The Death Knell

A few minutes later, the two of them saw the lake. Between the snowy sky and the earth, a blue lake suddenly appeared. It was actually quite conspicuous.

Not to mention that there is a large green grassland and a large flaming red forest beside the lake. This forest spreads to the north, but is blocked by a black hill. On the other side of the mountain is a world of ice and snow. .

This place doesn't look like the depths of the North at all, but it's more reminiscent of the southern coast.

The master and apprentice landed on the edge of the lake. After receiving permission, Hermione stretched out her hand to stir the water and found that not only was the water not cold at all, it was even unusually warm.

"I didn't see any other rivers. This might be a geothermal hot spring, but there was no smell of sulfur, and there was no heat rising in the sky. It was really strange."

Curious, she picked up some water with her little hands, put it under her nose and smelled it, then looked at the professor curiously with her big eyes.

"This is the spell of the old gods in this world. In the heyday, it was easy to change the world. Even in today's decline, it is still possible to create a special area among the ice and snow." Su Ming looked at the fish in the lake. He swam around and let Strangler fish out one: "The person we are going to visit is a druid, so please bring some gifts."

This wild fish is quite big and the species is unknown.

"But I always feel that it's a bit miserable to live in seclusion here. There is no one around, and I am obviously a spell caster but I have fallen into this situation. Is it really okay?" The little witch waved her hand, stood up and looked around.

It was okay when I was looking down from the air, but after landing on the ground, I felt an indescribable feeling of loneliness when I looked at the snowfield scenery that was the same in all four directions.

"This is a long story. Let's walk into the woods first and I'll tell you."

Deathstroke pulled out some grass and twisted the rope, passed it through the gill cover of the big fish, and lifted it up casually. The fish's blood drew a line dotted on the ground, and the two walked towards the red forest.

.....................

These trees are all weirwoods, which are deciduous trees that were originally found all over Westeros, but there is no such large area elsewhere.

The bark of the tree is pale and the leaves are dark red, like a bloody palm. In addition, there are human faces carved on the trunk. If an ordinary person sees it at night, it can be said to be very scary.

It is said that these faces were carved by the ancient "Children of the Forest" before the ancestors came across the sea in order to worship the old gods.

After the ancestors arrived, they gradually accepted the beliefs of the old gods, followed this custom, and continued to carve on the weirwood.

Every few decades, when the stars reach a certain position, red juice is squeezed out of weirwood leaves and the eyes of the carved human faces are dyed red. Whenever the juice melts and flows down, it looks like the tree is weeping. Blood.

In the old god belief on this continent, trees play a very important role, even the noble families who accept this belief do the same.

They would leave a large open space in their castles to plant various trees, called the Godswood Forest, and then plant a weirwood in the Godswood Forest, called the Heart Tree.

The heart tree is very sacred to believers of the old gods. They will pray, swear, and sign marriage contracts in front of the tree, believing that in this way they can get the witness of the old gods, and those who violate it will suffer a bad death.

As for the green seers that Deathstroke was going to visit on this trip, they had the same ability as druids. They could connect to the weirwood and monitor the distance where there was a certain weirwood tree tens of thousands of kilometers away. They could also read the trees. memory.

An oak tree can live for three hundred years, a redwood tree can live for three thousand years, and a weirwood tree can live forever without being disturbed by external forces, so it can be said to be a living database.

Literally forever, until the moment the world is destroyed.

However, with the invading Andals bringing the Faith of the Seven Gods, the weirwood trees in the south were eradicated, leaving only the unconquered north, where weirwood trees were widely used.

Sometimes the savages would also kowtow to trees and speak in unknown languages. Their bloodline was closer to that of their ancestors, and some magic could even communicate with animals.

Why were there so many weirwoods here where Deathstroke found them? Of course it was not naturally generated, but after the invasion of the Faith of the Seven Gods, the Green Seers retreated northward, and their servants brought a large number of seeds to create a new 'Peach Blossom Land' here.

These servants are the children of the forest.

They were the original inhabitants of Westeros in the past. Long before the ancestors of the Dawn Era came to Westeros, they lived in various parts of the continent.

For the current residents of this world, there are too many unknowns about the Children of the Forest. This magical humanoid race has disappeared from human sight for many years.

In legends, poets and historians describe them as short humanoid creatures, not much taller than children, with light gray skin and beautiful faces. The giants call them 'Utar Nagant', which means squirrel people.

And Su Ming knew more information. In their own 'original language', the children of the forest meant "those who praise the earth".

Similar to the Druid systems in other worlds that believe in nature, the Children of the Forest do not use metals, animal skins, or build cities.

They used stone tools, weaved clothes from leaves, and used bark as leggings. In the past, they only lived in deep forests, caves, swamp islands and secret trees, and they seemed to be integrated with the forest.

Children of the forest possess supernatural powers, can use magic, control wild beasts in the jungle, and can even transform into the appearance of wild beasts.

In addition, they are kind-hearted, good at bows and arrows, and love music. It is said that hearing their tunes can make the executioner cry like a baby.

In view of these characteristics, Su Ming thought they might be some kind of half-elf, perhaps a hybrid between a dwarf and an elf? But maybe it's a magical creation of the Old Gods? Anyway, it's quite interesting.

.............................

Walking in the woods, Deathstroke was telling these stories to his students. Just as he finished his speculation on the origin of the Children of the Forest, a woman's voice suddenly came from the tree nearby:

"Humans, get out of here, this is our territory."

After hearing this voice, Su Ming smiled. He turned to look at the weirwood tree aside. A small face appeared between the red palm-shaped leaves. She looked very angry. The mainland's lingua franca was very standard. .

Hermione couldn't understand this language, but it was no problem for Deathstroke. He had read the basic ability of language by strangulating the brains of the three dead night watchmen.

Holding down Hermione who was about to draw out her pistol, she handed the big fish to her apprentice. Deathstroke waved to the tree and asked in the common language of the mainland:

"Is it 'Leaf'? I am the Supreme Mage Deathstroke, and I am here to visit the last green seer in the north, the Three-Eyed Crow."