A Western fantasy journey that began with Game of Thrones

What are gods?

This question came to Renly's mind again as he walked in a golden mist-filled hall.

When the prayer stopped, when the warrior statue changed, and when a brilliant golden light completely engulfed him, Renly found himself in another place.

In a misty hall with a hard dark golden surface!

The ground under his feet was like stone, and it felt solid when he stepped on it. Looking around, a golden mist enveloped the four directions, and no other substances could be seen.

It was as if this was a world made of fog.

Where is this?

Renly was confused.

He originally expected to use the Drowned God's Fire to "stimulate" the Seven Gods, but he didn't expect that what he stimulated was all this at the moment -

Without any existence to communicate with, who could he find to complete his goal?

So after wandering around here for a while, Renly squatted down and looked at the surface.

Everything around him seemed illusory, but the ground under his feet felt quite real. He had no other choice but to observe it.

Then, he saw something different.

Looking carefully at the surface through the hazy mist, Renly discovered that the surface was not pure color, but was carved with lines of faces - men, women, old people, and children. Although the faces were crudely carved, their charm could still be seen at a glance.

What are these?

He thought about this question and raised his hand to touch one of the faces of a teenager.

Then a series of hazy pictures emerged in his mind one after another.

The shrill screams in the simple thatched house, the wailing after being born, and the repeated bedwetting in childhood...

He had to go out and pick up wheat ears and run errands behind the adults when he was less than five years old. When he was seven years old, the cold winter came. There was enough dry firewood, but there was a shortage of food. Both parents starved to death. Then he lived alone until he was eleven years old, but unfortunately caught a cold after waking up one day. He died on the straw bed in his own house under the care of a kind neighbor.

...

A farmer's son in the North, the territory of the Manderlay family, and before the Conqueror War.

The continuous images flashed at a very fast speed. Renly could not determine the specific details of the boy's life, but he had guessed his general identity and vaguely understood what this face was.

Soul?

Or, the soul of the Seven Gods?

In that long and fast life picture, what Renly saw most often was the boy's prayer. When he was a child, he prayed with his parents. After his parents died, he prayed alone. Finally, at the last moment before his death, he was still praying to the Virgin Mary, hoping that he could be pitied by the gods and go to heaven.

Yes, heaven.

In the belief system of the Seven Gods in Westeros, there are heaven and hell, or in other words, most of the gods in this world have similar existences.

Renly didn't think much about this before, but since gods exist if you believe in them, what about heaven and hell?

Most of those who believe in the Seven Gods devoutly believe in the existence of heaven and hell...

Thinking thoughtfully, he raised his hand and touched the other facial patterns on the ground.

As he expected, after touching it, some memories of the dead would also emerge. Some died of old age, some were murdered, some died of plague, and some fell off a cliff...

Different genders, ages, and looks, the only thing in common is that they are all very pious.

This is the heaven of the seven gods.

Ren Li thought.

But what about the gods in heaven?

There can't be no gods here, right?

With this idea in mind, he stood up and continued to explore the four directions.

However, after a long exploration, let alone gods, he didn't see even a little bit of extra changes. There was only fog and the ground, and the faces on the ground.

Ren Li frowned.

Miraculously arriving at this mysterious place, he naturally had enough patience to explore all this at ordinary times, but now he didn't have much curiosity.

Where are the gods?

Where are the gods?

Where is the god with seven faces?

The urgency of his emotions suddenly gave him an idea, and then he was ready to open his mouth to "pray", but then he was shocked to find that he had no ability to speak.

In other words, he couldn't feel that he had a mouth at all!

What was going on?

The question in his mind just emerged, and then Renly suddenly found that he had lost his hands as well!

Not only his hands, but also his legs, his chest, his stomach, and even... everything about him!

Where did I go?

This thought flashed through his "mind", and then his narrow perspective suddenly underwent a wonderful change.

His "sight" began to spread, from the normal vision of his eyes to a 365-degree panoramic view of everything, from the original visibility of less than 50 meters to hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, and hundreds of thousands...

The rapidly stretched perspective made him seem to be rising rapidly, while the "earth" below him shrank rapidly. The surrounding golden mist still permeated the four directions, but gradually, Renly could see what the place he was in looked like.

It seemed to be a golden rhinoceros lying horizontally, or a rhinoceros-shaped land, with a huge main body and twinkling golden stars around it.

However, the shape became more and more familiar to Renly, and he suddenly remembered a map of Westeros he had seen in King's Landing.

If the North is excluded and the map is turned sideways, the continent of Westeros will look like this!

So what is this?

A map of faith distribution?

Or is the heaven of the Seven Gods a reflection of Westeros?

But where are the gods?

He wondered.

Where are the gods?

The Seven Gods?

Shortly after this question appeared, Renly's perspective changed again.

He found himself suddenly in a dark and damp basement, where a thinly dressed girl imprisoned in chains was praying silently.

He came to a village, where the old man in the village was quietly listening to the monks' preaching.

He came to a magnificent church, where many blue-robed nuns were singing hymns. He came to the high tower of the castle, where the woman in the tower was slowly stroking her bulging belly, and he came to...

The endless changes were dazzling, but gradually, a kind of enlightenment came to Renly's heart.

What are the gods?

Or, what are the seven gods among the gods?

Father, Mother, Warrior, Girl, Blacksmith, Old Woman, Stranger. Justice and judgment, maternal love and nurturing, strength and courage, innocence and purity, craftsmanship and labor, wisdom and the future, death and the unknown...

What are the Seven Gods?

Compared with other gods with distinct images and functions, the Seven Gods seem to represent the beautiful visions and expectations of mankind.

So... the Seven Gods are people?

Or, the Seven Gods are all those who believe in the Seven Gods?

This idea made Renly feel quite absurd as soon as it appeared, because he learned not long ago that faith is a collection of human will, so in a sense, gods are naturally people.

However, before he could continue to think about it, his perspective began to change again, or in other words, he returned to the original human appearance when he just arrived!

Everything that changed in an instant made him a little uncomfortable. Standing in the hall filled with golden mist, he stayed for more than ten seconds before reacting, and then hurriedly looked down at his body.

It looked exactly the same as normal, but Renly suddenly discovered that there were no marks on his left wrist.

He was therefore sure that he did not come here with his real body.

Thinking?

The world of thought?

Soul?

Soul out of body?

A series of speculations emerged unconsciously, but Renly didn't think about it at this time, because he suddenly thought of another question.

If the Seven Gods really refer to all people who believe in the Seven Gods, if the Seven Gods do not have a specific main body of thought, then who should he talk to about resurrection?

Find the millions of people in Westeros?

This is simply a fantasy...

No, that's not right!

If the Seven Gods really don't have a main body of thought, then what is "entertaining" himself now, or what makes him change his perspective?

This thought flashed through Renly's mind, and he suddenly felt the golden mist around him suddenly gathered behind him. Turning around, he saw a person who was constantly condensing and forming with the golden mist.

Feet, legs, torso, hands, neck, head, facial features, hair...

The mist seemed to have turned into cells, pieces of flesh and blood, and gathered from bottom to top, gradually forming a complete human body.

Finally, when the surrounding fog stopped turbulent, when the golden light on the person's body dissipated, and when his long black hair was washed by the surrounding fog and kept shaking, Renly was stunned on the spot.

This person looked like himself, but she was completely different from him -

She was a woman!

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