Essos Fashion Studies: Norvos
"Norvos is a theocracy. While it has a council of magisters, its members are chosen by the bearded priests, who speak for their god and wield the true power in the Free City. The magisters give lavishly to passing Dothraki khals, so their khalasars will not savage the city. Among the Norvoshi only the priests are allowed beards. The priests wear hair shirts and untanned hides. Once initiated, these men are forbidden to cut or shave their hair. They practice ritual flagellation as part of their worship. The name of the god worshipped by the Norvoshi is known only to initiates. The freeborn of the city, both noble and lowborn, favor long mustachios; Byan Votyris, for instance, dyes his mustachio blue and sweeps it to his ears. Norvoshi women shave off all of their hair, though noblewomen don wigs, especially when in the company of men from other lands and cities. Some Norvoshi women wear dresses with squirrel collars. The Norvoshi do not foster children. Slaves are also shaved bare. There are whispers of torchlit cellars where slave women mate with wolves. Norvoshi enjoy wintercakes and nahsa, a drink of fermented goat's milk which can be laced with honey. Once a year, there is a festival in Norvos that features bears dancing down the Sinner's Steps. Doro Golathis is a historian from Norvos. Like the tongues of all Free Cities, the Norvoshi language is a form of bastard Valyrian "
