From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 514 Voter Intelligence

In addition to agreeing to serve as judges for the Derivatives in Morning Star City and Evening Star City, Asderon also took on the responsibility of persuading other Derivatives to join.

Although they have gained freedom, if left unchecked, the bloodlust of the Derivatives will utterly destroy Baldur's Gate and Sword Coast, no different from the rampant Mind Flayer plague.

Therefore, except for a very few offspring who still have living relatives, everyone else needs to be sent to Twilight Star City in batches for resettlement.

Fortunately, Ivy left a permanent teleportation array in Star Fortress; otherwise, simply moving seven thousand humanoid creatures out of the city would have been a major challenge.

Under a combination of persuasion and coercion from Asdalon, Kazador's other six hunters also agreed to help in the process.

Besides the vast number of derivatives, Qazador's palace also contained other treasures and many valuable documents.

Needless to say, the wealth accumulated by the vampire lords over their long lifespans was of little concern to Ivy, but what she valued more were these documents that recorded the shady accounts of the Baldur's Gate's nobles, both large and small.

As a vampire with extraordinary political ambitions, Qazador secretly gathered intelligence on all aspects of the city in order to satisfy his lust for power.

In order to avoid attracting attention, he did not directly target the heads of the major power institutions, but instead targeted specific officials, minor nobles, and small merchants.

This resulted in him collecting extremely fragmented intelligence, but it also most accurately reflected the power structure of Baldur's Gate.

Among them, the person deliberately highlighted by Kazador, who rose rapidly in ten years, from a dynamic gang member to a political upstart and Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate, was naturally Ivy's first focus.

"I never imagined that the one who helped us understand the Bane elector Gotash would be the vampire lord of the Zar family." Ivy looked at the series of documents posted on the notice board and shook her head in disbelief.

“Kazador has been collecting these things for a long time. If he really completes the ascension ritual, he can use this intelligence to quickly bring the entire Baldur's Gate under his control.” Asdairen leaned against the wall with a glass of red wine in his hand, his face showing undisguised exhaustion. Who would have thought that the first thing he did after gaining his freedom was not to enjoy himself, but to start working?

"Asdallen!" Karak walked in from outside and gave the exhausted vampire clone a firm hug as soon as she saw him. "I heard about what you did! I really want to kiss you!"

“Oh—no thanks!” Asdallen held the glass far away from Karak’s embrace to avoid spilling it on his clothes. “Not everyone can handle your fiery, hellish kiss.”

“Now the vampire lord’s schemes have all failed, and it’s our turn to take control of this city from the shadows.” Minsara was in high spirits. The series of victories and the new changes they brought made her intoxicated and even more excited.

“Controlling the city requires it to be intact… After all these years, I still haven’t gotten used to acting with the Drow…” Jahira rolled her eyes. The person she didn’t get along with the most in the team was Minsara. The two of them almost never talked, only exchanging a few words when the other expressed an opinion. “The Gotash and the Orin’s Order threaten the entire city. Understanding the enemy will greatly help in defeating them. Tell me what you’ve discovered.”

The cleaned banquet hall was converted into a temporary meeting room, while the platform used to set up Gadzador's throne was used to place notice boards.

As the comfortable chairs were filled with bottoms, Ivy's teammates were almost all there, including Floric, the leader of the Flame Fist, and Uma, the chieftain of the Gur people.

The person who was "almost" excluded was Minsk, because he asked too many questions and was too loud, but his external brain was kept. Miniature giant space hamster Xiaobu was being held in Yingxin's hands, listening to the meeting as well.

“Our understanding of Gotash began ten years ago.” Seeing that the participants had quieted down, Ivy began to explain, “Back then, he was just a rogue in the lower city of Baldur’s Gate, running a small underground gang. But for some reason, such an insignificant character was able to get in touch with Zariel, the great demon of Avernus, and even obtained the Infernal Engine from Zariel by selling a cheap bargaining chip like a Tifflin girl.”

"No matter how much harm it may cause to the parties involved, we must say that for the ever-cunning devil, this is a losing deal."

"If I had to find a reasonable explanation for this deal, the only one I could think of would be an investment."

“Coincidentally, judging from the intelligence gathered by Kazador, Gotash is indeed very adept at securing investment. The vampire lord first noticed Gotash because of the noblewomen of Baldur's Gate. These women, with their spare money, leisure, and status, have clearly provided Gotash with considerable assistance. Perhaps the most famous of them is Lady Ganas, who owns a large estate in the lower city. She is now an art patron and is about to marry a painter from the countryside.” With a casual flick of his wrist, Ivy turned a quill pen into a pointer, pointing to a clipped newspaper article on the notice board. The headline read “Lady Ganas’s New Favorite,” and next to it was a statement from the park ranger. The black-haired man with heavy dark circles under his eyes in the statement was clearly Envir Gotash.

“Using the connections and status of these wealthy women, Gotash created a public identity for himself as an entrepreneur in the lower city.”

"Of course, in the underworld of Baldur's Gate, he was still that scoundrel who ran a gang. But soon, that attribute changed."

“Duke Salamara Van Sampur of the Council of Four, one of the top power circles of Baldur’s Gate, extended an olive branch to him.” Ivy moved the pointer in her hand to another piece of paper, which was also a confession from an essential oil vendor in the Hissing Stones bathhouse in the lower city.

"The Hissing Stone is located in the Haita neighborhood. It is a public bathhouse run by Salamara Van Sampur. Now it seems that in addition to providing hot water for bathing and sauna for ordinary citizens, it is also a stronghold for the devil to gather intelligence."

"The essential oil vendors saw and heard members of the Gotash gang meeting with Van Sampur's servants on several occasions, and it was based on this that Qazador deduced Salamara Van Sampur's connection with Gotash."

“Although Gadzador doesn’t know the specifics of their deal or plan, let’s speculate. Has anyone come to a conclusion?” Ivy smiled slightly and began asking questions.

Because of his teaching career at Hogwarts and Stryhaven, Ivy unconsciously turned this intelligence gathering meeting into a lesson analyzing Gotash's success, and even had to interact with the students sitting below.

“El Toril!” Before Ivy could finish speaking, the upright Border Blade Will provided the answer, “Salamara is Zariel’s sorcerer. In order to make Gotash useful in the devil’s sinking plan, Salamara got involved with Gotash! That gives Zariel a reason to trade Infernal Engine technology for Gotash!”

“Correct answer!” Ivy nodded in affirmation of Will’s answer. “But don’t forget to raise your hand next time, Ravengard.”

“It was precisely because he was looking for help in his plan to sink Baldur’s Gate that Zariel linked Salamara with Gortash.” Ivy then turned her attention to some other, more recent newspapers, a few months before El Toril fell into hell, when a series of heinous murders occurred at Baldur’s Gate.

“But what’s useful to the Zariel Plan has never been a small businessman or a thug with a small gang, but the leader of the Bane Order.” Ivy smiled slightly. “From the moment they sold Karak to Zariel, the Bane Order of Gotash began to grow with the support of the Devil Duke, and quickly changed its previous half-dead state. Before the sinking of El Toril, they committed a series of heinous crimes at Baldur’s Gate.”

“I remember those murders…they caused quite a stir in the city…and a detective named ‘Taf’ disappeared during that incident.” Jahira began to reminisce. “After that, I got involved with the harpist and Minsk, and eventually dug up the Order of the Supreme God in the sewers…you all know what happened after that.”

"Meanwhile, another noteworthy event has occurred in the Upper District." Ivy shifted her focus from the murder report to another piece of evidence: a very brief eyewitness testimony from a Gonde believer.

"The Hall of Supreme Miracles, which the Gondar followers used to display their inventions, was raided by Gortash. Now that I think about it, it was a talent pool he was building for creating the Iron Guardians." The Iron Hand Dwarves were still working on their inventions at the guild's designated location, and no one was participating in the meeting yet; otherwise, who knows what outrageous statements that one-eared Ulbrun would have made. "However, during Gortash's raid on the Hall of Supreme Miracles, he also encountered an unexpected person—a red-haired woman with impressive tattoos on her face." Ivy looked at Evil Thought, who was frowning and struggling to endure a headache. Ever since her brain was attacked by Orin, severe headaches had plagued her, only easing when she was collecting treasure.

"Me?" Evil thought belatedly revealed an embarrassed smile.

“It was you, Son of Baal, the leader of the Baal Order at the time.” Ivy nodded. “However, your presence was not as strong as Gotash’s to the vampire lord, so he failed to realize that the testimony of the Gond followers actually concealed the first merger of the Death Triad Order.”

“But a machine that’s over three meters tall and can act autonomously is already terrifying enough. Kazador has seriously considered the possibility of fighting and defeating the Iron Guardians. But what he fears most is the possibility that the Iron Guardians will identify the vampire clones and thus disrupt his ascension plans.” Ivy then showed a diary filled with Kazador’s thoughts on the power structure of Baldur’s Gate, including the shifting power balance between different factions and how they affect the vampire lords’ ability to manipulate politics.

“But for us, the vampire lord’s thoughts are not so important. What’s more important is the intelligence he has collected in great detail,” Ivy concluded. “In short, both Mammon and Zariel, these two dukes of Hell, have been in contact with Gotash for a long time. I even suspect that Mammon, this Hell broker, played a role in Gotash’s ability to contact Zariel.”

“It wasn’t just a simple arms trade between them; their business trust must have been established a long time ago.” Ivy then pointed to the evidence collected from the Pearwood House and the Frogger Fireworks Shop. “Giving such a large quantity of Hell Iron to Gotash clearly shows that Mammon had great confidence in this partner’s abilities.”

"Are you now certain that the Bane Order's hell weapons came from Mammon?" Gale asked.

“That’s right.” Ivy nodded. “I found a book describing the ecology of the Nine Hells. It mentions that Minauros, where Mammon is located, is an environment similar to a rotten swamp. Presumably, the hell iron mined and smelted from there gained the ability to cause poison damage because of environmental factors.”

“If we’re going to deal with Gotash, we might also have to confront the devilish Grand Duke behind him?” Floric glanced at the curved horn on Will’s head, his expression grave.

Now that Will's contract with Mizora has entered its six-month countdown, he is free to recount his journey to becoming a demonic sorcerer. Floric harbors no goodwill towards the demons seeking to interfere in Baldur's Gate politics, only deep concern.

“There’s no need to worry too much about that,” Ivy said. “Zariel’s original core demand was to sink Baldur’s Gate. Now that El Toril has returned from Hell, her pawns on Baldur’s Gate have been removed one by one. The Bane Order of Gortash and the Order of the Supreme Gods, which was later formed by the Chosen of the Death Trinity, have almost swallowed up all of Zariel’s arrangements on Baldur’s Gate. Now, our relationship with her is that of enemies of enemies. Mizora’s leniency towards Will and the reduced pursuit of Karak both demonstrate this. Therefore, it is almost impossible for Zariel to stand with Gortash, but she might jump out and take over some ‘bad assets’ if Gortash’s situation becomes too bad.”

"For example?" Will sensed a hidden meaning in Ivy's words.

“Take your father, High Duke Ravengard.” Ivy confirmed Will’s conjecture. “Once Gortash becomes the Grand Duke of Baldur’s Gate, High Duke Ravengard will be useless to him. Selling him out to the devil in exchange for something useful seems like a reasonable choice.”

“Gortash will send my father to hell?” Will asked incredulously.

“Hmm…” Ivy pondered for a moment, then shook her head. “The possibility isn’t particularly high, because High Duke Ravengard is also a ‘bad asset’ to Zariel. He has mind flayer tadpoles in his brain and isn’t under the protection of the Astral Prism, so he could turn into a soulless mind flayer at any time. Therefore, using him to force you to submit is a reasonable strategy.”

Ivy felt that he had almost mastered the art of dealing with devils. As long as he imagined them as a group of stingy capitalists, it was not hard to guess the strategies they would use: backdoor listing, investing capital and then firing the founder... Ivy had seen similar operations countless times on Earth.

Capitalists on Earth pursue long-term returns and focus more on future valuations than current conditions, thus making buying low and selling high the norm.

Abandoning High Duke Ravengard, whose political reputation has been severely damaged, and instead pursuing the rising Frontier Blade Ravengard, Ivy believes this is very likely Zariel's next strategy. Not to mention, Will was originally a mage under Zariel's command, Cambion; perhaps such actions are seen by her as reclaiming what is already hers.

"Zaril will use my father's life to blackmail me into giving up my soul?" Will had already faced a difficult choice atop Dusthawk Mountain, choosing Baldur's Gate over himself. In this next deal, the other side of the scales would be family.

“It’s all just speculation at the moment,” Ivy said reassuringly. “But I still suggest you be prepared. Whatever you choose, we will support you.”

“Will…” Floric wanted to say something, but held back in the end. The long lifespan of elves meant that Floric had practically watched Will grow up. But even such a close relationship couldn't make the choice for him.

“We’ve already captured the stronghold in the upper city, so what’s the next move?” Minsara, more accustomed to victory than a somber atmosphere, stepped forward to end the anxious mood in the meeting room. “My personal suggestion is Orin. The vampire lord’s windowless stronghold effectively eliminates the risk of Orin’s shapeshifter infiltrating, but that doesn’t mean it’s nonexistent. That indiscriminate killer has been stirring up more trouble in this city, and the killing ritual she’s currently performing gives me a very bad feeling. She’s a threat to everyone. Ending her and taking the Netherstone from her is what we must do before facing the Supreme God.”

Minsara's words resonated widely. Ever since the adventurers entered Baldur's Gate, they had been operating around the Iron Guard of Gothash because they did not want to confront the leader of the Order who controlled the most threatening force in the city for the time being. Weakening and disintegrating the Order of the Three Gods of Death in batches was the strategy Ivy had set from the beginning.

Orin's insane killing spree not only caused widespread panic in the city but also provided strong evidence for Gotash to increase the number of Iron Guard patrols. Moreover, Ivy had recently obtained the location of the Murder Inquisition from the cheese maker Alexander's house, making a direct assault on Orin's lair a highly feasible and necessary option.

However, Ivy certainly had her own plans.

“Let’s put the Murder Tribunal aside for now and head to Van Sampur’s villa first,” Ivy explained. “Serswell Van Sampur and Frederick Hune are the last two on Orin’s murder list. Unlike Gotash, which has a wealth of intelligence and is always out in the open, we know very little about Orin, and we have no idea what’s going on inside the Murder Tribunal. Almost all our knowledge comes from the murder lists she distributes to the assassins in the city.”

“Therefore, directly storming the Murder Tribunal would be extremely unwise. Baal, the god of murder, has been resurrected. If there is an incarnation of the god of murder hidden within the Murder Tribunal, it would be a very troublesome matter for us.” Ivy thought of Katheric Som, whose body had been possessed by Melkor, the god of the dead. “Considering Melkor’s personal involvement, Baal’s appearance is not so unacceptable, not to mention that it would be a battle between two sons of Baal.”

"But... in the end we still have to face Orin and her cult, so what difference does it make whether it's sooner or later?" Xie Nian was somewhat puzzled. The blood of slaughter within her had long been clamoring to settle things with Orin.

"We're heading to Van Sampur's villa to confirm the whereabouts of the Shield Knight's artifact, the Shield of Sylvam." Ivy looked at the former leader of the Order of the God of Murder. "If the shield is still there, then having it in our hands is advantageous; if the shield is gone, we can also prepare for the possibility that Orin will be holding an artifact, such as my ray-type spells, which are obviously not suitable for use."

“Of course, there’s also the least likely possibility: we might just happen to stumble upon Orin committing the crime at Van Sampur’s villa.” Ivy only considered this possibility. “If that were the case, we could take Orin’s life and the Shield of Sylvam together.”

"I see. So you saw the attack on Van Sampur Villa as a prelude to the attack on the Murder Tribunal?" Minsala nodded. "What about the Hune family? Aren't they also nobles in the Upper City? And someone of theirs is on Orin's murder list?"

“Since the family artifact was stolen and their shield knights were wiped out by Gotash, the Hune family has been in complete chaos,” Ivy reminded her. “Remember the werewolves in the banquet hall yesterday? Several of them were members of the Hune family. They’ve already started looking for ways to re-establish themselves within Baldur’s Gate, and have even sent people to serve the vampire lord. The Hune family might have already been attacked by Orin, otherwise they wouldn’t be running around Baldur’s Gate like headless chickens.”

“By the way, Jahira.” Ivy looked at the high-ranking harpist, “Who is the third of the Five Clans? Orin should have already completed his ritual.”

“Senna, a drow mistress.” Jahira glanced at Minsara. “Her territory is full of slaves and spiders… My stereotypes about drow have been reinforced.”

“Then setting up such a venue would probably require a very large space. However, the underground space of Baldur's Gate is already quite large; perhaps the Hune family really did build an underground city.” Ivy satisfied her curiosity and then turned to Floric, one of the few people in the group who frequently dealt with the Upper City. “Advisor Floric, the trip to Van Sampur Villa cannot be postponed, and we need someone familiar with the Upper City as a guide, so we must ask you to come with us.”

“I am well aware of the urgency of this matter, and I will obey your orders, Lord Doom.” Floric nodded in agreement. “As I mentioned before, in such a time of crisis, Baldur’s Gate cannot refuse the help of a powerful lord.”

(End of this chapter)