from those of the clergy of Tyre.

Each of the visitors wore the same badge on their chest—a large eyeball embedded in the palm of their hand, the symbol of Heim the Eternal Vigil.

The relationship between the Temple of Heim and the Church of Tyre has always been lukewarm; they occasionally contact each other and cooperate, but it is never very close.

After all, Heim, known as the Eye of the Sleepless, has always been a so-called "lone minister," directly obeying the orders of Io and maintaining neutrality towards the outside world.

This situation reached its peak during the turbulent years, when Heim, who was in charge of guarding the passage to the upper plane of heaven, could truly be described as impartial and incorruptible, and completed the task assigned to him by Io exceptionally well.

This also led to a series of tragicomedies.

For example, Vol'jin, who was forced to take a detour through the Abyss after his pleas were ignored and ended up imprisoned in Grazt, would certainly have something to say.

Oh, sorry, this is a midnight skit, wrong channel~
In short, from then on, although Heim was ranked among the gods, his relationship with other gods, even those on the same side of order, became extremely delicate.

Becoming close to Heim is impossible; Heim, whose loyalty to Eoh is already established in the eyes of the gods, has no value or need for being won over. But to say that there is hostility or hatred is not the case, or rather, it is meaningless.

The Helm God was merely a pawn; all his actions represented only the will of that supreme god.

They remained indifferent, as if there were no such god, and Heim, considering himself a neutral watchman, paid no heed.

However, the situation is different today. The so-called Eye of the Sleepless has actually infiltrated the church with a follower of evil gods, and even attained a high position. How ironic!

While this incident can't be called a smear campaign, it's certainly smeared Heim's face and, incidentally, gouged out his big eyeball.

Moreover, an explanation must also be given to the other factions of Winterless City. The suspect, Fandral, goes without saying, but his faction, from top to bottom, has been isolated and investigated, and brought here to be judged as well.

The figures escorted by the paladins to the middle of the procession, their arms bound behind their backs, some looking angry and others dejected, were the ones in question.

However, what attracted the attention of onlookers was not these unfortunate men, but a statue, or rather, a cast image.

At the head of the procession, right behind Bishop Horan of Tyre and Bishop Dumar of Heim, a statue that looked like it was cast in bronze was carried and escorted into the Hall of Justice.

The statue's overall design resembles a perfectly fitted suit of armor. The statue's body is covered by armor, and its face is completely hidden behind a mask, with only the single eye carved on it visible. "Lord Dumar, this is the spot reserved for the statue of His Majesty the Vigilant."

Holon raised his hand and pointed to an altar next to the statue of Tyr.

Dumar stepped forward and carefully observed the location of the altar. He found that its height and depth were similar to the main altar occupied by Tyr, so he had no further objections and waved his hand to instruct his subordinates to erect the statue of Heim on the altar.

Thus, two statues of gods, unusually, stood within the Temple of Tyre, and were not subordinate to each other.

Seeing that the Heim Church staff had completed the ritual arrangements, Holon walked to the statue of Tyre, glanced at the Tyre priests who were all ready and waiting in silent prayer, and spoke in a deep voice:

"The ceremony begins. We pray that the glorious vision of our Lord will descend upon this place."

After saying this, Holon also turned to face the statue of the god, and as the leader, he knelt down at the front of the procession to worship and pray.

As the bishop joined in leading the prayers, the priests of Tyre's prayers grew louder, and the Tyre statue before them displayed various divine signs.

The scales held by the one-armed god of justice and the long sword at his feet were originally carved from rock, but their once dusty surfaces now radiated strands of golden light, as if the scales and sword were wrapped in silk woven from gold threads, gilding them with a golden luster.

The two stone beads in Tyr's eye sockets were no longer what they used to be; as if they had been transformed, they had become the most dazzling gems in the world.

Two beams of light shot out from his eyes, shining directly on the worshippers below. Holon immediately prostrated himself on the ground, praying and speaking with even greater devotion.

Not to mention the priests of Tyre who were prostrating themselves in worship and the paladins who were kneeling on one knee, the believers of Heim and the onlookers on both sides also stood up to show their respect.

Balas, who had been reclining calmly in his chair, also rose and bowed in respect along with the spellcasters around him. Even though they, as mages, could not claim to have any great reverence for the gods, they did not hesitate to show basic respect for one of the ultimate powers in this world.

After bowing, Balas sat back down, and the other monks, including Zhang Yuan, followed suit. However, as they sat leisurely among a group of solemn believers, they felt like chickens among cranes.

Initially feeling somewhat uneasy, Zhang Da Guanren glanced at everyone, including the monk himself, whose expressions all seemed to take it for granted. He then settled into his seat with a sense of ease.

As the prayer ended, Holland and the other pastors stood up, turned around, and faced the congregation.

"Upon investigation, it was confirmed that there were indeed signs of illegal religious activities such as the worship and cult of evil gods in Neverwinter, and the Black Lake District was the location of the incident."

"The Deszel and Manuel families involved are suspected of multiple crimes, including heresy, treason, evil rituals, trafficking of Neverwinter citizens, and murder. They are hereby put on trial today, and all will be left to the judgment of our Lord, the God of Justice."

Holland's emotionless words exploded like a depth charge in the hearts of the nobles watching from the sidelines. They suddenly understood why the temple, which had previously shown some leniency towards each other and maintained the city's established order, even turning a blind eye to some gray areas, had such an ambiguous attitude in this incident.

No, it's not ambiguous. In fact, their attitude is quite firm now. All the vague excuses are just pretexts.

Thank you to Phoenix Rosely for the monthly pass!
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(End of this chapter)