Arcane Journey

Chapter 268 The Fallen Ranger

The name of this book is "The Wonderful Legend of Wisteria Valley".

Wrapped in green leather, leaves and vines have been carefully seared in the front and back cover corners.

The title on the front of the cover is embossed in gold, but there is no author's signature on the outside or inside of the book.

The book is six inches wide, nine inches high, and one inch thick.

The thick cream-colored pages exude a faint fragrance of flowers and herbs, and the handwriting is neat and steady, and each line is written with skillful calligraphy.

While the design of the book is simple, the quality of workmanship and materials is top notch.

There is no doubt that this is a magic item.

After reading the contents of the book, Brian only learned about it.

Wisteria Valley in the magic demiplane is actually the name of a village.

It was originally located along the Taisha River in the north of the Cormanthor Forest in the material world, that is, west of Zhentil Castle, the headquarters of the Zhentarim Society, and it was destroyed more than ten years ago.

Dove Hawkhand, the chosen one of the Goddess of Magic, and her only son, Azala, was fostered in Wisteria Valley since he was a child, and spent a complete childhood carefree.

According to the book, Azara is a boy who likes to tell stories. He inherited the lineage of his ranger parents, which gave him an excellent hunting talent.

Azara helps her adoptive parents on the farm during the day and performs at the tavern at night, entertaining all the villagers.

When Azara was about to come of age, Rathmore the Cruel, a lord from Zhentil Keep, came to Wisteria Valley, demanding drink, food, and a place where he and his entourage could be lodged.

Because the lord didn't like the hospitality of the villagers of Wisteria Valley, he burned the village and committed a brutal massacre.

Lord Rathmore, however, only let Azara live as a witness to the massacre of the villagers.

But before that, the cruel lord slashed Azara's face open with a crystal dagger.

The event changed Azara forever, and he vowed to overthrow the ruthless lord and never allow him to harm anyone again.

Azara used his ranger talent to follow in the footsteps of Lord Rathmore and came to a busy city called Tethway.

The young ranger didn't know how to proceed, so he started scouring the city for news.

He was approached by a wizard who told him that she was from a secret order that wanted to bring down Lord Rathmore and others corrupted by evil.

The wizard invited Azara to join the secret society, which he accepted, and he became a member of the Harpers.

With the help of the Harpers, Azara disguised himself as a performer and infiltrated Lord Rathmore's estate during a banquet, exiling Rathmore once and for all.

Though his vengeance has been accomplished, Azara remains steadfast in the fact that there are many others corrupted by evil in this land, and only those like him and the Harpers can stop them.

Over time, Azara, who inherited his parents' talents as a ranger, gradually became more powerful, and using his talents of divine magic and espionage, he single-handedly took down many corrupt lords and evil lords within the Zhentarim's rule. mages.

Though Azara is a legend both within and outside the Harpers, he remains humble, making it his duty to protect others.

Unsurprisingly, an accident occurred.

Azara in Zhentil Keep fighting an archmage corrupted by an ancient crystal touched by the evil god Cyric.

Although Azara killed the evil archmage, his own prolonged contact with the crystal actually corrupted the legendary ranger, causing him to think that his former allies were too powerful and must be eliminated.

Until a cure is found, the Harpers come up with a solution to keep Azara from harming others: banish him to a magical demiplane.

Wisteria Valley is a demiplane created by the elf mage Sirinxi.

Azara was placed on the demiplane for one purpose only: to imprison him here until they could develop a cure for his corruption.

Everything about Wisteria Valley in the books was bright and colorful, tailored to make Azara feel comfortable and happy.

The weather here is always sunny and warm, and there is only sufficient rainfall to cultivate crops.

Wisteria flowers are always in full bloom amidst the verdant greenery, and the air is filled with the soothing sounds of nature, from birdsong to crickets to the breeze rustling the leaves.

The book's story ends with a short monologue from the Harper wizard, who befriended Azara years ago, who says that while Azara's ultimate fate remains unknown, one day the Light will cast out the Darkness.

To reverse Azara's corruption, his parents commissioned the Harpers to create a dagger infused with several cleansing magics.

This magical dagger is carved from a single sheet of amethyst, with leather wrapped around the hilt and tiny runes inlaid on the flat of the blade.

When light hits the dagger, the blade appears to glow from the inside out.

The dagger resembled the one that scarred Azara as a child.

To activate the magic within the dagger, the weapon must pierce the flesh of a specific target, and after the cleansing magic is cast, the dagger loses its magical properties.

Unfortunately, the plan has not yet been implemented, and Azala's parents died in a sneak attack ambushed by the Princes of Shadow in the Misty Valley.

The enchanted dagger fell into the hands of Storm, who eventually passed it on to Brian.

The purpose of Brian's trip to the magic demiplane "Wisteria Valley" is to find Azara, and stab the magic dagger into his body to purify the soul of this legendary ranger.

In this way, after the reformed ranger Azara returned to the material world, he could use his perception to call back the soul of his mother wandering in the Misty Valley.

As a result, Brian can use the silver fire energy of Dove and Storm to complete the fusion of the source of arcane energy and the arcane fire, and step into the realm of legend.

After sorting out the clues of this mission, Brian studied the book while patiently waiting for the arrival of the drow girl Santilla.

In fact, he originally intended to go alone, but the Harper leader claimed that this magical demiplane was so special that once inside, the only way to leave the demiplane was to destroy it by healing or killing Azara.

Moreover, a group of beholder tyrants broke into it.

So, in order to prevent accidents, let Santilla follow him.

About 10 minutes later, the beautiful figure of the drow girl appeared in the room.

As usual, Santilla was wearing traveling boots, skinny leather trousers and a silk tunic popular among the drow, a fine chain vest and a goblin cloak.

Of course, the most striking thing is her unrestrained, wild-looking thick white hair, and her pair of spiritual blue eyes.

"Brian, where are we going?" Santilla came to him cheerfully, leaned on the table, and asked curiously.

"Go to a demiplane." Brian did not look up, carefully studying the contents of the book.

This book was obtained by Storm from Dove. She didn't know how to open the demiplane, but only knew that the opening method was hidden in the content of the book.

In this case, he can only study by himself.

"Demiplane, I haven't been to a place other than the material world." Santilla's eyes lit up, she stretched her neck and leaned in front of the book, and said expectantly, "That must be fun."

"We're here to save people, not to play." Brian looked up at her and said.

"You can also play while saving people." The drow girl said nonchalantly.

"It's fun, it's fun, it's trouble, but little princess, you have to know that saving people is a very serious matter."

Brian emphasized in a slightly serious tone: "Whether this rescue will be successful or not is also related to whether we can defeat the City of Shadows. Therefore, I don't want you to take this adventure as a swanky spectacle." travel."

There is still some reason for him to say that. If the rescue is successful, not only will there be an extra ranger in their camp whose strength has reached the legendary realm, even he himself will be able to advance successfully.

Invisibly, two more legendary professionals appeared directly.

"Don't call me little princess, I have already cut ties with the city of Ancient Orens and the family." Santilla stared at Brian, and said in a dissatisfied tone, "It's hard for him to leave the Underdark completely, so I won't Go back."

"But don't worry, Brian, I will protect you." Then, she straightened up, patted her plump chest confidently, and assured him.

Brian ignored her and continued to search for clues in the book.

"Oh, by the way, Brian." Santilla wrapped her small hands around the hair hanging on her chest boredly, as if thinking of something, she chatted with him again, "Do you still remember when we were in the Underdark, Did you tell me the story? It sounds very interesting, tell me some more."

"Miss, don't you see what I'm busy with?" Brian raised his head and glanced at her angrily.

When he saw the cute appearance of the drow girl who was about to cry because of aggrievedness, he knew that the other party was pretending on purpose, but his heart softened, and he quickly smiled and said to her, "When I find someone who has entered the demiplane Let’s talk about the method.”

"You haven't found a way yet, do you need my help?" Santilla made a face at him, and leaned closer to him with a smile, her thick white hair hanging down, blocking his sight.

Brian stretched out his hand to brush away the hair that was lingering with the girl's fragrance, and finally found a strange sentence in the content of the book: We hold the light high, secrets cannot be hidden, and darkness will be driven out forever.

Santilla also noticed this sentence, her eyes lit up, and she immediately said to Brian, "This is a puzzle that requires a literal interpretation of the adage, and the harpers in Shadow Valley like this kind of nonsense. , I have seen it many times at Teacher Storm."

She directly grabbed the book in Brian's hand and said, "The meaning of this sentence is to hold this book high, face the light, and make the darkness invisible."

After finishing speaking, the drow girl took the book and came to the window to meet the bright sunshine.

Brian got up and walked over, watching Santilla's actions curiously.

In fact, when he saw this sentence, he thought for a while and thought of this method.

When the sunlight hit the page, Brian immediately saw a phrase written in magic ink emerge at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"The League of Harpers is with the light!" Santilla read the emerging words to the book in the sunlight.

When she uttered these words, the book trembled and flew into the air, the pages turned automatically, separated from the binding, and then rearranged to form an oval magic portal.

"Bryan, did you see that? The mystery has been solved." Santilla walked up to Bryan and said happily.

Brian smiled and rubbed the girl's thick white hair, and stepped into a portal made of book pages with her.

After the two of them passed through the portal, the pages of the book were automatically arranged in the original form, restored into a book, and appeared in Brian's hands.

When Brian opened his eyes, he found himself in a desolate and dilapidated world, not the same as he had imagined 'wisterias always blooming amidst the verdant green leaves, and the air was filled with the soothing sounds of nature, from birdsong to crickets. The chirping, and then the breeze blowing the leaves', the gap is not generally large.

"Where are we going now?" Santilla asked while walking on a desolate gravel path.

Suddenly, thunderclouds rolled in from the dark sky, and the surrounding space suddenly became pitch black. Silent lightning kept flashing in the clouds, as if a heavy rain was brewing.

In the blink of an eye, the sky cleared again, and nearby objects suddenly lost their color, becoming a single gray and dull.

Feeling strange phenomena appearing one after another in the space and weather, Brian knew that this magical demiplane was likely to be destroyed by the beholder tyrant.

He looked around thoughtfully, and said to the vigilant girl next to him, "This demiplane is not big, let's find a place called 'Wisteria Valley' first, and make a decision after learning the details. "

"Are people still living here?" Santilla looked at Brian and asked like a curious baby.

"That's right." Brian nodded slightly, and explained to her, "However, it's not a real living body, but a constructed creature."

According to the specific situation about the demiplane explained by the storm, let him know.

The Demiplane In order to enrich the demiplane's population without endangering any innocents, the wizards of the Harper created a construct out of wooden mannequins to impersonate the villagers.

Magic makes them look like flesh and blood, and the constructs themselves are convincingly real humanoids that live only in Wisteria Valley.

Detecting magical spells does not reveal their true nature, since each construct is protected by a spell that makes it appear to have no magical effects.

While these artificial villagers can physically interact with their surroundings and hold lengthy conversations, there are still clues to their true nature.

The purpose of making the construct is to simulate a real world for the fallen ranger Azara, trying to enable him to gradually find his true self in this peaceful and peaceful life.

"If the scope is not large, it will be relatively simple. Let me help you locate the village." Santilla pondered for a while, and volunteered to Brian.

Then, she closed her eyes, opened her jade lips lightly, and quickly recited a series of divine spells.

Bursts of light green aura spread out from Santilla's body at an extremely fast speed.

After a while, the drow girl slowly opened her eyes, as if recalling the picture that appeared in her mind.

Bryan knew that the other party was using the knight-errant magic "earth ley detection", which allowed her to accurately detect rivers, lakes, villages and towns, or even some cave lairs within 50 kilometers nearby.

"From here, go southeast for about 15 kilometers, there is a forest, through the forest, is our destination: Wisteria Valley." Santilla said to Brian.

Brian gave her an appreciative look, and followed the direction she pointed.

At this moment, a meat ball with tentacles suddenly appeared from a nearby rock pile, floated in front of the two of them, and screamed:
"Hey! Brian, you are the sixth child. Victor is hiding here, you can still find Victor, and you are still thinking about Victor's treasure."

(End of this chapter)