Especially his church, many of which were former believers and priests of the "Three Gods of Death" who fell in the turbulent years, namely Baal, the god of murder, Melkor, the god of death, and Bane, the god of tyranny.

These people are already full of conflicts, and each of them has his own small circle.

Not to mention coordinating and cooperating with each other, it was a blessing that they didn't fight directly.

Members of some sects and organizations even try to undermine each other in their fight for leadership.

Murder, frame-up, entrapment, annexation...

Similar things happen almost every day.

And this is exactly what Xirik, who advocates chaos, wants to see.

Sometimes, in order to enjoy the wonderful performance of his followers fighting each other, he would even give completely different or even conflicting "revelations" and "oracles" to two high-ranking priests at the same time.

Then he sat on the sidelines and watched both sides fight until they were bleeding.

Finally, with the addition of some young people who are extremely eager for power or driven by ambition, the current chaotic situation of the Church of Cyric has been created.

So when the Xirik followers in Calim Port learned that the Chosen One, Malik, had lost a sacrifice that was intended for the "Lord of Lies", they immediately took action at the same time.

Among them are members of the Thieves Guild, as well as some unscrupulous merchants, adventurers and nobles.

Of course, their purpose was not to help Malik retrieve the item, but to snatch the item and then sacrifice themselves to Xirik in exchange for more power and benefits.

If possible, it would be best to replace Malik and become the new chosen one of the gods.

As Cyric's followers took action at the same time, the churches of the hostile gods such as Ilmater, the god of suffering, Tyr, the god of justice, Heim, the god of protection, and Lathander, the lord of the dawn, also immediately took action.

In addition, the old enemies, the Harpers and the Zhentarim, known as the two "troublemakers" in Faerun, also inevitably started a new round of open and secret struggles.

For a while, under the cover of night, various intelligence gathering, message transmission, assassinations, and small-scale battles took place one after another.

As the true behind-the-scenes ruler of the entire Calimshan, [Tangled Symbol] naturally could not turn a blind eye to this.

By dawn, a detailed intelligence was delivered to the "Lord of Symbols" Lagong.

After the lich read all the contents on the sheepskin, he immediately asked in a playful tone: "What is in that box? Why did the people of the Xirik Church make such a fuss?"

"I don't know. But there is definite news that the thing in the box was fished out by a fisherman from the Baldur's Gate harbor near the mouth of the Chongsa River. Not long after he fished it out, his wife, children, relatives, and friends all died. Later, one of Malik's men happened to know something and bought it at a high price."

Ebenee Abbott told all the information he had collected.

"Interesting! Send someone to Baldur's Gate to investigate what is in the box. By the way, find out who has the box now." Ragon ordered without thinking.

Ebenee Abbe nodded quickly. "Understood! I'll arrange for someone to go to Baldur's Gate right away. Also, as to who got the box, I've almost locked on the target."

"Oh? Who is it?" Lagun asked with interest.

"Yesterday at noon, Soth took his little werewolf out of the city gate and went to a place in the wild to perform a magical ceremony to control lycanthropy. He did not return to the inn until nearly midnight. Calculating the time, he is highly suspicious. Most importantly, he has the power necessary to do this."

Ebenee Abbott expressed his speculation carefully.

Since arriving in Port Calin, Zuo Si's routes of action have often been very simple and he almost never wanders around, so it is easy to infer where he is and at what time.

And compared to those people or organizations who know nothing about him, the [Entangled Talisman] knows very well how dangerous this guy who looks like a ten-year-old boy is.

Apart from anything else, the powerful magical equipment alone is enough to beat many adventure teams that claim to be "experienced" and "powerful" to the ground.

What's more, Zuo Si was also very good at making and using poisons.

When Lagun heard this, the two dots of light in his eyes flickered continuously. After a full minute, he spoke: "If the box is in Soth's hands, this matter becomes particularly interesting. Keep the news secret for now. Wait until the third day after he and the caravan leave Calimport, and then reveal it to the Harpers, Zhentarim, and Cyric Church."

"As you wish!"

Ebeny Abo placed one hand on his chest and bowed deeply, then turned around and touched the teleportation rune, and he disappeared without a trace.

…

At the same time, in the hidden hideout of the Harper Alliance branch in Calimport, several humans and half-elves also gathered under the statue of the Goddess of Magic, discussing heatedly the unusual movements of the Church of Cyric.

One of the male half-elfs whose age could not be determined said in a very serious tone: "Everyone! I believe you should all be very clear.

Since Cyric was deified, he and his followers have created so many terrible disasters, disputes, and troubles in just two years.

Especially Malik, a voter who came from a businessman background, used deception and lies to build up a huge force in Port Calin.

Many illegal smugglers and thieves guilds have close ties with him.

They even cooperated with some lords of the war-torn Kingdom of Tethyr in the north, and a few profit-seeking merchants in Amn, to capture innocent poor people and civilians and sell them as slaves to Calimshan.

At the same time, they frequently use assassinations to eliminate those righteous people who hinder their expansion of power.

So whatever Malik is planning, we have to thwart his plot.”

"But what can we do? We don't even know what the 'cargo' he lost is." Another human female questioned.

Although members of the Harper Alliance often resort to assassination and other means, they are ultimately an intelligence organization.

If you act rashly without collecting enough information, you will most likely fall into a carefully planned trap or suffer fierce retaliation from the enemy.

“Don’t worry about that.

I have sent word to the branches in Askatra and Baldur's Gate.

They should be able to get to the bottom of the matter soon.

Now, all we have to do is to continue the destruction without stopping for a moment.

Make sure that whatever they try to do ends in failure.”

When speaking these words, the male half-elf's tone was filled with unquestionable finality.

"What about the Zhentarim? They will definitely intervene!"

Yet another senior Harpers member who took part in the discussion raised his concerns.

But the half-elf male responded nonchalantly, "Don't worry! The Zhentarim in Calimport are in the middle of a fierce internal struggle.

Of their two leaders, one surrendered to Cyric, while the other continued to serve the dead god of tyranny, Bane.

If nothing unexpected happens, the guy who serves Bane, the dead god of tyranny, should be very happy to cause some trouble for another competitor.

Also, inform Khalid and Jaheira not to leave Calimport yet.

We may need their strength now.”

(End of this chapter)