The carved statue is the most important part of the architectural temple, and the design of its image is the most important, but because the two Hades statues of the original temple have made the believers very satisfied, this time the image design has not been modified, but because the new temple will inevitably be taller and more empty than the original, the original statue will be too short when put into the new temple, so it is necessary to carve a new statue.

Since the new temple was being rebuilt on the old site, the craftsmen built a temporary warehouse not far from the temple to house the statues and other objects of the original temple, and the initial carvings of the new statues were also made in this warehouse.

Miliktos was the main person in charge of carving the statues of the gods, and he was also a famous sculptor in the kingdom, and the bronze statue of Hades holding a rugby ball outside the main arena of the city of Turiine was designed by him.

Don't look at the statue of the god is tall and heavy, in fact, its core material is wood, of course, the wood used as the idol requires a hard texture and a tight texture, so it is generally marine wood, preferably a hundred-year-old cedar. With the original idol as a model, Miliktors took only two months to carve three wooden statues (two Hades and one Persephone), which were more elaborate and vivid than the original.

And then he handed over the work to his assistants, which was to put a skin on the idol. Due to the whiteness and rarity of the ivory, it has become the first choice for the skin of the idol in the past hundred years, and the carvers tear the whole ivory into thin slices, and then glue it to the surface of the idol little by little, to absolutely fit it tightly, which is a very patient work.

Each idol is so large that one person can glue up to one finger a day, but with hundreds of carvers working on it at the same time, progress is quite fast.

While the idols were skinned, the carvers and craftsmen were working on two other things: one was to burn the sand into stained glass, and then to make star-shaped ornaments, each of which would resemble small glittering gems that would be set in the wall behind the idol as a background to the starry sky; The other is the making of gold leaf, where goldsmiths calcined the gold into thin slices and then pasted it on the ivory skin of the idol as the gold garment worn by the idol and the crown it weared, adding to the grace and luxury of the god Hades. As for the statue in the temple of the underworld, it was covered with silver leaf and painted with a dull blue lacquer to match the atmosphere of the whole temple.

In addition, they had to make gold and silver chairs for the idols, although not all of them were made of gold and silver, and the core of the interior was bronze, but the gold and silver consumed after the idols were completed was by no means a small amount. When the Dionian League was first established, it would never have dared to make statues of gods with such extravagance, and today the consumption of these precious metals is only a few days' production of Iberian and Sardinia mines.

Miliktos was not involved in the rest of the statues, but was concentrating on a more important task—making the friezes for the temple.

Under the eaves of the two main entrances to the temple there is a triangular area called a frieze, which is inlaid with stone slabs and decorated with relief motifs, usually from Greek mythology, but the result of the Senate's discussions in the design of the temple is that one frieze will depict a relief of the mass procession at the celebration of Hades, while the other will depict the Dionian royal family - the king, two queens, and five children (Davers originally proposed to include Adoris and Cynthia). , because they are also their own family, but the Senate expressed strong opposition, they believe that the temple was built, thousands of years for future generations to pay homage and worship, the people of the kingdom and future generations to see the relief, will understand that the Dionian royal family is the descendants of the god Hades, but the adopted son and daughter are not, and it is afraid that it will attract the wrath of Hades. ）

With the great prestige of King Davers and his royal family, if this relief was not well carved, even if the benevolent king did not say anything, the spit of the people would drown him, so Miliktors was extremely cautious, and specially begged King Davers to take his precious time, take his family as his model, and pose according to his request, and he spent several days sketching on the wooden board first, and after giving it to Davers for review, Davos was satisfied, and he took the drawing to the construction site and carved it against it.

The triangular frieze of the Dionian royal family is as follows: Davers wears a crown and smiles, sitting upright on a throne, in the center; The two princesses, dressed in ornate robes, put their hands on Davers's shoulders intimately, and stood on either side of them prettyly; The five children surrounded them with joyful expressions, and Croto Kataks happened to be in the middle of the five children.

If an attentive viewer savors the pattern, he will find that the composition of the king and princess is almost identical to that of the king and the queen of Hades in the Temple of Light in the main temple of Hades (except that there is an additional princess), which is a hint from the priest of the scepter, Pleshnas, which contains a deeper meaning.

Miliktos held an iron chisel in one hand and a small hammer in the other, engrossed in carving, this was already the third relief, the first two he was not very satisfied, and destroyed it, but it was precisely because of the experience of the first two that he did not need to compare the original drawings at all, the whole pattern was already familiar with his chest, so he did not hesitate to strike every time, and the power was just right.

Just as he was indulging in his creation, a crisp female voice came from behind him: "No! Wrong! Carve me too ...... Well, my eyebrows aren't that thin, and the bridge of my nose should be a little higher......"

Miliktos was pulled out of the world of immersion by this voice, and his heart was really annoyed, he turned abruptly, and wanted to shout at the intruder who disturbed his work, but when he saw two beautiful maidens standing behind him, his anger immediately subsided, and he immediately stood up, and said in the most kind tone possible: "Your Royal Highness Princess Eunice! Her Royal Highness Princess Avia! Welcome! ”

"We're here to worship the god Hades, and we're here to see how our relief carvings are doing." Eunice took a few steps forward, pointed to the relief, and said unceremoniously: "But after reading it, I feel a little disappointed, this should be me, but I don't feel like me, you carved it too delicately." ”

"Your Highness, although the carving is derived from reality, it is usually a beautification of reality. Moreover, this relief is to be admired by the people of the kingdom in the future, and I am sure that they all want to see a beautiful and virtuous princess...... "Miliktors wanted to convince Eunice that he was so patient because he had not only seen this princess in the previous drawing room, this princess with a boyish personality was famous in Turiyi, and Princess Christoya, in order to make her receptive, simply began to expose her to some business affairs when she was 16 years old. The spicy girl had become her mother's right-hand man before the age of 18, and Miliktos had taken out a loan from Christoya's bank in order to expand his carving workshop in other towns of the kingdom, and had several personal dealings with Eunice, and knew her well.

Eunice raised her eyebrows: "You mean I'm not beautiful and virtuous?!" ”

Miliktos's heart tightened, knowing that he had said the wrong thing, and he hurried to explain.

Eunice turned pale again, and said with a straight face: "You're right, I'm not as delicate and virtuous as other girls, but I don't need to change it, because that's not me!" Just like her in this relief of yours, she is not like me at all, since you are carving our family, I hope you can carve my appearance truly, I don't want any beautification! ”

“…… Sister. Avia felt a little tense and tugged at Eunice.

"Don't make a fuss!" Eunice pushed her sister's hand away, looked directly at Miliktos, and asked, "Do you think I'm right?" ”

“…… Your Royal Highness, you are right...... I'll revise ......" Miliktos actually gave in, which made the assistants who were hiding on the side and did not dare to speak open their mouths in surprise.

At this moment, Miliktorus suddenly looked behind Eunice and shouted, "Lord Priest of the Scepter! ”

"Oh, Miliktos." Plesineus, who was dressed in white robes, saw the sculptor's plea for help, waved his hand lightly, and then walked up to Eunice: "Your Royal Highnesses, princesses, you have been waiting for a long time, the temporary temple has been cleaned, and the braziers, lamps and other things used for worship have been prepared, and it is ready to begin." ”

Eunice looked at Miliktos, rolled her eyes, and said softly: "I came with my sister to admire this carving just now, Master Miliktos carved it very well, and I also had some communication with him, and he also promised me that this carving will be better when I come to admire it next time, right?" Master Miliktos. ”

"Yes, Your Highness Princess." Miliktors replied helplessly.

Plecinas looked at the carving, and then at Miliktos, and of course he sensed that there must be something wrong with it, but he did not inquire into it, but immediately led the two princesses and the court guards who protected them to the temporary temple.

It wasn't until they left completely that the assistants stood up and complained: "Even if she is a princess, she can't interfere with your creation!" ”

"It turns out that she is the famous naughty princess of Turiyi! is so rude, how can you marry in the future! ”

……

"Shut up for me, I don't want to live anymore, do you? Give me a good job! Miliktorus roared, and fell silent.