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Other than the 30 or so statues of gods from other religions around the room, there is only a giant pool in the center, the waters of which are poisonous to all who drink. The entrance hall in the House of Black and White is designed to emphasize the import of the journey its visitors are taking. That’s because, inside, there is only death to be found, either for themselves or for a loved one, or for an enemy. Their place of worship is separate from the rest of Braavos-if people intend to visit, they really have to want it. Those who follow the Many-Faced God did not put their place of worship on a street corner, or in the middle of an impressive square. But then again, those who visit the House of Black and White, in today’s psychiatric terms, may not be considered of “sound mind.” And yet, because the House of Black and White is savvy enough to hang the symbols of all these religions around a Great Hall with expressive mood lighting, most of their visitors never put this together. This is both an insult to the other religions of the world as well as a rejection of them. The Many-Faced God is based upon the idea that all gods are the same, and that the deities of every religion are merely masks worn by one god: Death. What is interesting about the business of the House of Black and White is that it’s based on a nihilistic belief system. In modern times, televangelism has been a reliable get-rich-quick scheme. For centuries, the Catholic Church was one of the most profitable businesses in medieval Europe. They form a high-profile and profitable business. Using religion as a business is nothing new. Unlike other religions in Westeros or Essos, the Faceless Men are not just a religious order, but a guild.
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A lot must have happened in those 111 years. It was simply there, fully formed, when Braavos revealed itself to the world. We don’t know who built the House of Black and White, or how the loosely conceptualized religion of the Many-Faced God ordered itself into the strict philosophy followed by the Faceless Men. (They steadfastly refused to pay reparations for the value of the slaves lost, though.) With Braavos and the Iron Bank established in the public consciousness, a third institution peculiar to the city also quickly became famous: the silent guild known less for their religion than for what they could do for those in need: The Faceless Men, who lived in the House of Black and White. The event is mostly remembered for the reveal of the Iron Bank, which established credibility by paying back the debts owed to the grandchildren of people whom Braavosi pirates had stolen from over the last century. (This was partly because many of Braavos’ citizens were former slaves, and came from many different cultures with many different religions.)īraavos hid itself from the world for 111 years, until it finally unveiled itself in an event known as the Unmasking of Uthero. Braavos was a very open-minded society when it was founded. Not only did its rulers outlaw slavery, but they founded the city upon something rather unusual for the time: freedom of religion. When the slave revolt of 500 BC interrupted the Valyrian colonization of Sothoryos, mutineers turned tail and settled on a distant lagoon covered in fog, and there helped found the Secret City now known as Braavos. The Faceless Men and their religion went with them. Note the phrases valar morghulis (“all men must die”) and valar dohaeris (“all men must serve”). Hence the language of the religion comes directly from High Valyrian. He started by killing the most desperate slave, and eventually moved on to their masters. This realization made him decide he must be “God’s Instrument” and to fulfill their prayers. What little legend there is says that the first “Faceless Man” heard the praying of the thousands of slaves from thousands of backgrounds and concluded that they all prayed to the same god, one that merely had a thousand faces, and that they all prayed for the same thing: to be released from their suffering. It rose up first in the Volcanic Mines, which were run on slave labor during the height of the Valyrian Empire. It began after the Ghiscari Wars but before the slave revolt of 500 BC. Here’s what we do know: the religion of the “Many-Faced God” dates back to the time of the Valyrian Empire.