Northport, the capital of Castres, is a city built on the sea, located next to the outlet of the Dorne River, the largest river in the West Union region.
It is said that eight hundred years ago, this place was just a coastal swamp, deserted and surrounded by dense forests, with many magical beasts active. It was once part of the Violet Forest.
At that time, the Violet Forest was not called the Violet Forest. The entire forest stretched across the northern lowlands and was called the Dark Forest. Many monsters would often form a wave of monsters in the spring and attack the villages in the southern human country.
Later, in order to permanently solve the problem of the tide of Warcraft in the north, the king of the Crescent Kingdom formulated the policy of pioneering knights to entrust and develop the land.
Anyone who is willing to go all the way north and go deep into the dark forest to open up land and build a village, regardless of nobles or commoners, can obtain the title of pioneer knight. All the developed land is owned by the knight, and all rare resources found on the real estate are divided equally between the knight and the royal family.
, all pioneer knights who obtain land can obtain the corresponding hereditary noble title.
The Earldom of Castells, the Violet Principality, and even the Roman Principality, which is now the enclave of the Fallen Star Kingdom on the mainland and is also the ancestral home of the Fallen Star Kingdom, were all developed in this way.
The origins of the Castel family can be traced back to seven hundred years ago.
At that time, the famous Bold family in the south of the kingdom gave birth to a magic genius named Castel.
At that time, the theory of the four extraordinary levels had not yet been put forward, and the division of levels was not so clear. However... various historical materials record that the founder of the Castel family was probably at his peak after middle age.
A legend.
Because he was the posthumous son of the old duke, Castel did not inherit any fiefdom or title. In order to obtain his own land, he chose to become a pioneer knight when he came of age, and joined his eldest brother, who was Bold at the time.
With the support of the Duke, a pioneering group of 1,000 people was raised.
The Earldom of Castells was developed by Castells who led his own pioneering team.
With his powerful magical power, Castel killed countless monsters and carved out a world in the dark forest. He also chose to build a city on an island on a shallow beach on the banks of the Dorne River, clearing the vast swaths of darkness.
The forest has become its own territory.
There are four main reasons why the city was built here.
First, relying on the barrier of the shallow sea, it can effectively avoid the attacks of the tide of monsters; second, it is close to the Dorne River, and can flow upstream through the river to communicate with the interior of the Crescent Kingdom, and even the Yunet Empire and the Kingdom of Coria in the east; third,
According to the treaty of the pioneering knights, the fiefdoms of the pioneering nobles were centered on the stronghold and radiated to the surrounding areas. Strongholds deep in the dark forest could demarcate a large amount of territory for themselves; fourth, Castel had inspected it in advance, and it was just right to use it as a stronghold.
Divide the flattest part of the land in the dark forest into your own name. After clearing away the monsters, this part of the land can be converted into fertile soil for arable land.
In this way, Beigang City was built and became the northernmost city in the Crescent Kingdom. The Castel family also owned a total of 120,000 square kilometers of land, including Bold, which was the largest principality in the Crescent Kingdom.
They all benefited from this and enjoyed great success for a while.
Many people say that Castel is a family favored by the gods.
During the Great Development Period, it was a period when extraordinary power was developing greatly in the human world. Extraordinary materials, mainly Warcraft resources, were in short supply in various kingdoms.
Relying on the rich resources of Warcraft in the dark forest, Castell's North Port has become a paradise for adventurers and mercenaries. Businessmen from all over Miria flocked here to take risks with mercenaries here along the Dorne River.
Players conduct transactions, acquire precious magical materials, and resell them around the world.
In a sense, the Castel family started from business from the beginning.
Over the next two hundred years, the Castel family used Beigang as their stronghold and gradually eliminated the monsters in the family land. Beigang City also continued to expand, expanding again and again. From the earliest, it had no more than 2,000 people.
, developed into a new city with a population of tens of thousands.
The traces of the Warcraft gradually disappeared in the Castel Territory, and the originally dense forest was cut down.
Castel's subjects began to farm, and villages began to appear.
But at the same time, because it was no longer in the forest, the trade in Warcraft materials gradually disappeared from the Earldom of Castel and moved to the Violet Principality in the south and the Northern Tribe Alliance in the north.
Logically speaking, Castres City is likely to decline as a result.
But God's favor came again.
When the Castel family was cleaning up the hilly area in the eastern part of their territory, they accidentally discovered a rich silver mine!
According to personal investigation by the contemporary Count Castells, who was also a mage at the time, extremely high-quality associated mithril was discovered in the silver mine...
Thus, the great silver mining era of the Count of Castres began.
The mining of silver and mithril brought huge wealth.
Not only the Castel family, but also the Bold family and the Crescent royal family benefited from this.
Especially mithril.
The mining of mithril was accompanied by the emergence of the precious metal processing industry in Castres, which gradually developed into a workshop industry of jewelry and extraordinary materials.
Businessmen from all over the world flocked here again, this time for the precious mithril.
As the mithril workshop industry gradually developed, Castel City also became the most famous mithril producing area in Miria, and therefore became the most important trade between mithril-loving elves and the human world.
node.
From that moment on, Luna Island, where the overseas elves are located, the Falling Star Kingdom on the other side of the Star-Moon Strait, the Crescent Kingdom on the Crescent Peninsula, the East Yunet Black Land Mercenary Alliance in the east, and the Northern Tribe Alliance in the northeast
The Grand Duchy of the North was established... a center surrounded by five forces, and Castel's commercial value became increasingly prominent.
The Castel family gained massive wealth and became one of the richest families in the Crescent Kingdom.
As the capital of the Earl of Castells, Beigang has been expanded again and again. From a city built to resist the invasion of monsters, it has developed into a megacity with a population of more than half a million...
Until today.
The first time Charlotte saw North Port, she subconsciously thought of the two cities in Blue Star in her previous life.
One is Venice, known as the "Water City" on the Apennine Peninsula, and the other is Amsterdam, the capital of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, known as the sea coachman in the Age of Discovery.
In fact, it is indeed very similar.
When you enter the city through the city wall rebuilt during the Star-Moon War, you will find that canals and waterways can be seen everywhere in the city, and there are many bridges. Although it is not like Venice, where waterways almost replace streets, it can definitely be called "people live on water.
Entering the city, people and water depend on each other.
Beigang is even more prosperous than Bold City, the capital of the Principality of Bold, and Anluo City, the capital of the Principality of Moon Protector. If you don't know, it's really hard to imagine that she is just the capital of a county.
In the city, rivers criss-cross the rivers, and on both sides of the rivers are relatively spacious land roads. Merchant ships come and go in the water, and horse-drawn carriages are constantly on the road.
It is said that every expansion of North Port was personally designed by the then Count Castells, and the Archmage participated in the reconstruction every time.
Because it is an immigrant city, the architectural style of Northport is influenced by places from all over Miriam, but the most common ones are the Gothic buildings that have the same origin as the Crescent Kingdom.
The Earl's Palace is located in the center of North Port. It was rebuilt on the basis of the Castres Fortress built by the first Earl of Castres. It is like a solemn castle palace in a manor.
Because there was no master living there for a long time, there were not many servants in the mansion, but even so, when Charlotte stepped out of the carriage, there were fully two hundred deacons and maids standing on both sides to greet her and salute her respectfully.
Charlotte nodded slightly, and then entered the Earl's Mansion accompanied by her followers.
Sebas, wearing a butler's tuxedo, stood beside her, holding an umbrella for her elegantly and respectfully, while the black cat Ness followed behind her, holding her head high and arrogant, looking like a kitten that needed a beating.
As soon as she entered the castle palace of the Earl's Palace, Charlotte felt an extremely familiar feeling, because the decoration here was very similar to the Castel Manor in Boulder.
Obviously, Castle Manor is a replica of a small count's palace.
The direction in the Earl's Mansion is also very similar. After walking through the stairs and corridors, Charlotte easily found the Earl's master bedroom and study. In the almost identical corridors, the only thing that is significantly different from the Castel Manor is probably the same.
It's the portraits of successive earls that hang there.
Charlotte even noticed that a blank space had been decorated next to the last portrait, obviously for the purpose of hanging a new portrait.
As for who was killed, I'm afraid it was herself.
In addition, Charlotte, who had read the Earl's handwriting in the manor in advance, also knew that there was a Earl of Castells in her Earl's Mansion who was dedicated to studying magical secret rooms.
Charlotte entered the earl's master bedroom, followed the handwriting of previous earls, and touched around in front of the gorgeous column wall. She quickly found the mechanism in the record. After lightly injecting magic power, the entire wall reversed.
A passage through the secret room was opened.
Charlotte walked along the passage, but soon her expression became a little strange.
This is not a simple secret room.
In fact, after walking through the passage, Charlotte discovered that this was another hidden bedroom.
The decoration here was equally gorgeous, and there were also luxurious bathrooms and bathtubs. She could almost instantly think of what this place was for. I'm afraid it wasn't the former Earl's Golden House where he hid his beauties or a place where he collected wild flowers...
It may not be her father, but it must be an ancestor of a certain generation, or it is very likely that it has been used more or less in all generations.
However, if you go deeper, you can see the real secret room for studying magic in the records. It is a circular secret room with various sophisticated magic equipment, and there are a large number of books on the bookshelves on the wall.
, taking into account the functions of magic research and study.
Charlotte is a vampire, so magic research is of little use to her, and she is not the type to do research, but this place is very suitable for her to hone the vampire's natural magic, or to study the power of the Blood Scripture.
It can be said that after getting familiar with the Earl's Mansion, Charlotte was quite satisfied.
"My Lord Earl, the Mage Tower has prepared a collective message. The news of your arrival in Beigang can be conveyed to nobles everywhere at any time. Do you think it is necessary to order them to come to see you as soon as possible?"
Charlotte made a tour, and after returning to the lobby, Northport Mayor Maddock came over with a smile and asked respectfully.
"Mage Tower? Is it the Mage Tower that broke down last year?"
Charlotte's heart moved.
Madoc's expression was a little embarrassed:
"Ahem...yes, but it was an accident..."
"Our earldom only has one mage tower capable of ultra-long-distance communication. It was modified by elf craftsmen the year before last. It can be said to be the most advanced in the world of Miria. Now it can send messages to various nobles in the territory at any time."
"This is the most high-end magic craft of the elves, but the disadvantage is that it is not very stable... Last year, I was not very lucky. I encountered stormy weather but did not adjust the magic circle properly. As a result, the elements were disordered."
"Because the elf craftsmen returned to Luna Island to participate in the Luna Festival at that time, so when you sent the message, they had not repaired it for two months..."
After listening to Maddock's words, Charlotte glanced at him in surprise:
"You also know magic?"
Madoc scratched his head:
"To tell you the truth, I have always dreamed of becoming a mage in my early years, but unfortunately I have no talent and cannot awaken the magic circuit. However, I have always been interested in magic, so I know more or less something."
Charlotte nodded understandingly.
"My Lord Earl, do you think... do you need to be summoned?"
Madoc asked again.
"Pass it, tell them that I have arrived, and... I will hold a banquet at the Earl's Mansion in a week, and invite nobles from all over the Earl's territory to come. Before that, I will walk around the territory at will, so don't let
Someone is coming to disturb you."
Charlotte thought for a while and said.
After arriving in the earldom, she will definitely meet with the nobles, and Charlotte also needs a banquet to judge the situation of the nobles in the earldom of Castres.
Madoc saluted respectfully:
"As you command, I'll do it right away."
…
The news of the new earl's arrival in North Port quickly spread to all parts of the Castel Territory through the Mage Tower.
At the same time, somewhere in the Castel Territory close to the Violet Principality, in a dilapidated old castle.
The middle-aged knight Rahel looked at the vampire girl Agnes who was standing in front of the mirror trying on various maid outfits. He hesitated and asked:
"Miss, do you really want to attend her party?"
After hearing what the knight said, Agnes turned around and stared:
"Go! Why not go?"
"The Necronomicon is still in her hand! This is a good opportunity to sneak into Count Castel's mansion, of course I want to go!"
…
Charlotte didn't know that the two vampires who attacked her also knew that she was going to hold a banquet.
There are still seven days left before the banquet, and during these seven days, she has some other arrangements.
Among them, the most important thing is to go to the Castel Silver Mine in the east.