Chapter 17: 17 Iron Pot Stewed Goose

Chapter 17: 17. Iron Pot Stewed Goose

Dacus and the three siblings, Takaya, were on a high ridge outside the village, surveying the chaotic scene before them. He had a vague premonition that something would happen in the latter half of the night, so instead of letting the three siblings go into the village to seek amusement, he had them conserve their strength.

Yawning as he lay bored upon his saddle, he even felt a sudden craving for iron pot stewed goose. One moment he was pondering how to prepare the goose, and the next he was wondering if there was something wrong with his psyche—had he been influenced too deeply? Was he being assimilated? Or was this simply his true nature?

The squad of Black Ark pirates from that afternoon still stood guard by Dacus's side. Seeing the two Avignon Saviors with their heads bowed, the pirates grabbed them by their heads, forcing them upward and pinning their eyes open, compelling them to witness it all.

Dacus glanced at the two knights again. Originally, he had thought about bringing them here to force a duel between them and the old farmers. If the farmers won, they would still end up as slaves. If the knights won, their faith would likely collapse, and the Goddess of the Lake would no longer favor them.

Perhaps he might even witness a scene where a goddess possessed someone to berate Dacus. Then, like stirring a hornet's nest, the nearby knight lords would receive divine oracles in their dreams to besiege him. If luck was on his side, the War Maiden and her Lion Knights might also arrive; before boarding the ship, he might even stage a grand drama of the Drukhari Cold Lizards' fearful knights battling the knights of the Kingdom of Bretonnia.

A pure agent of chaos, yet Dacus couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Looking up at the twin moons in the sky, he felt no urge to recite poetry.

Dacus fell into deep thought: "Actions must have motives. Right now, the village is being burned as revenge because someone pointed a lance at my nose. And then there's that meal tonight—is my cooking really that easy to eat? The problem is, am I prepared to face that madwoman?"

Why was Dacus so wary of dealing with her? Because that woman was a genuine pitfall. While there might be a thousand different perspectives on a Harley motorcycle, Dacus believed that after a thousand people got to know her, they would all say she was a disaster.

"The problem is that provoking her yields no benefit, only momentary satisfaction. I might even have to take a trip to the Ellyrion forest later; after all, the incarnation of Vaul is still there, and if I remember correctly, her champion Alaros is there too. Furthermore, that five-thousand-year-old 'Shadow King' Aris Annal of Assur is not someone the current me can afford to provoke; if he intercepts me at sea on the way back, I truly won't be able to hold him off. This isn't looking for fun; this is straight-up seeking death. As for that magical genius? He's about my age, right?"

"Morayge Heg said my destiny is unpredictable. Perhaps I should have a chat with her?"

Dacus began to ask, "Flanes, which god do you believe in?"

Flanes hesitated for a long time before saying uncertainly, "Kaine, the God of Blood Hands?"

"Rain, what about you?"

"Kaine, I guess?"

Dacus sighed. "Fire of Assur! Alisha, I assume you must believe in Hecate, the Goddess of Magic."

Alisha had been hoping Dacus would ask her, but she hadn't expected him to state it so definitively.

"Yes, my Lord."

Dacus turned to the captain of the Black Ark pirates and asked, "And you?"

"My Lord, I believe in Mathalan, the Lord of the Abyss."

*Hmm, expected.* Dacus nodded, then had every Black Ark pirate state their faith. Nine believed in Mathalan, and one believed in Kaine.

In this world, every race had its own gods.

For instance, the Greenskins believed in Gork and Mork; the Ogres, who could never eat enough, believed in the Great Maw; the Skaven believed in the Great Horned Rat—yes, yes!

The Bretonnian knightly class believed in the Lady of the Lake, while some knight lords in Poictout believed in both the Lady and Mannslayer. As for the peasantry, they generally believed in folk deities from the south. The knight lords disliked the peasants' devotion to the Lady, though they certainly didn't stop collecting tithes during alms-giving.

The foundation of the Empire was steel, gunpowder, and faith—specifically, the faith in Sigmar, the founder of the Empire and its guardian god.

Aside from Sigmar, the Empire's primary faiths were divided into three categories: the Old Gods, the Folk Gods, and the Regional Gods. Ulric, Taal, Rhea, Mannslayer, and Morr were the Old Gods, representing War, Nature, Fertility, the Ocean, and Death, respectively. Folk Gods were brought from the southern city-states through trade and exchange, such as Verena, Myrmidia, Slaanesh, and Lileath—the guardians of Wisdom, Strategy, Mercy, and Guile, respectively. Regional Gods were generally river gods or similar, along with very niche deities like the God of Wine.

Within the Empire, there were also hidden cults worshipping Slaanesh, the God of Love and Art, and Tzeentch, the God of Wisdom and Knowledge—a name that sounded quite positive.

Elven culture was permeated with mysticism and magic. Elves believed their gods were always watching them, that they were a part of them. An elf believed that every movement and every thought was, to some extent, mystical, so everything they did was connected to the gods.

The Elven gods were the faith of all elves, whether they were the Asur living in the "toilet seat" of Ulthuan, the Drukhari in the frozen wastes of Naggaroth, or the Aslai living in the trees of Ellyrion.

Of course, the elves had a special period. The great Phoenix King—the current Witch King, His Majesty Malekith—had a mother, Morathi, who had once secretly organized a cult of pleasure worshipping Slaanesh. The Matriarch of the House of the Hellish Calamity, Ansarra, had also been a core member of the cult, even reaching the rank of Elder. After all, how else could she be Morathi's best friend of six thousand years?

However, this cult was destroyed a long, long time ago, back when the elves had not yet split, by Morathi's "devoted" son through a display of "filial piety." Now, these two best friends claimed different things: Morathi claimed to believe in Asaty, the Goddess of Desire, while Ansarra believed in Hecate, the Goddess of Magic. As for what they believed in behind closed doors? Dacus had never been blessed by Khorne, the God of Courage and Glory, so he didn't dare ask his Matriarch.

There were twenty-two Elven gods, divided into the Cadai pantheon and the Cethelai pantheon—the gods of the heavens and the gods of the underworld, the remnants of the previous cycle. Morayge Heg, who had blessed Dacus, held many titles, such as "Soul Keeper," "Fate Weaver," and "The Old Woman." She belonged to the Lawful Neutral type, offending no one on either side, and naturally, neither side provoked her; they were typical acquaintances who weren't close.

The Asur in Ulthuan believed in the Cadai pantheon, led by the "autistic riddle-maker" Asur, the Creator God. Following him were Vaul, the God of Forging; Isha, the Mother Goddess; Khaine, the God of Hunting; Hoeth, the Lord of Wisdom; Lileath, the Pure Maiden, and so on. The Asur also treated Khaine with caution, offering small sacrifices before war, but Khaine never paid them any mind because the sacrifices were too meager.

The Drukhari in Naggaroth believed in the Cethelai pantheon, led by the manic Khaine. Following him were Erys Hai, the Pale Queen; Anes Lema, the Goddess of the Wild Hunt; Hecate, the Goddess of Magic; Ladrilee, the Mistress of Mists; Dracolla, the Revenge Queen, and so on.

The official state religion of the Drukhari was Khaine. Malekith declared himself the Chosen of Khaine, claiming to be the incarnation of the god. In reality, he wasn't; it was merely to satisfy political needs and achieve the unification of church and state. In truth, he was the Chosen of Asur. The true Chosen of Khaine was someone else—no, rather, it was the Asur. That fellow should be born by now, and he'd be the same age as Dacus. Destiny is truly unpredictable.

The headquarters of the Khaine cult was located in Haar Gansi, one of the five major port cities of Naggaroth, ruled by the "madwoman" Helben, a pink-haired "moe girl" who had lived for over six thousand years. The executioner leader of the Khaine cult, Turaris the Dread-Sower, was also there.

Khaine, known as the "God of Blood Hands" and "Lord of Murder," was the Elven god of violence, war, cruelty, bloodshed, destruction, and murder. He was the Lord of Murder, the ruthless incarnation of evil tenets. Why did the Drukhari worship Khaine? Because this manic god was incredibly effective—he answered every prayer! Sincerity brings results! If you sacrificed blood before battle to please Khaine, and he was satisfied, he would truly grant you combat buffs and the blessing of slaughter.

But it had to be blood sacrifices, and it didn't matter whose. Dacus remembered once when Turaris went on an expedition to the Nekhara desert and fought against skeletons; Khaine wouldn't accept those things at all. In the end, because they couldn't win the fight, they had to sacrifice half of the Drukhari. After winning that battle, Turaris simply took a ship and fled, not even looking back.

Thus, serving in the Drukhari military was a massive pitfall. Often, their casualties in combat with the Asur were higher than the enemy's, because moving forward meant a chance of death, and moving backward meant certain death. Sometimes, a soldier would just report to a centuria to fill a vacancy, and before his seat was even warm, the centuria would be punished for a military failure and sacrificed to Khaine. Many died for no apparent reason; where could they go to seek justice?

But there was no choice. The Drukhari civilian class was no better than the Bretonnian peasantry. While it wasn't the case that only three people became nobles every thousand years, it was still extremely rare, though at least there was a path. Aside from joining the military, people went to sea, became street urchins, or joined the city guard through connections. Incidentally, nepotism was rampant in the Drukhari high command; that madwoman Helben's father was a good friend of Malekith. The husband of Ansarra, Matriarch of the House of the Hellish Calamity—the young lord Nukel—was also a good friend of Malekith, though he died during the Great Sundering.

The southern cities, like Dacus's hometown of Krakalond, were different. This place featured the landmark Tower of Destruction, where female sorceresses practiced magic. The "985/211" equivalent of Drukhari magical academies—the dark sorcery monasteries—were located in the northern fortress city of Guld, Morathi's stronghold. One in the south, one in the north, they corresponded; the two best friends used magic spheres for long-distance video chatting.

The area beneath the Tower of Destruction was filled with various beasts, making it a paradise for beastmasters. The city also had many sailors and pirates, as the Drukhari shipyards were located here.

Therefore, the mainstream religion of this city was Hecate, the Goddess of Magic, followed by Anes Lema, the Goddess of the Wild Hunt, and Mathalan, the Lord of the Abyss. The Khaine cult was somewhat diminished here and took a backseat. The people in the cult spent every day hoping for nobles to offer sacrifices so they could satisfy their itch for violence—after all, theory must be combined with practice. The thing they looked forward to most each year was finding "fun" during the Midnight of Death, though they had to scout the area first. They didn't dare go to the noble districts; going there meant being the "fun" that got beaten to death.

As for the faith of the Drukhari nobility, don't ask—the answer is Khaine. Didn't you see them paying high prices to the Asur to be sacrificed to Khaine when they weren't at war? Whether they truly believed or not, they had to perform the rituals properly. Of course, some fanatics truly believed.

The Drukhari lower class and basic soldiers basically worshipped Khaine, while other faiths were based on profession. For example, some Naggarond Black Guards worshipped Edrez, the Lord of Blades; some fire-based sorceresses worshipped Adares, the Fire God; Dark Riders worshipped Nisu, the Gatekeeper of the Ultimate Gate; and Wychlings and Khaine Assassins certainly worshipped Khaine.

Of course, most Drukhari also worshipped Erys Hai, the Pale Queen, because this god ensured their souls would not be devoured or toyed with by Slaanesh after death. There was no rule saying one could only follow one god; in short, Drukhari faith was extremely, extremely utilitarian.

As for the Aslai in the trees of Ellyrion, they were led by Khaine, the God of Hunting, and Isha, the Mother Goddess, since their incarnations were there. Consequently, whenever winter arrived, the incarnation of Khaine would willingly walk into the pyre, only to achieve a thunderous rebirth at the start of spring. On the eve of every Spring Equinox, the Wild Cavalry would select a young prince to serve as the vessel for Khaine's incarnation for the following year. This chosen one would be guided to the Great Tree and granted the protection of Isha's incarnation. There, she would use the flesh of the chosen one and the soul of Khaine to reshape her deceased husband and perform the miracle of rebirth.

Question: Exactly how many male nobles are there in Aslai?

The faith of Aslai was without taboo; they worshipped both the Cadai and Cethelai pantheons. They followed their own needs: those working the forge worshipped Vaul, the God of Forging; the Eternal Guards worshipped Edrez, the Lord of Blades; the War Dancers worshipped Loyke, the Deceiver; and the warriors of the Pine Cliffs chose to worship Anes Lema, the enemy of Khaine.

Dacus suddenly thought of a joke from his previous life. At the end of time, when Ulthuan sank, someone asked an Asur what he believed in. The Asur held his head high and said proudly, "I have no faith; I am a staunch atheist!"

The joke wasn't funny at all, and these Elven gods all shared a common habit: "I know everything, but I say nothing."

Thinking about having to deal with these entities made Dacus's head ache. He said to the captain of the Black Ark pirates, "Go, go to the village and get pigs, cows, chickens, ducks, geese—get as many as you can. You know what these are, right?"

"My Lord, I do!"

"Good. Tomorrow I'm having iron pot stewed goose, and you'll have some too."

The difference between a Champion and a Chosen is that a Champion is someone who gets the most likes, while a Chosen is someone the god thinks is "lit."

This chapter was hard to write; the next one will be harder.

_(:з」∠)_

(End of Chapter)