The Sea King might be foolish, but every Sea King is chosen by the city's scholars and the keyholders of the Iron Bank. At the beginning of an election, the Sea King cannot be foolish. If he were to become so, it would only be after more than a decade, when he grows older and begins to slacken.
Yes, the Sea King serves for life.
Tolmor Freiga is thirty-five this year, standing 1.9 meters tall, strong and powerfully built, with a resolute square face and an explosive physique.
He is in the prime of life, highly skilled in martial arts, sharp-minded, energetic, and without major flaws in character. Like countless Sea Kings before him, he is an excellent leader.
Therefore, when the Iron Bank representative Taichu brought the "decisive battle at King's Landing" plan to the Sea King's palace, Sea King Tolmor did not refuse.
Not only did he not refuse, he immediately convened a council of scholars, summoning those responsible for governing the Kingdom of Braavos and the keyholders managing financial affairs to the palace to discuss the matter.
Icebergs exist at sea, and this is no secret.
In the far north of the Shivering Sea, ships often encounter icebergs.
As the weather grew colder day by day, they understood that if one day Braavos and Westeros were connected by ice, it would not be impossible.
Thus, they made two decisions at the time. First, to establish an icebreaking fleet for the Narrow Sea, meaning fishing fleets would remain stationed around Braavos, fishing while monitoring the icebergs. Second, to recruit twenty thousand mercenaries and five hundred wildfire mages to go to King's Landing, bringing their own provisions and ships to help the people of Westeros fight a defensive battle for their capital.
The people of Braavos had never heard the story of "when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold," but the principle was the same. If Westeros fell to the White Walkers, sooner or later tens of millions of wights would enter the continent of Essos.
Any leader with even a bit of foresight would not want to wait until the last moment to patch the hole.
Sending out twenty thousand troops now was negligible for them, but if King's Landing fell, any attempt to make amends later would come at great cost.
Sea King Tolmor even decided that he would personally lead the Braavosi to King's Landing.
He wrote personal letters to Dragonstone and the Iron Throne in King's Landing to express his stance.
The Dragon Queen was very pleased. Not only did she agree to provide all weapons and accompanying priests for the volunteer army, she also sent five hundred thousand indulgences to the Sea King's palace so that the people of Braavos could feel the love of the Mother.
When he saw the two enormous chests filled with gray-edition indulgences, Sea King Tolmor was inwardly resistant, because the Braavosi had the House of Black and White and did not need the heaven of the Seven Gods.
If not for his lingering fear of the Dragon Queen and Deathwing, His Majesty would have wanted to throw them all into the fireplace for warmth.
Even without burning them, the Braavosi did not distribute the indulgences. Instead, they stored them away and quietly downplayed the matter.
But just as the Braavosi were preparing to set out, two shocking events erupted in Westeros one after another: the fall of the Westerlands and the fall of King's Landing.
With the fall of the Westerlands, millions of wights spread like mold, rapidly "staining" most of southern Westeros. Unless a true god descended, Westeros was certainly beyond saving.
Especially after the great fire in King's Landing and the White Walkers' stealth capture of the city, even Sea King Tolmor fell into despair.
The Braavosi began to hesitate. They had not expected that gods might truly descend to the mortal world.
Thus, the delay dragged on until the Great Trial. Before the trial, the Dragon Queen descended like a deity with her volunteer army; after the trial, the Braavosi feared Bran like a demon.
"Perhaps we don't need to send reinforcements. The people of Westeros might be able to hold King's Landing themselves?" Tolmor shook his head. "Defending King's Landing no longer holds much meaning. Perhaps the prophesied prince is Daenerys. She might end the Long Night."
"Stannis is not without hope either. His twin-headed demonic dragon reportedly burned three castles of Riverlands nobles who had surrendered to the White Walkers just a few days ago.
It is terrifying.
Moreover, almost all the red priests from the city-states of Essos have gone to King's Landing to support him. Clearly, the savior in the prophecy of R'hllor is him," said the chief scholar gravely.
"But he falls far short of Daenerys, especially now that the Three-Eyed Raven has joined her. Westeros has essentially become her domain.
I fear that when the Long Night ends, the world will return to a Valyrian-style era where one power dominates all," Tolmor sighed.
"I have heard her situation is not very good either," said the keyholder Besaro hesitantly. "Your Majesty, Lord Chief Scholar, have you consulted the masters at the Temple of the Moonsingers?"
"The twilight of the gods, the long night of the gods," he whispered in the lowest voice.
The hall fell silent, and the eyes of the assembled leaders became sharp and wary.
"The news has spread? You all know?" After a long while, the Sea King spoke hoarsely.
The scholars and keyholders exchanged glances and nodded slightly.
"The high priests of various temples have all received similar oracles," one scholar said.
The Sea King sighed softly. "The war among the gods was originally none of our concern, but she is Daenerys, the future empress of the world.
I have been to the Temple of the Moonsingers. The river of fate is chaotic and unclear, and no one knows where the future leads.
However, by synthesizing all information, one thing can now be confirmed: the likelihood of the twilight of the gods is extremely high.
If, in the divine war, Daenerys is as unstoppable as she is in the mortal realm, then the twilight of the gods will turn into the long night of the gods."
"Hiss! Is she really so merciless?" everyone gasped.
"Did she show mercy to the allied forces of the world? The great flood outside Meereen was clearly prepared in advance. From the very beginning, she intended to annihilate them completely," Besaro said with a bitter smile.
"And what is the worst that could happen?" the chief scholar sighed helplessly. "We have already decided to repay the Dragon Queen's favor. At worst, we return to how things were four hundred years ago, when true dragons dominated the world and Braavos was merely a regional power.
As for the affairs of the gods, we should not interfere. Let us instead decide whether to send troops to support King's Landing. We have delayed for over a month, and a favor has turned into a debt."
"Support must be sent," the Sea King said thoughtfully. "Braavos is also seeing snow and northern winds. Production has halted, and people are freezing and starving to death every day.
Ending the Long Night sooner benefits us as well.
What worries me is that if our people go to King's Landing, they will be caught between the red priests and the followers of the Seven.
Personally, I would rather contact the Dragon Queen directly and incorporate the Braavosi volunteers into her volunteer army.
But if we do that, it means we support Daenerys as ruler, and the millions of gold dragons owed to us by Stannis will never be recovered."
"Sigh, why is the Dragon Queen unwilling to acknowledge that debt? It is only four or five million gold dragons," a scholar lamented.
"Your Majesty, my lords, news has arrived from the Temple of the Moonsingers." At that moment, the Sea King's chamberlain hurried into the council hall with a grave expression. "The gods have left Braavos!"
"What do you mean? Explain clearly," the Sea King said, confused.
"Your Majesty, all the gods on the Isle of the Gods have left Braavos," the chamberlain replied.
"All the gods?" the Sea King exclaimed.
"Yes."
"Why? Could a great catastrophe be about to strike Braavos, and they are avoiding it?" The chief scholar sprang to his feet, pale-faced.
"I do not know. Your Majesty should personally visit the Temple of the Moonsingers. There are matters the High Priest can only tell you," the chamberlain said.
"This council ends here. I will go to the Isle of the Gods."
Because the people of Braavos are a fusion of many nations, they have truly achieved freedom of belief, respecting all gods in the world.
Just as the House of Black and White worships all gods of death, the Isle of the Gods enshrines all deities of the world.
Even the Seven have a temple there called the "Sanctuary Beyond the Realm," mainly for sailors from Westeros.
The most magnificent temple on the Isle of the Gods belongs neither to the Red God nor to the House of Black and White, but to the Temple of the Moonsingers.
This is because the Moonsingers guided the first slaves to Braavos.
It is a structure entirely white like moonlight.
A vast marble palace, pure white, with a silver dome and milky glass windows that display the various phases of the moon.
Each doorway is flanked by tall marble statues of maidens, supporting crescent-shaped lintels.
The maiden and the moon are the symbols of the Moonsingers.
A short, stout High Priestess led a group of men and women in pale moon-white robes to receive the Sea King.
"It is because of Daenerys's missionary team. Recently, a saying has spread in the supernatural world: if one eats a holy monk from the Western Sanctuary, one can achieve immortality. Everyone has been tempted," she said bluntly.
"Eating a person grants immortality? What kind of joke is that?" the Sea King exclaimed in disbelief.
"Becoming a god grants immortality, does it not?"
"Uh…" The Sea King was stunned. "Becoming a god does grant immortality, but is it that easy?"
"It is not easy, which is why this opportunity is rare. That is why they have all left."
"What exactly is going on? Please explain everything clearly. I am not a supernatural being, so I do not understand," the Sea King frowned.
The sallow-skinned, sharp-headed elderly woman from the Jogos Nhai sighed helplessly and asked, "Do you know about the missionary team?
More than a month ago, news came from Yi Ti that the Bu Clan's Azure Dynasty would establish the Faith of the Seven as the state religion and appoint the enlightened monk Matthew from the Western Grand Sanctuary as the national protector."
"I truly did not know that. With the Long Night descending, Braavos has lost most of its contact with the outside world," the Sea King said, shaking his head.
"That is understandable. I only learned of it after contacting the grand temple on the Jogos Nhai plains through a glass candle."
"And what does that signify?" the Sea King asked curiously.
"This is the most influential event in the supernatural world of Yi Ti in thousands of years. Before this, Yi Ti had never had a state religion, nor a national protector. It draws too much hatred.
Think about it. Even on the Jogos Nhai plains thousands of miles away, the news has spread."
Seeing that the Sea King still looked confused, the old zebra-like woman said, "It is equivalent to declaring that a certain temple will rule the Isle of the Gods in Braavos."
"Gods above, this…" the Sea King exclaimed, fully understanding the impact. "The other faiths will surely explode in anger."
The stout woman nodded. "Yi Ti has already exploded. Three great emperors have issued calls to arms, joining forces with eighteen temples, thirty-six rebel kings, seventy-two warbands, and one hundred and eight strongholds, swearing to capture Yi Ti, execute the tyrant, destroy the Bu Clan, slaughter the monks, and wipe out all temples of the Seven."
"This… this… the Bu Clan's Azure Dynasty is going to be destroyed! I remember five years ago you told me it had at least a hundred years of fortune left," the Sea King said in shock.
"Five years ago, I did not know the Long Night would come," the stout woman replied awkwardly.
"Who are these rebels?" the Sea King asked again.
(PS: Yi Ti is truly this chaotic. More than a hundred great lords proclaim themselves kings, each ruling their own territory. In addition, there are many unregulated warlords, priests, sorcerers, generals, and tax officials acting independently. The number of rebels is likely even greater than what I have described.)
(End of chapter)
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