Crown of Chaos

The inside of the pyramid gate is neither dry nor cold. The air blowing towards the face is very humid, and the temperature is stable at a state that makes people feel cool but not cold. Obviously, there is still a system similar to a constant temperature still operating inside the pyramid.

You... know snake language? the female wanderer said in surprise: Do you have snake blood?

No, I am a pure human being... I guess so. Aaron smiled self-deprecatingly, pointing at himself: My warlock talent has this ability.

The oracle of Tzeentch, disguised as another god, relied on the power of Tzeentch to deceive the stone statue guarding the gate.

Eleonora wanted to say something more, but Aaron stretched out his hand to signal to stop talking: Look at this.

On both sides of the corridor leading to the interior of the pyramid, there are huge murals painted in an ancient style and using special pigments.

This is... the history of the Snake Empire? The female wanderer looked very interested: Interesting, what does it say?

Don't you know how to read it? Aaron looked at the murals carefully. The first mural and the second mural depict the story before the establishment of the Snake Man Empire.

I don't know snake language! The female wanderer was really interested: You understand, smart Lord Viscount, tell me, I want to hear it.

This woman... does know how to make a man feel comfortable, but she doesn't seem to be interested in herself, and Aaron is not interested in her either. But considering the current cooperative relationship between the two parties, it doesn't hurt for him to say it again.

Everyone has a desire to show off and express themselves.

This is the history of the Snake Empire. Aaron pointed his finger at the first mural.

The first mural depicts a group of serpentine creatures kneeling before a giant snake encircling the universe.

In the Age of Thunder, a kind of intelligent creature called Saruk witch dragon began to rise in the southeast of the country. At this time, a divine creature from the depths of the universe-the giant snake of the universe descended, and he gave the witch dragons a magic weapon. He proposed to grant them the secrets, civilization and power of magic, and all he asked for in return was that the witches and beasts worshiped him and provided him with sacrifices.

Wu Hui agreed to this condition and gained great knowledge and power.

In the second mural, three-headed shamans dominate all things, and a large number of races kneel before them.

As the witches gained magic, knowledge, and power from the giant snake, they became the masters of the world. The witches established three great empires to rule all the people. Thousands of other races came to meet their various needs. Busy.

During the most glorious period of the three empires, the witches and beasts enjoyed the best meat, wore the most gorgeous clothes, and were surrounded by gold and jewelry. They realized an ideal society of distribution according to need, at the cost of enslaving almost everyone in the world. race.

In the third mural, the witches and monsters fled into the palace and handed over their power to the snake people.

The snake people are the most proud race created by the witches. They are strong and loyal with human genes mixed in. With the snake people, the witches gradually hand over all their authority and responsibilities to the snake people, and they don't need to work hard anymore. When looking for food, building cities, and even managing slaves, don't do it yourself. Gradually, nothing can make the Saluk witches leave their palace of pleasure. They gradually become lazy, tyrannical, and lose all enterprising spirit. The outside world Nothing interested them anymore, and the race began to decline, with the three great empires perishing one after another due to civil strife, climate change, and decay.

Aaron read the first three murals in silence.

The demise of the Saluk Empire was very Roman and very English.

The demise of the three great witch empires basically covered the three major elements of Rome's demise - civil strife, climate change and upper-level decay.

But similarly, the demise of the Wuhu Empire was also related to their expansion to the extreme.

As a member of the Celestial Dynasty in his previous life, Aaron did not quite understand why there was a concept of decline in a large empire. Shouldn't the bigger the territory, the stronger it should be, and the more land, the better?

Later, after reading some literature, he realized that this was not the case.

In any large empire, there will be an expansion threshold. Before reaching this expansion threshold, the bigger the better. However, if this threshold is exceeded, the larger the territory will become a burden. Under the influence of rising management costs, the larger the empire, the better. If the empire cannot complete its internal innovation, it will begin to collapse and disintegrate.

For example, the British Empire, the famous empire on which the sun never sets, expanded its territory to its limit in the 19th century. The whole world was a colony of the empire, which was the most powerful country in the world at that time.

However, in the 19th century, an interesting phenomenon began to appear - Britain would participate in almost every war in Europe and even the world.

This is not actually what they thought, but because any slight disturbance at that time was a challenge to the status of the Empire on which the sun never sets. The Empire on which the sun never sets needs to constantly respond to challenges to maintain its dominance, and often even needs to participate in some fights. If you lose blood, you won't fight a war with more losses.

The imperial wife is too big.

Frequent wars with no end in sight, and the painful decision of whether to lose blood or lose blood, will cause everyone to think after a big defeat.

Also, to maintain such a large territory, the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets has to support many regimes with very low legitimacy, and has to pay huge expenses for maintaining stability. After decades of increasing entropy, when the costs of maintaining stability outweigh the benefits, this cost seems to be too high. There is no need to pay anymore.

Finally, there is the issue of uneven distribution of benefits.

The second mural tells the story of the decay of the witches. They enjoy the highest level of luxury life, become lazy and lose their enterprising spirit. This is the degeneration of the upper class.

I know the empire is in decline, but what does this have to do with me having a big party in the manor?

The fifth mural tells the story of the decline of imperial faith.

As we all know, the conditions for the Great Serpent of the World and the Saluk Witch to reach an agreement are to believe in and sacrifice, and the object of the sacrifice is the Saluk Wizard itself. The Giant Serpent of the Universe needs a witch with normal intelligence to perform a human sacrifice to strengthen its own body. strength.

In the early days, all the witches and beasts were vying to be sacrificed.

Then, the sacrificed witches became some of the criminals and outcasts of society.

At the peak of the empire, there were no more witches in the human sacrifices, and the slave race replaced the witches in the sacrifice. In order to compensate for the giant snake of the world, hundreds of slaves were killed every night in front of the blood pool of the temple.

The large-scale sacrifices of these non-Witch races actually polluted the faith of the World Serpent, causing the faith to split, and the sacred values used by the Empire to unite all people were no longer valid.

History is a cycle.

There is no eternal dynasty and no eternal winner.

Aaron stood in front of the mural and reached out to touch the ancient mural.

He felt it, he felt the splendor of the empire in its heyday, which was no less magnificent than any civilization, the strong pioneering spirit, using magic to create aircraft, competing with other races to dominate the brilliance of the starry sky, art flourishing, and the market full of goods. received goods from other star regions.

He also felt it, he felt the decay and depravity of the witches, their addiction to pleasure and their insensitivity to all things in the world, the destruction of the empire, the despair and fear of the remaining witches, and their absolute psychological superiority over mortal creatures. To the point of fear, fear of death.

The witches who once dared to confront the Spellweaver Empire in the star realm are now just a group of aging ghosts who are afraid of death. There are still very few witches alive, but they have long become frightened birds, and everything will be difficult for them. Reluctant to participate, even if it might be very rewarding for them.

However, Wu Hui did not leave a legacy to mortals.

What is this? Eleonora asked, pointing to the fourth mural where a group of witches were making scrolls.

This thing is called the Golden Skin of the World Serpent. Aaron nodded: However, it has a more famous name.

Scroll of Nese!

The civilization of Netheril and the beginning of the great empire established by the great arcanists were all created by the Saluk witches. The witches recorded all the magic research they collected on it.

So from a certain point of view, the Netheril civilization is the orthodox successor of the Saluk Witch.

There was a large drilled hole on the fourth mural with something embedded in it. Aaron carefully took it out after detecting it several times to make sure there was no trap.

He got his first big payday from this adventure.

Eternal hands made of gold and precious stones.

According to the language of the snake people, the pointing direction of this pointer will always be towards the location of the nearest Nese Scroll.

The pointer points northeast.

Aaron held this magic item and remained silent for a long time.

This is not my track.

However, if we can get some of the Nese scrolls, even fragments and unique copies, perhaps, the Arcane Empire...

Aaron put the pointer away.

The next few murals tell the history of the Snake Man Empire. The Snake Man Empire inherited the territory of the Wu Hui Empire. However, the Snake Man lacked the powerful magical ability of Wu Hui. They were always at a disadvantage and could only barely maintain their rule. state until they were defeated by the dragon.

Around 300 BC in the valley calendar, a snake-man empire rose again under the leadership of a saint named Seth. It was later confirmed that Seth was the incarnation of a saint of the giant snake of the world. This empire followed Sais. It prospered with the emergence of Seth, but also declined rapidly with the disappearance of Seth.

There was nothing left to see, and Aaron motioned for Eleonora to move on.

Du~dong dong dong dong~

Aaron skillfully used the Oracle of Tzeentch to disguise himself as the messenger of the Serpent, opening one door after another.

Unfortunately, there was nothing inside the pyramid. The two people passed through room after room. There were only walls made of boulders, tables and chairs fixed to the ground, and dusty bookcases.

Where are all the sleeping snake-haters?

Aaron was still searching, but Eleonora signaled to stop.

The two people listened, and soon heard subtle footsteps.

somebody is coming?

The roar of heavy objects hitting the wall was followed by the sound of footsteps! Someone is using brute force to break in!

There were bursts of venomous snakes neighing in the pyramid.

Aaron's expression changed drastically. He was just thinking about what to say when the stone chamber at the end of the road opened.

A large undead creature with a length of more than five meters and a weight of more than 600 pounds crushed the dust on the ground, held two swords, and screamed out in rage.

The guards guarding the pyramid were mobilized.

It's an immortal snake-hating person!

Challenge Level: Master.

The number is eight!

Updated, second update, please vote!

The third update will probably be in the evening.