stjorthotic Chapter 52 The Change of Death God's Office
Chapter 52 The Change of Death God's Office
Just as the shapeshifter was about to reach Ronan, it suddenly pulled a dagger from its cotton coat.
The dagger was very sharp, reflecting the dim light of the kerosene lamp.
On the handsome face of the half-elf, a pair of eyes suddenly revealed a ferocity that was extremely inconsistent with his appearance.
He gripped the dagger and plunged it into Ronan's heart.
But Ronan was faster than the shapeshifter, and in a flash he grabbed the right hand holding the knife.
With a little force, the deformed monster's hand holding the knife was turned to the other side.
At this moment, the sharp dagger was aimed directly at the shapeshifter's neck.
Then, Ronan exerted a little more force.
The shapeshifter stared wide-eyed, feeling as if the person before it possessed immense strength, and that its own hands were completely being controlled by the other.
The next moment, I felt a pain in my throat.
His own dagger, unstoppable, plunged into his own throat.
Ronan then withdrew his hand, turned around, and left.
The shapeshifter clutched its throat, desperately trying to stop the blood from gushing out.
However, his vision blurred and he became increasingly dizzy. He soon collapsed to the ground, reverting to his grotesque, hairless body with gelatinous skin.
You killed a shapeshifter with a dagger and gained 500 XP.
[Experience Points: Level 6 Cultivator (15885 XP/23000 XP)]
As Ronan walked down the street, information appeared in his mind.
He looked at the streets shrouded in thick fog ahead and thought to himself that although this city was free and open, it was not very peaceful.
After all, this was the city where Melkor, Bane, and Bal had once lived.
The followers of the three gods of death have long entrenched themselves at Baldur's Gate, and no matter how many times they are wiped out, they can never be completely eradicated.
The followers of the Three Gods of Death, adhering to their faith in their chosen gods, have caused considerable chaos in and around Baldur's Gate.
Bane, the god of tyranny, draws his divine power from tyranny.
Those tyrannical and domineering rulers were often followers of Benn.
Tyranny is followed by invasion or resistance.
Aggression and resistance lead to war.
When war caused massive killings, Baal, the god of murder, gained divine power.
The deaths resulting from the killings are controlled by Melkor, the Lord of Bones.
The corpses and the dead all became His army.
Murder was one way believers helped Baal gain divine power.
The followers of Baal in Baldur's Gate have been committing murders to help Baal gain divine power.
While the shapeshifters were targeting him, there were probably other shapeshifters targeting someone else in some dark corner of Baldur's Gate.
That person, however, might not have the strength to survive against a shapeshifter.
……
After meditating all night, Ronan opened the window and looked at the bright winter sunshine outside. Suddenly, he decided to go and visit his mother's grave.
More than half a year has passed, and spring is about to arrive.
He should also clean the grave and place a bouquet of flowers on it.
Upon arriving at the cemetery, he saw again the statue of a deity overlooking the entire cemetery—a person wearing a cloak and a hood, obscuring their entire face.
"Jeko, Lord of the end of all things."
The name of the deity represented by the statue came to mind.
Then I thought about the changing of the Grim Reaper's office in this world.
Legend has it that in ancient times, the only god of death in the world was "Jegg, the Lord of the End of All Things".
Many years after Jehovah took charge of the god of death, three mortals rose to power in the material world.
They are the tyrant Bane, the necromancer Melkor, and the assassin Baal.
They traversed mountains of corpses and seas of blood, gaining power surpassing that of mortals.
But they were not satisfied; they wanted to become gods.
So they found Jeremiah and plotted to kill him in order to obtain the office of the god of death.
Jeremiah, who was already tired of the god of death, took the initiative to divide the godhood into three parts and give them to these three humans.
These three humans became the most famous human deities on the continent of Faerûn.
Many years later, the growing ambition of the three gods of death led them to set their sights on the supreme god, Io.
They stole the Tablets of Aio, hoping to gain even greater divine power.
Legend has it that when Io learned of the theft of the Tablets of Fate, he was furious. In DR1358, which is more than a hundred years ago, Io banished the gods to the material world.
The gods can only walk in the material world by possessing believers, that is, in the form of "saints".
During that period, because the gods lost their divine authority, priests could not get a response from prayers, and many spellcasters lost the magic nets they relied on to cast spells.
In addition, deities who walk in the material world as "saints" lead their respective followers into a series of battles.
Therefore, that period was a time of great chaos in the material world, and was referred to by professionals as the "Year of Turmoil".
It was during this period that Baal, the god of murder, mated with many races and fathered countless offspring.
A deity who becomes a "saint" can be killed, even by mortal adventurers.
During turbulent times, many gods perished, and the Three Gods of Death were three of them.
It was also during that period that a famous adventurer party was formed, consisting of the warrior Kranvor, the mage Midnight, the thief Cyric, and the priest Aidon.
For their merit in retrieving the Tablet of Destiny, they were elevated to godhood by the supreme god Eo.
The thief Cyric inherited the divine office of the three gods of death, while the mage Midnight inherited the position of the goddess of magic, who also died during the turbulent years.
Later, Cyric went mad and was imprisoned by the gods.
After Cyrek became a god, Cranvor was given the godhood of death due to a certain event.
Therefore, the current Grim Reaper is none other than "Death God" Crannwo.
Unlike the previous gods of death, Crannvo is a god of order.
He emphasized death as an inevitable part of the life cycle, hated undead beings, and asked believers to help the dying to leave this world with dignity.
Its pastor was responsible for presiding over funerals, fighting necromancy, and using the unclaimed estate to spread its doctrines.
The cemetery at Baldur's Gate is now managed by the priests of Cranvor.
Legend has it that, in order to better fulfill his duties as the god of death, Cranvor once learned from the ancient god of death, Jego, how to manage matters of death.
Perhaps this statue of Jego was erected here by Cranvo to express his respect for Jego.
Ronan's gaze shifted from the statue of Jego and then toward his mother's tombstone.
He took out a burlap sack from his dimensional bag and wiped the dust off the tombstone.
Then, a bunch of tulips was placed in front of the tombstone.
……
Ronan bought some snacks for breakfast, and after eating, he sat cross-legged on the bed again to practice the Zhou Tian Yin Qi Jue (a method of circulating Qi throughout the body).
Indeed, in this world, death is not the end.
Some mortals, who toil their entire lives, are able to enter the realm of gods after death.
However, he was an unbeliever; for him, death, if he was lucky, would be the end, but if he was unlucky, it might be the beginning of misfortune.
Therefore, he seeks immortality on the continent of Faerûn.