Faceless Man

Faceless Man's History

The Faceless Men are a religious society of assassins who worship the Many-Faced God, a god of death. They are based in the House of Black and White, in the Free City of Braavos,though they claim to have originated in the Valyrian Freehold.

A phrase associated with the cult of the Many-Faced God is valar morghulis, the High Valyrian for "All men must die". The traditional response to this is valar dohaeris, or "All men must serve."

Inner Workings

For a price, the guild will agree to kill anyone in the known world, considering this contract to be a sacrament of their god. The price is always high or dear, but within the means of the person if they are willing to make the sacrifice. The cost of their services also depends on the prominence and security of the target.

An elite group of followers within the House, the Faceless Men, are trained to perform this task. Only a few Faceless Men have been women. Even more rarely would they train a child. They are trained to use all their senses to root out deception and create their disguises, seemingly possessing magical abilities that allow them to change their appearance at will. Part of their training includes discarding their true identity in a nihilistic way, thinking of themselves as "no one".

The Faceless Men convene in a chamber in the House of Black and White to discuss potential assignments and dole out contract assassinations. They discuss the potential deaths in the Braavosi language, though some may speak in High Valyrian. Debates can become very heated. An assassin only accepts an assignment if they are unfamiliar with the target.

The Faceless Men use a variety of methods to kill their targets, including a poison called the strangler. The assassination technique of a Faceless Man must not be haphazard, killing the intended target only, the only one "marked and chosen" by the Many-Faced God. Their fee is for a precise killing, often looking like an accident, rather than an outright murder. They consider it best if the target never even notices the assassin. A novice must perform an assassination correctly before becoming an acolyte and receiving their first apprenticeship.

The Faceless Men cure the faces of the dead who come to die in their sanctuary, hanging these skins in deep vaults below the temple as masks, which they use to disguise themselves during assassination contracts. However, these are more than simple leather masks. The wearer drinks a tart-flavored potion and their face is cut, causing blood to stream over their features; when the new face is applied, it is moistened by the blood, becoming soft and supple. The magic causes the wearer to look exactly like the original person's appearance, including broken teeth or other injuries. (Though they themselves cannot tell the difference, sensing only their own face and features.) When the face is first applied, the wearer may experience some of the memories of the dead person, and may dream those memories as nightmares.

The Faceless Men also use sorcerous glamors and mummers' tricks to help their disguises. Clothing, taken from the dead and stored in the vaults of the House, can be found to match the disguise.

If a Faceless Man gives a special iron coin to any man of Braavos and says "valar morghulis", that Braavosi will obey him, responding "valar dohaeris".