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

Seventeenth Day of the Third Month 293 AC

What begins as a simple offer to exchange lore for lore quickly spirals into a deeper and more far-reaching agreements. For one the realization that they have been paying the Orphne to dispose of cursed objects when in all likelihood the fey had some manner to make use of the things sits ill with you. Thus you undercut the competition by offering the best of all prices for disposal of dangerous arcane paraphernalia, free. Moreover you pledge to return any items that can be purified rather than offered up as sacrifice, with the understanding that you might wish to trade for them if something in particular catches your eye.

Throughout the conversation Alysande's eyes grow ever wider at the generosity, though she manages to keep her composure until Lya offers to teach the ritual of arcane resonance in exchange for any fey rituals the Silver Eye might have acquired. Thus the Braavosi mages need no longer parse out enchantments by slow and perilous trial and error or else the whims of the fey. "Whose soul did you sell to get that?" she asks, and though the words are spoken in jest there is an kernel of true concern beneath it.

"We paid in more traditional fare," you assure her. "Coins in fact, if not ones forged of any earthly metal." You cannot deny that there is a small part of you that almost mischievously enjoys playing the part of the sorcerer speaking in riddles.

The Braavosi mage is not one to be be confounded for more than a few moments. "You found your way onto another sphere, bodily, and with trade goods of some sort..."

You nod, but hasten to offer a warning also of the many perils subtle as much as overt that await a traveler upon the twisting paths that lead beyond the boundaries of the world. Thankfully here too she proves attentive, all too aware of the horrors that might seize the chance to slip back following an incautious traveler.

Talk of needing to grow wiser and more skilled in the ways of magic naturally moves to how one might help Scholarum apprentices into achieving that. You propose that some of the more combative and adventurous among them could work with Alysande, gaining valuable understanding about the application of magic in battle and investigation.

"I would not refuse more help, given how many calls there are on our time...." she begins, obviously uncertain of how to phrase her concerns.

"But?" you prompt.

"I'm concerned that some among your foes might target the mages once they are out of your immediate protection," Alysande explains. "It's what I would do to either weaken you and sow dissent in relations with Braavos or draw you out into battle not of your choosing."

"We could perform divinations against it," Lya interjects, though from her expression it is clear she is considering all the ways that could be foiled by a determined opponent with magic of his own.

"It would be far worse to let fear dictate our actions," you declare, though with a heavy heart. "We will only ask for volunteers, but I have little doubt there will be plenty to choose from."

The matter of Alysande herself teaching at the Scholarum as a guest lecturer goes over much easier, particularly once Lya offers to create a quill for the Braavosi sorceress to scribe scrolls without taking time out of her other duties.

"A mere exchange of lore seems a paltry thing by contrast to all that you are offering... there is, however, something I might offer to help even the scales, not a weapon nor talisman, but a tool of great power in such work as the Silver Eye and your own Inquisition partakes in." So saying the young mage rises from her seat and approaches a small mirror, hung inconspicuously besides a somewhat battered tiger skin. She taps it an complex sequence.

The glass flares briefly with dozens of hues bleeding into each other, then it clears to reveal a familiar vista of bright-garbed bravos strutting, bragging, and laughing: the Moon Pool.

"Dwelling within this mirror and indeed all mirrors throughout Wind House is a spirit servitor of the Wanderer's Lantern with the power to reach out and show one images reflecting on every reflective surface in the city that has been properly prepared, including the canals." She pauses dramatically upon offering this revelation and rightly so. A spymaster's dream.

"What are the limits?" you hasten to ask.

"It cannot be a lake or river, nothing natural, for men cannot offer up to the spirit's wandering eye that which was never theirs to begin with. Further the process of forging the connection is more complex and more costly the larger the 'object'." This time the silence that falls is almost sheepish. "Several companies which trade with Yi Ti found themselves far richer than before."

Lya draws closer to the mirror, intrigued. "How many of these paths can be held open at once?"

"How did you know there was a limit?" Alysande asks, startled.

"The capacity to subdivide one's attention is one of the limitations which even the gods themselves are bound by," comes the confidently-spoken reply.

"That's..." Alysande swallows. "The limit is nine channels. There is always one free in case I need to see something urgently."

"So what was this offer?" you interject.

"We of the Silver Eye have enough favor with the Moonsingers that we can asks them to call a second Watcher," she replies. "You should be wary not to use if for what it might find to be 'tyrannical ends', the Goddess' mark is clear upon them."

A faint but persistent chime echoes through the chamber, causing Alysande to scowl faintly. "He just reminded me that all he does is to preserve a city to be proud of, one worth guarding," she sighs.

Do you accept Alysande's offer to call forth a Watcher Spirit for the Inquisition's use?

[] Yes, it would improve communication thousandfold

[] No, you would not trust its loyalties

OOC: Charactersheet and mage list next update.