mouse? Not a rat! No rats! The Skaven have always been a human figment and an unreal existence.
Ren and the others did not encounter any rats last night. Although they found traces of rat activity... they encountered something as evil as rats.
The University District of Altdorf not only has the Temple of the Goddess of Wisdom and the five major campuses, but also a small museum, which displays archaeological relics excavated from Altdorf and the surrounding areas, mainly from the elven colonial period and the Sigmar tribe period. Of course, it benefits from Due to the existence of alumni and clubs, there are also artifacts from various forms of donations.
The story starts from before, but this time it’s a completely new story! On the forest path in Rickland, a unique eagle statue with spread wings and bright eyes stands on the top of a pure white sandstone pillar, with the pillar tilting slightly to the south. This eagle without any words or inscriptions has been eroded by wind and rain for centuries, and the surface of the statue has been vicissitudes of life. Gradually, this eagle represents the historical boundary of a barony and an earldom.
This pattern can be traced back to about 500 years in the Imperial Calendar. At that time, the emperor of the empire was Sigismund the Conqueror. It was he who named Altdorf Altdorf and established the imperial government in Altdorf. At that time, the empire His territory was not as large as it would be later, and some humans were still in the tribal age. Then, he was named a conqueror.
Therefore, this eagle without any words or inscriptions is also considered by humans to be a product used to mark territorial boundaries during that period. The baron even incorporated elements of this eagle into the design of the family coat of arms. Whenever the baron mobilized At that time, the statue also became a rallying point for troops.
At the same time, the statue is also regarded as a symbol of good luck. Soldiers leaving the baron or earldom and travelers passing by will pray to the statue for good luck. After the soldiers return from the battlefield, they will sing to the statue to express their gratitude. Some excited soldiers Captured helmets are also placed on the eagle head of the statue, and travelers believe that touching the beak of the statue can help them see the road ahead.
This was all good at first, but it turned sour over time. The new baron in the barony was very ambitious. He was not satisfied with the ancient boundary between the family territory and the count's rune territory, especially the weird things that the farmers around the statue always found. Bronze weapons, these excavated weapons can be used directly and can be sold for a considerable income.
The baron paid Altdorf's old heraldic school a sum of money to help investigate ancient land grant deeds. Soon after, he discovered a loophole. The deed stated that the boundaries of the barony were bounded by the eagle statue, so a bold idea It came to his mind that since the statue was used as the boundary, he should move the statue appropriately. Then he actually did it. He organized a group of people to take advantage of the count's lack of attention. The statue was dug up and moved to the opposite earldom so that he could gain legal backing to gain ownership of part of the earldom.
I have to admit that the baron's approach was very creative, just like moving a boundary marker to claim territory. However, the countess was not a fool. She dug up the statue when the baron was not paying attention, but she did not act like the baron. She thought there was no point in putting the statue back in its place.
The Countess, a noble lady who had studied at the University of Altdorf, also came up with a bold idea. She sent the dug-out statue to Altdorf as an alumnus. University. It also shows that the statue is a symbol of friendship between the earldom and the barony, confirming the glory of the Rickland and Sigismund era. It is extremely educational and guiding and can inspire students. At the same time, she concentrates the family's army in the territory. border with the barony.
The baron, who had suffered the loss of being mute, could not tell the story of his suffering. He could not go to the Altdorf court to appeal, nor could he ask for it back from the Altdorf University. The countess's reasons were so loud that she even borrowed his name. Once he did this, his reputation would be ruined in Rick's territory. Human life is short, and with his death, the matter came to an end, and the statue has been standing in the museum of Altdorf University.
However, this statue is not a product of Sigismund's time. Its history goes back much further. The sandstone pillars below the statue extend underground and are connected to the rest of a huge structure. They are the remains of a failed military expedition thousands of years ago. .
At this time, it was necessary to renew the relationship. The initiator of this expedition was King Zandili Lahotep. He was the ruler of Zandili. He gave the trio to Khemri so that Nagash could contact him. Knowing the existence of black magic, his actions caused him to be restless after his death. Many years after his death, Nagash resurrected all the dead in Nehekhara through rituals, and he was resurrected as expected.
After his resurrection, Rahotep looked at his former territory and actions, and was filled with anxiety and frustration. So he led his legion all the way north to conquer the old world. Finally, he entered the current Reikland, walking with armies and structures. in the forest. He was looking for a worthy opponent, not those primitive men. In the end, the effort paid off and he found the dwarf.
Each nation and species has some characteristics and traditions. For example, Nehekhara's army will send an outstanding archer before the war to shoot at the opponent's army to get a reward. If he hits a flag or an important target, it will be huge. To boost morale, on the contrary, it will lower morale. Excellent shooters will no longer be outstanding and will suffer bad luck later. In addition, huge obelisks were built to show the greatness of the rulers.
Taking advantage of the opportunity for the Tomb King to build the obelisk, the dwarf engineers used their special skills. They carried out tunnel operations and dug all the way to the bottom of the Tomb King's military camp. The Tomb King had never seen such tactics before, and finally they detonated The gunpowder and mines buried in the tunnels were removed, and the subsidence caused by the explosion caused the structures that were important supports in the Tomb King's army to sink into the ground.
Once these structures that were precious enough to support the Tomb King's army system were gone, the remaining skeletons were just a dish. Finally, Lahotep returned to peace. It is said that his tomb is somewhere in Reikland. Location.
In the southern continent of the old world, in Zandiri of Nehekhara, in a house without sunlight, the resurrected "Construction Master" Miket was thinking. He was good at making structures during his lifetime, and Rick took the The huge structure was his outstanding achievement and his high tribute to the gods of Nehekhara. However, after a foolish expedition northward, the structure disappeared, and he was filled with resentment.
Finally, with the assistance of the Lich Priest, Miket discovered that his outstanding creation was still intact. He planned to go to the location of the construct and release his outstanding creation. When he completed his revenge, he would bring the construct back to Ni Hekala. He then embarked on a journey to the Old World, where he and his warriors used disguises to make themselves appear indistinguishable from the living. Soon after, a group of strange foreign businessmen appeared in Reikland. They were willing to pay large sums of money to hire adventurers to help them find war sites in history, and at the same time, they spent large sums of money to acquire ancient items. The weapons flowing out from the statue fell into Miket's hands, and he also knew the location of the structure. However, when he checked on the spot, he found that the statue that activated the structure was missing. He inquired for a long time, and finally found The statue of Zhizhi is in the University of Altdorf.
Gilead and Fiswell came to Altdorf a few months ago, but they did not encounter the Assur mission operating in Altdorf, nor did they meet Enil entrenched in the slums of the North City. The two have been active in Dongcheng District since they entered Altdorf. An old human, who was more of a liar than a scholar, provided the two with a place to stay.
This old man was saved by Gilead when he was young. He was said to be a liar because the old man made up a story through his contact with Gilead. He gained the title of scholar by publishing this half-true and half-false story, and thus gained He found a way to learn knowledge, and in the end, he, who was already a bit talented, really became a scholar. He is afraid of Gilead's appearance. He is afraid that Gilead will expose him and everything he has will be lost, even if he is already lying in bed and unable to move, he will no longer need anyone to take care of him when he is dying.
Just like using fake academic qualifications to enter a company, no matter how capable you are, once you are found to have falsified your resume, the consequences will be...
"I always thought he was weak-willed, greedy, selfish, and self-righteous. When I met him fifty years ago, He is just like that, too cruel, too arrogant, and doesn’t even have the desire to change, let alone complete a fundamental change in personality." Gilead Rui, who had already started eating, commented.
Normally, humans would have let go by this time, such as relief or other emotions, but the old man did not because he accidentally obtained a talisman.
Gilead said that the old man would often hold the talisman in the sun when the sun shone into the house, breathe on the talisman, and wipe it. Although he was a warrior, he had the magical affinity of elves, and he noticed the problem with the talisman. , he held this amulet in his hand more than once. He suspected that this amulet was a magic item and was related to the south. Perhaps the old man believed that the amulet could provide strength and immortality.
The compacted earth on the road seemed to slough off and dry, and the sound the wheels made as they rolled was no longer a crunch against hard earth but a soft rustle as they moved through the sand.
The strange thing was that the road behind the carriage seemed to be being repaired and hardened again, turning into compacted dirt, but where the wheels had passed through it left two deep grooves, which were filled with more sand. . The men surrounding the carriage wore no shoes or sewn gloves on their hands and feet to protect them from road hazards, blisters and calluses from driving the carriage. Instead, they were tied with dusty linen, and their faces were hidden by the hoods of their cloaks, so that the humans passing by could not see their faces at all.
The contents of the carriage were covered with dirty, torn tarpaulins, and underneath were all clay pots, no more than half a meter tall, with rounded bellies, narrowing at the shoulders, and sealed with carved wooden lids In the right place, the body of the jar is engraved with a language composed entirely of hieroglyphics. Likewise, the color of the jar is too light and too yellow. These characteristics make the jar seem to come not from somewhere in the empire, but from the world. other corners.
A human child was sitting on a stone by the roadside, chewing intently on the dried meat his grandmother had dried after the winter. When he found the carriage very close to him, he was frightened and opened his mouth, letting the dried meat fall on the ground. on the road. At this moment, the wheels of the carriage were very close to him, close enough to touch him. A stream of yellow sand spurted out from under his feet and hit his face where he was bending down to pick up dried meat.
When the carriage left, the child tried to breathe, but he could no longer breathe, his hands convulsed with panic, and the precious dried meat he had picked up fell to the ground again, falling into a puddle of sand at his feet. He put his hand over his throat and tried to cough. His fingers pressed against the skin of his throat. He felt that the skin on his hands was stiff and hard, and the skin on his neck was dry and soft.
The child's eyes widened, his eyes too dry to close again. His gums receded instantly, and his teeth were like wooden nails hammered into the face of a dry old corpse. A gust of wind blew, and instead of falling or falling backward, he fell sideways. There was no softness left in his body, all the softness had been sucked away, and his clothes became colorless, turning into pieces the moment he fell, and then blown away by the wind.
No one knew the child, and no one claimed his body, not even his mother, who had spent days searching for him.
The carriage drove for days, weeks, and months, crossing the deserts of the south, rolling north, around the sea, and over the mountains, completely ignoring the sunrise and sunset, the waxing and waning of the sun, and the changes in the positions of the stars and the moon in the night sky.
The travelers headed by Miket only have one will, one purpose, and one mission to perform. Except for the section in Rick's Land, they have been pushing the cart on the most secluded roads, crossing the loneliest roads in the barren land. They have no reason to draw attention to themselves and no reason to mix with humans. They are not dominated by any functions of the human body and do not care about the passage of time. All of this is meaningless to them.
These heartless people don't eat, sleep, sweat, or drink, so they don't need to walk along waterways or streams like other travelers, and they don't breathe. Nor do they communicate with each other, they have only one purpose, and that purpose is all to each and all of them, requiring no discussion or agreement.
These resurrected beings need nothing from each other practically, materially, spiritually or emotionally. They are automatic machines, but they are not machines. They are living things, but they are not living things.