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

Twenty-Seventh Day of the Eighth Month 293 AC

After restoring the old knight's eye and soothing away the pains that had forced him to walk with a cane in his last few months of life, you suggest that he grow accustomed to life in Sorcerer's Deep for a month or two before taking up any greater task. You could certainly use a master-at-arms as loyal and persevering as Ser Willem, but you do not know how well he would take to teaching little girls the sword, or many of the myriad other oddities that will confront him on your return.

When your mother offers to help him find his footing, the knight looks momentarily shocked. "Your Grace, I'm certain you have much better use of your time than..."

"You saved my children, Ser," your mother cuts him off. "For five-and-a-half years you kept them safe when no one else would. Pray do not tell me what my time is supposedly 'too precious' for."

"As you command, Your Grace," he replies, a sort of wry understated humor glinting in his eyes alongside what almost looks to be relief, perhaps at seeing her well in spirit as well as body. Likely as not he had known, or guessed something, of what she had to endure at your father's hands.

Whatever else he might find in the Deep you are all but certain he will not regret the last king he had served. The man who tried to teach you the virtues of knighthood with every sword stroke would have ill-fit the court of Aerys the Mad.


You return home only about two hours before the final of the mage duels is to be decided, time enough to catch up with more of the accounts wrested from the minds of your prisoners. This time it is not just a series of parchments across your desk. Tyene and Waymar show up in person to deliver it. They had worked together to wrest knowledge from Crimson Lotus' mind and set it into a usable context.

Inquisitorial Report On the Court of Stars

Author: Lady Tyene Sandviper and Ser Waymar Royce (Seconded by Royal Writ for the task)
Subject Name: Crimson Lotus (Fey Lord, Wish-Giver, Curse-Weaver)
Subject Affiliation: Court of Stars (Fey Realm)
Means of Interrogation: Compulsion, Probing Divination, Yssian general divination verification

Organization of the Court of Stars: In many regards mirroring mortal kingdoms the Court of Stars is bound by oaths of fealty and of aid, but to the fey who cannot lie these oaths are hard as adamantine chains and thus oft resented as in Crimson Lotus' case. Beneath the Queen, who could rightfully be called a demigoddess, are seven lords and ladies whose powers serve as living archetypes for their factions within the court marked by their colors, though the differences between them run deeper still. A careful mage might find that among their number are all the schools of magic we recognize save only necromancy which they forswear and fear.

The Crimson Blade (Evocation): The most passionate and straightforward of the queen's direct vassals, she usually takes the shape of a enormous pillar of elemental energy which changes with her mood. Many suspect her of being some manner of unique veela with a fourfold nature. Crimson Lotus abandoned the Indigo Court long ago to serve her, thinking the blade's passions should led him to power. Yet he has found his ambitions unfulfilled in the doing. The lords and ladies sworn to the Crimson Court are either associated with some elemental force of nature or simply drawn to its service by natural destructive ambitions.

The Orange Haze (Enchantment): Oft using their powers against mortals and immortals alike, their passions run almost as bright as the Crimson Court, yet where the fey who drape themselves in crimson are content to triumph through destruction, those of the orange seek to possess and bind in webs of love, longing, or even hate. They are ruled over by an ancient satyr whose voice is said to entrance even the stones he treads upon.

The Golden Seer (Divination): The faction which likely originated the corrupted 'Bright One' of the Braavosi coast, though he did not keep his inclination to ever search for new truths after finding the 'truth' of the Abyss. The Seer himself appears as a luminous figure whose gaze can drive men mad by revealing unto them the full truths of their beings.

The Green Warden (Abjuration): Probably the closest to the fey of the Greenwood, though paradoxically not of that kindred, Crimson Lotus has never seen the face of the Warden, though he knows he is the direct patron of the Garth called 'the Green Knight'. Fey of the Green are much prized as diplomats and envoys as well as the shield to guard the court from intrusion, yet they are also suspected of carrying double loyalties with many of them drifting from under the patronage of the Court of Stars altogether. Worse yet it was a faction much beloved by the Slumbering King who ruled before the fey of the land and the Bright Courts were split in twain.

The Azure Key (Conjuration): Guides along the paths of the Feywild and even further field, the fey of the Orange Court all give service to the mysterious wandering Dryad who has somehow slipped the need to be anchored to her tree saying only that she 'carries it with her'. Fey of the Azure Court are the most likely to deal with beings of other realms of existence, but also the ones to punish forbidden pacts. Crimson Lotus feared that he would see emissaries draped in blue arriving in his court.

The Violet Veil (Illusion): Taking its name from the color of the sky at dusk and dawn, this is the faction Lady Dusk Dancer originated from, more importantly their lady, called the Lady of the Dusk to mortals, is the closest the Queen of the Court of Stars has to a spy mistress. Mighty is she for trickery can oft breed tales in the hearts of mortal men and change the very nature of the court.

The Indigo Mask (Transmutation): Attracting beast-kin and shape-sifters alike, the court is seemingly at constant war with itself or perhaps merely in a constant state of flux as befits their nature. Once long ago Crimson Lotus was counted among their ranks, but he grew prideful in his purpose and did not wish to transform from one state to the next, to rise and fall with the ebb and flow of magic, and so his lady—a mighty river spirit—cast him out.

At the moment the strongest factions seem to be Gold and Violet in an uneasy alliance to thread the needle of mortal sensibility and return the world to a state the Queen counts more hospitable and better prepared to battle the 'Lost and Forlorn' who have passed under the hand of death, the Others. Either of the two factions would be an ideal place to seek more in depth information.

The Rainbow Guard of Highgarden: Representatives from each of the main factions, the presence of the Azure Knight would indicate that the Tyrells were preparing to flee should the meeting have turned ill for them.

Fey heroes and extraordinary powers: Both the Queen of the Court of Stars and the leaders of the seven factions show magic far beyond the norms of their kindreds, most analogous to the ones developed by the King in Valyria and by Wisdom Lya. Such power may also be found one rank below them such as in the case of Dusk Dancer but only in rare instances for the lords and ladies of the factions see them as potential rivals. That Dusk Dancer is a trusted envoy of the Veil is an unusual state of affairs.

Numbers of Fey: Unfortunately it is impossible to count heads when it comes to the creature of the Feywild where time and space twist to the whims of the great lords. However, it is clear that the number of fey willing to make war is not as high as one might fear. Most fey would rather bargain than fight, leaving less than five-thousand fey warriors willing to give battle, though with many of those fey mighty enough to slay a powerful wizard that is still an impressive accounting.

Memories of Dawn: Crimson Lotus does not remember anything of the Days of Dawn, not because he could not, but because he does not wish to. He expunged the memories from his mind perhaps because he did not wish fear to be a part of him.

Of Princes of the Fey: A prince or princess of the fey is one who can through strength of will and number of bargains made gather an entourage large enough to anchor a permanent domain in the Feywild.

Locations of Fey Courts: Locations for Crimson and Indigo-aligned courts have been found with hints of how to reach others both through the Material Realm and the Feywild

Nature of the Wildfae: These are fey who do not recognize the Queen and count their covenant broken when the first Garth stole the Crown of Flowers. They range from benevolent house spirits and guides who lead mortals from dangerous places to malicious or murderous being like wisps, the designation merely means that they choose to live without the order of a prince or other lords. Still, many of them are powerful enough to be lords and knights, their locations annexed to this report blind spots.

Plans of the Court of Stars: Their fundamental purpose is that which the Orphne King already revealed, to make the world into a tale in the lands of the Reach and perhaps beyond. This requires binding the mortal lords of the Reach into the pacts not with compulsions but with blessings and gifts. Many of these gifts would unfortunately be quite appealing—strength, grace, and even wit. Few would see the unseen threads binding them to act out the tale the fey spin until it is much too late. Oddly, Crimson Lotus not seem to even understand why this would be undesirable, though it has been verified that rather than a fey characteristic it has to do with his own blindness, a trait sadly shared with many of this court.

Other fey willing to traffic with malevolent powers or other fiends, or otherwise engage in slavery an extortion:

Swift Eye, a Quickling who haunts the outskirts of Oldtown alongside his troupe has been known to deal with Deep Ones. On the other hand he has helped the Lantern Bearers as much if not more. His greed seems to be the great constant of his being. Due to his loyalty to the court he has been left in peace, though it has been foretold that he will meet an unfortunate end soon at the hands of Deep One agents. He is counted among the Gold faction.

Jagged Knife, a Redcap whose court has set up on the edge of the Rainwood ambushing travelers, particularly families with young children whom he torments with dreadful choices trading lives until they go mad. He is only nominally part of the Court of Stars. Crimson Lotus suspects he gained that position by some manner of blackmail. Killing him might actually gain favor with his supposed patron of the Indigo, if one can stomach working with a being who tacitly allowed such monstrous deeds.


"So fey politics are as tangled as mortal ones with the added 'joy' of dealing with immortals who cannot lie nor break their oaths, which means many of them stew in resentment for centuries," you sigh. "I'm half surprised they haven't killed each other by now..."

"Fey slain in the Feywild return to life in some manner within the bounds of the realm. It is only ones slain here that remain dead," Waymar notes. With a rather sharp smile he adds, "At least it's more convenient than fiends for the ones that need to die."

"And for the purposes of pressuring them with war," Tyene points out.

War or peace, at least you know more of the fey now.

What do you do next?

[] Speak with one of the visiting knights
-[] Write in

[] Do an interview
-[] Write in

[] Write in

OOC: I know you guys asked for more details, but I can't give you an on-page accounting of thousands upon thousands of fey, nor can I give you all the types for each faction simply because I have not decided on that myself yet. Realistically Crimson Lotus would not know that either.