Siegel temporarily settled in the village of Stone, and Linko patted the large stone on which his house rested, telling Siegel that it had existed since the birth of heaven and earth, and that it could have given birth to the spirit of the stone, but it had given up and became an immortal stone. The village is named after it, implying a long-term peaceful existence. Later, the village was indeed safe, but it did not develop for hundreds of years: the village was still at the level of more than 50 people, everyone could barely guarantee food and drink, and there was always a village where witch sacrifices were stationed. Until last month, Hum Ke accidentally ingested drunken moss in the village, went crazy with alcohol, and cursed the witch sacrifice who had come to treat him. As a result, within three days, the witch festival slipped while catching fish by the glacier and was drowned inexplicably. So Hum chose to go into self-exile, cursed himself with the curse of "dying of torture for the sin of dying for witch sacrifices", left the village, and sold himself to slave traders. No one in the village expected him to come back alive, because Humke's curse would bring endless bad luck to the people around him, and he didn't know when he would die. However, when they heard Linko say that "the man who was brought back by Hum Ke was a witch sacrifice, so the curse has been fulfilled and completed, and the new witch sacrifice has been found to atone for the sin of killing the old witch sacrifice", they suddenly realized. Then the villagers dared to approach Hum Ke again, bring him something to eat and drink, and help him pack his tent.

Siegel was dragged by them to the original witch tent, "Stop, don't worry about anything, we will prepare anything for you." Everyone was very enthusiastic and their eyes were full of anticipation: "In a moment there will be a brazier, and there will be food and clothes." If the witch priest needs someone to warm the bed, the girls in the village will be happy to do so. ”

Siegel looked around in embarrassment, the half-orc girl was too different from his aesthetic habits, and the last one was declined. Everyone got ready and watched Siegel enter the tent of the witch sacrifice. According to the custom in the village, no one is allowed to enter except for the witch festival itself and those who are invited.

Lifting the colorful curtain of the door decorated with strips of colored cloth, a foul smell almost smoked Siegel's head. Come to think of it, it's been nearly two months since no one cleaned it up, and the contents have long since rotted and deteriorated. If it weren't for the poisonous herbs in the tent, it is estimated that there would be an outbreak of insects inside.

Siegel pinched his nose, casting spells in such a situation was also a test. He opened all the curtains of the tent door to allow air to circulate while chanting a cleaning spell. The rotten, smelly stuff was cleaned out and thrown into the blazing brazier outside. Fleas, worms, and a few rats that were about to be poisoned were also thrown out and burned to ashes. Soon, the smell inside the house was much better, and the dust and other dirt were cleaned up. Siegel changed a brazier and walked in.

Now the tent was filled with other smells: moss, mushrooms, pine oil, and saffron, as well as some strange materials that looked like taxidermy made from animal entrails. The brazier was placed in the middle of the tent, and a warm red flame illuminated the space, which was more than three meters in diameter. Smoke drifts out through the openings of the spire tents, so no charcoal gas remains in the house. Siegel bent over and looked around the tent, admiring the old witch's collection. There are many animal bone specimens hanging on the walls, some animal teeth, several bottles of eyeballs soaked in a yellow-green potion, a wooden box of dentures, and a suspicious black liquid in a skin bag. Of all the things, the largest amount was a large pile of tobacco leaves delicately wrapped in fine deerskin, which smelled pleasant and must have other medicinal ingredients added. In a tin box, Siegel also found several pipes, both old and new, all of them equally delicate and at first glance you could tell that they were made by fine craftsmanship.

The ground was covered with thick fur, completely insulating the cold on the ground, and Siegel sat on it, suddenly feeling guilty. He is not a witch priest, but now he occupies the best place. Although all this was due to a misunderstanding, starting from Huke's misunderstanding, and was used by the village chief of Linke to meet the demands of the Stubborn Stone, it was Siegel who benefited in the end. He sat on the warm bed and stared at the brazier for a long time. Judging from the current situation, denying that he is a witch priest will be detrimental to Hum, and after all, he is a friend who has been in prison and escaped from prison, so he can only pretend to be stubborn at present. But nothing else could be enjoyed, which was against his conscience.

The biggest advantage of this tent is that it is cut off from view, and Siegel can finally open the key space with confidence. He found clothes to keep out the cold, armed himself with a dragon's tooth dagger, and took out some wine, sugar, and precious stones. Since he didn't know if the gold coins were useful on the north side of the walled mountains, he had to trade them for sugar and gems. Unfortunately, his breastplate, dwarven belt, and obsidian dagger were missing, and they must have been picked up by the scavengers who found him and sold them to the slave traders, and now maybe in someone's hands. Will it ever be found later? Siegel wasn't sure. I don't know if the library at Mora's Top will be able to let him in without the dwarven belt.

He was about to go out to find the village chief of Linko, and when he reached the door, he came back again. In this place, no matter how careful you are, just a dagger is really not enough to defend yourself. Siegel rummaged through the tent and gathered what could be used as casting material, hanging what could be hung on his belt and hiding what could be in a small pocket. He memorized the location of all the materials on his body over and over again, meditating in his mind about what kind of spells they were all associated with, and what combination of spells he could use when he encountered an enemy. After making sure that he had memorized it completely, he lifted the curtain and went to Linko's tent.

The cheerful voices of a man and a woman came from inside the rock house, and Siegel could hear it from a long distance. However, the orcs around him seem to be accustomed to it, and they are still doing their own thing regardless of whether they ask. A few children were curious to go and see, but were chased away like ducks by Lin Ke's wives. Siegel was waiting at the door, and after a while he heard Linko's voice: "What? The witch festival is coming?

The stone house still smelled like it used to be, but with the smell of slippery liquid. Siegel tried not to look at the orc woman hiding under the covers, he was really afraid that he would be frightened. Lin Ke was naked, with only a circle of animal skin tied around his waist, and sat on the stool with a big grin. He cut off a piece of roast meat with a knife, stuffed it into his mouth, gasped and said, "It always makes me hungry after exercise." ”

"Good appetite then. Siegel said. He pointed to the bed, and then said, "There are some things I think it's better to tell you in private." ”

"Haha, no. My woman doesn't say a word. Lin Ke patted the quilt hard, and the female orcs below made a snorting sound. Siegel thought for a moment, grabbed a handful of sand, and performed the sleep technique. With his current level of magic control, he is able to apply spells to the same target over and over again until they are conquered by the spell's effect or the caster loses focus.

The woman was already tired, so she quickly snored and fell into a deep sleep. "Alright, now you can talk. Siegel sat down cross-legged and sat in a position where he could stand up at any time. "I want to go back to the south of the Walled Mountains, I can't stay here for long. ”

"I've already told you that the road to the south doesn't work. Lin Ke ate another piece of meat and sent it down his throat with spruce tea. "You're a southerner, you don't know the north, and the wilderness is much more brutal. Usually, there will be all kinds of fierce beasts roaming around, specifically picking on lone pedestrians to appetize. But none of this is as ferocious as the orc warlords, especially Vaga the Skinner, who has more than 10,000 orcs under his command and can send at least 4,000 troops for each raid. Wherever they went, they ate everything and left only the skins. Now the crazy guys have set their way to the Walled Mountains. You can't say that every valley is located, but you can't tell which road is safe!"

"Four thousand? The city wall mountain range is so vast, you can still try it. ”

Linkor scoffed, and continued, "There are many skinners, but their weapons are poor, only some of them use metal weapons, and they are not disciplined, you can indeed try." But Vaga isn't the only warlord, there are also Steelfoot Fort and the two-headed wolf king Wolf. One of them has an elite army of strong orcs that can attack any city, and the other has the most wolf cavalry in the north, and even the walled mountains can't reduce their mobility, especially in the northern plains. Three of the four orc warlords are now in the Walled Mountains, with tens of thousands of troops, not counting wolves, trolls, and hill giants. Not to mention a human being, even a mouse can't get through, sooner or later it will be sniffed out, trampled to death and then skinned! ”

Siegel frowned, he didn't expect the situation to develop so quickly, it seemed that a big battle was inevitable. The fanfare attack of Deep Water City really attracted the attention of the orcs. The orcs may be planning to wipe out the Waterdeep army outside the walls, and it seems that they want to establish an advantage on the battlefield with a thunderbolt strike. I hope that the army that is used as a decoy will not be hot-headed, stay obediently on the grassland, never rush in, and should retreat immediately if there is a problem. Just cover the assault detachment on the eastern side of the mountain range heading to Makabuta.

"Where's the Warlord Hammer, didn't he send troops to the Walls Mountains?" asked Siegel.

"The hammer has been hung up, and the 'Three Eyes' Lunt has killed him and become the fourth warlord. He used the excuse that he had just taken office and needed to clean up those disobedient generals, so he only sent a few hundred troops. The remaining thousands, mostly shrunk around the makabuta, and any unconvinced leader was welcome to challenge. If the situation stabilizes, maybe they will go around to the south by boat and land. I think this time Deep Water City is more than lucky. ”

The new orc warlords? I wonder if the mages of the Federation know about this. In the harbor city that is heavily guarded, will the assault detachment still have a chance to go in and set it on fire? I hope that the mages of the Federation can show their magic power and summon the heavenly fire to burn down the shipyard, so as not to be trapped in the frozen wasteland like themselves.

"It seems that the orcs don't move their nests from the mountains of the city walls, and I have no hope of getting through. Siegel sighed and said, "I can only live in the short term, but I'm not a witch priest, and I can't act at all!"

Lin Ke put down the flesh and bones in his hand, straightened up and stared at Siegel and said, "In this Rock Village, you can only be a witch sacrifice. I'm from the south of the Walled Mountains, and I know what a mage is. Orcs have been hunting down mages, what are you if you're not a witch?

Siegel shook his head helplessly. Unless he has the ability to change his outfit like Janet, he must have a reasonable identity. Whether he was sorting out spells here or trying to take action with the forces of Waterdeep, he couldn't do it as a human mage or knight, not even an outcast. Only the status of a witch priest can give him safety for the time being, which Siegel understood what Linko meant.

"So what do you need to do with witch sacrifices?"

"Cast spells and protect us. Linko wiped the grease off his chin with a relaxed expression.

Siegel's expression was the exact opposite.