bookpub Chapter 40 King Yenogu of the Gnolls
Chapter 40 King Yenogu of the Gnolls
After Ronan and Guf greeted each other, they sat down together.
Guf ordered dishes that dwarves liked to eat.
Most dwarves are manual laborers, such as blacksmiths and miners, so they generally prefer strongly flavored dishes.
Salty and sour smoked sausage and sauerkraut with mustard is a famous dish among the dwarves.
Legend has it that this dish was created by Moradin, the father god of the dwarves, and has been passed down to this day.
When the tavern owner, Ellis, brought the dish over, Ronan's mouth watered as he looked at the large plate with several plump, glistening smoked sausages, sauerkraut sprinkled with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, and a mound of stone-ground dwarf mustard.
Gu Fu clearly had a large appetite; in addition to the smoked sausage, sauerkraut, and mustard dish, he also ordered cabbage stew with pickled beef and dwarf oatmeal porridge.
The aroma of cured beef and oats kept wafting into Ronan's nostrils.
"Ellis, give me the same one too."
Even though he had already ordered three dishes, Ronan still exclaimed.
"Okay, friend." Ellis gave Ronan a slightly strange look before heading towards the kitchen.
"Dude, I didn't expect you to be able to eat more than me," Gu Fu said.
Ronan smiled and nodded. With his physical condition, he could digest any amount of food he ate.
The two then ate and chatted.
As they chatted, Gu Fu said, "Buddy, I have a favor to ask, but I don't know if you're free lately."
Ronan cut a piece of smoked sausage, dipped it in mustard, added a clump of sauerkraut, ate it in one bite, and said as he chewed, "I've been quite free lately, but I wonder what kind of commission it is."
Gu Fu said, "As you know, our caravans transporting steel from Naxike here are often harassed by jackals."
"Recently, we joined forces with other merchants to prepare to recruit adventurers to wipe out this gang of gnolls."
Ronan was very tempted when he heard this.
If he remembered correctly, the average challenge level of gnoll minions was 1/2, while the average challenge level of gnoll leaders was 2. For him, it would be a matter of one sword strike.
Of course, just as there are mages among the kobolds, there will also be powerful beings among the gnolls.
It is said that the gnoll monsters were created by the power of Yenogu, the gnoll king and demon lord of the 422nd floor of the Abyss.
Some gnolls can gain power from Yenogu and become terrifying beings.
One type of gnoll, known to adventurers as "Gnoll Yenogu's Fang," has an average challenge level of 4.
The "Gnog's Fang" contains the power of the demon lord Genog, which allows them to command a gnoll legion.
On the continent of Faerûn, there once appeared a "Gnogren Yagoku's Tooth," who led a legion and destroyed an entire town.
There is another type of gnoll, known to adventurers as the "gnoll lord," with an average challenge level of 8.
[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 20 ...
The Gnoll Demon Lord is a berserker born from the Gnolls' ritual of devouring the corrupted flesh of the Abyss.
They possess even greater power than the Yenogu within them, and are fearless and extremely powerful in combat.
Moreover, they can regain their strength and gain berserk status by devouring other gnolls.
However, these two types of gnolls are not very common.
After all, not every gnoll has the physical strength and intelligence to withstand the power of the demon lord Yenogu.
Ronan thought to himself that if the only powerful member of this group of gnolls was their leader, then he could take on the task single-handedly.
He immediately asked, "Have any adventurers explored this gnoll den?"
Guf shook his head, then asked, "Are you interested, buddy?"
Ronan nodded: "Of course, can you delegate this task to me? I'll find teammates myself."
"Of course!" Guf slapped his thigh. "That couldn't be better."
Ronan asked about the reward, and Guf replied, "3000 gold coins."
Rare items start at 4000 gold coins.
Even for professionals, 3000 gold coins is quite a lot.
"I'll take this mission," Ronan agreed, and then asked for the location of the Gnoll's lair.
After eating and drinking his fill, Ronan said goodbye to Guf and returned home.
He boiled the spring water and, while soaking in the bathtub, planned how to complete the task.
He pondered that the first thing he needed to do was, of course, explore the den of the gnolls.
Then, based on the strength of this group of gnolls, decide whether to recruit teammates or go solo.
Then, based on the terrain of this nest, formulate a corresponding strategy.
He remembered that he had a "second-level Taoist technique" called "Shefu".
This is a divination technique that can preliminarily determine the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness of things to be done in the future.
The common practice is to toss a coin after performing this technique, designating heads as "good fortune" and tails as "bad fortune." If the coin lands on the ground, it is considered "neither good nor bad fortune."
When the coins land, their shape can be used to determine good or bad fortune.
However, the common currency of Faerûn is not round and does not stand upright.
When it bounces up, the force is uneven.
Even if the coin is round, standing upright on the ground is still a low-probability event.
These factors can influence the divination results to some extent.
"Oh, right, this world also has twenty-sided dice."
Twenty-sided dice are a common item in tavern games because their uniform texture makes them more accurate than round coins in determining good or bad fortune.
Ronan immediately got out of the bathtub, dried himself off, went out, went to a small tavern, and bought a twenty-sided die made of ebony, with each side bearing the numerical symbols of the Forgotten Realms.
He designated the numbers one through six as "auspicious"; seven through thirteen as "neither auspicious nor inauspicious"; and fourteen through twenty as "inauspicious".
After returning home, he used the [Shoot the Dice] technique, blowing on a twenty-sided die.
Then, he tossed the dice upwards.
When the die reached its highest point, it rolled down, rolled on the ground, and then the number six faced up.
lucky.
Ronan thought to himself that this meant he should be able to complete his mission this time.
After a night of cultivation, Ronan, carrying his dimensional bag, headed towards the location of the gnolls that Guf had mentioned the next day.
According to Guf, the gnoll invasion of the caravan occurred on the road about thirteen miles south of the Arm of Friendship.
In other words, there should be a gnoll den nearby.
He looked at the map that the wanderer old Kohler had given him, which had druid markings and indicated that there was a gnoll settlement in the cloaked forest near the infested area.
According to Guf's account, the caravan members who encountered the gnolls recalled that the gnolls came from the west. Therefore, the gnolls that harassed the caravan likely came from the gnoll den in this Cloak Forest.
With that thought in mind, Ronan headed towards the Cloak Forest.