"See that?" The plump and beautiful centaur maid, Jiqi, raised a "movie ticket" and waved it before more than a thousand pairs of eyes, then placed it into a glass beside a tallow candle.
After soaking it for nearly two minutes, she took the indulgence out again and spread it open with both hands for everyone to see.
"Ah, the image on it hasn't blurred." A burst of exclamations rose from below the steps.
"Watch me bake it again," Jiqi said in very standard Common Tongue (Westerosi).
The indulgence was laid flat and waved back and forth over the outer flame of the candle. White vapor began to rise from its surface.
That was the water it had absorbed earlier in the glass.
The white steam quickly dissipated. As the temperature of the indulgence rose, it did not immediately ignite. With the continued heating, the bright red candle flame suddenly changed color.
"Ah, the candlelight has turned gray. No, that's not right, it's still red. What's going on?" the crowd cried out.
At that moment, the candle looked like something from a black-and-white television drama, yet everyone subconsciously still felt that it was red.
It was a very contradictory sensation.
The principle, however, was extremely simple. The indulgence contained the deathly divine power of the Stranger. When the firelight passed through it, it was intermittently drawn into the shadows of the material world.
If one stared at the candle with the naked eye, one's spiritual power would follow the flame into the world of death.
Simply put, what the naked eye saw was the candle's red flame; what the soul saw was a gray flame.
The image seen by the soul was exactly the same as that seen by the naked eye, only the colors were different, so it created the illusion of a visual error.
"Boom!" At last, the indulgence ignited, burning into a normal red-and-yellow flame, and the candlelight regained its color.
"The indulgence has actually been burned up." Another wave of astonishment rose from the audience below.
"Yes, indulgences are highly fire-resistant, but they can still be ignited. My earlier demonstration had only one purpose: to teach everyone how to distinguish genuine indulgences from fake ones.
A true indulgence is not afraid of water and can make flames emit a gray light. That gray light can be seen even by the blind. Remember this well. Do not be deceived by counterfeit indulgences," Jiqi said solemnly.
The indulgences had not yet officially entered circulation, and the Dragon Queen was already guarding against "counterfeit notes."
Jiqi picked up another indulgence, soaked it in water, and then baked it over the flame again.
This time, the candlelight did not turn gray. Instead, streaks of red light shone through the surface of the paper.
It was like covering a powerful flashlight with one's palm, emitting a fleshy red glow.
Before the indulgence burned, Jiqi put it away and explained, "There are two kinds of indulgences. The first is the Warrior Edition, which is the gray-light version shown earlier, specially prepared for warriors fighting against the Others.
By carrying that gray-light Warrior Edition indulgence, one only needs to devoutly recite the 'Song of the Seven' seven times. When the Holy Mother in heaven hears your song, she will naturally remember your name.
At that point, your indulgence can only be used by you. No one else, not even a king, can take it away."
This was a form of spiritual binding.
"The second type of indulgence is the red-light General Edition. Devout followers of the Seven must recite the Song of the Seven seventy-seven times, or pray to the Holy Mother seventy-seven times.
Those who are less devout will probably need to recite it seven hundred and seventy-seven times, or even longer.
In the end, the red-light indulgence will turn into a gray-light indulgence. That kind of indulgence can be used by anyone."
This was essentially charging the indulgence.
The purpose of creating red-light indulgences was simple: to reduce costs.
The gray-light version contained the full divine power needed to activate the holy spell, while the red-light version contained only runes and a faint seed of divine power, which required the power of faith generated through prayer to nurture it to completion.
Although the divine power contained in a single indulgence was very small, roughly equivalent to a priest's Lesser Healing Spell (Holy Light), if the number became too large, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, even Daenerys would be unable to bear it.
Likewise, since each indulgence required only a small amount of divine power, even slightly devout followers of the Seven could quickly fill it through prayer.
A devout believer like old Ba, if he slept only one day and one night without working and spent all the remaining time praying, could turn one hundred red-light indulgences into gray ones.
If the High Sparrow were still alive, perhaps he could manage two or three thousand a day.
With the Holy Sparrow alone, a small town could be saved in a single day.
It could be said that outside the North, followers of the Seven could take one or two days to produce gray-light general indulgences.
"Lady Jiqi, what are the requirements for the gray-light Warrior Edition and the red-light General Edition?" Count Brandon Hightower shouted from in front of the stone steps.
"Northern warriors fighting against the Others may receive one gray-light Warrior Edition indulgence. Warriors south of the Neck who follow the Seven, as well as ordinary civilians who did not participate in the war, will only receive the red-light General Edition," Jiqi replied.
"What about the families of Northern warriors? And the common folk in noble territories? They also worship the Old Gods," Mother Bear Alysanne asked.
She still had a pair of children, and an unknown number of lovers.
"Northern warriors should request gray-light indulgences from their respective lords. The lords will tally their own subjects and apply to me for indulgences."
"And what about us southern lords?" Princess Arianne stepped forward and asked.
"The same. Tally the people within your territories and apply to me for indulgences, but you will receive only the red-light General Edition," Jiqi said.
"There are also families in the Riverlands who worship the Old Gods," Arya reminded her.
Jiqi immediately said, "A single family will not have too many members. They can ask a septon to help transform red-light indulgences into gray ones. After all, they are the general type."
Bronn glanced at the Dragon Queen, who stood beside him smiling without speaking, and said in a low voice, "Your Grace, in the Vale there are mountain clans, and on the Crackclaw Peninsula there are tens of thousands of tribal clans. They are descendants of the First Men who were never assimilated by the Andals and still worship the Old Gods."
"Let's talk after the Battle of Winterfell is over!"
The courtyard was lively, but not many people stepped forward on the spot to receive indulgences.
Nearly a thousand people had packed into the training yard in the front courtyard, yet even a thousand amounted to less than a tenth of Winterfell's total population.
A large number of Northerners who still believed in the Old Gods remained hesitant, watching from the sidelines.
They had reason to hesitate. The Dragon Queen herself had once admitted that the Old Gods had no hell. Returning to the embrace of the Old Gods was no worse than ascending to heaven.
Those were Dany's true thoughts.
If a soul returned to heaven and earth, was that not better than being sent by an "evil god" into a false world, manipulated and toyed with?
Even Dany, the so-called "evil god," had to admit that although she could now collect souls, she was still infinitely far from truly controlling reincarnation.
However, she did not care about the Northerners' attitude. She could neither produce five hundred thousand Gray Light Warrior Edition indulgences, nor did she regard the already mostly fallen North as her primary target.
The millions of believers of the Seven south of the Neck were the ones she needed to "encourage."
Why distribute indulgences so widely?
Because as long as one is human, one fears death.
Facing the invading army of the Others, what happened at Karhold would inevitably be reenacted across the Seven Kingdoms: refuse to offer sacrifices, and the entire city would be wiped out immediately; offer sacrifices to the Others, and you might be held accountable later.
What would a normal person choose?
As for the claim that sacrificing to the Others would make it even harder to end the Long Night…
Once people are dead, who still cares about the future of the world?
Even in modern warfare, the vast majority of prisoners of war, clearly suspecting they will be killed, still obediently work for the enemy, even digging the pits that will bury themselves.
In the end, fear of death is etched into human genes. Those who did not fear death died early, and their genes were never passed down.
Therefore, Dany needed all the people of Westeros to be unafraid of death.
Only by not fearing death could they resist offering sacrifices and fight the Others to the bitter end.
How could she make millions of people unafraid of death?
Only if the world after death were more beautiful than the living world.
Seeing that Jhogo's work had entered a steady rhythm, Dany returned to the castle with four Unsullied.
"Wait, Your Majesty Daenerys!" Arya pulled the Hound along as they hurried after her, with Arianne and the Sand Snakes following behind.
"Do you need something?" Dany's curious gaze lingered on Arya for a brief moment longer.
Arya tightened her grip slightly on the Hound's right hand.
"Your Majesty, my leg is crippled. Could you treat it for me? I heard you healed Jaime Lannister's leg," the Hound asked stiffly.
As soon as he finished, he added awkwardly, "If it's too troublesome, forget it. I just want to move more nimbly before the final battle. Perhaps a lame leg won't affect guarding the walls."
Dany looked him up and down. "Have you become a priest?"
"Yes. I've also received a healing spell bestowed by the Mother."
Earlier, when facing the Dragon Queen who shone like a bright moon in the starry sky, the Hound had felt inexplicably inferior and lacking in confidence. Now his voice was louder, and there was a more obvious hint of pride in his tone.
If he were facing anyone else, as one of the few hundred true priests in the Seven Kingdoms, he would indeed have every reason to be proud.
"And you?" Dany turned to Arianne.
"There are only two land routes into Dorne: the Prince's Pass and the Boneway. Do you think it's possible to turn Dorne into the final stronghold of the Seven Kingdoms against the Others?" the Princess of Dorne asked.
"I'm not entirely sure how much the towering mountains that block human armies would affect the Others.
The mountain clans north of the Wolfswood also live in steep ranges. Wargs sent ravens to investigate. Some clans were wiped out, while others survived, claiming they repelled the wights using caves and treacherous mountain paths.
Of course, it is more likely their tribes survived because they sacrificed infant boys.
The fate of the northern clans proves that rugged mountain paths do indeed have some effect on the Others.
But we do not know how determined the Others were when attacking those clans, or how much force they committed. Therefore, we cannot determine the true impact of mountainous terrain on their army."
"So if the Others cross the Neck, the Vale may not necessarily be safe either? The Bloody Gate could become meaningless?" Arya asked gravely.
"There is no need to be so despairing," Dany shook her head with a smile. "Wights and Others were once human. If humans cannot pass a road, neither can they.
Unless they find a secret path wide enough for a large force to traverse, the wight army cannot possibly ignore a main route like the Bloody Gate.
Among an army of a million wights, only a few hundred Others truly have minds.
If they want to bypass the Bloody Gate, the Others would have to personally search for hidden routes.
The question is, if such secret paths exist, would we humans not know about them?
So a sudden invasion of the Vale by a million wights is unlikely. In the end, it will still come down to sieges and defensive battles."
"In that case, Dorne's defenses can be developed?" the Princess of Dorne asked with delight.
"If you can seal off all hidden routes, then the Prince's Pass and the Boneway will become chokepoints as important as the Bloody Gate," Dany nodded.
"Your Majesty, would you be willing to provide us with assistance? If the North falls completely, Dorne could serve as the last stronghold of the Seven Kingdoms, sheltering all refugees from the Riverlands, the Stormlands, and the Crownlands."
Only then did Arianne reveal the true purpose of her visit.
(End of chapter)
Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon
https://patreon.com/Glimmer09