The Night Song Inn is an exotic inn. Although the inn's owner is a native of Braavos, the architect who built this inn was a runaway slave from Yunkai.
Braavos's hatred for slavery can be said to be ingrained, even leading to conflicts and wars with its allies among the Free Trade City States over the issue of slavery. For instance, it waged five or six wars with Pentos over slavery, lasting for more than two hundred years, until Pentos abandoned slavery and they resumed their alliance.
However, now, in the heart of Braavos, a city that deeply abhors slavery, an inn with the style of the slave city of Yunkai has been built, which is somewhat ironic.
Nevertheless, for the foreigners staying there, this inn is indeed very comfortable, because the runaway slave from Yunkai who built it constructed it entirely according to the standards of a Yunkai Wise Master's residence. Most other inns in the city cannot compare to it, so the price of staying there is naturally not low.
A common dock porter in Braavos can only earn eight or nine Braavosi silver coins a month, but staying one day at the Night Song Inn costs twenty-two silver coins. This is why the guide needed to see Lynd's money pouch before bringing Lynd here.
Upon checking into the inn, Lynd was assigned a third-floor room near the water, as per his request. From the room's window, he could see the Storm God Temple. The room had a private bathroom, with a pipe connected from the outside, allowing guests to use it at any time.
Lynd asked the inn's servant to buy him a set of local Braavosi clothing. After washing up and changing out of his mercenary attire, he left the inn and walked towards the Storm God Temple.
Lynd had no intention of finding the Miracle Merchant Guild after arriving in Braavos, because he knew there would definitely be many people watching around the Miracle Merchant Guild.
When the Miracle Merchant Guild expanded, establishing branches or liaison offices in other Free Trade City States went very smoothly, but only in Braavos did it encounter many problems. The Sealord of Braavos consistently refused to allow the Miracle Merchant Guild to establish a liaison office there.
It wasn't until Lynd unified the Stepstones and issued a decree that only ships belonging to Miracle Merchant Guild members could pass through for free that the Sealord of Braavos, influenced by the city's merchants, relented and permitted the Miracle Merchant Guild to establish a liaison office in the city.
From the establishment of the liaison office, it is not difficult to see that the Sealord of Braavos has deep concerns about the Miracle Merchant Guild, which can even extend to deep concerns about Lynd, the master behind the Miracle Merchant Guild. Therefore, he will certainly send people to closely monitor the Miracle Merchant Guild. If his own people go to the Miracle Merchant Guild, they will only fall into the Sealord's sight prematurely, which is unfavorable for his subsequent actions.
So Lynd decided to act alone from the beginning, not even planning to contact the few hidden agents he had previously arranged in Braavos.
However, after seeing the Storm God Temple earlier, Lynd had a new idea: to try and take control of the Storm God Temple in Braavos, making it a nail he could embed in Braavos.
Because Braavos was founded by people from different regions, who brought with them different religious beliefs, Braavos is home to the most diverse array of deities in this world. Even later-added faiths were welcomed without rejection, all embraced within the city.
This has given all religions a transcendental and special status in Braavos; even the Sealord, as the ruler of Braavos, cannot use force or commit any other offensive acts against any god's temple or shrine.
Unless the deity worshipped in that shrine or temple has completely lost all followers, only then will the Braavosi City Hall send the deity's statue to a sanctuary for preservation, and the abandoned temple can then be dealt with. For example, the small island where the Storm God Temple was built was originally an abandoned temple with no worshippers.
It is precisely because religion holds such a transcendent status that even if the Sealord discovers Lynd controlling the Storm God Temple in the future, he still won't be able to do anything, unless he intends to wage war on all religious faiths in the city.
When Lynd crossed the arch bridge and arrived at the Storm God Temple square, a sacrificial ceremony was taking place. Because a storm had just swept through Braavos yesterday, according to customary practice, most storm god believers in Braavos had come here to participate in a sacrifice to the storm god.
Due to Lynd's completely laissez-faire attitude towards the storm god, the storm god faith has never had a unified church organization. Every Storm God Temple or shrine has its own way of worship and independent priests.
The priest of this Storm God Temple in Braavos is named Liza, from the Moon Singer Temple. Before becoming a storm god priest, she was a Moon Singer. It is said that a few years ago she received a revelation from the storm god, abandoned her Moon Singer priestly duties, and became a preacher of the storm god, preaching and giving blessings near the docks.
At first, no one paid attention to her, even thinking she was crazy, after all, the Moon Singer has a very high status in Braavos, abandoning the Moon Singer priestly duties is no less than a wealthy merchant abandoning all his property.
However, as more and more sailors who received her blessings survived storms that should have been fatal, the number of people believing in the storm god grew. Later, she used donated materials to buy a small island in the central lake that had an abandoned temple, and then used the temple's original foundation to build this Storm God Temple, naturally becoming its priest.
Although Liza, like all Moon Singers, claimed to have pure Jogos Nhai blood, her facial features differed greatly from those of the Jogos Nhai. The only definitive sign of Jogos Nhai ancestry was her pointed head, similar to theirs, which became even more prominent after she shaved her head and tattooed a storm god holy emblem on her crown.
Because, unlike other religious faiths that have complete sacrificial rituals, Liza completely copied the Moon Singer's sacrificial methods: offering live sacrifices, reciting some self-composed prayers, and then processing the offerings on the spot. The meat and bones were boiled into soup in a large cauldron in front of the temple and distributed to beggars, while the internal organs were placed in a pottery container, sent by boat outside the city, and thrown into the sea. The fresh blood was mixed with some dye to form a black liquid, which was then applied with a finger to the forehead of each believer, drawing a horizontal line to signify a blessing from the storm god.
After the sacrifice was concluded, the theater troupe invited by Liza performed plays in the square in front of the temple. These plays were all stories related to the storm god, such as a certain sailor being protected and surviving a storm. Because the people involved in these stories were still alive and present in the square, this made the believers feel even more that the storm god was not far from them, watching them, and their faith became even more devout.
To some extent, the feelings of these believers were not an illusion, because the storm god they believed in was indeed standing on the edge of the square watching them, it's just that this storm god was somewhat different from the storm god in their hearts.
Lynd stood on the edge of the square, watching the entire sacrificial ceremony, and then watched the play being performed for a while before stepping into the interior of the temple, wanting to see what it was like inside.
The interior of the temple was large and spacious. A dozen pillars supported the roof, and the floor was paved with flat stone slabs. Nothing was placed inside, only a huge storm god statue whose head almost touched the roof, looking somewhat simple.
However, Lynd's attention was quickly drawn to the storm god statue before him, because the statue's appearance was carved entirely in his Lost Country Knight armor, with only the face left uncarved. But because of the Lost Country Knight helmet's obstruction, the entire face was in the shadow of the helmet, which instead created a solemn and majestic feeling.
After carefully examining the statue, Lynd couldn't help but frown, a sense of doubt rising in his heart.
The reason for his doubt was that the Lost Country Knight armor worn by this statue was reproduced with extremely high fidelity. Not only was the armor's shape almost proportionally replicated, but even the patterns and Dragon Runes on the armor were carved out. However, when carving the Dragon Runes, the sculptor deliberately left numerous breakpoints to prevent the Dragon Runes from having an effect.
In stark contrast to the meticulous detail of the armor, the Lost Knight's Greatsword at the statue's waist appeared much cruder, looking like two ordinary Knight's Greatswords, with only some seemingly meaningless symbols carved onto their surfaces.
If it were merely the similar appearance of the armor, Lynd would not have found it problematic, as countless people had seen the fallen knight armor and some were bound to remember its shape clearly.
However, the problem was that the fallen knight armor on the statue was too accurately restored, especially the decorative patterns and Dragon Runes on the armor's surface, which absolutely could not have been replicated, because the fallen knight armor Lynd was wearing did not have these patterns and Dragon Runes.
Only the magical armor he had given Varys to have forged in Kohor possessed them.
This meant that the person who carved this statue had definitely seen his armor blueprints, or perhaps had seen the finished armor crafted from the blueprints.
This made Lynd think of the magical armor in the Sealord of Braavos's possession.
At this moment, there were many storm god believers worshipping in the Storm God Temple, most of them sailors.
Usually crude in their manners, they became very reserved upon entering the hall, finding a place to sit or kneel, and silently praying in their own ways.
Regardless of their different prayer methods, they all maintained a unified silence.
Lynd bypassed these believers and walked to the statue, carefully examining the patterns and Dragon Runes on it.
He quickly discovered some anomalies; for instance, judging by some corrosion and wear marks, the statue was made much earlier than the patterns and Dragon Runes were carved.
From this, it could be determined that the statue was likely sculpted first, placed in the Storm God Temple for worship, and then, after a long time, the patterns and Dragon Runes were re-carved onto it.
Just as Lynd was observing the details of the statue, a faint sound of footsteps came from behind him.
Lynd turned his head and saw Liza, the storm god priestess who had just finished presiding over the sacrificial ceremony outside, walking towards him.
Looking at her expression, Lynd could sense that she was coming for him and very likely had recognized him, so he stood still, watching her without a change in expression.
Liza walked up to Lynd, her eyes carrying a hint of inexplicable emotion as she scrutinized him.
She then took the initiative to bow to Lynd and, in slightly stiff common tongue of the Seven Kingdoms, said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Embodiment of the Storm, Chosen of our Lord."
Lynd paused upon hearing her address, then curiously asked, "You know me?"
Liza shook her head and said, "You carry the aura of our Lord, and in this entire world, besides you, the Embodiment of the Storm, no one else could possibly possess our Lord's aura."
"Our Lord's aura?" Lynd frowned and said, "Can you elaborate?"
Liza glanced around and said, "This is not a suitable place to talk, please follow me."
With that, she led Lynd out of the Storm God Temple hall, through a small door behind the statue, into the courtyard behind the Storm God Temple.
After passing through the courtyard, they arrived at a small waterside terrace.
Liza instructed the Storm God Temple attendants to prepare some fruit juice, then dismissed them.
She then invited Lynd to sit down and said, "When you arrived in Braavos, I sensed you.
I had originally planned to visit you tomorrow, but I didn't expect you to come to our Lord's Storm God Temple first."
Hearing her words, Lynd hesitated, then used his special vision to examine the storm god priestess before him, but he found no abnormal fluctuations related to magic on her.
Lynd stopped using his special vision and then inquired, "What do you mean by 'sensing' me?"
Liza calmly explained, "After I received our Lord's revelation, our Lord bestowed upon me the ability to perceive storms.
In the eyes of others, you are no different from an ordinary person, but in my perception, you are like a storm covering all of Braavos.
Only an embodiment of our Lord could possess such a strong aura of our Lord."
Lynd felt a bit strange listening to Liza's words, so he asked, "Is the Lord you speak of the storm god?"
"Of course," Liza smiled and nodded.
Lynd continued to ask, "Then do you know who I am? Besides the so-called embodiment, of course."
Liza continued to answer, "Of course, I know.
Chosen of the Seven, Lord of Summerhall, King of the Narrow Sea and Stepstones, Linde Terra."
Lynd questioned, "Since that's the case, you should know where the storm god faith originated, and you've even used my image to cast a statue for the storm god, yet why do I feel from your words that..."
Liza saw through Lynd's doubts and said, "Your feeling is not wrong.
Although the current storm god faith originates from you, the storm god I believe in is not you.
Simply put, you are the storm god, but the storm god is not you."
Lynd vaguely didn't understand Liza's meaning and said, "Do you mean that I triggered the storm god faith in this world, but you only believe in the concept of the storm god, not me, the physical storm god, which is why you've been calling me the Embodiment of the Storm?"
"No, you've misunderstood," Liza shook her head, then stood up and said, "I'll go get a painting for you to see, and then you'll understand what's going on."
Liza stood up and walked into a small room on one side of the courtyard.
After a moment, she emerged with a painting and, upon reaching Lynd, placed it on the table.
When Lynd saw the painting on the table, he immediately understood what was going on, because the painting depicted the Nameless King surrounded by a storm.
The storm god Liza believed in was actually the Nameless King.
Seeing this, Lynd had new questions and said, "The outside world says that you were inspired by the storm god a few years ago and turned to believe in the storm god.
Was the storm god who inspired you then also the one in the painting?"
Liza shook her head and said, "At that time, the revelation I received from our Lord was very vague.
I could only vaguely sense the aura of the storm.
This situation continued for a long time until a few months ago, when I truly clearly felt our Lord's aura and also saw our Lord's true form.
However, the statue in the Storm God Temple had already been made, and that could also be considered our Lord, so I didn't change it."
Saying that, she looked at Lynd and said, "Actually, you don't need to be concerned.
Although I refer to you as the Embodiment of our Lord to distinguish you from our Lord's true form, in my heart, you and our Lord are actually no different."
Although Liza said this, Lynd did not believe her words.
The way she looked at him showed no hint of worship for a god; clearly, in her eyes, he was merely a vessel for the deity she believed in.
Compared to dwelling on Liza's faith, Lynd was more concerned about the Nameless King.
From Liza's words, he had confirmed that the image of the Nameless King she sensed was likely from the battle to unify the Stepstones, when he used the Nameless King Rune in his heart and the power of the Dragon Rune to create a storm and disperse the sea fog.
Thinking of this, he once again activated the Nameless King Rune in his heart, wanting to see Liza's reaction.
As the Nameless King Rune was activated, the magic power contained within it naturally combined into two Dragon Runes: lightning and storm.
An invisible aura instantly spread out, rushing towards the sky.
Immediately, a large amount of mist appeared on the surface of the water throughout Braavos, so dense that one could only see one or two meters ahead.
At the same time, large dark clouds rapidly accumulated in the sky, with lightning streaking through them.
At this moment, all of Braavos was enveloped in darkness.
"My Lord!" Liza's gaze towards Lynd no longer looked like she was seeing an ordinary person, but was filled with worship and awe for a deity.
She even stood up directly from the stone bench and knelt before Lynd, kissing the back of his foot, just like the fanatical believers of the Seven Gods salvation doctrine in Summerhall.
Lynd, at this moment, did not bother with Liza's situation, as he was already captivated by the scene before him.
He saw that after activating the Nameless King Rune in his heart, the scene before him instantly changed.
He felt as if his entire being had entered a void, with hundreds of thousands of light points densely scattered before his eyes.
The largest light point was closest to him, right in front of him.
When he tried to touch the light points, he heard countless prayers and saw fragile lines connecting numerous weak light points.
Some light points were within the city of Braavos, while others were in the farther reaches of the sea.
Through these smaller light points, he could see very distant places, as if he were physically present there.
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