Chapter 52: The Jurist (Please Recommend and Add to Favorites)

The term "scion of gods and demons" is a broad designation, just as humanity is divided by different skin colors and nations—yellow, black, white. Thus, these beings do not share a single common ancestor; perhaps only those of the same type in a particular region would be linked by blood or kinship. This thought brought to mind Lisper, the president of the Arcane Society; she was very likely one of these scions.

In fact, beings from other realms not only intermingled with humans, but also with other intelligent races—magical beasts, dragons, and so forth. Those half-demons, half-gods, or half-elementals active in the world of Toril often originated from such improper unions!

Only humanoid creatures are designated as scions of gods and demons.

In Carinsan, elemental spirits such as wind and fire elementals sometimes mate with their human slaves, producing offspring known as element-born.

(Carinsan is the domain of the elements.)

Although Borne had never tested President Lisper’s blood, her abnormal affinity with fire elements almost certainly pointed to inheritance from a fire elemental.

The largest numbers of Asimar and Tieflings are found in Mulholland and Enser, where the undying incarnations of the gods frequently consorted with favored mortals, giving rise to many such scions.

In the Primeval Forest, wicked sun elves mated with succubi, producing elf tieflings.

When scions of gods and demons intermarry with normal humanoid races—such as elf tieflings with elves, or tieflings with humans—their offspring have an equal chance of being scions themselves or “normal” people. But regardless of this, their descendants always carry the possibility of producing a scion in the future. Sometimes, this power in the bloodline will lie dormant for a generation or several, only to reawaken many years later.

Inherent goodness refers to the Asimar, who possess the blood of celestials or even deities. They are born with the ability to sense the good and evil in humanity. That is why, when the little girl met Rayman, she let down her guard and chatted with him, even readily agreeing with delight when Rayman offered to take them in.

Tieflings, by contrast, are inherently evil—their souls are born wicked, not simply in terms of character but because their blood flows with that of demons or devils. Even a newborn tiefling, under a [Detect Good and Evil] spell, would shine pitch-black!

Of course, good and evil are not absolute. Tieflings have become heroes before, and not a few Asimar have fallen into evil.

Yet most scions of gods and demons in Faerûn suffer persecution, ridicule, even exile and banishment!

“What are their names?”

Looking at the two children, Borne sighed softly. Rayman had truly presented him with a difficult problem.

Scions of gods and demons inherently possess extraordinary blood. If they never seek out supernatural power in their lifetime, their lifespan remains the same as that of ordinary humans.

However, under the influence of their extraordinary blood, these scions grow faster than normal children. According to the chip’s scan, the two children were not yet five years old, but already the size of seven- or eight-year-olds.

“The boy’s name is Blake, and the girl is Lilith!”

Rayman replied. Noticing the children’s tension, he stepped between them and murmured a few comforting words, soothing their anxiety.

“Can’t sense it?” Borne mused to himself.

Perhaps it was for the best; even when it came to the simple matter of good or evil, he didn’t want anyone to be able to read his thoughts.

Borne stepped forward, intending to communicate with the two children. Unexpectedly, before he could speak, the children screamed as if they’d seen a terrible monster and rushed to hide behind Rayman, trembling with fear.

Borne was instantly embarrassed, but soon understood. With a thought, he commanded the ironstone to float above his head; the children’s gaze immediately fixed on the chip, their eyes filled with terror.

“So that’s it—they can sense divinity!”

Borne realized.

Divinity can be bestowed; it can also be stolen!

Normally, stealing divinity meant a god had been slain, and Borne had indeed destroyed a nascent “spirit”—a being born of faith and equivalent in rank to a deity.

The instinct in their bloodline filled them with dread. In their eyes, Borne was a “murderer”!

Still, these little ones could not be left here. To those who knew their worth, people with godly or demonic blood were treasures from head to toe, no less valuable than dragons—alive or dead!

They had to be moved quickly.

Borne instructed Rayman to give the children a quick disguise, concealing their obvious traits.

Rayman swiftly led them into Borne’s underground laboratory. If anywhere was truly safe, it was here. Fortunately, the children trusted Rayman and offered no resistance—Borne found himself a little envious; such luck was rare indeed.

“It looks like you’ll be busy for a while, making frequent trips here,” Borne said with a smile.

“I suppose I must,” Rayman replied. He didn’t dare let too many people know about the children, and since they were somewhat afraid of Borne, he’d have to come by more often himself, hoping familiarity would ease the situation.

Borne cleared out a small room for the children to stay in temporarily.

There were too many spies around here; eyes watched this place at every moment. Living in the upper fortress would easily draw attention.

And the matter of these scions simply could not be revealed to the nobles of the Academy.

Otherwise, after being abducted for a decade or two, Severnton might well find itself with two new sorcerer families.

“Rayman, you stay here and watch over them—I need to return for a bit,” Borne said.

“Boss, are you heading back to the Merchant Guild?”

“No, I’m going to the manor. Haven’t you taken in so many children lately? I have an idea for their placement.”

“Boss, you don’t need to trouble yourself—I’ll handle it,” Rayman said, feeling a bit guilty, thinking Borne was cleaning up his mess.

Borne smiled, “What are you thinking? I’m not telling you to send them away. On the contrary, when I return, I want you to take in even more children—I have great plans for them!”

Rayman was instantly delighted. “Alright, thank you, boss!”

He knew Borne would have a way, but he didn’t want to always trouble the boss with his own problems.

“What a kind-hearted soul! No wonder he could earn the approval of an Asimar.”

Borne glanced at the excited Rayman, shaking his head in amusement. In this world, there were no prohibitions against child labor. Many merchant guilds would take in children as apprentices or to do odd jobs—at least then, they’d have food to eat and a chance to survive.

While Borne made his way to the manor, a team of resplendently dressed temple officials entered Giles Academy.

At their head was a priest clad in a magnificent yellow robe, its surface emblazoned with a mysterious symbol resembling the sun. This intricate craftsmanship combined embroidery and stamping, with gold ornaments and gems cleverly inlaid to form a blazing solar emblem.

Following him were two holy warriors (not paladins, but true holy warriors), each bearing a shield that was also a magical artifact, inscribed with the spell [Enduring Light].

When confronting lawbreakers, they could instantly activate the shield’s divine power, blinding their foes (imagine a powerful searchlight dazzling the enemy—a technique not unlike Borne’s arcane dazzling flash).

The distinctive sun emblem made it immediately clear they were clergy of the Radiant Lord, Amanata.

Amanata was known not only as the Radiant Lord (the Sun God), but also revered as the Guardian of Order and the Keeper of Time.

As for the Guardian of Order, that was true; the “Time” domain, however, was a belief among followers—because he was worshipped in that aspect, he acquired a portion of temporal authority. But true dominion over “Time” belonged to the goddess of magic, Mystra!

Clergy of Amanata ensured everything was written, contracted, signed, stamped, and notarized. They upheld the law, believing it preserved social order. Without law, civilization would collapse and chaos would reign.

The very first line of the Amanata Canon reads: Study the codes, and live by them!

In Nather, they performed the duties of police officers. Generally, if priests and holy warriors of Amanata were seen outside the temple, it was either to apprehend criminals or to be on the hunt for them.

Rank within Amanata’s clergy was strictly hierarchical and regulated. Leading the way was a priest who was one of seven supreme jurists (not a grand position—more akin to a captain).

Every temple had a leader known as the “Lord of Notaries,” beneath whom served seven deans, each with seven jurist-captains under their command.

Normally, matters would be handled by subordinates. If a jurist was dispatched, it meant the person suspected of “crime” was no ordinary individual.

The appearance of the temple officials caused a stir at Giles Academy, drawing the attention of many teachers.

Evidently, they were very familiar with the Academy, and proceeded straight to the Arcane Society. To everyone’s astonishment, they took Cook away.

...

(P.S. Updates may be late, but they will not be absent! Sorry for the late update—sorting out the tangled information and relationships of several deities is quite a challenge.)