SWDnovel Chapter 53 The Earth Mother Goddess, Shantia, Green Grass Festival
Chapter 53 The Earth Mother Goddess, Shantia, Green Grass Festival
In Faerûn, achieving immortality is no easy feat.
Aside from becoming a god or being chosen by the gods, one can obtain a long lifespan through various methods, such as drinking longevity potions or casting longevity spells.
However, the lifespan extension achieved by these methods is ultimately limited.
The exceptionally wise mages, however, discovered a way to achieve immortality: by becoming liches.
However, liches are undead creatures. When a mage becomes a lich, all the flesh and blood in his body will fall away, turning him into a skeleton.
At this point, unable to enjoy delicious food or experience pleasure, immortality seems meaningless.
Sazastan, the ruler of the famous mage kingdom of "Sel" in Faerûn, was a lich. This lich, who was proficient in necromancy, was also the great enemy of Priest Kranvor.
"I wonder if there are immortals on the continent of Karatu?" Ronan wondered.
The continent of Karatu is too far away from here, so news can hardly get through.
However, if he achieved immortality through qi cultivation, he would likely be the first person on the continent of Faerûn.
Ronan took the Dragon Tiger Pill, calming his mind while slowly breathing in and out.
The Dragon-Tiger Pill he swallowed released a surge of medicinal power, which traveled to his limbs and bones.
The surrounding magical energy also entered his meridians through his pores and was refined by him along with the medicinal properties.
The true energy in his dantian swirled with his breathing, becoming increasingly concentrated.
……
About a month passed in this fulfilling period of practice.
Spring has truly arrived at Baldur's Gate; flowers are in full bloom, and all industries seem to be gradually thriving.
There were more street vendors, and more adventurers wearing leather armor and carrying weapons.
Walking down the street, you can see several houses with people renovating their homes on the rooftops.
It seems that the departure of winter and the arrival of spring have given the citizens of Baldur's Gate a lot of energy.
Although Baldur's Gate is often associated with bad news.
For example, someone is brutally murdered, or a family is ruined by an evil organization and goes bankrupt overnight...
However, citizens don't think about it when a crisis hasn't yet struck.
For ordinary citizens, these things are very distant.
They thought they were so ordinary that even the evil gods wouldn't be interested in them.
Ronan's training has progressed quite quickly over the past month.
He remembered that with the help of the elixir, it took him a month to advance from the eighth to the ninth level of Qi Refining.
Logically speaking, cultivation is like rowing against the current; as the level increases, it only slows down and rarely speeds up.
However, before a month had passed, he felt that he had reached the bottleneck of the ninth level of Qi Refining.
He thought this was because his specialties of [Guiding] and [Tasting] had come into play, improving his efficiency in breathing exercises and refining energy.
It was at this time that Ronan received an invitation from Keira, a girl from the Typhoon, when he went to the witchcraft general store to buy potion-making materials.
She said that Elder Reynolds of the Druid camp wanted to invite Ronan and Therath to the camp to celebrate the Green Grass Festival.
Green Grass Festival is a festival held at the end of the month of Windclaws (April) and the beginning of the month of Melting Snow (May).
It is also the first festival at the beginning of spring.
During the Green Grass Festival, according to the customs of Faerun, people give newly harvested flowers to the gods or spread them widely in the fields, praying for a bountiful and rapidly growing season.
Ronan felt that proper relaxation could also improve the efficiency of his training, so he agreed.
After arriving at the Elf Song Tavern and finding Reverend Cuthbert of Woking, he asked Cuthbert to pass the message on to Ramir and Seras.
Three days later, on the day of the Green Grass Festival, Ronan, along with Cuthbert, Ramirez, and Therath, headed to the Druid camp.
Tiflin had already gone back to make arrangements, so the four of them would be traveling together today.
As they walked down the street, they felt the festive atmosphere at Baldur's Gate was very strong.
Almost all industries suspended operations today, and citizens took to the streets to entertain the Earth Mother Goddess Saturnia with joyful songs and dances, amidst a profusion of flowers, praying for a bountiful harvest in the new year.
Ronan couldn't help but think that in the Faerûn mythology, the Sentia were given life by the moon maiden Serene and the night lady Shar.
At that time, the two sisters got along well.
Now, these two sisters are constantly leading their followers in open and covert struggles.
Thinking about the contrast between the past and the present, it's quite poignant.
After exiting the Petrified Lizard Gate, the adventure team arrived at the outer city of Baldur's Gate.
Impoverished residents of the outer city also put aside their work today to celebrate the Green Grass Festival.
Their celebration setup was far inferior to that of the downtown area.
Although they didn't have many flowers, and although their clothes looked somewhat faded and worn, unlike the residents of the downtown area who were quite stylish.
But their feelings about celebrating the festival were no different from those of the residents of the downtown area.
The men and women, wearing tattered boots, still danced joyfully on the muddy ground to the music woven from songs and old drums, entertaining the earth goddess Sentia.
Amidst the festive atmosphere, Ronan and his companions circled Dust Eagle Mountain, passed through the outer city, and arrived at the Flying Dragon Pass Bridge.
The festive atmosphere was equally strong on the bridge, with some Flame Fist soldiers in leather armor also participating in the celebrations.
After crossing the Flying Dragon Pass bridge and entering the Livington District, the four of them experienced the Livington District celebrations before heading towards the Arm of Friendship.
……
After arriving in the town of Friendly Arm, Ronan and his companions took a short rest.
The festive atmosphere at the Friendly Arm Tavern is also quite good.
At this moment, Ronan and his companions were at the bar, drinking fruit wine with a low alcohol content, watching two dwarf adventurers walk hand in hand around the tavern, dancing and twirling.
After finishing the fruit wine, the four entered the Cloak Forest.
Guided by the map, the four bypassed the monster horde and arrived at the druids' new camp with great ease.
As they approached the camp entrance, the druid guarding the camp stood on the watchtower and saw four figures. He instinctively drew his bow and nocked an arrow.
Once he recognized Ronan and the others, he immediately lowered his bow and arrow and laughed, "My four friends, come quickly, the camp's celebration is about to begin!"
Ronan and the others quickened their pace slightly. Then, the guards on the watchtower worked together to move the winch, raise the gate, and let Ronan and the other three in.
The gate was lowered, and Ronan and his three companions headed deeper into the camp.
After walking for a while, we arrived at a clearing in the woods.
In the camp, everyone except the druids who needed to stand guard was gathered together.
The ground was covered with all kinds of fruits, snacks and wines.
"Come, friend, come quickly!"
When the druid Kiran saw Ronan and the others, he immediately waved.
Ronan and his companions walked over and scanned the group of druids, when they suddenly noticed the old wanderer Kohler, Thea, and her father among them.