Chapter 73: Chapter 71
Bahamut gradually increased his speed as they soared towards beyond the Wall, ensuring Aithusa was securely bound to him with magical restraints. He could sense the dragonling's exhilaration, her excitement building with each passing moment. To shield her from the rushing air, Bahamut conjured a protective wind barrier using his magic, ensuring Aithusa remained unharmed.
In a matter of hours, they traversed beyond The Eyrie, the ancient castle of House Arryn—a location Bahamut earmarked for a future visit upon his return from dealing with the North and Wildlings. As the journey persisted, Bahamut sensed Aithusa's growing fatigue, prompting him to ease their pace and consider a rest stop near the woods or a village.
Approaching Dreadfort, the seat of House Bolton, Bahamut decided to transform into his human form upon reaching a village. The nightfall descended, and they landed near a settlement close to Dreadfort. In this form, Bahamut reflected on Ramsay Snow, a character he had inquired about during his stay in King's Landing. Despite Ramsay's dubious trustworthiness, Bahamut viewed him as a valuable asset for a Lord, ruling with both power and the ruthlessness.
Bahamut harbored a deep curiosity about the North, particularly the House Bolton and the rumored connection between the Faceless Men in Braavos. While no explicit explanations existed in the books or series, theories and hints intrigued Bahamut, leading him to contemplate the real origin of the Faceless Men. Some speculated connections between the doom of Valyria and the North further fueled his interest.
His belief centered on the notion that the origin of the death cult, the Faceless Men, traced back to the former Greenseers before Bloodraven. Despite Brynden's statement to Bran about waiting for a thousand years, Bahamut considered that the physical aging of Brynden Rivers aligned with Maester Aemon's age. This led him to speculate that the "Greenseer" communicating with Bran was not Brynden Rivers but someone else with a much longer history.
The idea that there were multiple Greenseers in the past, passing down their responsibilities through born Greenseers, resonated with Bahamut. He theorized that the Weirwood Rivers, the location where Brynden was bound, had been transmitting the role through generations of Greenseers for at least a millennium. This led him to believe that Bran's birth marked a significant turning point, a moment when the responsibilities of the new Big Boss Greenseer would come to fruition.
Bahamut speculated on the former Three-Eyed Raven's contemplation of an invasion from Valyria to Westeros, leading to the creation of the first Faceless Men. The Bolton's infamous practice of impaling skin and the Stark's ability to skinchange contributed to the abilities exhibited by the Faceless Men. While a skinchanger traditionally referred to an individual with the ability to enter the mind of an animal and control its actions, Bahamut believed that being a skinchanger played a role in the fusion of personalities between the human and the animal. This, in turn, provided a plausible explanation for the Faceless Men's capacity to adopt the personalities associated with the skins they wore.
While no concrete evidence supported the connection between the North and the Faceless Men in Braavos, subtle hints like weirwood-made doors and furniture, as well as the acknowledgment of the Old Gods as one of the many faces, hinted at a potential vague link. Bahamut, delving into speculative theories, pondered on the possibility of the Faceless Men originating from the North.
While this connection remained speculative, Bahamut contemplated the possible origins of the Faceless Men, especially in relation to the mysterious Doom of Valyria. Bahamut's thoughts led him to consider a scenario where the Faceless Men, originating from the North, somehow became entwined with the catastrophic events in Valyria. He mused on the idea that the Faceless Men might have had an involvement with the Doom through a peculiar connection with the slaves in Old Valyria.
His theory postulated that many slaves, either desiring their own deaths or seeking revenge against their masters, might have formed the first Faceless Men. Perhaps these slaves sacrificed themselves as blood offerings to the enigmatic First Faceless Men, whose identity remained shrouded in mystery. The Faceless Men, armed with their origins from the North, might have initiated a series of coordinated assassinations, targeting the fire mages responsible for stabilizing the Fourteen Flames, the volcanoes upon which the city of Valyria was built.
The Valyrians, to control the instability of the volcanoes, employed fire mages and sorcerers who wielded magic to maintain stability. In Bahamut's speculative narrative, the Faceless Men, orchestrating the simultaneous assassinations of these crucial figures, inadvertently triggered the catastrophic event known as the Doom of Valyria. The coordinated effort, the unseen hand of the Faceless Men, played a pivotal role in the demise of the once-mighty Valyrian civilization.
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