Chapter 19 The Ardaeus Temple
is located in the Ardaeus Temple in the Annuli Mountains. Masno is leading people to hold on here. This is the center of Caledor’s defense in the Annuli Mountains. He spent a week The newly trained troops have been stationed here for more than a month.
The Temple of Ardaeus was built before the Dragon Tamer period. As the fire god of the Sesarayi pantheon, Ardaeus was not favored by Assur, and even served as the Phoenix King in Isis. During the period, many thoughtful princes were tempted to demolish this temple, and when this idea reached the ears of Prince Caledor at that time.
According to the records circulating now, Prince Caledor at that time took ten dragon princes riding dragons to the Phoenix King's Court on the grounds of admonishing the Phoenix King. After that, the incident disappeared, but it also caused the card to be blocked at that time. Ledo's relations with various countries dropped to a freezing point, and it was only the Eternal Queen, the spiritual leader of Asul, who came forward that eased things slightly.
As a secretly marginalized religious group, the priests of Ardaeus built a strong fortress for their temple to prevent interference from monsters on the mountain and to prevent interested people from entering.
The Temple of Ardaeus is also in a very embarrassing situation in Caledor. As the ruler of the kingdom, the prince cannot openly support the worship of the Sesarayi pantheon, but Ardaeus is very important in the culture of Caledor. Importantly, the flames on the Dragonfire Lance were formed with the help of the priests of Ardaeus.
Imrik's destination is here. He plans to restart the people of Ardaeus Temple and let them assist the Vaal Church in maintaining the temperature of the volcano in the Dragon's Back Mountains.
But I have never met the high priest of Ardaeus. I only know a little about the high priest based on the teachings of the former prince. He is a cold and extremely passionate person. Coldness refers to his attitude towards people, while enthusiasm refers to his face. To his enemies, he greets their heads with the flaming axe.
The dragon keeps flying under the green light of Mosrib. For the creatures that have lived here for thousands of years, Minas Nir has already turned Caledor and the surrounding areas into his own hunting ground. He is very familiar with every area, and as a powerful being at the top of the world's food chain, he is completely able to block the influence of the evil moon and soar in the sky.
The person operating the Eagle Claw Ballista on the city wall noticed this huge dragon. When he looked around, he discovered the legendary Glory Star Dragon that could only be seen in legends. He was immediately attracted by it. As the dragon descended from its height, it was seen that the person above was the current Prince of Caledor.
Ignoring those who were defending on the city wall, Minasnir went directly to the open space in front of the temple. Imrik needed to see High Priest Ardaeus, and Masno would take over the defense here. Minasnir assists him when necessary.
After landing, Imric jumped off the dragon's back and asked Minasnir to wander around first. If he felt like he had nothing to do, he would go to support the city defense, and then turned to look at the temple.
The bottom of the temple is made of marble, but above it is a dome made of blocks of obsidian. The overall shape looks like a burning black flame. The eight stone pillars in front of the temple are also polished from a single giant piece of obsidian. Well, obsidian usually has a lot of magic in it. When such a large number of giant obsidian gather together, it should be said that it has become a whirlpool of magical wind, but with the divine power of Ardaeus, the magic here is The wind still maintains a normal concentration.
Without paying too much attention to the structure of this temple, I had already greeted you in advance for this visit. There were already two people in black robes in front of the door to greet me. They walked up to me and said, "Your Highness, the high priest is already in the temple. We've been waiting in the temple for a long time."
He nodded and asked them to lead the way. Most of the people in the temple were Caledonians, so they naturally knew their identities.
For reasons of martial arts, many people in Caledor even secretly built altars in certain places to worship Kane, the God of Blood Hands, and Edreeze, the Lord of Blades. There is a Lord of Blades in the basement of the Dragon Palace. altar.
The former prince and the original Imrik would pray from time to time, hoping that the Lord of Blades could guide the lance to penetrate the enemy's heart smoothly on the battlefield. I have never been there, and my current idea is to avoid contact with these gods. , just try not to contact. Following the two guides, Imrik soon arrived at the location of High Priest Ardaeus. A huge brazier was burning with fierce flames, without any fuel underneath, as if it was rising out of thin air.
In front of the brazier, there was a man in similar clothing to them, kneeling and praying. Imrik could feel the hot breath from the flames from a distance away, but the person in front of the brazier didn't seem to have any effect.
After bringing Imric to the sanctuary, the two bowed and retreated. The protection of Prince Caledor was the guarantee that this sanctuary could still exist in Ulthuan.
Caledonians all have this habit. They have a good attitude internally, but they maintain a consistent arrogance externally. Even if it is the worship of gods that is banned in other kingdoms, the Dragon Prince dares to resist.
Without rushing to communicate with the high priest, Imric could feel something watching him, from the flames, from the obsidian murals on the walls of the sanctuary, and even from the high priest kneeling in prayer, holding the Star in his hand. Lancer waited a moment.
The high priest's prayer also ended. He knelt down and saluted the flames, then turned to look at Imrik without saluting. As the agent of the gods, he was qualified to communicate with Imric on an equal footing. "Welcome to your visit, Dragon Prince and Dragon Lord of Caledor. I don't know what brought you to this forgotten place."
Looking at the high priest of Ardaeus, he was different from the usual Asur's blond hair. But he has long black hair with the blood of Nagaris. Most of the left side of his face is scarred by flames. His red eyes are like burning flames. When he speaks, his mouth exudes a kind of sparks. This He is a chosen one, and the level of blessing is not low.
Knowing that this exchange was not only with him personally, but also with Ardaeus, Imric knew to be careful about what he said, "Four thousand years ago, Imric, the monarch of Caledor and the ancestral conqueror King, had a conversation with Ardaeus. The church made a covenant and promised that as long as the dragon and the dragon prince have not disappeared, the flames of Ardaeus will burn in the land of Ulthuan." Hearing
Imric mention the covenant, the high priest nodded slightly, this This is indeed the case, and the covenant does not end there. If Caledor needs the support of the Church of Ardaeus, then they must provide unconditional help.
Because there have been three Phoenix Kings in Caledor, if you have too much contact with the religious group of Sesarayi, it will inevitably be over-interpreted by princes from various countries with their own agendas, so that the previous Dragon Princes will not take the initiative to contact them, but they will also They won't let other people take advantage of this place, and the Adaeus Church has barely fulfilled their obligations.
Seeing the high priest's nod, Imric continued, "According to the agreement at that time, the Church of Ardaeus needs to provide help when Caledor is in crisis. This time I am here to find you to fulfill this matter." But the big
brother The priest thought this was a bit strange, and frowned after listening to Imric's words. Although he lived in seclusion in the Annuli Mountains, he still knew about Ulthuan's situation, the expansion of maritime trade and fleets, and his influence on Durru. The destruction of Qi Haihegemony can only be said to be a great situation.
(End of chapter)