Master Qimier is a member of the Red-Patterned Hermits, one of the Asshai hermit organizations. Asshai has many spellcasters, but the largest group are Shadowbinders, because Asshai's unique environment is very suitable for Shadowbinders to practice magic. In particular, the demons and monsters hidden in the Shadow Mountains are the best magical materials for Shadowbinders.
Members of the Red-Patterned Hermits use a dye made from a special poisonous herb to paint patterns on their wooden masks, representing their status. To become a member of the Red-Patterned Hermits, one must complete a pilgrimage to the Shadow Lands. The pilgrimage is simple: travel upstream along the Ash River, reach the vicinity of Styria, catch a green-scaled fish inhabiting there without being poisoned, and complete a journey to the Shadow Realm. Only then can one join the Red-Patterned Hermits.
Joining the Red-Patterned Hermits not only represents identity and status, but more importantly, grants the qualification to choose a Black Hollow in the central city as one's residence and place of cultivation.
The entirety of Asshai is built upon a single, massive black oily stone. This black oily stone is so large that it surpasses the combined size of the largest cities on the continents of Essos and Westeros.
All the buildings in the city are constructed from stone bricks polished from fragments of the black oily stone found in the surrounding mountains. However, the identity of the builders remains unknown, as these structures have existed since records began. Some speculate that these buildings, like the labyrinth of Lorath, were constructed by giants. This is not a baseless guess, but has some basis, as all the buildings here are enormous, even the tables and beds used daily within them are gigantic, not conforming to the specifications for normal human size.
These black stones possess extremely special powers, such as their ability to absorb light. Even during the day, when sunlight directly illuminates the roads and buildings of Asshai, people within Asshai still feel that their surroundings are dim and devoid of light. As for night, it is pitch black, where one cannot see their own hand, and even with a torch, only a one-foot radius can be illuminated. Looking out, it is so dark as if the world has completely fallen into a dark abyss.
Light absorption is just one of the black stone's most ordinary abilities. For the inhabitants of Asshai, the greatest value of the black stone is its ability to stimulate and enhance the magical power of spellcasters.
In the outside world, a Pyromancer performing a flame trick can at most light a cotton thread or make a candle glow, but in Asshai, a Pyromancer can spew a pillar of fire, just like a dragon breathing dragonfire.
All spellcasters who came to Asshai, after experiencing the true power unleashed by their practiced magic, unhesitatingly remained in Asshai. The pleasure derived from that feeling of casting spells was irreplaceable by anything else. As those who left Asshai said, when they departed, they could feel a part of their soul forever remaining in Asshai. An unprecedented sense of emptiness invaded their souls, and ultimately, these individuals either went mad or became the most devout followers of gods, because faith could fill the void.
Those spellcasters who left Asshai did not do so willingly; they were forced to leave. If they did not depart, they would quickly be corrupted by the dark power contained within the black stone, eventually becoming soulless, walking dead-like lost souls.
The magic in the black stone can help spellcasters unleash the true power of their magic, but it can also harm all creatures enveloped in that magic.
Spellcasters fare a bit better; their inherent bloodline, which grants them the ability to cast spells, allows them to resist the erosion of this magic for extended periods. However, ordinary people cannot. An ordinary person would be completely eroded in their mind within two years by this magic, leaving only the body's instincts to eat, sleep, and move. The spellcasters in the city call this condition'Soul-Loss Syndrome'.
Even if a spellcaster's bloodline can resist the erosion of magic, it is not permanent. As they age or due to certain illnesses, their bodies weaken, and their ability to resist magical erosion will drastically decline, eventually becoming like ordinary people, with no resistance to magical erosion.
If these spellcasters do not leave Asshai immediately at that point, they will eventually become lost souls.
It is precisely for this reason that, even though the city of Asshai is incredibly vast, its permanent population is less than forty thousand. Among these forty thousand, only about a thousand are true spellcasters; the rest are slaves bought from Slavers Bay or other city-states, as well as temporary sailors, merchants, and adventurers.
There are no true Asshai people in Asshai, because no one can live here for a long time, and people living here cannot reproduce. All people living in Asshai, like Master Qimier, are outsiders.
As for the 'Asshai people' mentioned by others, they are actually the spellcasters living in the city center. They usually apply a mixture of black stone powder and special perfumed oil to their bodies, making them appear to have black skin, similar to the people of the Summer Isles.
As for why this black coating is applied, no one knows anymore. Legend has it that doing so allows for better use of the black stone's magic, but some have proven this claim to be false, so it can only be regarded as a tradition.
Spellcasters are the absolute rulers of Asshai. Any confirmed spellcaster automatically gains a portion of Asshai's rights and wealth. While rights cannot be taken out of Asshai, wealth can, though most spellcasters who leave are unable to hold onto their wealth.
Despite Asshai's sparse population and harsh environment, it is by no means barren. It is rich in gold, gemstones, and dragon glass, all of exceptionally high quality. Numerous merchant ships from Essos ports come here to trade. They transport shiploads of fine wine and grain, and take away strings of gold, gemstones, and dragon glass. To protect this lucrative trade route, these merchants propagate the idea that Asshai's gold and gemstones carry a curse that brings misfortune to their users. In reality, these gold and gemstones have long since been melted down or reshaped and circulated throughout the world.
There were once some arrogant individuals who sought to conquer and control Asshai, believing that Asshai's spellcasters were no different from those who performed mere parlor tricks outside. These arrogant individuals were ultimately turned into spellcasters' magical conduits.
For example, the string of fist-sized human heads hanging from Master Qimier's waist originally belonged to a pirate from the Jade Sea. Who knows what that pirate captain was thinking, daring to rob a spellcaster in Asshai. As a result, he captured them all, brought them to his altar, and had them made into special mediums for casting Shadowbinder spells.
It was precisely this string of human heads that enabled him to return alive from the pilgrimage to the Shadow Lands and become a member of the Red-Patterned Hermits.
However, this string of human heads is now of very little use to him. He plans to exchange them for ten bottles of elixir at the Magic God Temple.
Asshai is very large and empty. Aside from the docks, other spellcasters living here might only see their slaves for ten days or half a month, rarely seeing other people. This situation becomes more pronounced the closer one gets to the city center.
Because in the outer areas of the city, slaves might be able to survive for some time, so most spellcasters living there can still have slaves to serve them. However, once inside the city center, apart from spellcasters, ordinary people will fall ill within one or two months due to various reasons, and there is no cure. They can only gradually weaken and eventually die.
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