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

Nineteenth Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

Jeyne's introduction is less frought than you might have feared. The githzerai are sympathetic to the plight of those who have suffered at the hands of the illithid. Many a tragic tale is recounted of those among Zerthimon's followers who were made unknowing pawns of the Slave Masters, the line between them and the true traitors who sold out their kin knowingly stark as the blade of a sword. "You stand upon a long and winding road, child," Grandmaster Randar proclaims as he looks to the Westerlander mage. "Take heart that it is one others have walked before."

"So should I then follow in their footsteps," Jeyne's spine straightens in her seat, though she keeps her tone perfectly polite. She obviously has less patience for being told to train by someone she has just met than her liege lord.

Thankfully that is not what the elderly mystic had in mind. "Not in the least, none of us can walk quite the same path, though some might help themselves by milestones anchored among the shifting sands. It is for you do decide which of those you wish to read and when to step out into the Unformed. Know, however, that whatever your choice you will ever find a place of shelter and contemplation within the Unbroken Circle."

At this Jeyne's cheeks flush faintly, a reminder of how uncertain she yet is with the ways of magic for all she has not been using it for that much less than you or your companions. Still, you cannot help but wonder what had raised her hackles, perhaps there is something about this place you cannot even sense. The feeling of obliviousness rankles, but you quickly push it aside. This is neither the time nor the place to indulge in the more ignoble draconic instincts. Instead you negotiate yet another trade in enchantments, content in the fact that the chests of gold and silver you disgorge from your cloak will go towards better countering the Deep Ones and empowering their foes.

Lost 214,204 IM

New Commission made

Unfortunately, not all the exchange can go so smoothly. Much to your surprise, the githzerai possess only the crudest maps of Nirvana and none at all of Elysium, their warriors content to transition directly to the besieged bastions of light and march against the foe, counting upon local guides to show them the way. When you ask Grandmaster Randar he explains that it is half practicality and half ancient tradition. The slight grimace at the corners of the his mouth when he says 'tradition' is the most displeased you had seen him since you had first laid eyes upon him.

"When the Sundering shook the worlds and ruinous powers rejoiced at the marring of the heavens the wisest and most learned among the people of Zerthimon gathered to decide how we would aid them." He pauses a moment. "The first question was actually if we should involve ourselves in the matter at all, but the halls resounded with approval from every mind. However, the scrolls and whsiper-crystals from that time show a conclave divided on how we were to aid the azata, some proposed that we move entire monasteries upwards into broken Elysium, others warned of the dangers of such a translation, of the wild and malignant powers that were let loose there. After much debate, at times tainted with recrimination and anger I am sorry to say, it was decided that we would remain in our ancient homes, only sending envoys and warriors to teach and protect directly to our allies."

"Which is why all the maps you have are this..." Dany raises a particularly egregious example of planar geometry drawn on what looks like brightly colored frog skin. Even a stingle glance upon it is enough to make one realize the coordinates are not even consistent with each other.

"Those are all maps acquired from travelers, or occasionally taken from vanquished foes," Grandmaster Randar agrees with a sigh. "It is even more dangerous to map Elysium than the deep mists of Limbo, so what was once a suggestion to the monasteries to ensure that no one would attempt the translation has turned into one of our least pleasing traditions."

"Couldn't you just countermand it?" Lya asks curiously.

"I could," Randar confirms. "I could order the Mistwalkers into difficult and perilous tasks that few of them desire to undertake, but that would be paying one ill choice with another. There are doubtlessly better maps to be found in Elysium itself, though they tend to be well guarded by friend and foe alike. If you should find and copy some I would be most pleased to acquire a copy for the Unbroken Circle."

As any Braavosi knows, poor maps are still better than no maps, so Aebys dutifully copies what there is to work with while the rest of you move on to speaking of the items of power you had brought here and the one you had left at home.

The dagger is the most straightforward of these, being a focus of mental energy that allows the bearer to enact certain mental powers without drawing upon his or her own reserves. The mask however proves far more perilous, on the surface Randar claims it is nothing more than an enchantment to make the bearer seems more fearsome to his foes, but as he looks deeper into the enchanted bronze the monk finds something far more terrible, a seed of the last bearer's consciousnesses, buried deep within, ready to infect the mind of any who would carelessly don it.

"There are two ways I could remove the curse," Randar says, the offer to do so without any payment implicit in his words. "The first would be to root out the seed entirely, preventing all posibile influence to the bearer, the second is to attempt to preserve some of the knwoelge locked within for the bearer to use against the Deep Ones. It would not be without some risk of mental influence."

What do you do?

[] Ask Randar to remove the mind seed entirely

[] Ask Randar to remove the mind seed partially, leaving access to the Illithid's memories and knowledge, though with posibile mental influence

[] Take the mask back as it is in the hopes that you would be able to extract more of the knowledge with your own magics

[] Leave the decision up to Jeyne

[] Write in

OOC: You rolled 1 and 3 on 2d100s for map quality, probably not the worst place for those kinds of rolls though.