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

Ninth Day of the Ninth Month 293 AC

After calming Lynesse and thanking her for all she had done to reveal the plot and bring it before you as quickly as possible, the six of you settle down to what you suspect will be a long night of planning, a touch awkwardly on the Hound's part but otherwise determined to untangle the septon's plot. The first bit of news you are able to draw from the ether is silence that speaks louder than a thousand words. Whoever Septon Alyn is in contact with is warded against foresight which makes for a very short list of suspects with an obvious first choice...

"Lucan," Dany shakes her head. "Well at least if we have to fight him and his oathsworn mages outside the city our pledge to Lord Hightower will be intact, not that I imagine he will be of a mind to quibble over the matter given that 'the lunatic', as Lady Lynesse so eloquently put it, has likely shown himself an enemy of House Hightower also."

"You think it's a trap, Your Highness?" Ser Richard asks.

"What else could it be with Garth himself unwarded?" she counters. The first question you had asked had shown that Garth is indeed where he aught to be, riding along inspecting the vineyards.

"I do not think Ser Garth is plotting willing treason either," you muse. "The lady's fears aside, I do not think her kin would lightly turn on each other, though if someone would have persuaded him that his brother had been enthralled then I could easily see him playing the part."

"The Hightowers did not lack for ambition in the past, but in this case I am inclined to agree," your mother adds in like tone. "If it is a trap meant to catch the scryer's eye then let us look and see what they hope to bait us with."

And so the silvered mirror is placed upon the table, reaching out to the glass with Lynesse's description of her second eldest brother in mind, a poor focus as such things go, but still your magic catches hold, the mirror ripples and in its depths an image forms. Ser Garth is not alone, but in the company of three other knights, the blazons of House Beesbury, Cuy, and Cupps upon their shields. The mood between the four is tense, you can read it in the quick jerking motions of the reigns as their horses trot through the moonlit path, but there is no outright hostility to be seen. Whatever else Garth is not a prisoner.


You try to twist the scrying eye about to see as much as possible around the riders, but the spell's tethering to Ser Garth as well as the trees and thickets conspire to hide a great deal. You are not certain you could even see through ordinary hiding places, much less arcane veils. Yet you do need to keep an eye on Garth while you speak to his brother... and not just seeing what your foes might expect you do.

Thus you wake Varys and cast upon her the most flawless glamour you can weave alongside the power to speak with you no matter the distance before she draws on a fraction of your power to will herself onto the forest path the mirror shows.

For a long moment there is silence as she orients herself and rises above the trees. Then the answer you had been long expecting comes: "There's angel up here, 'watching over' the knights." One can almost taste the sarcasm in her words, though that may be because you agree with her. "Only the one and it is a warrior, not the law-giver. A Greater Raven should be able to keep out of its way and keep an eye on both."

How do you continue to keep watch on Ser Garth and his company?

[] Have Varys remain in place, drawing on your magic to stay unseen
-[] Write in what quality of invisibility to use

[] Send a Greater Raven

[] Write in


"Since we know where Lucan's attention is bent I think it may be time to use our own heavenly hosts," Dany says thoughtfully. "I could accompany Yrael and some of his subordinates to Whitehead Keep to free Septon Donar 'as proof of the Seven's favor' for the particularists in the Stormlands."

"Why do you have to go?" your mother asks, ill-at-ease at letting your sister go alone to fight.

"Because Yrael cannot lie, nor should he try to offer deceptive truths," Dany replies, better that task fall to a false angel.

"Archons playing along to mortals as to their gods' true will. What is the world coming to?" Leto's lips twist into a smile at once bitter and mocking.

"As far as we can tell their gods' true will seems to be a tangled mess that will leave the continent drowning in blood," you point out, voice carefully neutral. "Even now a man sits chained because he dared to ask that each of the faithful have the freedom of their own conscience. That seems a worthy goal for all of us to strive towards."

She looks startled for a moment, then nods, conceding the point, without rancor you are glad to see.

While Dany makes her way first to Sorcerer's Deep to meet with Yrael and the others, and from there to Weeping Town, you and your mother hasten to Battle Island, leaving Ser Richard and Clegane to guard Lynesse should any have thought to follow her.

Though Ser Baelor is long since abed he has thankfully given orders that he is to be called forth at any hour of the day or night if you present a token proving your identity for the guards, thus it is a mere half-an-hour later that you are ushered once more into the company of the Lord of Oldtown.

The news that his brother is being used in some plot of Lucan's is enough to vastly overshadow any anger he may be feeling towards Lynesse. Instinctively his hand goes to the hilt of Vigilance. Not a trace of his usual good humor can be seen as he speaks, words hard as the bedrock beneath the Hightower: "He is trying to foment dissent among my banners, my kin. I will have the bastard's head for this."

Not that you disagree with the lord's newfound resolve, but there is still a great deal of planning to be hand before Brother Lucan's head can adorn any spikes. For one you need him for the Conclave to ensure that its failure is also his.

What do you suggest?

[] Write in

OOC: Turns out Lynesse was worried about the wrong thing—she thought Baelor's brushing her off was just because he did not value her opinions, but in fact a good part of it was trust that no one in his household would so easily consider treachery. With the hints that that might not be the case, Baelor is furious.