Chapter 26 Chapter 21 Omen of Ascension

Even after receiving the guards sent by Qianshui Town, when the King of Mithril Hall and his entourage walked into the small town surrounded by walls the next day, they were still taken aback by Qianshui Town's reaction. On the battlement walls and the towers that towered over the town's north wall, trumpeters played music.Although they didn't have very high-level trumpet players, nor did they wear gorgeous armor like a big city-state like Silvermoon City, Bruno believed that he had never heard a more dedicated performance than this. All the townspeople in the town, probably in their early 100s, gathered outside the city gate. They applauded, waved, and scattered flower petals.As a border city, there are more women here than Bruno thought, and he even found a few children and babies.Perhaps he should spend more time outside of Mithril Hall, guarding these growing towns, Bruenor thought, not pleasant.Just looking at this place, he felt that Shallow Water was trying to become a well-equipped town, a safe place to live, instead of becoming a nest of pickpockets and fugitives like other wild frontier towns he imagined.He thought of his old home, Ten-Towns, and how those towns had changed centuries ago, when they first arrived in Icewind Dale, to where they were now far more stable than they had been then.

The dwarf who led the team stopped and looked around. His gaze fell over the rejoicing crowd and fell on the strong house.Most of them are built with stone and wooden frames, and they are all extremely strong, as if the occupants inside deliberately stopped here.Bruno nodded his silent appreciation.His eyes gradually moved to the single tower that made the town stand out. It was a thirty-foot gray tower with a banner fluttering in the wind. On a red background, there was a pair of hands surrounded by golden stars.It was clearly a mage's emblem, and when the crowd in front of him parted to reveal a white-bearded old man wearing a mage's hat and a mage's robe embellished with gold stars, the dwarf had no trouble linking the two.

"Welcome to my town, King Bruno of Mithril Hall." The old man said and walked in front of Bruno.He took off his hat and bowed deeply, "I am Witherglu Theodore, the founder and current administrator of Shallow Water Town. I am honored to have your unexpected visit." "Good day, Wither..." "Witherglu." "Witherglu," Bruenor finished his name, "I'm not yet King Bruenor—well, not a second time, if you know what I mean." "My townspeople and I are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of your ancestor Gundaron." "Yes, but the old man has lived a comfortable life for hundreds of years, I don't think we can expect more." Bruno said.

He looked around and saw the sincere smiling faces of the townspeople, and he knew he was going to have a good time.He and his friends, even Drizzt standing behind him, were welcome guests in Shallowwater. "I got word in the west," said the dwarf, "in Icewind Dale, when I and some friends were making our way home." "You can't find your way back to Mithril Hall?" Bruno shook his head. "I met some friends from Felbar," he explained, and then he turned and pointed to Twiddle, who bowed politely despite his discomfort. "A few orcs caused them a little trouble."

He noticed that Witherglu's wrinkled face and long hooked nose wrinkled a little, that the old man's ears twitched secretly, and that the bristly hair around his ears froze in all directions under his red wide-brimmed hat. Bruno looked at him sadly. "You know Broken Heel, don't you?" he asked lowly. Witherglu looked around and saw several townspeople nodded. "Hey, it's gone," Bruno said bluntly. "The orcs and giants leveled it and killed everyone." Shouts, gasps, and whispers spread throughout the empty field. "We caught up with these bastards and killed a lot," Bruno said immediately, intending to enhance the tragic effect. "We also threw the corpses of a few giants and hundreds of orcs in the mountains. But we think we should go to Come here to confirm that Qianshui Town is still standing tenaciously."

"Tougher than you think," Weatherglue said. He straightened up—he was quite tall, well over six feet, tall enough to be at eye level with Wulfgar without lifting his head.Unlike Wulfgar, the old man was too thin to be half the weight of the three hundred-pound Wulfgar. "We have withstood many blows from orcs and giants," continued the mage, "and not once did they break through our fortified walls." "Old Weatherglue sent them all to the west with lightning!" shouted a man nearby, and the rest immediately cheered for the mage in unison. Witherglu smiled, a little shyly and a little pompously, and turned to them, humbly pressing his palms down, stifling the wave of cheers that rose after another.

"I did what I could," the wizard said, turning to Bruno again. "I am not new to combat. I earned my fame and fortune from my adventures in dark caves against various beasts." "You've bought yourself a town," Bruno said without sarcasm. "I built myself a tower," the wizard corrected, "and I think it's a good place to spend the rest of my life, reminiscing about past adventures. These kind people—" He turned and swept his arms across the crowd— "One by one, family by family, they found me here. I believe they all recognized the value of my tower as a landmark in their settlement—that would attract dwarven caravans, you know."

He blinked exaggeratedly when he finished, which made Bruno smile. "And they don't mind a mage looking down on the town and throwing a few bolts of lightning at monsters that get too close," the dwarf said to Witherglu.The latter took his compliments with equanimity. "I just did what I could." "I bet you did." "Then..." The wizard took a deep breath, and took the conversation in a completely different direction, "It is an honor that you have come to visit us, my king—or rather, the quasi-Bruenor Warhammer King. As you have seen, we both Strong and safe, but I beg you not to leave too soon. Shallowwater's walls and houses are all stone and may seem lifeless - even if not to a dwarf - but there is a passion and being shared by adventurers voice," he took a step back and raised his head, and said to the whole team: "I welcome everyone, all of you. Welcome to Shallow Water Town!"

As soon as the words fell, there was a burst of applause from the crowd, and Bruno signaled his subordinates, who were exhausted from the journey, to disband and rest. "Much more respectable than the welcome we received at Mirabar," Drizzt said to the Dwarf King, Catti-brie, Regis, and Wulfgar, as he left Witherglue and returned to his friends. "Yeah, Mirabar," Bruno grumbled, "remind me to tear down that place sooner or later." "There's no sign of orc activity around here," Catti-brie said. "This is a town with thick walls and tough people, with a wizard behind it..."

"We're still heading southeast," Wulfgar interjected. Catti-brie nodded her approval. "Not yet," said Catti-brie. "I'm thinking we should stay a while, to keep them safe." "You're aware of something, aren't you?" Bruno asked. Catti-brie looked around, a cloud cast over her face despite the laughter and normality of the scene. "Yes, I feel it too," Bruno said, "but don't worry. We'll scour every inch of the land and take the team to the east bank of the Surbring River, and Tred tells me there's a few more towns along that side. Let's Look how many welcome King Bruenor and his friends around here."

He looked at Drizzt, and added sharply, "All his friends," and Drow shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't care.In fact, that's really not worth mentioning. "There are still tens of thousands of people hidden in the dark cave. If they are convinced that they can find more glory, they will be willing to accept leadership." Adnon Kryser said to his three companions. He had just returned from a scouting tour of the area between the dark elves in the area and Getty's Fortress.On the way, he also had several encounters with several monster lords, including an orc who had heard of Obard, and a dirty goblin. "Twenty thousand," said Tonya, "at least that's the number. The caves in the mountains are full of little beasts, and the only thing that attracts them is their own stupidity and fear. We can coax and coax more beasts into our heads. I'm sure." "What consequences will that bring?" Ke Erli suddenly questioned, "Then we can only watch those beasts running around on the surface." "We will seek comfort in the chaos." Toss-An replied with a smirk. "That's the silly tone of Menzoberranzan," said Kerlic.She just extended Toth-Ann's smile. "That's your own value judgment," Toss-Ann replied. "We find wealth in chaos and fun in chaos." Kerri shrugged, noncommittal. "I have long established contact with the leaders of several goblin orc tribes, and I also heard a gossip: there is a guy among them who has formed a solid alliance with the wild beasts of the Southern Giant Wasteland." Adnon said. "Beware of goblin braggarts," Donya said. "If they think you're a liar, they'll tell you that the giants of the mountains bow to them." "Their tunnels are very long," Adnon said. "I'd rather believe that we could do it," Toss-Ann said. "I'd rather believe that we'd enjoy that scene. The hardest part was trying to bring Obard and Getty together; I thought Gerty would strangle the hapless orc when she heard of the death of four of her people, and then hunt us out. Obed's scouts tracked across the hills what we believed to be the army of King Bruenor. Personally led squad. Once he's found, Getty will have his revenge..." "We can bring Obard tens of thousands of troops," Adnon said. "We can raise an army of darkness for miles around!" "And then?" Ke Erli asked coldly. "Then let them kill dwarves, humans, and each other," Adnon replied, "and then we'll go there and be one step late as before, and you'll be one step early to get what we deserve." "And enjoy the sight of their corpses strewn all over the field." Donya said with a dark smile. Kerri accepted this reasoning and nodded in agreement. "Make sure our allies are made aware of the presence of an unfriendly drow," the priestess suggested. She sat up straight as the other companions began to discuss their next course of action.Ke Erli likes this exciting feeling, but there are other things that worry her more.Her thoughts went back to the time before she found the three companions, when she left the underground city on the mission of the ruling priestess. In these thoughts, she thought of Drizzt Do'Urden more than once, because she was not the first exile that the dreaded Kerrike had encountered, to deviate from the way Lolth and the drow lived. She had no bitter hatred for Drizzt—Thorth-Ann was more likely to repress those, she thought—and the thoughtful priestess was just curious how this would end.Will she have an unexpected opportunity to settle old scores?Was the attack that sacrificed the drow traitor enough to please the Spider Queen?More importantly, is this possible for a priestess who has lost Rose's favor? She smiled and glanced at the three people around - they seemed to be more eager to direct the play than she was. The fearsome Korlic is also known for her patience. They heard the blowing of trumpets, and though their minds were slow, a team of orcs connected the prophecy with the troupe they were tracking. Across the Riven Mountains, just the day before Drizzt and his companions were welcomed, the orcs also saw Weathergrove's Tower. With wicked grins on their twisted, tusk-protruding faces, members of the orc patrol hurried back to the foot of the hill to meet Argen, son of Obard, who was waiting there. "Bruno's in town," said the patrol captain to the tall, brutal leader. Argon curled his cracked lips, content to hear the news.The orc wanted to do away with it, and nothing could do it quite as well as the news of Bruenor Warhammer's death.Obard scolded him, and so did Gerty, and for any creature that dwelt in the frigid mountains of the Spine of the World, it wasn't necessarily good to piss them both off. But now King Bruno's life and death are in their hands, and he is resting in a remote town, never expecting that a disaster will befall him. Argon sent his couriers at full speed to inform Obard to speed up the march.The fish was already hooked, and Argen didn't want it to slip away again. Obard was exhausted after days of convening the men, but he knew that he had to go on the journey himself, and he could not leave the news of Bruno's discovery to any messenger. When he had an audience with Gerty, the latter was sitting on the edge of the throne, eyes half-closed evilly, in the pose of a predator about to leap to prey. "Have you found King Bruno and the others who killed your men?" She questioned without even saying hello. "He's in a town," replied Obard, "the one with the solitary tower." Gerty nodded approvingly.With a solitary tower, Qianshui Town is quite eye-catching in this area where there are many shabby and dilapidated villages and towns, and mining dwarves and goblin strongholds. "Your army is assembled?" "A team has already started," Obard said. Gerty's eyes widened as if they were about to burst. "I just want to surround the south side." The Beast King immediately added, "The ground over there is flat and suitable for crossing. Bruno will definitely be trapped in the town by us." "They're just going to block the road, nothing else?" "yes." Gerty gave a brief nod to one of her squires, a broad-shouldered frost giant in shining armor, wielding the largest sharp spear Obard had ever seen.The soldier immediately bowed and nodded to Getty, and stepped out of the hall. "Yaqui will lead my troops," Getty said, "and they'll be there at all times." "How many are they?" Obard asked. "Ten." "A thousand more orcs," said Obard. "In this case, our efforts to kill King Bruno will not be much worse." said the cunning and sophisticated female frost giant. Obard could barely resist snapping at her, but he remembered his role, and the fact that Gerty's squire could easily crush him, and he let it go with a few dry laughs. Gerty then narrowed her eyes again, and there was something menacing about them, and she didn't share his smirk. "We've got to get out of here at once," said Obird, changing the subject a little. "We're three days from town." "Be there in two days," said Getty. Obard nodded, bowed, turned, and hastily left the she-giant behind.But just as he was about to step out of the cave, Gerty stopped him by calling his name. The orc turned back to Gerty's majesty. "Don't let me down again." The frost giant reduced the warning to the chilling word "again". Still Obard stood erect, not flinching from Gerty's malicious stare.He has ten giants at his disposal, ten! And a thousand orcs!