The Epistle of Paul the Apostle, to the Church in White Harbor, in the North. Written in year 317 after Aegon's Conquest and 18 years after the Resurrection of our Lord.
From Paul, the Apostle chosen of the grace of God by His Son and our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Beloved brothers and sisters, I have received your messages of trouble and my soul breaks at news of your suffering. Lord Manderly has always had a good and compassionate heart, but even he cannot protect all of us here from the Wolf and the Dragon, who are both gathering to end the Church. John and James are coming to you, and so are Luke and Ananias, whose hand healed me by the name of the Lord. Aegon is growing more cruel at every passing moment towards us, and lady Sansa, though not as cruel as he is, wants to protect her people at all costs. And those of you, even if you were born of the Northern mother and father and have prayed to gods of the Children once, now, because of your baptism in the one true God, you are foreigners in this country.
Do not allow your hearts to be hurt by all of this and do not let yourselves fall to the temptation. You have told me before that you plan to surrender to Aegon and his dragon and to be his servants, if you must. I implore you not to do this!
"Kings and lords have all turned against us, and they have turned our people and our families against us." is what you said to me in your previous epistle. You all trust in their mercy and that, once you give up Christ, that they will leave you at peace. It is not just the fact that by this you will risk your souls: it is that this is also a lie.
I am fifty years of age, my brethren, and I have lived through many kings, and my ears heard of their falls and deaths. First was Aerys, of whom I do not need to say anything: let the fruits of his life speak for the madness that ensued after him. Second was Robert: he was as a bull who does not trouble those around him, but who has the power to stop injustice around himself, yet paid no mind to it. His advisors moved him as a cow that follows the directions of its owner. And this came to such a point that, because of the wishes of his wife, he put the righteous John to death.
The third and fourth were the brothers Joffrey and Tommen: first was mad, and the second was only a child, both led by their mother as cats. Joffrey was worse: and it is under his role that Tywin crucified our Lord. And during Tommen all the chaos ensued: the devils from Beyond the Wall, Daenerys and Aegon and the Great War that came to destroy us. Of all the lords and nobleborn, only Jon Snow went to fight for the cause of life: and he was a baseborn, one of us, the common folk, by his mother's side, unless the rumours are true. He and Stannis were the only kings who cared.
No one else cared, no one else prepared. All the other kings and lords rose up only for themselves: and they feasted on the corpses of us and our children. Robb Stark ran to avenge his father, and we paid the price for that. Balon Greyjoy came to avenge his failure in the first Rebellion: and again we suffered. And Renly Baratheon and Roose Bolton, and Tywin Lannister and his daughter Cersei and all who were alive and on thrones in that day and positions of power. And Viserys who died a beggar king, and Daenerys who came and brought only fire and blood to King's Landing. (Though, again rumours might say otherwise.) And Euron Greyjoy, who was an antichrist.
They were all lords, they were the gods of their age, the unrighteous judges who held power in their hand: power over us and everything. None of them cared for anything but their purposes: we are all sinners who have fallen, but they have fallen so low they do not even think of their own flaws. For I have heard many "lowborn", as they call us and ridicule us, yet these lowborn do mightier and more compassionate works than any of them have ever done. Never have I heard a lord or a king say: "I have done wrong.", yet I hear every day a lowborn say: "Forgive me, I have done wrong." Just as it is said: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom."
It is in Christ, not in these kings and lords, that we should place our trust and faith. For He was the Son of God, and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and all the so-called kings and so-called lords are dust and ash to Him. He Whose glory not even the angels can conceive, and the lowest angel is higher and holier than any king on earth. Yet He did not consider this glory a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself and became as we are: and He walked among us, and healed us, and talked to us and died with us. The True King of all things was crucified as a sinner: for our sake, and for our salvation.
And then, He was buried, and He rose on the third day in greater glory and greater majesty than any other among the rulers of the earth. And from all of this, He got nothing, for He had no need of anything. He took death because of us, for our sake, for our life, for our glory. Other kings do not fight their battles, but send others, us, to fight for them: He fought our battle for us, for our sake alone. Other kings are jealous and will not share their glory: He has promised us a share of glory in the Kingdom of God.
Which shall we serve and which shall we trust: the kings who ask us to die for them when they would not do the same for us or the King Who died for us, even while we were His enemies? To Who will all the living things, including kings, and lords and dragons bow and surrender their power when all things come to their completion?
Other lords curse their enemies: our Lord forgave His enemies when they cursed Him. Other lords take lance in their hand and spill blood of others: our Lord let the lance pierce His side and His blood flow. Other lords, being sinners, crucify sinners: our Lord, being righteous, was crucified as a sinner. Other lords bring only death: our Lord brought life. Other lords take the bread away from us: our Lord is the bread that came down from heaven.
Therefore, brethren, do not allow this to trouble you: have faith instead, faith in the things we hoped for and faith in things that were promised to us, the things Christ promised to us with His own flesh and blood. For all kings have stayed in their graves and have not risen and their names are not known. And those who die in them, will die in their sins and no one will know where they go. But our Lord died and came back: and so we know that, if we are in Him, we also will come back.