A sneeze destroys a magical civilization

"Damn it! If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have chosen to go to Menzoberranzan, let alone hire you useless trash."

The original owner of the caravan covered his swollen face and cursed softly through gritted teeth.

Because of this loss, all the wealth he had accumulated over more than ten years of hard work was completely wiped out, and even he became one of the slaves.

Of course, the gray dwarves were not unprepared for this situation.

After all, when doing business in such a dangerous place as the Underdark, the first thing you do after making money is often to find a way to buy a magic item that can escape at any time.

He also spent a lot of money to buy an amulet that could teleport back to the gray dwarf city instantly in case of emergency.

But the problem is that he was too greedy just now and was unwilling to give up so many valuable goods. As a result, he did not choose to escape as soon as he saw the dark elves appearing. Instead, he wanted to save his caravan through negotiation. .

You must know that no matter how ferocious, cruel, and evil the dark elves are, they can still be traded. This is completely different from the mind flayers who directly use mind control to capture slaves.

Unfortunately, this time the gray dwarves misjudged the situation, and not only failed to save their caravan, but even the amulet they used to escape was snatched away.

As a person with master-level magic item making skills, Zuo Si recognized everything about this cunning businessman that shone with arcane aura at just one glance.

Then the dark elves swarmed up and looted all the valuable or dangerous magic items, scrolls and potions from the caravan owner.

At this moment, half of his swollen face was because he tried to resist, and was slapped so hard that several teeth in his mouth were knocked out.

The dark elves don't have any sympathy when dealing with gray dwarf slaves.

Not slitting his throat directly, or cruelly breaking his limbs to let him crawl on the ground, is already considered to be quite "merciful".

If Vinal is allowed to exert herself a little, this female drow can even find one hundred and eighty different tortures to teach the other party how to be a "qualified" and "well-behaved" slave.

Compared to the unwilling caravan master, the other captured gray dwarf warriors seemed much more submissive, and their superb obedience could even make people mistakenly think that they were originally a group of slaves.

Of course, this obedience is largely due to the dark elves' fierce reputation in the Underdark.

Almost all gray dwarves believe that if they do not perform well enough, they will most likely be executed in various cruel ways before arriving in Menzoberranzan.

In this way, Zuo Si and his party drove the gray dwarf prisoners and the convoy eastward along the tunnel for more than ten hours, and finally encountered a patrol sent by Menzoberranzan.

In the darkness, several sharp crossbow arrows were suddenly shot out, and they were very accurately inserted into the ground less than half a meter away from the toes.

Then a woman came out of the darkness and shouted: "Stop all actions immediately! State your identity and purpose!"

"Don't move! If you make any threatening movements, they will attack immediately." Drizzt quickly lowered his voice and reminded behind him.

"Don't worry, I know how to handle it."

Zuo Si responded casually, then raised his hands to show that he had no weapons, walked straight to the front of the team, and bowed slightly towards the drow woman who seemed to be a priest, holding her chest with one hand.

"May the great Spider Queen bless everyone. Hello, noble priestess, I am Thos from Eredlin City. As you can see, I am the leader of this mercenary group. I am currently planning to go to Magic Thread. Bly City.”

"Eredelin City? You guys have really traveled a long way."

There was strong suspicion and distrust in the female drow's tone, and she did not relax because the other party was a dark elf.

Because compared to other races, the insidious and cunning compatriots are the most worthy of vigilance.

Zuo Si pretended to be helpless and shrugged his shoulders: "There is no way. Who caused my family to have a small problem, so I was forced to leave and find a new city to start over. I want Menzoberranzan. It should be a nice place, there should be many mistresses here who need mercenaries like me.”

When he said this, he also deliberately revealed the spider-shaped emblem that he made with his own hands.

moment!

The drow woman captured this emblem and imagined on the spot the story of a noble family that failed in an internal struggle and was exterminated, but the young son who escaped escaped and escaped with a small number of family soldiers and became mercenaries.

In fact, similar situations occur in dark elf cities on average every ten years or so, and it is not worth making a fuss about.

In the city of Menzoberranzan, many mercenaries are "refugees" who escaped from other cities.

The matrons will select talented and valuable talents from these "refugees" and then absorb them into their own families.

Thinking of this, the female drow gestured to the others hidden in the darkness.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of fully armed dark elves came out of their hiding places.

Some of them occupied the commanding heights, holding crossbows and aiming downwards, while others were arcane spellcasters such as mages and warlocks, holding spellcasting materials in their hands and clearly preparing spells.

In addition, soldiers armed with various weapons also blocked all escape routes from all directions.

Drizzt was right, this patrol had been ready for battle from the moment they issued the warning.

You must know that they are not the humans who have lived in a peaceful environment for a long time in the surface world, but a group of evil dark elves who have grown up in conspiracy and conspiracy.

Especially the weapons and armor worn on the body, which at worst are fine gold products with enchantment level +3, would be worth at least thousands or even tens of thousands of gold coins in the surface world.

Those cloaks and boots blessed with magical power are even more amazing. Even if they step on the gravel, they will not make even the slightest sound, and they will look like a blurry shadow from a distance.

The shadow thieves and assassins of Amn will definitely be willing to spend a lot of money to get one for themselves.

Of course, all of this equipment cannot be exposed to sunlight, otherwise its dark magical power will quickly disintegrate and eventually turn into a pile of worthless adamantine dust.

But the dark elves living deep in the Underdark obviously don't need to worry about this.

"Thos from Eredlin City, I think you can now explain what is going on with these gray dwarves and their caravans."

The female drow jumped down from the stalactites with graceful steps, and the snake-headed whip hanging from her waist proved her identity as the priest of the spider goddess Lolth.

Obviously, she is the top commander of this patrol.

To be precise, the priestesses of Lolth hold all the power in dark elf society.

They represent the will of the chaotic evil goddess, who firmly controls the spiritual world of all dark elves.

As a dual elect, Zuo Si could clearly feel the divine grace of the priestess in front of him, so he immediately bowed in a very humble manner, and then replied calmly: "These gray dwarves and their caravans... , are all trophies we picked up along the way."

"Trophy? You mean... they are all slaves?" The priestess's eyes shone slightly.

"That's right. I am planning to transport them and the convoy's goods to the market to be disposed of in exchange for a start-up capital to establish a foothold in Menzoberranzan City."

The corners of Zuo Si's mouth rose, revealing the dark elf's unique evil smile.

"Well-trained gray dwarf soldiers are always the most popular cargo, especially during this sensitive period. Coupled with the well-trained dark elves under your command, it seems that you will have a good one in Menzoberranzan. Not a bad start." The priestess said pointedly.

"I think so too. After all, the great Queen Rose taught us that chaos is a ladder and a shortcut to power and strength." Zuo Si responded deliberately pretending to be ambitious.

Because he knows that the more he behaves like this, the easier it will be to win the other person's trust.

The facts were as expected. After hearing this, the priestess immediately pursed her lips with a playful expression. She walked closer and whispered in her ear: "You know what? What I like most are motivated men. . But before entering the city of Menzoberranzan, I must advise you to act within your ability. Because although chaos is a ladder, if you fall halfway up, you will be shattered."

Zuo Si smiled and nodded: "Of course! I will keep your advice in mind. If you don't mind, can you tell me your name?"

"You can call me Herman Benry."

The priestess raised her chin slightly and announced her first and last name in a very proud manner.

If it were someone who knew nothing about Menzoberranzan, they would definitely not hear anything special about this name.

But when Drizzt, who was born in Menzoberranzan, heard the family name "Bare", his face hidden under the hood suddenly changed color.

Because "Bare" is the first family in Menzoberranzan and also the most powerful family. The last old mistress died under his scimitar.

In addition, the ranger also killed the martial arts master of the Banre family, Dendro Bare, in a one-on-one duel, and had enmity with the opponent more than once.

It can be said that the hatred between Drizzt and the Baenre family has reached a level that cannot be resolved at all.

He believed that if the other party knew that he was back, he would capture him alive at all costs and sacrifice him to the evil and chaotic goddess.

"Ah! She turns out to be the daughter of the first family in Menzoberranzan. This is really surprising and unexpected. Please allow me to express my most sincere respect to you and your family."

Zuo Si put one hand on his chest and bowed slightly to express his fear of the name and family "Ban Rui".

Because in the tradition of the dark elves, the number one family often means overwhelming power and power.

What's more, the existence of the Baenre family can almost be traced back to the time when the city of Menzoberranzan was first established. The clearly recorded part alone exceeds five thousand years. During this period, no family has ever truly threatened them. status.

Even now that the strength has been greatly reduced after the death of the old mistress, it is not comparable to any other family.

The current matron, Triel Baenre, had served as the matron and dean of the Spider Academy in Soberlei City when the old matron was still alive, and her status was second only to the matrons of the major families.

So when she took over the Baenre family in just a few years, she brought the originally chaotic situation within the family under control and re-established the rule of Menzoberranzan with the Baenre family as the core.

Although this kind of rule is not stable at the moment, there are many ambitious families who are secretly trying to find the weaknesses of the Baenre family, and then launch a fatal blow at the appropriate time.

"Stop being so glib here, you self-righteous lowly man. Bring your people and slaves with me. I believe many families are very interested in the gray dwarf slaves you have and the goods on the caravan."

After saying that, the woman who called herself Herman Banrezor raised her hand and snapped her fingers.

Afterwards, those patrols quickly surrounded the entire caravan from all directions and took it back to Menzoberranzan in a semi-escorted manner.

Unlike surface cities that often have tall walls and deep moats, the city of Menzoberranzan is built in a cave that is more than 3,200 meters wide and over a thousand meters high.

There are stalagmites and stalactites of all sizes here, and magic creates relatively independent circular platforms one after another as a place to live.

At the only entrance, a huge steel gate stood there, completely physically separating the inside and outside.

Unless permission is obtained, even if there are hundreds of thousands of troops outside, there is no hope of being able to invade.

In addition, this steel gate is not opened and closed by a gate or a winch, but is controlled by magic.

When you walk through the gate and enter the interior, the first thing you see is the huge stone pillar standing in the center of the city - the Narbandel Pillar.

This is a device specially used by dark elves to calculate time.

Since there are no seasons and no alternation of day and night in the Underdark, at the end of the day, the Archmage of the Mage Tower will bless the stone pillars with magical flames.

The temperature generated by the intense burning of the magic flame will make the entire stone pillar look red in the eyes of all creatures with dark vision, including dark elves.

Together, the dark elves can determine what time of day it is by observing the temperature of the stone pillars.

At the end of the day, the magical flame is completely extinguished and can be cast again by the Archmage.

As a relatively large underground city, Menzoberranzan is home to nearly 20,000 dark elves and almost two to three times the number of slaves.

The main sources of slaves are goblins, orcs, half-orcs and bugbears that can be found everywhere.

As for guys like gray dwarves who are disciplined, obedient, and master certain craftsmanship and metal smelting techniques, they are usually more sought-after high-level slaves.

Normally, if a goblin can only be sold for fifty gold coins on the market, then orcs and half-orcs can sell for one hundred and fifty to two hundred gold coins, and bugbears can sell for between three hundred and five hundred gold coins. between.

The price of gray dwarf slaves is often at the same level as that of trolls, and can be sold for eight hundred to one thousand gold coins.

Of course, the most expensive slaves are dark elf slaves.

Their origins are very complex. Some of them made mistakes and were demoted as slaves, and some were unable to repay huge debts and had no choice but to let their creditors sell them as slaves.

In short, the status and treatment of dark elf slaves are definitely much higher than those of slaves of other races.

If you perform well enough, you might be able to win your freedom again.

In the market of Menzoberranzan, you can even see mind flayers, Githyanki, and beholders coming to do business.

Especially since the first two were completely sworn enemies, they did not start a fight after meeting, but chose to ignore each other's existence.

At a stall selling goblin slaves, a male dark elf warrior bought six goblins at once, chopped off their limbs at lightning speed, and forced them to go crazy on the ground by adding salt to the wounds. Squirming, and then made a bet with another group of dark elves next to them to see which goblin would die first and which one could climb further.

Whenever the goblins let out painful screams, they would laugh loudly and even take off their pants to urinate on the goblins, fully displaying the evil, coldness and cruelty of their natures.

The dark elf who finally lost the money became so angry that he raised his foot and trampled the goblin who persisted to the end into a pulp.

When the other dark elves in the market saw this scene, they just complained that the other party should not have made the scene so bloody, as it would be very troublesome to clean up.

In addition to killing goblins, Menzoberranzan also has a very long tradition of driving living slaves to areas where giant spiders live, and then watching them be killed and eaten by those ferocious arthropods.

Looking at the visually stunning sight in front of him, Drizzt couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "How do you feel now?"

"Maybe you won't believe it, but I actually don't have any special feelings." Zuo Si shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

"Aren't you angry? Among the slaves who were fed spiders, there were many human adventurers." An unbearable look appeared on Drizzt's face.

"Angry? Why should I be angry?" Zuo Si asked indifferently. "These human adventurers are not innocent civilians. If they choose to enter the Underdark, they should be prepared to face this kind of situation. As for goblins and orcs, I never think they should be classified as "human". Okay, don’t be so sentimental, don’t forget that our trip is not to save anyone, but to obtain information about the fungus forest.”

Just when Drizzt was about to say something, a arrogant-looking drow woman with a large entourage came over.

She first glanced at the goods with interest, then turned her attention to the gray dwarf slaves listed for sale. She touched her chin and asked with interest: "What is the total cost to buy all these goods plus the gray dwarf slaves?" How much?"

"If you include the Los Beast, the total cost is 80,000 gold coins, noble mistress." Zuo Si reported a number directly.

From the opponent's posture and the noble badge worn on her chest, he could basically confirm the approximate identity of the female drow in front of him.

It's just that I don't know what kind of family the other party is, and what their current position is in Menzoberranzan.

But it would definitely not be those small families with little influence who can directly negotiate for so many valuable goods and slaves.