Dungeon Overlord (OLD) Chapter 19 - The Gods of Today (Patreon)

"The Golden Order was established by Archaon Carian following his triumph over the Rh'llor, the Lord of Light, the God of Fire and Shadows, and Nhalar, the Great Other, the God of Ice and Dead. The Golden Order is the governing principle, a religion, and a philosophy. Founded on the principle that the Dungeon Overlord, the Archnaon the Everchosen, is the one True God."

- Teachings of the Golden Order

***

When Archaon and Ornstein disembarked from the ship, this was the first time that Archaon saw a full-fledged medieval fantasy port and city, even though it was more on the medieval side and less on the fantasy side. 

Though even that was rather good, he could work with it. It was a rather nice experience, though the medieval city wasn't any kind of win, because it was filthy and dirty, and most often, it stinks...

Thought it could be way worse.

"Are we planning to stay in the city for a prolonged amount of time, My Lord?"

Ornstein asked as they were striding through the Purple Harbour, which was filled with people, most merchants, and travelers, though a considerable number of the people were the local Braavosians. 

Due to the importance of the Purple Harbor, it was also the place where the best alehouses, inns, and brothels were located near the Purple Harbor or the Moon Pool near the Sealord's Palace. 

"No... due to the reasons mentioned before, I don't want to remain in this place any longer than absolutely necessary."

Archaon didn't want to remain in the place that was the personal turf of the Many-Faced God even though the formal ruler of the city was the Sealord, who was elected among the main noble families, and the unofficial ruler was the Iron Bank of Braavos.

He knew very well that the true power within this place were the Faceless Men. They were... in the end, the best and most powerful Assassin Guild in the entire known world, and they never failed their mission.

With their access to Magic and Face-Changing, one could say that without Magic to counter the Faceless Men, it was nigh impossible to stop the assassination attempt carried out by the Faceless Men.

The Faceless Men and the Religion of the Many-Faced God were actually the one, as the Faceless Men were at the same time; the clergy and official church of the Many-Faced God controlled the city from the shadows as they were also the ones that controlled the Iron Bank of Braavos to a great degree.

"Just taking some supplies, and we go out of the city to search for the last person summed my Patron God. Once we achieve our objective, we can leave Essos and go to the Dragonstone and then return back to the Dungeon. If some luck, we will be back for the time when Harren attacks the Dungeon with his entire army."

Within Westeros, Archaon knew that Harren the Black was already gathering another army to attack the Dungeon because the man was very greedy for the power of Magic and Magic Gear that could be found in the Dungeon. 

And for a very long time, the Dungeon would be the only source of it.

According to Yihi, even if the outside world returned to the more like Magic State, it would take minimally centuries, many centuries, for the outside world to start producing Magic resources like Magical ores, metals, and so on.

By then, the Dungeon would be even stronger and produce even more powerful things, attracting her even more people, thus creating an infinite loop circle that would be happening all over and over.

"As you wish, my lord."

With a nod of acknowledgment, both of them went to the city and obtained some supplies for the journey; not like it was needed in the first place because, with their superhuman constitution and abilities, they could easily go a few days without any food and water.

It was more like a matter of convenience.

During the time they were talking through the bustling streets of the Braavos, it wasn't only him, but also Ornstein had the feeling that they were being watched by someone. Due to their superhuman senses and, in Ornstein's case, also countless years of experiences, it wasn't hard to see.

Even Archaon, who was inheriting the experiences of the Gehrman the First Hunter, already noticed that someone wasn't just observing them, but also following them. And his mind didn't need a lot of time to identify the person or, rather, the ground.

It was the very same group about which they were talking on the ship and the very same group of people which was the reason why he wanted and needed to leave Braavos as soon as possible.

"Somebody is observing us... most probably the Faceless Men."

Archaon said to Ornstein now that both of them were aware that the Faceless Men were observing and following them. Even though, due to the Ornstein's extravagant golden armor, they were mostly the center of attention, this time, it was different.

"Do nothing... they don't have malice... I think that they want to talk, or their God wants to talk with us."

In fact, even though he was confident in his own power, Archaon was cautious, and he didn't know the exact strength of the Faceless Men and their Magic. Even though he could feel that the one precise assassin of the Facless Men that was watching them was at Level 2 for sure, he didn't want to fight them on their home turf.

Meaning the Braavos.

However, what was interesting was the fact that they didn't have any sort of hostility or malice, and even if they were masking it... 

He would be able to see it, due to the effects of Gehrman's Template, which allowed him to learn about the camouflaging of his true intentions and, at the same time, how to spot if someone was hiding their true intentions.

Archaon was approximately 99% confident that the Faceless Men that were sent here to observe them were to give the invitation to talk by the decree of the Many-Faced God, and even though it could be a trap, it was still pretty tempting. 

Many-Faced God was a neutral God and frankly, if there was indeed God from all Gods in this world that would take notice of him due to being Dungeon Overlord or for whatever reason, then he would seriously choose the Many-Faced God.

Most of the Gods in this world were just dammed Evil Gods, or in different cases, they were not even Gods, or they were just hypocritical religions or whatever, like the Seven-Who-Are-One.

"We go in and find some quiet place for him to approach us. If he indeed does so, it means that he wants to negotiate something."

Archaon wanted to talk with the Faceless Man because he saw this as an opportunity to advance his goals. The Faceless Men were one of the strongest factions in the entire world right now.

Even though Ornstein wasn't really pleased by the fact, he too understood that if they could cooperate with one of the local Gods that controlled one of the most influential organizations in this world, it would only benefit them in the long run.

The purpose of the Dungeon was to gather Fate and the Dungeon Echoes.

He knew that the Dungoen Echoes that were gathered by the Dungeon and could be used by the Dungeon Overlord were only a fraction of what was really gathered, as around half of it went directly to the Patron God of his master.

Such was their purpose.

And the good relationship with the Many-Faced God that had direct or indirect control over the Faceless Men and Iron Bank of Braavos would be only advantageous in the long term for their goals.

Soon enough, they arrived somewhere without many eyes and quieter, where they waited for the Faceless Man to arrive. Soon enough, a slender, handsome young man with fine features arrived at the place where they were waiting. 

He had shiny, long, straight hair streaming down across his shoulders, colored white on one side and red on the other. At first glance, he looked rather friendly with the smile on his face and, at the same time, rather unique due to his hair color.

'Jaquen H'ghar...' 

Archaon recognized the person at first glance because he remembered the character rather vividly as it was one of the most iconic characters in the TV shows and the only one of the Faceless Men whose name was known during the story.

Jaquen H'ghar.

"Valar Morghulis."

The man greeted them in a most common phrase associated with the Faceless Men or rather with the Cult of the Many-Faced God. Valar Morghulis, which is in the High Valyrian and means "All men must die". The traditional response to this is Valar Dohaeris, or "All men must serve".

"Valar Dohaeris."

Archaon greeted the man back as he then scrutinized both of them, with his expression unchaining, but both he and Ornstein could see that he became tenser at the closer inspection as if he could tell how strong they were.

It wouldn't be completely outlandish if he could sense their Magic Power Levels, which were above everything that this world had to offer. According to Archaon's predictions, which were rather close to reality, even the Magicians of this world, or at least what remained out of them, were only lingering about the 5 Stat Points in the Magic Power.

Which was actually a very low number for a Magician, but due to the dormant state of Magic that was slowly dying in this world, it was the best that they could achieve even after decades of training and using any means to increase their Magic Power.

Meanwhile, Archaon and Ornstein both had 25 Stats in the Magic Power, and their Magic was also extremely pure and dense.

"So why have the Faceless Man come to see us? Certainly, it is not to kill..."

Archaon asked as the Jaquen H'ghar just nodded his head.

"This one has come with the sincerity to invite you to the House of Black and White on behalf of the Many-Faced God. Not to deliver the Gift, but to deliver the invitation."

Jaquen H'ghar was speaking in the traditional manner of Lorathi, omitting names and avoiding first and second grammatical persons. Archaon seriously pondered over the proposal as he could find falsehoods in the words of the Faceless Men.

And even Ornstein the Dragonslayer was the same as he, too, couldn't see any part of a lie in his words. Seeing that Ornstein was giving him a nod of agreement, even though Ornstein was primarily a knight and was the leader of the Four Knights of Gwyn, he was also a member of Lord Gwyn's court. 

He knew very well about dealing with the treacherous people and nobles, about seeing through someone's lies and such. It would require a really considerable amount of skill to be able to successfully lie to Ornstein.

Seeing that the Dragonslayer himself was giving this the stamp of agreement, made Archaon in the end go for it.

"I am willing to hear what the Many-Faced God has to say."

Archaon said as the Faceless Assassin nodded his head and motioned to follow after him as they were going to the House of Black and White. 

"The Many-Faced God is God of the most natural thing in the world. The Death is the Gift upon the living..."

For some time, they were listening about the teachings of the Many-Faced God as if the man in front of them was preaching to them and attempted to convert them to the faith in the Many-Faced God. 

According to the teachings of the House of Black and White and the Religion of Many-Faced God, the God is present in many religions, under different names. They claim he is called the Black Goat in Qohor, the Lion of Night in Yi Ti, and the Stranger in the Faith of the Seven.

The origin of it stemmed from the founder of the Faceless Men who came to believe that all of the diverse slave population of Valyria prayed for deliverance to the same God of Death, just in different incarnations. 

The worshippers of the Many-Faced God believe that death is a merciful end to suffering. For a price, the Guild will grant the "gift" of death to anyone in the world, considering the assassination a sacrament to their God. In the temple, those who seek an end to their own suffering may drink from a black cup of poisoned water, which grants a painless death.

As the Faceless Men forsake their identities for the service of the Many-Faced God, they only assassinate targets they have been hired to kill, and may not choose who is worthy of the "gift" by themselves.

In the end, they were all just the tools of the Many-Faced God.

They were religious zealots in the truest sense possible.

Such kind of people were the most dangerous.

And the followers of the Many-Faced God were certainly the greatest of the religious zealots that one could even imagine.

***

The House of Black and White was certainly one of the great landmarks of the Braavos.

This was not only because it was the main temple dedicated to the Many-Faced God in the world, but also because it was the headquarters of the Faceless Men. Not to mention, the entire place was giving out a rather creepy vibe, and that was coming from someone who was living in the literal Dungeon.

The House of Black and White sits upon a rocky knoll made of dark grey stone. It has no windows and has a black tile roof. Its wooden doors are twelve feet high and carved. The left door is weirwood, the right ebony.

In the center of the doors was a carved moon face ebony on weirwood, weirwood on ebony. Its steeped steps of grey stone lead down to the shadowed dock. Besides the front door, there are also secret tunnels and hidden passages that allow entry to the temple.

"So now what?"

Archaon asked when they suddenly stopped in front of those wooden-carved doors.

"We can enter... He already awaits your arrival."

He then opened the temple doors as they entered the House of Black and White. The atmosphere in the House of Black and White was exactly like what one would expect from the temple dedicated to the God of Death.

The temple proper has rows of long stone benches and a rough stone floor, and hard stone beds are located in shuttered alcoves at the walls. In the center was a black pool of poisoned water ten feet across and lit by dim red candles. Statues of Gods stood around the room as if they were observing the room and everyone within it.

There are tall statues of thirty Gods in total. Among them were Bakkalon, the Black Goat of Qohor, the Hooded Wayfarer, the Gorse God of the Dothraki, the Lion of Night, the Merling King, the Moon-Pale Maiden, the Stranger, the Weeping Woman, and many, many more.

"Where exactly are we going?"

Archaon asked as he noticed that they were heading somewhere in the back of the temple proper.

"To the Holy Sanctum, located on the third level, which is only available to clergy."

Beneath the temple proper, there was the second level, which consisted mainly of a maze of vaults and tunnels. The vaults and storerooms contained armament and clothing; the possessions of people who died in the temple were separated by the servants. The sleeping cells of priests and acolytes are located on the first level beneath the main floor. 

It took them some time to arrive at the 3rd underground level of the temple.

A heavy iron door lead to steps that descend below the canal as Jaquen H'ghar led Archaon and Ornstein through the canal to the bottom of the temple.

At the bottom was another iron door that led to the chamber filled with the collection of hanging faces used as disguises by the Faceless Men. One side passage is walled with bones and supported by columns of skulls, and another passage leads to steps that descend even further.

It was clear that this was the truest heart of the Temple of the Many-Faced God, as this was a sacred place for the Faceless Men and the entire religion of the God of Death. When they arrived at the last huge set of metal doors, Jaquen H'ghar suddenly stopped as he looked at Archaon.

"Only the man invited could go inside."

Hearing this, Ornstein already reached for his Dragon Slaying Halbert, ready to decapitate the assassin in the place where he stood as he suspected some sort of mummery. The Dragonslayer Knight was pretty powerful and wasn't short of using his strength to solve problems.

"You can stand down, Ornstein. If I am not wrong, that is the place where they communicate with their God, and only those whom their God wants to talk to are able to enter. Am I right on this one, Assassin Priest?"

Archaon asked as he suspected that this room could be only opened by the Many-Faced God as it was their Divine Altar to communicate with their God. If someone who wasn't invested by the God of Death entered that place, he was sure that they would consider it as sacrilege.

"Assassin Priest? Maybe. Yes, the man is right."

Jaquen H'ghar stated that he felt the blade of the Dragon Slaying Halbert pressing on his neck in such a fast manner that he barely had any time to react. He was very surprised by the speed of the golden armored knight because, despite his bulky stature and the amount of armor that he was wearing, he was still far faster than he could have imagined.

"Then I will go alone..."

Archaon knew that there was no backing out of this right now. 

Not when they came already this far.