Hotels have a very special position in the country. In almost every medieval or Western fantasy novel, the protagonists of the story always go to the hotel to sit, meet all kinds of people, and come into contact with all kinds of people.
After that, I filled my stomach with ale, bread, and barbecue, and rested overnight to prepare myself for the trip.
Even most of the time, the protagonists recruit teammates not in the Adventurer's Guild, but in the hotel.
Is there something wrong with the protagonists’ minds?
Actually no, the real reason is that hotels (bars) are more suitable for recruiting partners than adventurers guilds, because the interpersonal network owned by hotel owners is much stronger than that of adventurers guilds.
He can always help you find the right teammates and provide the right guarantees.
Similarly, a large carriage hotel like the Callan Hotel actually exceeds the category of an ordinary hotel.
This fortress with a three-meter wall owned by the innkeeper Tamar Qiaiya not only functions as a hotel and tavern, it is also a cargo station and part of a trusted supply chain.
The innkeeper is also a businessman and part-time notary, and also provides custody and bank-like services.
Hotels are also trading centers, especially large carriage hotels in the wild. Merchants often conduct some trading activities here. Hotels are also inns. The kingdom's messengers will stay here and patrol troops will rest here.
Finally, the hotel is also an important place for social exchanges in the country. People socialize here, share each other's knowledge and exchange opinions. It is a hotbed of culture and politics. Some secret societies often appear in hotels, bathhouses and other places.
This is true in the country, and it is true in the Middle Ages and even in modern times.
"When German is spoken in the tavern..."
————Classic joke
Sometimes these associations are kind and beneficial. For example, the priests of Ilmat, the most respected god of suffering, often appear in the hotel, raising funds from the rich, and providing magic and necessary alms to the poor.
Sometimes these societies tend to engage in clandestine activities, such as evil priests who are always trying to please their gods without hesitation to cause chaos.
To sum up, the status of hotel owners who own a large hotel in the country is very impressive. They are often very charming and influential people, and they are star-like figures in the local area. They are the city's
The elite class were powerful allies or at least high-status servants of the local nobles. They also served as guarantors, notaries, and transaction brokers.
So when Tamar Qiaoya, the half-elf innkeeper, took Aaron's arm to introduce him to everyone in the hotel lobby, Aaron had to give him this face.
Opening the door of the hotel, there are about twelve to fifteen long tables in the wide and far-reaching lobby. At least thirty tourists are enjoying dinner in the lobby, including three elves. They look like they are Japanese from Cormanthor.
Elves, this group of racists who have always been known for their arrogance couldn't help but take a few more glances at the radiant Aaron, marveling at it, thinking that it's not that there are no handsome men and beautiful women among humans, it's just that there are relatively few.
Candles and kerosene lamps had been lit in the hall. Aaron was surprised that there was such a high ceiling in the lobby, as well as the gorgeous crystal chandelier. The aroma of ale hit his face, and the smell of food was still there.
There was a smell of rotting wood and human excrement, a complex smell mixed with the smell of sweat, urine, bad breath, and body odor.
The innkeeper had tried hard to mix the scent with rose petals and lavender, but Aaron noticed at a glance that the priest lady, who had a strong sense of it, still frowned.
In the end, Salian stood under the chandelier, greeting everyone in the hotel.
"The dragon flies over Cormyr, the horse gallops through the birch forest, Aaron Salian, son of Manuel, greets everyone in the hotel, Cormyr welcomes you!"
His charisma quickly conquered most of the people present, and when he expressed his hope that everyone could have a pleasant night, intermittent applause even broke out from a dozen long wooden tables.
At this time, the sky outside had completely darkened. The bard, who had been interrupted by Aaron's appearance before, played the tambura and the oud, telling the famous epic "The Archmage Elminster and Shin." "The Love Story of Queen Bu".
Elminster is a legendary wizard who is known to everyone in the entire country. He is the chosen one of the second-generation Magic Goddess and the owner of the Silver Fire. Even Aaron, who knows only a little about the country, relies on a few books. The guy who understands the country with a webworm of the three innovations, and knows the name of Ilminster.
The bard told what was supposed to be the epic story of this legendary wizard, telling how he used the remaining power of the second-generation magic goddess to defeat Bane, kill Melkor, lead peace, and fight against evil during the turbulent years.
However, the bard briefly mentioned the part that Aaron wanted to hear.
Instead, it is how Elminster hooked up with Queen Ximbu, one of the seven sisters in the North, how he used various drugs, and how he used the "giant transformation" on himself to let Queen Xinbu know that his sword was not old. The content is described in great detail.
Especially the process of hooking up between two people, the unparalleled Queen Aglalon who is always wearing tattered clothes and unkempt hair, the mysterious Xinbu, one of the seven sisters of the North, and Elminster, who is in charge of... How did the two legendary wizards, who had been active in the mortal world for more than a thousand years and left countless epic myths, hook up, how the sky thundered and the earth caught fire, how they had a tryst in the Cormanso forest, and how they enjoyed their vacation in the valley. A detail.
The bard even made a few ambiguous gestures on the stage, which immediately aroused applause from the whole hall.
Aaron smiled helplessly and had no choice but to clap along.
He was really interested in the famous figure of Elminster.
He didn't know much about the Forgotten Kingdom in his previous life. Apart from the familiar gods and Netheril, which almost every author wrote about in the Turbulent Years, there were actually only two people whose names he had heard of in the official Forgotten Kingdom. , one is the drow elf ranger Drizzt, and the other is the great sage Elminster of Shadow Valley.
Drizzt has almost no chance to appear in online articles, and it seems that the authors don't like him very much.
As for Elminster, the great sage of the Valley of Shadows in the online article has severely divided opinions.
Some authors believe that Elminster was a great sage, a guardian of peace, and a great mage. He played a decisive role in many major events and could be called Gandalf the White in the kingdom.
Some authors also believe that Elminster is a useless coward. He has received the love and power of the goddess of magic but has done almost nothing. As one of the top wizards in the country, he rarely does anything when he gets older. He personally takes action, always entrusting and guiding novices to die. Usually, this great sage always hides in his wizard tower in the Valley of Shadows, enjoying tobacco and wine, as well as the long life brought by the power of the goddess of magic.
What Aaron wants to hear is Elminster's story, not Elminster's gossip!
Aaron ignored the pastor's fierce aura and pulled her to sit in the corner of the lobby, always smiling.
She wanted to hit him, really wanted to.
"You guys all like this, right?" Miss Pastor was obviously in a bad mood because of what happened before. Even through the mask, Aaron could feel the displeasure in her tone.
Not far away, Ferrara, Montero and others were obviously in high spirits. They were in a very good mood and shouted loudly. They must ask the bard to describe the posture Queen Xinbu liked. One after another, they printed the words of the former king.
The gold coins with the photo of Assan IV were thrown onto the table, and the bard smiled happily.
"Otherwise?" Aaron signaled the waiter to come up and take the order. The handsome Viscount Salian, with a purple-gray light in his eyes, asked with a smile: "Then you ask the bard to talk about the operation of the Great Sage, and talk about the Great Sage.
He talks about the magic of the Great Sage and how he mediates the major forces and balances good and evil through the Harper Alliance. Do they understand? Even if they understand, do they like to hear it?"
The pastor lady was silent. She pursed her pretty lips and nodded unwillingly. She turned her gaze to the bard who had won the applause of the whole house and received many rewards: "I know that he wants to eat and live."
More than 80% of the human population in the country are illiterate. The highest literacy rates in the entire country are Waterdeep City and Silvermoon City in the Northland Lords Alliance. The literacy rates in those two places are over 40%, and the rest are also illiterate.
People can't understand things that are too complicated, those mysterious magics, and those intricate forces, and they don't like to hear them.
Just order as long as you want. Aaron didn't say any more. He handed the menu brought by the waiter to Eleanor: "If you want to eat something, just order it. It's okay."
"Just order it, are you sure?" Miss Pastor took the menu, and she saw the first line of the recommendation list on the menu at first glance.
"Excellent jam ginger bread - imported from Xianglong Empire, 2 gold lion coins per ounce."
In the kingdom, bread is divided into eight grades. The hard, dry and unpalatable black bread that many people are familiar with is not even considered the lowest grade of food.
The best bread is made from rich dough, fermented with finely screened pure wheat flour, and added with spices, butter, and jam. The "Queen's Bread" is fluffy and delicious, with a sweet and delicate taste.
After that, as the wheat flour is screened, the bread grades decrease in sequence. The less wheat flour, the more bran, the more barley flour, the harder and darker the bread. In the end, it is the familiar black bread.
However, black bread is not the worst bread, because there is rye under barley, buckwheat and oats under rye, and even peas, ferns, soil, sawdust, oak under buckwheat and oats.
"Dark bread" made from seeds ground into powder is truly the lowest food.
The priestess who had always maintained her life on vegetable porridge, fish, cured meats, fruits, and black bread saw this high-grade bread and retracted her hand as if she had been bitten by a poisonous snake. She thought that if this kind of ginger bread could
How many poor people could be saved by replacing it with the same amount of ordinary brown bread?
When she thought of this, the pastor's eyes changed when she looked at Aaron.
It's the enemy!
Aaron is the enemy!
"Don't look at me like that." Aaron raised his eyebrows: "I remember that the most high-end cheese popular in the kingdom seems to be the 'Death Cheese' brewed by the Silver Virgin Monks in the swamp area at the junction of Zambia and Cormyr.
'Really? What you sell is really expensive. You can't even buy a piece for 5 gold lion coins. When I was a kid, I could only cut a small piece on the Holy Day of Our Lady of Silver."
"The huge profits brought by the cheese of death are an important source of income for the branch of Our Lady of Silver Church in Cormyr, right?"
"..." The pastor lady was blocked again and could not speak. She was so angry that she made random gestures on the menu for a while, and then sneered: "Are you really not afraid that I will mess up? I remember someone seemed to be in our Lord's Holy Temple.
I admit at the altar door that you can’t afford miracles at all, so why are you pretending to be a rich person here now?”
"You are right, but my trip is on business." Aaron clasped his fingers with a sly light in his eyes: "My food expenses can be recorded, and the royal family will write them off for me later."
Holy Silver Virgin! I want to hit him now! Now!!!
The menu was thrown on the table, and the pastor's attitude changed: "No, I'll just order my own."
"Then let's have two portions according to the knight's standard set meal. Oh, by the way, my portion will have a little more bread and two glasses of mead." Aaron handed the menu back to the waiter.
"Miss Eleanor, your funds are not blown by the goddess of wind. We must learn to use limited funds in key places." Aaron said kindly: "Even if my life-saving grace is insignificant,
How about your gratitude? I beg you, good health and rich nutrition, so that we can better serve the great Silver Virgin."
"Everything is for the great Silver Virgin, eat, Lady Eleanor, this is our responsibility!"
"..." Miss Pastor found that she had been speechless more times this day than in the previous year.
She knew that Aaron was playing tricks, but she couldn't find any point to refute it. She even knew that Aaron was making excuses for her.
Let's eat. Let's eat. Miss Pastor is tired.
The waiter quickly brought out two knightly standard meals: roast lamb with onions, beans, leeks, bacon, corn and cheese stewed in cave rabbit soup, soft and delicious buttered bread, two large glasses of mead, and pickled pear pudding with cinnamon and cloves.
After they started eating, neither of them spoke anymore. They could only hear the sound of the minstrels playing music, the laughter of the people in the lobby and the footsteps of the waiters.
Without Miss Pastor noticing, Aaron put away the smile on his face.
Although he had made some guesses before, today's encounter still made him understand some of his problems.
He cannot increase his power by killing.
After traveling through time, many people have abilities similar to "Children of Slaughter" bound to their bodies. They can gain power and improve their own strength through constant killing.
Aaron can't do it, because Slaanesh doesn't like fighting or killing. The Prince of Joy regards killing as a low-level, boring experience, so unless it can bring Aaron a fresh experience and a sense of near-death crisis
, otherwise killing would be meaningless to Aaron.
So how can Aaron improve his strength?
Today's encounter has already explained the problem: when Aaron used magic missiles to kill those jackals, he found that he had not received any improvement, but when Ferrara and others looked at him with admiration, he felt
At this point, I absorbed some chaotic energy.
When the bard told the legendary epic of Elminster on the stage, Aaron's body became even more restless. This restlessness did not come from Aaron, but from the power of Slaanesh in his body.
Slaanesh likes this feeling of being famous all over the world!
Slaanesh likes to be famous, likes to spread his stories everywhere, likes to show his coquettish deeds to others, and likes to have people tell his legend in every corner of the country.
Slaanesh wanted Aaron to be like Elminster, the most handsome boy in the realm.
Slaanesh wants Aaron to go to the Great Division and become famous! Only in this way can he increase his power and unlock more Slaanesh powers!
This is almost contrary to the plan that Aaron made at the beginning to "sustain and develop steadily, and then come out to play in a group later".
But does Aaron have a choice?
He had no choice. He knew that using the power of Chaos came at a cost. He knew that the power of Chaos was a cup of poisonous wine, a chronic poison that could quench his thirst. He could only drink it.
This is a racing game, either he can succeed in absorbing the power of the four gods with the priesthood of Chaos before the four gods come to him, and gain the strength to compete with them, or his end will be destruction.
So Aaron didn't have much communication with Miss Priest before, but after meeting Ferrara, he would tease Miss Priest from time to time, making her annoyed, angry, and speechless.
Slaanesh likes this exciting feeling!
I’m not afraid of you crying, I’m not afraid of you laughing, I’m just afraid that you won’t laugh without crying!
And... Miss Priest is indeed quite cute, Aaron thought to himself, thinking that Miss Priest was undoubtedly sent by the Church of Our Lady of Silver to monitor him. If the relationship between the two parties is bad, he will be restrained no matter what he does next. On the contrary,
If he can get Miss Pastor, everything he wants to do will be much easier.
Now that I have broken through Miss Pastor’s inner defense, the next step is the second step of the plan...
If you think about it for a long time and want to know, if you are thirsty for knowledge and want to know it, you can only be sage and treacherous, so don’t be trapped!
While Aaron was planning his "big plan", something changed in the hotel lobby.
While the bard was going down to rest, a young man wearing a gray robe and a string of tooth pendants on his chest rushed onto the stage. He waved his fist and shouted to everyone present.
"People of Cormyr, glorious people of Cormyr, hear my words!"
"Today, I stand here to warn you and advise you with my true words from the bottom of my heart."
"Our nation is losing its centripetal force!"
"The despicable Alice Searle, the regent of Sousal, is taking away our freedom, our pride, and the dignity that belongs to us Cormyrians!"
"We are not slaves of the royal family, we are free..."
The young man had only finished speaking when two armed guards suddenly appeared, pressed him directly to the floor, and blocked his mouth with a ball of rags.
However, this was not the end. An obviously higher-level bureaucrat in military uniform walked out from the inside of the lobby and came to Aaron.
"Nice to meet you, Queen's Blade, Captain, Hendry."
"Your Excellency, Viscount Aaron Salian, regarding your mission this time, we received an anonymous report and believe that you have colluded with the Dark Sun or even some outside entities to murder the war mage apprentice Hicks and the patrol leader Walker.
suspicion."
"Can you please cooperate with our investigation and answer a few questions?"