Plea For Help
At the thought of the task that the church had entrusted to her, Rafiniya suppressed her emotions and forced a smile. “This is pretty good! The captain mentioned it before in the north…”
‘Not bad. It looks like you’ve matured a little after entering the church, though it’s a pity that it’s not much use.’ Sensing her emotions, Leylin snickered inside. ‘Unfortunately, She’s far too naive.’
“Right, I still don’t know what happened to you…” Leylin now held a cup of hot tea like a child wanting to hear a story.
“Once we separated, I returned to Silverymoon and met Her Highness. Then, I took part in the city’s final defense…” Rafiniya laughed wryly, eyes glazed over as she immersed herself in her memories, “… Well, that’s what happened. That paladin saved me, and after I recovered, I joined the God of Justice’s church and have been working hard to protect the refugees in the north…”
“Right…” Leylin nodded gravely. He could sense that the devil mark he’d planted on her had already formed a perfect balance with the God of Justice’s strength.
‘A soul that’s balancing on a dangerous path? That’s even more interesting…’ Leylin’s thoughts didn’t make their way to his face. “I’ve heard of the God of Justice’s blessings. Is there anything else?”
Leylin looked unhurried as he held his cup, and Rafiniya wanted to sigh deeply. However, she thought back to her orders and spoke gravely, “I’m also here to ask my lord for help.”
“Help? What help?” The rising steam blocked the teasing look in Leylin’s eyes.
“It’s related to the north. We’ve already made contact with Queen Alustriel, and we’re trying all we can to help her restore the country. However, we currently lack strength and manpower, especially in terms of legendaries. While the church is doing all it can to help, there also similar problems in other areas…”
Tears began to well up in her eyes, “On account of those innocent commoners who are suffering in the north, I hope you can help us. After all, you were once helped by Silverymoon…”
‘How naive,’ Leylin shook his head, ‘You’re trying to invite a legendary without any form of payment?’
While he had gotten a lot of knowledge from Silverymoon, it was all earned from battle achievements and many other things. He didn’t feel like he owed the city anything.
In addition, he’d have to fight the orc empire if he joined this war. Even if Gruumsh was being suppressed by Mystra and Tyr, their emperor Saladin alone was a huge problem.
“I have something very important to do for now, I’ll be in the west for a while…” Leylin answered, causing the light in Rafiniya’s eyes to dim.
“However…” Just as she felt complete despair, Leylin changed his words, “I might be able to come to the north if you wait a while.”
“It won’t be a problem at all! We’re only preparing right now, and it’ll be years before we begin. I can wait!” Rafiniya stood up, looking emotional, “Whatever it is, thank you very much. The commoners who are being trampled upon by the orcs in the north will never forget your contributions…”
“Mm,” Leylin answered speechlessly, rolling his eyes inside. ‘If I didn’t have to go to the north for a bit to get something, do you think I would agree to this?’
Watching Rafiniya leave, Leylin stroked his chin as he sunk into deep thought. ‘I never expected this. Tyr’s church has already made contact with Alustriel, and they’re even trying to help her rebuild her kingdom. It seems like the God of Justice has plans for the north…
‘It is surprising that Alustriel agreed to this. Either Mystra and Tyr came to some sort of compromise, or she was moved by the refugees in the north. With her personality, it’s probably the latter…’
Tiff had informed Leylin that the humans in the north weren’t faring well. Other than the few lucky ones who’d managed to make it into the southern human nations, everyone was dead, exiled, or enslaved by the orcs. After all, the brutish creatures did not know agriculture, and needed human help in that department.
However, the feeling of a master becoming a slave felt terrible, and they were definitely treated worse than before. While Saladin was a wise emperor, he was still an orc. He needed to consider things from the orcs’ point of view.
In addition, even if the orc empire sent down order after order about it, slaves were still abused or killed for entertainment. The humans in the north were in a living hell right now.
After seeing this situation, Alustriel, who had been living in hiding, had probably changed her mind. After all she was the type that was soft-hearted and unable to watch the weak plead for help. Were it not for Mystra’s backing and her own strength, such a personality would have killed her countless times over by now.
‘How many gods are gambling on the turbulence in the north? Mystra will definitely want to make a comeback. Tyr has made his stance clear, but his true intentions are still unknown. What do the other gods think?’ Leylin’s brows furrowed slightly.
He’d been small fry in the past. No matter what he did, he would not attract attention from the gods. However, things were different now. Legendaries could affect battles with avatars, and his own stand would be important.
Leylin now had to consider every move carefully, else he might immediately form enmity.
‘Whatever it is, the moment I help Alustriel rebuild Silverymoon I’ll become an enemy of all orcish gods. The human gods have a questionable stand themselves…’ Leylin rubbed his eyebrows and sighed deeply, ‘But there is something I must get my hands on in the north. Even if it’s dangerous, I’ll need to give it a try!’
‘In order to get out of this uninjured, my strength will be key!’ Leylin’s target had never changed. No matter what the future held, he would never be wrong in working hard to increase his own strength.
‘I won’t be able to advance in rank significantly in just one or two years…’ It took centuries to increase in ranking after entering the legendary realm. Leylin was already extremely fast. Still, he was weak compared to avatars and the better-known legendaries.
‘Raising my own rank is too slow a way to strengthen myself in the short term. I can only rely on other items…’
The rules in the World of Gods were very stringent. Legendaries with high-ranked legendary items or divine weapons evidently surpassed all ordinary legendaries in terms of strength. Leylin now placed his focus on this aspect.
What divine weapons existed that could amplify one’s strength more than a floating city? A floating city was the most suitable artifact for a legendary arcanist in Netheril’s era. The two combined could even match a lesser god!
Besides Netheril’s greatest accomplishment in the Mise energy core, every floating city needed to merge with a semi-plane. This made every complete floating city equivalent to a divine realm. It was basically an impregnable stronghold!
‘If I obtain that floating city, I can do whatever I want in the prime material plane. I needn’t even be afraid of the gods’ avatars!’ Leylin himself was already a legendary arcanist. If he obtained that floating city, he could probably become even stronger than the legendary arcanists of Netheril’s time!
After all, the depth of Leylin’s research as a near rank 7 Warlock in the Magus World far surpassed that of ancient arcanists.
‘The first order of business is to deal with matters in the outer seas. I’ll then head for the western desert.’ Leylin’s eyes twinkled as he made his mind.
In the following days, Leylin met different envoys with great statuses. They had come from huge organisations in different parts of the continent, all offering Leylin their blessings on his advancement as well as gifts. However, they didn’t know him very well so there weren’t any deep conversations.
Leylin was glad to see this happen. Without conflicts of interest, he mixed well with the many envoys, and everyone was happy.
Afterwards, Leylin hosted a huge ceremony. He officially accepted the congratulations of other small groups as the edict from Dambrath’s king was announced.
The Faulen Family were now a lineage of Marquises, and were basically free to do anything in the outer seas. With a legendary wizard like Leylin there, the family’s glory and honour would last a long time. After all, wizards had long life spans.
The outer seas would count on this legendary to maintain this freedom. With all the small organisations nearby joining the Faulens, the entire outer seas had basically separated from Dambrath. The Faulen Family’s glory was only just beginning…