Chapter 157: The Red Priest's Invitation
"The night is dark and full of terrors!" The followers of the Red God, R'hllor, prayed devoutly.
Rhaegar's mansion in Pentos was near the magnificent Temple of the Red God, allowing him to observe these devout worshippers up close. Led by the Red Priests, they entered a state of religious fervor and piety. Humans are social animals, especially in religion, and this was a form of conversion.
Rhaegar temporarily put down his books and listened to the prayers from the nearby Temple of the Red God, feeling a sense of peace.
The Red God is very popular in the eastern continent, especially in Pentos and Volantis.
Red Priests light night fires at sunset and greet the morning sun at sunrise, preaching to the crowds. The Temple of the Red God buys child slaves and trains them as monks, prostitutes, and warriors.
"Faith truly resides in people's hearts and cannot be transcended; people will always find a place for their souls to rest," Rhaegar thought. This power should not be underestimated. Those obsessed with faith can be said to be like madmen, and such people are naturally a force that dares to challenge royal power. Just like the various incidents caused by fanatical followers of the Seven before, ordinary governors and magisters would not dare to provoke the followers of R'hllor. There is an eternal conflict between royal power and religious authority.
After the Red Comet, magic gradually revived, and the high-ranking priests of R'hllor should have sensed this. However, how strong the Red God's abilities are is a matter of opinion, as the known world is still a low-magic world for now. Those grand magics seem to have vanished like smoke and dust, and no miracles like Storm's End or the Wall have appeared. Most of the time, magic is also directed at individuals, and its harm to humans is not as great as a single plague. People can perceive or hear of the existence of magic, but magic does not possess the utterly destructive power to destroy a town or a kingdom.
High-ranking followers of the Red God should have the ability to resurrect the dead. These resurrected people often lose some of their memories from before death and cannot heal the scars their bodies suffered in life. They can also see vague predictions in flames, but Rhaegar felt that was all there was to it. His body contained the "net" rune from Storm's End, so he was not afraid of magical intrusions. And his Fire Sight was much clearer than the vague visions of ordinary priests. Even prophecies—dragon dreams are a type of prophecy—so he was completely unafraid in terms of this aspect.
The gods of the known world are mainly divided into two categories: elemental gods and personal gods.
The gods' preferences and the offerings they enjoy vary, and some gods have never manifested, while others are unknowable.
The Red God R'hllor, Mother Rhoyne, and the faith of the Ironborn have distinct elemental characteristics. The Red God's faith is the most obvious; Red Priests proclaim the true god R'hllor, called the Lord of Light, also the god of heat and life; his mortal enemy, the god of cold, the Great Other, the god of darkness, the soul of profound ice, the god of night and terror, is the god of darkness, cold, and death. Mother Rhoyne represents the Rhoyne River—whose waters have nourished the Rhoynar people's land since the beginning of the world. Beneath Mother Rhoyne, there are also lesser gods like giant turtles and crabs, all related to the river. The faith of the Ironborn also embodies elemental power; the Drowned God once brought fire from the sea and sailed the world with fire and sword, and the Storm God is the Drowned God's eternal enemy.
As for personal gods, they are simpler. They are symbols of specific personalities and virtues. For example, the Seven, seven different forms of one deity, representing seven different virtues. Besides the Seven, there are many strange and varied gods who are not manifestations of certain elements, but symbols of certain personalities and virtues. The Unsullied's Lady of Spears, the mermaid queen beloved by sailors, Qohor's Black Goat, and so on.
Rhaegar no longer paid attention to the prayers, looking at the books piled before him, mostly about the history of the Rhoynar people and traces of water magic.
"Songs of the Great River: History of the Rhoynar People," "Children of the Great River: Princes and Princesses of the Rhoynar People." Pentos is, after all, close to the Rhoyne River, so finding Rhoynar books here was much easier than in Westeros. Pentoshi also have money, and collecting wine and books might be a pleasure for them.
Rhaegar flipped through book after book, but the knowledge about water magic was fragmented. Magic is profound and incredibly precious, and furthermore, the Rhoynar people's water priests were mostly annihilated by the Valyrian dragonlords during long wars. The Rhoynar people, in their haste, might not have left many magical remnants.
Water wall and water spout are the most commonly used water magic by the Rhoynar people. Their effects should be good, but they are somewhat restricted by terrain; they are difficult to cast away from the Rhoyne River's watery regions. Moreover, in terms of combat power, they are no match for dragons. Dragons can fight almost all day long and possess more brutal combat power.
Water and fire, dragons and the great river. From the outcome of the war, the Rhoynar people were utterly defeated.
After the Rhoynar people fled, pirates now infest the Rhoyne River. The great Rhoynar civilization has been completely destroyed, leaving behind the ruins of beautiful cities, and the terrifying legends of plague, the Shrouded Lord, and curses.
Water dragons are also dragons. Rhaegar's bloodline can be traced back to Queen Nymeria, but this Rhoynar bloodline might be too faint. In terms of bloodline activation, the Blood of the Water is not as vigorous as the Blood of Fire, but this is still a type of magic, and it doesn't require sacrificing lives or have any side effects, so what more could one ask for?
"Magic objectively exists, yet it's hard to fathom. Is it bloodline, is it faith, that enables magic?" Rhaegar wondered. The Blood of Fire and the Blood of the Water are both successful because of his own blood and inheritance.
Rhaegar knew that magic mostly came from two categories. One is bloodline, which is more common. The Valyrian dragonlords did not believe in any gods, but relying on their bloodline power, they could summon fire and blood magic, and also summon dragons. And the Rhoynar people, because of their bloodline and faith, could use water magic near the Rhoyne River. Possessing the bloodline of the First Men allows one to become a skinchanger. The Ironborn claim to have the bloodline of the Drowned God, and some Ironborn can also skinchange. The other category is faith, such as the high-ranking priests of R'hllor, the warlocks of Asshai, and the warlocks of Qarth.
Rhaegar walked out of the study and came to the hidden storeroom where the fake dragon bones were kept. The storeroom contained some bones, perhaps from large fish, perhaps from giant turtles. These fake dragon bones had practically emptied the Pentos market. In short, they were all once children of the Rhoyne River. People are debased away from their homeland; without the protection of the Rhoynar people, river pirates and slavers showed no mercy to these river gods. Not all large fish could be imbued with divinity and receive the blessing of the great river; this was also very rare.
Black flames danced from Rhaegar's palm, the tongues of fire automatically coiling around each bone. The black flames were not scorching hot; within them was the gentleness of water, the variability of water, the profoundness of water.
These black flames came from a large black fish, an unnamed river god worshipped by the Rhoynar people, which the Belaerys dragonlords had plundered back then. Like the fake dragon bones on the ground, they all came from the embrace of the Rhoyne River, all "gods" once beloved by the Rhoynar people.
The black tongues of fire slowly permeated all the bones, and subtle black flames gradually appeared within each bone. The black flames slowly converged, and the bones began to show signs of wilting, until all the bones subsequently decayed into ash, scattering across the floor. In mid-air, only a black fire fish remained, about the length of an arm, vividly lifelike, swaying freely in the sky.
Rhaegar waved his finger, and the flames returned to his fingertips. With the return of the black flames, a vast surge of water vapor cleansed every part of Rhaegar's soul and flesh, making him stronger.
Rhaegar felt the roar of the great river, the Mother Rhoyne of the Rhoynar people, a grand river stretching across the eastern continent that no river in the Seven Kingdoms could compare to. But the Rhoyne River was beginning to decay, no longer possessing its former beauty.
"I will heal your wounds, Mother Rhoyne!"
[Bloodline: Blood of the Water, Intermediate. Water Resistance, Water Vitality increased. The devout children of the Rhoyne River in the distance, Mother Rhoyne blesses you.]
Rhaegar felt that his water magic would be more intimidating, especially when he was near the Rhoyne River. However, it might be ordinary when near the ocean, which was still good. Once his water magic matured, he would first give Braavos a shock, to see who could truly awaken the sea.
The black flames reappeared in Rhaegar's hand. In his Fire Sight, he saw a familiar person: the stout Red Priest of the R'hllor temple waiting outside the door. It seemed he was once again inviting him to the R'hllor temple.
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