Editing Faceless Men (section)

==Recent Events==
===''A Game of Thrones''===
During a [[small council]] meeting discussing King [[Robert I Baratheon]]'s demand that [[Daenerys Targaryen]] die, [[Grand Maester]] [[Pycelle]] suggests hiring the Faceless Men to assassinate the exiled princess. The [[master of coin]], Lord [[Petyr Baelish]], says that doing so would be too expensive; the price to hire the Faceless Men to kill a merchant is twice that of hiring an army of [[sellsword]]s, and the price to kill a princess would be even higher. [[Varys]], the [[master of whisperers]], will instead offer a [[lordship]] to a successful assassin.{{ref|AGOT|33}}

===''A Clash of Kings''===
[[File: The Weasel's WayTony Foti.png|thumb|350px|[[Arya Stark]] and [[Jaqen H'ghar]] in [[Harrenhal]], by Tony Foti © Fantasy Flight Games]]
[[Arya Stark]] meets a [[Lorath]]i criminal who calls himself [[Jaqen H'ghar]], traveling in a cage on the way to the [[Wall]] with two other prisoners from the [[black cells]], [[Rorge]] and [[Biter]].{{ref|ACOK|5}} Arya saves them from burning at the [[Gods Eye town]],{{ref|ACOK|14}} and in return for these three lives saved, Jaqen later promises her three deaths.{{ref|ACOK|30}} Per her wishes, Jaqen assassinates [[Chiswyck]]{{ref|ACOK|30}} and [[Weese]]{{ref|ACOK|38}} and agrees to help her escape [[Harrenhal]].{{ref|ACOK|47}} After the [[fall of Harrenhal]], he changes his face to a completely different appearance and leaves the castle, saying that he has duties elsewhere. Before he goes, he gives Arya a worn [[iron]] coin, and tells her if she wishes to find him again, she should give the coin to any man of [[Braavos]] and tell him "''[[valar morghulis]]''".{{ref|ACOK|47}}

===''A Storm of Swords''===
Arya overhears the [[ghost of High Heart]] telling the [[brotherhood without banners]] that she "dreamt of a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed and swung."{{ref|ASOS|22}} [[Balon Greyjoy]] is later reported to have fallen to his death from a bridge at [[Pyke]].{{ref|ASOS|45}} Arya finds a [[Braavos]]i ship at [[Saltpans]], the ''[[Titan's Daughter]]'', and though she cannot afford passage, she remembers the iron coin that Jaqen had given her. She gives the captain the iron coin and says "''valar morghulis''"; he replies "''[[valar dohaeris]]''", and respectfully grants her a cabin on his ship.{{ref|ASOS|65}}

===''A Feast for Crows''===
[[File:Faceless Men coin SPM.jpg|thumb|350px|right|The iron [[coin]] of the Faceless Men, as given to [[Arya Stark]]. One side shows a man's head, so worn that his features have rubbed off;{{ref|ACOK|64}} the other has the motto of the guild, "''[[valar morghulis]]'' / ''[[valar dohaeris]]''". Designed by Tom Maringer © Shire Post Mint.]]
The [[Citadel]] novice [[Pate (novice)|Pate]] dies in [[Oldtown]] after biting a coin he received from the [[alchemist]], who calls himself "no one", and whose appearance matches the one that [[Jaqen H'ghar]] changed to.{{ref|AFFC|Prologue}}<ref group="N">Compare the descriptions in ''[[A Clash of Kings]]'', [[A Clash of Kings-Chapter 47|Chapter 47]] - Arya IX and ''[[A Feast for Crows]]'', [[A Feast for Crows-Prologue|Prologue]]</ref> Later at the Citadel, [[Samwell Tarly]] is introduced to a novice calling himself Pate.{{ref|AFFC|45}}

Arya travels to [[Braavos]] on the ''Titan's Daughter'', whose crew treats her with much respect, giving her gifts and asking her to remember their names.{{ref|AFFC|6}} Once in Braavos she comes to the [[House of Black and White]], and is accepted as a servant there.{{ref|AFFC|6}} One priest, whom Arya calls the [[kindly man]] because of his kind face, seems to have some position of authority in the guild, as he is the one who takes charge of Arya's training. Another priestess, who Arya calls the [[waif]], works in the House of Black and White handling poisons. Though she is thirty-six years old, she has a shrunken and childlike appearance brought about by exposure to [[poison]]s.{{ref|AFFC|22}}{{ref|AFFC|34}}

Arya is told she must rid herself of her possessions. After she does so, she is made a novice, and is taught some of the guild's history, as well as receiving lessons in [[High Valyrian]], the Braavosi tongue, and poisons. She also learns to recognize lies, and to rule her face and expressions.{{ref|AFFC|22}} She is sent to learn Braavosi by immersion, and the skill of becoming "no one", by becoming [[Brusco|a fishmonger]]'s assistant called Cat of the Canals, but every month at the new moon returns to the House of Black and White to tell what she has learned and for more lessons in the guild.{{ref|AFFC|34}} Arya kills [[Dareon]], a deserter from the [[Night's Watch]], and after she tells the kindly man of this, she is given a potion in her milk that makes her blind.{{ref|AFFC|34}}

===''A Dance with Dragons''===
[[File:Marc_Simonetti_HouseofB&W.jpg|thumb|350px|[[Arya Stark]] in the [[House of Black and White]], by Marc Simonetti ©]]
Arya learns that she has been blinded because she took the Many-Faced God's powers for herself, by judging Dareon and killing him. She continues to work as a novice in the House of Black and White, learning how to use other senses than sight. Her job includes removing the clothes and other possessions of those who have died in the temple, including identifying the coins by touch. She also is disguised as "Beth", a blind beggar on the streets of Braavos, though she avoids the places where she had been known as Cat. She is beaten by an unknown person in the temple several times, and when she identifies her assailant as the kindly man, her sight is returned to her by means of another potion.{{ref|ADWD|45}} 

Arya observes a meeting of eleven Faceless Men in the House of Black and White, where they discuss potential assassination contracts. She is given an assignment to kill an [[old man]] selling ship insurance. After Arya decides to assassinate her target with poison, she is brought to the holy sanctum on the third level for the first time. Arya  receives her first new face, that of a disfigured and ugly girl. After successfully completing her assignment by poisoning a coin that the salesman bites, she is made an acolyte. The kindly man then tells her she will be given another new face, a pretty one this time, and will be sent to [[Izembaro]] for her first apprenticeship.{{ref|ADWD|64}}