Chapter 268, moving forward
In a short period of time, another human province fell. The pace of the rat people was much faster than humans expected.
It may also be that the turmoil that occurred throughout the entire Skaven Empire really affected too many Skaven.
An escape, a vast run for survival emerged.
In order to survive, desperate guys are pouring from all over the Rat Man Empire towards the main continent, towards the front line of this war.
Dark and solemn, the metal pass connecting the two continents is guarded by temple guards.
Countless gray and black rat men gathered here.
This large-scale migration was also one of the reasons why the crisis subsided so quickly. Countless rat people left their hometowns and staggered across the boundless wilderness.
This frees up a lot of space for those rat cities.
Along with the rapid death and loss of the population, the famine is also rapidly easing.
However, it takes more than just determination to embark on a long journey. Countless ratmen died in the wilderness. Most of the ratmen who made this decision died on the road, almost building a road through the ratman kingdom. The road of bones in all cities.
Those who survived all gathered at this metal pass.
This Guanyi is not open all day. It is not only a fortress, but also a church.
Every day, when the huge skeleton bell hanging on the top of the fortress rings, the fortress will be closed, and the temple guards will perform religious rituals during this time.
Prostration is a must, and then sacrifices and devout prayers can be shouted or silently kowtow. A small hourglass will be turned upside down aside. Everything must be completed before the gravel in the hourglass falls completely.
This is a somewhat complex and messy ritual.
Until now, no scripture that truly belongs to Du Yuan has been published, and it is estimated that there will not be one for a long time.
There is no doubt that the rat people are pious, but the power of the religious orders in the rat people empire is too scattered and internal. No one can truly convince everyone, so naturally no one is qualified to compile the rituals of the gods.
This resulted in the rat people's religious rituals being unexpectedly crude.
Often, a pillar with carved patterns and some scrawled patterns painted on several piled stones would become an altar. Killing something on these altars would be a sacrifice.
Regarding this situation, many rat people expressed their dissatisfaction.
But it's still the same problem. No one can convince everyone, so no one can give a standard set of rituals.
The Temple Knights are not satisfied with this, and they are still exploring.
What's just disappointing is that no matter how they deduce this set of rituals, the situation is always the same. The complicated rituals seem to be like that, and the simple rituals also seem to be like that.
If the great god is willing to lower his gaze, even if the ceremony is simple, the gaze will still fall.
If the great god is unwilling to look at you, even if the ceremony is complicated, it will not attract the great god's attention.
However, the temple guards did not give up. They were still perfecting their somewhat confusing and complex rituals and strictly abiding by them.
The last drop of gravel in the hourglass fell, and at this moment a struggling human being was beheaded by the temple guard holding a weird ritual knife in his hand. The frightened look on the falling head did not dissipate.
The temple guards wielding swords didn't look at the falling head. They straightened their waists and tried their best to straighten their waists. In front of him, a bright yellow metal pillar stood quietly.
Complex patterns spread on this metal pillar.
The rat priests who snapped up the blood gold mines in advance made a lot of money. Regardless of whether the blood gold was favored by the gods or not, the temple guards did like this bright and bright metal.
The head rolled into a pool of bright red blood, splashing waves, and then slowly floated up.
The last grain of gravel fell, and the temple guards in front of the altar withdrew their gaze from the dazzling pillars. Today's sacrificial ceremony was over.
The thick gears turned, and on both sides of the bank, the heavy doors in the dark fortress began to be slowly pulled up.
In the fortress on the other side of the vast grassland, rat people poured in along the pulled-up gate. There were really many of these guys.
On the other side, in the fortress on the other side, there are also some guys watching the opening of the heavy door.
There are also some rat men and some rat priests, but these guys are extremely careful in their movements.
From the open door, some ratmen began to pour out. These guys who came here for various reasons were not all chasing the war. Many of them just wanted to survive. They were thin, restless, and had wary faces. , the desire for aggression is clearly revealed.
Walking along the avenue of bones was not stable.
They're all lowly guys.
These lowly guys came face to face with those weird rat priests.
At this moment, these humble guys were shocked. No matter what happened, they would understand and should understand how they should behave towards these real big shots.
Panic appeared on their faces almost instantly, but the rat priests they collided with were not angry, and even looked pleasant, with a hint of flattery and envy.
A weird bunch of guys.
In fact, it is true that they were not born in the barren mountains, or even the subcontinent established by the rat-man empire.
The rat people from the main continent.
The establishment of this group of rat people in the fortresses on both sides of the continent was a big help, because it was such a great help, and even after the two fortresses fell, the temple guards were still buying them in large numbers.
And these weird rat priests are the lucky ones born among the same people on the main continent.
The misery and torture the Skaven can inflict is absolutely shocking and deeply memorable, especially if you are a slave.
But it's not like there's no chance to change your destiny.
If you can believe in that great god devoutly, devoutly and seriously, and become a glorious priest, then everything will be very different.
But what kind of guy can still worship devoutly after suddenly becoming a slave?
You must know that these guys are different from real slave rats. Slave rats have been facing this situation since they were born. They have enough time to slowly adapt and they have been struggling in hell.
But these captured guys are different.
In fact, many rat people from the Mainland who became slaves often began to actively look for ways to die after working for a period of time.
These guys are really good.
Cowardly, afraid to resist, and even more obedient than those real slave rats who have always been like this.
But it is also difficult to bear such suffering.
But in such an environment, these guys became religious and became fanatical.
These guys are more fanatical than ordinary rat priests.
After becoming rat priests, the temple guards will not force them excessively, and they essentially become free agents.
It's just that there seems to be a few more problems with the mentality of these guys.
A true rat priest would not look down upon a lowly fellow, but they would.
To a certain extent, the twisted and deformed nation of the Skaven Empire behind the metal fortress has become a kind of longing for them.
A very morbid longing.
These guys were able to whip their compatriots without hesitation, but those poor guys who were also captured were able to show kind expressions to those humble guys who came here from the Rat Man Empire.
But it doesn't seem to be a big problem, there just aren't many normal rat priests.
Such distorted emotions are not a big problem.
Anyway, they are indeed pious and fanatical.
These rat men who continued to flow along the pass became the best help for the rat war, and they also served as the backup force.
The land resources and even the sacrifices in the Golden Province were all wiped out early. These guys didn't have many choices after coming here.
This land is not as beautiful as they thought, at least not in the Golden Province.
Those who should starve to death will still starve to death. There is no room for those who want to show their ambitions. It seems that nothing has changed significantly.
Unless there is a spontaneous surge to join the war.
Everything they want can be obtained in war.
It was clear at a glance what to do. When Rat Zhan waved the flag again, the first batch of Ratmen who joined the war and charged fearlessly were not the Eastern Expeditionary Force in Rat Zhan's hands at all, but these poor guys.
Of course, compared to the Eastern Expeditionary Force of the Rat War, or even compared to the armies in the hands of the rat warlords, this group of guys is really too small.
They are skinny and have no uniform equipment, or even any equipment in most cases.
But they filled up the wilderness of the fallen province immediately.
The skinny guys ran around in the darkness, picking up leftover ears on the wheat fields, tearing apart scattered Goblin settlements, catching dying fish in the water, and even ferocious beasts were their hunting targets.
Of course, they also attack villages.
The eyes are deeply retracted into the sockets, and they are skinny, but there are endless, these noisy, sneaky, and hungry rat men.
Their arrival as a vanguard force suddenly made the situation in this province worse.
These guys are not powerful, but there are too many of them, and they are too violent when they are hungry.
After gathering enough numbers, they even dared to launch an attack on the central city of this province.
After occupying the Golden Province in Rat War, there are three options.
This decadent and huge human empire has a total of fourteen land provinces, one maritime province, and a total of three provinces bordering the Golden Province.
Most of the terrain on the main continent is relatively complex, especially in the area close to the subcontinent, which is dominated by hills and plains, with some sparse mountains in some corners.
The terrain in this area is like this.
The three choices in the Rat War correspond to the three human provinces bordering the golden provinces.
In fact, you can get a glimpse of the purpose of this area from the Golden Province.
Including the golden province, three of the four provinces in this area are standard grain producing areas.
The suitable climate, the terrain without too much undulations, the roads for heavy investment, and the alien race that has been in decline since the pioneering era are all excellent conditions, and even provide gold for the dangerous area on the border. The name.
But things are different now. The rat people are coming. Humanity is facing an attack from another empire for the first time in so many years. At this time, the advantage that it once had has instantly turned into a trouble and a problem.
A smooth road without too much undulating terrain means one thing, unimpeded.
When Rat Zhan arrived with the Eastern Expeditionary Force, the situation was unexpectedly similar.
These guys are even worse than the nobles of the Golden Province.
Just the swarming of humble guys made these guys miserable. A large number of towns and villages were all conquered before the Rat War arrived, and large tracts of land fell and huddled in the city.
But there is a problem, their city is far inferior to the huge and sturdy Mountain Dew City.
The city is not that strong, but Shu Zhan has more cannon fodder.
On the sixth day of the siege, Shu Zhan personally climbed the city wall. With the power of killing, he became stronger. The climbing process was extremely simple, and he was almost invincible.
Magic knights fell in front of Shu Zhan one by one, and the spells summoned by the military mages were all eliminated by a pitch-black flag.
The morale of the defenders on the city wall collapsed, and the city undoubtedly ushered in its fall.
What happened in Mountain Dew City was repeated again and again in this city.
War can indeed bring many things to the rat people, especially a won war.
The humble guys who were the vanguard could finally settle down for the time being.
At least a large part of it can be accommodated.
Those resources, minerals, and glory will certainly not be theirs, but the land can be imagined.
All kinds of trophies, those vertical pupils, became the wealth in the hands.
The economic shock has not completely subsided. In the process of recovery and stabilization, bartering has become the current method of transaction.
Dried cave mushrooms, which were usually looked down upon, were purchased in large quantities, and various armors and weapons were also considered.
The plunder gave these guys a taste of the sweetness, and naturally many guys became no longer restless.
Becoming a Skaven Warlord and a Skaven Priest is something that most humble guys would not consider.
But it was at least possible to accumulate a fortune of blood mushrooms, obtain a piece of land from the temple guards, and become a rat farmer.
Especially now, when they are standing at the forefront of the war.