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

Eighth Day of the Tenth Month 293 AC

You let out a long sigh, not quite able to hold back your relief. Somewhere along the line from that day aboard the Fury and this you had come to count Stannis Baratheon among the very best lords of Westeros, not for any spark of genius but for the sheer unwavering determination to his duty, the same determination that would have forced you to kill him had he chosen differently. "You have your duty here in the Stormlands, my lord, to rule well and to protect your people. As your king, it is my responsibility to help you in this." Glad you are to say the words, and glad is the Lord of Storm's End to hear them, though you have little doubt he would have raised his banners at once if asked, no matter how unwise the choice, or how much it would still pain him.

He nods firmly, though his next words are uncharacteristically hesitant: "Who else has sworn to you, Your Grace?" Who are my fellow traitors? he might as well have asked, for unlike many other lords you have little doubt he counts himself a traitor, if one with cause great enough for the sin.

You suspect he worries also that you would not trust him with the names, given the newness of his vow, but that could not be further from your thoughts. You would have to fail as much as your father or Robert for him to ever ponder a third betrayal, and that shall never come to pass. "Here," you say, drawing out a plain ring of smooth stone so dark it seems to swallow the light that falls upon it. "This will keep your thoughts safe from eavesdroppers and guarded from compulsion, as well as preventing the Golden Shields or anyone else from divining your decision."

Dany surreptitiously places her right hand upon the desk to show she too wears the ring's twin, though it seems Stannis requires no reassurance, placing it upon his finger at once and only asking. "How much do these cost?"

"Twenty-two-thousand Imperial Marks, and requiring the work of a Mage of the Eighth Circle for weeks," you reply, quashing any hopes that they might be used on some wider scale. "I would have far fewer of them were it not for trade with the Opaline Vault and Armun Kelisk..." From there it does not take you long to explain why the value of gold might continue to fall when trading with a city that can use it for paving stone.

However, soon enough you return to his first question, naming the lords high and low who have sworn to you, in many cases only confirming his suspicions, though as you go over the Houses of the Reach, you see a glimmer of relief in his eye that the Tyrells are spoken of so late and their only oath was not to fight you, itself far from a certain prospect. The irony of trusting the man who had held Storm's End for the rebels a thousand times more than you do the 'loyalist' who had besieged him escapes no one in the room, though it is Maester Cressen who shows it the most, a brief but heartfelt smile of satisfaction upon his aged face.

Alas that he does not have long to bask in his vindication for long as along with news of the grain bubble that will burst over Westeros this season and the possibility that Tywin is binding not only his mages with geas but his vassal lords also comes the advice not to blindly trust those the Citadel. You recount the the poisoning of Lord Brune and what you had learned after from the traitor Maester, though you have to keep back what Pycelle had shared for now, for that would require admitting the Grand Maester is your pawn now, which comes too close in turn to revealing 'Varys'' allegiance. There are some secrets you cannot share outside of your Companions until the Red Keep is yours... and others you are genuinely worried about revealing for Stannis' own peace of mind.

As you meet your mother's worried gaze, she shakes her head ever so slightly, agreeing with your judgement not to reveal the Lannister incest just yet. If there is one thing that could drive Stannis into doing something foolish in a rage it is the revelation of how blind his elder bother had been to his very legacy being stolen. Best leave that for another day when he is more at peace with his decision and his place in the world.

Instead, talk of sorcery and handing out copies of books that might aid him and his trusted agents in finding Fiends, Far-Spawn, Wintersworn, and the living dead come next. Cressen takes the books with eager hands, even managing a jest: "Ser Davos might be a touch daunted for all the reading he will have to do."

"He will do his duty as we all must," Stannis replies, in what might seem to be missing the point entirely were it not for a slight softening of his gaze. He understands what the Maester is doing, appreciates it even, he just cannot find it in himself to smile at the words.

In return the Lord of Storm's End gives you an accounting of the sorcerers he and the changeling Renly before him had managed to gather both from the wreck of the Alchemist's Guild and from scouring the land for hedge witches and maegi new-come into their power.


Fifteen alchemists, eight of them survivors of the guild... On one hand you are glad to hear of them. The production lines of Royce Alchemical Works could always use more supervisors, on the other hand you trust Denys Trainer's students considerably more than you do those taught by 'The Most Venerable Order of Pyromancers'. You are tempted to interrogate all of them, but you suspect Stannis would take badly to that sort of instant distrust of men he had counted loyal enough to accept beneath his roof.

"Excellent," you nod instead. "With that many alchemists no one should look in askance at an influx of alchemical works over the coming weeks and months if it is kept to a reasonable rate, though other sorcerous workings might still prove troublesome."

In the end Stannis accepts as many healing belts and amulets of warding as you can hand out, though for secrecy's sake he chooses simple enchanted steel over Adamantine and Valyrian Steel even for himself, causing Maester Cressen to look at once proud and faintly scandalized. As you also present the Whispering Brazier that is to be the connection between Storm's End and the Deep you make a mental note to present Stannis with a Valyrian Steel blade wrought for his hand in particular on the day his alliance need no longer be secret.


What do you do next?

[] Ask about the state of the Stormlands in light of the recent change in power, who would Stannis trust and who might need more persuasion to remain loyal

[] Discuss the matter of the Storm God and his desire to return to Storm's End

[] Write in

OOC: Calligraphy wyrm and phoenix have been left out for now since I want Shireen and Selyse preset for that scene.