A Great Invention

The red-haired Lantan shopkeeper, his copper spectacles particularly eye-catching, seemed unsurprised by Marvin's shock.

After all, the firearms sold in the shop were merely nonmagical weapons, yet they carried the price of magical weapons. Anyone would question that.

"I know the firearms are expensive, friend." The Lantan shopkeeper looked helpless. "But the price was set by the Council of Twelve, and I have no authority to change it. Oh, and my name is Midok."

"I'm Marvin."

After introducing themselves, they discussed the firearms' pricing, and Marvin learned that Midok was merely an employee. This shop was an asset of the Lantan Gond Church.

In fact, every Lantan Store currently operating across the continent belonged to the Gond Church of Lantan Island. If Lantan people wanted to conduct business on the continent as private individuals, they could only become traveling merchants.

Whether it was the outrageous pricing of firearms or the strictly limited business model, the Lantan people surely had their own reasons for doing things this way.

However, Lantan Island had only returned to Toril five years ago. The outside world knew very little about the island's circumstances, so Marvin naturally had no idea what lay behind it all.

What he was considering now was how to buy two firearms at an affordable price.

Midok seemed to have seen through Marvin's intentions. "Friend, judging by your attire, you must be a mage?"

"Yes."

"Then this will be easy!" Midok's expression immediately became animated and excited. "You see, we Lantan people worship the God of Craftsmanship and hold engineers and inventors in the highest regard. In a sense, mages are the profession most suited to Lantan people.

When Lantan people see a mage, they naturally feel a sense of kinship.

"Mr. Marvin, if you can present Gond with a unique magical item, an invention, or even an innovative idea, this shop will offer discounts based on your contribution.

"You may even obtain items from this shop for free!"

"Inventions..."

Marvin pondered for a moment, his gaze settling on the Lantan firearms on the shelves. Then inspiration flashed through his mind like an electric current. *The firearms made on Lantan Island are still at the matchlock stage.

If I present flintlock firearms and cartridge technology from Earth, I should be able to trade them with these followers of Gond for some good things.

As a veteran player of Europa Universalis, Marvin had a considerable understanding of Earth's history of firearm development, thanks to his personal interest.

Improving Toril's firearms technology would not be difficult at all.

"If I can improve Lantan firearms, what kind of reward can I receive?" Marvin asked.

"Really?" Midok's voice began to tremble.

As if reflecting Midok's excitement, the holy symbol of Gond hanging on his chest began to shine with a metallic gleam.

"Mr. Marvin, if you really can improve Lantan firearms, I dare guarantee that you will receive a generous reward from my lord. But I cannot guarantee exactly what it will be.

"After all, I am only a junior priest of Gond. I would not dare presume to guess my lord's thoughts..."

According to Midok's explanation, Marvin only needed to place the design blueprints for the improved firearm upon Gond's altar and offer them to the deity.

As long as Marvin's invention received the God of Craftsmanship's approval, he would be able to purchase goods from the shop at half price.

Moreover, Marvin would retain the patent rights to the improved firearms.

For every improved firearm sold by Lantan Island in the future, he would receive a share of the profits.

Respecting intellectual property rights was a clause written into Gond's doctrine. No Lantan person dared violate it.

As someone who made a living drawing plans, producing flintlock design blueprints was as easy as turning his hand, even without software such as CAD.

Marvin returned to the inn and spent a day drawing up the designs for the flintlock and cartridges.

When he returned to the Lantan Store, Midok briefly inspected the blueprints. Once he confirmed that they were genuinely valuable inventions rather than a fraudster's random scribbles, he led Marvin to the shop's second floor.

There was a small but meticulously arranged shrine to Gond there.

At the center of the shrine stood a small statue of Gond: a burly blacksmith with solid muscles and a red beard, swinging a hammer as he forged weapons.

This was Gond's most commonly used image.

Four gleaming bronze gear assemblies, coated in lubricating oil, were installed on the walls to either side of the shrine. It was unclear whether they were merely decorations or served another purpose.

Midok removed the holy symbol from his chest and placed it in a groove before the shrine, activating the mechanism.

Accompanied by the clacking sounds of machinery, an anvil-shaped altar rose from the floor.

Then, following Midok's instructions, Marvin placed the blueprints on the altar.

Midok lit the four braziers around the shrine and added incense, then began to chant a prayer:

"Great Gond, Lord of Forging and Invention;

Sacred craftsman who commands hammer and flame, gears and carving knife!

With my hands, I practice my craft; with a craftsman's heart, I revere Your name.

Father of invention, who lights the wilderness with the flame of innovation!

You once smelted the first forms from the void,

Forging scattered inspiration into miracles that move..."

As the chant rose and fell, Marvin could clearly feel an increasingly powerful force gathering atop the altar.

Orange-red light shaped like flames suddenly surged up from the altar.

Marvin sensed within it a pure power that pointed directly to the origin of the world.

This was Gond's divine power!

Click, click...

The gear assemblies on the walls beside the shrine suddenly began to make noise.

"The first set of gears has turned." Midok, who was chanting the prayer, saw this and smiled knowingly.

This meant Gond had confirmed that the blueprints Marvin offered were indeed innovative.

Immediately afterward, the second set of gears on the wall began to turn as well.

Midok's heartbeat quickened, and the corners of his mouth lifted. "My lord has acknowledged that Marvin's invention is not some pretty but useless trinket. It possesses considerable practical value."

His aptitude was limited, and he had remained a level-one priest for four years, which was why he had been assigned to work as a clerk in a small place like Friendly Arm.

But this time, perhaps he could earn divine favor through the merits of the flintlock and cartridge blueprints and advance in a single stroke.

Then, the third set of gears began to turn.

Midok's chest heaved rapidly, and he could barely contain himself. "Three sets of gears turning at once! My lord actually believes Marvin's improved firearm can influence the rise and fall of a nation? What an incredibly significant invention!"

Yet before he could calm himself, the fourth set of gears began to turn.

Midok was too excited to think at all. With tears in his eyes, he fell to his knees and repeatedly praised Gond's name, his entire body bathed in the altar's light.

Since returning to Toril, the Lantan Gond Church had established a total of eighty-three trading shops across Faerûn.

Their primary purpose was not to sell goods, but to collect inventions and offer them to Gond.

Over the past five years, these trading shops had presented Gond with a total of 212 physical objects and blueprints.

Yet only this time had all four gear assemblies on a shrine turned simultaneously during an offering ceremony!

This meant Gond believed that the flintlock blueprints Marvin had presented were a great invention capable of changing the situation across the entire continent, perhaps even the course of civilization's development!

As the person presiding over this offering ceremony, Midok would also receive Gond's reward.

On an utterly ordinary afternoon, in an utterly ordinary small town, an event occurred that would have far-reaching consequences for the Gond Church!