Though the story was long, Daenerys was completely engrossed, so she had fruit and fine wine brought to the reception room beside the Sanctuary.
She savored the wine while listening to Lisandro continue the tale.
"After Adonis died, Aslodi did not wish to live alone and chose to end her own life.
To ensure they would be together even in death, Aslodi tied their feet together with a rope."
"The gods, moved by their love, transformed them into two fish, ascending into the sky in this form, with two tails connected, never to be separated, becoming stars in the heavens."
"From then on, Aslodi became the Goddess of Love and Beauty.
Of course, besides representing love and beauty, she also symbolized the union of spirit and body.
That is why the Lysene people worship the Goddess of Lust."
"In the heavens, Aslodi is 'Aslodi Ula', representing noble spiritual love, while on earth she is 'Aslodi Secus', representing the vulgar carnal love that everyone can possess."
Lisandro not only knew the story of the Goddess of Lust in great detail, but he could also tell one or two stories about many of the lesser-known deities in the Sanctuary.
So Daenerys slightly curtsied and solemnly extended an invitation to him,
"Lisandro Lojar, I, Daenerys Targaryen, formally invite you and hope that you can paint these beautiful stories of forgotten deities, turning them into murals and dome paintings for the Sanctuary."
"All beauty in this world should not be forgotten.
Regardless of whether these stories are true, at least they convey truth, goodness, and beauty to people.
Life in this world is already full of suffering.
We truly need more spiritual sustenance that can give us strength."
"And the future purpose of this Sanctuary will be to aid the suffering, protect the weak, and promote virtue!"
Seeing Daenerys's earnestness, Lisandro quickly agreed and helped her up.
"How could Lisandro refuse such courtesy from Her Royal Highness the Princess?!"
However, completing the murals and dome paintings for the Sanctuary was a massive undertaking.
Even with the help of many craftsmen and artists, it would likely take one or two years to complete.
So, after leaving the Sanctuary, Lisandro quickly explained the situation to his father.
Although Giovanni Lojar had always disapproved of his heir son's immersion in painting and sculpture, his attitude was completely different when it came to the Sanctuary, which was funded and built by Daenerys.
"Since Her Royal Highness the Princess thinks highly of you, you must do this well.
As for the family business, you don't need to worry.
Having Princess Daenerys as a living signboard, isn't that more useful than anything else?!"
"Father?!"
The intelligent Lisandro naturally knew what his father was planning, so he quickly spoke up to remind him,
"The Lojar Family's business is thriving now, relying on our own credit and reputation.
You must not only think about clinging to power and taking shortcuts; while that may be more efficient, any risks would be too much for us to bear."
Giovanni saw that his son's lecturing tendency was about to be triggered again, so he quickly interrupted him, saying,
"Oh dear!
Just put all your focus on the Sanctuary's murals for now!
I managed to go from a wool merchant to a new Lysene noble with ten large ships in my caravan; do you think I can't grasp the right balance?!"
With that, he directly pushed Lisandro out of his cabin,
"Go quickly and prepare the stories of those deities.
There are many struggling scholars and artists from all over the world gathered in the Water Gardens; you might as well go there to find some inspiration and helpers."
"Your Royal Highness the Princess, this is Lesya, the leader of the Scythians, once Braavos's most outstanding Water Dancer and female warrior."
Sea King Youtanlis's chief swordsman, Larell, brought a gray-haired female warrior before Daenerys.
Because Daenerys wanted the children of the Sanctuary to learn Braavos's "Water Dance," she asked Larell to find an excellent Water Dancer teacher.
She didn't expect him to invite the leader of the Scythians.
The Scythians were originally an ancient nomadic matriarchal tribe living on the Dothraki Grassland.
They worshipped nature gods, and all of them were brave and skilled female warriors.
When they needed to procreate, they would personally go out and plunder males for their reproductive use.
If they gave birth to daughters, they would give the men money and let them leave.
If they gave birth to sons, they would make the men take the children away, or they would kill them both.
These female warriors, in order to wield bows and throw spears, would even burn off their right breasts when they began practicing martial arts, so as not to affect their performance.
On the Dothraki Grassland, it has always been survival of the fittest, with the strongest ruling.
These female warriors not only had to bear all the burdens of life, such as carrying large cauldrons and making fermented mare's milk, but also had to remain in a state of constant readiness for battle.
Due to the long-term effects of horseback riding, archery, and javelin throwing, many female warriors also suffered from ailments such as arm deformities, bow legs, filiform fractures, and spinal disintegration, not to mention various gunshot wounds, sword wounds, and axe wounds.
Perhaps because of this, many of the offspring born to these female warriors also carried congenital defects.
Due to congenital or acquired injuries and illnesses, they appeared to outsiders as strange individuals with various physical defects.
In many places in this cruel world, infants with physical defects often became abandoned babies, with virtually no chance of growing into adults.
Therefore, the Scythians were naturally not very welcome wherever they went.
During the Blood Century, with the invasion of the Dothraki, many ancient grassland kingdoms were destroyed.
The Scythians were also driven out of the grassland by them, leading a life of wandering.
Hundreds of years after the Blood Century, they gradually drifted to Braavos and sustained themselves as mercenaries with their skills.
Although they had been living a settled life for hundreds of years, they still retained their ancient traditions.
All Scythians began to diligently practice martial arts from a young age.
However, without the nourishment of the vast grassland, they are now in decline.
In Braavos, a society governed by law, they were naturally not allowed to casually seize men, and coupled with their inherent physical defects, their tribal population continuously decreased.
Currently, the entire tribe is down to only a few hundred people, and this is despite their habit of adopting abandoned disabled girls; otherwise, the population would be even smaller.
Although some Scythians now also begin to form normal families like others, they still adhere to the tradition of women fighting outside to earn money and support the family.
They only require males for procreation, and all other matters, big or small, are handled by the women themselves.
"Merciless warfare, men's rough work!"
This is a common saying among the Scythians, roughly meaning that women handle external affairs, and men handle internal affairs.
War is merciless to the Scythians, and serving Scythian women well is also a daunting task for men.
Because they are truly very demanding!!!
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