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A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover

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Part MDCXCIII: A Most Promising Venture
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    • A Most Promising Venture ​

    Second Day of the First Month 293 AC

    You agree to all three requests, though not before offering a highlight of shaitan law to Maelor and Glyra, as well as an extensive list of punishments for common crimes, all expressed in numbers, specifically years of servitude. "You should all be careful in there. This is not a city any of us would be able to overawe with sorcerous power, and we might not even escape if things go poorly," you finish.

    Both of them nod in at least understanding, though you don't know how far that understanding can be trusted where Glyra is concerned. She is still a gremlin, though enlightened and mightier than any other of her kind

    More to Waymar than to the other two you add, "We have already made an enemy of the Brazen Throne or at least its agents, not that there truly could have been any peace between us given the efreeti's vile practices. It would be ill indeed to anger their age-old foes."

    "Why is it my job to watch them?" he asks, a smile belying his words.

    "I never said anything about watching anyone," you answer mildly.

    "You were thinking it," he grumbles.

    That you cannot deny. Tyene may be more skilled in untangling whatever trickery Glyra dreams up and Dany may have more authority in putting an end to it, but you trust Waymar to be the most down to earth and conservative in such situations.

    ***​

    Before departing you also deposit the turtle... things with Lya, noting with some alarm that they are looking less and less like any natural creature as time goes by. Fortunately, Lya comes up with the notion of transmuting them into smoke and binding them into enchanted glass to stave off the flesh-change that seems to be slowly eroding your magic.

    As you watch her work her magic you realize that spell may have been first conceived by ancient sorcerers to capture and bind genies to servitude, something you may wish to someday attempt given the foes you have made of late, though of course not anywhere near your tentative Shaitan allies.

    "Stay safe and bring me back a present," Lya says, embracing and kissing you goodbye.

    "And what manner of present does my ladylove desire?" you ask in exaggerated tones, like a love-struck fool in a play.

    "Reagents... I like to make things, in case you somehow failed to notice," she replies with a smile, pressing a fat scroll into your hands, likely filled with arcane formulas and substitutions. You suspect its length might be best measured in feet.

    You also take care to also deposit some of the more questionable enchanted objects and pick up samples of goods the shaitans might be interested in.

    ***​

    Lady Alyneah pays little mind to Waymar or Tyene, but she does look startled upon seeing Maelor and Glyra, explaining that those with fiend blood are not best trusted among her people and the fey even less so. For all that you sense no true distrust from her in the matter. It seems that as far as she is concerned your word is more than enough to vouch for them... though of course should they in some way transgress that too will reflect mostly upon you.

    Of what shall you discuss in the days ahead:

    [] The History of the Peerless Empire

    [] The magic of the Shaitans

    [] War Beasts of the Plane of Earth

    [] Write in

    OOC: Sorry about the chapter getting a little choppy here.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan Inquisitive Flattery, Go!
    -[X] We are most interested in the history of the Peerless Empire, specifically how they came to be sworn enemies of the vile Efreet, and the course of the war between the two powers.
    -[X] We would also learn all they can teach us of their magic, especially that which allows them to manipulate stone with such prowess. Building great works from the bones of the Earth has become one of our chief endeavors of late and any insights they could offer would be appreciated.
    -[X] Unfortunately, our knowledge pertaining to the Plane of Earth is quite limited. Anything the Shaitan can share with us of common threats native to the Plane, such as monsters or unusual phenomenon that could harm the unprepared, could contribute to our continued survival. A living ally is of much greater use than a dead one, after all.
     
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    Asking about magic could be seen as angeling for rewards, and basically all of the stuff we want is to help us with what we want to achieve, so I'm going to assume that if it can be done, the earth genies can do it .

    Asking about their history will on the other hand will give us better information on how to get the most stuff, look culturally sensitive and interested in who these are as a people, by don't of being so, and to me at least, be a more enjoyable read.

    [X] The History of the Peerless Empire
     
    BeepSmile said:
    Asking about magic could be seen as angeling for rewards, and basically all of the stuff we want is to help us with what we want to achieve, so I'm going to assume that if it can be done, the earth genies can do it .

    Asking about their history will on the other hand will give us better information on how to get the most stuff, look culturally sensitive and interested in who these are as a people, by don't of being so, and to me at least, be a more enjoyable read.

    [X] The History of the Peerless Empire
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    I'm not asking for any great secrets of magic from them. A lot of their ability to work with stone is simply a result of their inborn SLAs and supernatural powers, but we might learn something of use, and the manner of asking, and the attentiveness we show, is in its own way a kind of subtle flattery.
     
    [X] The History of the Peerless Empire

    To be honest, any legitimately useful information we could obtain in our limited travel time would be dwarfed by a straight up offer of the knowledge or means to use that magic, which would be obtainable in exchange for something, or maybe as a reward.

    On the other hand, a focused overlay of the local situation would be immensely useful if we intend on being long-term trade partners, and maybe allies.
     
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    MTB said:
    And Viserys still has a ring of sustenance.
    I'm inclined to vote "all of it".
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    Why not? Plan updated!

    [X] Plan Inquisitive Flattery, Go!
    -[X] We would like to learn something of the history of the Peerless Empire, specifically how they came to be sworn enemies of the vile Efreet, and the course of the war between the two powers.
    -[X] We would also learn all they can teach us of their magic, especially that which allows them to manipulate stone with such prowess. Building great works from the bones of the Earth has become one of our chief endeavors of late and any insights they could offer would be appreciated.
    -[X] Unfortunately, our knowledge pertaining to the Plane of Earth is quite limited. Anything the Shaitan can share with us of common threats native to the Plane, such as monsters or unusual phenomenon that could harm the unprepared, could contribute to our continued survival. A living ally is of much greater use than a dead one, after all.
    -[X] As explorers and traders, we have come to appreciate how greatly customs can differ between peoples, and how what can be of great value in one locale is little more than trash in another. Although they have already shared some knowledge of their laws with us, we would be most interested in learning common social practices so as to avoid inadvertently giving offense, and what types of goods are most valued in the Peerless Empire, so that we both might profit from our new friendship.
     
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    Eh... I guess we could cover a lot of all of that, given there wouldn't be much to do aside from look out for danger and talk shop.

    I guess she won't begrudge our curiosity as long as we flatter enough.

    [X] Goldfish
     
    Crake said:
    [X] The History of the Peerless Empire

    To be honest, any legitimately useful information we could obtain in our limited travel time would be dwarfed by a straight up offer of the knowledge or means to use that magic, which would be obtainable in exchange for something, or maybe as a reward.

    On the other hand, a focused overlay of the local situation would be immensely useful if we intend on being long-term trade partners, and maybe allies.
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    We have five days. That is a lot of time to talk.
     
    Diomedon said:
    There's enough room in the schedule for some of the original Dany spells. I think it'd be wiser to wait to see how long this actually takes, and then have the festival immediately afterwards.
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    Yeah, it's not finished. Everyone on the trip has some days leftover. We just don't know how long this trip will take. Five days of travel, but we could be in the Opaline Vault for one or two more easily. If we don't stay too long, Dany can teach Lya some more spells.
     
    Diomedon said:
    There's enough room in the schedule for some of the original Dany spells. I think it'd be wiser to wait to see how long this actually takes, and then have the festival immediately afterwards.
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    I... Think that this was an orginsational retcon thing as Dany and Tyene had their positions switched, not something that was planned for the future.

    @Goldfish, my post wasn't a dissagrement with your write it, you just facelessed me putting down my thoughts.

    But I'd rather not ask for information in particular tbh. Let her set the scene and such. I might change my mind in a bit.*shrugs happily*
     
    Worst case, she appreciates the flattery but doesn't give up anything of real consequence, or else alludes to the knowledge we seek perhaps lying at the end of our travel route.

    And parts of it probably won't be locked up out of obligation to her superiors.
     
    I'm a little confused about how the voting is structured. Is there some drawback to choosing all of the above? Or rather, is there any benefit to choosing a single topic? I agree that spending 5 whole days (with little need for rest) together should give time for in-depth exploration of multiple topics. Then again we'll probably have some events/encounters happening during the journey so we don't actually have 5 whole days.
     
    [X] Goldfish

    @Goldfish, can you also add asking about the markets? DP was really vague about the city being rich, but specifics would be nice. And also about things the Shaitan would be interested in buying and what items are forbidden to sell there so we can cleanly avoid stepping on any toes there.
     
    Duesal said:
    [X] Goldfish

    @Goldfish, can you also add asking about the markets? DP was really vague about the city being rich, but specifics would be nice. And also about things the Shaitan would be interested in buying and what items are forbidden to sell there so we can cleanly avoid stepping on any toes there.
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    Plan updated.

    [X] Plan Inquisitive Flattery, Go!
    -[X] We would like to learn something of the history of the Peerless Empire, including how they came to be sworn enemies of the vile Efreet, and the course of the war between the two powers.
    -[X] We would also learn all they can teach us of their magic, especially that which allows them to manipulate stone with such prowess. Building great works from the bones of the Earth has become one of our chief endeavors of late and any insights they could offer would be appreciated.
    -[X] Unfortunately, our knowledge pertaining to the Plane of Earth is quite limited. Anything the Shaitan can share with us of common threats native to the Plane, such as monsters or unusual phenomenon that could harm the unprepared, could contribute to our continued survival. A living ally is of much greater use than a dead one, after all.
    -[X] As explorers and traders, we have come to appreciate how greatly customs can differ between peoples, and how what can be of great value in one locale is little more than trash in another. Although they have already shared some knowledge of their laws with us, we would be most interested in learning common social practices so as to avoid inadvertently giving offense, and what types of goods are most valued in the Peerless Empire, so that we both might profit from our new friendship. Just as importantly, it is important to know what is considered contraband to avoid accidental law breaking.
     
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