In their eyes, the gods were omnipotent, and when they spoke of matters related to the gods, the gods could hear them.
Gaven, of course, couldn’t tell them that the gods were not so omnipotent, that they could hear them just by calling their names a few times. Most of the time, they couldn’t even hear the prayers of their own followers unless they were exceptionally devout.
But there was one thing they could sense one hundred percent of the time, and that was large-scale sacrifices or when actions related to their divine offices were performed, requiring at least five hundred people even for those with strong divine power.
For example, the god of war Tempus could sense all conflicts in Felen that involved more than five hundred people. For fights involving fewer than five hundred, he wouldn’t be aware unless he had an incarnation present or a devout follower praying.
Even if they did sense something, they couldn’t possibly respond to everything since not only are the numbers of the gods’ incarnations limited, but so is their time.
There’s a not-so-secret secret: many True Gods not only have followers in Toril, but also across other planes of the Material Plane in the Multiverse, and within the Multiverse itself, with numerous followers. Such major events already overwhelm them, leaving them to struggle and unable to care about whether or not the people underneath are saying their names.
Single-plane gods, two-plane gods, and even multi-plane gods—this involves the division of divine power, far exceeding the knowledge of the mundane, and even Gaven’s understanding is very limited.
"Anfield Village is one hundred and fifty kilometers away from Waterdeep City. Its name originated from one of the early warlords of Waterdeep City, the just Lord Anfield, who once built his castle here. Unfortunately, the castle was destroyed by marauding trolls centuries ago, leaving only the foundation."
However, when Anfield Village is attacked by monsters, the just Lord Anfield will still appear as a ghostly apparition to honor his oath of guardianship and repel those trolls and hostile barbarians.
But such occurrences are now rare because our current guardian, Duke Blythe Arlogale, has sworn allegiance to Lord Pielgallen of Waterdeep City. The City of Brilliance provides military aid to this city, and patrol teams from Waterdeep City often sweep the surrounding area. While I cannot claim it is absolutely safe, it’s certainly safer than other villages."
As you have seen, this is the largest horse breeding area around. Our warhorses are very famous, not only with a constant stream of orders from the City of Brilliance, but our warhorses also serve in the armies to the north in Winterhold and to the south in Karinshan, or they gallop on the surrounding trade routes."
Although due to the unexpected disruption caused by the Swift Roc, their previous horse race bet was unresolved.
But Gaven and the Half-Moon Colt had already shown overwhelming strength, and these six ladies from the Roinhein Clan were good sports. They conceded defeat and willingly took up the role of Gaven’s travel guides.
This was clearly not their first time handling such matters, and they spoke about the situation in Anfield Village with ease.
After introducing the situation in Anfield Village, Oliela hinted, "Mr. Gaven, are you just passing through? Or did you come specifically for Anfield Village?"
Anfield Village is located next to the most important inland trade route leading from Waterdeep City to the Northern Lands. Many people are just passing through, but unlike the travelers with large or small vehicles laden with baggage, Gaven, alone with his horse, didn’t seem like he was on a long journey.
"My destination is Anfield," Gaven volunteered his purpose, "I have come to purchase warhorses, in large quantities."
This was not merely a cover, but also an incidental task.
Both the Valley and Thacel’s side needed a large number of warhorses and packhorses, especially the latter, with a migration of tens of thousands of people. They couldn’t expect the Darama Citizens to walk and carry everything on their shoulders, could they?
Thacel had horse breeding grounds, but they were all controlled by the warlord nobles who were now waging an unsmoked war on Darama—an economic blockade.
They wouldn’t even trade ordinary goods, let alone warhorses, which are military materials.
And in the area around the Valley, there were no larger horse breeding grounds. Even in the Komeer Kingdom, where the Purple Dragon Knights serve as one of the main pillars, eighty percent of the warhorses are not home-bred but brought in from the Northern Lands.
"Buying warhorses in large quantities?" Oliela’s eyes suddenly lit up at the words. Could it be that they had stumbled upon a jackpot? Holding back her excitement, she probed cautiously, "Exactly how large is the quantity?"
Gaven did not answer directly but simply held up one finger.
"One hundred?" Oliela’s eyes shone even brighter. This was no small deal. A light warhorse would cost at least two hundred and fifty Gold Coins, and a heavy warhorse would start at four hundred Gold Coins. Even if they were all light warhorses, that would amount to twenty-five thousand Gold Coins.
Gaven shook his head and said, "Multiply that number by one hundred."
"How many?" Oliela nearly tumbled from her flying warhorse, unable to help but doubt if she had heard wrong.
"Ten thousand. I need at least ten thousand horses of various types," Gaven repeated the number he intended to purchase.
"Mr. Gaven, that joke isn’t funny," Oliela turned to look at Gaven, serious.
"Do I look like I’m joking?" Gaven’s expression was as serious as they come.