The Gnoll clans of the Dark Mountains have always had their own territory, and they are territorial-minded creatures who will raid other clans unless they can't survive.

It is precisely because of this territorial consciousness that the civilization ecology of the jackals has been shaped, making it difficult for them to truly unify, and they are still stuck in the clan system, and the closest thing to unification is the fourth black plague more than a hundred years ago.

The legendary King of the Bone Biting was like a god descending from the sky in a very short period of time, twisting the entire Gnoll clan into a rope, and taking the opportunity of the Black Plague to give the Gnoll the most basic racial identity beyond territorial consciousness with one victory after another.

It was the first civilization to transcend clan hatred and turf struggles, with all the chieftains and overseers under the command of the Biting Bone King on the same goal.

The united gnolls proved to be terrifying, especially when their pack of hungry wolves was ruled by a lion.

Overthrowing most of the continent was not the limit of what they could do, and if the Bone Biting King had been more cautious in the first place, if it hadn't hastily divided its forces and caused the arrogant and brutal Overseers to burn the Elven Forest, the situation would have changed a long time since a hundred years later.

However, there are only so many opportunities for every civilization to rise, and the Gnolls have undoubtedly lost that beautiful and fleeting era.

When the Lord of Bites mysteriously disappeared from the Filthy Swamp, the civilization that had just learned to unite was once again divided in a very short period of time.

Although the successive generations of self-proclaimed "Successors to the Biting King" tried their best to emulate the King's methods and try to reunite the tribes, they did not have the skills and strength of Philei, and the longest reign of them was only one year and three months.

After that period of chaos had passed, the gnolls had formed the situation they are today.

The five major clans that currently dominate the Dark Mountains control the vast majority of the power of the entire Gnoll society, while the remaining small and medium-sized clans are attached to these five large clans, forming a crude system similar to the "Clan Council".

Such a system is certainly far from the unity of the people during the time of the Biting King, but it is clearly an improvement over the internal rivalry of the past, and from this point of view, the departure of the Biting King is not a complete disaster for the Gnolls.

They do learn something from victories and defeats.

Not much, though.

Under this system, the Biting Bone Clan prides itself on being orthodox, inheriting the direct lineage of the Biting Bone King, they have the most elite brute soldiers and the strongest strength; The Bloodscar Clan are the family of the Lord of the Hunt, and they are the 'priest class' of the Gnoll civilization, controlling most of the hunting priesthood and religious affairs.

The Whiptail Clan are the best hunters, skilled at domesticating the Throne Wolf and controlling one of the richest oasis herds in the Dark Mountains.

These are the three main core clans, and the Splitting Claw Clan started with voodoo and is good at using poison, and the plague used by the King of Biting Bones when he overturned the continent was made by them, because they are both "spellcasters", the Splitting Claw Clan and the Bloodscar Clan are very close, and they are "political alliances".

The grandmother of the last Broken Tooth clan doesn't hurt, and the uncle doesn't love it.

They are members of their clan who live in the barrenest areas of the Dark Mountains, and are tough, conservative, and stubborn, and they are reluctant to step out of the Dark Mountains to go elsewhere, so they are not liked under the Lord of the Biting Bone.

During the Fourth Black Plague, the other clans went out to eat and drink, and they were left behind in the Dark Mountains to guard the "ancestral land".

But because of that terrible defeat, the Broken Tooth Clan was not only not affected, but also co-opted many desperate small clans in the chaos after the disappearance of the King of Biting Bones.

They can be ranked among the five major clans really because they can fight, they are numerous, and they never have anything to do with other clans.

Nobody likes the Broken Tooth Clan!

The Broken Fang Clan is also the smallest in the Mossy Valley, and even the other chieftains don't call them when they meet.

This clan is the "marginal" in the society of the gnolls, and their presence is very low.

Just like in the launch stage of this black plague, no one informed the Broken Tooth Clan, since they want to stay in the ancestral land, let them continue to rot in this damn barren hell.

The main force of the Black Plague has already set off, but this time the scale of the Gnolls is much smaller than the fourth Black Plague.

The total number of mobilized soldiers is probably close to one million, and this situation occurs because this black plague is not carried out "according to the time of day", and although the filthy spiritual energy in the dark mountains has changed, it has not yet formed a tide.

In this case, the gnolls are barely able to survive in their own territory, and since they can survive, no one wants to fight for survival, which directly leads to the mobilization orders of the four major clans not being able to penetrate into the grassroots, and the gnolls who can be shaken over are loyal to their clans.

It seems to be full of disadvantages, but the chiefs and priests do not see it that way.

They left the Mossy Valley, and every day they hid in the tent left behind by the King of Biting Bones to discuss plans, but no one could convince anyone.

However, there was a little bit of a wave in today's "chieftaincy meeting", and the chieftain of the Whiptail clan was delayed, supposedly because there was something "trivial" at the front that delayed it.

At this time, in the midst of the Whiptail Clan's marching formation, the old but still powerful Whiptail Chief is listening to the report of his most trusted hunting overseer, Hurley.

This was obviously important, which was why the chief postponed talking to the other chiefs.

"There's information from the Black Flame Pass from a small Overseer named Popock Blackeye, the fastest of the twenty-two scouts we sent out to reach that line, and the first to fail."

Tall and mighty, Hurley, the Overseer of the Hunt, was a ruthless man at first glance, carrying a spear made of the bones of a thunder lizard, and wearing a full set of whip-tail hunting armor, with a majestic and brutal look.

It said to its old chieftain:

"The young man brought back a message that the Black Flame Pass was more heavily defended than we thought, and that the vampires of the Blood Alliance clan and their dogs were still reinforcing it.

Popoc said that the twelve centurians he had paid for were wiped out by a group of Transians on a high ground outside the position before he could even get close to the position.

It describes the battle in detail, saying that the Transians were savage and cunning, and that they had provoked our scouts by piling up a tower with their heads and planting their banners on the tower of skulls.

I suspect this is a delaying tactic to buy time for the final rearmament of that line. ”

"The Translancians remember their cowardly reaction when I slaughtered them, the high-ranking vampires would only hide in their castles, and the natives, though savage, had few strategies but could only rush out and be easily killed by us.

The little guy wasn't describing it like a Transansian.

I feel like it's talking more like the Nords, the wilderness warriors emblematic of the Winter Wolves.

Well, I suffered a lot at their hands back then. ”

The whiptail chieftain sat on a hunting throne made from the skulls of various clans, and the old gnoll who had conquered the continent with the King of Biternes had apparently somehow broken through the limits of lifespan.

It's really old.

Even older than the former torn flesh, his eyes are cloudy like the walking dead, but no one dares to underestimate this old guy who will fall down when he walks.

Although such an old creature is powerless in the eyes of the Gnolls, the Overseers of the Whiptail Clan know that the Whiptail Clan's rapid rise after the defeat of the Fourth Black Plague depends on the old chieftain's covert manipulation.

It is the soul and heart of the Whiptail Clan, just like the King of Biting Bones is to all Gnolls.

The old chief was silent for a moment, and then said:

"Is that Popock credible?"

The Overseer of the Hunt immediately replied:

"It was a typical young man, chief, savage, furious, worshipping the king of biting bones and not good at thinking, and he responded immediately after our call. It didn't have the brains to make up such a lie, but its father was a cunning character.

The Black-Eyed Clan is not a small clan anymore, but this time they used the excuse that the clan was going to split up, and only sent five hundred elites to join us, which was too far from the 2,000 elites we requested.

And in addition to Popok, the other scouts we sent sent sent back similar news.

Compared to the Black Flame Pass, which was razed by the King of Biting Bones more than a hundred years ago, today's defense line is like a combination of a fierce hedgehog and a dragon turtle in Mirror Lake, and you need a good tooth and a good appetite to eat it.

As for the provocations of those Transansians, it seems to me that it is not a big deal.

They did erect the Skull Tower to humiliate us in this way, but it didn't even take the elite of the Whiptail Clan to mobilize it, the concentration of the thousands of scouts wandering the front line alone was enough to crush them. ”

The old chief nodded.

But instead of answering immediately, it fell silent, and for a moment the Overseers thought their chief was asleep. Well, that's the kind of problem when people get old, and this embarrassing situation hasn't happened before.

The chieftain is too old.

Although it was just a reckless and savage cub like Popock when he followed the Biting King, and was lucky enough to learn something from the Biting King, it is now more than a hundred years old.

That's the age when you should have gone to the grave a long time ago.

"You can fight, but you don't have to."

After a few dozen seconds of thought, the old chieftain rose to his feet, supported by two master gnolwolf hunters, and walked tremblingly up to the Overseer, whom he valued most, and whispered to Hurley:

"I'll give you a letter, the Whiptail Clan is not going to Transsia this time, we are going to follow the Biting King to the Brass Fortress, so there is no need to waste our people in the Black Flame Pass, but the gesture is to be done, for the sake of 'unity'.

You go there in person!

Take your ten hundred-man squad as the core, don't bring more, and then gather the scouts in the vicinity, destroy the positions of the Translancians, and open the way to the Black Flame Pass.

But remember, you can do it this way!

You are the representative of the Whiptail Clan in the direction of Transenia, and you will cooperate with the Splitter Mother on the main attack side to complete the occupation of the Black Flame Pass and advance in the direction of Transenia.

But if things don't go your way, remember to save yourself.

If there is news from the Brass Fortress, you should rush to join me, and if there is no news, you should go back to our territory, where I have left an army.

You command them. ”

"Huh?"

The Overseer looked at his chief in surprise.

While Gnolls are rare thinkers, Gnolls who can sit in the position of a high-powered Overseer have some brains.

It immediately heard something else from the chief's words, but the old chief did not explain much, but only said briefly:

"This black plague is different from the past, although the main body is still the jackal, but it just looks like this. Personally, I don't plan to spend all the elite people on this kind of thing, after all, we have to prepare for the real arrival of the psionic tide in more than ten years.

At that time, it was the moment to decide life and death, and to put it mildly, the one more than ten years later was the real 'fifth black disaster'.

Just remember my words and put your own preservation first. ”

"Hmm."

The Overseer watched his chieftain leave with a respectful gesture, and then it immediately carried out its order, and almost as soon as the Whiptail Chief reached the Bite King's tent, a group of imposing elite hunters left the camp and rushed towards the Black Flame Pass.

The Transancians are in trouble.

In the face of the Whiptail Clan's most capable overseers, that small plateau may be destroyed in a few days, but in the face of a major event like the Black Plague, the gains and losses of a small plateau are really not worth mentioning.

As the old chief of Whiptail staggered into the tent with his bony cane, the chiefs of the other three great clans and the Overseers were discussing specific strategies.

This is not to say that the gnolls have launched the Black Plague as soon as their brains are hot, they are reckless but also organized, and the only thing that cannot be determined at the moment is the main direction of attack.

The old chief sat slowly in his place.

It seemed to be dozing off, but it was just a cunning trick of a cunning old man, and it was actually as clear as a mirror in its heart.

According to the "advanced experience" of the Lord of the Biting Bone, if you want to get the results of the battle, then you must go to Transsia, that cowardly land has been ravaged by the Black Plague four times, and each time it is the first place to be defeated and stabbed, and the map of Transencia in the hands of the chiefs is even more detailed than that of the Blood Vulture Clan.

But this time the Black Plague is different.

It's not a fight for food and the right to live, it's a war with a purpose!

"We must go to the Brass Fortress!"

The owner of this tent, the contemporary Grand Overseer of the Biting Clan, known as the Biterner King, roared in a gruff voice:

"The defeat of the Lord of the Biting Bone and the defeat of the first three Black Plagues have proven that Transcia may be able to gain an advantage, but it will also be directly attacked by the two most powerful human kingdoms, and we will not be able to achieve victory through defeat.

But if we can take the Brass Fortress, then the most prosperous peninsula on the mainland will open its doors to us.

Plundering it will allow the gnolls to rise quickly, and the terrain of Genoa is more defensible, so we can transfer the people there, so that the hunger that has plagued the gnolls for nearly a thousand years will be solved. ”

"Don't be stupid, Gelman!"

Wearing a voodoo hood, the Claw-splitting Master Mother Potana scolded in a cold tone:

"It's impossible to pry open the door of the Brass Fortress by smashing you and all the troops we have at hand, those dwarves have turned an entire mountain into a wall against us, if you can move that mountain.

We've been wrestling with this stupid question for the past few days, and I've had enough of your stubbornness! I have made up my mind that I will take my clan and my army towards the Black Flame Pass!

You guys

Go wherever you like. ”

"Portana! Calm down, we must unite"

The old chief of the whiptail said at the right time.

It's like a dozing off and waking up, full of the decadent atmosphere and clichés that an old man should have.

The equally old but still very shrewd and cunning Splittal Mistress didn't even bother to respond to the call, but when she spoke her true thoughts, she sent an eerie silence to the camp that had been bickering for the past few days.

The seemingly brutal Gelman Bitten and the Chosen Priest of the Bloodscar Clan exchanged glances, and the two gnolls exchanged glances silently, and finally the priest of the Bloodscar Clan stood up and said:

"Well, since the Splitting Claw Clan is going to take on the heavy responsibility of attacking the direction of Transencia alone, then I won't hide it, the reason why we must go to the Brass Fortress is simple. You've all heard some gossip about our gods lately

News of the imminent birth of the great lord of the hunt. ”

With these words, all the Chiefs and High Overseers widened their eyes, and even the Old Whiptail Chieftain became refreshed, and all eyes were focused on the Bloodscar Priest.

It deliberately paused, and then said in an accentuated tone:

"That news was deliberately put out by us, and it's true! My god already has entities in the subspace and the astral plane, and now he only needs to ignite the divine fire to ascend to the divine throne! It's a complicated process, but you can simply interpret it as our soldiers fighting within the priesthood of the Lord of the Hunt.

Hunting, slaughter and war!

We must do these three things in order to provide sufficient faith strength to our God.

That's why it's important to attack the Brass Fortress.

Only there can our soldiers fight and create a terrible war, the Transanians are too weak to be savage, but they are in fact unable to provide the strength we need.

Chief Gelman's words were not wrong.

We couldn't take the Brass Fortress before because the dwarves had their own gods protecting the mountain, but as long as our gods were born, it was just a brass fortress.

The soldiers of the Bloodscar Clan will be at the mercy of the Lord of the Biting Bones this time, and the priests and I will stay in the Mossy Valley to complete the ritual of lighting the divine fire.

Do you have any questions? ”

There was a dead silence in the tent, everyone was overwhelmed by the news that the gods were about to be born, and the gnolls faced the same problems as the vampires, and although they had the name of a god on their lips, they all knew that it was fake, just to provide a kind of psychological comfort.

Now, however, the fake is about to become true.

"We're going to be able to take the Brass Fortress this time!"

Gelman Biting stood up, the big gnoll man who was very similar to the Lord of the Biters, and even stronger than the King of the Biters, pounded the table, and roared:

"The wealth and power that dwarves and halflings have accumulated for countless years will be ours! What the King of Biting Bones failed to do will be made possible by our own hands! Ladies and gentlemen, under our leadership, the Jackals, who have been lost for a thousand years, will surely become great again! ”

(End of chapter)