Chapter 28 Chapter 23 Sword to Sword

They were born and raised in the Northland, and they are all hunters and warriors who have experienced the wild environment.Not a single man or woman in Shallowwater was unfamiliar with the use of weapons, and there was not a single person who knew nothing about how to kill an enemy.Orcs and goblins are all too common in this wasteland. The townspeople of Shallow Water Town are very familiar with the habits of these creatures living in the dark caves, and they are also very aware of the usual tricks of the dirty orcs. It was all too clear. Even though King Bruenor and his friends had warned them of the catastrophe at Broken Heel, the scouts hadn't raised their guard.Even when Drizzt brought back a few burly orc warriors trying to stay away from Shallowwater's south gate—they scuttled around with familiarity—the scouts remained the same.

Immediately, they spotted traces of orcs, and reached a consensus that at most there were only two or three of these creatures.The scouts, eager to fight, put aside the task of gathering information and followed the trail to a small creek full of boulders and with a very shallow water level. They knew they were close to their target, so they drew their spears long ago. The leading woman motioned to the group behind her to keep up, then she crouched and crawled among the boulders. She smiled smugly, because she thought the two or three orcs on the other side of the stone beside her were doomed.

And when she rounded the stone and saw not two, not three orcs, but twenty humanoids standing in a single file with weapons, her expression froze. Convinced that she hadn't been spotted yet and that her team had been spotted long ago—probably as they dived into the ravine—the woman dodged back behind the rock and sat on the ground.She wanted to get her friends out of here, or at least make them more or less defensive.So she did it right away, first by waving her arms to get their attention, then by making them hide behind the ridge. She stood there in a daze.The previously smiling face became lifeless.Right on the ridge behind his companion, what the woman saw undoubtedly were the figures of many enemies.

An exclamation from the tracking team made all the members turn around, and they saw a terrifying scene.The orc brigade rushed down the hillside while letting out battle roars.On all fours, the woman tried to go back and join her mates, but the sound of footsteps near the boulder overhead made her flinch.Twenty orcs thundered past her, closing in on their prey, and the woman knew her companions were doomed.Too many enemies, she thought, too many. The horrible howls of pain that erupted in the bloody battlefield made her cringe instinctively.She saw one of her companions being lifted up high by three orc spears, kicking and screaming, even knocking himself off it and trying to keep his balance, but he was undoubtedly badly wounded.

He stood resolutely until several orcs jumped on top of him and knocked him down. The woman's whole body was limp, and she squeezed into the gap under the two mutually supporting boulders, hiding her addiction.She struggled to hold her breath, and fought back the urge to scream that filled her mind.She couldn't see the battle under the stone, but she heard it clearly, too clearly. Overwhelmed by fright, she fell there in the shadows, and stayed there for a long, long time after the shouting died down.She knew of at least one companion who had been taken captive. But she can't do anything.

She stayed there, praying every moment that passing orcs wouldn't find her, fighting back tears until dawn. Heavy fatigue hit her trembling and weak body. Early the next morning, she was awakened by birdsong.Still terrified, she mustered up the courage to climb out of the cleft.It is not an easy task for her to go out the way she used to, no matter in terms of psychology or physiology. Every inch she walked made her feel more insecure, and she even thought it would be easier to just have a spear cut a hole in her belly. She could sit up straight as she blinked away from the glare of daylight.

Then she saw the corpses of her companions, mutilated limbs—often with hands on one side and heads far away.The orcs not only slaughtered them, but desecrated their remains. The woman suppressed her grief and tried to turn around and stand up, but she gave up halfway, knelt on the ground and vomited. It took her a long time to get to her feet, and she lingered for a long time beside the bodies of her friends and hunting companions.She didn't try to identify the bodies, or find someone's guts and heads; she didn't count the bodies to see if anyone had been taken captive. There was no point in doing that now, because she was sure that, if anyone had been taken captive, they were dead by now.

Or wish they were dead. She crawled out of the ravine slowly and vigilantly, but found no sign of an orc ambush.The first step up the rocky cliff was extremely difficult, and so was the second step, but each subsequent step was easier, faster, and firmer than the previous step, until she ran across the land in front of her. , back to their homeland. "I tell you, this is not right at all," cried one of the dwarves, who seemed to have had too much mead.The grumpy guy stood on the chair and slammed his fist on the table with frustration, "You won't forget these years! These goddamn years! They are older than your age!"

He finished his speech with a wag of his middle finger to the small group of humans sitting at a nearby table in the crowded tavern. Singers was sitting at the far end of the bar watching this scene, and he nodded his head if he knew it. At that time, those humans were pointing their middle fingers at the drunken dwarf and saying to him, "Sit down, and then put your Shut up that long-haired mouth." Is there anyone in Mirabari without bruises on their knuckles from a recent fight? "God, don't fight again." Someone whispered on the side.Singers turned to look at the dwarf sitting next to him. The old dwarf nodded, took the cup and repeated the words again, but stopped before he could lift it up. "Aglander?"

Singers asked in surprise. Councilor Agranthe, who was wearing a shabby shabby camouflage, raised his finger in front of his mouth, beckoning Singers to keep silent. "It's me," he whispered, looking around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. "I hear there's going to be trouble out there." "You idiot Marquis Erastus, you caused trouble when you dragged Torg Hammerer back halfway!" Singers pointed out, "There are more than a dozen battles happening every day and every night, and now those stupid humans have come here, and they are not only looking for trouble, they are still looking for trouble."

"The people in the upper city can regard this as a test of loyalty," the senator argued, "to test whether you are loyal to your bloodline or to the city-state. Loyalty to the city-state is the most important thing to them." "You're sounding human again," Singers warned him. "I'm just telling the truth," Aglanther explained, "If you don't want to know the facts, then don't ask!" "Yeah, bah!" Singers sneered at this.He raised the glass to fill the wine, and drank as much as half of the glass in one gulp. "And what about the marquis's loyalty to the people of Mirabar? Doesn't that kind of behavior (referring to the arrest of Togg, see below. Translator's Note) not count at all?"*" "Erastu thought he was doing his people a good deed by preventing Torg from going to Mithril Hall with the secret of Mirabar," Agranthor answered him.Singers and others had heard this argument countless times since Togg was imprisoned. "Even if you add up the time from when your old mother gave birth to you to when you were buried in the loess, it's not that many years!" The drunken dwarf spoke louder and more intensely. He was shaking his fist at those people, not just a finger.He pulled his chair aside and staggered towards them. The latter stood up together, and the other humans in the tavern also stood up—more dwarves, including the drunkard's companion. Pull the frame in the past. "Longer than the Marquis has reigned and lived, and ten predecessors, and a large number of successors combined," Singers whispered to Agranther, "Togg and his My brethren, Mirabar has served this city from the days it was Mirabar. You can't throw a fellow like that in prison and hope nothing happens to his people." "Erastus is still quite sure that he has made the right decision," replied Agranthe. For a split second, Singers thought, a gleam of regret crept across his face. "Then I hope you can tell him that he is an idiot." Singers said bluntly. Alanthe's expression immediately became serious. "You'd better watch your words when it comes to our leaders." The Senator warned him, "When I was a member of the Brightstone Council, I swore allegiance to Mirabar and Erastu." " "Are you threatening me, Agranther?" Singers asked calmly. "I'm suggesting you," Agranther corrected, "the walls have ears, so be careful. The Marquis of Erastu knows that troubles will arise here." "If he doesn't release Togg there will be more trouble," Singers complained. Agranther let out a long sigh: "I'm here to ask you to help me quell the commotion. This place is on the verge of collapse, and I can smell it." The moment he happened to finish speaking, the drunken dwarf broke away from his companion and rushed towards the human, escalating the argument. "See?" Agranther called to Singers when the tavern exploded into chaos. "Are you on my side or theirs?" Singers sat composed, even as the commotion swept past him.At this time, a decision that he had pondered over and over again for a month appeared in front of him.He looked around at the escalating battle, dwarves fighting dwarves, men fighting dwarves.Recently, Singers has been playing the role of peacemaker in the dispute at night. Through negotiations, he hopes that the Marquis can withdraw his order to imprison Togg. Maybe Erastu can realize that he made a mistake in arresting Togg. Maybe. "If you assure me that Erastu will release Torg soon, I will be with you," he replied. "Things haven't turned around yet," Aglanthe said. "Until Togg publicly admits that he made the wrong choice, he won't be free." "impossible." "Then he cannot be released. Erastu will not budge on this matter." A figure flew across the gap between the two. He flew so fast that neither of them could tell whether he was a dwarf or a human. "Are you on my side, or their side?" Agranthor asked again, because it was clear that the battle had reached a critical stage and was about to get out of control. "Remember my reply thirty days ago," said Singers. As if to remind him, Singers clenched his fist and knocked him down with a hard blow. To all the dwarves in the tavern with similar sentiments—those who hovered on the fringes of loyalty—that night, Singers' actions were nothing less than a signal for a big fight.All those who disagreed with the Marquis, humans and dwarves alike, shook their fists at the cries of Togg supporters for armed brawls. In an instant, everyone in the tavern was immersed in it, and the fighting began to spread to the street.Of course, many more were involved, mostly dwarves, and many more were on Singers' side. As the battle tilted for Singers, the Ax Guards of Mirabar arrived, brandishing their weapons and ordering the dwarves to scatter.This time is different from the last time, Torg's dwarven supporters want to use this incident to alarm higher authorities. Many people ran away when they saw the ax guards, and then came back with big axes and full armor.In terms of numbers, they surpassed the ranks of the Ax Guards by a large margin.In the standoff, more of Singers' allies retrieved their equipment; likewise, dwarves who opposed Singers hurled insults or warned them of the price they would pay. But amazingly, no one took any further action against their own people. The stalemate lasted for a long time, but the number of dwarves kept increasing—one hundred, two hundred, four hundred—and the domineering human soldiers retreated to where the ladder back to the upper city was. "You don't want to fight," Singers shouted at them.He stood in the middle in front of a group of dwarves, "not fighting over that imprisoned dwarf." "The Marquis has orders..." the captain of the ax defense team murmured. "Even if you are all dead, it won't help. Do you still want to fight now?" Singers cut off his words. He could hardly believe that he had said those words aloud, that he and his men had taken this path. This road will lead to the city above ground, everyone knows, and it is likely to lead outside the city.Unlike the original riot, which was the product of shock and sheer impulsiveness, this time it was more likely to turn into a civil commotion than a riot. "You seem to have chosen, boy," growled Singers, "you want to fight us, and likewise, we want Togg to come back to us, back to his group! " As soon as Singers finished speaking, he found that Aglanthe, who had a decrepit face, was beside him, looking at him sadly. His desperate expression begged him to reconsider this dangerous choice. And the hundreds of strong dwarves behind Singers gave a round of wild cheers, moving forward resolutely like an unstoppable wave. Things that happen by the ladder of the grand passage of the dungeon cannot be classified as combat.Although both sides were serious, after a few rounds of you coming and going, the ax guard gave up fighting and retreated to the numerous obstacles and shelters.The dwarves of Singers dealt them a hard blow - but not in a legal way.They followed their leader by another passage, and there was a winding road leading to the ground. Alone, bruised and swollen, Agranther stood in front of them. "Don't do it," the MP pleaded. "Keep out of our way, Agranther," Singers said to him firmly and respectfully. "You tried your way to get Torg out—I know that—but Erastu wouldn't listen to you. Well, he'll listen to us!" The cheers behind Singers drowned out Aglanther's answer, which certainly told the councilors that the dwarves would not be swayed by his words.He turned and ran ahead of the marching procession, who sang the ancient war song that had been sung countless times in the thousand years of Mirabar's history. This sound made Aglanthor feel so heartbroken that it almost broke it. The councilor rushed to the post of the Ax Guard soldiers at the end of the tunnel, and instructed the commander to move his arms judiciously. Agranther continued down the street until he reached the palace of Erastus. "What's wrong?" a voice called from behind. He didn't slow down, but turned his head, and saw the consul Santilla Xingyao coming out of a street, and waved him to wait.He didn't slow down, and motioned for her to follow. "They're going to rebel," Agranther told her. Santilla's expression, after the initial shock, showed her surprise at the news. "How serious are they?" she asked as she ran. "There will be a civil war at Mirabar if Erastu does not let Torg Hammerbeater go!" replied the dwarf. When they reached Erastus' palace, De Galva was waiting for them.He leaned against the door frame with an impatient look on his face. "You have received a message from the Marquis, why are you here?" he said. "We must act, and quickly!" cried Agranther. "Assembly, there is no time for haha." "Members need not be involved in this matter," began De Galva. "Has the Marquis agreed to let him go?" Santilla interjected. "This is the job of the Axe Guards, not the Council," De Gavar continued.He seemed extremely confident. "The dwarves will be suppressed." Agranther trembled with Ji's rage, as if about to explode—and then he exploded, and he threw himself on top of Hammerhead's bodyguard captain, grabbed him by the throat, and dragged him down. A flash of light blinded the fighting duo, ending the scene, and the Captain of the Hammerhead Guard stepped aside in shock.Both looked at Santilla Xingyao, the caster of magic. "It seems that the whole city is fighting." She said sarcastically. As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of metal clanging and fighting echoed in the night sky. "What absurdity it is!" exclaimed Agranther. "The city is falling apart, and it's all because—" "The frizz of the dwarves!" De Garvat interjected. "Stubborn Erastus!" corrected Agranther, "take us to him, will he sit still while Mirabar is at his side in the fire?" De Galva tried to speak, still with a sour look on his face, but it was Santilla who intervened, giving him an uncompromising stare.She skipped him directly and walked into the palace. "Erastu!" cried Santilla, "Marquis!" A side door slammed open, and the Marquis, who was closely protected by the other three Hammerhead guards, walked into the hall. "I told you, take care of them!" Erastus yelled at Agranther. "Nothing can hold them now," the dwarf retorted. "Except for the Axe Guard," De Garvall corrected. "Your ax guards are useless!" cried Aglanther, his tone changing into a dwarf accent without sloppiness. "Torg himself is a member of the Axe Guard, have you forgotten? I... my people accounted for five hundred of your two thousand men. If you are lucky, a quarter of your men are Not to fight; otherwise they would join your enemies." "Get out," Erastus ordered Agranther, "to negotiate with them. Your people make up the majority of the people here, good dwarf. Do you want them all killed?" Agranther trembled violently. He was so angry that he couldn't speak. He turned and ran out of the palace. Guided by the sound of fighting, he came to the city-state prison as expected. "The dwarves are more united than you think," Santilla said to Erastu. "We'll crush them." "So what?" Santilla asked.By stating the loss of the guards, Erastus could not be persuaded, because he himself was not yet in danger, but by shifting the topic to the not so insignificant profit, she quickly attracted the attention of the Marquis . "The dwarves are our miners. Only by relying on these skilled workers can we mine sufficient ore." "We can find someone else," retorted the Marquis. Santilla gave him a suspicious look. "What do you want me to do?" "Release Torg Hammer," said the Archon. Erastus hesitated. "You have no choice. Let him go. Send him on his way. I know he will not leave alone, and Mirabar's loss will be great. But not all dwarves will leave. Your reputation is not enough to stop the dwarves from leaving move; but perhaps other dwarves will settle here too. Your choice will lead to a bloody battle, which will produce no winners, but will only make Mirabar start from scratch." "You overestimated the loyalty of the blood among the dwarves." "You underestimated it. For the dwarves, the only thing more precious than gold coins and jewels for any dwarf is their own compatriots. They are connected by blood, Erastu, with the Danzo family at their core. I I say this because, I am your advisor and friend. Let Togg go as soon as possible, before the fighting develops into a pure civil uprising, before all sanity is wiped out." Erastu stared at the ground, lost in thought, and his expression gradually changed with the infiltration of thinking, from anger to fear.He turned and glanced at Santilla again, then at De Garva. "Release Togg," he ordered. "Lord Marquis!" De Gava wanted to argue, but Erastu's unquestionable expression rejected his reason. "Go now!" urged Erastu, "go and free Torg Hammerbeater from the city forever." "He may stay because of your kindness." Santilla opened her mouth to express her opinion. She really wanted to know whether this could be an opportunity for the relationship between Erastu and the dwarves to develop in a benign way. "He cannot stay, nor can he come back; otherwise he will be put to death." "The vast majority of dwarves are not willing to accept it." Santilla hit the nail on the head. "Then let those who support the traitors go away," Erastu spat, "let them die on the way to Mithril Hall; or let them reach Mithril Hall alive, and then kill Mirabar The whole world will be in chaos, that set of double-decker tricks will turn Mithril Hall upside down!" "Go!" the Marquis yelled at De Gava, "Go now, and then let them go away!" De Gava let out a low growl, still motioning for one of the members of the Hammerhead Guard to accompany him, and the two immediately Run into the night. Santilla glanced at Erastu, then followed the two Hammerhead guards. When the three of them arrived, although Alanthar had tried his best to mediate, the battle outside the prison was still beyond the scope of small fights, and turned into a fierce battle of equal strength; but in a blink of an eye, the riot situation Calm down immediately. Several hundred dwarves were on the side of Togg and Singers, and against them were more than double the number of soldiers from the Ax Guard.Remarkably, not a single dwarf was to be seen in the ranks of the Mirabar Guard, although many dwarves poked their arms up sourly. Santilla glanced down at De Gavar, who was flouting the non-battle dwarves with open contempt. "Don't think about disobeying the Marquis," the consul reminded the stubborn dwarf, "and don't think about delaying the release of Torg, hoping that war will break out before us." De Gavat smiled slyly at her. "I have prepared spells." Santilla warned him. It was just a bluff, but she didn't back down an inch from him. That didn't work, so she reminded him: "No one in Mirabar can win this war. Look at them, De Gavar. Members of your own guard, stand by with broken allegiance. " Then Senator Aglanthe came hurriedly, his cloth robes creased, as if someone had lifted him up by the clothes and shook him in the air (which did happen). "It's no use talking to them!" yelled the frustrated dwarf. "De Galva can talk to them," Santilla explained. "He has a message that Torgue is about to be released." She glanced at De Gava, who was squinting. "Do it immediately, this is the order of the Marquis. At this moment, Togg will be sent on the road to leave Mirabar, and all his personal belongings will be returned." "Praise Dumathoin." Agranther breathed a sigh of relief. He ran wildly to deliver the news, yelling all the way, and finally quelled the dispute. "Then it's time to settle with Togg the Fool!" de Garva said to Santilla, spitting and frustrated. Care about this!" Santilla picked out the subtext of these complaints, and she could never have asked more of the Hammerhead's de Garvall than that. For a moment Santilla was the center of attention, drawing everyone's attention with a magical beam of light that hung above her head, delivering a message that many dwarves of Mirabar desperately desired.After a while, when Torg Hammerer walked out of Mirabar Prison, Singers and his friends burst into applause, which was mixed with a lot of sarcasm and sarcasm from humans, and also included the low growls of the dwarf guards who were still standing aside and whispers. Santilla walked towards Torgue, and there she saw Agranther. "You are not yet completely free as far as the path you have chosen," the Archon said to the dwarf, her body language and tone of voice beckoning her friendliness. "You must leave the city at once." "I've done that before," Togg said. "Give him at least one night," Aglanthe begged Santilla, "let him and his farewell partner cherish each other." "I don't think there will be many companions left worthy of his farewell," came a hoarse dwarf voice.The three turned their heads and saw Old Singers walking towards them carrying a large package full of clothes. When their realization stretched in the direction of the old dwarf, they saw other dwarves in similar outfits, carrying supplies, and calling friends to cross the square. "You can't do this!" Senator Agrantha objected, but he was the only one who raised objections at the time, so he looked at Santilla and saw her agreeing and nodding solemnly. Soon Torgg Hammerbeater left Mirabar for the last time, and with him were four hundred Dwarves who made up almost one-fifth of all the Dwarves in Mirabar.Many of them had lived in the city for more than a century, and many came from families that had served Mirabar from the beginning.They walked with their heads held high, confident that they would not be humiliated and rejected by the King of Mithril Hall. "I can't believe all of this," Aglanthe said to Santilla.At that time, the two and De Gava were watching the great migration from a distance. "What they see is the possibility of finding a better place to live for themselves. The conditions there are more comfortable than our city belonging to the Marquis of Erastu." Santilla said , "Respect is the highest wealth, De Garva. In all of Faerûn, there are few people who crave respect like the dwarves of Mirabar." Agranther almost sneered and said, "You mean the dwarves of Mithril Hall", but he held back and reminded himself that there were still 1,600 people to lead, especially in this confusing place. stage. Agranther knew that it would take Mirabar a long time to shake off the shadow of the incoming events. quite a long time. Note: *In the West, the concept of democracy is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and there is a mutual responsibility between citizens and rulers.Therefore, even though FR is a fictional fantasy world, there are remnants of realistic thinking. Singers was angry because Marquis Erastu one-sidedly emphasized the loyalty of the ruled class to the ruling class.