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

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[X] Crake

@Crake, Rhaella and Rina are going to need some melee folks in their entourage, not only for safety purposes but for the sake of appearances. Maybe a couple of Erinyes? They can use their Greater Ribbons of Disguise to appear suitably male for Westerosi sensibilities. Or Ser Criston Storm?
 
Goldfish said:
[X] Crake

@Crake, Rhaella and Rina are going to need some melee folks in their entourage, not only for safety purposes but for the sake of appearances. Maybe a couple of Erinyes? They can use their Greater Ribbons of Disguise to appear suitably male for Westerosi sensibilities. Or Ser Criston Storm?
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How about Kennos of Kayce? He's available right now. The Misfits and Bonifer, Mors, Gerold Dayne and Thoros are busy hunting Hags in the Riverlands. Though if they're like, for some reason already done (unless they got a late start or it was a lot more elaborate quest-line) maybe they're already free. You would have to ask @DragonParadox.

I would rather use the Erinyes covertly. Not necessarily never as guardians, but always opearting in a secure location. Not escorting VIPs around.
 
Crake said:
How about Kennos of Kayce? He's available right now. The Misfits and Bonifer, Mors, Gerold Dayne and Thoros are busy hunting Hags in the Riverlands. Though if they're like, for some reason already done (unless they got a late start or it was a lot more elaborate quest-line) maybe they're already free. You would have to ask @DragonParadox.

I would rather use the Erinyes covertly. Not necessarily never as guardians, but always opearting in a secure location. Not escorting VIPs around.
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Kennos should work well. We crafted him a lot of new gear this month. I need to update his character sheet, too.
 
Crake said:
Still haven't added that level-up + retraining, either.
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He's a Fighter 6/Paladin 3 right now, with a level up pending to bring him to 10th level. DP said he could retrain three Fighter levels to become a Fighter 3/Paladin 7.

Something to handle this weekend, if that's cool with ya'll.
 
Goldfish said:
Here's what we know of the current Lolliston situation;





So the curse doesn't originate with the Lannisters, the Fey, or Devil plots, and Viserys is sure the Others are not involved. That doesn't leave a lot of options. Could it really be the Sky Father?
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The curse is too recent. The Sky Father hasn't been in a condition to put curses on people for millennia. If it was him, the place would have been cursed for so long nobody would live there. Or at least they'd be used to it.
 
065tdsa said:
The curse is too recent. The Sky Father hasn't been in a condition to put curses on people for millennia. If it was him, the place would have been cursed for so long nobody would live there. Or at least they'd be used to it.
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Precisely my view on this. Also @Goldfish, the Sky Father would mainly be concentrating his attentions in the Stormlands.
 
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[X] Crake

Re: Too recent in effect to have an ancient cause

This is a pretty big assumption in my opinion, that might happen to be correct but is in no way guaranteed from our current knowledge.

We are in an age of awakening, magic in general is waking things up that have long slumbered, both creatures and phenomenon.

Sky Father has just had a material and significant boost in his wakefulness and could in theory have reawakened an ancient effect. Whether that's intentional or not is another thing.

The Dothraki were cursed many years ago and only recently have reaped the effects of that.

Valyria the land and those it borders are experiencing supernatural effects and weather systems that were not capable of existing prior to Magic awakening and I would be willing to bet is becoming more extensive and prevalent over time as I would be very surprised if they are exactly the same now as they were the day Viserys cast his first spell.
 
Deliste said:
[X] Crake

Re: Too recent

This is a pretty big assumption in my opinion, that might happen to be correct but is in no way guaranteed from our current knowledge.

We are in an age of awakening, magic in general is waking things up that have long slumbered, both creatures and phenomenon.

Sky Father has just had a material and significant boost in his wakefulness and could in theory have reawakened an ancient effect. Whether that's intentional or not is another thing.

The Dothraki were cursed many years ago and only recently have reaped the effects of that.

Valyria the land and those it borders are experiencing supernatural effects and weather systems that were not capable of existing prior to Magic awakening and I would be willing to bet is becoming more extensive and prevalent over time as I would be very surprised if they are exactly the same now as they were the day Viserys cast his first spell.
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Problem though, you are missing a huge thing there: the Dothraki did the things they did after the Doom, so of course they could only face retaliation after the return of magic. Specially because they weren't actually cursed, the rise of vengeful undead is the result of a haunting on the ruins of the old cities which is now powerful to physically manifest. Like Harrenhal, it was attached to the places rather than the Dothraki as an ethnic group. Since the Dothraki don't live in cities it did nothing to them until now.

And the Sky Father hasn't been around, let alone had anything to be pissed off over enough to curse someone, since before the rise of Valyria. Which leads back to how if the curse was anything other than recent, people would know not to freaking live there. Harrenhal is what a big curse looks like and even in the times of low magic the place quickly amassed a reputation. If this land had had a curse all along the locals would know.
 
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065tdsa said:
Problem though, you are missing a huge thing there: the Dothraki did the things they did after the doom, so of course they could only be cursed after the return of magic. The Sky Father hasn't been around, let alone had anything to be pissed off over enough to curse someone, since before the rise of Valyria.

This leads to how if the curse was anything other than recent, people would know not to freaking live there. Harrenhal is what a big curse looks like and even in the times of low magic the place quickly amassed a reputation.
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And Sky Father was also suppressed pre-andal, we deliberately went and woke him up recently.

It's also a pretty big assumption that people wouldn't live in a place that is or was once shitty.

Harrenhal was obviously cursed and was actively sought and still is by ambitious people but also consider Hellholt and it's Brimstone river full of poisonous fish, or Thenn lands, the bay on the Shivering Sea etc etc

The Timeline also allows for Settlement > Curse Active > Curse Dormant > Historically forgetting or misrepresenting > continued modern settlement > Curse awakens.

I'm not saying it is Sky Father or anything else ancient, only that it could be given the evidence available to us and that "people live there/the curse is only just starting" is no real argument against that.
 
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[X] Crake

Looking ahead, I have a proposal for dealing with the execution. We've delayed it for now and are focusing on lifting the Curse. There should be a day or two, possibly longer, before the next execution because that storm undoubtably created a bunch of work for the local smallfolk. They need to check on their crops, livestock, homes, etc. Executions are public events meant as demonstrations of order as much as punishment for the criminals. The execution will be delayed until the smallfolk can afford to put aside a few hours of work for a group assembly.

I propose we follow Crake's plan of dealing with the Curse. We do so quickly, before the executions resume. But before we return to Lord Lolliston to have him swear fealty, Viserys will quickly hop back to SD and grab a copy of a book of laws. We bookmark a few of the relevant pages dealing with thieves, appropriate punishment, and expectations of lords who oversee and administer justice. Assuming Lord Lolliston swears fealty, we give him the book as a parting 'gift' so that he may fully understand the laws that will some day soon govern the realm. We explain that since we do not yet sit upon the Iron Throne, Lolliston is not bound to the formal laws of the Imperium. We do, however, mention we were personally involved in writing the Imperium's legal codes and are invested in seeing them upheld.

Then we hang around for the execution. If only the adults are executed we take mental note and make sure to express our displeasure with Lord Lolliston in the future... after we take the Iron Throne. If the kids are set to hang we intervene and make our displeasure known immediately. If Lolliston thinks so lightly of our opinion of justice then, frankly, we don't want him for the reconquest.

If Lolliston doesn't agree to swear fealty we leave the book with him anyway and give him the same chance. Maybe intercede if anyone is executed, not only the children.
 
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Deliste said:
And Sky Father was also suppressed pre-andal, we deliberately went and woke him up recently.

It's also a pretty big assumption that people wouldn't live in a place that is or was once shitty.

Harrenhal was obviously cursed and was actively sought and still is by ambitious people but also consider Hellholt and it's Brimstone river full of poisonous fish, or Thenn lands, the bay on the Shivering Sea etc etc

The Timeline also allows for Settlement > Curse Active > Curse Dormant > Historically forgetting or misrepresenting > continued modern settlement > Curse awakens.

I'm not saying it is Sky Father or anything else ancient, only that it could be given the evidence available to us and that "people live there/the curse is only just starting" is no real argument against that.
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You're still missing what is possibly the most obvious factor, namely the way these people aren't used to a curse being a thing at all. Look at them, their Lord is in full denial and the smallfolk are at the very verge of anarchy, invoking the Justice of the Father as they march children to the gallows.

Harrenhal is sought mostly by idiots and people who need it temporarily for its strategic position, everyone who lives there long-term has the good sense to be unnerved by the way every previous house to have held the seat has died off.
 
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065tdsa said:
You're still missing what is possibly the most obvious factor, namely the way these people aren't used to a curse being a thing at all. Look at them, their Lord is in full denial and the smallfolk are at the very verge of anarchy, invoking the Justice of the Father as they march children to the gallows.

Harrenhal is sought mostly by idiots and people who need it temporarily for its strategic position, everyone who lives there long-term has the good sense to be unnerved by the way every previous house to have held the seat has died off.
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You are seriously underestimating how incredibly ancient Planetos and it's cycling of settlements and cultures are.

The origins of the curse of Harrenhal is to the depth of this history as the modern newscycle is to stone tablets in Sanskrit.

People forget things both IRL and in Westeros, there are settlements built on the remains of settlements they never even knew existed because it's the result of geographic convergence, perhaps it is defensible or well placed for trade or maybe a prominent hill aligns with the gap in a distant mountain range.

As I was trying to illustrate before, there is every opportunity that the curse has been dormant for longer than any recorded history or recollection, verbal or written.
 
Duesal said:
@DragonParadox, so the foci used for the Altar of the Merling King in the Temple of the Surging Sea is actually the Merling King's own blood. At one point he walked the world.

Under what circumstances did he walk the world? What wars did he fight? How did he spill his blood?

We have both Breath Taker and codified legends of the Tritons which we purchased before getting them as vassals, so this is intel we should have.
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DragonParadox said:
That would be a lot of lore to expand on. I'll add it in the next few days, or if you guys would rather receive it IC, next month when you talk to the Nereid again
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@DragonParadox, can we get this lore in an infopost when you wake up?
 
Deliste said:
You are seriously underestimating how incredibly ancient Planetos and it's cycling of settlements and cultures are.

The origins of the curse of Harrenhal is to the depth of this history as the modern newscycle is to stone tablets in Sanskrit.

People forget things both IRL and in Westeros, there are settlements built on the remains of settlements they never even knew existed because it's the result of geographic convergence, perhaps it is defensible or well placed for trade or maybe a prominent hill aligns with the gap in a distant mountain range.

As I was trying to illustrate before, there is every opportunity that the curse has been dormant for longer than any recorded history or recollection, verbal or written.
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Let's keep it firmly on the "maybe" list. Nothing in the vote really rules it out, it just doesn't make it the focus of the plan because... what is the point? "Some prehistoric curse from beyond written history is tormenting your people. What, fix it? Oh no, shit is fucked, yo."

Base assumptions were "some dormant Power in the area did it", and then moving on to what I believe is more likely, seeing as how rarely anything in Westeros isn't some intrigue or treachery or short-sighted feud.
 
Crake said:
Let's keep it firmly on the "maybe" list. Nothing in the vote really rules it out, it just doesn't make it the focus of the plan because... what is the point? "Some prehistoric curse from beyond written history is tormenting your people. What, fix it? Oh no, shit is fucked, yo."

Base assumptions were "some dormant Power in the area did it", and then moving on to what I believe is more likely, seeing as how rarely anything in Westeros isn't some intrigue or treachery or short-sighted feud.
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Which has been my stance throughout, but people are saying "it cannot be because X" and I dispute that.
 
Agreed. Though if it were the case, I sincerely doubt we'll totally resolve it this month.
 
One Autumn Leaf said:
Varys, unfortunately, really isn't that dangerous on his own. It is his spy network and connections that make him dangerous. The problem is that when he is usually doing his thing it is though proxies and done through ways that cant be tracked back to him. Unfortunately for Varys not only do we know who he is but we also know who he works for, what conspiracy he is a part of and everything else to nail him. Can he escape? Sure if he gets lucky. But is it unbelievable for him to get captured by the party being sent? No it isn't.
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I wonder if DP read comments like this at the time , looked at his double shivering touch wand and disfunction scroll Varys shenaigan build and snickered ominously. I'm getting a Mr. Burns vibe just thinking about it, steepled fingers and all.
 
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Vote closed.

Duesal said:
@DragonParadox, can we get this lore in an infopost when you wake up?
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I'll cover this first sure.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Nov 21, 2019 at 1:34 AM, finished with 42 posts and 13 votes.
  • [X] Explain what you have seen so far about the curse and ask questions of the matter to see how it may be lifted
    -[X] "Ordinarily I would start this discussion off differently, but when I see a threat to the safety and security of the realm it is of utmost importance to me that it be resolved as soon as possible. I have confirmed that, as I'm sure you had known, it was not caused by Lannister mages, and neither was it due to Fey involvement, or that of Fiends, or else any other threat I can readily identify."
    -[X] "This, my Lord, leads me to conclude it had been from another of the Powers exerting its influence in Westeros, or else a curse wrought by a mage in some manner. Why, in the latter case, would they might have done so? If you have any enemies bearing a grudge more personal than a slighted Lion..." You trail off, honestly pensive.
    -[X] "Yet that does not fit with all of the other information I have collected on the matter. Your dealings with House Lannister falls through. A curse blights your lands, sends it into drought, makes the people grow desperate. Why? The timing is too convenient to be entirely unrelated." If he was going to start filling in the gaps in your knowledge here, now would be the time.
    -[X] If there's anything substantive which you can act on immediately: "This bears further investigation. Would you be greatly opposed to reconvening after I have discovered the source of this Blight?"
    -[X] Using spells like Ears of the City, and general investigative work, try to find a lead if none surfaced from the above discussion.
    -[X] Rina will join Rhaella, a Shadow Bonded Umbral Stalker, and Ser Kennos of Kayce to convince House Shawney, House Wayn and Houe Vypren, in that order, to swear fealty to you.
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