Previously, the Dragon Queen had four main objectives in Slaver's Bay:
Preparing for the Allied Forces,
Cultivating land and stockpiling grain,
Epidemic prevention,
Magical research.
As for her elder nephew Aegon, and the princely restoration plans of Illyrio and Varys—Sorry, she didn't care. She had no interest in their schemes or opinions.
Her magical research branched into several subprojects: reforging Valyrian steel without blood sacrifice, her precious son Jaquin's "How to Become a Death Spirit Meditation Technique," usurping the positions of the Seven, and studying how different types of spiritual essence responded to enchantment.
Before completing the "How to Become a Death Spirit Meditation Technique," Dany had primarily focused her efforts on reforging Valyrian steel.
With the Long Night approaching and the allied forces closing in, forging Valyrian steel armor and establishing a Valyrian steel army was the top priority. Dany knew how to prioritize.
The key to reforging Valyrian steel lay in the ritual sacrifices needed for forging—sacrifices to the demon gods and to the blade itself.
Dany wasn't squeamish about killing—there were countless who had died directly or indirectly at her hands—but just as she had trained her dragons to stop eating people, she didn't want them becoming evil gods who accepted blood sacrifices.
She had a thought. The Seven were: the Father, the Mother, the Maiden, the Crone, the Warrior, the Smith, and the Stranger.
Seven gods, each representing a virtue, each a facet of humanity. Together, they formed one entity with seven divine roles.
Leaving aside the other six for now, that one—"the Smith"—was obvious in its symbolism, and Dany found it especially appealing.
She wondered: if Big Black (her dragon) usurped the divine role of the Smith, could he become a divine Dragon Smith?
Or rather, if Big Black adopted the persona of "the Smith," could the power of faith channeled to him grant him the abilities of a divine smith—allowing him to reforge Valyrian steel without requiring blood sacrifice?Even more, could he use his divine power to forge weapons stronger than Valyrian steel? For instance, a Dragon Queen–style "Lightbringer"?
This wasn't wishful thinking. Divine personas (or roles) came with tangible, real-world powers. Big Black's existing role as the Great Guardian God had clearly enhanced his dragonfire, even altering its form.
That was a living, breathing, irrefutable example.
If Big Black attained the role of the Smith, then it was very likely:
Power of the Smith's Faith + Demon Dragonfire = God of the Forge
The Black Goat of Qohor and Balerion of Valyria could reforge Valyrian steel, but neither possessed the divine role of the God of the Forge.
Big Black + the Smith would undoubtedly surpass them.
With that thought, Dany's plan to usurp the positions of the Seven took precedence over reforging Valyrian steel. It became her top priority.
To that end, "Saint Dany," the High Priestess, once again modified the teachings of the Faith of the Seven:The Great Guardian is to the Seven as siblings are to humans, as the Kingsguard is to the king, as the Hand is to the king. The Great Guardian is the earthly agent of the Seven's divine authority.
This was a roundabout way to bind Big Black to the Seven: even if he was merely "the Hand of the Seven," if the Seven were fake, then the Hand effectively became the whole divine power.
In Westeros, even the Hand of the King could sit on the Iron Throne!
It was like a pop idol getting a powerful godfather in the entertainment industry. The godfather would pull strings to have the rising star appear in films with big-name celebrities, stir up gossip with top influencers, and share marketing with legendary icons.
Big Black didn't have a godfather—but he did have the most powerful, influential mother in the world.
And Queen Dany easily managed to tie her son to the "biggest celebrity" of all—the Seven.
Today, Big Black played sidekick to the Seven. Tomorrow, he would be their peer, sharing the stage. The day after, he'd kick the "washed-up stars" to the curb and dominate the spotlight—becoming the ultimate superstar.
The process might seem a little convoluted…
Why not just be direct? Tell the Seven to step aside and let Big Black ascend?
Of course, Dany wanted to declare to the world: "My Big Black is the Seven! He's the ultimate god! Worship him! Believe in Big Black, and you shall have eternal life. Pray to Big Black, and good fortune will follow!"
But reality didn't allow for that—at least not in the short term.
Even in the real world, a fresh-faced celebrity with a powerful backer couldn't just bulldoze their way to the top without finesse.
The followers of the Seven weren't fools. They had worshipped humanoid gods for thousands of years. If you suddenly told them their gods were actually a dragon—worse, a three-year-old baby dragon—it would be an insult to their intelligence.
Who would believe that?
If the believers didn't believe it, nothing Dany said would matter—not even putting a blade to their throats. Faith could not be forced.
Faith power relied on genuine, heartfelt belief. Coercion didn't work.
Of course, if Dany founded her own religion—say, the "Church of the Divine Dragon" in Slaver's Bay or among the Dothraki—then she could assign Big Black any divine role she wanted: Justice, Freedom, the Smith, Wisdom… Give it a few hundred, maybe a thousand years, and it might really imbue Big Black with divine traits and authority.
But Dany didn't have centuries to wait—and there was the matter of the Seven's massive religious assets just sitting there. Abandoning them would be a shame.
So, the Dragon Queen revised the Seven-Pointed Star of Slaver's Bay once again.
Who even knew how many times she had already inserted her own edits into the text? If the Seven were real, they would've smitten "Saint Dany" with divine punishment by now.
Not only did she change the doctrines, but she also modified the statues inside the Grand Sept of Holy Grace: beneath each of the Seven, she added a black dragon—so now the statues were riding dragons.
She even altered the Seven's ceremonial robes, adding black dragon motifs.
Today, the Seven ride dragons. Tomorrow, once Big Black officially takes the Smith's divine role, the statues will be replaced with dragon-bodied forms bearing human heads. In this way, Big Black would fully replace the Seven and become a god of order with boundless potential.
If you categorize gods into factions—Order vs. Chaos, Good vs. Evil—There's no doubt that the Seven are the most orderly and the only purely good-aligned deity.
For example, R'hllor, the Lord of Light, may be benevolent but also harbors shadow demons—hardly a model of goodness.
At best, he's like the gate gods among the Old Gods—a neutral figure.
If good and evil must balance, then in a world teeming with evil gods, the one true good deity is bound to be immensely powerful.
Therefore, if the world of A Song of Ice and Fire were ever to ascend to a higher dimension, the Seven would have the brightest prospects—Too bad they're not real.
Divinity is real and undeniable, but pure faith alone cannot create gods—at least, not in this world or in this era (see footnote).
The believers of Slaver's Bay easily accepted the revised doctrines and altered statues.
Well, they'd lost track of how many times the Dragon Queen had changed the teachings—they were used to it.
Before, no one in Slaver's Bay even believed in the Seven. It was the Queen who guided them to the faith. She was the High Priestess, after all. If she said it, then it was true—no one had objections.
Moreover, to the people of Slaver's Bay, combining the Seven with dragons made perfect sense.
Weren't their homes protected by dragons?
If dragons could guard Slaver's Bay, then surely they could also guard the Seven. It was entirely reasonable.
Still, Slaver's Bay wasn't the main stronghold of the Faith. Dany needed to bring this reform to Westeros too.
It would be best to persuade the High Sparrow to handle this matter.
Why?
Because the High Sparrow devoutly believes in the Seven and is a true disciple of their faith.
In a sense, he possesses a portion of the power to consecrate gods.
This was something Dany only confirmed after more than half a month of research.
When she first learned that the High Sparrow had commissioned a statue for Big Black, Dany didn't think much of it. She didn't know what kind of effect such an act could have on Big Black.
But when the statue was completed and the High Sparrow led his followers in praying to the newly appointed High Priest of Light—just as they had always done with the Seven—Big Black suddenly became a true High Priest. He gained divine duties and divinity, and even became connected to the faith pool of the Seven.
At the time, Dany was surprised and pleased, but didn't think the High Sparrow was especially important.
She believed that if she erected a statue for Big Black herself, it would yield the same result.
But she was wrong.
When Big Black became a true High Priest, he also became the sole master of the Seven's faith pool. Because of this, in her dragon-spirit state, Dany was able to see the lines of faith connecting believers to the pool.
In other words, Dany could gauge the sincerity of each believer's devotion by observing the faith energy they contributed to the pool.
If we take old Aemon's faith as the standard and use it to create a scale—called the "faith level"—
Then the Dragon Queen's faith level is approximately 0.001.Note: Approximately 0.001—Dany's current ability to observe faith only reaches three decimal places.
In other words, the Dragon Queen's faith level is nowhere near 0.001. Even Tyrion, who is proficient in eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, has a faith level of 0.5 in the Seven.
Saint Dany should truly be ashamed.
Aegon barely measures up, with a faith level of 0.4—less than even Tyrion.
This doesn't mean Aegon is insincere in his faith; it's just that the benchmark, Aemon, is rather high.
Clinton: 1.6Sister Ashara: 9.0Ser Barristan the White Knight: an astounding 50—truly a knight!
Then there's the one-armed hero Lancel: 100, a fanatic.
The High Sparrow? 250!
Terrifying.
While in her dragon-spirit state, Dany observed roughly a thousand members of the Beggar's Army and a thousand ordinary people attending church, and established a rough standard:
Below 0.1: non-believers
Around 1.0: ordinary believers (light believers)
1.0–10.0: true believers
10–50: devout believers
50–100: fanatics
100–150: petitioners
150–200: saints
200–250: holy sons
In truth, Lancel is far more devout than most Sparrows, but his faith level isn't particularly outstanding.
Under the High Sparrow, there are countless little Sparrows—among them, over five hundred qualify as petitioners (terrifying), and more than ten are saints (even more terrifying).
Amid the chaos of the War of the Four Kings and the coming of winter, the faith of the Seven in King's Landing is experiencing unprecedented growth.
It seems faith level is also related to a believer's understanding of the doctrine of the Seven.
Or perhaps, how closely they align with it.
Due to his personal experiences, Lancel seeks divine redemption. By joining the Sparrow movement, he is atoning for his sins before the gods.
But he could have chosen to atone to the Red God instead. His actions are devout, but his spirit is not entirely aligned with the Seven's doctrine.
The one-armed hero still has much room to grow.
The High Sparrow is different—he has nearly reached the pinnacle of mortal faith.
Saint Baelor might also have been a holy son, but his faith level likely didn't surpass the High Sparrow's.
The title "Holy Son of Light" that Dany gave him wasn't an exaggeration.
Apart from contributing to the faith pool, what else can faith levels do?They can consecrate gods.
When the High Sparrow leads his little Sparrows in prayer, all of their lines of faith converge on him. Then his own line of faith, with a strength of 250, suddenly expands and becomes a gate of faith.
In that moment, the faith pool from the unknown void drew closer to the mortal world than ever before—nearly descending upon the Great Sept of Baelor.
Dany tried the same later. She led over ten thousand common folk in prayer at the Holy Grace Cathedral in Astapor. But the lines of faith from the people simply behaved as usual, merging directly into the void and entering the faith pool.
Her own thin line couldn't bear the collective faith of the masses.
(P.S.: Deification through faith seems to be a standard trope in fantasy novels. But in this book, in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, gods born from faith cannot appear out of thin air.
This isn't me trying to be unique.
There are two types of gods in this world:First, those from the dawn of creation, like the Old Gods who listen to the song of the wind. These are real entities—not born from human faith.
Second, from the First Age to the present, the demigods who came into being through natural talent and self-cultivation. These were once humans or beasts who practiced magic and achieved enlightenment. Only then did human faith empower them, turning them into demigods.
To put it plainly: in this world, faith is a form of energy. It exists on a higher level than ordinary magic. But only those who reach this level can use it. You cannot create a god out of nothing by just having faith.
Using Naruto as an example:Ordinary magic is like chakra, faith is like natural energy, and divine power—born of both—is like Sage chakra.
The Faith of the Seven has existed for at least seven thousand years, with countless believers during that time. In theory, there should be enough faith to birth gods.But unfortunately, this world is in the "Age of Humanity," which is unfriendly to deities.
The laws of the world do not permit gods born from spiritual devotion to exist. As a result, although the Seven's faith pool is abundant, there are no gods in it—not even demigods—only seven wooden statues.
In fact, The Lord of the Rings has a similar setup. Human faith alone cannot create gods. Beings like the Maiar are all innate, born that way.)
(End of Chapter)
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