Hiss! Pain!
Duncan gritted his teeth in pain, but remained silent, as if he were a cold, ruthless warrior.
The witch removed the arrow from his back, wiped away the blood, and bandaged the wound with herbs.
Her movements were gentle and skillful. Her slender fingers paused slightly as they lightly brushed over Duncan's broad, strong back.
Sitting by the campfire, Duncan said with slight surprise, "You know medicine too?"
The Crow Queen, Triss, swept back her falling golden hair, added some dry wood to the fire, and smiled, "I serve Diana, the Moon and Oak Goddess, who is also the Forest Goddess of Rome."
"Medicine and herbs are essential courses for every priest, although we are not as adept as the Druids."
Upon hearing this, Duncan perked up his ears and asked, "Do all priests have magical power like you?"
He realized that those possessing supernatural power were still rare here.
The Crow Queen, Triss, shook her head slightly and said, "No."
"Only those with unique talent or those favored by the divine can have the ability to practice witchcraft."
So that's how it is.
As I thought, their spellcasting is more like a warlock, clearly not the style of a mage.
Having the rare opportunity to get closer to this witch, Duncan wanted to find out more about supernatural powers, so he curiously asked, "Where does your power come from? Is it talent? Or divine favor?"
The Crow Queen, Triss, looked up, her blue eyes gazed at him for a while, and softly said, "Both."
"I am a witch by birth."
"Long ago, I was selected to be the chief priestess by the Trivya sect, but it wasn't long before the sect was disbanded, and many people died in the turmoil."
"The Romans abandoned their own gods."
"Our powers were also taken back."
Trivya?
Power being taken back? Does that mean she was stronger before?
Duncan wondered, "The Trivya sect? I've never heard of it."
The Crow Queen, Triss's voice carried a hint of sorrow as she said wistfully, "Trivya refers to the Greek great goddess Hecate. After the Empire conquered Greece, the goddess Diana absorbed the beliefs of Hecate."
"The sect's origin lies in the Greek peninsula, where before the birth of the empire, the priests served the Hecate Goddess."
Can worldly war affect the divine?
Evidently, in the end, it was the Roman Empire that won, so Diana absorbed Hecate. If it were the Greek civilization that won, then it would be Hecate absorbing Diana.
The Romans abandoned their own gods.
When the Crow Queen, Triss, said this, her voice carried a noticeably complex emotion.
Duncan thought for a while and hesitated, "Did you never think of resisting?"
Given that they possess supernatural power, it wouldn't be all that passive.
The Crow Queen, Triss, gave a bitter smile and shook her head, "Resist? How to resist?"
"We were facing…"
At this point, the Crow Queen, Triss, looked up at the sky.
Duncan immediately fell silent.
If the divine truly exists, or there is a similar concept in existence, then the Roman gods are indeed not on the same level. On the secular side, since the Edict of Milan was issued, the development speed of the church has been astonishing to the point of beginning to influence secular power to some extent.
The church's power will only become stronger as time progresses. Entering the Middle Ages, the church could even influence the succession of royal power.
Excommunication warning.
Duncan poked at the sparks, and said to the witch beside him, "Tell me about the history of your sect."
The Crow Queen, Triss's body stiffened for a moment upon hearing this, then she said wistfully, "Do you know the story of the Golden Fleece?"
Duncan thought for a moment and said, "I know a little."
The Crow Queen, Triss, sighed and said, "Our sect originated from one of the characters in that story."
"The sorceress Medea."
Duncan immediately thought of a few things.
The Crow Queen, Triss, slowly said, "Medea was the daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis and the Oceanid Idia, niece of the Aia Island witch Calypso, sister of Absyrtus, granddaughter of the Sun God Helios and the Oceanid Perse, and priestess of the Dark Moon Goddess Hecate."
"She was the first High Priest of the sect."
A time when mortals and gods coexisted.
It seems that during the mythical era, this land was quite lively.
The Crow Queen, Triss, spoke about the origin of their sect, initially priests serving Greek deities. After Rome's rise and conquest of Greece, gods merged, and priests fused to eventually form a new sect branch. The only one that wasn't greatly affected at the time was the Sun God, Apollo, as He was one of both the Greek and Roman Sun Gods, so the Divine Hall priests merged perfectly.
Of course, whether it was a merger of gods, or gods betting on both sides, no one knows.
Because even the Crow Queen, Triss, has never seen a real divine spirit, or rather, according to the sect's records, no priest has seen the divine spirit's true form; divine guidance and oracle only appeared in the mythical era.
The closest mortals got to divine spirits was several hundred years ago when the Son of God walked the Earth.
The night deepened.
Duncan looked at the witch lying sideways pretending to sleep beside him, feeling her inner deep despair. The Romans had abandoned their gods, and these priests were also abandoned by the divine. The power of the church crushed their millennia-old beliefs. The dark Middle Ages were about to descend, leaving less and less room for them on this land.
After the Olympic Sacred Fire was extinguished, both the Roman and Greek gods all became part of past history.
Duncan suddenly remembered a piece of history he had read somewhere, where God's Whip – Attila, before attacking Rome, met Pope Leo I, and it is said he abandoned the attack because of this, with Pope Leo I being crowned the 'Defender of Rome'.