enigma1995
Gentleman Beholder
[X] Azel
Mythals empower defenders, keep out wandering monsters, and ban some spells.
Hearth and Home
Twenty-First Day of the Eighth Month 293 AC
"A good thought," you nod to Mors. "We will visit Last Hearth... in the morning. I do not imagine your nephew will thank us for waking him up this late." Particularly if he drinks as deeply as you do, you think but do not say. Truth be told you are startled at how Mors can still sit upright and talk freely with as much mead as he has put away. You had to purge your blood three times to keep up with feast-time appearances among the Thenns.
The matter settled, you present the Magnar with your final gift to the Thenns, a Whispering Brazier by which they can share any sightings of the Others in their lands and call for aid at need. Though they may not have yet formally sworn to you, you will protect them no less here than in the south.
Stys takes the instrument gingerly in hand, marveling at the magic, not so much for itself you suspect but for what it represents, the promise of aid of allies, for ones who have for so long dwelt alone and surrounded by foes.
Besides such a gift even a blade of Dragonsteel pales, though of course it is accepted with a warrior's deep satisfaction in the tools of his craft.
Lost 1 Valyrian Steel Greatsword
***
None of your passengers seem particularly disturbed at the sight of another daemon servant dying to buy passage, though Velwen is leery of the safety of 'shoving folk in bottles', having apparently heard one too many tales of bodies being sundered and minds being lost when one tries to turn one thing into another. Lya would be curious to hear those stories for what they might tell of the Thenn's arcane traditions and Xor for their own sake, you suspect.
Sacrificed 1 Daemon Cultist
Still, it is simple enough to set her mind at ease by sealing and unsealing Dany before her eyes.
At the sight of Sorcerer's Deep all your new guests look on in bewildered wonder as much at the sheer number of people living close together as the signs of obvious sorcery from festival lights to griffins doing laps overhead.
"How do you keep sickness away with so many so close?" the healer asks pragmatically while all three of the warriors decide that late though it may be it is no quite so late that they cannot go out to see the duels and other contests still taking place in the town, with Waymar along to translate. On the morrow they will have the chance to observe the Legion to their heart's content.
You had not precisely expected to end the day explaining aqueducts and sewers to a member of a hidden tribe dating back to the Age of Dawn, but that can be said of many of your days.
***
Twenty-Second Day of the Eighth Month 293 AC
Together with Mors, Elda, Dany, and Ser Richard, who had insisted in accompanying you after discovering what you had fought in his absence, you arrive at the gates of Last Hearth in the grey hours before dawn, the better for Mors to be able to slip in to speak with the Greatjon quietly. As isolated as the keep here is, you do not have much fear that any rumors will make it as far south as King's Landing, but you would rather Lord Stark not be too well-informed about you speaking to his bannermen, one of his principal bannermen, you realize, and not just from Mors' boasting of Umber strength.
The keep is hardly one of the largest you have seen, but its walls are tall mortared stone with a dry moat around them. Its square lines have a sort of brutal practicality to it, not a single stroke of the chisel wasted decorations of architectural fancies, a fortress that had once been the seat of Umber Kings now serving their descendants no less as lords. Already golden lights spark in the windows, kitchen workers readying for the the morning meal, armsmen about to relieve the night shift, and soon to be one daughter of the House returned from her long exile.
Rather than enter by the gate and play the part of thoroughly improbable merchants, you simply wait until the light in the Greatjon's solar flashes as you had arranged, then fly through it unseen. For one whimsical moment you imagine what it would look like if one of the watchers in the courtyard could see you: a sorcerer in crimson robes, a girl not quite nine in gleaming plate, and a knight armed and armored in dragonsteel, flying through a window like ravens come to roost.
The Lord of Last Hearth is a man who lives up to the giant on his banner, almost seven feet tall and wide enough to almost be stout in spite of that with a bristling black mane and a roughly-trimmed beard only beginning to be threaded through with grey. From the shape of his face you would judge he is a man as inclined to laughter as rage, though neither are in evidence now. Instead he is scowling fiercely.
"Well out with it, then," he says without preamble. "Where's this wight you fought?" At least he did not say 'supposedly fought,' probably out of respect for his uncle as well as the undeniable fact that you had found his cousin, even if she was married to a wildling.
You allow your cloak to flare behind you, spilling out the amber coffin of the Ancient Wight Lord, his eyes still shining blue with dreadful hunger. "You will have to excuse me for not freeing him, my lord, as he would do his damnedest to kill all of us just as all his kind would. Something they do not unfortunately lack for skill in, either," you say in dust dry tones.
"Fuck me." Lord Umber takes a long drink from the flask at his belt, then gives if a disgruntled look. "I was wondering if the wine was bad and this was all a nightmare, but the damn thing's fine."
Rather than point out the gaps in that reasoning, you only reply: "Alas, my lord, none of us have the luxury of blaming the wine. The world is what it is, and we may only choose what to do about it."
"Like sending gold and weapons to the Wall, Mors told me..." he trails off a moment before thrusting one hand forward. "Good to meet you, for all you have done for my family and for the Wall."
"Viserys Targaryen," you answer, accepting the hand at once. The grip that greets you might have broken fingers once. Now you only smile over it.
Over the next few hours you explain the growing of Godswoods, rumors of blood magic, giving an accounting of your dragons and altogether laying to rest a thousand-and-one rumors from the horrid to the merely absurd. Dany had even started giggling at the one about how she was some sort of imp or fiend in disguise.
"Alright, I trust you, You've done my House a good turn and the world's about to go to hell. What do you need from me and mine?"
What do you reply?
[] Write in
OOC: The rolls were pretty good this time, though under the circumstances you could have rolled only 1s and 2s and made a good impression.
No, the suggestions thrown around so far are "hyper-cheesy buffs", "ban some creature types from ever entering our city without paying a level worth of XP" and "ban entire schools of magic".Mythals empower defenders, keep out wandering monsters, and ban some spells.
I have no idea why you are so frustratingly anal about this restriction, but somehow peachy with just being handed a Mythal from the Old Gods.
You could also use ritual magic. After all it's primary role is to allow a weaker mage (or even someone who is not a mage at all) to cast magic beyond their usual skill.
Mythals empower defenders, keep out wandering monsters, and ban some spells.
The break from lvl 20 to lvl 21 is entirely arbitrary. You are assigning some deep meaning to a level-up above what the base game intended and nothing more. Also, DP wants to use the Mythic ranks instead of Epic levels, so technically Viserys is already an Epic caster. He can certainly push his CL beyond 20.I'm not asking for the Old Gods to hand us a Mythal. I'm asking for them to hand us a foundation for it. Those are very different things. And I'm fine with them doing that because they're, you know, gods. Despite what many appear to want, that means more than just four letters where it comes to knowledge and power.
Expecting us to be able to match that without hitting Epic - when Mythals are explicitly creations of Epic magic - is pushing the boat out so far that you wouldn't be able to see the shore from it.
Allow one to re wrote the laws of magic in their vicinity.
Mmmmm.
So give regular ass people leave to clumsily re write the paws of physics?
Holy shot fuck no that sounds like a great way to get the world destroyed.
Maybe.Wait so with the Ancient Wight Lord with a mythical rank we have to beat him down again to make him semi-alive and slit his throat?
Those are NOT what I have been suggesting. Again, please take into account the fact that I took your suggestions into account and amended my proposal.No, the suggestions thrown around so far are "hyper-cheesy buffs", "ban some creature types from ever entering our city without paying a level worth of XP" and "ban entire schools of magic".
It sure sounds nicer the way you've said it, but when @Goldfish cries bullshit over mechanics, then I'm inclined to listen. And when people suggest to ostracize people from visiting our city, then yes, I detest that, because it turns out that a lot of these "monsters" are regular citizens by now. And the blanket ban on certain schools of magics isn't any better, and ludicrously overpowered on top of that.
Whilst in the end I will respect this if you rule it to be the case, every Epic ritual ever written requires an Epic level caster with the Epic Spellcasting feat. And in my opinion they should, too. Te
I would have expected Richard to mention the DEVIL ASSASSIN thet came after him, but maybe he thinks Viserys bit off the harder bargain than him?
Well you do have a mythic character and willsoon have more of them.
No!Ah, I see. So we're back to 'you disagree with me and so therefore your opinion is shit'.
Classy.
I don't know why I even bother.
Ah, I see. So we're back to 'you disagree with me and so therefore your opinion is shit'.
Classy.
I don't know why I even bother.
How soon?Well you do have a mythic character and willsoon have more of them.
No!
That isn't what Azel is doing. He is raising another, valid point.
Edit: Mythic Spells should count as level 10 spells, anyway
Epic Time Stop? Utter bullshit.
I do not think he meant it like that. The system we have here is a bit of a Hodge-podge so what is a meaningfiul mechanical threashold can varry from person to person.
I'm deeply sorry for trying to explain why I have a different opinion then you.
Mythic Spellcasting doesn't break the 9th level barrier. Epic magic does. That's pretty much the foundation stone of my dislike of this.
I don't think it make people live longer, but it mean that as they age, they only become more productive, as old age don't slow them down, and easy access to healing mean old injuries don't weaken them either, and they gather more experience in whatever job they have chosen by doing it.Azel has expounded on languages virtues enough that I'm willing to go for it.
Age resistance is actually an interesting idea. Makes people love longer and be more productive in their old age.
Would somebody actually tell me what a Mythals does? All I know is it will sink a metric ton of resources.