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

Thirteenth Day of the Ninth Month 293 AC

"Not silly at all. Remember how careful we had to be with mother when she asked about the gods on our way south?" you ask, carefully laying your arguments down in your mind. There are no simple answers, but that does not mean there are no answers at all.

"Well yes, but mother is mother, born of the blood of dragons even as we are, blind supplication is not our vice," Dany replies, taking a different track than the one you had expected, but no less valid for all that. She pauses a moment and adds: "Well except for King Baelor, but one can only hope his existence purged that form of madness from our line for good." Let it not be said that Dany lets a small thing like True Death get in the way of her grudges, you think amused.

"We know that the Seven are not acting together in Westeros," you point out. Baelor for one seemed very much the work of the Father, or perhaps the Warrior. "If that was not the case then their Chosen would be working together under their guidance. As gods, they cannot not know the truth of the world, Dany, even if some try to hide from it. Maer, and maybe Danelle, could be a way for us to spare many from the vengeance the Old Gods cry out for."

Your sister banishes the Dream with a thought, hardly pausing between waking and sleeping in your discussion. "I'm not concerned about that. Uncle Brynden will handle the Old Gods. I worry about the people who are going to think they are left with nothing... at best that would make their fears reality. At worst True Nothingness might take note." She motions to the window opening northwards to frozen vistas far away.

"That is why we have lawmen and inquisitors, though above all else we have teachers. We are already teaching the true shape of the world, and I don't intend to stop. Much of the power of the Faith will be stripped from them when we retake Westeros, and I do not intend to grant them a monopoly over teaching and charitable enterprise. I think one only need look to Sorcerer's Deep to see that."

She nods, not fully convinced but less troubled as she packs up the sleeping powder the two of you had used to enter the Dream.

"The Seven Kingdoms will require a delicate hand, but the truth has a place here too," you continue. "You added some of it to the world tonight, sister, even if it was under the guise of another. Once that's there, it doesn't go away."

Dany tilts her head in askance: "Then how is it the world is overrun by lies? Say rather that we are not going anywhere."

"Fair point," you nod. "We will do with those who follow the Seven what we have already begun to do with those who follow the Red God. Religion will always endure, gods grant power that we cannot simply deny. But with the spread of knowledge of what gods truly are, and how they do not hold dominion over the souls of mortals, how they're seen will change. And as their congregation changes, so will they. It'll take time, but we have that."

"The one thing I have never been able to learn from the Dragon Dream is patience, perhaps it will come in time but..." a familiar impish smile flashes on her face. "I wish it would hurry up already."


With only three days until the Conclave begins in earnest Dany is not the only one grappling with matters of the Faith's future and its purpose, though most do it with markedly less subtly. Several members in Most Devout Septa Aglantine's entourage had clashed with the locals over fiery sermons delivered on the steps of local brothels and alehouses, leading to a dozen arrests and far more in the way of broken bones and injured pride. According to Lord Hightower's sources the septa herself was likely quite blameless of the excess of zeal, but that did not stop stones from flying through the widows of the inn where the the most prominent members of the delegation are staying, driving them to sequester themselves in prayer and meditation until the first vote.

It will be far from easy to meet with Aglantine, perhaps enough so that it is not worth the attempt given the fact that hers is likely to be at once one of the most solid factions and the one whose leader is most restrained by virtue of the fact that their allegiance is to the absent High Septon.

You are half tempted to see if you can intercept any ravens or even travel to King's Landing to see if Bloodraven can give you a better measure of the man whose absence hangs over the Conclave and whose quill and seal might yet undo any decisions the Conclave reaches.

What do you do next?

[] Remain in Oldtown
-[] Speak at Septon Kyle's gathering (Write in)
-[] Attempt to speak to Most Devout Septa Aglantine somehow (Write in)
-[] Infiltrate the Cidadel (Write in)

[] Travel to KL to see if you can speak with 'Varys' (Includes minor action questions)

[] Write in

OOC: A short bridge chapter, but it had to happen since the last part lacked a tactical vote.